Ghost Medicine (28 page)

“You’d like a match to the partials on the belt buckle?” Dan asked.

“Yeah, exactly,” Ella said, then added, “I know where Eileen works. If we could get something she’s handled—”

“Where
does
she work?” Dan asked.

“The Little Bear Café in Beclabito,” she said.

“That’s
your jurisdiction, not mine,” Dan said. “But she’s met you, right?”

Ella nodded, “And Justine, too.”

“Sheriff Taylor will loan me out to your department for this, no problem. I’m already dressed in civilian clothes, so I’ll drive up there and find a way to get her prints.”

“Sounds good to me,” Ella said, “but do you think you can do it without tipping her off?”

“Oh yeah,” he said easily. “I’ll
make it happen.”

“Thanks. We appreciate it,” Ella said.

He nodded once, then walked off.

Ella watched him for a second longer, then heard Justine laugh.

“You’re checking out his butt,” Justine said.

“You’re crazy.”

“Yeah, maybe, but I’m also right,” Justine said, getting back into the SUV. “And for what it’s worth, so was I.”

“Head to the station. I want you to fast-track the DNA on the
hair and nail samples we found at the skinwalker site,” Ella said. “If that person is the next target…”

Justine nodded. “I’ll ask Blalock to process them at the FBI lab in Albuquerque. The New Mexico State crime lab is always backed up and will take weeks. I’ll let you know when we can expect results.”

Ella returned to her office a short time later. Carolyn’s postmortem report on Harry Ute’s
death was on her desk, but it held little she didn’t already know.

Ella leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath. Harry’s death had hit her a lot harder than she’d expected. It wasn’t just the manner of his death, but the randomness of it that bothered her. Harry had woken up one morning, gone to work, and never returned to those he loved.

She thought of her daughter and her family. They
were more important to her than anything else in the world. Yet everything was changing at home, and before she knew it, Dawn would be going off to college. If she wanted to spend more time with her family while they were all still together, it was now or never.

Ella shook free of her musings and forced her mind back on work. She was busy filling out reports when her cell phone rang. Hearing
Dan’s voice, she smiled. She didn’t even have to ask if he’d succeeded. His upbeat tone as he’d greeted her had said it all.

“Done deal,” he said, “and she never caught on. I pocketed a water glass she handled, then processed it in my truck. No one saw me. I’m sending the print photo over to you now.”

“Send it directly to Justine. She’s in her lab and will process it right away. Are you coming
in?”

“Yeah, I’ve been asked by Sheriff Taylor to brief Big Ed.”

“See you then,” Ella said, then hung up.

Big Ed walked inside her office a second later. “Jaime Beyale of the
Diné Times
just called. They found out what happened to my brother, and so did most of the regional media. A camera crew from one of the television stations is coming over, too. I’ll have to issue a statement.”

“You can’t
be held responsible for what your brother does or doesn’t do,” Ella said.

“Not legally, no, but the media is always looking for some way to stir things up, and this will play right into the hands of my … enemies,” he said, sounding tired. “Circumstantially, the case against Elroy is strong—his wife has cancer, and he’s been hit with a lot of overwhelming bills. It’ll be easy to argue that he
knowingly purchased stolen merchandise in order to cut corners.”

“The DA will still have to prove that,” Ella said.

“Yes, but in the interim, Elroy will have legal fees to deal with on top of the growing stack of bills on his desk. He’ll also have to return the merchandise he purchased. That means he’ll forfeit the money he laid out at the same time that he’ll lose the machine itself. Worst
of all, this is going to damage his company’s reputation when he can least afford to lose clients.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Ella asked, hating feeling helpless.

“No, it’s better if you stand back. If you tell reporters that my brother isn’t getting any special treatment, they’ll jump on that idea and hint that maybe the exact opposite is true.”

“Yeah, I know how the media sometimes
‘creates’ the news,” she said softly.

“Just give them a blank expression and a ‘no comment.’ They won’t like it, but they can’t put a spin on a nonanswer.”

As Ella watched her boss walk back out into the hall, a heavy feeling fell over her. Big Ed had worked hard for the tribe all his life, but there was really no way for him to fight and win a situation like this. The whole thing stank.

She
hadn’t been working at her computer for long when Dan knocked and came in. “Have you been able to match that fingerprint yet?”

Ella looked up at the clock and realized that forty minutes had passed since she last spoke to him. “No, but Justine should have finished running it by now. Let’s see what she’s got,” she said, and led the way down the hall.

As they entered the small lab/office, they
found Justine sitting by her computer at the far side of the room, staring at the screen.

“Partner, what’s going on?” Ella said.

Justine jumped, startled. “I didn’t even hear you come in!”

“You must have really been concentrating,” Ella said.

Justine rubbed her forehead with her forefinger, then met Ella’s gaze. “Sit down. I have something I need to tell you.”

“About the fingerprint on our
friend’s belt?” Ella asked, curious about Justine’s reaction.

Justine shook her head. “Sorry, I didn’t get to it yet. I got sidetracked by something more important—at least to me. I was going to go to your office just as soon as I found a way to…”

“To what?” Ella pressed, losing patience.

“I was studying the hair and nail clippings we found at the skinwalker’s site. Since DNA takes a long time,
even when the FBI gives it top priority, I decided to identify the nail polish and see where that might lead. It was Peach Surprise.”

Ella felt her chest tighten. That was her daughter’s favorite color. “Go on.”

“Next I looked at the hair. The color told me nothing. Black’s too common. So I followed my gut,” she said, and swallowed hard. “I had a strand of Dawn’s hair cataloged in the computer.
Remember when she was working on her science project last year and I showed her all the ways hair can be classified—pigmentation, cross section, et cetera?”

“What are you telling me?” Ella said, almost losing her voice.

“I don’t have the DNA results yet, but I’m almost ready to conclude that the nail clippings and the hair belong to Dawn.”

TWENTY-ONE

Anger rose inside Ella until she couldn’t stop shaking. “That SOB is targeting my kid?” Her jaw clenched. “It wasn’t enough to threaten me and my home. He now wants me to know that he’s got my kid in his sights.”

“The question you need answered quickly, is how he got that stuff,” Dan said.

“It must have happened the day he snuck over to my house to put that calcified animal jaw
in my truck. While he was there, I bet he decided to help himself to our trash. I remember Mom had told Dawn to clean her bathroom and that means emptying the trash, too.” Ella’s hands balled into fists. “No matter what it takes, this piece of walking garbage is going down.”

“I’ve got your back on this—whatever you need,” Dan said.

“Me, too,” Justine said. “Do you want me to pass this along
to the rest of our team?”

“Yes. I’m also going to talk to Big Ed,” Ella said, then turned to look at Dan. “Can you stick around for a few minutes?”

“You bet.”

Ella walked down the hall and knocked on Big Ed’s open office door. He waved her in and wordlessly invited her to take a seat as he finished a telephone conversation. While she was waiting, she texted Dawn, at her friend’s house, and
told her to avoid strangers. Dawn got the message, because she texted Ella back with “im safe luv u.”

Placing the phone down after a moment, Big Ed focused on Ella, who’d just put away her phone. “I got a heads-up from Jaime at the
Diné Times.
Reporters will be here shortly.”

“Do you want me with you when you make your statement?”

He shook his head. “I’ll handle it. Besides, we come across
as more professional when our investigators are actively investigating, not fielding questions from the press. Now, tell me, what brings you to my office?”

She told him what Justine had found. “I want to request that an officer be sent to protect my family in addition to the ones already patrolling the area.”

He nodded. “It’ll have to be officers willing to work during their off-hours. Right
now we’re strained to the limit. With all the cutbacks, we’ve lost too many patrolmen, and the ones who are left are working overtime in this latest crisis.”

“I know,” Ella said, and cleared her throat. “If the department can’t provide what I need, then I’ll hire Bruce Little’s people.”

“No,”
Big Ed said. “You’re one of ours, and we handle threats to our own. I’ll get what you need even if I
have to call officers back from vacation. You’ll have someone at your home within the hour, and I’ll have my secretary set up a schedule, starting with volunteers first.”

“My daughter’s at her friend’s house. Can someone pick her up there and take her home?”

“Yes. Give me the address,” he responded, sliding a piece of memo paper across the desk.

“Thanks, boss,” Ella said, writing it down, then
standing.

“Don’t let this skinwalker business distract you, Shorty. I think that’s precisely what he’s trying to do. If he’d really wanted to harm your family, he would have done so already. He’s trying to keep you busy looking over your shoulder instead of hunting him down.”

“I don’t fear him. The guy is just annoying.”

“That also works against you. Once he clouds your thinking, he wins.”

“You’re right. Thanks, Chief.”

Ella returned to her office and found Dan waiting.

“Did you get the additional protection for your family?” Dan asked.

“Yeah, but with all the cutbacks in personnel, it’ll be hard finding enough officers.”

“Once word gets out, you’ll have no end of volunteers. Cops take care of their own,” Dan said. “County deputies, too,” he added.

She nodded, knowing it was
true. “If I ever see this skinwalker scumbag around my place, I may shoot first and worry about it later.”

“If he’s wearing an animal skin, no one would convict you, not here on our land. He may not realize it, but he’s made himself some dangerous enemies by going after an officer’s kid.”

“Yeah, I hear you,” she said. “When he left that animal jaw in my truck, he was threatening
me
. I didn’t
like the fact that he got close to my home, but I was clearly his target. Now, since I haven’t backed off, I guess he decided to move things up a notch and threaten my kid.” She paused, trying hard to stay calm. “Big mistake.”

“Are you going to tell Dawn about this?”

“I’ve got no other choice. I’ve already texted her to be alert, and someone is going to escort her home from her friend’s house.
I’m going to have to restrict her to the house, which means I’ll have to give her the reason.”

“Do you think she can handle it?”

“Probably better than me. We’ve been through these kinds of things before. My mother and brother will help her, too—and Herman. He was there for me even before we were family.”

Hearing a light knock at the door, she looked behind Dan and saw Victoria standing there.

“What’s going on?” Ella said, nodding for her to come inside.

“Big Ed told everyone in the bullpen what happened. Most of the officers have already volunteered to be part of the protection detail whenever they’re off duty, including me. I’ll be at your house tomorrow morning. Four-hour shifts are being set up through the chief’s office. One person will be inside the house at all times and another
on the grounds, watching the perimeter. We’ll keep it up until you arrest the suspect.”

Ella hadn’t expected support to come so quickly and found herself almost speechless. “Thank you,” she managed at last.

Victoria shook her head. “No thanks are necessary. When something like this happens, we all stand together—as a tribe and a department.”

After Victoria left, Dan stood and gave Ella a smile.
“She’s right on both counts. I’ll be volunteering my time, too. In fact, I intend to stop by your house once I leave here and stick around until I’m relieved. I’ll call Sheriff Taylor and fill him in.”

“Thanks. I really appreciate it.” This was what she’d miss most once she retired. Police officers were a brotherhood, particularly here, where their culture, as well as the badge they wore, united
them. If one was threatened, they all were.

Just then Ella’s phone rang. Seeing on the display that it was Joe Neskahi, she picked it up, waving her hand for Dan to stick around. The first thing she heard were gunshots in the background. “What’s happening, Joe?” she asked quickly.

“Benny and I are taking rifle fire from what appears to be a single gunman,” he said, his voice low. A few more
seconds went by, accompanied by heavy breathing.

“Had to change positions,” Joe said. “We’re still okay.”

“Roger that. Report on the situation.”

“We were working the other side of the hill, north of the skinwalker drypainting, when we saw a sedan parked on the road about fifty yards to our left. We decided to go talk to the driver, but before we got there, he jumped out holding a rifle and
started shooting. We took cover.”

There was another gunshot. Two more followed, and those sounded much louder. Return fire, Ella guessed.

“Our vehicle was just put out of commission—took one to the radiator, and it’s spraying antifreeze like a steam engine—so we’re not going anywhere,” Joe said. “The shooter has taken cover on the roadbed beside his vehicle, but he’s trapped, too. Even if he
manages to get back in the car, he can’t drive off without crossing open ground. If he tries, his vehicle will be shot full of holes, and he knows it.”