A Powerless World | Book 3 | Defend The Homestead Hunt, Jack (read my book TXT) 📖

people. What you saw was what you got. They wore their intentions on their sleeve. There were no false pretenses. They were good-hearted people that would give you the shirt off their backs. That’s why he couldn’t and wouldn’t believe a word of what Dan was suggesting. “How are you, you old dog?” Dakota asked.

“Better for seeing you, my friend. I just wish it was under better circumstances.”

He stepped back, still holding Colby’s arms but looking him up and down. “I hear you. Good to see I’m not the only one with graying hair.” He hugged him again before noticing Alicia. “And who is this beauty?” he asked.

Colby motioned to her. “Dakota, this is Alicia Scott. A friend from L.A.”

“Well, a friend of Colby’s is a friend of mine. Greetings, Alicia Scott.” They shook hands and his eyes drifted down to Kane who was now seated beside Colby, looking up, tail thumping. There was no hesitation, no fear as Dakota dropped down to the dog’s eye level. He stared into Kane’s eyes. “There is strength in this one, Colby.”

“That’s Kane.”

For a brief moment, Colby thought Kane might react the same way he had with Jessie but strangely, he didn’t. It was almost like the dog could sense a person’s heart. Dakota extended a hand just as he would with any human. Kane lifted his paw and plopped it in Dakota’s hand. Alicia’s eyes widened and Colby smiled. “It’s an honor, Kane,” Dakota said as if picking up a vibe from the dog, as if the dog was communicating telepathically and he was simply responding.

“Well, come, let’s go and have something to eat. I want to hear everything.”

Twenty minutes later, Dakota roared with laughter, rocking back in his chair as he recounted one of the many stories he had about Colby. “You should have seen him. Caught with his pants down. Mrs. Jacobs’ face. It was priceless.”

Alicia laughed hard and glanced at Colby who was tucking into some smoke-dried salmon, and vegetables. “She certainly never looked at me the same way after that,” Colby said.

“Sounds like you two were quite the handful.”

“Oh, the things we did, hey, Colby. If the elders of this community knew, they would have been outraged.”

“Tell me about it. I led you astray, my friend.”

He nodded with delight. “That you did.”

“This is great food. Thank you, Dakota,” Alicia said. “How are you all coping with the new circumstances?”

He brushed it off like it was just another day. “Oh, this is nothing new to us. Our ancestors ate well long before there were supermarkets, isn’t that right, Colby?”

He nodded with a mouth full of food. The Wiyot Tribe were fishing people. The main source of food for them was the ocean and rivers. They smoked a lot of the fish to make it last longer. They only took what they needed, no more, no less. There was a lot to be learned about agriculture and living off the land from them.

“So you became a police officer, then a bounty hunter? Wow, that’s quite the career path. So then how did you two come to be together? Did he reel you in with one of his corny pick-up lines?”

“Oh, he picked me up,” she replied with food in her mouth.

“Which one was it? Not the one about falling from the stars.” His gaze bounced between them.

“No, this was more direct, wasn’t it, Colby?”

She grinned and he mirrored her smile.

When she told Dakota the truth, he nearly spat out his juice. Laughter followed. “Forgive me, Alicia, but that is just funny. I mean, if you knew Colby before he left, you’d understand why.”

She misunderstood and asked, “So you knew Skye then?” His laughter trickled off and the smile went from his face. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s okay. I just haven’t heard that name in a long time.” He looked at Colby. “I gather you visited her grave?”

“I did.”

Dakota set his plate down and shook his head. “I expect he’s told you how you look like her.”

Colby had noted that he didn’t make a fuss when he first saw Alicia. Unlike others who had gawked at her resemblance, Dakota held different beliefs about death, life, and reincarnation. He knew if he got him alone he would say that this was Skye’s way of coming back to him, but Colby didn’t believe that. He couldn’t. Skye was her own person, Alicia too. “Yes. Yes, many have.”

Wanting to shift the topic away, Colby set his drink on the table in front of him and cleared his throat. “Have you been into Eureka recently?”

“No. No reason to. We collect what we need from the bay. Medicine we create ourselves. Why?”

He didn’t know of any easy way to say it and he wasn’t there to point the finger, as he knew it wasn’t them or any of the other tribes, but he had to tell him if only to give them the heads-up, to warn them of a threat from police and militia.

“There have been a lot of raids on towns in the counties. Dan Wilder, the current sheriff, said they have made their way into Humboldt.”

“And?”

Colby looked at Alicia then back at him. “The victims are scalped.”

The last word hung in the air.

Dakota swallowed what food he had in his mouth and washed it down, then set his plate down. “You’re not asking what I think you are, are you?”

“Dakota. You have known me long enough to know that I would never insinuate such a thing. I’m here to let you know that people are talking, fingers are being pointed — not necessarily at this tribe but other tribes in the area. As ludicrous as it sounds, you can see why they are considering tribes as the culprit.”

Dakota snorted. “Over a hundred years and we are still fighting to change the distorted views of people who were never here to begin with.”

“I hear you, brother.”

“Do you?” he shot back, unable to hide his anger, or maybe it was disappointment.