Authors: David Thurlo
“That’s a great lead. Thanks for letting me know ASAP.”
Ella called Justine. “We have new information that’ll help us narrow down the list of missing females. See which of the women were undergoing chemo about two years ago this June.”
“I’ll start a computer search on that right now.”
Ella returned to her office ten minutes later and shortly thereafter
gave Benny the revised list. As their newest team member, he was given the assignment of continuing to narrow down names. If at all possible, Ella wanted to ID the female victim by the end of the day. Although clearly disappointed not to be taking part in the Romero takedown, Benny accepted the job without complaint.
The team reviewed their proposed tactics and went over all the details of the
terrain Ford could remember. Neskahi had also borrowed special gear from SWAT and they all had to work to familiarize themselves with the equipment.
It was late afternoon by the time Ford, Blalock, Justine, Neskahi, and Ella set out in two community-college SUVs on loan from the tribal motor pool. If Romero was keeping watch from higher ground he’d see a group dressed in civilian clothes driving
vehicles consistent with a field trip or special project. All weapons and special gear would be kept out of sight until dark.
They arrived at Ford’s former campsite west of Todacheene Lake in the Chuska Mountains just after sunset. They quickly set up a cover campsite with two tents. Then as soon as it grew dark, they changed into dark gray-green camouflage uniforms and caps.
Although Ford wore
the required pants and jacket, he declined the night vision goggles, saying they would throw off his visual images of the route. Once everyone had been given GPS equipped handheld field radios, they set out.
The three-mile hike was difficult because they were constantly climbing uphill on rough, unfamiliar terrain and trying to move quietly. They went single file, keeping within sight of each
other. Ella took point, while Ford stayed between her and Blalock. Neskahi and Justine hung back, covering the rear.
Moving as quickly as the terrain allowed, they soon entered a narrow canyon. A small creek flowed swiftly down its center and the faint bubbling of water over rocks helped cover their progress.
Ella glanced back at Ford, who was five feet behind her. She hated the surreal effect
the night vision glasses created. Everything was an unearthly shade of green. “We’ve gone just about as far as we can. Are you sure you remember the location?”
Ford nodded. “Just before you reach that stunted pine, we start up the side of the canyon. There’s practically no cover up there so stop before you risk exposing yourself to anyone on the other slope. Just short of the summit you should
be able to see the hogan clearly in the moonlight,” he whispered. “But that means he’ll be able to spot us, too.”
“We’ll be in the background of the ridge behind us, so he shouldn’t be able to see us clearly unless he’s right on top,” Ella said. “And even then, we’ll be in shadow.”
“Unless he has night vision, he won’t know us from mule deer,” Blalock said, coming up from behind Ford.
“It’s
time for us to split up,” Ella said. “We have to stay about fifty feet apart, so there’ll be virtually no chance he could wipe us all out at once.”
“So we go with Plan A?” Blalock asked.
“Yeah. Tell Justine and Joe to advance to this spot then wait for us to begin our ascent before they start their own climb up the ridge. Have them stop ten feet from the top, watch for my signal, then we’ll
all top the ridge at once and flatten. They’ll know what to do after that.”
“Roger that,” Blalock said, then went to join the others.
Two minutes later, Ella started the climb. It was steep and rocky, and she had to grab on to dry, scratchy oak shrubs more than once to pull and position her way around or across sheets of smooth bedrock.
Halfway up she looked back down at Ford and gave him an
encouraging smile. As he met her gaze, she suddenly understood why he’d insisted on coming with them. Ford knew this was the last chance they’d have to be together before he left.
Ella took a breath and continued the climb. She’d make sure nothing happened to either of them. Their memories of this experience should be uplifting, not bittersweet.
Ten minutes later, she neared the summit of the
barren ridge, starlit sky behind it. Here, the ground held only short tufts of grass, and no cover at all. She crouched down, and Ford soon came up beside her.
“The hogan is on the other side, down the ridge maybe a hundred feet, and to the right,” he whispered.
Blalock came up, breathing hard. “What’s it like on the other side, going down. Any cover?”
Ford shook his head. “Not for the first
thirty feet or so, then some big boulders, if I remember right. It’s pretty much like it is on this side, but with more boulders and not as steep.”
“Let’s hope he’s inside the hogan,” Ella said.
“It’s about ten-thirty now,” Blalock said, checking his watch. “Maybe he’s asleep.”
Ford shook his head. “Don’t count on it. If I were on the run, I’d be sleeping in the daytime and watching at night.…”
“For people like us,” Blalock finished. “The plan is to move in on him slowly and carefully, cut off his access to the old road on the east side, then rush the last fifty feet unless we’re spotted farther out.”
Ella looked along the ridge for the others. “They’re even with us. Time to go.” She brought out her penlight and signaled.
Seconds later she and the others were at the top. Lying on her
belly Ella looked down at the hogan. From this angle, it looked like a log pillbox in a scooped-out natural amphitheater. There was a door instead of a blanket at the entrance, but it was open.
She looked to her right. Justine and Neskahi were in position, waiting and watching. She motioned with her hand, then rose to a crouch and headed toward the reverse side of the ridge, her eyes on the cabin.
She’d only traveled a few yards when she saw a flash and heard a roar. A bullet whistled over her head as she dropped to the ground. Ford froze in a crouch.
“Get down!” she yelled just as Blalock returned fire.
Seeing Ford hesitate, Ella jumped over, shoved him flat, then rolled and fired blind toward the hogan. “Wait here and stay down!”
Justine and Neskahi also began to fire from the ridge,
giving Ella some cover as she and Blalock moved downslope, veering to their left to cut off the easiest escape route.
“Where is he?” Ella asked, trying to find their target.
“Behind the hogan, I think,” Blalock called out, his M16 weaving back and forth, looking for a sight picture. “From what I can tell he’s moved twice already.”
“These night goggles are a pain in the ass,” Ella said, trying
to reposition hers. They had slipped when she’d hit the ground.
“Cover fire,” she yelled, going with the emergency tactics discussed earlier. One team would pin down the target while the other advanced, then they’d reverse roles.
Something bright flashed down by the hogan, and she was suddenly blinded. “What the?…”
“Fire bomb!” Blalock called. “Forget the night vision.”
Ella yanked off her
night goggles and jammed the device into her jacket pocket. A stand of trees about twenty feet from the hogan had erupted in flames, and the brush around it was catching as well.
“Plan B,” Ella yelled, calling for a flanking movement. She and Blalock would continue around from the left while Justine and Neskahi remained in position and provided cover fire.
Ella followed Blalock down the ridge,
half running, half sliding. The scent of gasoline now joined the glow of the spreading flames, which gave them all the light they needed.
Within two minutes they all met among the burning trees and searched the ground for tracks. Romero had disappeared—vanished beyond the flames—and unless he was up a tree, there was little chance of finding him now.
“Call the tribal forest service,” Ella yelled
to Justine, who’d come around from behind the hogan. “We’ve got to get this fire out before everything between here and Narbona Pass goes up in smoke.”
“What about Romero?” Ford asked as he turned slowly in a circle, taking in the site.
Ella looked at Blalock, who shook his head. “No way that man’s still around,” she answered. “He created a diversion and split, but I’ll sweep the perimeter and
look for vehicle tracks.”
“Take Justine with you. Joe, Ford, and I will see if we can do anything to slow down this fire,” Blalock said.
Justine came out of the hogan. “There’s a shovel and an axe in here.”
“I’ll take the axe,” Neskahi said.
“I’ll take the shovel,” Ford said. “I can dig a hole and move dirt with the best of them.”
“I’ll clear branches and debris away from the path of fire,”
Blalock added. “Let’s get busy.”
* * *
Fortunately, since fire season was well underway, a forestry team was already stationed at an Owl Spring base camp. Men arrived in a brush truck within half an hour, driving up the dirt track on the east that led almost all the way up the mountain to the hogan.
By that time, Ella and her team were hot, tired, and dusty. Their eyes burned from the smoke,
and they’d done their share of coughing, but they’d managed to keep the fire from getting out of hand.
They were happy to see the professionals arrive, with water to suppress hot spots and plenty of tools to share. Combining their numbers and working under the guidance of the firefighters, they managed to contain the blaze to about a half acre. Since the flames had gone up the ridge, and there
was little vegetation there, the danger of a big fire never materialized.
It didn’t take long for the forestry workers to find the fire’s origin, an open can of camp stove fuel tossed into some brush, then ignited. The ranger in charge of the forestry group took photos for the report he’d be filing later in the day.
Although Ella made a call to Big Ed to update him on the situation, there was
still hope in locating Romero. As soon as they could, they renewed the search while the fire crew took care of any glowing embers and cleaned up the scene. They already knew, from discussion during their firefighting, that the forestry crew hadn’t encountered a vehicle or seen fresh tire tracks, ruling out the eastern route. Ella’s team had to look elsewhere.
While searching for tracks along
the narrow passageway next to the mountainside, Ella spotted a mine shaft opening. It had been concealed by brush and was located at the back of the small amphitheater.
“He came this way,” Ella called out, motioning to get Blalock’s attention.
She pulled the clump of brush away with her left hand, keeping her pistol in her right just in case. The air coming up from the shaft, what was basically
a hole leading into the mountainside, was surprisingly fresh.
“Feel that breeze? My guess is that there’s either another opening somewhere on the other side of this mountain, or a ventilation shaft,” Ella said.
Blalock aimed his rifle into the darkness as Ella unclipped the flashlight from her belt and illuminated the opening.
“It appears to follow a seam of coal and goes back quite a ways,”
she said, noting the dark surface of one rock face, basically stripped clean of coal.
“Aim your light on those boot prints again. I thought I saw spots, maybe drops of blood,” Blalock said.
Ella did as he asked. “Yeah, that’s dried blood. He must have taken a hit during the exchange of gunfire.”
“I don’t recall seeing any mine shafts listed on our maps,” Blalock said, bringing out his own flashlight,
a powerful LED model.
“That’s not unusual. A lot of smaller mines never got on the charts. Navajo crews would dig out all the coal they could find, then just walk away. After the easily reached coal dwindled, the small mining companies went belly-up and their records disappeared along with them,” Ella said, and peered down into the hole. After a moment she looked back up at Blalock. “I wonder
where this tunnel ends up, and do you suppose Romero’s still in there?”
“We have to find out,” Blalock replied.
“Let’s get everyone together. Big Ed has given me a free hand on this, and I’m going to push this search as long as we have a chance to catch up to him again.”
Working to a quickly devised plan, Justine, Ford, and Joe circled the mountainside searching for other openings into the
mine. While they did that, Blalock and Ella went inside the shaft and followed the suspect’s trail, working their way in a crouched position most of the distance.
They all found the exit shaft about the same time. When Ella and Blalock emerged, stiff-legged, they saw the others shake their heads. Maintaining silence, Ella took point as they followed Romero’s footprints down the mountain for about
a mile. There, on the dirt road ahead, they found a clear set of vehicle tracks that led southwest through a narrow pass.
“He’s long gone.” Blalock aimed his flashlight at the area next to the tire tracks where the trail of blood suddenly ended. “Also note that his bleeding has slowed to just a few drops here and there now. Unless his clothes are soaked, he didn’t suffer a critical hit, not bad
enough to slow him down that much.”
“There’s an ATL out in four states, and roadblocks on all major routes,” Ella said. “We’ve done all we can for now.”
“Maybe Benny’s uncovered a lead on the woman victim,” Justine said as they circled around the mountain, then took the forestry road east.
“Yeah, maybe, but that’ll wait till tomorrow—well, later today,” Ella said, aware that it was a bit after
3:00
A.M.
“Drop me off at home and we’ll get back to work after we’ve grabbed some sleep.”
Justine stifled a yawn. “No problem. I’m beat.”
They made good progress, most of the route was downhill, and reached their vehicles in less than an hour.
Ella glanced at Ford, then reached for his hand. “Ride back with us. All our cars are at the motor pool anyway.”
He hesitated, then shook his head.
“I’ll go with Blalock and Neskahi.”
Curious as to why he’d decided not to ride with them, Ella allowed the others to get ahead, then voiced the question on her mind. “Did you change your mind about us remaining friends?”