Wind Spirit [Ella Clah 10] (25 page)

There was nothing in the trail to step over, just a small bush that looked tilted to one side. Inching forward, Ella disturbed the loose ground slightly with her foot. Suddenly a large piece of metal flew up from the ground and snapped with a horrible crunch.

Ella jumped back, her heart pounding. It was an old bear or wolf trap, and she’d just set it off with a touch of her shoe.
The jagged jaws of the cruel device gleamed, having recently been sharpened.

Ella froze, trying to calm down as she searched the ground all around her for a second trap. She didn’t dare take a step now. The meat for the dog had served two purposes. First, to possibly take out Two, and secondly, to take out anyone who tried to follow up on the bait.

Then her fear was replaced by a cold, dark anger, more intense than any she’d ever known. What if Dawn, her mother, or even one of the animals had ventured down this path instead of her?

Turning around completely, Ella noted that she was still quite alone. Stepping in her old prints, she walked back to the barn and grabbed a long bamboo pole from beside the shed.

“What did you find, Daughter?” Rose poked her head out the door.

“Keep everyone inside, Mother. Whoever set the poison out also set at least one big animal trap along the trail to the arroyo. I managed to avoid being caught, but barely.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Rose looked Ella up and down carefully. “Want me to call the station?” Rose’s face had turned pale.

“I’ll check it out first. If I find any more, we’ll call the station,” Ella said, weighing her options and trying to decide on the best course of action. “Wait, doesn’t Bizaadii have a metal detector?” Ella was referring to Herman Cloud.

Rose nodded. “It’s a good one, too. We’ve used it to help some of the Plant Watchers figure out where they could dig in their yards without hitting utility lines. I’ll give him a call. You be careful, Daughter.”

Ella nodded, then walked back toward where she’d set off the trap, probing the ground in front of her. She checked the area from where the tracks started all the way to the arroyo. From that point on, after the trail led down into the
wash itself, the tracks disappeared across hard sandstone exposed by the elements. There would be no traps here.

Knowing there could be no traps where nobody had walked, she checked the ground carefully around the house, barn, and yard, searching for anything, from footprints to a cigarette or wad of gum, but she found nothing. Taking the trap, she handled it with gloves and placed it safely in the back of her unit. It would go to the station for examination.

By the time she came back inside, Boots had arrived and Ella learned that Herman Cloud was on his way. He’d check everywhere with the metal detector.

After cautioning everyone, including Dawn, to remain watchful of strangers, Ella took her mother aside. “It would be a really good idea for you to invite Bizaadii to visit on evenings when I work late. He’s still got a very sharp eye.”

“I’ll definitely do that. After the search for any more traps is completed, I’ll tether the pony closer to the house, too. If anyone harms that little animal your daughter would be heartbroken.”

Ella nodded. “Tether Wind near her window. She’ll love it. Plus, that little horse works as a good watch animal. Last time, between his whinnying and running around, he was the one who first let me know someone was outside.”

“That furry little gelding doesn’t like strangers. That’s true,” Rose agreed.

Ella left home in a black mood. She was more than willing to put herself on the line out in the field, but when her family was attacked her perspective went out the window. Knowing that anger would only hamper her ability to think clearly, she struggled to calm down.

As she reached the end of the gravel road that led to the highway, Ella decided on impulse to make one quick stop before going in to work. Turning, she headed toward Kevin’s home.

As she drove up several minutes later, Kevin came out
onto the porch, then waved at her, inviting her to come inside. “Two days in a row! Am I part of your rounds now, and should I be honored or worried?”

Ella didn’t crack a smile. “Kev, I need your help.” She told him about the animal trap and contaminated meat they’d found. “I’m afraid that the reason someone’s trying to get rid of our dog is so they can sneak up on us at night. And that wolf trap could have killed our daughter or my mother. I’ve ordered extra patrols, but with our manpower shortages, I know it won’t be enough. What I’d like to do is hire some off-duty or retired cops to watch the place while we’re sleeping.”

Kevin’s face had turned red with anger when he heard about the steel trap, and his voice was shaking with barely suppressed rage. “If you need the funds to do that, you’ve got them.” He pulled out his checkbook. “Tell me how much to make it for, and you’ll be all set. You might also consider the men I’ve hired as my bodyguards in the past.”

“I don’t want a bodyguard. What I need is a sentry, someone to watch for intruders.”

“Fine. How much?” he asked again.

“I’ll find out later today,” she said, placing her hand over his. “And thanks. You know I wouldn’t ask you if I didn’t need it for Dawn’s sake.”

“You can ask me for anything—anytime.”

“Oh, I’m so glad you said that,” she said, a twinkle in her eye.

“I’ve got a feeling I’m going to regret having said that,” he countered with a smile, sensing her change of mood.

Ella told him about the Hollywood producer. “I really don’t know any of the terms he was throwing at me, so I’d like you to handle this. First, I need to make sure that it’s legal for me as a tribal cop to accept this type of offer, even though I wasn’t working at the time. If it is, find out if what he’s offering me is a fair deal and what he’ll expect from me
in return. Get him to spell it out clearly. I don’t want any surprises.”

Kevin gazed at her speculatively for several moments. “You don’t really want to sign, do you?”

“No, but I will because I’d love to be able to set that money aside for Dawn in a trust fund, or something like that. Of course to get the big bucks, they actually have to film the thing.”

“One thing that occurs to me is that if one producer is interested, chances are others will be too. Shall I try to check that out? You might be able to get more money that way.”

“Go for it.”

“Give me some time to get up to speed on this. I need to talk to people who have dealt with Hollywood before and get some pointers from entertainment lawyers. I prefer to come at them informed and knowing exactly what’s common practice and what’s not.”

“Sounds like a good plan.”

“In the meantime, if they call you again tell them you’re interested and are looking for an attorney to negotiate any offers,” Kevin said. “By the way, if I can’t get them to increase their offer, do you still want me to accept it?”

“Yes, but look at everything they want me to agree to with a magnifying glass if you have to.”

“Of course.”

She was about to leave when she saw that Kevin had two of Mrs. Yazzie’s crispies.

“Forget it. Those are
mine
,” he said flatly. “I know how you like to pick at other people’s food. It may make you feel like you’re not eating as much, but the poor slob who lets you nibble away at their plate gets shortchanged. So mitts off, flatfoot.”

“Geez! What a temper!” Ella smiled. “But okay. Just to show you what a good person I am, I forgive you,” she said, inching subtly toward them.

Kevin moved to block her. “Out,” he said and pointed to the door.

Ella drove to the station, pushing back her craving for a crispie by concentrating on the current situation. She had to move fast and find out who was stalking her house. Anyone who endangered her family became number one on her most wanted list.

Ella left the tainted meat in Justine’s lab refrigerator, asking for an analysis in case a poison had been added in addition to the glass. The trap, a common design that was probably fifty years old, was checked for fingerprints. None were found, and the tool marks were made with some kind of file. Without the tool used to sharpen it, there was nothing more to go on.

After making out a report about the incident, Ella began going through the list of perps she’d put away in the recent past. Maybe someone with a grudge, who also had knowledge and access to animal traps, had just been released or made parole.

That didn’t pan out, and out of leads for the moment, Ella switched gears and concentrated on the hunt for Cardell Ben-ally. As she went over the little they had on him, the idea she’d come up with late last night looked even better to her.

Ella walked to Chief Atcitty’s office and stopped in the doorway. Big Ed was behind the desk, engrossed in something on his computer terminal.

“Chief, I need to talk to you for a bit.”

“Come on in, Shorty. I’m reading the report you sent me E-mail about the animal trap and the attempted poisoning of your family’s dog.”

“Nobody’s going to harm my family or my animals, Chief. I’d like to hire some off-duty cops or maybe some retired officers to keep an eye out at night when my family and I are sleeping.”

“This goes way beyond animal cruelty, I agree. I don’t know any retired officers still living in the area, but you can hire any of our off-duty personnel. We won’t need them unless there’s a crisis. I wish I could assign people to do this for you but that’s impossible right now.”

“I know. And that brings me to another request I’d like to make. I want to put a tail on Councilman Hunt.”

“I’ve heard he’s been making some public statements about a return to old-fashioned ‘Navajo justice.’ But do you have anything to justify monitoring Hunt other than the fact that he and his brother-in-law Cardell have the best motive?”

“Well, we do know that there were two people involved in what happened at Branch’s home, and Hunt
is
the logical second suspect. Except for the vehicles involved we have nothing hard on Hunt, who’s been very active lately, apparently trying to justify what happened to Branch. But we believe Benally is hiding out somewhere on the Navajo Nation. If I’m right and Hunt helped his brother-in-law, then I’d bet anything that Hunt knows where Benally is, and is still helping him. If we tail Hunt, and he gets careless, I think he’ll lead us to Cardell.”

“All right, but be careful. You know Councilman Hunt is aware that you suspect him, so he’ll be keeping watch. If he finds out what you’re doing, the fur’ll fly, mark my words. Is this the only way you have of getting a lead on Cardell?”

“Unless we either get an informant or somebody stumbles across him and calls us.”

“All right. Run the operation for twenty-four hours and see what happens. But make
sure
that the councilman doesn’t spot the tail. Lewis Hunt is used to manipulating people, and has the ear of those who control the department’s budget. I
really don’t need that kind of trouble right now. You hear me?”

“Absolutely.”

“Who are you going to get for the stakeout?” he asked.

“Justine is pretty good. I can also take a turn. I’ll probably bring Neskahi in for the night shift. We want to keep this a team effort.”

He considered it and nodded. “Okay. But keep me updated.”

As Ella stepped inside her office the phone rang. She answered it and recognized her brother’s voice instantly.

“I have some information you may find useful. Gossip has it that the radio talk show man is worried that he’ll continue to be a target as long as the councilman’s brother-in-law is still at large. He’s let the word out that he’ll pay one thousand dollars for information on the man’s whereabouts.”

“That’s a fortune around here,” Ella said, worried. “That idiot is going to stir up a hornet’s nest. Do you have any idea what he plans to do with the information
if
he gets it? Will he turn it over to us?”

“I doubt it. Look at the way he made the offer in the first place. It’s all word-of-mouth, so if push came to shove he could always deny it.”

“Branch is no hit man,” Ella said, thinking out loud. “He likes—maybe
liked
is a more appropriate term—owning an arsenal because it’s the macho thing to do. But I don’t see him as the type to go gunning—literally—for anyone. He lets his mouth do that.”

“He could hire someone,” Clifford suggested.