by Mark Lukens
“I’m here to talk to you about the woman and the boy you saw on the morning of the bank robbery,” Palmer said as he pulled out a small notebook from inside his suitcoat pocket.
“Yeah. That was right before the big storm. I remember it. I remember her and the boy too.”
“Do you remember what kind of vehicle the woman was driving?”
“It was a big white truck. I don’t know what kind it was or what year. I’m not good with that kind of stuff.” She smiled sheepishly. “I remember that she bought fifty bucks in gas.”
“Did she have anybody else with her besides the boy? Did you see anyone else in her vehicle, or someone pumping gas for her?”
“I don’t think so. I’m sure it was only her and the boy in the store.”
Palmer jotted down some notes and then looked back at Melissa who was watching him intently.
“Did she only purchase gas when she was there?”
“No. She bought some other stuff.”
“You don’t happen to remember any of the stuff she bought, do you?”
“Oh yeah.” Slurp—another big sip of the fruit juice. “She looked like she was stocking up on supplies for a trip or something. She bought toothbrushes, a small tube of toothpaste, which is the only size we sell there. She bought some toilet paper. She bought some drinks and a few snacks. I even asked her if she was going on a trip or something. I asked if she was heading north. I told her a bad snowstorm was coming, but she didn’t seem to care.”
Palmer just nodded.
“Yeah. I told her she should wait out the storm.”
“How was her appearance? Was there anything unusual that you noticed about her? Did she seem nervous or angry? Was she in a hurry? Anything like that?”
“Yeah. Now that I think about it, she seemed nervous. Maybe even scared. And she was definitely in a hurry. It seemed like I was going too slow for her when I was ringing up her items. You can tell things like that after you’ve done this job for a while.”
“Of course,” Palmer said and smiled at her. “Is there anything else that you remember?” He would check the gas station security camera footage, but he wanted to see if anything popped up in Melissa’s memory right now.
“Something strange did happen when she was in the store,” Melissa said and leaned forward a little like she was letting Palmer in on the secret. She looked excited, like she couldn’t wait to share this with someone.
“Hi,” a kid said.
Palmer looked across the living room. Beyond a sea of toys scattered across the carpeting stood a two year old boy dressed only in a saggy diaper. The kid waved at Palmer and he had a big glistening grin on his face.
“That’s Brent,” Melissa said.
Palmer smiled at the boy and waved back at him. “Hi, Brent,” he said, but then he turned his attention back to Melissa, waiting for her to continue.
“Yeah, I already told the police about Jed being in the store that morning. He came in all the time, almost every morning. Usually for coffee, but sometimes for a donut or a sweet roll.”
Palmer nodded.
“Jed was the one who got killed in the bank robbery.”
Again, Palmer nodded.
“Anyway, he was there that morning. That was the last time I ever saw him. He went across the street to the bank and …” She let her words trail off as she looked away almost like she could still see him walking away.
“I know this must be difficult for you.”
“Jed was a good man,” Melissa said, choking up a little, and then she miraculously recovered in seconds. “But he came in when that lady and her kid were in the store. She was at the counter and I was ringing her stuff up, and then she started looking around and panicking, like she’d lost her kid or something. But he was right down the aisle where she’d left him. And he was holding hands with Jed.”
“Holding hands with him?”
“Yeah. She ran right over to them and ripped her kid’s hand right out of Jed’s hand, like he was a pervert or something.”
“Do you think Jed grabbed David’s hand?” Palmer asked. He would try to double check with the security footage at the gas station if the angle was right.
“No. I think that kid grabbed Jed’s hand. And the lady was like all over him about it. But the weird thing is that Jed was like … like all stiff for a minute while he was holding the kid’s hand. His eyes … he looked like he was sleepwalking or something, like he wasn’t seeing what was there. You know what I mean?”
Palmer nodded as he scribbled down some notes in his little book.
“And then Jed kind of snapped out of it when he let go of the kid’s hand. It was like he’d just woken up or something. He walked back to the doors and I asked him if he was okay. I even said, ‘You don’t need anything today?’ Or something like that. And he just shook his head and said that he needed to get to the bank. But it was weird. It was like Jed wasn’t himself. Like he looked sick or something.”
“And then he went to the bank.”
“Yeah. He didn’t even get any gas even though he was parked in front of the pumps. He just got in his truck and drove over to the bank. And then … he …” Melissa’s face crumpled a little again with emotion, on the verge of crying.
“That does sound a little strange,” Palmer said. “Anything else you can tell me?”
Melissa took another loud slurp from her gigantic drink and then she shook her head. “That’s about all I can remember.” She stared at Palmer like she was looking for approval for a job well done.
Palmer stood up and tucked his notebook away inside his suitcoat pocket. “Thanks for talking with me.”
She stood up, beaming. “You think you’re going to catch those guys who robbed the bank?”
“We’re working on it.” Palmer thought of all of the charred bodies at the cabin, and the one man who was still on the loose.
He left Melissa’s apartment and headed back down to his rental sedan. It seemed strange that David would hold a stranger’s hand and then that stranger would go right across the street where a robbery was going to happen only minutes later.
Quite a coincidence.
But Palmer didn’t believe in coincidences.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
New Mexico—Navajo Reservation
“I don’t like this,” Cole said as he drove.
They had driven across the border into the Navajo lands hours ago. The sky had turned from gray clouds in Colorado to deep blue sky in New Mexico, but the air was still bone-chillingly cold.
Stella glanced at Cole, but she didn’t respond to his comment. They’d already had this debate twenty minutes ago when Alice had called back.
Right after they crossed the border, Stella called Alice Newcastle, another archaeologist that she knew, a woman in her late fifties who had worked in this area for decades, working at practically every major dig site at one time or another. Over the years Alice had built up a trust with many of the Navajo people, and she even spoke a little Navajo which was one of the most difficult languages in the world to learn. If anyone knew how to find Joe Blackhorn, it was Alice.
She knew Cole thought this might be a setup. And she had to admit that it had crossed her mind as well. But what other choices did they have? David needed help from a shaman … and he needed help fast.
Alice had been a little distant on the phone when Stella called her from the now-secure cell phone. The conversation replayed itself in her mind.
“It’s me, Alice. It’s Stella.”
“Stella …”
She could hear the shock in Alice’s voice, the trepidation, the uncertainty of what to say next.
“I know you’ve probably heard some things about me,” Stella said.
“The police have contacted me about you,” Alice practically hissed into the phone like she was keeping her voice low without being aware of it. “Not just the Tribal Police, either. The FBI, too. They’re looking for you. They’re saying that you might be traveling w
ith a Navajo kid, David Bear, whose parents were murdered.”
“Listen, Alice. You know me. You’ve known me for years.”
Silence on the phone from Alice.
“Everything isn’t what it seems to be, and I can explain everything to you. I just need some help first.”
Alice was still listening. At least she hadn’t hung up.
“I need to find Joe Blackhorn,” Stella said.
“A difficult man to find.”
And Stella knew that was true. She had tried to get in touch with the reclusive Joe Blackhorn many times before but he was protected by the people he knew. Alice told Stella a few years ago that she had talked to Joe Blackhorn but she didn’t know where he lived.
“I know,” Stella said. “But I need his help.”
“You need a shaman’s help?”
Stella was getting frustrated, but she had to control the sudden anger and impatience rearing up inside of her. She also had to think of things from Alice’s point of view. “I just need you to put me in touch with someone who can introduce me to him. Someone who can show me how to find him.”
There was another long pause on the phone.
“Alice, please. I need help. David needs help. I swear I can explain everything.”
Alice seemed to be weighing it over in her mind.
“In person,” Stella told Alice. “We’ll meet in person. Just you, me, David, and someone who can help me find Joe Blackhorn.”
“David’s parents were murdered,” Alice said in a cold voice.
“I know,” Stella said. “I told you I can explain what happened.”
“You know who killed them?”
Stella hesitated for a moment, then: “Yes.”
“Then you need to tell the police,” Alice screeched into the phone.
“I will, but I have to protect David first. Will you set up a meeting? Anywhere you want. I can pay this person whatever he or she wants. And I can pay you, too.”
“I don’t need any money,” Alice said and Stella knew that was true. Alice came from a wealthy family—Old World money from oil and mining. They had more money than they could ever spend. Alice could’ve spent her life jet setting around the world and partying in world capitals, but instead she chose to spend her time out in some of the most remote locations and dig through the dirt for shards of pottery and pieces of bone. Alice’s family’s money gave her the freedom to pursue something much more valuable to her than money.
And then it clicked in Stella’s mind. She could offer Alice something much more valuable to her than money.
“I’ve discovered some things, Alice. Things about the Anasazi.”
“I’m listening.”
“These are major breakthroughs. Things that could rewrite history.” She could tell that Alice was intrigued.
“What is it?”
“Jake Phillips called me down to a dig site … a cave, and we found a city inside that cave.”
“A city?” Alice was getting excited.
“Yes, an undiscovered city. But there was more than that. An even bigger discovery.”
“What?”
“I don’t want to talk about this on the phone. Only in person.”
Alice took her time thinking it over.
“Okay,” Alice finally said. “I’ll call someone I know. It may take a little while, but I’ll call you back as soon as I get a hold of him. Is this number you’re calling from a good one to call you back at?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
“Thank you so much, Alice. You don’t know how much help this is.”
“I just want you to know that this friend of mine will hear you out, but there’s no guarantee that he will decide to take you to Joe Blackhorn. Is that understood?”
It was the best she could do, Stella realized. “Of course.”
After Stella hung up the phone, she and Cole had had their disagreement about meeting with Alice and whoever else was coming with her.
Then, forty-five minutes later, Alice had called back and told Stella to meet her and her friend at a gas station on the outskirts of Sanostee off of Route 491 in two hours.
Stella told Alice that they would be there and hung up the phone. They could be at that location in an hour.
“I still don’t like this,” Cole said again. “It doesn’t feel right.”
“You don’t like what?” David asked from the back seat of the truck.
Stella spun around and smiled at David. “Look who’s finally awake.”
David smiled back at her. “I need to go to the bathroom.”
“Number one or number two?” Stella asked.
David held up one finger.
“I’ll pull over,” Cole said.
He slowed the pickup truck down and pulled off of the ribbon of blacktop that ran down through the breathtaking landscape all around them. The scenery looked both beautiful and dangerous at the same time.
Many people thought the southwestern desert was a barren and lifeless place, Stella thought. Many people thought it looked like the dunes of the Sahara or something, but these lands that she’d come to know so well were a beautiful place, a myriad of colors and layers upon layers of ecosystems making up one giant living world out here.
“It’s cold out there,” Stella told David once the truck had stopped. “Button up your coat.”
Cole got out of the truck, but he left it running. Stella knew he had his nine millimeter on him in his coat pocket and she had hers with her. She got out and opened the back door of the king cab for David who hurried out into the cold.
Stella walked with David away from the truck.
“Over there by that rock,” she told him. “Not too far away.”
He smiled at her and ran across the dirt and sand to the large collection of rocks. He stood there in front of the rocks and a moment later he was peeing.
Stella smiled. This almost felt normal, and she wondered if this is what being a mother felt like.
A snapping of brush startled her.
Stella’s hand was in her coat in a flash, her fingers curling around the gun handle.
“Cole,” Stella said in a low voice. She glanced back at the truck and saw that he had his hand inside his coat pocket like he was ready to draw. He was looking up at the endless blue sky where some buzzards were circling overhead.
Another snapping of brush. Louder now and closer.
“David, you almost done?” Stella asked as she walked a few steps closer to him.
“Almost,” he said.
There was something in the brush only a few yards away. More than one.
“I think we’ve got a problem,” Cole said from right behind Stella.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
New Mexico—Navajo Reservation
Cole had seen the buzzards land on the rocks all around them on both sides of the road. The buzzards just sat there, perched on the rocks, staring at him with no fear. Cole thought he could see an intelligence in those eyes.
He glanced up and down the road again; it looked like a black ribbon heading up into the rocky hills. No cars or trucks in sight, no sounds except the cold breeze and the rustling in the brush all around them.
Across the road he saw a coyote come out of the brush and stand at the edge of the road. The animal just stood there, its eyes on Cole the whole time. And in those eyes he saw the same intelligence that he saw in the buzzards’ eyes.
It was the Ancient Enemy inside that coyote … Cole was sure of it. Inside the buzzards, too.
Cole hurried around the back of the pickup truck to Stella, his hand inside his coat, ready to draw his gun.
“I think we’ve got a problem,” he told Stella, startling her.
But then they both looked over at the brush just beyond the rocks and saw the animals coming out slowly: two more coyotes, a jackrabbit, four rattlesnakes slithering forward. All of them were just staring at them, watching them with those same intelligent eyes.
David hu
rried back to them, staring at the line of animals as he ran into Stella’s arms.
“I think we need to get back to the truck,” Cole said. “We all just need to walk together very slowly.” He had his gun in his hand, his finger on the trigger. “I’ll watch the animals. You two just get back to the truck.”
Cole didn’t look at Stella or David—he kept his eyes on the line of animals, his gun aimed at them. The rattlesnakes had curled up into coils, their rattles shaking. He heard Stella and David running across the sand to the waiting truck, the motor still rumbling.
That thing can turn the truck off, Cole thought. It can destroy the engine in a second if it wants to.
But the truck was still running. Maybe David was blocking that thing’s power somehow. Maybe David was getting stronger with each confrontation with that thing whether the boy realized it or not.
Cole backed up to the tailgate of the truck, and then he backed up to the driver’s side corner. He turned his back on the animals from the brush and kept an eye on the coyote that stood motionless across the road. He shifted his eyes to the buzzards perched up on the rocks in the distance as he ran to the driver’s door.
He hopped inside the truck and then closed and locked the doors. He shifted into drive and peeled out of the sand and back onto the road, the rear tires spinning on the pavement for a minute, barking in the air before they caught traction.
“You see that?” Cole said as he sped down the road. “Those animals. That thing … it was in them somehow.”
“We’re okay,” Stella said and looked at Cole. “I think it’s getting more and more afraid of David.”
They locked eyes for a second, and then Cole looked back at the road.
Maybe she was right, Cole thought. Why hadn’t those animals attacked? Why hadn’t the Ancient Enemy shown itself just now? They were isolated out here in the middle of nowhere. What easier time was there?
But maybe it was David holding that thing back. It was still afraid of David, like Stella had just said. Maybe it was more afraid now than it had been in the cabin. More afraid than ever. Was David really getting stronger?
“I’m hungry,” David said from the backseat.
