Earthway (35 page)

“Get me his address,” Ella said.

A moment later Ford read an address off the screen while Ella wrote it down. She’d need Blalock on this, since it was off the reservation. “One more thing,” she added.
“See what you can get me on Henderson Whitefeather.”

Although Ford tried several searches, there was little on Whitefeather online, other than a few newspaper articles where he’d been mentioned as a deputy at an accident or arrest.

“I can hack into the county’s files,” Teeny suggested, “but it’ll take time. The sheriff’s department has a really good firewall.”

“And you would know because .
 . .? Never mind, go for it. But be careful. If Whitefeather hears about it and spooks, I have a feeling we’ll lose him for good,” Ella said.

“If he’s
not
involved and hears about it, there’ll be all hell to pay with the county,” Teeny added. “But I’ll take precautions.”

“There’s another way to go about this if all you want is his background,” Ford said. “I have a facial recognition program the
Bureau gave me. That could uncover a great deal of information based on his photo alone. I might be able to remember where I met him, too, by the time I’m through.”

“Go for it,” Ella said.

Ella waited as Ford accessed Ella’s terminal at work, using her password, then retrieved the photo she’d stored there.

“How long does it take?” Ella asked Ford as he brought up the file and began to run the
program.

“Have a cup of coffee with us,” Ford suggested. “If by the time we’re finished, this hasn’t come up with something, then it’s going to take some serious time.”

“I’ll keep watch. You guys go ahead,” Teeny said, his attention riveted to the screen.

Ford led her to the coffee machine Teeny had set up. “You
place a coffee packet in the center and you get a perfect cup every time,” he explained.
“There are tea and cocoa packets available, too, and even decaf for sissies. It’s really a wonderful gadget, but I don’t think our church can afford it.”

Ella accepted the coffee he made for her with a “Thanks.”

He put in a new packet and made himself a quick cup. “Am I losing you?” he asked, glancing over.

Ella blinked. “No, I get the packet idea. It’s like the vendor at the station, but more
hands-on.”

“No, I’m talking about man to woman,” he said.

Ella reached out and placed her hand on his cheek. “I want
more
, not less,” she murmured.

“So do I,” he admitted. “But we’ve been through this.”

Ella sighed. “I won’t marry you just because I want to make love to you,” she said, moving away from him.

Ford started to say something, but Teeny came in just then.

“Guys, come see this.”

Ella hurried back into the main room, Ford a step behind her. The program had found a match. Ella looked at Henderson Whitefeather’s photo, but the name listed below was Ernest Blackwater. The biographical information showed Blackwater, a Navajo, had worked at a tribal casino in California.

“His father died of acute radiation poisoning contracted while working in the uranium mines here on the
Rez,” Teeny said, skimming faster than Ella.

“I think we just found our motive,” Ella said. “All things considered, he’s got a really good reason for wanting to keep anything nuclear off the Rez.”

“
Now
I remember where I met him before,” Ford said, studying one of the images on the screen. “He was Ernest Blackwater to me. I was working undercover at the time with the FBI as a tribal gaming consultant—looking
for corruption.”

“Blackwater must have seen you or your photo and realized that the second you remembered
him
, his new identity would be compromised—along with whatever else he was planning. As a sheriff’s deputy working the reservation borders, it wouldn’t have been hard for him to find out you did consulting work for the Navajo Tribal Police. He had two reasons to be gunning for you.”

“But
even if we assume he’s working with Dr. Lee and John Baker, what exactly are they hoping to accomplish?” Teeny asked. “Do they want to prevent the power plant from ever becoming operable, or will they wait until test operations begin, then try to cause a major accident that’ll force it to shut down?”

“I don’t see how they could assault the place, not without a dozen more just like them and a
lot more firepower. Even then, their chances are slim. I’m sure they have a different point of attack,” Ella said. “And we need to find out what that is.”

“We’ll keep digging through the e-mails, and see what we can come up with,” Ford said.

“I’ll concentrate on Baker,” Ella said. “I think he killed Haske and, with luck, he’ll lead me to the others.”

“That’ll take too much time,” Teeny pointed
out. “The reactor vessel is scheduled to be delivered and installed in just a few days. That will be their last opportunity to act before everything’s sealed up tight inside their grounds.”

“The design of the power plant and the use of helium coolant would eliminate the chances of a catastrophic accident like Chernobyl,” Ford said. “There’s a dome to seal off any accidental radiation leaks, too,
and a fire suppression system that cuts off all the oxygen. Yet the facility’s opening could be indefinitely delayed if they were able to damage the reactor bottle before it’s put into place.”

“The question is, other than step up security on the bottle and pellet delivery convoy, how do we stop something
we haven’t quite nailed down yet? All we have are guesses,” Ella mused.

“The time for playing
it safe is long past,” Ford said. “We know at least three members of the cell. If they want me so bad, I need to set myself up as a target and force them to take action,” he said, then mapped out his plan.

Ella listened, liking what he was saying less and less. When Ford finished, she remained silent.

“It’s our only viable option,” Ford added.

“All right,” she said at last. “I’ll talk to Big
Ed and, providing he okays this, we’ll get things rolling tomorrow. But no matter how well we plan, Ford, they might make their move
before
we can react,” she said, meeting his gaze.

“Then that’s the way it is. By keeping innocent people from being injured by these terrorists, I’m honoring my Lord’s commandment to love my neighbor as myself. Your job is to restore harmony, Ella, but
this
is the
essence of what I do.”

“I wish I could do or say something to change your mind,” she said.

“I’ve often felt the same way about your police work,” he answered gently. “But we each have to follow our own path.”

Ella nodded, then bracing herself, added, “Teeny, we need to borrow some of your equipment. It’s better than what we have in the department.”

E
lla arrived home late, and, though exhausted, she doubted she’d get much sleep tonight. As she sat at the dining table alone, sipping a hot cup of her mother’s special herbal tea, she could just make out Rose’s voice speaking softly with Herman in the next room.

Although it was close to midnight and well past her mother’s usual bedtime, Rose joined
Ella moments later. “Your daughter called earlier. She wants to stay with her father a few extra days. I told her you’d be home late, but that I’d ask.”

The fact that Dawn didn’t seem to be at all homesick niggled at Ella. Sensing that, Rose smiled.

“You were the same way. You loved whatever was new and different. Something in you needed adventure.”

Ella smiled, remembering their many arguments.
As far as Ella could remember, she’d always welcomed any excuse to leave the Rez. Where she went hadn’t been nearly as important to her as the chance to explore unfamiliar ground.

“Your daughter needs you to make the right decision for her, even if she doesn’t like what you decide,” Rose said softly. “That’s all part of being her mom.”

“I’m not sure what’s right anymore—for her, or me,” Ella
said, running a hand through her hair.

“Many Navajos grow up away from our Sacred Mountains. There are more opportunities on the outside. But a lot of our young people end up getting lost outside our borders. They learn Anglo ways, and soon start thinking of themselves as Anglo,” Rose said. “Eventually, they find out the hard way that no matter how well they speak, or how they dress, they’ll
never quite belong. Only then do they try to reconnect with the tribe. But by that time, they often find they don’t feel at home here either. The end result is that they belong nowhere, and they spend their lives trying to understand why.”

“Jobs are few and far between here. My daughter will need all the advantages she can get to find her own way in the world. This will always be her home, but
her future may lie outside our borders.”

“Our tribe makes us rich in ways that the outside world can’t even begin to understand. What else do you want for her? A big bank account? At the end of the day, what comfort is there in that?”

“I want her to have it all, Mom—a future where she’ll never have to worry about money, and the strength that comes from family. I just don’t know how to make sure
she gets that. I received an e-mail from a representative of the security firm and they want to fly me to Washington and see their operation for myself. I told him I’d be giving him a call in a few days to at least discuss the job offer.”

She’d expected her mother to argue, or maybe even get mad, but instead, Rose leaned back in her chair and regarded her thoughtfully. “You’re worried about how
this would change all of our lives. Am I right?”

When Ella didn’t answer, Rose stood up. “We’re both tired. Let’s get some sleep. There’s always tomorrow.”

“Before you go, how’s your husband?” Ella asked her.

Rose’s expression became guarded. “He hasn’t said anything to me yet. If he doesn’t soon, I’ll have to convince him that I need to know what’s going on. I can deal with whatever it is,
but not knowing . . .”

“Is the worst,” Ella agreed, then hugged her mother tightly. “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too, daughter.”

Ella watched her mother go down the hall, then stood and rinsed out her cup in the sink. Leaving her pistol and gear in its usual place, she went to her room. Ella checked for e-mails from Dawn and finding none, checked her phone messages. There was one call. Listening
to her daughter’s excited voice telling her all about her day, Ella smiled. Life was a lot less complicated when you were ten years old.

Too tired to undress, Ella lay back on the bed, closed her eyes and soon drifted off to a restless sleep.

Ella woke up before sunrise, bathed in sweat. She’d dreamed of a barren canyon covered with blood. Death had been everywhere, consuming the land, dogging
her footsteps.

She got up slowly. An Earthway Sing was said to counteract bad dreams involving the land, but her nightmares were the price of spilt blood. She’d need to have an Enemy Way done first, and an Earthway later.

Sometime during the past several years she’d moved closer to her mother’s Traditionalist beliefs. Though she was still a skeptic, Ella couldn’t argue with results. Over time,
she’d stopped trying to explain why certain things attributed to The Way actually worked. Knowing that they did was enough.

Ella made herself a quick breakfast, scrambling some fresh eggs and pouring some of her mother’s perfectly seasoned chile sauce over them. It was fast, but indescribably delicious. After filling a thermos with coffee, she set out.

By the time she walked inside the station
shortly after seven, Blalock was already there, and to her surprise, so were Teeny and Ford.

“Why did you guys leave the compound before we had things in place?” Ella demanded, glaring at Teeny, then looking at Ford.

“We took precautions, but I wanted to send the message that the tide has turned,” Ford responded. “They should be afraid of
me
, not vice-versa.”

“You should have waited,” Ella
argued. “But it’s too late now. Let’s go see Big Ed.”

Ella gathered Neskahi, Justine, and Anna, and they all went to the chief’s office. Marianna was on surveillance duty.

Once inside Big Ed’s office, Ella gave him the highlights of their plan, which included Ford paying Dr. Lee a visit and goading her into action. “I admit it’s extremely dangerous. Too many things can go wrong, like Reverend
Tome getting killed before we can intervene. But things are coming to a head. We can’t interfere with tribal plans to install the reactor bottle, and if we arrest the players we know about, others could slip through our fingers with whatever explosives and resources they’ve gathered. Ford’s plan is our best option,” she concluded.

“But you’ll be keeping Reverend Tome under tight surveillance?”
Big Ed asked.

“Absolutely,” Ella answered. “What we need to decide now is where he’ll go
after
his meeting. That’s when he’ll be the most vulnerable. We have to find a secure place, a location that’ll seem natural for him to go to but won’t endanger anyone else. It can’t be his church, or the campus, for example.”

“I’ve been giving that some thought,” Teeny said quietly. “Your home is the perfect
place. Your daughter’s visiting her father, right?”