Wind Spirit [Ella Clah 10] (40 page)

They arrived a short time later and Justine parked at one of the parking-lot barriers beside the attendant’s “island” in the middle of the pumps. As Ella reached for the door handle, her cell phone rang. Remaining where she was, she answered the call.

“Ella, this is Branch,” the caller said. “I met with Daniel and tried my level best to get him to come in and square things with you. But you were right about him. He’s gone off the deep end on some nut job vigilante crusade. He wants Benally and Hunt first and then he’s coming after you. Smart is more dangerous than those two jokers put together.”

“And you were the one to light the fuse. Where did you see him and when?” Ella snapped.

“Beside Highway Six-sixty-six where it passes by Table Mesa. While we were talking in the cab of his pickup, I managed to slip a global satellite positioning device under the seat. It’s a demo model I’d been carrying around in the trunk of my car that one of my old sponsors had loaned me for evaluation. The system works the same way as one I had installed in my Mercedes, so I know it’s reliable. You should be able to track him yourself with a computer from the Web site once you get the system’s code number,” he said, giving her the information she would need, including the passwords to get onto the Web site.

“I assume you’re still tracking him?”

“Of course. He’s been circling the area around the south end of the Hogback, east of Table Mesa, for a long time now. Once he headed back to the southwest and stopped by the store at Little Water. But by the time I got there he’d already moved back to the east—in the Burnham area. I spoke to Leroy Joe, the clerk at Little Water. Daniel bought some
heavy-duty rope there. From the map on my screen, right now he’s at the base of the Hogback near some old mines. My guess is that he’s found Cardell Benally, but I’ll follow him and verify it.”

“No, that’s too dangerous. Hang back. We’ll take it from here.”

“No way. This is a
story
, and I’m seeing it through. Something this big could get me back my show. Besides, I don’t want to be responsible for the murder of Cardell Benally—legally or morally. I hired Daniel to find him, not blow him away. I’ve got to see this through.”

Before Ella could argue, Branch hung up. “Damn!” Ella said, tossing the cell phone back on the seat.

“Hogback? You mean the north end near the river, or way down south past the Four Corners Power Plant?” Justine asked, only getting one side of the conversation.

“South, about fifteen miles from where Smiley lived. At least there’s no question of jurisdiction. Daniel Smart and Branch are definitely on the Rez,” Ella added quickly.

“Come on. We’ve got to get moving.” As they headed south on Highway 666, planning on joining up with reinforcements at Little Water, Ella notified the chief and made sure any patrolmen in that area would be on hand to provide backup.

“I’ll get you all the support possible,” Big Ed said, “though our closest officers right now are just north of Tohatchi and at the Two Gray Hills Chapter House. Sergeant Neskahi just left Shiprock and is en route.”

“Two more things,” Ella said slowly. “Have Neskahi pick up Garnenez at the college and bring him to the Little Water trading post. We’ll pick up the professor there. There’s going to be very iffy cell phone reception from here on out, and if there’s really a chance that Garnenez can get Smart to surrender peaceably, I think we owe it to ourselves to try.”

“Done. And the other?” Big Ed asked.

“I want someone to find Lewis Hunt and let him know he’s being watched. I believe he knows where Cardell is hiding, and I don’t want him to show up right in the middle of all this.”

“It’ll be done. But you watch yourself and your people down there, Shorty.”

An hour later Ella and Justine met with Neskahi at the intersection of two dirt roads near the Hogback Ridge.

“What do you want me to do with him?” Neskahi gestured toward his unit, where Garnenez was sitting in the passenger seat, looking around anxiously. “He’s scared to death of his cousin and what might happen.”

“From everything we’ve learned so far, he’s got reason to be,” Justine added. “Daniel Smart sounds like he’s really out of touch with reality. Does Garnenez still think he can talk him into surrendering?”

“Yeah. What he’s counting on is the fact that Daniel trusts him. Plus the professor has come up with a strategy to convince Daniel to give himself up.”

“What’s that?” Ella asked.

“He’s going to point out that a real soldier’s first duty is to live so he can carry on the fight. Dying out here won’t accomplish anything.”

Ella nodded. “If
that
works, we still have reason to worry about Daniel Smart. But maybe he’s not that far gone yet. And one more thing, about Garnenez. His nervousness may be more of an act than reality, so don’t turn your back on him. Just call it an instinct of mine.”

Justine and Neskahi nodded. They were familiar with how reliable her instincts tended to be.

As Ella stood by her unit with Justine and Neskahi, she unfolded a map of the area on the hood so they all could follow her plan. “Smart’s somewhere ahead of us and I want to make sure we trap him with the ridge to his back,” she said, pointing. “Neskahi, I want you to go here,” she said and pointed to a crossroads leading north and parallel to the Hogback. “Justine and I will cut off his escape to the west and south.”

Suddenly her cell phone rang. Suspecting it was Branch, she picked it up even before it finished the first tone. “Ella Clah,” she said briskly.

“It’s Branch. We’re too late. He’s moving in on Cardell now and I have no way to cut him off or stop him.”

“Where are you?”

“There’s a dirt track, actually an old mining road, that turns east just north of the junction at the end of the ridge. This track runs up a small canyon that ends right up against the base of the Hogback where there’s an old coal mine. There’s a shack there against the cliff side where the miners probably stored their equipment.”

Ella looked closely along the base of the Hogback and spotted a small, gray wooden shack in the shadow of the tall sandstone ridge. It was too far away to make out any details, though, and the distortion coming from heat rising off the desert didn’t help. “I think I see it from here.” She pointed out the spot to Justine and Sergeant Neskahi.

“I don’t see any other shacks around, so we must be talking about the same place. Benally’s inside that shack, I saw him,” Branch continued. “Smart is a hundred yards away, downhill and on foot now after leaving his truck hidden farther back. But the ground seems clear all around that shack and I know Smart’s not going to just run up or drive there. My guess is that he’ll find a hiding spot behind a rock and ambush Benally the second he steps outside again.”

“Can you get out of there without being seen?” Ella asked, noting that Neskahi had a pair of binoculars and was examining the area closely.

“No,” Branch answered. “I was watching the tracking display real carefully and didn’t come up right behind him, so he doesn’t know I’m here, I don’t think. But if I start the engine up again, he’s going to either hear my sedan or see the dust trail I leave.”

“Then stay put in your car. We’re less than five minutes away,” she said, then hung up. Focusing on her team, she continued. “Okay, listen up.” Ella filled in Justine and Neskahi quickly. “We’ve got to get up there and in position fast. Any suggestions?”

Neskahi nodded, handing her the binoculars.

“There’s a ridge on the south side. We can go up the canyon to its right and not be seen, then cross over the ridge and come up behind Smart—if we’re careful,” Neskahi pointed out.

“But there are a lot of boulders in that canyon that have broken off the ridge over the past million years or so. We may high center on a rock and tear out the oil pan,” Justine added.

“You’re driving so I know you’ll make it,” Ella said. “Once there, we’ll surround the cabin, but we need to stay behind Smart, putting him between Benally and us so neither of them can make a move without coming out in the open.”

“What if Smart manages to reach the cabin and capture Benally?” Neskahi asked.

“Then we rely on his cousin Garnenez to talk him out of the shack. If that doesn’t work, and Benally is still alive, we’ll have to talk Smart out of a hostage situation. If we need to use force, we’ll move fast and decisively. In either case, neither of those two men leave unless they’re in our custody.”

After a brief discussion, it was decided that Garnenez would ride with Ella and Justine, and Neskahi would proceed on foot the last quarter mile, covering them from behind
Branch’s position to the north. Neskahi was a good shot with a rifle and they wanted him free to act if the opportunity came.

Neither Justine nor Ella spoke on the bone-jarring ride up the narrow canyon, at this point not much more than a boulder-littered arroyo. Occasionally, Ella would glance back at Garnenez. He looked terrified and kept trying to moisten his lips with the tip of his tongue, but she had a feeling it was just for show. His face showed one emotion, but his body seemed too relaxed, considering the situation. There was something about Garnenez that didn’t add up, and that made her uneasy.

They left the SUV after coming up to a spot they estimated to be a short distance behind where Branch was hidden, then climbed up onto the ridge to look north and hopefully down upon Smart’s location. On the top now, lying on their stomachs and peering from behind tufts of brush or rocks to avoid showing their silhouettes, Ella and Justine kept in contact with Branch and finally, thanks to Neskahi’s binoculars, they found where the talk show host was hiding.

Branch, who’d ignored Ella’s warning and was no longer in his car, poked his head out from behind cover and pointed east of his position.

Ella studied the area between Branch and the shack, but couldn’t see any sign of Smart, though there was a dark blue pickup that apparently belonged to him. Then she spotted what was nothing more than a slight movement in a deep shadow. She focused carefully and the extra light-gathering power of the binoculars enabled her to spot Daniel behind a large boulder about a hundred yards from them. He was lying down, studying the wooden shack.

The ramshackle cabin was a rectangular structure about fifteen by twenty with a small window on the two sides Ella could see. The building was about fifty yards uphill from Smart and less than twenty feet from the west side of the steep Hogback ridge. Farther to the south and about fifty feet
from the structure was a black hole about ten feet in diameter leading into the cliffside.

“Smart’s camouflaged well, wearing desert fatigues,” Ella said, handing Justine the binoculars. “Call it in to Neskahi and give him the location.”

Justine spoke into the phone, then looked over at Ella. “Joe still can’t see Smart from where he is even with the rifle scope. He’s moving closer to Branch to get a better angle.”

Garnenez, who’d been a few feet farther down the back side of the ridge, crawled up beside them.

“Get down. He’ll see you,” Justine whispered harshly, pushing Garnenez onto his belly.

“Sorry. If you’re ready now, I’ll talk to him.”

“No, not yet,” Justine said, interrupting him. She handed Ella the binoculars. “Look at the west window of the shack.”

Ella saw the barrel of a shotgun poised on the sill of the window that faced downhill to the west. “Benally knows he’s got company.” She shifted back to Smart’s last position. “Smart’s out of sight now, which means he’s on the move. The road drops off to the side, so there must be a drainage ditch over there. I can’t see him anymore. I wonder where the door of the shack is? The north side? The east?”

Ella pulled out her weapon but before she could shout a warning to Benally they heard a crash and the sound of splintering wood. Ella knew Smart had kicked down the door, which was apparently on the north side because they couldn’t see it. A moment later her suspicions were confirmed.

“I know you’re out there, Clah. I saw somebody moving up on the ridge. I’ve got Benally. If you come closer, he dies, and so will you and the other officers,” Smart called out, using his enemies’ names, like a traditionalist, to take away their power.

“No one’s going anywhere—including you,” Ella shouted back. She could see Neskahi now, coming up from below in
the same direction Smart had taken. “Release your hostage and we’ll talk.”

“Back off, Clah. You don’t want the councilman’s right-hand man dead because of decisions you made. You’re going to assure me safe passage to my pickup and then out of the area. Once I’m out of the area, I’ll release Benally.”