Free Eagle's Last Stand by Aimée Thurlo

Thunder during ceremonies because it was said he only brought trouble.”
    “So that’s a bad sign?” Kim asked.
    Rick shook his head. “Not necessarily. Thunders have the power to find things, too.”
    They’d just reached the front door when a silver-gray hawk cried overhead and landed in a tall piñon about a hundred feet from the house. It remained there, gazing down at them.
    “Isn’t it beautiful? It hangs around here a lot,” Erin whispered.
    “Hosteen Silver’s spiritual brother was Winter Hawk,” Rick told Kim.
    Kyle nodded slowly. “White Thunder and now Winter Hawk.... It’s a welcome and a warning.”
    “Well, if there’s danger ahead, Copper Canyon’s the place to be. Let’s go inside,” Rick said, his voice tense.

Chapter Seven
    Kim felt Rick’s tension as clearly as her own. She didn’t believe in omens, but she didn’t dismiss them outright, either. She’d learned at an early age that New Mexico was the land of the unexplained. Here, the mysterious existed along with the ordinary, each finding its own place.
    As she stepped inside the main room, she smiled, feeling instantly comfortable. It looked like the interior of a rustic cabin, very similar to those in country magazines. Though sparsely decorated, it had an undeniable elegance.
    To her right the room opened up and against the far wall was the kitchen. Closer, and in the center of that space, was a large dining table pieced from several pine logs.
    Centered in the room was a sofa covered in rich brown leather. Beautiful wool Navajo rugs were hung on the wall opposite a huge stone fireplace with vents that probably circulated the warm air generated from the fire.
    On the wall opposite the dining side was a walk-in closet that had been converted to fit either computer equipment or TV screens.
    “What a special place!” she told Erin. “I can see why you wanted to live here.”
    “The brothers all agreed that we could make it our home, so I sold my place in Hartley and Kyle and I moved in,” Erin explained. “It’s the perfect place for us. I can irrigate and have more land to grow my crops. The fields have already been leveled, and this coming spring we’ll be putting in rabbit-proof fencing. I’m a chili farmer and Kyle’s in the family security business. He runs Complete Security for Daniel and often works from home.”
    Kim smiled. “I work for Complete Security now, too, as a paid intern.”
    “I’ve heard,” Erin replied, leading the way to the kitchen. Rick and Kyle were already there, coffee mugs in hand.
    “It’s hot and it’ll warm you up,” Rick said. “Want a cup?”
    “It’s
hot
? That’s the nicest thing you can say about my coffee?” Erin said, laughing as she handed Kim a mug.
    Sipping her coffee, Kim watched them kid around with each other as they all pitched in to fix dinner. Although the fare was simple, she had to admit the green chili hamburger, thick and on homemade buns, was the best she’d ever tasted.
    After dinner, they retreated to the sofa and chairs. The blazing fireplace would keep them warm and comfortable. “Your letter, the one Hosteen Silver left for you, is on the third shelf of the bookcase,” Kyle said to Rick.
    “Although I’m tempted not to read it, that would be showing disrespect, and I owe Hosteen Silver everything,” Rick said, walking over to pick it up. They’d all been left letters to read upon their foster father’s death, but Rick’s undercover work had kept him away. This was the first time he’d ever even seen the envelope.
    “We’ve all read ours, so yours is the last,” Kyle said.
    Rick sat on the hearth and stared at the envelope in his hand.
    “The longer you put it off, the harder it’ll get,” Kim warned softly.
    Rick tore open the sealed envelope, his expression hard. In a gesture of solidarity, Kyle came over to stand beside his brother as Rick pulled out the small piece of paper.
    No one spoke as Rick read it silently. “As cryptic as