Shooting Chant (7 page)

“Your medical records file is missing. Can you think of a reason someone might be interested in it?”

“No, not at all,”
she replied. “But I doubt they were after information on me. I may have just been part of a handful they picked up. They took fifteen. Maybe that was all they could carry.” That was the only explanation that made sense to her. She really didn’t see any reason to have to tell Big Ed right now that she was pregnant. There’d be time enough for that later.

“So, why the break-in, and the theft of
records? Any theories yet?” Big Ed clipped.

“Maybe blackmail, or a legal advantage? I was thinking of injury or paternity suits and that sort of thing. Getting privileged information could be handy for someone hoping to make a few dollars or stir up trouble.”

Big Ed nodded thoughtfully. “You may be right. Get in touch with Kevin Tolino and appraise him of what’s happening. I want the police
department’s role in this to be clear, because Myrna’s convinced the clinic could be sued by the patients whose records have been compromised. Those files are supposed to be confidential.”

“I’ll let Kevin know.”

“Keep pushing for answers on this burglary, Shorty. Senator Yellowhair will be calling me the second he learns his wife’s records were taken. I can already feel him breathing down my
neck.”

Ella left the office and went directly to her vehicle. She first tried to reach Kevin on her cell phone, but his secretary told her he was in court. Determined to have something new to report to Big Ed later, she drove over to her brother’s home, which was within a few miles of her mother’s, but farther back from the highway. Clifford, one of the tribe’s best-known medicine men, was always
in contact with The People and often knew things long before the police.

She drove across the juniper- and piñon-littered desert slowly and maneuvered down the last section of the meandering dirt track leading to his home. Clifford was outside the medicine hogan by the time she arrived. He’d undoubtedly heard the vehicle a mile or more away on the rough road and had stepped outside to see who
was approaching. He waited for her now in front of the wool blanket covering the entrance.

Ella parked, then went to join him as he waved for her to come inside.

“I’ve been expecting you,” he said, motioning for her to sit down on one of the sheepskin hides used as both cushion and blanket.

“You heard about the break-in at the clinic?”

“Yes, but there are more important things happening on
the Rez than that burglary. The traditionalists are saying that Anglo ways are undermining our tribe and they have started a movement to close the reservation to Anglos, except for tourists. They want companies like the ones that own the mines, and LabKote, ousted.”

“The
Dineh
need the jobs those companies bring, brother. Without work, many would have to take charity from the tribe or move off
the Navajo Nation in search of employment. The land can’t support everyone as farmers and herdsmen. Why can’t our traditionalists face up to that fact?”

He shook his head slowly. “What they see is our people losing track of who they are and becoming just like the Anglos, and that frightens them.”

“Change can be frightening,” she admitted.

“More so for the old ones. They feel as if their ways
and everything they value is becoming obsolete.” Clifford gave her a long, thoughtful look. “But this isn’t why you came here today, is it?”

“No, it’s not,” she admitted. “I need a favor. I’d like you to keep your eyes and ears open for me. I may need help to solve that break-in at the clinic. The privacy of many Navajos has been threatened.”

“I haven’t heard anything about that yet, but maybe
I will.”

“I’d also like for you to help me defuse another situation, brother. This business with the animals, which began with the agricultural society competition, is getting out of hand. Most of the victims have been progressives, and the circumstances strongly suggest traditionalists are behind these acts. You might as well know that I’m going to start rousting the people that are suspected
of being involved in the livestock killings. Maybe I can impress on them that what they’re doing is illegal, and that it’s helping no one.”

“I’ll do whatever I can to help you. I don’t like what’s happened anymore than you do,” Clifford said. “But I’d like you to do something for me.”

“Name it.”

“Mom wants us all to go to our family shrine tonight before supper. I know she’ll forgive you if
you can’t go, but I’d really like you to try and be there. This is her first long hike outdoors. She’ll be taking her cane, of course, but she’s worked really hard to get herself to this point. It’s her first sign of independence after almost an entire year of physical therapy. It would mean a great deal to her to have her two children beside her this evening.”

“I know and I’ll do my best to
be there.” Ella stared at the charcoal in the fire pit, trying to organize her thoughts. His mention of children had brought her thoughts back to her own pregnancy. “There’s something else I’ve been meaning to talk to you about,” she said slowly. With her own baby on the way, there were other matters she needed to pay closer attention to as well. “Do you remember the details of the legacy said to
be part of our family’s history?”

He nodded slowly. “How could I ever forget? Loretta and I are getting a lot of pressure from her family to have another child because of it. Many traditionalists feel it’s foolish and dangerous not to obey the requirement our ancestors set down for us to always have two children. They believe it could endanger our neighbors and maybe even the tribe.”

“But you
did have two kids,” Ella said softly, remembering Loretta’s first child, who was stillborn.

“The traditionalists who have spoken to me recently, and one is the grandmother of your lawyer friend, feel the legacy calls for two living children.” Clifford stared at the sand before him. “Be honest. Does it ever bother you knowing people are watching us—waiting to see if the legacy will hold true for
us?”

“I’ve never given it much thought. I’m not even sure what that legacy entails. Mom told me everything once, but it was a long time ago, and I don’t remember most of it. But since it’s something many of the traditionalists believe about us, and since I’m dealing with a lot of them now, I figured it was a good time to refresh my memory.”

It wasn’t the whole truth, but Clifford didn’t need
to know the rest yet. The real reason she wanted to know was because she remembered enough to know that the legacy centered on the children, and she needed to know about anything that might have an impact on her child. “Can you tell me what you know?” she pressed.

“Of course.” He started to say more when her cell phone rang.

Ella answered it and heard Justine’s voice. “I need to meet with you.
I’ve been processing the little evidence we managed to get at the burglary scene, and I’ve turned up something interesting.”

“Hold that thought,” she said, always uneasy about discussing sensitive business over any radio network. “We can meet at the Totah Cafe in half an hour. Can it wait until then?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

Ella looked back at her brother and saw the annoyance on his face. “I’m
sorry, but I can’t just turn off my phone.” She placed it back in her pocket. “Now tell me about the legacy.”

“It’s what’s at the root of the demand made on our family to always have two kids. You see, according to the legacy, there’s a very good chance one of us will be good and the other evil. Our family has been known for having special gifts, so the one who turns to evil can only be defeated
by the child that remains true to the tribe. One is needed to balance the other. Do you understand?”

“I understand, but I don’t believe it. For one, you’re not evil and neither am I,” she said flatly. “So much for that.”

“What
we
believe is not important. How some people will react to us and to our children because of it, is.”

He had a point and Ella knew it. “Tell me everything about this
legacy. I want all the details, particularly how it began. Maybe there’s a way to debunk it.”

Clifford stood and looked out the door. A figure, moving slowly, was about a hundred yards away, walking in their direction. “I’ve got a patient, sister. Our conversation will have to wait.”

Disappointed and frustrated by the unexpected interruption, Ella left and drove back to the highway. She was
on her way north toward the cafe when she saw Philip Cloud’s patrol unit ahead on the highway, going the same direction as she. The young officer had been her friend and a trusted ally for years. She knew that, as a source of information, he was completely reliable. She closed the distance between them, and used her spotlight to signal him. Seeing it, he pulled over to the side of the road.

Ella parked on the shoulder behind his vehicle and got out as Philip walked back to meet her. “I wanted a chance to talk to you privately,” Ella said. “I need your help.”

“You’ve got it,” Philip answered. “Just tell me what I can do.”

“Things have been very quiet these past few months. We haven’t had any burglaries for a while, except for a residential break-in now and then, which is normal.
Half of our people still don’t bother to lock their doors when they go out. But after the break-in at the clinic, and the livestock killings, I think we’re all going to need to stay sharp. Have you heard anything from the gangs, or are there any rumors going around that we should be paying attention to?”

“The gangs have been really quiet for the last nine or ten months. The few hardcore kids
left are staying in their own neighborhoods, and vandalism is way down. The Fierce Ones have been keeping an eye on them, I think, and have managed to intimidate the gang leaders. New kids aren’t being ranked in either, now that the Fierce Ones are also pressuring parents to control their kids.”

The secret vigilante group still made her nervous, but, so far, they’d been more of a help than a
hindrance. “Anything else? Anything at all?”

Philip shook his head. “The rains came in time this year, and people are busy with their harvest.”

“Have you heard anything that might give me a lead on that burglary at the clinic?”

“A friend of mine is a nurse there, and she says everyone is talking about it. The most interesting theories speculate that someone was either looking for information
to establish a paternity suit, or maybe catch a straying husband.”

For a moment she considered the possibility someone would try to blackmail her, but then discarded it. Her pregnancy would be common knowledge soon enough, and she intended to ask nothing of the baby’s father. He could remain completely anonymous if he chose. There would be speculation about his identity, of course, but children
were the property of the mother, from whom they would inherit someday.

“If you hear anything more let me know.”

“You’ve got it. I’ll put my brother on the alert, too. His patrol area covers the outlying districts where more of the traditionalists live and, as far as possible suspects go, they have my vote.”

“You’re thinking that the traditionalists might have targeted the clinic?” Ella really
hadn’t considered the possibility.

“They’re probably innocent, but, let’s face it, the clinic does represent the Anglo way of doing things. Our older people have always regarded modern medicine with suspicion.”

“Okay, let’s see if your brother Michael can get something more for me. And tell him to also report anything he hears about the problem over the animals that were part of the agricultural
society’s show.”

Ella climbed back inside her Jeep. She loved the excitement of searching for the leads that would solve a crime. It was like putting a vital puzzle together. Nothing could compare to fieldwork.

Of course, it wouldn’t be easy to remain a cop and raise a child, but other women cops had done it. She wouldn’t leave her job. The tribe needed her, and if she didn’t honor her duty,
she wouldn’t be much of a mom. If there was one thing she wanted to teach her daughter, it was the value of responsibility and of being true to herself.

Once it became obvious she was pregnant, she’d have to fight not to be relegated to a desk. Fortunately, she didn’t also have to worry that any stigma would be attached to an unwed mother on the Rez. Here, sex wasn’t linked to morals. It was
just a part of nature. Nature moved in harmony with its surroundings and what was part of nature was not to be condemned.

Still, the news was bound to have an effect on the baby’s father. Kevin Tolino was an extraordinary man, one who would do great things for the tribe if things went right for him. The problem was that his career ambitions included politics, and for that very reason she doubted
that he’d meet the news that she was pregnant with much enthusiasm. His aspirations had been a large part of the reason why they’d broken up. She couldn’t see herself as a politician’s wife. Now, if he acknowledged that he was the father, people would wonder why they hadn’t married. It was precisely the type of thing that could become an issue all by itself and cost him votes.

With effort, she
pushed aside those worries as she approached the Totah Cafe. Justine’s tribal unit was already parked outside. Ella went in and joined her at their favorite table on the south side, facing the mesa just above the river.

“What’s up?” Ella looked the menu over, hungry again. She was beginning to give new meaning to the phrase “eating for two.”

Ella ordered
huevos rancheros,
a mix of eggs and chile,
and extra sopaipillas, a delicious fried bread often eaten with honey, then found herself having a craving for milk again. She’d drunk more milk in the past few days than in the last two years.

Justine looked at her in surprise. “Wow, I guess you’re starving. Skip breakfast again?”

“I ate breakfast,” Ella clipped, in no mood to explain. “So, tell me what’s going on? What did you find out that
excited you so much?”

“I talked with Myrna for a long time this morning. It turned out that one of the staff here at the cafe found the clinic’s missing files in the Dumpster outside. They were in a plastic trash bag, and the only reason they were discovered is because the bag had been ripped open and the files were spilling out. Myrna thinks that they’re all there, but it may take a while to
sort them out.”