Bad Medicine (35 page)

Ella stiffened suddenly, her skin prickling. “Do you hear it?”

“What?” Carolyn listened for a moment, then shrugged. “There’s no one around here for miles.”

Ella peered out the side of the curtain as Carolyn poured soft drinks into two glasses. “Someone’s out there,”
Ella said.

She started toward the door, when the window behind her exploded inward, sending a shower of glass into the room. As she dove to the floor, a second window shattered, cascading down in a clangor of tingling glass. Ella looked up and saw a growing pool of flames from each of the broken bottles. The smell of kerosene was unmistakable.

Reacting instantly, Ella grabbed Carolyn’s arm and
ran to the door, shoving it open and jumping out of the trailer.

Carolyn sputtered, wiping blood from her arms where the broken glass had cut her. “My home! Everything I own!”

She started to run back in, but Ella tackled her. “Nothing there is worth your life.”

“No, listen! We can still get in. It hasn’t reached my bedroom, or the study. I can grab my papers, and I may be able to save part
of my trailer.”

Carolyn scrambled to her feet and ran toward her open bedroom window. Ella started to go after her, but then turned and ran to her Jeep. As she grabbed the vehicle’s small fire extinguisher, she called in the emergency.

Assured of help she hurried into the trailer after Carolyn. The flames were still confined to the living room. Carolyn was battling the flames there, fire extinguisher
in hand. Ella joined in.

“I have an extinguisher in each room. A leftover from my childhood. When yours runs out, go get the other one from the study. It’s on the back of the door.”

Ella and Carolyn worked together to beat back the flames, but, after a short while, it was clear they were fighting a losing battle. The small extinguishers didn’t have the capacity to deal with the intensity of
the flames fueled by the kerosene Molotov cocktails.

“Let’s get out of here,” Ella choked. “The flames are spreading and the air is getting dangerous.”

“I’m not leaving! This is my home.”

Ella threw her empty fire extinguisher down and forced Carolyn toward the door. “It
was
your home. Don’t let it become your grave.”

Carolyn resisted, pushing Ella away. In a lightning fast move, Ella jabbed
Carolyn right in the nose, stunning her. Then she pushed her dazed friend out of the burning trailer.

TWENTY

Carolyn hit the ground wheezing, with blood streaming out of her nose. She pinched it hard, trying to stop the flow. “Thand’s a lot!”

“I didn’t break it,” Ella said, then added, “I didn’t, did I?”

“No, but id hurths and ids a meth.” She looked back at her trailer. Flames were visible in every window now and all the contents, papers and everything, were lost. “My thome!”

Ella wiped soot
from her eyes. “You’ll find a new one.”

“Id won’d be thimple. People won’t thell to me.”

Ella’s heart ached for her friend. “You can always buy in Kirkland or Farmington if that happens. But I think you’ll be able to cut a deal here. Not everyone will believe the stories.”

“How did you dow? Did you thee thomebody?” Carolyn demanded.

“I heard someone. My hearing’s acute.”

Carolyn stopped pinching
her nose and breathed slowly through her mouth. “It stopped bleeding, at least.” Carolyn stared at the flames that licked at what was left of her trailer. “Fire and I are old enemies. I wonder if whoever did this thought of that. And here’s another cheery thought. Now that I don’t have a job, I can’t sleep in my office either.”

“No problem. You’ll come home with me.”

Carolyn shook her head.
“That wouldn’t be fair. I might be placing you and your mother in danger.”

“My mother is already in danger, just by virtue of who our family is, and what we stand for. Look at it this way. If you come with me, you’d be doing us all a favor. I could count on you to watch over Mom for me.”

Carolyn nodded, conceding the point. “I can do that. I wouldn’t let anyone touch her, rest assured. They’d
have to kill me first.”

“Of course. I know that. My invitation isn’t magnanimous at all. It’s really very self-serving.”

Ella searched the ground around the smoking trailer as they talked. There were footprints leading to and from the trailer and, as she neared the spot where a vehicle had been parked, she saw the by now familiar quarter-sized imprints on the ground. They didn’t go up to the
vehicle, however. They disappeared into a twisting canyon, where hiding places were almost unlimited. A chill traveled through her.

Carolyn came up from behind her. “What’s wrong?”

Ella pointed to the tracks by pursing her lips, Navajo style. “What do you make of those?”

“Someone on a pogo stick?”

Ella smirked. “Not likely.”

“A crutch?”

Ella nodded slowly. “Maybe. A thin crutch, though.
I’ve been tossing the idea around in my head that it is more like a walking stick, or cane.”

“If it is a person with a bum leg, where are the footprints?”

“Moccasins don’t leave much of an imprint.” Ella pointed to a small, flat indention about the size of a foot.

“Maybe someone is pressing bottle tops into the dirt to drive you crazy. Little things like that do, you know. If I was trying to
confuse you, that’s what I’d do.”

Ella glanced up at her in surprise. “It
is
making me crazy.”

“See? I bet I’m not the only one who knows you well enough to push the right buttons.”

“But it’s an important clue. I can’t just ignore it.”

“Then factor it in along with the tread marks, footprints, and notes you’ve been getting.”

Ella heard vehicles coming up the dirt track, and when she glanced
down the road, saw the flashing police lights. “That’s my crime scene team. They’ll search the trailer and entire area as soon as the fire department guys extinguish the fire.”

It was another hour before the fire was completely out and the police team could enter the ruined structure, but at least the fire truck in the district had not been on call, so they’d been able to respond fairly quickly.
Had it been later in the summer, they might not have received any response at all. All available pumpers would have been busy elsewhere. In a drought year, fires had a tendency to spread and go out of control. Even though the vegetation in this area of the Rez was sparse, the plants were very dry, and flames could travel quickly when fanned by the wind.

Fortunately, Carolyn’s propane tank had
not exploded, so most of the shell of the trailer was relatively intact. When the captain of the four-man fire-fighting unit gave them the all-clear, Justine and Ute moved in. Ella helped them search through the ruins of the trailer and recover what was left of the Molotov cocktails. They were tagged and bagged for further information.

Ralph Tache stayed outside, photographing the tire tracks
and the quarter-sized imprints.

When the search was finished, Justine reported to Ella, and offered her condolences to Carolyn.

“Do you think you’ll be able to find whoever did this?” Carolyn asked Justine. “Were there any clues at all?”

Justine looked at Carolyn. “We’ll do our best, Doctor, but to be honest, our department has their hands full right now. It’ll be a while before we have the
time and manpower to start checking up on the people you’d consider your enemies.”

Carolyn nodded. “Yeah, and that’s a list that’s growing with each passing minute, isn’t it.”

Ella gave Justine a hard look then glanced sympathetically at Carolyn. “We may not be able to give this our undivided attention right now, but we’re not going to let it drop either.”

Justine nodded in agreement, then
moved away to rejoin her team.

“The police would rather forget all about this, you know.”

“It’s true your trailer isn’t a top priority, despite your personal loss. But the assault on your life—and mine—is. Don’t judge Justine too harshly. We’re all overworked and tired of hitting our heads against the wall. But don’t mistake weariness and frustration for indifference. We’ll see this case through.”

“Thanks for saying that. I needed to hear it.”

As Ella’s team cleared out, Carolyn sat on her one possession that had survived, a metal and nylon lawn chair that had been outside the trailer all along. “It cost all of five bucks at the flea market, but now it’s all I have. That and my trashed pickup.”

“No. You’ve got yourself and your medical degree. With that, you can recoup what you’ve lost.
You’re your own most valuable commodity.”

“Thanks for the pep talk, old pal, but maybe you should start thinking of distancing yourself from me.”

“I’m not sure who that comment insults more, you or me,” Ella said flatly.

“It’s expediency, nothing more, nothing less. I need you to investigate what’s happening. The more we’re linked together, the more of a shadow people will cast on your ability
to remain objective. I have enough problems without having you, my best hope for a fair investigation, taken off this case.”

“Unless Senator Yellowhair becomes the next chief of police, that won’t happen. Big Ed has a lot of pride. He will
not
allow anyone to tell him how his department should be run. He also knows that I’ll turn over every rock on this reservation until I find the people behind
these crimes. I won’t let him down, anymore than I’ll let you down.”

“Is that your pride talking, or confidence in your skill?” Carolyn countered.

“A bit of both,” Ella conceded. “But in the final analysis, it all amounts to the same thing. I
will
get answers.”

Ella drove Carolyn to her mother’s home. Throughout the drive, a curious silence hung between them. Ella wasn’t at all sure what her
mother would say, or think, about having Carolyn as a semipermanent guest. But Ella was sure Rose would not embarrass either her or Carolyn by turning away Ella’s friend in need. That assurance, for the moment, was enough.

Rose came out to the Jeep as soon as Ella drove up. Her features were shrouded with concern. “I heard what happened. It was on the radio.” She smiled sympathetically at Carolyn.
“I know what it’s like to lose the irreplaceable to a fire,” Rose said, reminding them without further explanation of the fire that had gutted Ella’s room about a year ago. “Yours was even worse than the problem we had here, if the reports are true.”

“There’s nothing left of the trailer except a shell,” Ella said.

“Then Dr. Roanhorse will stay with us until she can find a new home,” Rose said
firmly. “And share our clothes until she can buy some of her own.” She turned to lead the way inside the house.

“That wasn’t an invitation. It was more along the lines of an order,” Ella said with a smile.

“I noticed,” Carolyn answered. “But don’t worry, I won’t wear out my welcome.”

“
I
wasn’t worried.
You
were.”

Rose fixed Carolyn and Ella a simple meal of tortillas layered with meat, cheese,
and chile. “You have to eat something. You’ve been through a great deal tonight, and it’s just the beginning.”

Ella glanced up quickly. Her mother sometimes knew things before they happened, and Ella knew that her predictions were seldom wrong. “What do you mean, Mom?” she asked, her voice taut.

“Carolyn will have a difficult time finding a place to live. She will also have to fight for her
career and her reputation, and her enemies will gain power if she allows herself to grow weary of the battle.”

Carolyn looked at Ella, then at Rose. “I
am
tired of fighting, but I won’t give up. I can’t. Everything I am, and everything I love about my life, is on the line.”

“When you get discouraged, you must not let others see that.” Rose said. “Like wolves, they’ll zero in on weakness.”

“But here, I’m among friends,” Carolyn said with obvious relief.

Rose smiled and nodded. “Here, you don’t have to keep up appearances. We’ll guard one another. Isn’t that what my daughter suggested?”

Ella glanced at Carolyn, who was already looking at her in surprise. “I may have said…”

Rose held up a hand. “Don’t bother to deny it. You forget, I know my daughter.” She stood up and went to the
sink.

Carolyn looked at Ella and opened her hands in a gesture of helplessness. “I didn’t say anything,” she mouthed.

Ella sighed and shrugged. “Get used to it,” she whispered. “She does this a lot.”

“I have some other news,” Rose said, turning from the sink. “I went to a weaver’s guild meeting today. You know, it’s funny how women reveal things during our work and practice sessions. Everyone
talks so freely. I guess it’s just relaxing to weave.”

“What did you find out, Mom?” Ella prodded gently.

“It’s about the senator’s daughter. Did you know that she was running around with a married man?”

“You
know
who her boyfriend was?” Ella sat up abruptly. “I’ve been trying to find out his name for days.”

“I don’t have a name for you. All I learned was that he was a married man.”

“Who
told you? Maybe I can ask her…”

“She doesn’t know his name. If she did she would have told me.”

“Mom, this is a police matter. I’ve got to ask her myself, to find out what else she might know.”

“No,” Rose answered firmly. “What we say during the meetings is confidential. It’s an unwritten rule. That’s what fosters the closeness between us. To violate that trust would cost me dearly. I wouldn’t
be welcome again.” She met her daughter’s eyes. “I don’t want to lose that, I’ve lost too much in my life already. I need the companionship these women offer, and their friendship. Do you understand?”

“You’re putting me in a terrible position,” Ella said, sympathizing with her mother, yet torn by duty. She knew that her mother’s visits with the other women in the community represented her recent
attempts to build a new life of her own. It was a step in the right direction for Rose, but Ella’s duty compelled her to keep pressing. “Maybe I should talk to all of them, and reason with them.”

“If you go to talk to the members of the guild about this, they will not confide in you. And, from that point on, they will never speak freely to me again.”