The old man looked him up and down, and then he offered his hand. But his expression, when it met with Cade's, was shrewd, giving very little away. Even the anger had disappeared, which was to be expected. He wouldn't be the pack alpha and town leader if he wasn't strong and a damn good politician.
"What are you here for, Agent Jones?"
Cade shook the offered hand, noting the power in the older man's grip and returning it in kind. “I'm investigating two murders on the reservation."
"Indeed.” The old man's gaze returned to Savannah, and the air fairly crackled with hostility. “Why wasn't I informed?"
Again, those invisible hackles rose. Cade wasn't sure if it was a natural reaction to the man's antagonistic body language, or simply an instinctive need to protect what the moon deemed his. But either way, he was going to have to watch it. Levon Grant was not someone he wanted against him. Not if he wanted to remain in his chosen career. “I asked Ranger Grant not to tell you."
Those sharp green eyes came back to him. “And why wouldn't you want to tell a reservation's council that a murdering bomber was running around their town?"
"We had no idea they'd go to the extent of bombing the diner,” Savannah snapped, then grabbed her father's arm. “You and I need to talk. Now,” she added, when the old man didn't move.
Cade watched her drag him away. As he saw the tension so evident between the two, one thing became obvious—his earlier assumption that Vannah had won the head ranger's position because her dad was head of the council was totally out of line. If what he'd just witnessed was any demonstration, Levon Grant didn't support his daughter in any way.
Odd for a man who was supposedly so gung-ho about family values.
A gray truck pulled to a halt beside the fire trucks, and Anton climbed out. Cade walked over to him.
"Hell of a mess,” Anton commented. “If you and the ranger were in there, you were extremely lucky to get out."
"Very,” Cade agreed, his gaze on a green ranger's truck coming down the street fast. “The bomb was set in the kitchen, and I suspect wired to the light. When the structure's declared secure, I want you to go in there and see what you can uncover."
Anton nodded. “Wiring to the lights suggests electrical skills that our pretty blonde suspect apparently doesn't have."
The truck stopped and two rangers climbed out—one Steve, the other a dark haired man in his mid-forties. Not Ronan, as he'd half expected. “There are two pretty blondes, and we have no idea what skills Nelle James has."
"Or if she's even involved,” Anton said.
Cade met Anton's gaze. “She's involved."
"If she was here in town, surely Ranger Grant would know. After all, they were good friends."
So he would have thought. But then, ten years had passed since Rosehall. When combined with a twenty year age gap, the Nelle he and Vannah remembered might not even remotely resemble the Nelle of today, particularly if those ten years had been harsh ones.
He frowned. “How is the crosscheck going on recent arrivals?"
"Everyone has checked out."
Damn. “What about the check on Lonny Jackson's mother?"
"Her name is Frankie Jackson. Married one Kenneth Jackson some eighteen years ago."
"So he's not Lonny's natural father?” Or the sister's, if indeed Candy was Lonny's sister.
Anton shook his head. “The father is listed as unknown on her birth certificate."
Interesting. Jontee's true believers were all fatherless, too—all except for Vannah, who simply had a father she hadn't wanted to acknowledge. “Any other information on the mother?"
"Yeah, she and her husband died in a car crash ten years ago."
Cade scrubbed a hand through his dirt-encrusted hair. This case was getting more and more frustrating. Every damn time they seemed to find a lead, it was whisked away. But they were on the right track, he was sure of it. “And what happened to Lonny after their deaths?"
"That we're still trying to find out. We found a picture of Frankie. It's in the car, along with all the other information we've collected, if you still want to look at it."
It couldn't hurt. Given the way this case was going, he'd probably spot the dead Frankie walking around Ripple Creek. “The second blonde's name is Candy Jackson,” he told Anton. “Ronan said that Merron doesn't always register half-breeds, so maybe that explains why she looks like Lonny, and yet isn't listed as a sister."
"Trista's calling the Merron ranger this morning.” Anton paused and added dryly, “They did get on extremely well."