Red Mesa

by Aimée

  “I’ll do that. Did you find out if the fragments of bone or skull can be checked for DNA or blood typing at all?”

  “That’s out of my league. You’ll have to talk to the ME about that one.”

  “Okay. I’ll handle it.”

  Ella took several deep breaths before dialing. Justine had been an integral part of her life, and to face the very real possibility that she was gone forever left her with an unbearable ache. It was a void that no one would be able to fill.

  Ella stopped the thoughts cold. She was writing her cousin off, just like the others had already done, and it might be too soon for that.

  Ella picked up the phone and dialed. The phone rang several times, and just before voice mail picked up, her friend answered.

  “Do you have anything for me? Any hope that this is all a mistake?”

  “I was just going to call you,” Carolyn said in a weary voice. “I’ve just been postponing it because it’s so hard. I loved Justine, too.” Carolyn wasn’t afraid of using a dead person’s name. Her job required handling the dead, an even bigger taboo.

  “So you’ve pretty much decided that the body is hers,” Ella observed, her voice unsteady.

  “Yeah. Believe me, I really wish I could find something to contradict the evidence we have. But it isn’t going to happen. I heard from Blalock that the fingerprint matched. Now we also have a blood-type match from her medical records and from the sample recovered at the scene. It’s the same as in the tissue samples we found—the finger joint.”

  Ella couldn’t speak. All the hope she’d had seemed to drift away like a wisp of smoke.

  “Are you okay?”

  Ella tried to answer, but she couldn’t manage it. She cleared her throat, more to let Carolyn know that she was there than for any other reason. She took several deep breaths, then, at last, spoke. “What about DNA in the bones?”

  “No, we won’t be doing that. The chances of finding any DNA we can work with is extremely slim, and the cost of doing such a test is way over our budget. The presence of the single digit that wasn’t burned, and the blood match, is enough for us to make the determination that this is Justine’s body. From that we can also make a few toxicological tests on her blood and muscle tissue. But those will take time, and may not tell us anything we don’t already know. What I’m reasonably sure about at this point is that the cause of death is almost certainly that gunshot to the head.”

  The facts were inescapable, but instead of the crushing sorrow they should have evoked, Ella felt nothing. It was as if her heart had turned to ice, rendering her incapable of emotion. “Whoever did this was someone she trusted enough to let them get close. The person used that trust to kill her. I want him. Get me whatever you can, caliber of the bullet, tools used to dismember the body … anything,” she said, her voice hard.

  “You know I will. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

  Ella hesitated, wondering if anyone or anything could help her deal with the grief. She thought of her father’s murder, and how she’d found a way to cope. “Only one thing’s going to help me now. I need to find whoever did this, and make sure he pays for what he’s done. That’s the only way any of us will be able to put this behind us.”

  “I agree. But do you think you’ll be allowed to stay on this case, since you’re personally involved? I thought the department discouraged things like that.”

  It was a legitimate question, but she couldn’t help but wonder what else Carolyn had heard. “For now. Is that what your sources say, too?”

  “All I’ve heard is gossip from staff here at the hospital.”

  “What are they staying?” she pressed.

  “That if Big Ed doesn’t want to risk losing his job, he should place you on leave, and begin a full internal investigation.”

  “Thanks for the update. I have a feeling public opinion is going to weigh heavily against me now.”

  “If you need anything, even a friendly voice, I’m only a phone call away. Remember that.”

  “I will,” Ella said, hanging up.

  Hearing that Big Ed might already be under the gun had surprised her. The chief had given her no indication of that, but she should have known that her enemies wouldn’t waste any time.

  Ella looked around her office, her spirit heavy. She’d promised Angela she’d contact her as soon as they knew something, and that was a promise she had to keep. But she couldn’t deliver the news over the phone. Justine’s family deserved better than that.

  Ella locked up her office door and walked out of the station. She’d go home first and get herself together. She wanted to break the news to Justine’s family as gently as possible, but she had no idea how to even begin. Maybe her mother could come up with a suggestion that would help soften the blow to her cousins.

  Ella drove home quickly and as she parked beside Rose’s pickup, she saw her mother playing with Dawn outside in the back. Dawn was chasing a big yellow ball in her stiff-legged way and laughing.

  “Hello, Mother,” Ella said. “Hi, Short Stuff,” she added, smiling at Dawn.

  Seeing Ella, Dawn dropped the ball and ran over. Ella picked her up, giving her a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. “I missed you!”

  “Shimasání play ball!”

  “You’re going to wear out Shimasání!” Ella laughed as her daughter squirmed out of her hands and ran back to retrieve the ball.

  “She reminds me of you at that age, daughter.” Rose smiled. “You were always curious, always pushing yourself to try the things you couldn’t quite do yet. She can nearly throw the ball now, or at least drop it in a particular direction, but every time she tries to kick it, she falls on her behind. Yet it never stops her. She continues to try.”

  “Stubbornness. It’s a trait of our family.”

  Rose chuckled softly.

  “Mom, we need to talk.”

  Rose looked up at her quickly. “It sounds very serious. Is it about your cousin?”

  “It is.”

  “Then maybe it should wait until after your daughter’s father comes and goes.”

  “Is he visiting today?”

  “He called earlier. He’s not busy right now and wondered if he could take your daughter to his home. He’s bought some toys for her, I’m afraid.”

  “It’s his right. She’s his daughter, too.”

  “Yes, but I don’t like the comparisons that leads to. Your daughter sees him as only a giver of gifts. He comes with little notice, takes her away for a few hours, then brings her back once he’s bored. To her, he’s becoming an everyday Santa Claus. That’s not a good thing.”

  “What else can he do? Navajo men don’t have traditional rights of custody. The state laws grant them, if the father demands it, but he’d be going against our customs and he would never do that. A move like that could turn some of the traditionalists against him. So being a part-time dad is the only option he’s got.”

  “That’s his choice. I have no problem with that. But I think he should visit her here, or when you’re with him, not take her away to his house or elsewhere.”

  “Does it worry you?”

  “I don’t like it, that’s all. I don’t trust him to watch her as carefully as she needs. I don’t think he’s been around children very much.”

  “My daughter should have the chance to get to know her father and his family,” Ella said.

  “I don’t think his family wants anything to do with her. They’re of the Bitter Water Clan and are the ones appointed to watch our family and guard the tribe against the evil that’s part of our legacy. None of them trust us. I doubt that your daughter will ever know what a shínálí, a paternal grandmother, is.”

  “Maybe that’ll change as they get to know her.”

  “You don’t really believe that.”

  “No, I guess not,” Ella admitted. Hearing a car pulling up, she turned around and saw Kevin driving up in a sporty new foreign car.

  “He’s more Anglo than the Anglos some
times,” Rose muttered. “Look what he drives. A good Navajo is not supposed to call attention to himself, or invite comparisons that will make others feel inferior. Yet he does both with every breath he takes.”

  “He’s not a bad man, Mom. He’s just trying to project an image of success. In his own way, I believe he loves his daughter.”

  As Kevin climbed out of the low-slung vehicle, Dawn looked up and, dropping the ball, ran to him. “Shizhé‘é,” she said in a loud, excited voice.

  Ella looked at her mother in surprise. “You taught her the Navajo word for father?”

  “I wanted to see if he knew it,” she said, glancing at Kevin.

  Ella tried not to laugh, but it was hard. Poor Kevin had a difficult enough time understanding his own daughter when she spoke English. Although Dawn’s speech was perfectly clear to her and Rose, he often struggled to figure out what she was saying. Kid-speak took a specially trained ear, one he didn’t seem to have developed.

  “You’re teaching her Navajo?” He looked at Ella, surprised.

  “What’s wrong with that?” Rose said. “I taught her that word,” she added, still not giving him a clue as to the meaning.

  “It’s the word for father,” Ella said, taking pity on him.

  “I thought that was what she’d said,” Kevin answered. “It just took me by surprise.”

  As Kevin held Dawn, Ella walked with him back to his car. “I need to talk to Mom, and then speak to my cousin Angela. It’s important. Will you keep Dawn until I come by and pick her up?”

  “No problem. But what’s going on?”

  Ella smiled at her daughter, and then looked back at Kevin and shook her head. “We’ll talk later.”

  Shortly after Ella filled Dawn’s diaper bag for him, Kevin drove off.

  Ella turned her attention to Rose, who was sitting in the living room, waiting.

  “Something bad has happened to your cousin, hasn’t it?” Rose observed. “Tell me what it is.”

  Although she tried to break the news gently to her mother, it clearly left Rose devastated. Ella gave her mother some time to gather herself, then explained that she now had to go tell Justine’s family.

  “Let me go with you,” Rose asked. “Maybe I can help. Your cousin will take this very hard. Like it is with me, her children are everything to her.”

  They left immediately and rode in silence for several minutes. “Mom, are you sure you’re all right?” Ella asked quietly after looking over for the third time.

  Rose nodded slowly. “I keep thinking how much like you your cousin was. Police work was everything to her, too. Now it’s cost her and her family dearly. Do you finally understand why I worry so much about you?”

  Ella had intended to tell her mother about the possibility that someone was trying to frame her for Justine’s death, but changed her mind. Rose had enough on her mind now, and anything else except the tragedy of Justine’s death seemed almost trivial by comparison.

  Rose knew there was something else, though, and looked at her for several long moments. “But there’s more to this than you’re saying, isn’t there?”

  “Some may end up blaming me for her death,” Ella admitted slowly.

  “How could anyone believe something like that?” Pain and concern flashed in Rose’s eyes.

  Ella first considered evading her mother’s question, but after a pause, decided to be honest and tell her the facts. Rose would never forgive her if she thought that Ella had tried to shield her from the truth.

  Ella told her what had happened, then waited as her mother weighed what she’d just learned.

  Rose nodded slowly, staring down at her clasped hands. “You’re in for the fight of your life, daughter. Some of your friends, or the ones you thought were your friends, might desert you in this crisis. Be grateful that Dawn is still very young and not in school. She’ll be spared what lies ahead.”

  “I’ve lost my cousin and a very dear friend, but I don’t think anyone realizes just how much that loss means to me.”

  “Your sorrow is something your enemies will use to their advantage. If this was a frame, as you call it, it was planned carefully, and was meant to destroy you just as thoroughly as it did your cousin.”

  “I know,” Ella whispered. “And that’s why it scares me so much.”

  “Don’t give in to fear, daughter. That’s your biggest enemy. It’ll prevent you from thinking clearly at a time when you’ll need that skill the most. Use fear to help keep your senses sharp, but don’t give it power over you. If you do, your enemies will win.”

  As they turned off the road leading to the Goodlucks’ house, Rose exhaled softly. “I’m glad that your cousin’s other daughters live near here. She’ll need them now more than ever. Remember, too, that like your father, she’s Christian. Hopefully that’ll give her comfort, as well.”

  As they pulled into the driveway, Angela came to the door of the house, almost as if she’d been waiting for them. Ella felt the weight her duty had cast upon her.

  The second Angela saw the expression on Rose’s face, she burst into tears. Rose turned to Ella. “Daughter, let me talk to her alone.” Without further word, the two older women walked down the driveway together.

  Ruth, Justine’s oldest sister, and Jayne, a year older than Justine, came out of the house and joined Ella.

  “My sister is dead, isn’t she?” Ruth said before Ella could even open her mouth.

  Ella nodded, then told them what she knew, holding back the gruesome details of the crime.

  Jayne took a step away from Ella. “Where were you when my sister was killed? I thought the two of you were supposed to work together. She depended on you!”

  Ella felt every word as keenly as a knife to the gut. “I had no indication that there was a problem,” she said, “and we weren’t working on a case. We were just talking as cousins and friends when I saw her last.”

  “You two haven’t been getting along lately. No wonder you didn’t know Justine was in danger,” Jayne shot back, ignoring the taboo against saying her name. “How could you let this happen?” Not giving Ella a chance to reply, she continued. “Why don’t you just leave this house? You bring evil everywhere you go. I don’t want you here.”

  Ruth tried to put a hand on her sister’s arm, but Jayne recoiled. “No,” she said, turning on her sister. “You’re always being the good mother, trying to make peace here just like with your own children. But this is wrong. Ella’s to blame.” Jayne turned her back on them and ran to the SUV parked by the house.

  “She shouldn’t drive when she’s hurt and angry.” Ruth said quickly. “I’ll go get her, but maybe you should leave for now.”

  Ella stared at Ruth walking away, too stunned to speak. She’d wanted to let them know how much she was going to miss Justine, and that she was hurting just like they were. But all the words were lodged in her throat.

  Rose returned to join Ella as Angela and her daughters stood by the SUV talking. “We’re not welcome here, daughter. It’s time to leave. Your cousin is overwhelmed by grief and anger. She wants to blame someone, and is striking out at you and our family.”

  “Her daughters blame me, too,” Ella said. “Mom, I’m sorry. I should have never brought you along. I didn’t expect this.”

  “I’m glad I came. It’ll help me get prepared for what lies ahead.”

  Ella nodded. There would be no peace for her or her family in this land between the sacred mountains until she found the truth. The Dinetah, always a very dangerous place, had suddenly become a land of betrayal.

  THIRTEEN

  Ella returned home with her mother. With Dawn away with Kevin, the house seemed quiet and lonely all of a sudden. Ella suddenly understood why Dawn and her mother needed each other so much. For a woman like Rose, who had always had family within her home, this had become an empty nest despite Ella having returned to share the house. Rose had spent too much time alone here, listening to the silence. But with Dawn’s birth, Rose had found a f
amiliar and comforting purpose for herself again.

  “This house seems too big and empty sometimes,” Rose said, almost as if reading Ella’s mind. “Someday I may have to accept that modern times make new demands on all of us. Families can’t be as close as they once were.” She shook her head sadly. “And they call it progress!”

  “Your granddaughter will always be close to you, and I belong here, too. Someday we’ll also have a young woman from the tribe coming in to help with the chores.” Ella looked at her mother and smiled. “And please don’t tell me that you’ll actually mind not doing so much laundry and cooking!”

  Rose didn’t answer.

  Ella gave her mother a hug. “I’m going to go back to the office for a bit, then afterwards I’ll stop, pick up my daughter, and come home. Will you be all right here?”

  Rose nodded. “Two will keep me company.” She scratched the head of the furry mutt, who wagged his tail in response. “He’s acting normal again, and it’s a good thing.”

  “Are you all right?” Ella asked. Her mother seemed even more tired than usual. Then again, it had been a trying day for all of them.

  “Your cousin’s death has reminded me of how quickly I could lose you.” Ella started to protest, but Rose held up one hand, stopping her. “I don’t think I could stand a loss like that. When your father was killed, it took me a long time to accept his death and go on, but a woman never expects to bury her children.”

  “Mom, nothing is going to happen to me.”

  “Your cousin probably said the same thing to her mother.”

  “She had far less training and experience than I do. And she was always trying to prove herself. I’m past having to show how good I am at my job.”

  “Even so.”

  “I want to stay on the reservation, Mom, and I know that’s what you want, too. But being a cop is all I know. And it’s the only career I can pursue here. In law enforcement the line between Anglo ways and our own is blurred enough to allow me to fit in.”

  “I wish you had never left the reservation in the first place. You’ve been torn in two ever since.”