Authors: David Thurlo
Justine parked in view of the front window, and before long someone
waved at them from the front door. “Quick. I don’t want to open the door for one second longer than necessary.”
Cecelia was in her midforties and lived alone in the two- or three-room house. Ella saw the cordless telephone and a half-filled cup of coffee beside it on the dining table. She had a feeling that Lea had already called her.
“Sit down, please. I have something to explain to both of
you. I supposed you’re here about Lea?”
Ella nodded, and Justine silently took out her pocket notebook.
“She just called me. She feels terrible about this, but she didn’t want her mother to know where she really had been that night, so she had to make up a story. Lea’s been spending some time with Henry, her boyfriend. But her mother, Ruth, wants her to marry Wilbert Vigil. You see, Henry works
for a relatively low salary at the bank, but Wilbert Vigil owns his own business.” She shrugged. “Ruth wants financial security for her daughter, but Lea has her eye on Henry instead.”
“Maybe she’s in love,” Justine said with a tiny smile.
“Love?” Cecelia shook her head. “That’s Anglo thinking, girl. Romantic love is nothing more than hormones. When two people commit to each other and look to
the future together, that becomes a love that can endure. The other fizzles out as fast as an open can of cola on a hot day.”
Ella nodded slowly. Romantic love usually played no part in Navajo thinking. But both she and Justine had seen too much of the Anglo world not to be affected by it. Ella knew she wanted both, and she had a feeling that Justine did too.
Ella stood, thanked Cecelia, then
added, “We better go speak with Henry. Think he’ll be at the bank already?”
“Lea figured you’d want to check with him, and told me to let you know that Henry is supposed to be helping his father gather firewood today out near their home by Narbona Pass. John and Claudia Yabeni are traditionalists and all their heating comes from a woodstove.”
Ella glanced at Justine. “We need to find out exactly
where the Yabenis live and head up there. If they’re out cutting wood, we’ll find out where or wait for them to return. But we better get going. It’s a two-hour ride from here provided the roads are in good condition.”
“If you locate Henry you might want to take the time to really talk to him. He’s a gossip, but an informed one. That guy knows a lot of people in the area.”
“Thanks for the tip,”
Ella said.
Justine settled behind the wheel as Ella fastened her seat belt. “Are you sure you want to go all the way out there?”
“We need to verify the stories, and the sooner the better,” Ella said. “But let’s go back to the station and get my vehicle. The jeep is better off-road, and I have a feeling we’re going to need some heavy-duty traction if there’s any snow in the woodcutting area up
there.”
As they drove back to the station, Ella wondered why it always seemed she had to travel long distances when
ever there was a crisis at home. The last thing she wanted to do on Jennifer Clani’s first day on the job was to go on a long road trip.
“How are things going with your mom?” Justine asked as if reading her mind.
Ella filled her in. “I think, or maybe I should say, I’m
hoping,
Jennifer will work out.”
“Do you mind a suggestion?” Seeing Ella shake her head, Justine continued. “Invite Harry over to dinner as often as possible while he’s here. It’ll keep Rose distracted and on good behavior.”
Ella burst out laughing. “Harry might have something to say about that.”
“I doubt it. Harry loves to eat, and I bet he’s always up for a dinner invitation. It’s a wonder he used
to be so thin. In fact, if you want his undying loyalty, serve chocolate cake. The gooier the better.”
Ella gave her a quick look. “And you’re so knowledgeable because?...”
Justine laughed out loud. “My older sister Jayne had a thing for him years ago. She found out everything she could about him.”
“I didn’t know they’d dated.”
“Please, Jayne? I think she’s dated everyone on the Rez at one
time or another.”
“If you recall anything else like that about him, fill me in.”
Justine smiled. “I thought you’d say that.”
Ella said nothing.
“Of course, you’ve already got a huge head start,” Justine said.
“Huh?”
“Harry always liked you.”
“What’s this ’always’?”
“Yeah, it’s true. Ask Ralph Tache. You just never noticed until recently.” Justine paused. “Of course, I can see what’s caught
your eye. Harry’s changed since he joined the Marshal’s Service. He’s more confident—and
his body’s looking real buff, too, now that he’s put on about thirty pounds.”
Ella burst out laughing. “Well, hands off, cousin. At least until further notice.”
It took nearly two hours to find John and Claudia Yabeni’s house. Henry’s mother then gave them directions to the designated area where the men
had gone to gather firewood. Her directions had sounded good, but when it came time to actually carry them through, they realized how many dirt tracks wandered through the Chuska Mountains. Turn west on the main path, then north before you get to the canyon left a lot of room for interpretation when all the tracks looked the same and the canyons ran nearly side by side for miles between the ridges
coming off the mountains.
They got lost twice. Finally, as they drove through a meadow surrounded by tall pines, they heard the distinctive roar of a chain saw up ahead.
“If we have any luck at all, that’ll be them,” Ella said.
They parked at a clearing about twenty yards from an elderly man and a younger one who were busy cutting down a gnarly old pine.
Seeing Ella’s vehicle, the men stopped
their work and turned off the chain saw, waiting for them to approach.
“This is legal, Officers,” the elderly man said, obviously noting the weapons at Ella and Justine’s waists. “The tribal forestry people set this area for people gathering firewood. We’re just not allowed to take young, healthy trees.”
“And I have a Forestry Department permit for a full pickup load,” the younger man added,
coming up to Ella and reaching into his jacket pocket.
Seeing that the elder man had remained behind, Ella felt free to use proper names.
“Henry?” Ella asked softly.
He nodded. “Your partner looks familiar, but do I know you?”
“No, we’ve never met,” she said. “I’m Investigator Clah. I spoke to Lea earlier today.”
“Is she okay? Is something wrong?” he asked quickly.
“Not that I know of. I
just need you to verify a few things concerning Lea and some stories we’ve been hearing about the bank.”
“It’s been like a war zone there lately,” he mumbled.
Henry’s father, John Yabeni, joined them a moment later. “If you don’t mind, Officer, may I continue my work while you’re speaking with my son?”
“Go right ahead.”
Justine watched the elder Yabeni for a moment as he walked back to the
now fallen tree. “Why don’t I give him a hand?” she asked Ella. “He doesn’t seem very comfortable with that chain saw.”
“He’s not. That was my idea so we could finish faster.”
“Go help him,” Ella said. One-to-one questioning always worked better for her anyway. She walked a safe distance away from where they’d been sawing, and Henry followed. First, Ella had him verify Lea’s alibi.
“Yeah, I
remember that. It was my birthday and we went to one of the pueblo casinos near Bernalillo to celebrate. We didn’t get back to the Rez until early the next morning.”
Ella glanced over at Justine and saw she’d taken the chain saw from John and was helping him cut up the tree trunk.
“Does Ranelle have a problem with anyone else at the bank?”
“Not that I’ve seen. Normally, she gets along with
everyone. But for some reason, Ranelle took a dislike to Lea from day one.” Henry paused giving her a long, thoughtful look. “But you’re not really worried about the bank. I bet what you’re really investigating is the incident that left her precious car without a windshield.”
“Yes, and I need to see if there’s a connection between that instance of vandalism and some of the other incidents we’ve
had,” Ella said.
“Well, if there is, Lea’s no part of it. She’s just not like that. If she has a problem, she’ll stew about it for a while, then get into somebody’s face, that’s all.”
Ella allowed the silence to stretch out between them and watched Justine sawing off the branches before tackling the tree trunk. John Yabeni was hauling the branches to the truck.
“If what you want are the guys
who’ve been stirring up trouble around here,” Henry said slowly, “you’re looking in the wrong direction. You’re thinking it’s a disgruntled worker, someone working out his anger. But I don’t believe that’s what it’s all about. I listen to people talking all the time, and my guess is that you should be keeping an eye out for a group of troublemakers who have decided to wage war on the tribe. It’s
the type of thing one would assume modernists might do, as opposed to the traditionalists, but that doesn’t make sense either because the modernists have been the targets, by and large.”
“Any idea why someone would want to wage war on the tribe?” Ella pressed, curious to find out more of what he’d learned.
“See, that’s just what makes it tricky. Considering the targets, it would be easy to blame
a traditionalist group like the Fierce Ones, but this isn’t their doing because they wouldn’t use these methods. So that leaves us with the modernists. But, as I said, that makes even less sense. Maybe it’s some Anglos.”
Ella was about to comment when the chain saw made a strange, labored, high-pitched squeal, then snapped. As she turned her head, she saw John Yabeni stagger back, blood pouring
down his chest, then fall to the ground.
“Dad!” Henry ran toward him, then looked at Justine in confusion. “What happened?”
“The chain hit something real hard and just snapped
before I could pull it loose,” Justine stammered, dropping the saw, which had stopped running.
John moaned as Ella lifted his sweater. A piece of metal chain was imbedded in his chest. There was so much blood already
she couldn’t tell if he was injured anywhere else, but that was enough for her to know he was in trouble.
Henry took off his jacket and placed it over his father. “We need an emergency medical team out here.”
Ella shook her head. “It would take them forever to find us, even in the helicopter. We’ll transport him to a location where they can meet us and pick him up.” She knew that before long,
John Yabeni would go into shock.
“Justine, make as much room as you can in the back of our Jeep. Flip down the backseat.” She then looked at Henry. “You’ll need to keep your father as calm and motionless as possible.”
Using a blanket as a stretcher, they carried the injured man to the Jeep. As they walked past the tree they’d been cutting into sections Ella saw the cause of the accident clearly.
A section of the saw’s cutting chain had snagged on a large nail that had been pounded into the trunk at an angle.
For a moment her mind went back to an incident she’d heard about during her days with the FBI in California. An environmentalist group had used a similar tactic when they’d tried to prevent a logging company from clear-cutting a grove of old-growth forest. But why was this happening
here? It didn’t make sense.
A few minutes later, they were on their way. Henry was beside his father in the back, comforting him as best as he could, and Justine was at the wheel. Ella, sitting beside her, noted that Justine’s hands were shaking.
“Do you want me to drive?” Ella asked.
“No, let me do this. I know it’s your unit, but I need to do something right now.”
Ella didn’t argue. “You’re
not blaming yourself, are you?” she asked quietly.
“Don’t, it wasn’t your fault,” Henry added, hearing what Ella had said. “I’d been warned that somebody was spiking trees out here, but I forgot to tell you and Dad when you took over for me and started cutting up the trunk. The truth is I got distracted and he paid the price.”
“This has happened before?” Ella asked surprised.
“Twice, that I
know of, not counting now,” Henry replied. “The first was when old man Benally was out chopping firewood, but he was using an ax so all he got was a nicked blade and a shoulder ache. The next time was with Wallace Curtis, the high school principal. He was in this area gathering wood, using a chain saw like us. He grazed a huge nail, but all it did was dull the chain.”
“Didn’t anyone report this?”
Henry shrugged. “Most of those who’ve been gathering firewood heard about it, and the forestry department told everyone who applied for a cutting permit. Apparently Mr. Curtis reported it right away.”
Ella suppressed her frustration. If the forestry people didn’t notify the police, there was no way to look for suspects unless a ranger just happened to catch someone in the act. The lack of communication
between tribal agencies was nothing new, and it wasn’t something that required funding to improve.
Ella tried the radio and managed to reach the station, relaying the emergency to the hospital.
Ella glanced back at Henry. “How’s your father?”
Henry looked down at his father. “I don’t think he can hear us, but he’s breathing,” he said, fear making his voice shake.
“He may be in shock. Keep
the blanket and jacket over him,” Ella said, then glanced at Justine. “We need to make it to Sheep Springs. The mecdivac helicopter won’t be able to find us among these canyons, but they’re going to meet us there.”
Ella took out a geological survey map from the glove compartment, searching for shortcuts. “But first we need
to find the fastest way to the paved road. Any ideas?” Ella looked back
at the young man.
“No. Dad always insisted on driving around here, and I never paid much attention to which direction we were going.”
“Call it in and let Dispatch find someone who knows this area,” Justine suggested. “I don’t dare try going as the crow flies because it’ll just be too rough a ride.”
As Ella looked back at John, she saw that he was either asleep or unconscious now. They had to
move fast. His life depended on it. Snow flurries began to fall as Ella called in for help. Based on their current surroundings and her map, she gave Dispatch her approximate location and direction of travel.