Coyote's Wife (30 page)

Ella nodded, aware that Blalock had been working the area alone for a long time. “How about I give you an hour, then pick you up?”

“Perfect.”

Ella dropped Blalock off by the van he’d been driving, then drove
straight home. Her hopes of spending a leisurely Sunday with her daughter had been placed on hold for now but, with luck, she’d still get to enjoy a little time with Dawn.

As she pulled up to their home, Ella saw that they had a guest. A luxury late-model sedan was parked near the new wing of the house—Rose and Herman’s side. More curious than anything else, Ella hurried inside through the old
front entrance.

The minute she stepped through the door, she caught the enticing scent of her mother’s special butter cookies drifting in from the kitchen. Rose made home a place that welcomed you as warmly as a hug.

Tossing her jacket across a chair, Ella walked through the living room toward the kitchen, ready to grab some coffee and dive into the cookies. Then, as she stepped through the
doorway, Ella saw Abigail Yellowhair at their breakfast table. Rose was showing her an elaborate map she’d made. Part of Rose’s work for the tribe entailed finding and recording the locations of rare plants used in ceremonies and healing herbs.

Abigail looked up as Ella stopped short. At a glance, she noted Ella’s acid-etched boots. Her eyebrows rose either in surprise or disapproval, but she
said nothing.

Rose was another story. “What in the world happened to your boots? It looks as if you walked through fire in them,” Rose said, following Abigail’s gaze.

Ella sighed. Rather than discuss the case, she forced a smile. “I had a bit of a mishap with some battery acid and I haven’t had a chance to buy new ones yet.”

“I hear that acid was meant for my son-in-law,” Abigail said softly.

“It was,” Ella conceded, trying to ignore the barrage of
questions suddenly mirrored on Rose’s face. Ella knew she’d be answering those later. “Your son-in-law said he’s going to hire a bodyguard for his wife. It would be a good idea if he rehired one for himself, too.”

“He won’t hear of it, not after that press conference where he looked foolish. Now he thinks having a bodyguard makes him look
like a coward. But I’ve been meaning to tell you. I’ve hired someone for myself, a former police officer named Roxanne Dixon.”

Ella remembered what she’d been told. Yet as much as she would have liked to question Abigail further about Roxanne, this wasn’t the right time or place.

Abigail looked back at Rose. “I would love to go out with you sometime when you go do your plant surveys. I’d like
to learn more about the Plant People.”

Ella knew that was an invitation Rose would never refuse.

“I’m sure we can arrange something,” Rose said with an eager nod. “The trips can be long, and there’s lots of walking involved, but they’re also wonderfully relaxing with a little company.”

It was then that Ella realized just how much her mother missed the companionship of her old friend Lena Clani.
Lena had often gone with her mother on these surveys.

“Tell me when you go out again. I would enjoy going along.”

Ella didn’t know what had prompted Abigail’s sudden interest in the Plant People, but it seemed a bit too convenient to be a coincidence.

Abigail beamed Rose a bright smile. “I better be on my way. And you should try some of these cookies, dear,” she added, looking at Ella. “They’re
just wonderful.”

“Why don’t you take some with you?” Rose offered, reaching for a small plastic bag.

“No, I’ll leave them here for your family to enjoy, but I’ll take just one more. Thanks,” Abigail said with a smile and reached for the platter.

After Abigail had left, Ella took a cookie and glanced around. “Where’s my daughter? Out tending the horses?”

“Yes, and Boots is with her. She offered
to come by this morning and teach your daughter how to braid the pony’s mane. But just why your daughter would want to do that, I don’t know.”

Ella remembered the horse shows her daughter had wanted to enter and knew the answer.

Hearing a car pulling up and the sound of an ear-splitting backfire, Ella knew instantly that Lena Clani had arrived to pick up her granddaughter, Boots.

“Ask her in,
Mom. You know you miss her,” Ella said softly.

“My former friend and I have nothing to say to each other.” Her tone left no room for argument.

“I’m going outside to talk to my daughter,” Ella said, grabbing another cookie.

“Take one for her, but don’t let her feed it to that pony.”

Ella smiled. Dawn would sneak Wind all kinds of treats and, surprisingly enough, the pony thrived on them. Good
thing that, by and large, they had good, natural, and healthy foods around.

As Ella stepped out the back door Boots hurried over to join her. “I’d like to talk to you. Do you have a minute?”

“Sure. What’s up?” Ella asked.

“My grandmother’s health is not good. She had a Sing done, but she refuses to go to the hospital. She’s lost so much weight, too! I don’t think she’s going to be with us much
longer,” Boots said in a somber voice.

“Boots, I’m so sorry!” Ella said, meaning every word. Boots had lost her own mother just last year. “What can I do?”

“Talk to your mother. My grandmother and your mother were good friends for such a long time, and I know they still love each other. Pride’s the only thing that’s keeping them apart.”

“The problem is that they’re both convinced they were
right,” Ella said slowly. “But I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks,” Boots answered. “I don’t want my grandmother to face this illness without her best friend at her side. It’ll be hard enough for her as it is.”

Before she could say anything more, Dawn ran up onto the porch and gave her mother a hug.
“Shimá,
you’re home!”

“Hey, sweetie.” Ella handed her the cookie. “This is from your grandmother.
I’ll meet you inside in a minute, okay?”

As Dawn raced happily into the house, Ella walked with Boots through the covered patio area to the front, where Lena was parked. She wanted to see Lena for herself and make sure Boots wasn’t overreacting. Ella wasn’t sure what she’d expected but Lena’s gaunt face came as a total shock. From what she could see, Lena had lost a good twenty pounds, and she’d
never been a heavy woman.

Lena greeted Ella with excessive courtesy, then looked at Boots. “We have to go. It’s getting late.”

Boots looked back at Ella, and with pleading eyes conveyed more love and worry than Ella had thought possible. Ella’s stomach tightened. There was no doubt in her mind that Lena was extremely ill.

When she returned to the kitchen, her mother was nowhere to be found.
Dawn came in a second later and grabbed another cookie from the plate.

“Where’s your
shimasání?”
Ella asked, taking another cookie for herself.

“She always goes to her room when her former friend comes to pick up Boots,” Dawn said softly, using the same
term for Lena that Rose did. “Sometimes she cries, Mom.
Shimasání’s
really sad. I asked Boots to bring
Shimasání’s
friend inside to visit, but
she won’t. Boots says they have to work out their problems by themselves.”

“Boots is right. You can’t make that decision for them.”

“But
Shimasání
really misses her!”

“I know. Let me see what I can do.” Ella said, giving her daughter an encouraging smile.

When Dawn went to play with her computer, Ella walked down the hall leading to her mother’s side of the house. She found Rose in her bedroom,
dusting. Rose glanced up and Ella saw that her mom had been crying.

Ella hugged her tightly. “I love you, Mom.”

Rose wiped away some tears, then stepped back. “Where’s your daughter? She loves those cookies and can’t be trusted for long around a full plate.”

“Let’s go into the kitchen then. We’ll keep an eye on the dish, and it’ll give us a chance to talk.”

“You look like you’ve had a very
hard morning,” Rose said, following her down the hall.

“Yeah, I did, but I’m okay. Right now I’m more worried about you.”

Rose sat by the kitchen table and, a minute later, Herman joined them. The scent of soap and the dampness of his hair indicated he’d been in the shower.

Ella looked at her mother’s husband as he took a cookie. She’d wanted to talk to her mother alone, but maybe this was
better. Herman was very perceptive, and undoubtedly knew what the continued estrangement between Rose and Lena was doing to his wife.

“I saw your former friend outside, and she looks very, very sick, Mom,” Ella said softly.

Rose’s eyes filled with tears. “I’ve heard. But she and I are no longer friends. I can’t help her.”

“Find a way to make up with her, wife,” Herman said, sitting down across
from them at the table. “None of us ever have as much time as we think we do.”

Rose shook her head. “I can’t forgive her for endangering my own daughter,” Rose said, looking at Herman. “Haven’t we talked about this often enough?”

“It’s true that she endangered lives,” Ella said, “but when people are angry and grieving over a loved one, they make mistakes. Her daughter was brutally murdered,
Mom. Fear and pain can distort even the gentlest heart.”

Rose shook her head, her expression set. Ella knew that it would take more than words to heal the rift between Rose and Lena. The truth was that she’d nearly been beaten up and shot because of Lena. Despite what she’d just said, Ella knew she’d never really trust that woman again. Back then, she’d come face to face with Lena’s dark side,
something she’d never even known existed. Rose had, too, and that was at the heart of the rift between them.

Ella was outside watching Dawn ride her pony around the small enclosure when her cell phone rang. Ford’s voice came over the speaker and Ella smiled. “It’s almost ten. I thought you’d be at services,” she said.

“We changed the time. We’re having early morning Navajo language services
these days,” Ford answered. “Are you free now? I’d like to talk to you in person. It’s about one of your cases.”

“I’m supposed to meet with Agent Blalock shortly, but I could meet you at the Totah Café for a quick cup of coffee,” she suggested knowing it was a halfway point between them.

“I’d rather keep this more private. Can you stop by my house?”

His tone alerted her. Something serious was
going on.
“Sure. Let me check in with Agent Blalock first, then I’ll head over to your place.”

Ella called Blalock and, after finding out that he’d be tied up for another hour, said good-bye to her family and set out to Ford’s place.

Ford lived outside the reservation in the small community of Waterflow, more of a historical location than a distinct entity nowadays. The next community down the road was Fruitland, followed by Kirtland, but there were no obvious boundaries along the river valley, an area once comprised mostly of farms and orchards.

A few years ago, Bilford Tome had opted
to buy his own home. Since no one really owned land on the reservation, he’d ended up here, almost a stone’s throw, literally, from the reservation borders. The Navajo language minister of The Good Shepherd Church shared his modest two bedroom home with his ninety-pound mixed-breed dog, Abednego. Ford loved the adopted stray as much as the animal loved him.

Ella knocked and Ford answered the
door, Abednego at his side holding a rawhide bone in his mouth. “Come in,” Ford said, motioning to her quickly.

Ella stepped into the warmth of his living room. Shrugging off her jacket, she followed the man and his dog to the kitchen. “All I’ve got is some decaffeinated coffee, but if you’re hungry, I’ll be glad to rustle up something more.”

She shook her head. “Coffee’s fine.”

He brought
two steaming mugs over to the table and took a seat. “I’ve heard quite a few rumors about the case you’re working on—the one involving the Benallys. Although my sources are far from reliable, something has been bugging me about the stories. Late last night I finally figured out what it was. The attacks on the Benallys seem…unfocused,” he said at last. “From what I’ve heard, everything has apparently
been well planned but the purpose of the attacks is unclear. Then there’s the attack on you and Dawn. Could someone be trying to distract you from something else that’s going on?”

That was what she liked most about Ford. Their minds ran along the same lines. “That’s what I’ve been thinking, too. We’re running in all directions but still have no idea what we’re really up against, or what the goals
of the bad guys are. It’s like dealing with the symptoms of a disease but not being able to find the cause.”

“What surprised me is that they actually endangered your daughter, Ella.”

Remembering the incident filled her with anger, but she pushed it back. Emotions only muddled up her thinking and that was the last thing she needed now. “That one stunt guaranteed them a bad enemy—me.”

Ford nodded.
“My point exactly. They struck at your
emotions.
But to what end? That’s the real question.”

Ella told Ford about the phone calls her team had received, then continued. “At first I thought the Fierce Ones were behind all the incidents—retribution because I went after whoever had nearly beaten Marilyn Charley to death. But now, I’m just not sure.”