Shooting Chant (31 page)

“Ben’s vehicle was found in a residential area, so
we may be able to find a witness, providing he was actually taken at the spot where we found his truck. I’ll get some officers and go canvass the neighborhood right away.”

“Do what you have to do to get the victims back safe and sound,” Big Ed said. “I’m counting on you, Ella.”

*   *   *

An hour later, Ella knocked on the door of Pauline Salt’s home, one of four apartments constructed of brick
and metal in a style reminiscent of the late fifties or early sixties. This was an area inhabited by the teachers and staff of various federal and tribal institutions, including the public health hospital. It wasn’t necessary for her to follow tradition here and wait to be seen before approaching the door.

Although the other homes she’d visited had constituted a waste of time (the residents were
all at work), this time she could hear someone moving inside.

A cranky voice spoke out, telling her to “wait a minute.”

Then a middle-aged Navajo woman in a blue robe pushed aside the curtain of the narrow window beside the door and looked out through half closed eyes. “What is it?”

“I’m from the police.” Ella held up her badge so the woman could see it and her ID. “I’m sorry to disturb you,
but I need to ask you a few questions about something you may have noticed in your neighborhood last night. Can you open the door so we can talk?”

There was a pause as the woman disappeared, then the door opened and Ella was invited inside. “Sorry. I work the night shift and I don’t usually get out of bed until the afternoon. I’m a little out of it right now.”

“That’s okay. I won’t stay long.
I just needed some information.”

“I recognize your face from the papers. You’re the police department’s special investigator, Ella Clah, right?” The woman finally smiled, pleased with herself.

“Yes, I am. And you’re Pauline Salt?”

“How did you know? Oh, right, my name is on the mailbox.”

The woman was a nurse, Ella noted from the photos of her on the wall, including a diploma from the University
of New Mexico Nursing School. This explained her nontraditional use of names.

“I assume you’re working on Senator Yellowhair’s kidnapping?” Pauline sat down on a comfortable-looking sofa, and stifled a yawn. “I’ve never met the man or voted for him, so I’m not sure how I can help you.”

“I am working on a kidnapping,” Ella admitted, withholding specifics. “Did you work the night shift last night?”

“Yes, I did.”

“What I need to know is if you saw anything unusual on this street late last night, or early this morning.”

“I’m afraid I didn’t see anyone at all on the street when I got home.”

“And that was at…”

“Around twelve thirty
A.M.
”

“And the street was totally deserted?” Ella pressed.

“Well, not quite,” she said after a brief pause. “When I was drawing the curtains and getting ready
to go to bed, I saw a cop down the road pulling someone over.” Pauline yawned, then smiled. “Excuse me.”

“Did you notice anything about either vehicle?” Ella knew that this was what she was looking for. No officers had pulled anyone over on this street last night, according to their watch reports. She’d checked. “Was one of the two vehicles a new-looking pickup?”

“That’s right. A big fancy white
one. I could see it clearly because the cop had his spotlight on it.”

“What about the cop car?” Ella asked.

“It was one of those Jeep-type vehicles, what they call a sports utility vehicle nowadays.”

“Did it have an insignia on the side, like regular Navajo police cars do?” This could be a good lead, if she could get more information.

“It was like yours, with no markings, but it wasn’t blue,
it was white. It had a red blinking light stuck up on the roof that looked like it was ready to fall off. It was over the driver’s side, like someone had stuck it on there really fast. I guess it had a magnet on it.”

“Did you notice the driver, or the officer?”

“No, just shapes. I can’t say for sure, but I think there were three or four figures in the police car. Maybe the officer had a partner,
or the driver had passengers. Were they arrested? Why are you asking me this anyway? It was one of your own officers, wasn’t it?”

“No, it wasn’t, at least we don’t think so. I’d like you to do a favor for me, and maybe help a crime victim at the same time. Tell me everything else you remember about last night, and then I’ll tell you a little more about my investigation, but it’ll have to be in
confidence.”

Pauline’s eyes grew wide and she nodded. “Of course.”

Ella got every detail Pauline Salt could remember, then finally told her about Ernest Ben’s kidnapping. “But please don’t tell anyone what you know. It could compromise our investigation.” Ella started to walk out the door, but stopped in mid stride. “Don’t even talk to another police officer, unless I call you first and tell
you it’s okay.”

“No problem,” she said. “I can keep confidences. Don’t worry.”

Assured Pauline would be discreet, Ella left. The best thing she could do was to keep Pauline anonymous to everyone, except the cops she personally trusted. If anyone thought Pauline could identify the kidnappers, she’d be in danger.

By the time Ella and Justine finished canvassing the neighborhood, it was past lunchtime,
and they grabbed a sandwich at the Totah Cafe. By then, news of Ernest Ben’s kidnapping had reached the radio and television stations. As she watched the broadcast, Ella was pleased to see that Blalock had come through for her.

The television newscaster showed the flyer Blalock had provided for them, and read off the description of both missing Navajo officials.

“We’ve got every agency in the
area looking for that phoney cop car. Something’s bound to turn up,” Justine said, referring to the information they’d deliberately kept from the reporters in order to protect Pauline.

“That vehicle’s probably hidden away by now, but every dealer in New Mexico and southern Colorado is going to have an officer visit them and look over their sales records. Blalock and the FBI can get law enforcement
teams moving like no one else can.”

Ella finished her chef’s salad, and eyed a piece of pie on the counter across the room. She knew she’d have to start eating more nutritiously with a child developing, but fattening foods just tasted better somehow.

“Wait until that George Branch character does his show tonight. He really laid it on thick about tribal corruption when the senator was kidnapped.
I wonder what he’ll say this time?”

“Blalock is going to record his broadcasts from now on. He’s still a suspect, though he couldn’t be doing this alone if Ben was taken by more than one man.”

Justine looked across the room toward the door, stared hopefully for a moment, then looked back at Ella.

“Who did you see come in?” Ella asked. She hadn’t looked, not wanting to be obvious, but was curious
about Justine’s reaction.

“It was Billy and a couple of his coworkers from the mine,” Justine said with a shrug. “But he didn’t see us, or he would have said hello.”

“I wonder how they’re reacting to the latest kidnapping?” Ella watched Justine for a reaction.

“Billy and his friends don’t look too happy, judging from their expressions. Whoever is doing this is trying to make the Fierce Ones
look bad, and I have a feeling that’s going to stir up its own brand of trouble.”

“Then we better catch the bad guys quickly. We don’t need any more problems. Time to get back to work partner,” Ella said, walking out the side door with Justine.

Ella was halfway across the parking lot when she glanced behind her automatically and saw Billy Pete watching Justine from the window. Aware of Ella,
Billy shifted his gaze to her, gave her a nod, then turned his attention back to his friends.

EIGHTEEN

That night at home Ella decided to tune in to George Branch’s show. She’d only heard a few minutes here and there in the past because she’d found the man so one-sided and annoying.

After listening to the first ten-minute segment, she was glad Blalock had elected to start recording the broadcast. Branch had chosen the recent lawlessness on the Rez as his topic. His ranting held few surprises,
but Branch suddenly got Ella’s attention when he mentioned that she’d been attacked beside the San Juan River. This attack had not been made public. Only officers around the station, her mother, and the attackers themselves knew about that. Branch assured his listening audience that Ella had undoubtedly been yet another target of the kidnappers operating on the Rez. He then pointed out that
as a police officer, she would have been an excellent hostage for anyone hoping to force tribal government action.

When the phone rang, she grabbed it immediately. Blalock’s voice came over the line. “Are you listening to George Branch tonight?” he asked.

“Unfortunately, yes. Are you recording it?”

“You bet.”

“Did you just hear him say something about me being attacked along the river?” Ella
asked.

“Yeah, I heard it. Have you considered his theory that you may have been a kidnapping target?”

“No, not really. They came at me with knives, remember? But if it hadn’t occurred to the bad guys before, it will now, thanks to that moron.”

“That’s true. So, what do you want to do about it?”

“First, I want to find out who his source is. He just broadcast information we’d deliberately kept
under wraps. Let me call you back when his show is over. Maybe he’ll say something that’ll help us figure out where he’s getting his information.”

“I’ll be waiting for your call,” Blalock said then hung up.

Before the George Branch Show was over, Ella got two more calls, one from Justine, and the other from Big Ed. Both wanted to know the same thing—how did Branch know about the attack as well
as the other details he’d mentioned? They knew they could rule out Pauline Salt, the nurse who witnessed Ben’s abduction. She knew nothing about Ella’s knife attack.

Branch took no listener calls or responses during this evening’s broadcast, but Ella wasn’t sure if that was his regular format or just for tonight’s show. The half-Navajo radio personality blasted law enforcement, capping the tirade
by attacking Dwayne Blalock and calling him “the Feeble Brained Idiot,” what he claimed FBI should stand for in Blalock’s case.

After the show, Ella spoke to Blalock.

“I’m going to look into every detail of that loudmouth’s life. His butt is mine.”

“Go for it. In the meantime, our PD will have to dig hard to make sure the leak isn’t one of our guys.”

As Ella placed the receiver down, she smiled
for the first time that evening. Branch had wanted to provoke a reaction with his broadcast tonight, but what he’d get would be far worse than he’d ever expected. Blalock wasn’t the kind to let anything slide.

S
EPTEMBER
15
TH

Ella woke up early to the sound of Two barking outside. Half asleep, she put on a robe and an old pair of moccasins and walked to the kitchen.

She opened the back door
a foot and saw the mutt standing in the driveway, barking at some shapes on a hillside in the distance. “What is it, boy?” As she called, Two turned his head to see if she approved. His tail wagged one or two hesitant twitches.

Ella stepped outside onto the back porch, and squinted to see what was causing his reaction. Silhouetted in the pre-dawn glow in the east were a herd of goats and a human
figure. From the shape, it looked like a woman in a long skirt.

“Come on in, boy, we’re not going to be attacked by goats anytime soon,” Ella said, and Two barked one more time before trotting over toward her, tail wagging continuously.

The door opened behind Ella, and Rose let them both back into the house. “Good dog,” she praised. “What is it, Daughter? A skunk?”

“Just a woman and her goats.
I think it’s the same person I saw the other day farther up the road.”

“I think she’s doing more than herding goats, Daughter.” Rose grumbled. “Do you know who she is?”

Ella’s eyes narrowed. “No, I haven’t gotten close enough to identify her yet.”

“If you do, I think you’ll see that she’s your lawyer friend’s grandmother. And she’s here to keep an eye on you, I’ll bet, because she knows you’re
pregnant. She’s afraid, like many others, that either you or your brother will become you-know-whats and turn to evil. In many people’s eyes, the tensions between you and your brother support the legend’s claim that one of you will choose evil and become the other’s mortal enemy.”

“I guess they see me as the one who’ll become evil since they’re watching our house.”

“They’re watching your brother’s,
too, according to his wife.”

“If they think I have the energy to attend or conduct strange ceremonies at night, they’re nuts. And the whole concept of wearing the skin of a coyote, becoming one, and running around at night doing mischief…” She shook her head as she considered the belief about the skinwalkers. “I’ve got news for them. Sometimes at the end of my work day, I barely have the energy
to get undressed before crawling into bed.”

“You’re too modern in your thinking.” Rose paused then continued, “There’s something else you should know.”

Seeing her mother hesitate puzzled Ella. It wasn’t like her to do that. “Go on.”

“I know you like facts, but I’m not sure about this,” she warned, “But it’s possible that your lawyer friend’s family knew he was seeing you and, while that was
going on, they felt no need to keep tabs on you. They knew that he, in his own way, would keep track of you and what you were doing. But now that you’re pregnant, things have changed. None of them expected this,” Rose exhaled loudly. “I’m not sure if they’ll now pressure him to marry you, and in that way keep an eye on your baby as it grows, or go in a different direction entirely.”

“What do
you mean?”

“The way I see it, if he is able to convince them that the baby is his, then everything will be all right. It’ll be their kin as well as ours. But if he doesn’t…” she let the sentence hang.