Changing Woman (10 page)

“I’ll take Two out, Mom,” Ella said, noticing the mutt sitting anxiously by the door.

Rose shook her head. “I can still take a few steps without your help, daughter. Take care of our guests.” Rose grabbed her coat from the hook, wrapped it around her like a cloak, turned on the porch light, and went outside with Two.

Ella kept an eye on her mother from the
kitchen window. “She’s as stubborn as a mule,” Ella muttered. “I love her, but she’s going to make me crazy someday.”

Abigail laughed. “That’s the way it is with families, dear. With one hand you want to hug them to you, and with the other you want to push them out the door.”

Ella and Justine laughed. “Well, it does make life interesting,” Ella agreed, walking back to the kitchen table.

Seeing
the glow of headlights on the wall, Ella stepped into the living room and took a look out the front window. “I think that’s Wilson Joe’s car.”

“He’s probably looking for me,” Justine said, glancing at her watch. “I didn’t mean to stay this long. He was
going to meet me at home and then take me to a dance on campus tonight.”

Ella smiled, glad that the two were dating. Wilson would always be her
friend, but they would never be anything more. There just hadn’t been any spark between them, though Wilson, at one time, would have cheerfully argued the point.

“Can you let him in?” Ella asked Justine. “I’m going to get Mom and bring her back inside the kitchen before she freezes to death waiting for the dog to do his business.”

“Sure.”

Ella reached for her coat and put it on as she walked
through the kitchen. By the time she joined her mother outside, Wilson had come around to the back with Justine to join Rose and the dog.

Rose, seemingly unaffected by the frigid temperatures that had the rest of them shivering, looked at Ella casually. “You shouldn’t be out here, daughter. It’s much too cold, and we still have a guest. Let’s go back inside.”

After saying good-bye to Justine
and Wilson, Ella silently followed her mother and Two inside. Sometimes it didn’t pay to argue.

It was seven-thirty the following morning when Gloria Washburn arrived.

When Rose saw Gloria in her nurse’s uniform, she gave the young woman a look of pure disdain. “I do
not
need a nurse,” she said, then motioned Ella into the kitchen for a private word. “I would rather have my friend’s granddaughter
here,” Rose hissed.

“I’ll talk to her as soon as I can, but for today, at least, you’ll have to accept the nurse’s help.” Ella grabbed a homemade tortilla from the refrigerator and smeared butter on it. Just as she took a bite, the phone rang.

“It’s for you,” Rose said with disapproval, not moving
from her chair. “Calls this early always are.”

Ella picked up the receiver, hurriedly swallowing,
and heard Big Ed on the other end. “I want you and the crime-scene team to head over to Frank Goldman’s place. Someone blew up the pump to his well last night. Since he’s a vet, he needs to have plenty of water available for the sick animals he’s tending.” He lowered his voice. “And my wife’s horse is over there right now, recovering from surgery, so I’m taking a real dim view of this latest act
of vandalism. Catch ’em, Shorty. I’ve just about had it with this crap.”

Ella could hear the barely controlled anger in the chief’s voice. “Okay. I’ll see what I can do to get some evidence against these perps. Shall I check on Claire’s mare while I’m there?”

“Yeah, please. Claire’s really upset over this.”

As Ella hung up, she saw the worried look Rose gave her. “It’s another instance of vandalism,”
Ella told her. “No one’s hurt, but it’s tricky,” Ella added, then explained.

“Are you leaving now? Maybe the nurse can fix you something more for breakfast than just a tortilla.” Rose glanced at Gloria.

“I’d be happy to,” Gloria said. “It won’t take long.”

“Thanks, but I better be going,” Ella said, and kissed her mother good-bye.

Leaving the kitchen, she stepped into the living room and found
Dawn wrapped in a down comforter watching cartoons. Ella gave her a quick hug and kiss, then walked out across the frozen ground to her Jeep.

Things were okay at home for the moment but, knowing Rose, there was no telling how long that peace would last, especially today.

Within twenty minutes Ella and the crime-scene team were at the vet’s place. The clinic was off the highway close to Hogback, and between two low hills. Goldman lived on the Rez despite the fact that he was white and therefore Anglo, so she supposed he made a good living doing what he did.

While the team gathered evidence around the rubble of the shattered cinder-block pump house, Ella went
to talk to Goldman. He saw a lot of people during the week. Maybe he had some idea who’d done this to his pump.

“Hey, Doc,” Ella said as she went to meet him on the porch.

Frank Goldman was rail thin, with a ruddy complexion, and well over six feet tall. He usually wore an easy smile, but today his expression was glum.

“Are you any closer to catching whoever’s been doing this kind of thing
around the Rez?” he asked.

“Not yet. The truth is we could use a little help.”

“Just tell me what I can do.”

“You see quite a few people every day, Doc. Have you heard any rumors about who could be responsible for all this?”

Well bundled up against the cold in a down jacket, he sat down on the old wooden chair on his porch, and a golden retriever trotted up and sat beside him. “I’m a Jewish
bilagáana,
and although I live here, I’m still considered an outsider. I’m tolerated because I’m needed, but not many tell me anything beyond their problems with their animals.”

She let the silence stretch out.

“If you see Big Ed, would you tell him that his mare is doing fine now, and his wife should pick her up as soon as she can? I’m not going to be able to keep any large animals overnight
unless they’re in serious condition. It looks like I’m going to be hauling in water for a while.”

“How long will it take you to replace the pump?”

“I’m having someone come by later today to take a look. If they can’t make a hookup to the old well casing, they’ll have to drill another well.” He paused. “To be honest with you, it might get expensive and, all things considered, I may end up cutting
my losses and move on. I’ve been thinking of opening a practice in Farmington. The Rez isn’t that hospitable to strangers, you know.”

She nodded. “Better than most,” Ella said, remembering how it had been for her when she’d returned after living in Los Angeles. People had called her L.A. Woman and would barely acknowledge her presence. “But your services are needed here.”

He shrugged. “There
are several competent vets in Farmington. People will just have to transport their animals a bit farther, or pay for a home visit.”

Ella looked at him, knowing that most local farmers couldn’t afford to pay any more for a veterinarian. “Wouldn’t you rather stand up to these punks?”

“I came here to make a difference, not go to war. But more and more I’ve been seeing the Rez dividing into factions
who are constantly at odds with one another. Progress, no matter how anyone defines it, is going to come at a cost here. And people who belong to neither the traditionalists nor the modernists are going to be caught in the crossfire.”

Ella nodded slowly. She had a feeling he was right, though she still hated to see the only vet in the area leave the Rez. “Things will settle down, Doc. Just don’t
go making any rash decisions.”

Frank nodded, then stood and went back inside the house, taking his dog with him.

Ella checked on the others who were busy collecting evidence. Although there was plenty of debris to pick up, nothing looked as if it would provide them with conclusive answers.

“I was hoping we’d find a nice set of prints on the door to the pump house that weren’t blown to smithereens,”
Justine said, “but we struck out, just like yesterday at the Wallace place. And they left no tools behind. They moved fast, used a fuse and the same type blastingcap detonator as with the Dumpster and the outhouse, then boogied out. All I have is another pin to place on my map of vandalism incidents, which, except for their concentration in our area, appear more or less random.”

“I thought that
might be how it would look. But here’s an idea. If you get a call from the press, tell them we found something we think will lead us to the perps. I want to make the guys behind all this worry a bit. So far they’ve held all the cards, so maybe it’s time we played a few mind games with them.”

Justine smiled. “Right, boss.”

As Ella started walking back to the SUV, her cell phone rang. “Ella, it’s
Harry.”

“Hey, I was told you’d be coming back,” she said, glad to hear his voice. “Did you just fly in?”

“I drove in from Albuquerque, and I’ve been on the Rez for about six hours following a lead. Right now I’m about two hundred yards downwind from a ’killed’ hogan north of Beclabito. I’ve got reason to believe Manyfarms may be in there, but I’m going to need backup before I go in to check
it out. I don’t want to risk letting him get away.”

Ella suppressed a shudder of aversion. The purely instinctive response surprised her, because she didn’t consider herself a traditionalist. One hogan should have been as good as any other. Yet it wasn’t. A “killed” hogan was one where a hole had been made in the north
or west wall to remove the body of a person who’d died inside. The dwelling
was then abandoned and left to the ghost of the dead.

“I’ll bring a team along with me,” Ella said. She wasn’t thrilled about going there, but she’d do her job.

“No. Come alone. If he sees the cavalry he’ll go into fight mode. What I’m hoping to do is catch him before he knows we’re there.”

“All right. I’ll head over now. Be very careful, Harry. We have reason to believe he may be armed with
a fiftycaliber sniper rifle.”

“Good to know.”

After they’d agreed on where to meet, Ella quickly told Justine what was going on, then pulled back onto the highway, heading west at a fast clip. Despite the circumstances, she was looking forward to seeing Harry again. He’d occupied her thoughts often since the last time they’d seen each other.

She’d never really believed in things like chemistry
but, around Harry, all bets were off. He really appealed to her on almost every possible level. Although she’d never thought about him romantically when they’d worked together, after he’d left New Mexico and returned months later as a federal deputy marshal, he’d seemed like a new man—especially to her.

With a sigh, she brought her thoughts back to the business at hand. What she respected most
about Harry and what she liked most about herself, was that they were both seasoned, professional law enforcement officers. Attraction had no place in that equation, at least while they were on the job.

It wasn’t long before Ella arrived at the rendezvous point, a low spot in a shallow ravine beside the highway and south of the hogan, which wasn’t visible from the road. It was already past noon,
yet the ground was still frozen in the shade, and the breeze that flowed off the Carizzo Mountains to the west still went right through
her, chilling her to the bone despite her gloves, leather jacket, and wool sweater underneath.

As Ella looked around, walking away from the SUV, Harry stepped out from behind the embankment of the ravine where it passed beneath the highway, and smiled.

“Hey.
We sure do meet in the oddest places, woman,” he teased.

“And we’re usually armed. Does that make us kinky?”

“Yeah.” He grinned, climbing up to where she stood, but, like her keeping below the road level to avoid presenting a silhouetted target to anyone hiding among the junipers or brush.

Harry was Ella’s height, and had put on a few more pounds of muscle since the last time she’d seen him.
It was obvious that he’d continued to work out. Right now he was wearing a military surplus olive drab parka over a black turtleneck sweater, close-fitting jeans, and laceup boots. He looked like an honest-to-goodness soldier of fortune.

Ella wondered if any of the vividly lecherous thoughts she’d entertained briefly had shown on her face. Harry was extremely observant but hard to read, and the
tiny grin on his face told her nothing. Uncomfortable all of a sudden, she turned quickly back to business.

“What’s the situation here now?” she asked, looking warily down the arroyo Harry had emerged from seconds ago.

“I was given a tip that Manyfarms would be there,” he said, cocking his head toward the north. “I’ve circled the area and studied the several-hour-old boot prints I’ve found,
but I haven’t seen Manyfarms. Someone drove up a while ago in an old gray pickup, an Indian I couldn’t quite make out because of his low-brimmed hat. He took in a cardboard box of something, stayed about an hour, then drove off. It wasn’t Manyfarms, so I didn’t make a move.”

Harry led the way, cautioning her to remain silent, and they hiked up the arroyo a quarter mile or so until he
motioned
for her to stop. Pulling out a small pair of binoculars from his coat pocket, Harry peered cautiously over the rim of the narrow wash, here no wider than his outstretched arms. Ella followed his gaze, making sure she was looking through a thin shrub along the edge of the embankment. Two hundred yards away was an old, weather-beaten, hexagonal fitted-log hogan with a clay sealed roof.

“Notice
the smoke coming from the smoke hole in the center of the roof?” he said. “Either someone’s still in there, or the guy who was here earlier is wasting firewood.”

“Making a direct approach now is probably a bad idea. We have no cover, except some low brush, and no idea what we’re up against. On top of it all, we can’t assume they don’t already know we’re here.”

“Yeah, but you’ve got to consider
the fact that whoever’s inside may not be Manyfarms. It’s quite possible that the tip I got is way off base. This may be just a waste of time.”

She took another look at the terrain, considering their options. “I’ll tell you what. By crawling up the narrow tributary to this wash, we can go a little closer to the hogan and get a better look. Once we’re there, we can decide what to do next.”