Free Agent out of Time (The Agents for Good) by Guy Stanton III

killed him and stolen the skull to shift probable blame onto my people and make us look bad. I didn’t know which it was, but either way I was going to make them pay for this!
     
    I stood along the sidelines as uniformed officers made their way about the scene, as photographs were taken and fingerprints were dusted for. Deshavi stood near me looking very pale. Trent was being questioned by an officer, “I know about your grandfather’s recent discovery, but do you have any idea as to who would do this?”
    Trent shrugged shaking his head no, “No one in particular that I know of.”
    Deshavi’s voice quivered, as it broke into the conversation, “I think I might know of who could have done it.”
    All eyes turned to her. The officer walked up to her and Deshavi told him of being accosted by the three men in the store and them wanting her to steal the skull. It was the first that I had heard of the incident and glancing at Trent I could see it was for him to.
    His demeanor up till now had been one of masterful control, but now the muscles of his jaw were bunching and ticking in barely leashed fury. He spoke up roughly, “Why didn’t you tell me? Tell anyone, someone about the incident?”
    Her eyes were pain itself, “I didn’t want to mess anything up.” She said softly in a small voice.
    Trent looked like he desperately wanted to say something, but he walked out instead into the night. Tears fell down Deshavi’s face as she glanced at me. I didn’t want to bury the spear point any deeper than it already was, but the reality of it was what it was.
    “You should’ve told me Deshavi.”
    She nodded as more tears came cascading down her face.
    Despite my anger with her I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in close as she cried. If she’d only told me or Trent, one of us could’ve stayed with Ted, until the skull was safely out of his immediate possession. It had been a costly mistake.
     
    The coming week the investigation dragged out and then finally culminated, as I led a group of sheriffs in the tracked down capture of the three suspects on reservation land, who admitted their guilt in search of a plea bargain. The skull wasn’t found. The three men claimed to have pulverized it and thrown the pieces of it into the river. I was inclined to believe that was the truth.
    The worst part of the week was the ill fruit that came out of one bad choice. Trent called the wedding off and after the suspects were in custody he had simply left town without saying anything to anyone. In my opinion he was making, as big a mistake, as Deshavi had. She may have been late, but at least she had come forward with the truth, when it would have been easier not to say anything and just let the killers get away.
    I could partly understand that he had felt hurt and betrayed by someone he’d exposed so much of his heart to and thus the need to get away and let the wound heal, but what he had done was wrong. In a time like this communication was everything, with forgiveness being a close partner to it. He had acted selfishly, as had Deshavi before him, and as a result they were both now paying the penalty.
    Deshavi hadn’t left her room once in the three days since Trent had left. I lay awake at night listening to her cry, until I had been on the verge of hopping on a plane and stalking down Trent myself. Tie the two of them together and let them fight and work this thing out together. That would’ve been bloody no doubt, but far more preferable to this hopeless dirge that Deshavi was going through with full emotion.
     
    The morning of the fourth day Deshavi emerged from her room. She looked like hell and she was carrying her suitcase. Her other suitcases rested packed on the floor behind her. I immediately started shaking my head no, as I stood up and move toward her.
    I hugged her to me, “I don’t want you going anywhere, not just yet.”
    “I have to grandpa! It’s living torment to be here! I need to get away and