Enemy Way (17 page)

Ella waved him to a chair. “I was just asking Justine about our progress. Do you have anything to report on the murder case?”

“As you know, I’ve been pursuing the angle from the gang side. I decided to visit the
parents of some of the kids, and what I’ve learned is interesting, to say the least. The families are being visited by members of the Fierce Ones.”

“Lena Clani warned me about that,” Ella said. “Are they intimidating people?”

Neskahi hesitated. “It’s a strange deal. The parents won’t identify who visited them. Heck, they won’t even admit to having been visited. But Franklin Ahe’s little sister
talked to me. She’s afraid for her brother and for her parents. Apparently they had late night visitors. They insisted that Mr. and Mrs. Ahe control Franklin, and they’ve demanded that restitution be made the old way.”

“Old way?” For some reason the words made a chill run up her spine.

“If Franklin spray paints a wall, either Franklin or his parents must restore it. The Fierce Ones don’t care
about police involvement. To them, we’re White Man’s Law. What they want is traditional justice. If the kids won’t comply, they made it clear the parents will be held accountable.”

“Oh, crap,” Ella muttered.

“Their son wouldn’t help, but the Ahes cleaned up two walls that belonged to the neighbors.”

Ella raised her eyebrows. “Well, that’s going to be one major victory for the traditionalists.
The community will see the Fierce Ones as heroes and support them. Our job is suddenly becoming easier, and a lot more complicated at the same time. Be extremely careful out there, sergeant. If the wrong family is held ‘accountable,’ we could have people at each other’s throats.”

Ella turned to Justine. “Have you been able to tie in any of the gang members we have in custody to the murder?”

“The kids we arrested all have an alibi for the time of death. They claim they were at the Halftime, that new cafe near the high school. The waitress who verified their story, though, is the sister of one of the boys we collared.”

“Can anyone else corroborate that they were there?”

“A few other kids who were there at the time support the alibi, but I’ve got to tell you, I think they’d say whatever
they’d been told to say. They don’t want to go up against the gang.”

Ella shook her head. “How did those young hoods get such a hold on our people?” Ella mused. “This problem has certainly flared up in just a short time. When I was in high school, fists were all that were needed in a fight. Now they think nothing of pulling a gun.”

“Outside influences like TV, movies, gangster rap, and reservation
kids coming back after living in big cities, have all contributed to this problem,” Neskahi said.

Ella studied a report on her desk. “The kids we arrested weren’t wearing the same type of athletic shoes that we identified at the crime scene,” Ella noted. “But that doesn’t really exclude them from the list of suspects.” Ella glanced up. “Keep me posted on your progress, Sergeant, and stay on the
gang aspect of this case.”

As Neskahi left, Ella looked at Justine. “Make sure you check whatever Thomas and the other two use on their hair, then compare it with that substance we found at the murder scene. I notice they all have their hair slicked back. Hopefully we’ll get a match with one of them, but not all three.”

“I’ll be back in my office,” Ella said. “Let me know what, if anything,
you find.”

Ella returned to her office and dialed the hospital, checking with the nurse’s station in the section where her mother was being tended. Her mother had made it back to the room just fine, and her spirits were up. As Ella said good-bye, she shifted her attention to Justine, who’d just appeared at the door again.

“Can I come in, boss?” Justine looked as tired as Ella felt. “I know you
want a lead, something to take to Big Ed, but I haven’t been able to get anything for you yet, not on the murder,” Justine said, downcast. “I feel as if I’m failing you. I couldn’t come up with anything that will narrow down any suspects.”

“This isn’t your fault. Investigations go at their own rate. You know that.”

“I just didn’t want you to think that I was so preoccupied with my family problems,
especially Thomas and my aunt, that I was being sloppy with my work.”

“I don’t,” Ella said. “Has Thomas said anything to you that can help us out? I know you’ve been to visit him in his cell.”

“Didn’t you know? Robert Kauley got him released into the custody of my aunt. He didn’t even have to make bail because he has no previous record, and isn’t considered a flight risk. Because of his age,
they don’t want to keep him with adult prisoners, apparently. Of course he’ll have to show up in court on the charges, and has been warned to stay out of trouble and away from the gangs.”

“Do you think he’ll do that? He may not be too far gone to save if he can avoid that kind of peer pressure. I hate to see someone that age wrecking their lives like that.”

Justine shrugged. “If he and his mother
will face the facts and stop blaming others, maybe they can get hold of him again. He used to be a good kid before my uncle moved out. Maybe there is some of that still in him.”

“We can keep our fingers crossed,” Ella agreed. “By the way, did you do the follow-up yet on Jane Clah?” Ella asked.

Justine nodded. “I’ve asked around, but nobody’s seen her in ages. The people I spoke to weren’t even
sure she was still alive. There are no records of her death, if she died.”

“Did you drive out to her hogan?”

“No, I haven’t had a chance. I could do that today, if you’d like.”

“Let’s do it now. I have a gut feeling that it’s something we should be pursuing. Those cane prints make me think of her, for some reason.”

*   *   *

The drive was as long as it was uneventful. Jane Clah’s home was
in the middle of one of the most desolate sections of the area, about thirty miles southeast of Shiprock. The paved road gave out six miles east of Highway 666, and from that point on, it became a washboard surface that sorely tested Ella’s Jeep’s reputation as a quiet ride.

Just when they’d come to the conclusion that their insides would never stop vibrating, they arrived at a six-sided piñon
log and mud hogan built in a depression surrounded by low, eroded mesas. The blanket which covered the entrance to the hogan was ragged and threadbare, barely hanging on. The corrals were empty, and the gate swayed in the breeze. The place looked abandoned and as desolate as the surrounding desert.

Ella stepped out with Justine, cautioning her assistant to stay alert. As they stood by their vehicle,
waiting for an invitation to approach, Ella felt the spidery touch of fear trickling over her, warning her of danger, though nothing seemed out of place.

“The silence out here is giving me the creeps,” Justine said. “It’s obvious nobody lives here anymore. Let’s go and take a look.”

“Not yet. Give it a while longer,” Ella said, her eagle-sharp gaze studying the surrounding high ground and stunted
brush.

As a coyote howled in the distance, Ella suppressed a shudder. The place was making her skin crawl, but she wasn’t sure why. Uninhabited, windswept places miles from civilization were common on the Rez and that, in and of itself, had never bothered her.

“I don’t even see any tracks around,” Justine said, her voice taut.

“There aren’t that I can see, either,” Ella said quietly. “But the
last time I was here, she kept me waiting for quite a long time. I want to make sure she isn’t ill, and that we won’t be intruding on her by just walking in.”

Ella moved away from the vehicle and studied the hogan from a different angle. “It does look abandoned, doesn’t it? I suspect they left that old blanket over the entrance because it wasn’t worth taking down. And if someone lived here, there
would be a stack of firewood around, too. The nights are still cold.”

“Maybe—”

“She’s dead?” Ella said, finishing the thought. “Could be, but somehow, I don’t think so.”

Ella understood Justine’s reluctance to approach the hogan. It wasn’t just an aversion to the dead. It was something about this place. The silence seemed so total that it was as if this stark area sustained itself by feeding
on all the sounds.

When the time came, Ella took the lead and forced herself to go into the hogan. Brushing the dust-filled blanket aside, she sneezed hard. The dirt floor was barren of any supplies, unless tumbleweeds were included. It was as if no one had ever lived here. Yet her skin continued to prickle and all her instincts urged her to get away from the hogan.

Ella held her ground. Her
brother had often said that the profane tainted the air in a way that nothing ever truly erased. That was what she felt now. There was something evil here that lingered like the stench of death.

“Are you okay?” Justine asked, stepping in beside her. “You have a strange expression on your face.”

“You feel it, too, don’t you?” Ella asked. “It’s like there’s more here than we can see with our eyes.”
Suddenly Ella shook her head. “Don’t listen to me. I’m just reacting to memories, that’s all. My husband was a kind, gentle man, but his family was something else. Not many things frighten me anymore, but
they
did … and still do.” Ella regretted the words as soon as she spoke them. Admitting such a fear might give it power over her.

“Well, I can understand memories confusing your perceptions,
but I’ve got to tell you, this place is really spooky and it’s not just because there’s no sign of life around. It’s this entire area. It’s in a depression, I’m sure you noticed. But it’s more than its physical location. There aren’t enough sounds. It’s like this place exists in the middle of a void. How anyone could stand living out here for more than a few hours is beyond me.” Justine shook her
head.

“The old woman may have wanted to get away from the scandals, to retreat from the world. Or she may have simply wanted the freedom to do as she pleased and, out here, there would be no conventions to follow,” Ella said slowly.

Without thinking, Ella kicked at the pile of ashes in the center of the hogan beneath the smoke hole, then stopped. She couldn’t remember if that was a taboo of
some kind. Slowly a new thought formed in her mind. Maybe the real reason Jane Clah had chosen to live here was far more complicated than they’d realized.

As they stepped back outside, a strange sensation hit her. Ella blocked it, refusing to allow her imagination to spook her. The thought that had come into her mind was that something was near, watching them both.

Justine crouched by the entrance
to the hogan. “If there were ever cane marks here, the wind has hidden them from us permanently.” She stood and followed Ella to the Jeep.

Ella placed the vehicle in gear, and began the rough journey back to the main highway. Silence stretched taut between her and Justine. Ella still felt the danger like a palpable force wrapping itself around her. Suddenly, as she began the turn that paralleled
the cliff, the steering wheel locked. Ella yanked it hard, trying to complete the turn.

Aware instantly of the problem, Justine leaned over and pulled at the wheel, tugging at it along with Ella.

Ella slammed hard on the brakes, but on the soft earth, the vehicle continued to slide toward the drop off.

When they finally came to a stop, they were only inches from the edge. “Don’t move,” Ella
whispered.

The Jeep dropped a few inches, and Justine yelped. “Can you put it in reverse?”

“First, we’ll both get out. If the ground here gives way, I want to make darned sure neither one of us is in the Jeep. There’s about a thirty-foot drop-off.”

Ella looked at Justine. “Go now, just don’t rock the vehicle as you get out.”

“I think it may be safer if we both get out at the same time.”

Ella nodded. “Okay. On three.”

They opened their doors carefully, then on the count of three, jumped out of the vehicle. Ella waited, scarcely breathing, to see if her vehicle would remain where it was. The Jeep continued running, idling in place.

Ella looked around the Jeep at the edge of the cliff. The front bumper had nothing but air below it for quite some distance. “We’ve got to push it
back away from that edge.”

Working carefully, Ella turned off the engine, put the Jeep out of gear, and released the brake. Together, they pushed the Jeep back away from the drop-off. Once on secure ground, Ella set the brake, fell back against the seat, and caught her breath. “That was too damn close.”

“Yeah,” Justine agreed, her voice trembling slightly. “What the heck happened?”

Ella started
the engine again, went through the gears, and tried the steering. It worked perfectly well. “I don’t get it. The wheel was locked tight. We couldn’t budge it. And now it seems fine.”

Justine shuddered. “It’s this stretch of desert … there’s something bad out here.”

“It’s not the place. Accidents can happen anywhere, and that’s all it was; a mechanical malfunction at the wrong time.” But it was
the kind of mishap that, over the years, she’d learned to associate with skinwalkers. That chilling knowledge settled over her, freezing the very marrow of her bones.

NINE

Ella searched the vehicle up and down. Assured no one had tampered with it, she informed Justine that they were going to return to the hogan. Justine looked slightly unnerved at the prospect, but said nothing.

Once they arrived at the hogan, Ella got out and began looking around. Justine followed her.

“I can help, if you tell me what you’re looking for,” Justine said.

“I’m not sure. Anything
out of the ordinary,” Ella answered. “We’ll work in a spiral search pattern, starting with the hogan.”

Ella and Justine searched carefully and methodically. As Ella reached the base of a low hill that overlooked the hogan, she saw coyote tracks leading from the rocks into a narrow wash filled with hard-packed earth. She suppressed the shudder that ran up her spine.

Justine came to stand beside
her. “Anything that survives out here has to be very wily. I don’t think there’s much game around.”

She knew what Justine was implying, that this was no ordinary coyote. “You know, if the tracks were different, I’d suspect a you-know-what, but these seem like the genuine article.” Ella was reluctant to use the term skinwalker aloud, especially in a place like this. She was no traditionalist,
but it made no sense to risk using the name of a Navajo witch since it was said to attract their attention.