Earthway (22 page)

“You don’t want to eat inside?” she asked.

“Not tonight. Just park where we can see anyone who tries to come up to us. You and I made some enemies in that
dive, so the only way I’m going to be able to eat in peace is if we can watch our backs.”

Ella and Blalock were just about finished with their jumbo burgers and fries when Justine called. “I’ve got a few interesting things for you. First, Henry Mike. According to a source in town, a distant relative of his, he did move to Many Farms after his wife ducked out. But since then, his aunt back on
the New Mexico side of the Rez walked down into the desert to die. Now her home west of Sanostee is empty, so he may have decided to use it instead. A neighbor of the Mikes said Henry’s always had his eye on the place,
though he has to haul water, and the only heat comes from an old wood stove.”

Getting directions, Ella ended the call and glanced at Blalock. “We won’t get there for at least two
hours. The last ten or fifteen miles will be on crappy mountain roads—more like jeep trails than anything else. But the middle of the night is still a good time. We’ll catch him off guard.”

“Dawn’s even better on that score,” Blalock said, “and we’ll have the rising sun at our backs.”

Ella nodded slowly. He was right. The only reason she’d suggested tonight was because she really hadn’t wanted
to go home.

“All right Dwayne,” she agreed. “We’ll wait and set out at three a.m. I’ve got the four-wheel drive vehicle, so I’ll pick you up. Where you going to be, your apartment in Farmington?”

“No, let’s meet at my office. Drop me there now instead of at home so I can pick up my car. I’ll return to Shiprock in the wee hours and we’ll be able to shave a half hour off tomorrow’s travel time.
Okay?”

After Ella dropped Blalock off at his office, she headed to the tribal police station. Still wanting an excuse not to go home, she finished some overdue paperwork that had been on her desk for days.

An hour later, Ella stood and stretched. There were two more reports she still needed to read, but she was dead tired now and might miss something important. It was time to go.

By the time
she arrived home it was close to midnight, and the only greeting she’d expected was from the dog. But to her surprise, Rose was sitting in the living room, waiting.

“Mom? What are you still doing up?” Ella asked, knowing Rose was an early riser and usually in bed by nine-thirty.

“I wanted to speak to you, daughter.”

It was her tone that signaled trouble. Ella sat down and scratched Two behind
the ears, not interrupting her mother’s silence.

“I spoke to your daughter tonight,” Rose said at long last. “She sounds happy in the city and that disturbs me.”

“She loves being with her father, Mom, and she’s eager to experience new things. That’s all there is to that,” Ella said, trying to put a positive slant for her mother’s benefit.

“She told me that her father took her to see a girls’
school outside the capital, in Maryland. It was a beautiful country campus with a summer program, and she met some students her own age. She was the first Navajo the girls there had ever met. She said it was really cool. Those were her exact words, daughter.”

Ella swallowed back a flash of anger and forced her voice to remain even for her mother’s benefit. “I know that her father would like to
see her go to private school back East, but he shouldn’t have done this. He knows—or should know—that she’s much too young to be away from home full time.”

“Her father asked that you call him when you got home.”

“Did he give you a cut-off time? It’s late.”

“I asked him the same question, but he said for you to call no matter what time it was.”

Ella nodded, then went to her room, still feeling
the chill of Rose’s disappointment. This was one call she didn’t want to make in front of her mother.

Ella shut the bedroom door, then called. Kevin answered on the first ring. “I just got in,” she said, her tone guarded. “What’s going on?”

“Relax. It’s not bad news.”

She waited.

“Dawn called for you earlier and left a message. Then she tried again and managed to speak to your mom,” he said
pleasantly. “Have you checked your messages yet?”

“No. As I said, I just got home.” Ella looked at the answering machine on her desk and saw that the red light was blinking. “But I’ve already heard about her outing at that private school. You shouldn’t have done that.”

“She had a lot of fun, Ella, and the school is top-notch. There’s no harm in letting her see the options open to her.”

“It’s
not
an option. A girl her age needs to be with her mother.”

“Which brings me to the reason I wanted you to call me tonight. There’s a private corporation here in D.C. that’s looking to hire someone with your background and training. It’s a terrific opportunity, Ella, and you’d more than double your salary. You’d be investigating white-collar crime and doing background checks on potential employees
for businesses in the area. You’d have the challenges you need to be happy, but you wouldn’t have to be in the line of fire every day. That means our daughter wouldn’t have to worry every time you were late for dinner. The biggest plus of all is that Dawn would be able to attend one of the finest schools in the nation.”

Stunned by the news, Ella didn’t say anything.

“Did you hear me?” he asked,
laughing.

“I—” She swallowed hard. She wasn’t sure whether she should thank or shoot him. “What kind of a job did you say it was?” As the words left her mouth, she cringed. She’d worked hard to make a place for herself here at home. Why had she even asked such a question? The answer echoed in her mind—providing for her child, a better salary, better schools. . . .

“The company was formed by
three retired FBI agents and handles everything from industrial espionage to government security projects. Your work would be varied and interesting, and you’d be making a difference, Ella. The biggest difference, of course, is that you’d be earning a top-notch salary for a change.”

She started to argue that her present salary was more than adequate, but then stopped. Kevin knew better. New Mexico’s
salaries were among the lowest in the nation. But there were other considerations. “We have beautiful landscapes, abundant
sunshine, clear blue skies, and a home that’s paid for,” she argued. “Not to mention tribal health care.”

“You’d have even better health care here, and with the salary you’d be making, you could afford to live very comfortably,” he said, and quoted her a figure.

Ella heard
the number and although her thoughts were racing, she remained silent, too stunned to comment.

“And Dawn loves it here in D.C., too,” Kevin continued. “She wouldn’t miss the reservation all that much.”

“She’d miss her grandparents.”

“They could fly over. It would be a new experience for them, too. Or you could go home to visit. Weekend flights aren’t all that expensive with the corporate discount.”

Exhausted, Ella could barely process everything he’d thrown at her, but a sudden, disturbing thought renewed her energy. “You didn’t tell Dawn any of this, did you?”

There was a pause before he answered. “I haven’t spoken to her about this, but she may have put it together on her own. When I spoke to the former agent who planned to offer you the job, I thought Dawn was in her room. But as it
turned out, she was in the living room right next to my office.”

“You’re not that careless, Kevin. You’re a good lawyer, used to playing people. So save the excuses. Is that what her phone call was about?”

“No. She’d already spoken to Rose, but she’d wanted you to know all about her day, too. She really loved that school.”

Before Ella could argue further, Kevin continued. “This job offer could
open all kinds of doors for you, Ella. And it would give Dawn the kind of opportunities neither one of us ever had. Don’t decide now. Give yourself a few days and think about it.”

“I’ll be in touch,” she said and slammed the phone down hard.

She’d wanted to think about things a little more before going to sleep, but after a hot shower, exhaustion took its
toll. She took a few moments to hear
Dawn’s excited voice on the answering machine—twice—but then knew she had to call it a day. The second her head hit the pillow, the warm comfort of her bed led her into a welcoming void.

T
he alarm on Ella’s wristwatch went off at two-thirty a.m. She got out of bed and dressed quickly, grateful now for having taken her shower last night. Though still groggy, she moved noiselessly through the house and stopped by the kitchen to make herself some strong coffee. She downed the first cup quickly after cooling it with cream, then poured the
rest into a thermos, black.

Ella met Blalock at his office twenty minutes later. As she pulled up, he was standing beside his vehicle, waiting. It was three twenty-five, and the sky was bright with stars and a full moon.

“If my calculations are right, we’ll be there at around five,” Ella said. “What a way to start a Monday.”

“With luck, he’ll still be passed out, or nearly so,” Blalock said.

“Don’t count on anything being easy. Think the worst and it won’t take you by surprise,” she muttered.

“What’s eating you?” he said. “Something I should know about?”

She shook her head. “Nothing to do with the case.”

“If you need to talk, I’ll listen,” he said. “I know from our
conversation yesterday that
you
still have a life outside the job.”

Ella considered it. She did need a sounding board,
and some information. . . . “Have you heard anything about a new investigative firm in D.C. headed by former FBI agents?”

“Yeah,” he said, looking at her in surprise. “PPS—Personnel Profile Security. In fact, I’ve been offered a job with them once I retire. One of the men running it is John Blakely, my former SAC in Denver,” he said, meaning the Special Agent in Charge. “The work would put me
behind a desk, overseeing operations, but the pay . . .”

“Is fantastic.” Ella finished for him.

“Yeah, and I’d be getting my Bureau retirement check on top of that, too. The firm’s got so much business they’re thinking of expanding and setting up regional offices in Denver and L.A.” He paused. “But how did you find out about them?”

“I heard that I’m going to be offered a job.”

He stared at
her. “I didn’t realize your reputation had grown so much. Or did you know one of the agents from your days in the Bureau?”

“I know Blakely, but I have a feeling this was Kevin Tolino’s doing,” she said.

“Don’t sell yourself short,” he said. “I have a feeling it wouldn’t have been a hard sell at all. Ethnic diversification makes them look good in D.C., and would be a plus if they set up shop
in other major cities. Plus, it adds credibility to what they’re pitching—that there’s no case they can’t crack.”

“So you think I’d be the token Indian?”

“No, Blakely hires on talent and skills, not skin color,” he said flatly. “So, you gonna take it?”

“The salary they’re offering would tempt just about anyone with a pulse. And my kid seems to like D.C. and the advantages big-city living brings,”
she said. “But
I
have to be sure it’s the right step, and I’m not there yet.”

“You could really go places in a job like that, Clah,” he said.

“Is that about me—or you?” she asked, accurately reading the undertone in his voice.

He expelled his breath in a hiss. “It applies to both of us. For me, the real question is do I want to keep working after I retire? If I took this job, I could build
up a really impressive nest egg. Then, after a few years, I’d be free to do a lot of things I would have never been able to do on my pension alone.”

“Face it, Dwayne. You’re not the kind to retire anyway,” Ella said.

“Not completely, no,” he admitted after a brief pause. “The biggest draw for me is the type of work I was offered. I’m getting too old to be out in the field, chasing suspects down
dark alleys or into bars, you know? Sitting behind a desk, earning that kind of salary, might just the ticket for an old war horse like me.”

“If you want to continue to do investigative work, this is the perfect solution for you. But for me . . .”

“You actually like it here,” he said flatly.

“Yeah, I do. I’ve got a good life, and my daughter is well taken care of. She’s learning about our ways
firsthand, which is important to me—and will be important to her, too, someday. I’m afraid that outside our borders she’ll lose more than she gains.”

“Why don’t you talk to Dawn and tell her that? See what she says, then make up your mind. An offer like this one from PPS might only come once in a lifetime.”

“True, and I
will
be talking to her. But, ultimately, it’s got to be my decision. The
thing is, I don’t want to make a mistake I’ll end up regretting.”

“Then talk to Blakely or whoever makes the offer, and get all the details you can. Visit D.C. if it sounds promising, but
do nothing until you’re really sure. That’s the best advice I can give you.”

Ella had to concentrate on her driving as they left the main road, a narrow, gravel path that only gained the distinction when compared
to the two ruts they were on now. It was darker than black in the narrow canyon, and the pine trees at times brushed the sides of the car with a soft whisper.