After he left, she cleaned up the mess and washed out the few dishes in the sink as she considered Alex’s words about the vandalized memorial. Her mind shifted to Jim and Neva, and the devastated forest around the cabin.

A creak startled her. She whirled and caught Owen standing in the kitchen, watching her.

She exhaled with relief. Terra smiled and folded the dish towel. “When did you get back?”

“A long time ago. Gramps told me about the memorial.”

Terra dropped her gaze and shook her head. “It’s just crazy, the things people do these days. They’ll just have to rebuild it and set up some cameras or something. I don’t know anymore.”

Arms crossed, Owen continued to watch her but said nothing more.

“You got home a long time ago?” Terra asked. “I thought you were going out with Leif.”

“He canceled on me.”

“That’s too bad. You could have come to dinner with us, though it wasn’t much of a dinner since Jack showed up to give us the news.”

“So I heard.”

“Uh . . . Owen, why didn’t you just come out and visit?”

“That’s your circle, Terra. Your best friends. I wasn’t around for you back then. I’m sorry I wasn’t, since it turned out that Dad wasn’t either.”

Owen seemed in a dark mood tonight. She wasn’t that familiar with this side of him, and it could be that he developed this mood while he was in a foreign land. She didn’t know. But she did know that she didn’t like it and wasn’t sure what to do with it.

“It’s okay, Owen. We’re all grown up now. It’s all good, especially now that you’re here.” She approached and gave him a quick hug. “I’m heading to bed. I have a lot to get done tomorrow.”

She paused in the hall and turned back. “About Leif. How well do you know him anyway?” She instantly regretted the question. This wasn’t the time to ask.

“You could say that he’s my best friend, since he saved my life. On a mission, our Apache got shot up, along with my leg. I lost consciousness. He used the autorotation maneuver to land the helo and got us both out. I owe him everything.”

Owen turned from her then, as if talking about what happened dredged up an unwanted memory.

“I’m glad he was there when you needed him.”

“Yeah.” Owen left her in the kitchen.

After she heard his bedroom door shut, Terra headed for her own room. She shut the door behind her. Closed her eyes and forced back the nausea. She was jumping to conclusions. But . . .

God, Owen can’t be involved in the artifacts trafficking. He just can’t.