“Me?” Reuben held the bag of corn back to the side of his head. “You know I don’t have a license.”
Manny shook his head. If Crazy George reported his car stolen again, it would be a tribal case. Thank Wakan Tanka for that. “Now tell me about Bobo.”
“I underestimated him. It won’t happen again.” Reuben pulled the corn away from his face and sat on the hood of the Buick. “When I got here, Bobo was already in the house. He must have been staking out Sadie’s place, watching for Shawna to show up. Anyway, when I pulled up, all I heard was Shawna yelling. Bobo had just shoved Sadie to the floor as I entered, and he was holding Shawna by her hair,” he grinned. “That’s when I hit the bastard.”
“That should have been the end of Bobo.”
“It should have been.” Reuben massaged feeling back into his head. “He went down like that night I knocked him out at the Toughman Contest. I figured it was lights out for a while, and I turned to help Grandmother Sadie off the floor.” He shook his head. “That’s when he laid me out with a lamp. I guess my head’s tougher than the lamp, ’cause it didn’t break. Just made me loopy long enough for him to cut and run.”
“What did Shawna tell you?”
“I didn’t ask. All I was doing is letting her know nothing else would happen to her.”
Manny walked to the front door, but Reuben remained seated on the hood of Crazy George’s car. “You go on, Misun,” Reuben said from the hood. “Asking her questions is your job.”
Manny joined Lumpy and Willie in the living room. “Tell Agent Tanno what you told us,” said Lumpy, now the bearer of the tissue box.
Shawna took two more and blew her nose before looking up at Manny. “That man—that one that owns that bar in Rapid City. He wanted Nate in the worse way. He wanted me to tell him where Nate is. He said no one steals his ride and gets away without an ass beating.” Another tissue. Another honk of the nose. “He threw Grandma down, and he would have beaten me, too, if Reuben hadn’t come along.”
As if to punctuate her statement, a car fired up just outside Sadie’s door, and Manny heard Crazy George’s Buick idling away.
“Did you tell him where Nate was?” Willie asked.
Shawna nodded “I was so scared, I told him Nate might have gone to the Red Cloud School. He knows some kids there. Or he might have gone to the Sun Dance grounds to hide out. But I didn’t know for sure.”
Manny squatted in front of Shawna and looked into her eyes. “Where is Nate?”
She shrugged, and wiped tears off her cheek, thick mascara running down one side and into her mouth. “Nate dropped me off down the road tonight. He promised he’d get a hold of me when he . . . ” Shawna’s head turned around and her eyes met her grandmother’s. Shawna’s head dropped to her chest and Manny motioned to Willie. “Maybe you ought to take Grandmother Moon outside and get her version of things.”
Lumpy nodded in agreement. When Willie and Sadie had disappeared out the door, Lumpy patted Shawna on the back. “Tell Agent Tanno what you whispered to me.”
Shawna kept an eye on the door as she related how Nate had stolen another car earlier in the night from one of the beer stores in Whiteclay.
“I confirmed a tan Dodge Caravan was stolen three hours ago from Whiteclay,” Lumpy said. “We have units out looking for it now.”
“Tell me about the night you and Nate stole Bobo Groves’s car,” Manny said.
Shawna straightened up. “What car?”
“Look,” Manny said. “You’re not going to get Nate in any more trouble than he’s in already. Besides, I already know most of what happened there.”
“You’re not going to tell Grandma Sadie are you?” She stared nervously at the door. “It would just kill her if she knew I stripped that night. That was my first and last time. I swear.”
Manny put his notebook away. “I think your grandmother’s a stronger person than you think. I’m betting she’d understand. But I’ll do my best to keep it from her.”
Shawna nodded, and ripped another tissue from the box. “Nate’s old car blew a head gasket in Rapid. Two blocks from the strip bar. We didn’t have any money, and he said the D&D advertised amateur night. He said we needed to make us some gas money so we could get home. He said the quickest way was for me to strip.”
“And you stripped?”
Shawna started crying again, and Manny waited until she’d regained her composure. “I guess I wasn’t very good. I didn’t make much. Surely not enough to get us home. So when that man kicked us out, Nate started going through cars in the parking lot. He found one with a busted ignition lock and hot-wired it.”
“Did you give anyone else a ride to the rez?”
Shawna shook her head, and flung snot on Lumpy’s uniform. He grabbed a tissue and wiped it off.
“Some drunk skin who followed us outside the bar. He came staggering up to the car when Nate jacked it, but we drove away before the guy could ask for a ride.”
“Did you recognize him?”
“Sort of. Him and some white dude got in a fight earlier in the bar, and that bald headed bouncer laid the wasicu out with a billy club.”
“Indian have long hair?”
Shawna nodded.
“Tony Charging Bear,” Manny said to Lumpy. “Bobo’s security camera has Tony leaving just moments after Nate and Shawna. And Able Ought had picked a fight with Tony earlier.” Manny turned back to Shawna. “Go on.”
“We left Rapid and drove straight to Oglala Lake.”
“Why there?”
Shawna shrugged, and got a dreamy look in her bloodshot eyes. “It’s quiet. Not many folks go there. Me and Nate go there, for . . . you know.”
Manny smiled. “I kind of remember ‘you know.’ Go on.”
“Anyway, when we got to the lake,” Shawna continued, “Nate went through the car. See if there was anything worth . . . stealing. There wasn’t, but he found some dope under the seat. A big baggie. Maybe a pound or more. Se we did a few bowls.” She laughed nervously as she kept her eyes on the doorway, but Sadie remained outside with Willie. “It was like Christmas, finding all that good dope. We had all the time in the world to get high. Until that car drove up.”
“What car?”
“Just some new car,” Shawna said. “Too fancy for a rez rod.”
“Must have been before Philbilly drove up to the lake in his bread truck,” Lumpy said. “Tell Agent Tanno about that car.”
“New car. Nice ride. Better than Nate could ever afford. But that’s going to change . . . ”
“When he sells all the dope?”
“You know about him selling?” Shawna asked, wild-eyed.
Manny nodded. “But let’s get back to this new car.”
Shawna started shaking as if just talking about it put her in danger, and Lumpy rested his hand on her shoulder. “When that car drove up, we thought it was the cops and we ran for the trees. But it wasn’t. Some guy got out. Big guy. Long hair. At least as far as we could tell. He looked like the drunk that tried catching a ride with us, but it was dark.”
Shawna grabbed the last tissue and looked around for another box. Lumpy came to the rescue when he grabbed his snotty bandana out of his pocket and passed it over.
“The guy opened the trunk and hauled something out,” she continued. “As soon as he crossed his headlights, we could tell he was carrying a body. He tossed it in the lake and took off without even looking back. Nate said to wait until the guy left before going back to the car.”
“And did you?”
Shawna nodded. “We waited until we didn’t see his headlights any more and started back. That’s when some fisherman came rolling up in some goofy van.”
“Philbilly,” Lumpy breathed. “I knew that fool would get into the story eventually.”
“The guy drove that bread truck past the car from R
apid and didn’t even give more than a look,” Shawna continued. “Nate said we were home free. That it was just one more beater on the reservation, and the guy wouldn’t even remember it.”
“But it wouldn’t start when you went back.” Lumpy said.
“How did you know?” Shawna asked.
“The dome light didn’t work that night we were there,” Manny said. “And Bobo had to jump start it when he picked it up the next morning.”
Shawna leaned closer to Manny. “I know we’re in trouble, but can you find Nate? I’m afraid if that bar man finds him, he’ll hurt him.”
“Finding Nate’s a priority. For more reasons than one.” Lumpy said. He called Willie, who promptly poked his head in the door. “Bring Grandmother Sadie in.”
“’Bout time,” Sadie Moon said. “We were freezing our keisters off out there.”
“We had to get some information first.” Lumpy stood and approached Sadie. “Shawna’s not safe here until we find Bobo Groves. You got any relatives she’d be safe with?”
Sadie shook her head as she walked to her granddaughter. She hugged her close and brushed her damp cheeks. “Her dad’s in the Nebraska state pen. Mother ran off with a construction crew working around Chadron when Shawna was younger and overdosed. I got no one to send her to.”
“We’ve got to find someone.”
“How about Reuben?” Willie blurted out.
Lumpy and Manny both turned and stared at Willie.
“What?” Willie said. “Reuben saved her tonight. Who better to keep her from Bobo?”
“What do you think, Grandmother?” Lumpy asked.
Sadie patted Shawna’s head. She held her at arm’s length and stared into her eyes. “More important, who do you feel safe with?”
“Reuben,” Shawna said without hesitation, nodding affirmatively.
Manny shook his head. “I don’t know. We can find her a safe house—”
Sadie’s glare cut Manny off. “All the same to you, I do not trust the feds.” She turned her back on Manny. “Shawna, you go with this nice man,” she said, facing Willie. “He’ll take you to Reuben’s.”
“You think he’ll agree to watch her?” Willie asked.
“If you tell him the law is going to frown on a civilian watching her, he will. Here,” Manny said, handing Willie his personal cell phone. “Give this to Reuben. He uses it more than I do anyway, it seems. This way he’ll have it just in case he needs help. You can call me on the FBI phone.”
Willie shrugged and pocketed Manny’s cell “I’ll give it to Reuben. But I thought you said he couldn’t operate it.”
“He can’t,” Manny nodded to Shawna, “but she can.”
Chapter 23
Manny parked his Malibu behind the justice building and hopped in with Willie. “Where’s your acting chief?”
“Waiting his next interview. Just ahead of that woman you parked beside.”
“She stepped out of that Mercedes looking like she just stepped off the pages of Elle.”
Willie nodded as he spun his wheels getting out of the parking lot. “She’s awfully confident she’ll be moving from Denver to take the new position.”
“Then with Lumpy tied up, we might actually get something done. Tell me about Nate.”
“Jimmie Hogtan made a pass through the Prairie Wind Casino parking lot looking for that van stolen from Whiteclay. Jimmie got the NCIC hit. Pretty exciting for a rookie.” Willie turned onto Highway 18 and passed a rez rod pulling jerkily out of Big Bat’s. The two kids driving it barely looking over the wheel, one steering and the other probably operating the pedals, but Willie didn’t have time to stop them. “He was waiting for Pee Pee to come along and process the scene when the casino security guard came out to see what was going on.” Willie skirted a hole in the road big enough to hide a hog. “Jimmie said the guy about jumped out of his Prairie Wind blazer when he saw Nate dead. Seems the guard had talked with him at the slot machines earlier.”
Willie pulled his Tahoe behind Jimmie’s police cruiser. The patrolman had strung yellow evidence tape around the stolen van and several cars next to it. “The security guard’s sitting in Pee Pee’s van,” Jimmie said. “He’s pretty shook up.”
“I’ll talk to Pee Pee if you want to interview the guard,” Manny said to Willie. “And take Jimmie with you—he might learn something.” Manny grinned, “And Jimmie, remember: The best place for an officer’s hands at a crime scene is in his pockets.”
Pee Pee Pourier rose from his squatting position beside the driver’s side window, and put his camera back into the case. He whistled as he approached Manny.
“What do you have so far?”
“Male, late teens, identified by the security guard as Nathan Yellow Bull. Apparently died sometime in the night. Probably of a broken neck.”
“When the last time you saw someone killed that way?” Manny asked.
Pee Pee sat on the hood of Willie’s Tahoe and blew into his hands for warmth. Manny motioned to sit inside Willie’s outfit to keep warm. “I heard of someone getting their neck snapped back in the Seventies, when AIM and Wilson’s boys were feuding.” Pee Pee took his teeth out and picked them with a small pocket knife. “And last night at Tony Charging Bear’s shed.” He turned in the seat and Manny backed away to avoid Pee Pee’s dentures. “Check with Doc Gruesome. I’ll bet that was the cause of Joey One Feather’s death.”
“Are you done with the body?” Manny asked.
“Me and ol’ Nate’s got some measurements to do before the coroner arrives.” Pee Pee pushed his dentures up tight and climbed out of the Tahoe.
“And send Willie in here to warm up,” Manny said.
Willie slid into the passenger seat and rubbed his hands together in front of the vent. “The security guard put the run on Nate tonight.” Willie opened the center console and grabbed a Moon Pie. He offered one to Manny who waved it away. “I know, you got diabetes, and I will, too, someday if I don’t watch it. But I just can’t help myself.”
“The guard?”
Willie wiped crumbs off his mouth with his bandana. “Some of the casino patrons had been complaining about Nate. He’d claimed he had some BC Bud, which he was selling at ditch weed prices. They knew it must have been a scam, and they called the guard.”
“Let me get this straight: They weren’t bothered by Nate selling dope, but they were offended by the price of dope he was selling? And the guard never bothered calling your office?”
“He said it wasn’t his job. Besides,” Willie stuffed the empty plastic wrapper in the trash bag, “I suspect the guard wanted some of what Nate was selling.”
“Where’d Nate go after the guard kicked him out?”
Willie snickered and nodded to the van. “Apparently not far. The guard didn’t see him inside the casino again. When he came out, he saw Jimmie parked beside the van and Nate in there with the twisted-back head.”
Manny sat back with his eyes closed, running the possibilities through his head. “Talking with Shawna, we know the dope Nate was peddling was Bobo’s high dollar smoke,” Manny said. “I’m certain Bobo caught up with Nate right here.”
Willie peeled the cellophane wrapper off another Moon Pie. “Or it could be that once Bobo found Nate and got his stash back, he just wanted to tune him up a little and got carried away. Or maybe Nate fought back and Bobo went too far.”
Manny looked at Pee Pee taking measurements of the body and the security guard standing transfixed. “There something more here. Shawna said Nate was scared as hell when he came back from sneaking up on the guy at the lake. I think there’s something more she’s not telling us.”
“Then let’s reinterview her.”
Manny agreed and dialed his personal number. There was a long pause at the other end of the line before Shawna answered, and Manny asked to speak with Reuben. “We need
to talk with Shawna again,” Manny said when Reuben took the phone. Manny told him that Nate had been found dead at the Prairie Wind Casino parking lot. “We’ll pick her up and interview her again at the PD in Pine Ridge.”
“I can’t let you take her.”
Manny looked at Willie, who had heard that part of the conversation. “What do you mean you can’t let us take her into town?”
“You wanted me to keep her safe?” Reuben said. “So she’s safe. I won’t let you pick her up. And in case you check, we’re not at my place. You got a pen and paper?”
Manny scrambled in his pocket for the notebook he rarely used. “Got one. Now what?”
“Drive Highway 41 on the way to Hermosa. After it crosses Highway 2, go another mile. There’ll be a pond off to the west, and beside the pond is a small trapper’s cabin. We’ll be warming by the fire.” Reuben paused. “You can bring Willie along. I’d hate to see you trying to drive these roads.”
“We’ll be there in an hour,” Manny said. “And how’s your sacred man thing?”
“What ‘thing’ is that?”
“Shawna. Do holy men deliver bad news?”
“You don’t want to tell her about Nate, do you?” Reuben said.
“You read my mind.”
“I’ll tell her about him,” Reuben said. “And Misun: Don’t you guys try anything. I figure even on a bad day I can take you both.”
*****
Willie braked hard as a doe antelope meandered across the two-track, absently looking their way as if she’d never seen a vehicle before. “This cloak-and-dagger stuff is just bullshit.”
“I agree. But Reuben’s doing what we asked, keeping Shawna safe. If that entails moving around a lot so Bobo doesn’t find her, so be it.”
Willie followed Reuben’s directions, and pulled in front of a small, one room cabin. A thin tendril of smoke escaped the chimney, and Manny thought he smelled bacon as they climbed out of Willie’s Tahoe. They walked past Reuben’s Tobiano paint pony tied to the corner of the sagging porch. Reuben opened the door, and it looked as it was going to fall off the hinges. He motioned them inside with his hand wrapped around a coffee mug and returned to tending a fry pan over the cook stove in the corner. “Want coffee? Bacon and eggs?”
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