Earthway (17 page)

“EOD is as dangerous as it gets. Any idea why she chose that?”

“Her dad. He worked EOD for the Albuquerque Police Department. She idolized him. She always wanted to be just like him.”

“Idolized? Past tense?”

“He died several years ago of a particularly nasty form of cancer. It was
a long, hard process and it changed her. She saw firsthand that you can’t run from death, and the ‘natural’ way isn’t always the best road out. According to her supervisors, she’s not reckless or suicidal, but she doesn’t hesitate to do whatever has to be done. On her application she wrote that the danger and the uncertainty of her work makes her appreciate life more.”

“That, I get.” The reason
Ella never took the time she spent with Dawn for granted was because of the nature of her job. In some ways, she breathed more into one afternoon with her daughter than some parents shared in a lifetime.

Big Ed looked up a telephone number, then glanced at Ella. “I’m going to call the fire marshal now. Could you be ready to roll if I get things set up right away? I’ll have better luck if I don’t
give him too much time to think about it.”

“The sooner, the better,” she said.

“Good.” Big Ed picked up the phone and dialed.

Ella waited as he spoke on the phone. After the usual greetings, Big Ed got down to business. “I need a favor,” he said, providing details of what he needed and the urgent timeline. “Can you do this for me? I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

There was a brief silence,
then Big Ed gave Ella a thumbs-up and slid over a piece of paper with Mike’s telephone number. “Thanks, Mike. I appreciate it. Around noon is perfect,” he said. “Come for dinner tonight. I’ll have Claire fix her special green chile stew.”

Ella returned to her office moments later. As she gave Justine and Anna the details, Justine sorted the skeleton keys they’d need to gain access to Dr. Lee’s
office and desk drawers.

“It’s going down within the hour, so let’s roll,” Ella said. As an afterthought, she looked at Anna and added, “Follow us there in your own vehicle. I don’t want to take a chance that Dr. Lee will see all of us together.”

After getting an update on Dr. Lee’s whereabouts from Marianna, Ella gave Anna additional information, including directions to Dr. Lee’s classroom.
“She’s supposed to be teaching a woman’s studies class this morning, then making herself available to students for a half hour in her office. Once she’s back in her office, the fire marshal, with administrative backing, will drop by and pull her out for a quick security review. When she leaves, keep her in your sight. Justine and I will search her office and car. Once Dr. Lee’s done with the fire
marshal, send us the text message ‘go.’ ”

“Piece of cake.”

“And Anna? Make sure you keep your service weapon and badge out of sight,” Ella said, gesturing to her waist.

“Not a problem. I’ll also loosen my hair. When it’s not braided like it is now, it’s down to my waist. People tend to see the hair, not me or my face.”

Ella nodded in approval. “Good thinking.”

With a plan ready, Ella and
Justine drove together to campus. “What would you rather do, search Dr. Lee’s office or car?” Ella asked.

“I’ll take her car,” Justine said. “I brought a GPS tracker that I’d like to place somewhere on her vehicle. It may help us along the way.”

“Go ahead, but hide it well. Jane’s sharp. Remember that she found the device Ford dropped into her purse.”

They were heading toward the building when
Ella’s phone vibrated, and Officer Talk’s voice came through clearly.

“We have a hitch. Instead of going to her office, the subject dismissed her class, then took off across campus. Her TA, Mona Tso, is still in the room—the same place where Dr. Lee’s next class will be held. Looks like Mona is sharing lunch or whatever with an ex-military looking guy in his forties. Guy was waiting around, bucket
of chicken under his arm, and Mona sneaked him in right after her boss left. I followed Dr. Lee, but she might have made me.”

“Where’s she at now?” Ella asked.

“Near the student union building, the north end. It’s lunch time, and the commons is really crowded right now. Maybe she’s just picking up a salad or sandwich. She has her purse with her.”

“You’d think she’d send her teaching assistant
to pick up snacks. Or maybe Jane knows about Mona’s boyfriend and wanted to give them some privacy. Stay back, but keep her under surveillance. I’ll be there and take over for you in another four or five minutes.”

Hanging up, she briefed Justine. “We’ll have to put the fire marshal on hold,” Ella added, then called Mike’s number and gave him a quick update.

Soon Justine, who’d been driving,
pulled over, and Ella got out. As she hurried across the campus toward the student union building, she saw that it was just as crowded as Marianna had said. After checking in with the younger officer,
Ella spotted Dr. Lee in the lobby outside the dining hall.

“I’ve got her,” Ella said, then maintaining visual contact, followed her without narrowing the distance between them. Twice she saw Dr.
Lee get jostled by the crowd, and another time, the professor bumped into a young man leaving the building. But as the crowd thickened even more, Ella lost sight of Dr. Lee altogether.

Common sense told her to watch the food line, but she still couldn’t locate Dr. Lee. Five minutes later, when Ella spotted her again, Dr. Lee was looking in her purse as she exited the building.

Ella followed,
checking her watch. They were running out of time to carry out the plan before Dr. Lee began her next class. Soon Dr. Lee entered the women’s studies building and headed back to her classroom. Mona greeted her at the open door. The boyfriend was nowhere in sight, so he must have taken off already.

Ella remained at the opposite end of the hall. She knew in her gut that she’d missed something important,
but before she could give it more thought, her phone rang. It was Anna Bekis.

“What now, Investigator Clah?” Anna asked. “Do we still have time to do this?”

“Doesn’t look like it. Hang tight, and we’ll give it another shot at the end of her next class. If she doesn’t return to her office then, we may have to give up on the purse and settle on an office search instead,” Ella said. “Stay in touch
and keep your eyes open.”

“Okay,” Anna said, then ended the call.

Ella called the fire marshal and then Justine, informing them of the change in plans. Then she headed for the campus security office. There were security cameras at the student union, so maybe Dr. Lee’s activities in the dining hall had been recorded.

The woman in the blue-and-white uniform behind the desk, Vera Hunt, had been
a classmate of Ella’s back at Shiprock High. Vera had served on the tribal PD for ten years, too, before coming to work on campus.

Hearing Ella’s knock on her open door, Vera looked up from her paperwork and smiled brightly. “Hey, Ella, I’m glad to see you. I’m just sorry that it had to take a campus bomb attack to bring us together again. That’s why you’re here, right?”

“Yeah, I’m following
up on a few details,” she replied, unable to provide any other information.

“How about a cup of cocoa while we conduct business?” Vera reached for a big thermos.

Ella sat and accepted the cup of hot chocolate Vera offered her. “Hey, this is
seriously good
!” Ella said after taking a sip.

“I’ve been experimenting with the mix for years. It gets cold in this office, but I can’t push the temp up
because of the computer equipment. Since I can’t stand coffee. . . .” She sat on the corner of her desk and faced Ella. “So how can I help you?”

“I’d like to take a look at the student union building’s security video.”

“I gave a copy of that to Justine the night of the big blast,” Vera replied.

“I need the video for today. It’s just follow-up,” Ella responded, deliberately being vague.

“You’ve
got it, but I should warn you that our cameras are completely inadequate and the VCRs are ancient. I’ve told administration that we need better equipment, but they’re always more worried about their budget. Maybe they’ll come up with the money now that we’ve had a bomb attack.”

She walked around her desk. “What part of the student union building do you want to focus on—the entrance and foyer,
or the interior?”

“The interior.”

Vera went to the machines in the next room and came back out with two videotapes. Placing the first in the VCR in her office, she turned on the monitor and ran the footage.

The cameras weren’t that bad, but the videotape itself had obviously been recorded over many times and was grainy. This particular camera focused on the lunch line from the east side. The
images recorded were for the span of time Ella had lost sight of Jane. Ella caught a glimpse of Jane bumping into two different people—or maybe they’d bumped into her. It was impossible to tell.

“Can you zoom in on this person?” Ella pointed to the professor, who was in profile.

“That’s Dr. Jane Lee, women’s studies. She’s your mark?”

Ella nodded. “But keep that to yourself, okay? It’s important.”

“I understand.”

“Let me see the other tape,” Ella said. “That should show the reverse angle, right?”

“It does.” Vera loaded the second video, then forwarded it to the same time period.

“There, regular speed please,” Ella said.

A man wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses approached Dr. Lee, but he kept his face down, making it impossible to identify him. Vera worked with the machine, trying
to lighten the image, but nothing helped. The only thing Ella managed to see clearly was the distinctive name brand on the ammunition box Dr. Lee took from the man and quickly slipped into her purse. From its size and shape, it looked like rifle rather than pistol rounds, though it could have been a mix.

Legal ammunition sales were always recorded, and Jake Rowley hadn’t mentioned selling any
ammo to Jane, just the pistol and rifle. Whether purposely or not, Dr. Lee had managed to prevent both transactions from being documented, at least on paper.

“Sorry we can’t get a better look at the man who handed the box of bullets to Dr. Lee,” Vera said finally. “He tucked his chin down at the wrong moment.”

Or the right one, Ella mused. “Any idea who he is?”

“None.”

“He obviously knew about
the cameras. . . . Could he be part of your security team? Except for the position of his head, he walked like a cop—or ex-military.”

Vera’s eyebrows shot up, but she recovered quickly and focused on the screen. “I’ve got two security guards who might fit the general description of the man on the video, but one’s not here today. His wife’s having a baby and he’s at the hospital with her, which
should be easy enough to verify.”

“And the other?”

“He’s on campus, but our people are always in uniform, Ella, like I am—white shirt and badge, blue pants, and black shoes,” she added, pointing to each.

“Can you verify his activities?”

“Let me find out where he was about that time,” Vera answered, then checked her log books. “He was answering a call at the administration building. One of
the secretaries reported money missing from a cash box. She’d left the drawer unlocked and when she came back from lunch, the cash was gone.”

Ella sighed. Another dead end. But at least they had an image. Maybe someone else could ID him.

“Have your security people view these tapes and see if anyone can ID this guy. But don’t let
anyone
outside your office know what you’re doing. Secrecy’s our
only advantage.”

“You’ve got it.”

Ella stood up. “You’re a good cop, Vera. If you should ever want to come back to the department, give me a call.”

“Thanks, but no thanks. I’m where I belong,” Vera said. “After I was nearly killed by that
glonnie
I pulled over,” she
said, using a common Navajo expression for drunk, “I didn’t have it in me anymore. On campus I deal with people who are looking
forward to life, not trying to escape from it. As a cop, I saw too much despair. Here I see hope, and futures in the making.”

Ella understood. There’d been times when she’d thought that law enforcement would eat her up from the inside out. The difference between them was that she could no more leave the department than she could will herself not to take her next breath. Police work was too much
a part of who she was.

Ella checked her watch. It was almost time for the fire marshal to make his move. She’d have to get in place quickly. “Thanks for your help.”

On her way to the lobby of the administration building, Ella asked Marianna for an update on Dr. Lee’s whereabouts.

“She’s heading to her office—finally. I’ve called Mike and Officer Bekis. Both are ready.”

“Stay with her until
she’s inside her office, then leave the area. I’ll be close enough by then to see when Mike Martinez pulls her out into the lobby,” Ella said. “But if you see that she’s not going to make it to her office for whatever reason, call me immediately.”

Five minutes later, Ella watched from an adjacent corridor as the fire marshal led Dr. Lee and two other professors into the lobby. Unfortunately,
Dr. Lee, who hadn’t seemed at all happy about the interruption, had decided to take her purse with her.

Ella nodded to Anna, who was reading a newspaper across the lobby, then proceeded down the hall in the direction of the offices that had just been vacated.

Standing in front of Dr. Lee’s office, Ella looked down at the lock, noted the manufacturer, and brought out two master keys. The second
one opened the door and she slipped inside, locking it behind her.

There were papers and mail in two stacking baskets on Dr. Lee’s desk, and Ella took a quick look through it all. Finding nothing of interest, she moved behind the professor’s desk and looked at the brand name on the locked, central drawer. This time, it took three attempts to find the right key.

Just as she opened the drawer,
there was a knock at the door. “Dr. Lee?”

Ella didn’t recognize the voice—a young woman’s—probably a student. Ella froze, happy that the walls were solid and there were no windows.