Red Mesa

by Aimée

  As she focused on controlling her truck, Ella heard the squeal of tires telling her the shooter was also braking, trying to slow enough to turn and continue the pursuit. Headlights flashed into her rearview mirror, but by then Ella was heading parallel to the highway across a relatively level stretch of desert.

  The driver, seeing her pulling away, fired two more shots, but they whined overhead, missing the truck completely. Ella spotted a set of wheel ruts running nearly parallel to hers, and swung the pickup onto them, hoping for an easier path. The lights in her mirror dimmed as Ella pressed down on the accelerator. The track she was on led down into a shallow, sandy wash, and she was certain that the sedan couldn’t follow her very far there.

  She turned off her lights and came to a stop a few hundred yards down the arroyo, hoping to get a glimpse of the car and maybe get a make or color, but the driver didn’t follow her into the wash. Instead, he turned and headed back to the highway.

  Ella knew her truck’s engine was far from the souped-up package in the tribal unit, but acting on instinct alone, she turned her truck around and went after him, leaving her own headlights off. He arrived at the highway, and as he turned onto the good road, she closed to within fifty yards and flipped on her headlights. For just a split second, she caught a glimpse of the driver’s face as he was looking in her direction. She couldn’t swear to it, but he looked like Samuel Begaye.

  Anger and frustration ripped through her. If he was involved, she wanted to haul his sorry butt to jail. She was racing down the highway after him when she suddenly realized that she was heading straight into danger without anything to back her up except a two-shot .22 derringer and a pocketknife. She couldn’t request cover officers be dispatched to her location, or even force him to pull over on her own. All she could do was get herself killed.

  Ella grasped the steering wheel so hard that her hands hurt, but she gave up the chase as he increased his own speed in order to escape. He hadn’t known she was outgunned, obviously, which had turned out to be a lucky break for her.

  Ella found the cell phone on the floorboard and called Blalock. Help had never arrived because she’d never completed the call to the department. After describing the vehicle, tag number, and Begaye’s direction of travel, she turned the matter over to him. Handing police business over to someone else was one of the hardest things she’d ever done.

  She knew then that she’d have to find a new way to work around her limited resources. Her enemies had succeeded in making things more difficult for her, so she’d have to learn to improvise so she could get the job done.

  * * *

  Ella arrived home edgy and tired, but grateful that her bullet-ridden truck still worked. Her mood suddenly worsened when she saw Kevin’s car parked near the side of the house. She went inside, wondering if her already miserable day was about to get worse.

  It didn’t take long to find out. Kevin’s expression was decidedly somber as he turned Dawn over to Rose. “What happened to your leg, Ella?”

  She looked down at the bloody tear in her slacks. The wound was about two inches long, but not more than a good scratch, fortunately. “Would you believe I bumped up against a nail?”

  “Better wash it off, then.” Kevin shrugged, accepting her suggestion without question.

  Ella kissed her daughter good night and promised to come read her a story in a few minutes.

  “This is going to take more than a few minutes,” Kevin said. “Now that you’re finally home, we have to have a serious talk.”

  She didn’t like his tone. “Then you’ll have to wait. Dawn will expect me. Let me take care of her first, wash off this scratch, then I’ll deal with whatever’s bothering you.”

  She saw his eyes narrow, but other than that, there was no response. Rose just smiled at both of them and went into her sewing room.

  By the time Ella returned to the living room, thirty minutes had passed and Kevin was pretending to read this morning’s newspaper. One look at his face and she knew she’d made him angry.

  She smiled at him calmly and cocked her head toward the kitchen. “Let’s go in there. I need something to snack on. All I’ve had for hours is a cup of coffee. Do you want a diet cola or something?”

  “No, thank you,” he replied stiffly.

  Ella took a can of soda from the refrigerator, grabbed a handful of homemade oatmeal cookies from the cookie jar, then sat across the kitchen table from him. “All right. You’ve got my full attention. What’s the problem?”

  “I heard that this has been a really bad day for you,” he said slowly. “I understand that you were asked to turn in your badge.”

  He waited, but Ella said nothing, instead eating a cookie hungrily, then washing it down with swallows of soda. There was nothing for her to say. His sources were impeccable.

  “That’s why I came over. Now that you’re no longer a cop, you’re more at the mercy of your enemies than ever.”

  “Where did you get that idea? I turned in my badge, not my brain.”

  He shook his head. “Same old Ella.”

  “What did you expect? I’m not going to curl up into a ball and die. I’ve had to work with less resources before. I can handle this without a crime team or a partner.”

  “Yes, I suppose you can. But what about Dawn?”

  “She has no idea what’s going on. She’s just a baby.”

  “Exactly. She’s just a baby. While you go investigate things on your own—and don’t bother to deny that you’ll be doing just that—she’ll be here, an easy target for any of the people you’ve ticked off over the years. Or worse. Maybe she’ll be the target of the person who’s working so hard to put you away for good.”

  “You’re jumping to conclusions. We have no reason to believe that whoever is after me will strike at anyone else in my family. And if they try something here, the police department will come into the picture. Big Ed will do whatever it takes to keep Mom and Dawn safe.”

  “I’m amazed that you have so much confidence in the same people that have hung you out to dry.”

  “I don’t see it that way,” she said in clipped tones.

  “Are you willing to gamble our daughter’s life on your opinion?”

  “And I suppose this is what you’ve been leading up to. What do you have in mind?”

  “I’d like to send Dawn to live with my sister Mary Ann. She’s a teacher in Scottsdale. Her husband is Anglo and they’re well off, living in a very safe neighborhood. Dawn will be protected and have everything she needs.”

  “Except her mother and her grandmother,” Ella snapped. “My daughter stays here with my mother and with me. She’ll be well looked after.”

  “You’re not thinking straight.”

  Ella regarded him coolly. “And of course, your eagerness to send Dawn away has nothing to do with the pressure people who want you to run for office are putting on you to sever the connection between us. Since the heart of that connection is Dawn, our daughter, sending her away could remove a potential problem standing in the way of getting you elected. Out of sight is out of mind. Very convenient, I admit, but I’m not buying in to this. Dawn stays home.”

  She had never seen him this angry before. He stood up so quickly, the chair nearly toppled over.

  “I can’t believe you said that to me.”

  “The thought never occurred to you, or at least to your powerful friends?” she asked, nonplussed.

  “Even if it has, that wasn’t why I came here and suggested it to you.”

  “So it did occur to them,” Ella observed.

  “Think carefully, Ella. This isn’t about politics. This is about Dawn and keeping her out of harm’s way. Can you guarantee her safety here?”

  “I can’t guarantee her safety anywhere, but if I really believed that she was in danger, I wouldn’t send her anyplace that’s so easily traced, such as to a relative of yours. But we have no reason to believe that anyone is interested in Dawn.”

  “So you’re just go
ing to wait and take that chance?”

  “It’s not a matter of taking a chance. It’s a matter of my judgment, based upon the facts. But let me warn you, Kevin. If you or your friends are talking about this subject with other people, you could be giving my enemies some ideas that they’re better off not having.”

  “Nice. So if anything happens, it’ll be my fault now.”

  She stood up and began walking him to the door. “Kevin, I’m tired. The point I’m making is that your self-serving friends are making a problem where there isn’t one, and if they continue with this, things could get worse, not better.”

  Kevin strode past her wordlessly, closing the door a bit louder than usual. A moment later she heard him speed away in his pickup, spewing gravel halfway up the drive.

  “He’s not worried about Dawn. He’s worried about himself,” Rose said from where she was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. “It’s a good thing, too, that you pointed out the harm his friends could do. He’ll discourage any talk about Dawn being sent away now if he really cares about his daughter.”

  “Yeah, but I probably should have handled it differently. His name is on the birth certificate as the father. Kevin’s never disagreed with me about custody, but he could if he wanted to.”

  “You mean if he thought it would serve him. But it won’t, and he knows it.”

  Ella rubbed her eyes, then sighed. “It’s been an awful day.”

  “I heard what he said. Is it true? You’ve been suspended?”

  Ella nodded. “I guess now I get to see how a private investigator works. They have fewer rules, you know. I may get to like the freedom from having to follow the nitpicking police procedures.”

  Rose shook her head. “No, you like the structure the rules provide. You’ll be back on the force before long.”

  “You sound very certain, Mom.”

  “I am. I’ve learned to accept many things about you and the path you’ve chosen in life.”

  After Rose went to bed, Ella fixed herself a sandwich using leftovers, then went to her room and turned on the computer. Coyote was nowhere to be seen tonight. She answered a few E-mails that had accumulated from friends on-line, then crawled into bed.

  Two began barking furiously just as soon as she’d closed her eyes. Ella reached for the service pistol she normally kept on the nightstand, then remembered she didn’t have it anymore. Not wasting time, she hurried to her closet and reached for the upper shelf, bringing down her father’s old hunting rifle. It had been in the family for years and it hadn’t been checked any time recently, but she knew it would work. What’s more, her aim was deadly with it.

  Ella loaded the rifle and, as she went out into the hall, met Rose. “Stay here with Dawn. I’ll go see what’s going on.”

  Ella grabbed a flashlight from the drawer as she walked through the kitchen. Keeping it off and using the darkness to hide her, she stepped outside.

  The full moon bathed everything in a muted light. Two was watching an area just beyond the garden. As she started to move forward, Two positioned himself in front of her, his hackles raised. The low sound coming from his throat was a deadly challenge to whatever was out there.

  Ella moved carefully, still not using the flashlight. Hearing a strange rustle through the brush, she stopped and raised the rifle to her shoulder. “Come out where I can see you. I’m armed.”

  There was a pause, then she heard a familiar voice. “Don’t shoot. I’m not your enemy.”

  Herman Cloud stepped past a small juniper and appeared in the open.

  “You’re the last person I expected to see here,” Ella said. “What on earth are you doing?”

  “My nephews told me what happened to you at the police department. They’ll be keeping a watch on your place unofficially, but right now they’re both patrolling areas well away from here. That’s why I came over to watch over you and your family while you slept.”

  Ella fought the impulse to hug him. Philip and Michael Cloud were two of the best cops in the department, and Herman, their uncle, had been a solid ally. Although in his seventies, he stood tall and proud, wearing a red headband. His black eyes were fierce with determination.

  “You’re going to freeze out here. Come in and have something warm to drink.”

  He shook his head. “My place is out here for now. I stood beside you once when your enemies were all around you, and I’ll do the same again. But don’t worry. I’m not alone out here.” He whistled, making a long, mournful sound. Someone answered, imitating his call.

  “What made you think we would need protection here at home?” Ella felt her skin prickle as it often did when danger was near.

  “I have friends where your lawyer friend works. They want your daughter out of the way. Because of that, we don’t trust them.”

  “We?”

  “It’s better that you don’t know any names other than mine. But rest easy. You have many friends.”

  Ella felt the power and confidence behind his words. He was a man on a mission. She could no more dissuade him from this duty than she could change Mount Rushmore.

  “Thank you, old friend,” she said quietly.

  As she walked back inside the house, she felt her spirits lift. She now knew that the battle was no longer hers alone.

  TWENTY-FOUR

  Ella woke long after the sun had risen. Not used to sleeping late, she looked at the clock radio and realized she’d never set it the night before. Not that she needed to do that now. Still, it surprised her that such a long, ingrained habit could be broken so easily.

  Dressing quickly, she went outside with a cup of warm coffee in hand, searching for Herman. He’d need this by now, though she suspected he and whoever had been with him had brought their own provisions.

  After several minutes of searching, she realized he’d gone home. His watch must have concluded at dawn.

  Rose came outside. “Why on earth are you standing out here?”

  “I thought I’d give our old friend a cup of coffee.”

  “Daughter, he’s been gone for hours! We had a talk, then he left.”

  “I guess I must have really slept like a log. I didn’t hear any of that.” Ella yawned.

  “You looked exhausted when you came home. I figured you’d need your sleep even more because we all got up in the middle of the night, so I turned off the alarm on your clock radio.”

  “Mom, you shouldn’t have done that!”

  “Why? You don’t have to report to work, do you?”

  “No, but I still have a lot to do on my own.”

  Rose glanced at the position of the sun. “It’s almost time for Dawn and me to get going. We’ll be attending a weavers’ workshop at the Chapter House today. It’ll be an all-day event. Why don’t you come and take your mind off things for a while?”

  “Some other time, Mom. I’ve got some leads I want to follow up today on my cousin’s case. It’s been six days now since it happened, and unless I catch whoever’s responsible soon, I may never get another chance.”

  Ella helped get Dawn breakfast and ready for her day. Her daughter was so used to Rose’s morning routines that Ella felt almost superfluous. For a brief moment she found herself wishing that those little routines had been ones that she and Dawn had always shared. But there was no sense in dwelling on what could never be. At least Dawn had a grandmother who adored her.

  Ella walked her mother and daughter to the truck, then went back inside the house. The stillness seemed unbearable. Ella showered and dressed, mentally trying to organize her day and come up with a schedule. She was so used to reporting her whereabouts and having the bulk of her assignments set out for her that it felt strange to do things this way.

  She’d just sat down to have breakfast when the phone rang.

  “Ella, it’s Ruth.”

  Getting a call from her cousin at home surprised her. Justine’s oldest sister had given her the lead about Jayne and her connection to gambling, but Ella hadn’t expected any mor
e after that.

  “What’s going on?” Ella asked.

  “I heard Bobby Lujan and Jayne arguing last night outside by his truck. He’s really starting to scare me. When my sister finally came in, she had a huge bruise on her cheek.”

  “Did you hear what the argument was about?”

  “Some, but I didn’t hear it all. All I know for sure is that he was threatening her, saying that if she told anyone else, he’d cut her into little pieces.”

  “Told anyone what?”

  “That’s the part I didn’t hear. I asked Jayne when she came in, but she wouldn’t talk to Mom or to me. She just went and locked herself in the bathroom.”

  “What about this morning?”

  “I didn’t have a chance to talk to her. I had to get my kids to school, and then take Mom by the hospital. Her doctor is going to give her something to help her sleep.”

  “How is she holding up?”

  “Not well, Ella, not well at all. I know you’re in deep trouble, and that you’ve been suspended, but the price Mom’s paying is just as high, even if it’s for a different reason.”

  “Does she still think I hurt Justine?” Ella regretted her words instantly. She shouldn’t have asked Ruth to speak for her mother.

  “I don’t think she believes you killed her. Most of the time she’s just angry with you because she thinks you should have caught the killer by now,” Ruth said.

  “I’m working very hard to do just that. My own life depends on it.”

  “I know. Will you make sure Jayne is okay? Maybe you can talk to Bobby,” Ruth said.

  “Where is he? The address I had for him is no longer valid.”

  “I don’t know, but I’ll try to find out.”

  “Is your sister home right now?”

  “Yeah, but she’ll be taking off soon. She’s got a new job in Farmington.”

  “Do you know where?” Ella asked. Jayne’s job-hopping would make finding her just that much harder unless Ruth could help.

  “She told me she quit her job at the Daily Double and is now a cocktail waitress at a bar called The Fancy. She’s supposed to be there just before noon.”

  Not wanting Jayne to recognize her right off, Ella left her hair loose and wore a western-cut blouse, denim skirt, and blue-tinted glasses. This wasn’t an outfit people would associate with her. She then cleaned out the glass from the broken window in her truck. The passenger-side glass had been spared, but two bullet holes in the driver’s-side door and four on the passenger side would be objects of discussion sooner or later when her mom noticed them.