Deadly Touch - Heather Graham Page 0,33

is there, too. You might remember her, Axel. Loretta Oster. In fact, you might remember her way better than any of us. She and Frank Peters have chaperoned students for years and years.”

“I do remember her,” Axel said. “I believe those two still chaperone some of the school trips out into the Everglades.” He smiled at Raina, his hand now easily wrapped around hers. “I guess we should go in?”

They joined the throng entering the dining room. Raina noted Frank Peters and Loretta Oster entering together. They were old friends.

As they reached their table, Loretta was ahead of them. She turned and saw them both, looking at Axel with surprise and then pleasure. “Axel Tiger! How wonderful to see you!”

“Thank you, Loretta. Great to see you, too.”

“What are you doing down here?” she asked. “Aren’t you some federal bigwig now?”

“No bigwig. Just FBI.”

“An FBI agent from Washington. You will have to tell me all about it!”

Raina found the chair with her name tag, speaking to Loretta as she took her seat. “He’s down here working on the murders in the Everglades.”

Raina was glad to see she was next to Elly, and Axel was next to her. There was an empty chair by Elly’s seat, but it was filled when Robert came around, smiling at Raina as he did, almost as if assuring her they had the situation handled.

“He can’t talk about active murder cases,” he said cheerfully. “Come on, Loretta, you know that. And tonight is for happy thoughts. All good things to be done for children.”

As he spoke, they were joined by Jeremy Gray, who introduced them to his companion, a striking older man with fine features and a very straight stance—Larry Stillwater, representing the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

Lucia suddenly slid into the seat next to him, casually introducing herself.

Raina smiled and arched a curious brow at the same time.

“They oversold my table and Elly was supposed to be here. She’s just going to float.” Lucia made a face. “Lawyers. Bigwigs. Big contributors!” she said. “I was happy to give up my seat and to get to be with you lovely people. It’s so wonderful. Mr. Stillwater, maybe you can help me. I’m still trying to figure out how everyone was a Seminole, and now we have two tribes.”

Loretta wagged a finger at her. “Young lady, you weren’t listening at camp!”

Lucia laughed good-naturedly. “I was too busy chasing boys back then. And, of course, Axel. We all had this major crush on you!”

Robert piped in. “Hey, you were supposed to have crushes on me—your friend’s sexy big brother.”

“Oh, we had minor crushes on you, too. And Tate, and Jordan. We were teenage girls!” She laughed. “Please, let’s move on. Let’s talk about the present, what’s going on with all of us. And can someone explain how the Seminole tribes work?”

“With the Seminole Tribe of Oklahoma and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, we are part of one of the officially recognized Seminole tribes. As the Miccosukee tribe, we were officially recognized in 1962,” Jeremy said.

“We were recognized in 1957. When the Indians began fleeing south into Florida, they all became known as Seminole. During the Seminole Wars, white soldiers considered all Indians they were fighting to be Seminoles,” Larry Stillwater explained. “At that time, most fleeing here were loose members of the Creek Confederation. But some spoke different variations of the Creek language and, eventually, through different families traveling in different directions, they became separate between those groups. Now, we all speak English, and we have to focus on our children learning our Native language. Some—today’s Miccosukee—fled deep south into the Everglades. Some were established a bit farther north. We’re proud to say those of us who remain here are the descendants of those who fought for our freedom and would not be removed. Naturally,” he added with a smile, “we are close with our brethren in Oklahoma.”

“I think I’ve got it now,” Lucia said. “Thanks. I’m grateful for the little lesson!”

A waitress came around with salads.

Onstage, Elly started to make announcements. And it was time for Raina to move back to the “green room” since Titan would not like being alone once Clive the Clown came out.

She excused herself. “Time to check on Titan,” she said.

“Break a leg!” Lucia told her, and then looked around the table. “I mean, not really, but you know what I mean.”

Raina smiled. “I’ll be careful.”

She couldn’t help but notice the light in Axel’s eyes and the slight twist to his smile. He gave