Red Mesa

by Aimée

  After a forty-minute drive, she located the bar beside the highway between Farmington and Aztec near a large, private stable. Parking in the gravel parking lot, Ella went inside The Fancy and sat down at a table in a dark corner of the room. From this spot she could watch the door and the bar at the same time.

  She deliberately opted to be there when Jayne arrived rather than tailing her. Today she wanted to keep an eye on Jayne for a while before making any move. Jayne, she knew from experience, would bolt like a jackrabbit at the first sign of trouble.

  It was still early for lunch, and only a few unemployed or retired patrons were in the outer room. From the noise she picked up from her location beside an interior wall, she suspected there was gambling going on in the next room, but she wouldn’t push it for now.

  Time passed slowly. Ella ordered coffee from a young-looking waitress, preferring to sip that rather than alcohol, which could slow her down or dull her reactions at just the wrong time. No one spoke to her and no one asked any questions, though most of the men looked her over at least once, probably assessing their chances. To discourage their approach, she was careful not to lead anyone on by making eye contact.

  Two hours passed, and the lunch crowd had come and gone, but there was still no sign of Jayne. Ella put a few bills on the table and was ready to leave when she saw Jayne walk in with a tall man she guessed to be Bobby Lujan. Whoever he was, the rough-looking character was holding on to her arm in a death grip.

  “Don’t give me any more crap,” he growled loud enough for Ella to hear.

  As the man forced Jayne to sit at an empty table close to the bar, Ella moved her chair back so she was in the shadows. Safe from being identified, Ella watched the two openly.

  She could see the fear in Jayne’s face plainly, but suspected that if she came out into the open and offered to help her cousin, Jayne would side against her and nothing would be accomplished.

  “I can’t do it, Bobby,” Jayne whispered loudly.

  “How else are you going to square your debt? Unless you pay Manny Rodriguez, he’s going to come looking for you. And get one thing straight. I’m not bailing you out again unless you come through for me.”

  “What you’re asking me to do … I can’t. That man is disgusting. He hurts people. I heard talk.”

  “He likes to get a little rough, but he just loves being with Indian women. He won’t really hurt you, and in a few hours you’ll have a couple of hundred dollars—more if you stay with him all night. With the cash you’ll be making, you’ll be able to square your debts. Or at least most of them. You’ll still owe me, but we can work something out—unless you want me to go straight to the police and tell them everything I know.”

  “I’m sorry, I just can’t do this, no matter what it costs. Just let me go.” She stood up, but Bobby grabbed her shoulders and jerked her against his chest. Grasping her hand, he twisted it backwards until she cried out.

  “You and I need to have a private talk.”

  Ella watched them head to the door, and noticed other patrons doing the same, trying to decide if they should risk a fight by stepping in. Domestic disputes were the most volatile of situations, and cops hated them more than almost any other call. But Ella was afraid not to interfere. Jayne couldn’t handle Bobby alone, and she couldn’t let them leave without putting her cousin in even more danger.

  Ella followed as Bobby hauled her outside. Jayne tried to bolt out on the sidewalk, but he caught her before she’d gone more than a few feet.

  “We’re going to my place now.” He started pulling her toward a shiny, low-slung luxury car.

  “No, Bobby, don’t. I can get the money some other way.”

  Ella, still unnoticed by the preoccupied couple, stepped out from behind the Dumpster and kicked Bobby in the back of the knees.

  “Damn!” he yelled as his leg gave out. Recovering his balance quickly, he let go of Jayne and swung his fist around.

  Ella stepped back and grabbed his extended arm, using Bobby’s own momentum to twist his arm behind his back and shove him face-first into the side of the car. “That’s enough.” Ella looked over at Jayne, who was about to bolt again. “Don’t run. He’ll just find you again, Jayne.”

  “Count on it,” Bobby growled.

  “I’m the best chance you’ve got, Jayne,” Ella added.

  “An ex-cop?” he scoffed. “You’ll be in jail yourself before long.”

  Ignoring the lowlife, she held Jayne’s gaze. “Think, cousin. How many options do you have left?”

  Bobby looked up and called out to a guy coming out of the bar. “Jerry, give me a hand.”

  It was the bartender, a man the size and shape of a vending machine, and Ella knew that it was about to get very rough. She tried to turn Lujan around so he would be the one to face the bartender, but a beefy hand grasped her shoulder like a vise.

  Ella expected Jayne to bolt. After all, it was something she did well. Instead, Jayne kicked Jerry right in the groin. The bartender, who clearly hadn’t expected the move, groaned and doubled over, releasing Ella and clutching something even more important to him.

  Bobby tried to slip past Ella and grab Jayne, but Ella slammed him across the bridge of his nose with the side of her hand. He staggered back, moaning as blood flowed from his nostrils.

  Just then the wail of a siren sounded in the distance. “Cops!” Jayne yelled. “I’ve got to get out of here!” She turned and ran toward the alley behind the bar.

  Ella took off after her and caught up within a hundred feet.

  “I don’t have a car! I came with Bobby. Where’s yours?”

  “Follow me!” Ella answered.

  Ella led the way around the back of the bar onto the other side, where her pickup was parked. She didn’t have to look back to know Jayne was right behind her.

  When they reached Ella’s truck, they scrambled inside. “I need to get back on the Rez. I have no jurisdiction here,” Ella said.

  “You have no jurisdiction anywhere. You’re suspended,” Jayne yelled as Ella started the truck and backed out of the parking slot.

  “Yeah. I forgot.”

  Jayne said nothing for a while as Ella headed back to the Rez.

  “It’s really hard for you, isn’t it?” Jayne said at last. “I mean not knowing what’s going to happen next, after being a cop all these years.”

  “Yeah, it is.”

  “Why did you help me back there with Bobby? You’re not an official cop anymore, and you could have been in a lot more trouble than me.”

  “I had to follow you. I’m trying to find out more about Bobby,” Ella said, leaving Ruth’s name out of it. “But when I realized that you were in serious trouble, that Bobby meant business, I couldn’t risk letting you handle it on your own.”

  Taking her eyes off the road for a moment, Ella glanced over at her cousin. “Your family has been very good to me for many years. I owe Justine more than to let something happen to her sister when I could have put a stop to it. You don’t honestly think that I would turn my back on you, Jayne, do you? Or, for that matter, that I had anything to do with Justine’s death?”

  “No, I know you didn’t kill her,” she said quietly. “You two weren’t just partners, you were friends, too. But why are you focusing on me? Do you still think I had something to do with Justine’s death?”

  “No, not directly, but I think it’s possible that the people you hang around with might have decided to use Justine as leverage against you in some way. My guess is that they tried to kidnap her, but Justine fought back, and in the struggle, they ended up killing her.”

  “You’re right to think Justine would have fought hard. She didn’t take any bull from anyone. But you’re off base about your suspects. Bobby would have avoided Justine because she was a cop. Bobby’s a gambler, but he likes more favorable odds than that.”

  “Maybe someone he answers to had a different opinion,” Ella said.

  Jayne considered it. “Every once in a whil
e, Bobby tries to force me to do what he calls a ‘favor’ for one of his buddies. Its always something illegal and often it’s just plain dangerous. I think Bobby gets pressured into that, but I don’t know by whom, unless it’s Manny Rodriguez.”

  “The state police and more than one local PD have been after Manny Rodriguez for years, but they’ve never managed to keep him in jail for more than an overnight stay. He’s got a lot of money, and that buys him top-of-the-line lawyers.”

  “Hasn’t anyone ever pressed charges?” Jayne asked.

  “A few have. But it’s always been thrown out of court. He probably manages to buy their eventual silence—one way or another.”

  Jayne hesitated. “I owe you one, Ella, so I’m going to give it to you straight this time. Bobby found out that the night Justine was killed, I was at the Palomino Lounge, alone. They have slot machines in the back room and I go there a lot. But if the cops raid the place or go in there asking questions, the manager will know I was the one who snitched and I’ll be in even more trouble than I am now. The owner has an enemies list, and real bad things happen to those people.”

  “I’m not after illegal gambling operations. I just want Justine’s killer. By the way, where was Bobby that night?”

  “He said he was at a pueblo casino near Albuquerque. He won big that night at one of the slot machines, so there’ll be plenty of people who’ll remember him. In fact, I think the casino takes photos of their big winners, so there’s probably a snapshot of him on the board there.”

  Ella got the name of the casino. She’d have Blalock check out Bobby’s alibi later.

  “Why aren’t you investigating Justine’s friends, like Paul Natoni? The guy practically drips slime, but Justine always got really angry whenever I pointed that out. In my book, he’s worse than Bobby. Bobby’s no prize, but at least he doesn’t put on an act. Paul’s a con man. He has great packaging, and he loves making promises, but it’s all a show. Deep down he’s a heavy-duty creep.”

  “I agree with you about Natoni. I disliked him from the very beginning.”

  “He really bad-mouthed you to Justine every time he could, telling her you were just using her to advance your own career, and stuff like that. If you’re looking for enemies who may have framed you, I’d start with him.” She paused, then added, “Does he have an alibi for the time my sister was killed?”

  Ella nodded. “He was with Jeremiah Manyfarms.”

  Jayne laughed derisively. “So he’s got no alibi.”

  “No, I just told you—”

  “Paul is Jeremiah’s adopted son. Didn’t you know that? Paul elected to keep his own name, but Jeremiah adopted him legally when Paul was just fourteen.”

  Ella stared at Jayne. “When did you find this out?”

  “Justine told me. She was a friend of Manyfarms, too.”

  Ella said nothing. The news had taken her by surprise. Suddenly there was a new twist to the conspiracy theory. She’d suspected that Justine was being drugged, and that more than one person could have been responsible for what happened. Maybe Natoni and Manyfarms had worked together on this.

  “Ella, what happened to your truck? These look like bullet holes. That’s something that happened a long time ago, right?” Jayne pointed to the holes in the passenger door.

  Ella shook her head. “Somebody wants me dead,” Ella said. “I just happened to be faster, or luckier, than Justine was this time.”

  “When did this all happen? Do the police know about it?” Jayne’s voice rose an octave.

  “Just the other night. The FBI’s working on it already.” She explained briefly what happened, not mentioning who she suspected, Samuel Begaye. The less said, the better, until she could put the pieces together.

  “I’m surprised you’ve even left the house after that.” Jayne slumped down in her seat, then, noticing the holes on Ella’s side, too, she sat up again and scrunched back into the cushion.

  After a while, Jayne spoke again. “Listen, I just happen to know where there’s a key to Paul’s trailer. Wanna take a look around inside?”

  “I sure do, but I’ll have to do it alone. I’m not a cop anymore, and I obviously can’t get any kind of warrant. If I get caught, it’s going to be a clear case of breaking and entering.”

  “We’ll go together. You’ll need a lookout.”

  “Jayne, it’s not a good idea for you to get involved. I thought you wanted to stay out of jail.”

  “I’ll furnish the key only if I get to go with you. I hate that man and the way he was using Justine, poisoning her mind. If he’s got anything to do with what happened to my sister, I want a piece of him, too.”

  “The only thing you’re likely to get is a ticket to jail. I don’t want that on my conscience,” Ella argued.

  “You have my terms. What’s it going to be?” Jayne folded her arms across her chest and stared at her.

  Ella sighed, then nodded slowly. “All right.” It may not have been wise, but she just couldn’t pass this up. What she desperately needed now was evidence, and proof of her own innocence so she could be reinstated. There were other avenues of investigation that a free agent could pursue, but she missed being able to tap into records to verify a fact or having a team of investigators working with her.

  “Where’s the key, Jayne?”

  “Drop me by my mom’s house. The cops never saw it because Justine didn’t keep the key in her room. I think she just didn’t want Mom to find it. I know where it is because I saw her hiding it once and asked about it. She told me Paul had given it to her in case of an emergency.”

  “Where did she hide the key?”

  “Justine put it inside the cactus planter in the living room by the front window. Personally, I think Paul had hoped she’d come by and spend the night with him, but I don’t think she ever did. She liked Paul, but I don’t think she was ready to make any kind of commitment.”

  Ella parked by the Goodluck home and waited as Jayne ran inside. She came back out within seconds, key in hand, and they got under way.

  “I don’t want to park right in front of his mobile home, so we have to approach from the back,” Ella said. “But I warn you. It’s broad daylight, so it’ll be risky.”

  “It’s probably less dangerous now than in the evening. The elderly lady who lives next door to Paul likes to spy on him, but she watches cartoons in the afternoon. You can hear the television blaring all the way down the trailer court. I was there once with Bobby, and Paul really complained about her.”

  “I really wish you’d reconsider, Jayne. If we get caught, it’s going to be a disaster, and I can’t guarantee that we won’t be seen. For all I know, Paul could be there, whether or not his pickup is outside.”

  “Then park down the road. If his pickup is not there and it looks like nobody’s home, I’ll walk up to the front door and ring the bell. If no one answers, I’ll use the key and go inside. Then I’ll go to the back window and wave if it’s safe for you to come and join me.”

  Ella considered it. It wasn’t a bad plan. Jayne would attract a lot less attention than she would. “Okay.”

  Ella parked by the turnoff where the mailboxes were, but close enough to see the trailer. As Jayne strolled down the road to Natoni’s trailer, Ella couldn’t help but compare her to Justine. The two not only resembled each other, they acted a lot alike, too. Justine had been a gambler in her own way, enjoying taking risks. Unfortunately, Jayne had channeled that same energy into less productive avenues. Still, if Jayne could have gotten her act together, she might have made a decent cop.

  Five minutes later, Ella saw Jayne wave from the back window. She approached carefully, staying out of sight by making sure another trailer always screened her from the old woman’s home. Several minutes later, she was inside.

  “Do you smell it?” Jayne asked, her voice hushed. “I noticed it as soon as I walked in.”

  Ella nodded. “Justine’s perfume. I want to check out the bedroom.”

  With Jayne at h
er heels, she went down the narrow hall to the back. The bed was unmade and there were traces of duct tape still attached to the bedposts. Faint, discolored stains marked the pale yellow sheets on one side. Ella’s heart almost stopped when she realized the implications.

  “That could be blood someone tried to wash out,” Ella said, thinking out loud, her voice sounding strange, even to herself.

  Jayne shuddered. “Either he’s into some really disturbed games, or he held someone here against their will.”

  “Search for anything that belonged to Justine—something she wouldn’t have just left here, like her badge, or maybe something she did leave behind hoping we’d find it.”

  Jayne froze and stared at her. “You don’t think my sister could still be alive?”

  “What we’ve seen here certainly raises the possibility. But I can’t prove anything unless we find more evidence to support it.”

  “Your intuition…”

  “I don’t know if that applies here. It’s true that my hunches usually play out right, but I’m personally involved, and that alters my perspective.”

  Jayne crouched by the bed and retrieved something small from the floor.

  “What have you got there?” Ella asked.

  She held out her palm. “It’s a piece of rose quartz that’s obviously part of a pendant. See the loop where the chain would go through?” she asked, pointing it out. “Justine had one just like this. It was her lucky charm.”

  Ella studied the half-inch crystal, her heart pounding. “I remember seeing her wear this. She always had it with her, just like I always wear my badger fetish.”

  “Doesn’t this prove that she was here the day she was killed?”

  “It proves that she was here, but not when, and that’s the kind of proof we need.”