âDo you believe in womenâs intuition?â she asked.
Max smiled slowly as the silence stretched between them. âWhatâs your intuition tell you about me?â
Kris measured her words carefully. âYou define yourself by the work you do and the secrets you keep. Youâve made a home for yourself among these secrets. But someday you may find theyâre not enough.â
Max started to answer, then changed his mind. In his gut, he knew the truth when he heard it. But she was wrong about one thing. Heâd accepted the need to keep the secrets he guardedâespecially one. But there was no peace or sense of home inside him because of it. He was a man of facts with a secret that facts didnât support.
A stargazer.
Heâd known what he wasnât supposed to knowâ¦information that could get them both killed if he made one miscalculated move.
Stargazer's Woman
Aimée Thurlo
To Mitch, who knows where all the bodies are buried.
With special thanks to Lt. Col. Elizabeth S. Birch USMC for her help.
Aimée Thurlo is a nationally known bestselling author. Sheâs written more than forty novels and is published in at least twenty countries worldwide. She has been nominated for the Reviewerâs Choice Award and the Career Achievement Award by Romantic Times BOOKreviews magazine.
She also cowrites the Ella Clah mainstream mystery series, which debuted with a starred review in Publishers Weekly and has been optioned by CBS.
Aimée was born in Havana, Cuba, and lives with her husband of thirty years in Corrales, New Mexico. Her husband, David, was raised on the Navajo Indian Reservation.
Max NatoniâThey said he was a stargazer, but he trusted his instincts as a former cop a lot more than the old medicine manâs hocus pocus. As a warrior for the Brotherhood, his own training would be enough to protect his dead partnerâs sister.
Kris ReynoldsâHer sister had been killed on assignment with Max Natoni while protecting a fortune in precious metal. Kris needed answers more than riches, but her heart kept getting in the way.
Hastiin BigodiiâThe medicine man led by example, but Max followed his own rules.
John HarrisâFor a dead man, the former cop got around a lot. A killer who knew every trick in the book, even in death he couldnât be trusted.
Bruce TalbotâHis job was to find a way to get the missing platinum back and save the reputation of his company. Was he just overzealous, or could he be the inside man in a crime gone awry?
Detective LassiterâThe retired marine had it out for Max, but he cut Kris a breakâmarine to marine.
Jerry ParsonâWhen he and his crew werenât working over stolen cars, they were working over the competitionâwhich included anyone who got in his face.
Deputy Robert Joe, aka GuardianâHe was the Brotherhood of Warriors contact inside the sheriffâs department, so why was he getting in the way?
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Max Natoni joined the circle of men gathered inside the cave of secrets. The red sandstone walls that surrounded them held the echoes of tradition and honor. It was that core of strength that had sustained the Brotherhood of Warriors under all circumstances.
The pungent scent of piñon from the small campfire in the center of the chamber filled the air, and the flames cast fleeting shadows on the faces of those gathered there. He could see loyalty and courageâtheir lifeâs bloodâindelibly etched on the features of each man present.
Max knew most of those gathered around the fire only by their code namesâthe only form of identification that would be used tonight. Heâd be addressed as âThunder,â the name given to him by Hastiin Bigodii, the medicine man who currently served as their leader.
The Brotherhood of Warriors, established during the time of Kit Carson, was an impenetrable line of defense that stood between the tribe and its enemies. This elite force worked in the shadowsârarely seen but always felt. It existed so that the Diné, the Navajo people, could walk in beauty.
Much was demanded of anyone wanting to join their ranks. Theyâd undergo trials meant to break all but the strongest. Most ultimately failed. In the end, only the best of the best remained and earned the right to join the Brotherhood of Warriors.
Though he was staring at the fire, Max could feel Hastiin Bigodiiâs gaze on him.
âThunder,â Hastiin Bigodii said at last, âyouâre named for Yellow Thunder, who had the power to find things. You, too, have that gift, though you still havenât accepted it and learned how to use your ability.â
Max started to argue, then clamped his mouth shut. He was a man who relied on facts. Logic was the only foundation he trusted. Thatâs why heâd become a police officer, and later a detective, for an Anglo department outside the Rez.