Free Fire Prayer by Deborah Turrell Atkinson Page B

yet.”
    â€œI mean, she have an accident or something? She’s about our age, isn’t she? Jesus.” He whispered the last word.
    â€œShe hit her head. That’s all we know right now.” Niwa walked slowly to his car and got in. “She’s younger than we are. Thirty-one.”
    â€œWait.” Skelly moved toward the car. “You gotta get Luke to that game, okay? The kid’s gonna need it. So is Tanner.”
    Niwa nodded and waved as he pulled slowly away. Skelly keyed the transmit button again. “Tanner, you there? Come in, over.” Static was the only reply.
    He opened the office door and made his way to the phone on the desk. As he stabbed the numbers, he was glad Dave Niwa wasn’t around to see the tremor in his fingers. He hit the eight button twice by accident and had to try again.
    â€œHey Connor, I need you at the office.” His voice shook a bit, though he cut off his brother mid-sentence. “Don’t give me that shit. Ten minutes ago, that’s when.”
    Skelly was staring out the window over his desk when Connor tramped through the open door.
    â€œWhat the fuck?” Connor’s words sounded slurred.
    Skelly stood up and braced the back of his legs against the desk. “Where’ve you been?”
    â€œDelia’s.”
    â€œYou mean she hasn’t kicked you out yet?”
    â€œFuck you. Like you don’t have any problems.”
    â€œOkay, okay.” Skelly took a deep breath. “Was she there?”
    â€œDelia? Yeah, sure.”
    â€œThe whole time?”
    â€œWell, she had to work ‘til eleven last night.”
    â€œSo you were alone until then?”
    Connor paused. “I went to Joey’s Gym until about nine. Did some stuff there.”
    â€œAnyone else around?”
    â€œMike Ka‘ana and Jeff Gibson were there for a while.”
    â€œYou go calling on any old girlfriends?”
    â€œNo. What’s—” Connor’s tone was indignant.
    Skelly dropped into the chair. “Jenny Williams is dead.”
    Connor’s mouth dropped, though he did that to breathe. He made a snorting noise. “Hey, maybe there is a God.”
    â€œGive me a fucking break.”
    â€œShe’s a bitch and you know it. It’s not like she doesn’t yank your chain, too.”
    â€œConnor, I want you to shut the fuck up. Now.”
    Connor’s jaw flapped like a Moray eel’s before he caught the glint in his brother’s eyes and his teeth clicked closed.

Chapter Eleven
    It was all Storm could do to hold onto her own mount. Makani’s and Hamlin’s horses bolted straight for them, while Aunt Maile’s horse, reined in firmly, rolled its eyes and hopped backward to avoid the oncoming animals. The last she saw, Aunt Maile and her mount had leaped off the trail into the woods and Storm didn’t have time to wonder if Maile had allowed it or not. She was too busy keeping her horse from hurtling itself into the nearby rocks and brambles.
    And the odor. The wind, which had been behind them, had twisted through the trees and returned bearing an awful message. As if Makani and Hamlin had broken through a bubble of putrefaction and let it escape like Pandora’s horrors into the unwary world.
    None of the horses could be stilled until they’d put some distance between the stench and their restless hooves. It wasn’t until they’d all retreated about a hundred yards that Storm saw the riderless mount. It was Hamlin’s buckskin, white-eyed and side-kicking.
    â€œOh, God. Where’s Hamlin?” Storm jumped from her horse. Makani was right behind her.
    He reached out and grabbed her by the arm. “Wait, I’ll go. Stay here.” With the other hand, he grabbed at the buckskin’s trailing reins.
    Aunt Maile and Uncle Keone were off their horses by then, and Makani handed the buckskin’s reins to Keone.
    â€œI’m going with