Shadow Surrender
The Four-Corners reservation hung suspended in the bluish-lavender twilight that only comes to high desert in early fall. Winds blew down canyons and across bloodred spires of sandstone, spreading the scents of sage, cedar and the pungent odors of smoke and musk.
Special Agent Teal Benaly's nose itched as some-thing light and gossamer blew past her face. She never allowed herself to be struck by flights of fancy, most things were easier to deal with in terms of black or white. But when a feather's shades of sand and desert gray had caught her eye, even in the low light of dusk, it seemed like a kind of message. She dropped one hand from the shale-rock ledge and bent to pick it up.
Drawing the softness of feathers across her cheek while she stared off into space, Teal let herself forget for the moment the potential dangers of Many Caves Canyon. Instead of thinking about business, her thoughts turned to birds. She'd both heard them calling and seen a few in flight earlier. But why had this par-ticular feather got caught on the breeze and managed to glide by her nose right then? It seemed a strange thing to happen in the stillness of twilight.
There were so man ... read full excerpt from Shadow Surrender ebook
