Earthcrack: A Lin Hanna Mystery (18 page)

Just as Darren was turning into the park,
he did a double take.
 
There, parked
beside the information kiosk about a hundred yards in from the entrance, was
the truck that had been following him in Flagstaff, the one with New Mexico
plates.
 
Darren had a moment of
panic.
 
This fellow was smart; he
knew where he had been looking for the pottery previously.
 
He had simply staked out the park,
knowing that sooner or later Darren would show up again.
 
He was sure he would be spotted quickly—how
could he have been so careless!
 
He
should have entered from a back road somewhere.
 
He had been too intent on following
Henry, on making sure he knew where he was going.
 

Darren had no choice but to drive past
the turn out where the truck was parked.
 
He could hope he wouldn’t be recognized but he felt sure he would
be.
 
Looking in his rear view
mirror, he saw that the truck had not yet pulled out of the parking spot.
 
Just ahead he saw the entrance to a
forest service road.
 
This might be
his only chance to lose the man who was following him.
 
He turned quickly onto the dirt track—well
aware that he would stir up a cloud of dust that could be seen but hoping that
he might be able to evade his pursuer somehow.

Completing the turn onto the rutted
track, he glanced back but he couldn’t yet see the truck.
 
He fought the urge to go fast.
 
The track was far too rough and going
fast would kick up an even larger dust plume behind him, making his progress
even more visible from a distance.
 
If he could manage to put some space between him and his pursuer, he
might be able to hide somewhere.
 
As
he drove he kept looking for possible places and glancing back to see if he
could locate the truck.
 
Finally, he
saw it pulling onto the dirt track.
 
Obviously, his dust plume had given his location away but there was
still a bit of distance between the two vehicles.

Spotting a curve ahead that seemed to
lead past a large clump of junipers, Darren gunned his truck ahead taking the
curve as fast as he dared.
 
Then,
using his own dust as cover, he pulled the truck off the road and drove into
the juniper thicket.
 
The vegetation
cut down on the dust.
 
He could hope
his pursuer wouldn’t have seen him pull off the road.
 
He pulled the truck in close behind some
thick junipers and jumped out hastily.
 
As he looked back toward the road he saw the pursuing truck move past
the point where he had turned off.
 
He had not seen him leave the track, apparently.
 
That might buy him a few minutes.
 
He knew that it wouldn’t take long for
the driver of the truck to realize that he was not ahead of him kicking up dust
but maybe that would give him time to leave the area on foot.

Moving as rapidly as possible but making
sure he stayed well hidden in clumps of juniper, Darren began walking back
toward the park road.
 
He would have
to find somewhere to hide and then he could retrieve his truck later.
 
As he approached the park road, he
realized where he was—near the entrance to Lomaki ruin and the box canyon
area he was seeking for his search.
 
Seeing no traffic at that moment, he hastily crossed the park road and
hid behind another clump of foliage.
 
Looking back, he could see a dust plume in the area where he had been
driving.
 
It was probably his
pursuer but he couldn’t tell exactly where he was.
  
He didn’t see me cross the road,
he reasoned, so he might not know exactly where I am.
 
Maybe he will give up looking and head
out.
 
He might be mad because his
shiny new truck was getting so dirty.
 
Darren had his doubts about that but he could hope for the best anyway.

Continuing under cover and on foot toward
Lomaki, Darren thought about what to do next.
 
Maybe he could find out where Henry had
gone.
 
He hadn’t seen his vehicle
since it entered the park.
 
Shortly,
Darren arrived at the entrance road to Lomaki ruin.
 
Still keeping off the pavement and
hiding behind junipers and rocks, he proceeded.
 
From a vantage point near the box canyon
entrance he could see the parking lot.
 
There was a camper parked at one end nearest the path to the ruin—that
was probably tourists looking at the pueblo—but there was only one other
vehicle in the parking area—Henry’s green SUV.

Darren felt a sudden surge of
self-confidence.
 
He was sure he was
right about Henry.
 
He did know
something about the pottery or, if not, his presence did confirm that the
tribal collecting site was indeed nearby.
 
Darren felt certain that was where Henry would be heading and he
determined to find him and make him talk.
 
If Henry knew anything about the pottery, he would find out.
 
At the very least he would make him talk
about the location of the collecting site; he had a hunch that Cullen had
hidden the pottery there or, at least, nearby.
 
Soon he would have the knowledge he
needed to improve his search and insure his success.
 
Moving swiftly toward the entrance to
the box canyon, he was soon hidden by the boulders near the entrance.
 
He couldn’t see or be seen from the
parking lot so he couldn’t know that the battered old jeep he had seen as he
left Tuba City had pulled in and parked.
 
A Navajo man got out and looked around.
 
Strange, he had expected to see the
truck of the man he had been following from Tuba but it was not here. He was
pretty sure he had seen a fellow walking across the road a short while ago but
he couldn’t be sure it was his man.
 
Maybe it was Darren and he had parked his truck in some hidden
location.
 
Looking around, he
decided to search the area on foot.
 
Maybe he would spot the guy he thought he saw earlier. Maybe it was
Darren after all.
 
He hoped so.
  
Otherwise, he would have to assume
he had lost track of him—Raymond Tso would not like that and Raymond did
not deal kindly with those who let him down.
  
He headed toward the box canyon
entrance.
 

As the man approached the ridge just
above the canyon entrance, he heard another vehicle pull into the parking
lot.
   
Just to be safe he
ducked behind a large boulder and peered around the side toward the parking
lot.
 
Could this vehicle be Darren
just arriving?
 
He might have missed
him, if he stopped somewhere along the highway.

 
He quickly saw that this was not Darren’s
vehicle.
 
This was a much newer
truck—a pretty new truck but awfully dirty.
 
Must have been driving in the
backcountry.
 
He didn’t wait to see
who was in this new truck but turned instead back to the canyon trail.
 
He felt sure now that the man he had
seen on foot earlier must be Steele.

Lin could hardly wait to share what she
had learned with Sue.
 
When she
turned into the parking lot she was glad to see that Sue was already at the
restaurant.
 
Salsa Brava was a new
spot for Lin.
 
She loved Mexican
food and had heard about the excellent menu and the salsa bar featured here.

 
Sue waved at Lin as she entered the
restaurant from a booth near the front windows.

“I took the liberty of ordering margaritas
for us both but we can change that if you wish,” Sue said.

“No, no, that is fine.
 
We need to celebrate anyway—I have
some additional information.” Lin responded eagerly.

Their drinks came and they went to the
salsa bar where they found several different types to enjoy with their warm,
fresh tortilla chips.

As they enjoyed their appetizer, Lin
reported to Sue about her phone call and the discovery that the number on the
back of the card belonged to Neal Smith.

“That makes me even more certain that he
knew Cullen Honeyestewa; that might explain why he is reluctant to talk about
the situation.” Lin was excited about her new information, “ The fact that
Cullen had Neal’s number suggests some sort of contact, yet he has never
indicated that he knew the man at all. There has to be a reason he wants to
hide the connection.”

“It certainly looks that way,” Sue
offered, “but again, we mustn’t jump to any quick conclusions. There are a lot
of reasons someone might have a phone number.
 
Smith might have hidden a casual, innocent
connection because he didn’t want to get involved in any possible
investigation.
 
People do that, you
know.”

“I know, but I am still somewhat
suspicious,” Lin admitted, “ It’s just a feeling I have.
 
Besides, the more we learn about Cullen
Honeyestewa as a person, the more certain I am that he wouldn’t have been
drinking.
 
His fall must have been
due to some other cause.”

“I agree with you on that point,” Sue
offered, “changing the subject a bit—what do you plan to do about the
gallery itself and the possible connection there?”

“I’m not sure,” Lin spoke thoughtfully, “I
already knew that the gallery owner and Neal Smith were acquainted and this
card seems to indicate that Cullen had some connection with both of them.”

“You know,”
 
Sue sounded like a reporter now, “the
family let you take the card and you implied that you were seeking answers to
questions and told them you would let them know if you learned anything
more.
 
That implies that you have
their permission to look into things…”

“And I could talk to the gallery owner
and tell him I was trying to learn more for the family…” Lin finished Sue’s
thought.

“Yes, you can,” Sue smiled, “and you
could even use that excuse with Dr. Smith; but, that would be a little trickier
since you have already tried to get him to talk and he hasn’t acknowledged
knowing Cullen at all.”

“Well, first things first,” Lin replied
eagerly, “I’m going to talk to John Sessions the first chance I get.”

Sizzling fajitas and creamy enchiladas
made their appearance at the table.
 
Sue and Lin were both hungry as they had skipped lunch in favor of
snacks on their way home.
 
They
enjoyed their meal and passed the rest of their time discussing things that
were happening at their respective parks and how much they were enjoying being
volunteers.
 
Lin even had the
opportunity to put in a good word for Toby—telling Sue that he was
applying for a permanent job at Walnut Canyon and he was a very good,
dependable employee.

“Of course, I’m just a volunteer,” Sue
responded, “but I will tell the head ranger, who will be involved in the hiring
process, what you have said.
 
Toby
does seem to be a nice young man.”

The women parted company in the parking
lot, promising to stay in touch and to do something social together soon.

“I’ll let you know what I learn if I talk
to that gallery owner,” Lin commented.

“See that you do,” Sue replied as she got
into her car and headed for home.

As Lin took the somewhat longer ride back
to Wupatki, she reflected on what she had learned that day and on the best way
to proceed from this point on.
 
She
did intend to talk to John Sessions at the first possible opportunity.
 
Meanwhile, she was to see Neal Smith and
his students on Tuesday.
 
Lin was
not certain what she would say to Smith but she didn’t want him to have the chance
to contact Sessions before she talked to him; she decided it was probably best
to say nothing at all to Smith when he came to the park.
 
She would talk to Sessions first and
then see where that led.
  

She also had no plans to share anything
she had learned today with anyone else at the park.
 
She had told no one that she and Sue
were going to contact the Honeyestewa family—somehow she didn’t think
that Danielle would approve of her getting involved in this matter which was
now officially closed.
 
As far as
anyone knew, Sue and Lin had simply spent the day sightseeing and exploring on
the reservation and, for now, it would have to stay that way.

Lin was tired when she arrived home so
she decided to skip her usual Sunday night call to her kids.
 
She would drive up to Doney tomorrow
evening and check on them.
 
They
knew she was busy and was enjoying herself; they would not necessarily expect
to hear from her every weekend.
  
Best not to be too habitual anyway, she thought.

Before she went to bed, Lin looked at her
calendar where she had noted her work schedule for the week.
 
The early part of the week was
busy.
 
It would probably be
Wednesday afternoon before she could get into Flagstaff to talk to John
Sessions.
 
That gave her a couple of
days to think how she would approach him and what she would say.

***

Lin was working six hours on Monday—from
late morning until the visitor center closed at five.
 
When she arrived, the center was already
pretty much filled with visitors.
 
Danielle sent her out to relieve Toby on the ruin trail and she spent
the rest of the morning there talking to visitors and answering their
questions.
 
It was a nice day and
she enjoyed being outside.
 
The time
passed quickly until her lunch break at one.

After lunch another group of French
tourists arrived.
 
She had learned
that Wupatki was a regular stop for one particular tour company that was
popular with these European visitors.
 
She soon discovered that there were not enough flyers that described the
ruin and its history in French, so she hastily made some copies to round out
the supply.
 
Thank goodness for the
French-speaking guide who was very familiar with the park and could handle most
of the questions.

By three-thirty most of the visitors had
gone.
 
There was a slow but steady
stream of individuals who dropped in during the late afternoon but it wasn’t
crowded so it was easily managed.
 
Lin even had some time to spend in the staff office with her archeology
readings.
 
She was still preparing
for her work with the grad students.
 
While she was reading, her mind began to drift back to her visit with
the Honeyestewa family yesterday.
 
She was determined to find out more about what might have happened to
their son and brother.
 
They did not
deserve to have such a negative image of him left in their memories.
 
They needed more substantial
answers.
 
She only hoped that she
could find more information to share with them.

When she left the visitor center that
afternoon, she decided to drive directly to Doney Peak to call her kids.
 
She wanted to share with them all that
had happened and what she had learned.
 
She knew before she called that they would both caution her to be
careful and to remain uninvolved.
 
She also knew that while she could promise to be cautious, she would not
promise to stop asking questions.

Later that evening as she prepared for
bed, she thought about the next day when she would be spending the afternoon
with Neal Smith, Mark, and Ginger.
 
She was a little nervous about this.
 
She didn’t know quite what to expect from
Neal, who had seemed somewhat standoffish last week.
 
She noted that he hadn’t called her or
tried to see her since that last visit to the park.
 
Maybe he didn’t wish to pursue their
friendship, or maybe it had more to do with her trying to talk about Cullen and
her questions about the case.
 
She
wasn’t sure. Now that she knew there was some sort of connection between Smith
and Cullen, she wasn’t sure she could manage to remain detached and not speak
too soon.
 
It would take a lot of
concentration on her part but she would certainly try.