Wind Spirit [Ella Clah 10] (29 page)

“Yes, thanks. Come right after sundown so you can get a good look at the layout before it gets completely dark and be introduced to the dog and pony. If I’m not there, Mom should be. And if there’s ever any problem while you or the other officer are on watch, call me immediately. I’ll be your backup.”

“Sounds good. Shall I have my relief officer stay until
sunrise? That way if anyone plans something while you’re still half asleep, he’ll be around.”

“Sounds terrific. But I want you and him to keep a low profile. Word travels fast around here and I’d rather not tip off whoever’s been staking out my place.”

“Not a problem. We’ll work it like a stakeout, but use our personal vehicles, of course.”

As Ella hung up, she felt much better knowing that her home would be covered. During the day the house was filled with activity. Others working with her mother on the plant survey and environmental issues would drop by, and Boots, more often than not, was there, too. Nights were a different story. Rose had meetings two or three times a week. As for herself, Ella knew that now that she was working a case, she could count on being late almost daily. That meant that Boots would be alone with Dawn a lot. With Emily or another deputy there to watch over them, she’d breathe easier.

Ella picked up her keys and headed outside to her replacement vehicle. She’d pay Wilson Joe a visit next. She needed to learn more about Professor Garnenez’s activities and find someone who could keep tabs on what he was saying and doing around campus.

Ella reached her car, opened the door, and froze. On the driver’s seat was a knife. The blade was crude and white, fashioned out of bone—a skinwalker weapon.

Ella reached for her latex gloves, then picked it up and studied it more closely. Just then, Big Ed, who’d come out of the building, walked by. Seeing what was in her hand, he stopped for a look.

“Shorty, what the heck are you doing with that?”

Ella glanced up, realizing how it looked, and called his attention to her latex gloves. “I’m hoping we can get some prints so I can properly thank whoever left me this little gift.”

An hour later Justine and Ella were with the chief in his office. Justine looked worried, the chief angry, and Ella was trying not to let either guess how unsettling this had been for her.

“I found no prints at all. Everything was so clean it all but sparkled,” Justine said. “I even checked the door handle and the hood right above the door, since people often rest their hands there when they’re putting something inside. But I struck out.”

“If anyone had seen that thing in my unit they would have assumed it belonged to me,” Ella said through clenched teeth.

“Did you leave the vehicle unlocked?” Big Ed asked.

“It doesn’t lock properly. Larry warned me about that,” Ella answered.

“And by now everyone knows that the green SUV is your replacement vehicle, so that won’t tell us anything,” Justine said.

“We’re stuck, Shorty. No crime was committed. They didn’t take anything
out
, they just left something behind. And that knife isn’t contraband, though here on the Rez it should be.”

“Tache asked around, but no one saw anything unusual,” Justine said. “I wish we could afford a surveillance system for the parking lot.”

“It took a lot of guts to do this in the middle of the day,” the chief growled.

“Agreed,” Ella answered, “though with the door unlocked it wouldn’t take long.”

“Shorty, I hate to say this, but you better start watching your back even here at the station, at least until we know what’s going on.”

“I just had an interesting thought,” Ella said. “Maybe this wasn’t left by someone trying to frame me. Maybe it’s a recruitment invitation. If they think I’m mostly evil now . . .”

“The fact that it happened here on our lot makes that even worse news,” Big Ed answered.

Ella drove home slowly, needing to get her thoughts in order. She’d been working long hours lately so taking an hour or so off during the day wasn’t a problem.

Today was an in-service day for teachers, so she knew that Boots and Dawn would both be at the house now. As she walked in, Rose was talking to someone on the phone, but her mother pointed to Herman Cloud’s metal detector, which was standing in the corner, and gave her a thumbs-up. Apparently no more traps had been found. Ella waved at her, then went outside to join her daughter who was riding under Boots’s supervision.

At Dawn’s insistence Ella took over for Boots. Taking the reins, she led the pony out of the arena while Dawn continued to ride him. This was a special treat that Dawn was not allowed to attempt on her own under any circumstances. No matter how gentle a horse or pony seemed to be, they were basically unpredictable animals, especially outside the corral where the animal was bound to encounter more distractions. Where Dawn was concerned, she’d always err on the side of caution, and today, despite having had the area searched for traps, she kept a close eye out for anything unusual and avoided the regular paths.

Her daughter chattered nonstop, but Ella enjoyed hearing Dawn talk about her friends and her riding lessons. By the time they returned to the arena and Dawn helped her unsaddle the pony, Ella had finally managed to unwind.

Ella put away the saddle and tack, then stopped to speak to Boots while Dawn stood on her mounting block and brushed the pony’s mane.

“Would you keep her out here for a bit, Boots? I need to talk to Mom.”

“No problem. Getting your daughter to leave the pony and go back inside—that’s the hard part,” Boots said with a smile.

Ella found her mother in the living room at the table with a large map and notes and drawings she’d made as part of her plant survey work.

Ella sat on the sofa facing her. “Mom, I hate to interrupt you but I spoke to my sister-in-law earlier and there’s something I need to ask you.”

Rose looked up and nodded. “I know. Your brother warned me.”

“What’s been going on? Is there something I should know about?”

“Things have grown a little complicated lately, but as you say all the time about yourself, I’m handling it.”

“I’d still like to know what’s going on.”

“All right.” Rose pushed the papers aside and looked at Ella. “What my daughter-in-law was referring to is that I’m not really welcome at the Plant Watchers meetings anymore. I can attend, but everyone except my close friend keeps their distance from me.”

“Because of me?”

“Partly. But mostly it’s a protest. They strongly believe that I should have made you drop everything to find the Singer. In their defense I have to say that they’re truly worried. The stories . . .”

“I’m sorry about that. But I do have a full-time—actually more than full-time—job, Mom.”

“I know. As I said I can handle this problem with the Plant Watchers. I’m far more worried about your daughter. Today she told me that no one except her best friend will play with her anymore.”

Ella felt her chest tighten as she took in the news. She’d hoped her daughter and her friends would be too young to be affected by this. But at least Dawn’s best friend, Cecelia Light, came from a family of modernist Christians who wouldn’t be bothered by any of this. Her daughter would have an ally.

“Her friend’s parents have made it clear that they won’t condone superstition. Their church views what happened to you as a blessing,” Rose said. “But that isn’t true for every denomination, or even from family to family. It seems they’re as divided as we are.”

“I hate the idea of
anyone
giving my daughter a hard time.” Ella stood and paced around the room. “Mom, do you think I should move out for a while? Would it make life easier for you and my daughter?”

“It would make things easier here, yes, but it may create a new problem all its own. Some might think that I have finally come to believe the stories about you and have asked you to leave. There’s no telling what new trouble that’ll create.”

“Let me give this some thought. My daughter and you are my priorities now.”

Ella drove back to her office and sat down to go over the cases she was working on. Cardell Benally was still missing and, so far, nobody in the law enforcement community had turned up a thing. In the meantime, Lewis Hunt was stirring up whatever trouble he could, trying to build support for Cardell by convincing as many people as possible that Branch
had deserved what he’d gotten. Somehow she’d have to track Cardell down and bring him in, though there was a good chance the courts would let him off with a slap on the wrist and he would end up being a local hero. It was frustrating, and with all the trouble her own family was facing, Ella felt particularly wrung out.

As she sat there, she thought about Cardell and Hunt, then remembered how Hunt’s assistant had verified his statements without question earlier.

Hunt’s attempt to supply Cardell had failed, but she knew Hunt would try again, or find someone else to do it for him now that he knew he was being monitored. The woman assistant was a perfect candidate, especially if she was as loyal to Lewis as she had appeared to be earlier.

Ella stood, put away her paperwork, and headed for Hunt’s office. She’d keep an eye on Hunt’s assistant for a few hours after the woman got off work and see if her instincts were correct.

Five minutes later Ella parked down the street from Hunt’s office, close enough to watch the parking lot but far enough away to avoid being recognized. Pulling out her pair of binoculars, she waited, checking her watch from time to time. Hunt, who hadn’t been followed today after he was tracked to work, was at work, apparently. His own vehicle was still in the parking lot.

Not knowing exactly when the woman would leave, but figuring it would be between four-thirty and five, Ella was surprised when the woman came out at four-fifteen, in an apparent hurry, and left in a blue Chevy van.

Ella had no trouble at all following her down into the valley to the grocery store. Less than fifteen minutes had passed when the woman came out to her van, opened the side door, and transferred food items to a big black plastic trash bag she’d also purchased. Then she got inside the van
and drove east out of Shiprock down Highway 64.

Ella picked up her cell phone, dialed Justine, and filled her in.

“Do you want me to cover Lewis Hunt when he gets off work today?”

“Yes. You just made me realize that this woman might be creating a diversion to lure us away from Hunt. Get to his office as quickly as you can. Let’s see what he does. Stay in touch.”

Ella ended the call, then slowed as she saw the Chevy van pull off the highway and head down a dirt road leading toward the river. By now they were off the Rez, at least on this side of the river. But this was too good of an opportunity to pass up, and because Cardell Benally was being sought by more than one agency, there wouldn’t be any major jurisdictional problems. If she caught up with Cardell off Rez land, she’d hold him there and send for the county sheriff.

Ella pulled over to the side of the highway, then waited, watching the Chevy van through her binoculars as it crept down the road between two cornfields. The vehicle crossed over a high spot where a small irrigation ditch passed underneath in a culvert, then nearly disappeared from view as it turned to the left and proceeded down an apparent road beyond the built-up levee surrounding the ditch. Farther south was the river bosque. All Ella could see was the upper half of the van, but Ella knew the general layout of the area and was comfortable continuing slowly down the highway, driving parallel and to the rear of the woman’s vehicle.

Fields of alfalfa, corn, and melons, with the occasional apple orchard, lined this side of the river for a distance ranging from a quarter to a half mile until they reached the highway. Usually, access roads between fields made it possible to reach the bosque, the forested area of mostly cottonwoods, salt cedars, and willows lining the riverbanks.

The van stopped at one of the intersections between the
river road and a perpendicular track leading to the highway, so Ella stopped as well, reaching over for her binoculars.

Hunt’s assistant climbed out of the van, looked around, then quickly opened the van’s side door. Ella could see the black trash bag containing the food supplies in her hand as she walked around to the passenger side, disappearing for a moment on the bosque side of the road. Then the woman jogged back to the driver’s side, jumped inside, and drove off toward the highway.