Tribal Law (12 page)

Chapter Twenty

The crunch of snow and gravel in the drive alerted Selena to a visitor. Her route made her a perpetual early riser even on Sunday morning, her one day off. So she was alone in the kitchen at a little after eight in the morning when she heard someone pulling in.

She lifted the living room drape, peering out into the gray gloom. Who would be calling at this hour?

Her reflection obscured her view, so she pressed her cupped hands to the window pane. A chill of foreboding slithered up her spine as she spotted Ronnie Hare climbing out of his vehicle.

What was he doing here?

Another drop-in visit? But this was odd timing and something about his appearance didn't feel right.

Selena's heart began walloping in her chest. She reached for her phone to call Gabe as Hare parked beside the flatbed.

The parole officer straightened, wearing his slate-gray ski jacket unzipped and no gloves, scarf or hat. His step was quick and he looked over his shoulder twice as he hurried toward the house.

Her mother shuffled up beside her, squinting as she peered out the window, nearsighted without her glasses. “Who is that?”

“Mr. Hare.”

“I'll go wake your father.” Her mom reversed course, leaving Selena alone.

Selena stepped back, dropped the drape and retrieved her phone from the charging unit.

Outside, the parole officer's boot heels drummed on the wooden steps and his knock sounded loud as the crack of a rifle on a still afternoon.

She lifted her cloth coat, the one with the fleece lining and the bullet hole in the sleeve. Then, she stepped outside to intercept Hare. She planned to tell him that drop-ins or no drop-in visits, he had no right to wake her family out of a sound sleep. She stepped onto the porch, pulling the door shut behind her.

“
Dagot'ee
, Miss Dosela.”

“Mr. Hare.” She spoke in English instead of Apache. “It's very early for a visit. My father is still in bed.”

“That's all right.” He glanced about the yard, then back to her. “Because I'm not here to see him.”

Her mouth went dry as she wondered at the purpose of this visit. One of the icicles behind her on the gutter broke loose, fell and shattered on the glassy ice pack below, making her jump.

“Easy there,” he said.

He glanced toward the road again. What was he looking for? Or perhaps she should wonder
who
he was looking for.

When he turned back he held his steady, affable smile, only now there was something about him that made the hairs on her neck lift.

“Grab the keys to the 18-wheeler.”

“Excuse me?”

“Keys. Get them. Now.”

His tone seemed indulgent as if he were speaking to her brother Tomas instead of her.

“I'm not working with the parole office today. I'm running an errand for some friends in Salt River.”

“I don't understand.”

“They need a driver for that.” He pointed to the flatbed truck. “My friends think they should be in charge of distribution. The suppliers have been slow to accept them, so we're taking over Escalanti's operation. First step was disturbing his supply line. Second step, procure the product. Product, transport, driver.” He pointed at her.

Selena backed toward the door. “I don't know what you are talking about.”

“No?” he said, with a cold smile. “That's hard to believe. Thursday's attack. You were there and your police chief was there. Ruined our raid, but he helped me convince my contacts across the border to go with Salt River instead of the Wolf Posse. Better location. Better protection. When I saw Nota show up here, it all fell into place. Escalanti's man tells me they had secured transportation for their operation and next thing I know your dad gets early release and...”

Selena peered back over her shoulder, wondering if she could get inside and lock the door before he grabbed her. She caught movement at the window and saw a glimpse of her mother's blue robe before the drape fell into place.

Hare cleared his throat. When she looked back at him, he wore an impatient look.

“The point is we need a driver and you can drive. All four of Frasco's girls can drive big rigs. He told me. He's very proud of you. You answered the door, so you win! Get the keys.”

“I'm not leaving with you.”

Hare made a
tsk
ing sound. “I think you'll reconsider when you hear my offer. You drive or I shoot everyone in your family, beginning with your mother.” He pointed toward the living room window where she knew her mother watched. It seemed Hare knew, as well.

The chill that had slithered down her spine now seemed to be squeezing her ribs so she could barely breathe.

“And your sisters are all home, I hear. Folks are so nice hereabouts. Catching me up on all the news. Like you and Chief Cosen. An item again. That's not good for business. Transportation and law enforcement. Bad match. Yet another reason to move the operation.”

He pushed past her and entered the house. Every hair on Selena's head lifted as she rushed after him.

Ronnie Hare left the door wide-open, letting the cold air fill the room.

“Selena?” said her mother.

“Don't worry, Momma.”

“Your daughter was just getting her keys,” Hare said and then smiled at Selena.

She did exactly as he said.

“Where are you going?” asked her mother.

Hare had Selena's elbow and hustled her outside. He leaned back to call to her mother in Apache.

“Call the police and you won't see her alive again.”

Her mother's screams were cut short by the slamming of the front door.

“Phone,” he said, extending his hand.

She gave it to him and he threw it. The rectangular device spiraled through the air and vanished into a snowbank beside the house.

“Get in the truck.”

She did and made sure she hit the snowbank on the way out of the drive. If anyone was looking for her, she wanted to leave a trail of bread crumbs.

Gabe
, she thought,
come and find me.

* * *

G
ABE
CALLED
C
LAY
and he confirmed his fears. Jovanna's adoptive parent was the same Cassidy Walker who was their uncle's new partner. Clyne was going to flip.

He had just disconnected when his phone vibrated again. He checked the caller ID and recognized Selena's home number. He picked up.

“Selena?”

But it was not Selena.

He heard a woman shouting. Something about them saying not to call the police. The next words came in a wail and were very clear. “Don't. Don't. They'll kill her.”

Gabe clutched the phone. It was Selena's parents and her mother was screaming.

“Frasco? Ruth?” he called. They didn't seem to hear him.

He understood only two words—
taken
and
Selena
—but that was enough.

Gabe retrieved his badge, holster and pistol. Then he headed for the door.

Chapter Twenty-One

Gabe had tried to call twice en route with no success. He reached the Dosela home with Kino, Dryer and Juris all behind him.

As Gabe pulled into the gravel drive, he saw immediately that the tractor trailer and flatbed were gone and felt a moment's relief. Perhaps the twins were already gone on another a run and Selena was safe. But the cold lump remained in the pit of his stomach as he skidded to a stop and threw open the door to his unit.

Where was Selena?

He dialed her phone again and heard it ringing nearby. Gabe retrieved her mobile from the snow. He judged the distance from the porch and the plowed drive and decided the mobile could not have just slipped from her pocket. It seemed to have been thrown there. Gabe tucked her phone into his front pocket.

The front door swung open and a very anxious Ruthie Dosela appeared, her tattered blue terry-cloth robe flapping open to reveal her flannel nightie and worn pink slippers. His heart gave a little jolt at her complete disregard for her state of undress as she motioned Gabe back.

“Go away,” she shouted.

Her husband emerged behind her, his high-topped moccasins tugged over his sweatpants and his hooded winter coat also flapping open. The gash and bruise on his hairline had turned his forehead purple. Ruth grabbed at him, but he brushed her off. He was followed closely by Selena's three sisters who poured down the steps, passing their parents at a run. Behind them her mother paused on the steps.

“Go away!” wailed Ruth from the bottom step. “They'll kill her.”

Mia and Carla were both talking at once to Detective Juris, and Kino was trying to make sense of Paula's babbling. Tomas appeared on the steps in his pajamas crying and clasping his stuffed frog to his chest. Ruth retreated up the steps to hold him, rocking as they both wailed.

Gabe intercepted Frasco as he reached the drive.

“What happened? Where's Selena?” Gabe asked Frasco.

“He took her. My parole officer. I should have known. Coming back here two days in a row.”

“Ronnie Hare?” Gabe asked.

“He took her.”

Gabe straightened, stunned. He had chatted with Ronnie Hare in his office, trusted him...because he was Apache.

Dryer trotted up to join them. Gabe didn't have time to fill him in.

“Where did they go?” asked Gabe.

Frasco flapped his arms. “I don't know. Only know he took her and the rig.”

Gabe glanced at the empty place where the 18-wheeler should be parked.

“He must know you'd call me,” said Gabe.

“Who are we talking about?” asked Dryer.

Frasco filled him in. “Hare took Selena about forty minutes ago. Maybe an hour. I'm not sure. Found out when I woke up and found my wife crying in the living room.”

Dryer frowned. “The guy who was here the day we discharged you?”

“Yeah. You met him,” said Frasco.

“Hare would be a perfect messenger for the cartel. He's all over both reservations and he's got legitimate reason to talk to all kinds of ex-cons,” said Dryer.

“He warned Ruthie not to call you. Said they'd kill her.”

He looked to Frasco whose face was now drawn and pale. He knew as well as Gabe did that it wouldn't matter if he called or not. They were going to kill Selena either way.

“He took the truck and a driver,” said Dryer. “He's moving something.”

“Precursor. Got to be,” said Frasco.

“Gambling that you wouldn't call me or knowing he has time to move it.”

“Takes more than a few men to ready that kind of load.”

“And move it where?”

Frasco gave him a bewildered look. “I don't know.”

But Gabe had to know. He had to get to Selena. Because he knew what they'd do with her when she finished her run.

“Who is Hare working for?” asked Gabe.

“Not sure,” said Frasco. “Could be the Mexican distribution organization or someone else.”

“Takeover,” said Ruth. “Salt River instead of the Wolf Posse. Better location.”

The all turned to Ruthie, who had both fists gripped in her graying hair.

“What?” asked Frasco.

“I heard him. Something about Escalanti's men and...they need a driver.” She pointed at her husband. “Why did you tell him that all our girls can drive?”

Frasco moved to his wife, reaching for her, but she batted away his hand and turned to Gabe.

She was babbling now, her words coming fast, choking past the tears. “They said if I called the police they'd...they'd... I was... And he said he'd kill her... He threw her phone... They left. He has her.” She looked to her husband. “Do something!”

“Which direction?” asked Gabe.

Ruth Dosela pressed her hand to her forehead, glancing frantically about the icy front yard. “I don't know,” she wailed. “I don't know.”

Frasco gathered her in his arms and gave her a little shake. “Think, Ruthie.”

“West,” said Ruth. “They turned to the west, towards Black Mountain.”

Gabe's heart sank. That was the direction from which they had just come and they had not encountered Selena and her flatbed tractor trailer. That meant Selena had either passed the station before they left or she had turned north in the direction of the restricted area and Wind River settlement. If they were an hour behind, Selena might already be off the reservation, unless they had to first load a flatbed with fifty-gallon barrels of precursor.

Kino spoke to Ruth Dosela, clasping her elbow and steering her back to the house where he turned her over to her daughters before he backtracked to his unit.

“We're moving out,” said Gabe to Juris, Kino and Dryer.

“I'm going with you,” said Frasco.

Gabe hesitated. He didn't take civilians into danger.

“I'm working with DOJ. Dryer told you that,” said Frasco.

Precious seconds ticked by.

“She's my daughter, Gabe,” said Frasco. “I got her into this. Let me help get her out.”

“Get in,” Gabe said, motioning toward his SUV.

They left behind his sobbing wife, son and frightened daughters.

Gabe returned to his unit and reversed out of the drive with Juris, Kino and Dryer all following in their vehicles. Once heading west on Wolf Canyon Road, he radioed to Jasmine, putting out an all points on the trailer. He wasn't hopeful, however. It was a big territory with so many little back roads to hide a tractor trailer. But not all of them were plowed. Could a trailer make it over roads with half a foot of snow pack? He feared it could.

He saw where Selena had clipped the snowbank on the right side sending a spray of ice into the road. The snow left a clear wet tire print for about ten yards and then disappeared. Both the warmth of the day and time were working against him. The next intersection was four miles up. He knew he would have to turn toward Black Mountain or head north toward Wind River. Since they had not seen them going to Black Mountain, Wind River was the logical choice. But if she had turned off any of the side roads before Black Mountain, then he'd be heading the wrong way.