John Cordova is a neighbor of the hero of my next book. A Yaqui and a Vietnam veteran, with his own secrets, he is a friend that Nick will need.
The Enchantress' Secret should be available for eBooks the end of May or first of June.
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Before she could answer, there was a knock on the door. Nick
rose and walked to it and ushered in an old man who looked faintly familiar to
Denali. “Do I know you?” she asked before Nick had a chance to introduce them.
“Ain’t seen you in a lot of years but yeah. I remember you
with a lot of blonde hair at one of the deer dances, with your grandma and
sisters.”
“John.” She smiled. “I do remember you. Good to see you
again.”
“Maybe not so good. I saw the policeman here again. Didn’t
want to disturb you two but got to worrying what that meant.” Nick poured them each a glass of wine, as Denali told him of
the new murder.
“It’ll be in the papers tomorrow probably. Hopefully not with
an arrest of a possible suspect.”
“There any reason they’d suspect you?” Without telling him how he had found out, Nick told him that
he had known the girl and where.“Oh yeah, that one,” John said as he sipped the wine, his
eyes narrowing as he considered. He looked from Denali to Nick. “She was around
here, lurking in corners, putting herbs above your door.”
“I never saw that.”
“You wouldn’t,” John chuckled. “I took ‘em down. Blasted
little witch wasn’t going to get you that way.”
“What kind of herbs?” Denali asked.
“Let me think. Bay, cinnamon, rosemary, thyme, verbena. She
left a potion once. I took it too. Threw it in the garbage.”
“Why did you do that?” Denali asked.
“Because she meant wrong by my friend. I wasn’t going to let
her use the flowers wrong neither.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Nick asked.
“I knew you didn’t believe—so what would be the point?”
“And you do believe in it?” Nick asked with disbelief.
“Might. Just better not taking a chance. You know she took
your picture too.”
“No, I didn’t. I never saw her.”
“Maybe she had an invisibility shield,” Denali suggested
looking at John thoughtfully, “but you penetrated it.”
John took a big swallow of his wine. “Guess I did.” He
looked at her. “You’re a witch too. I knew that first time I saw you but the
real deal, a good witch, one born to it, ain’t you?”
She nodded. “As was my grandmother and great grandmothers.
It is on both sides for my sisters and me as the one side has the Yaqui shaman
magic. Like you”
He smiled. “Powerful combination. Dangerous in the wrong
hands.”
“We understand that. Do you do magic, John?”
He shook his head. “Not since… No.”
“But you did once.”
He looked uneasy. “Maybe but no more.”
“But if there was a storm coming, you might again if the
need arose.”
The old man looked at her and then shook his head. “Don’t
want to.”
“I understand that. It’s a lot of responsibility but
sometimes, it has to be done ... for good.”
He sucked in a breath. “I’ll leave you two.” He looked back
at Denali. “Glad he’s got you until he’s ready to understand all that he
faces.” With that he was gone.
