Earthway (28 page)

“Henderson,” Ella answered. “Disregarding the fact that he’s now a deputy, does his face strike you as someone you met in pleasant or unpleasant circumstances?”

Ford continued to study the photo, his eyebrows knitting together. “I can’t tell you. There’s just something about his face . . .”

“Then keep thinking about him,
okay? You might be interested to know that the bullet from your front porch, which I gave Whitefeather to have processed, has disappeared. The county lab said they have no record of it ever being turned in,” she added.

“Those people are top-notch, so my guess is that Whitefeather dropped the ball. He’s either bent or incompetent. So what now?” Teeny asked. “Would you like my help digging up something
on Deputy Henderson Whitefeather?”

Ella considered. Teeny had no equal when it came to getting information discreetly, but one slip could blow things sky high. Other departments were understandably protective of their people, and she knew Sheriff Taylor, Whitefeather’s boss. If he thought the tribe was investigating one of his men without his knowledge, an irreparable breach would result between
their departments. “Hold that thought. I’ve got some things I want to try first.”

“Good enough.”

Ella petted Abednego when he came over. “Anything more on Dr. Lee’s blogs or e-mails?” she asked.

“We’ve been looking for the appearance of the words ‘Red Rock’ but so far there’s been nothing,” Ford said.

“The second you see them, let me know,” Ella said.

“Of course,” Ford answered. “And Ella?”

She stopped halfway to the door and glanced back at him.

“Watch yourself. It’s the ones you think you can trust, like a fellow police officer—or a deputy—that’ll pose the greatest risk.”

“Have you remembered something else about Whitefeather?” Ella asked immediately.

“No,” he answered, leaning back in his chair, his gaze focused on her. “It’s just an observation.”

She respected his instincts.
Staying alert for whatever lay beneath the surface of things was what good investigators—and cryptographers—did best.

A short time later, Ella was driving west again on her way back to Shiprock and the station. She was lost in thought when her cell phone rang.

“It’s Justine.” Her partner’s voice came through clearly. “Can you meet me at home? I’ve got an idea.”

“Sure. See you in ten.”

When
Ella arrived, she saw Sergeant County Sheriff Emily
Marquez’s unit parked outside. She realized then what her partner had in mind. Emily, Justine’s roommate, was in the ideal position to provide them with additional information about Whitefeather. Most importantly, Emily trusted them, and would keep their interest to herself.

E
lla walked up Justine’s driveway. Although from the front it looked like a perfectly ordinary middle-class suburban tract house, Justine’s home was large by reservation standards. The five-bedroom home, built by a wealthy Navajo businessman who now lived out of state, also had all the modern amenities.

Justine rented it for an extremely reasonable price
because of the deal she’d struck with the owner. He’d wanted someone he could trust completely to take care of his horse, a surly stallion no one could ride. The horse was also known to bite and kick without provocation.

Justine came out from around the back of the house as Ella reached the front door. From the wet, gooey spot on her jacket, Ella surmised that Leggar, the horse, had tried to
take another chunk out of her partner.

Justine followed her gaze and nodded. “I went to give him an apple, but my cell phone rang and he freaked.”

Ella laughed. “I hope you smacked him on the nose.”

“I threw the apple at him.”

Ella sighed. “You two really do need to establish a better working relationship.”

“It’s hopeless.”

Justine led the way inside. “By the way, I finally got a lead on
Kim Mike. It turns out my sister Jayne’s a friend of hers. The problem is, Jayne refuses to tell me where Kim’s living now. She’s afraid Henry will follow us, track Kim down, and hurt her again. I was thinking that if you talk to Jayne yourself, she might listen to you.”

“All right. But first let’s talk to Emily. That’s why you wanted to meet here, right?”

“Yeah,” Justine said with a grin. “Together,
I’m sure we can talk her into giving us some unofficial help.”

Ella nodded. She’d been the one who’d introduced Justine to the blond San Juan County sheriff’s deputy a couple of years ago. Emily Marquez, divorced, had needed to split housing costs, and Justine had also needed a roommate, though for different reasons. After living at home, and being part of a huge family, the silence had gotten
to Ella’s second cousin.

“She’s in the greenhouse right now. She loves those orchids of hers,” Justine said.

Ella smiled. Orchids and the desert didn’t exactly mix, but they were Emily’s way of relaxing and staying sane, and somehow she managed to manipulate the humidity and other growing conditions.

“But Jayne’s here, too,” Justine continued, “and has to leave for work pretty soon. Maybe you
should talk to her first.”

“What’s she doing these days?” Ella asked as Justine motioned her toward the long, black-leather sofa.

“She finally gave up the desk job at the motel and began working the evening shift at the Stargazer Café on campus. She says a lot of people who come in to buy coffee are really just looking for someone to talk to, and Jayne loves dispensing advice. She’s never been
happier.”

“That’s great,” Ella said.

“Hi, Ella. You two talking about me again?” Jayne flashed
them a playful grin as she came in from the kitchen holding two large mugs filled with coffee and whipped cream. “This is Stargazer Café special mocha mix. It’s terrific and not heavy on the caffeine, so you don’t have to worry about staying up all night.”

Ella tasted the chocolate and coffee mix
through the thick mound of whipped cream. “This is really good,” she agreed. “You’ve given me a new vice.”

“Glad to share one of mine,” Jayne responded.

Justine nodded. “This
is
terrific.”

“Didn’t I tell you?”

Jayne was a year older than Justine but nearly as petite. They looked so much alike that they were often confused with each other, a source of embarrassment for Justine sometimes when
strange men came up and started flirting. Jayne was the wild one of the family, and had only recently shown signs of settling down with one man.

She sat down on the couch, then waited for Ella and Justine to follow suit.

“I need a favor, Jayne,” Ella said after a moment, and started explaining.

Jayne shook her head. “I know what you’re going to ask, and I’d love to help you, but I gave Kim
my word of honor that I’d never tell
anyone
where she was. That idiot husband of hers is dangerous. She’s lucky she’s still alive, the way he used to beat her.”

“What we’re really trying to do is find Henry. Kim might be able to tell us where he’s likely to hide out.”

“And after you catch him, will you be putting him away for good?”

“We don’t have enough to hold him. We just need to question
him at this point,” Ella admitted.

“Then I can’t help you,” Jayne said flatly. “You don’t realize how crazy Henry is. Did you even know that he’s been following you? He’s been leaving messages on Kim’s cell
phone telling her all about it. He’s determined to use you to lead him to Reverend Tome.”

“No way he’s been following me. That’s just a bluff. I’d know if I’d picked up a tail—particularly
recently. We’ve been extra careful about that.”

“When I heard about the shooting that took place over at Bruce’s place, I figured Henry had gone there hunting for Ford. If
I
know Ford’s there, maybe Henry figured it out too,” Jayne said.

“Back up a bit. What makes you think Ford’s there?” Ella asked. Jayne and Teeny had been hooking up over the past few years, but she seriously doubted Teeny
would have told her anything about this. Jayne was one of the biggest gossips in the Four Corners.

“He didn’t tell me, if that’s what you’re worried about. You know that Bruce and I see each other, so when he broke our last date, I started wondering if he was seeing someone else. I decided to drive by his place and take a look. That’s when I saw Ford in that old sedan of his, pulling into Bruce’s
garage. No visitors ever park there so I realized he was hiding out. After the bomb that hurt Ralph Tache, and the shooting over at Ford’s place, it was obvious he needed someplace safe. What a better place than Bruce’s? The last piece of that puzzle fell into place for me once I spoke to Kim. That’s when I realized that Henry Mike’s after Ford.”

Ella had been afraid all along that Ford’s little
excursion to help Reverend Campbell had been tracked. Now that she knew she’d been right, she had to minimize the damage, if she could. “You’re reading way too much into things. We don’t know who was responsible for that incident at Teeny’s. But if you are right and it was Henry Mike, all the more reason for us to find him—fast.”

“If Henry’s on a rampage, nobody’s safe, especially his wife. Kim’s
not like you or Justine. She’s not a fighter. She took his beatings for years. She loves the a-hole.”

Ella grimaced. She’d never been able to understand why any woman would remain loyal to a man who abused and terrorized her. That was one of the main reasons officers hated responding to domestic calls. All too often, the woman would turn on the officer and defend the man who’d just hurt her,
rather than see him get arrested.

“I’ll do my best to ensure I’m not followed. But we have to talk to Kim,” Ella insisted. “Other lives are at stake here, too.”

Jayne considered it, then at last, nodded. “How about a compromise? Even if you can’t see anyone, and all you have is a
feeling
that someone’s tailing you, will you back off?”

“Yes, and I’ll do you one better. I’ll have Justine come
with me. Between the two of us there’s no way we’d miss a tail.”

Jayne took a deep breath then nodded. “All right,” she said, then recited an address in Farmington. “She planted a trail west into Arizona but doubled back and is now living with her second cousin, Alyce, who’s a nurse practitioner. She found Kim a job working afternoons with her at Dr. Sanchez’s office.”

“Everything will be fine.
Don’t worry. We know what we’re doing,” Ella said.

“Henry Mike is really bad news, Ella. Kim says he has all kinds of rifles and ammunition, too. If he even hears that you know where Kim is, you and Justine will be in a world of trouble.”

“Actually, I hope he does come after me for whatever the reason,” Ella said with a lethal smile. “He’ll find out the hard way that I’m not as easy a target
as his wife.”

Jayne looked at her watch. “I better get going. You know where to find me if you need me.”

“Thanks for the coffee, Jayne,” Ella said.

As Jayne left, Justine glanced over at Ella. “Shall I go get Emily?” she asked, finishing the last of her mocha.

“Get me for what?” Emily asked, coming into the living
room and sniffing the air. “That’s Stargazer’s coffee, isn’t it?” Seeing their
empty mugs, she sighed. “Next time pick one up for me, too, okay? I’m addicted to the stuff.”

Emily sat down and stretched out her jeans-covered legs. “It feels so good to finally have time off! I’m not due at the station until the day after tomorrow, and I’m going to enjoy every single second of it. I’ve been working double shifts and I’m beat.”

“Personnel problems?” Ella asked.

“Other law
enforcement agencies pay a lot more for their services, so after four or five years, our deputies grab their résumés and move to greener pastures.”

“The county and the tribe are going to have to wake up. Without enough officers out on the streets, everything will fall apart,” Ella said.

“So what do you need from me?” Emily’s gaze narrowed and she gave Ella a hard look. “I hope you’re not going
to try and recruit me for a special assignment. Unless County’s working with you and will cover my shifts, the answer’s no.”

“All I need from you is some information, and your discretion,” Ella said.

“What kind of information?” Emily asked cautiously.

“I can’t tell you why I’m asking—not now at least—but I want to know everything you can tell me about a Navajo County Deputy named Henderson
Whitefeather. I need to get a feel for who he is, what he believes, and so on.”

“That’s a tough call, Ella,” Emily answered. “W—that’s what he prefers to be called—doesn’t socialize with the rest of the officers, not even for an off-duty beer or a pick-up game of basketball behind the station. I don’t think he’s ever said more than a few words to me, and that was in passing.”

Ella gave her a
surprised look. Emily was a tall, beautiful blonde and men gravitated to her. “Are you sure about that? Think hard.”

“I’m positive. As far as I know, he’s never hit on any of the
other female officers, either. Come to think of it, I remember him saying that he had a girlfriend at the college.”

“What else can you tell me about him?”

Emily considered it for several long moments. “Nothing, except
that he stays to himself generally and isn’t much for small talk. Do you want me to nose around some more? Maybe see if anyone knows his girlfriend’s name?”