Tracking Bear

by Thurlo, David

  “All right. I’ll be there.”

  “Great. Half an hour?”

  “Sounds good, order for me if you get there first.”

  Ella gave the pile of file folders and reports one last glance, then picked up her keys and hurried out of the building.

  She arrived at the Totah Café a short time later. Ella could tell, just by looking at Kevin, that he was in a great mood. She approached the table he’d chosen, one in a corner of the room, curious about his news.

  As she sat down, she glanced over at Ernest Ration, who stood in the shadows with his back to the wall, like a stone sentinel.

  Ella leaned back and sipped the fresh cup of coffee the waitress brought to their table. “So tell me. What’s up?”

  “George Branch has finally stopped taking on-the-air jabs at me,” he said. “Branch finally understands that we’re on the same side when it comes to NEED.”

  “Did you take an official position?”

  He nodded. “I gave a statement to the press. But I’ve got to tell you, it sure feels weird to share common ground with that jerk.”

  “The fact that he’s stopped harassing you may not be NEED-related. He was having his own share of problems, if you remember.”

  “Actually, I think that it’s remarkable that he hasn’t had those kinds of problems before. An idiot like him is in the business of making enemies.”

  The food arrived then, and they both paused their discussion for a moment. Ella took a bite of the sopaipilla, fried bread stuffed with ground beef, beans, salsa, and cheese. No one made them like the Totah Café. “Maybe so, but I think that’s the real reason he stopped. George Branch is a bully—he doesn’t like it when people fight back. He can dish it out, but he can’t take it.”

  “But even deep in his pea brain, he must have known I had nothing to do with whoever was harassing him. That’s just not my style.”

  Ella nodded then. As Kevin waited for his glass of iced tea to be refilled, she glanced at Ernest Ration. He’d heard what they said, and, as she read the smug expression on his face, she knew with certainty who George Branch’s most persistent adversary had been.

  “Is it your style, Ernest?” she said softly, as Kevin walked to the counter to get more sugar packets.

  “Come on, even if I had been responsible, I’d never admit to something illegal,” he said, chuckling. “But the change in Branch’s attitude is a definite improvement, don’t you think? And I like knowing that my boss can breathe easier now that we don’t have a vandal lurking around.”

  “The vandalism was really starting to get on my nerves,” Kevin said, having heard the last part of their conversation as he returned to his chair. “Did you know Ernest finally caught the kid who cut my tires? Nailed him just in the nick of time. The three of us had a real good talk, and I used the terms ‘probation violation’ and ‘state detention facility in Springer’ several times. He won’t do it again.”

  “Who was it?” Ella recalled seeing a motorcycle lately, and suddenly knew. “Not Oliver Washburn, by any chance?”

  Ernest’s eyes gave him away, but this time Kevin was the one with the poker face. “I promised not to give the young man’s name to the department, so I can’t really say—not unless he tries something else. He’s on probation, and all it takes is my word to send him back to Springer.”

  “Okay. But why were you singled out?”

  “I represented the young man on a vandalism charge a year ago. He lied to me and to the court, but the truth came out during trial, and he was convicted. He blamed me, of course. But it’ll stop now, I’m sure of it.”

  “Does that mean Ernest is no longer needed?”

  “No way. He and I discussed that right from the start,” Kevin replied. “I like having a bodyguard around. The tribal president has one, of course, as do many politicians in the state. Tribal Council members often employ low-profile security while on the campaign trail, so I don’t get any comments from my colleagues, especially those who’ve received threats of their own from time to time. Besides, it’s an extra precaution that’ll help me feel more confident when my daughter visits me, or when I take her out.”

  Ella nodded, then smiled. “Right now you’re going to be hard-pressed taking her anywhere that’s away from the pony.”

  “Actually, I was thinking of putting her on the pony and going for a short hike around your mother’s home. I think she’d love it.”

  Ella sighed. “Someday, Kevin, you’re going to realize that Dawn doesn’t need to get everything she wants.” She took a sip of coffee, then lowered her voice so Ernest couldn’t hear. “How’s Emily?” Now that he was no longer worried about having someone after him, she wondered if he’d pursue her.

  Something flashed in Kevin’s eyes, and it took her a moment to identify it. He was disappointed.

  “I like her, Ella, but she’s just not the one for me. I prefer someone who’ll drive me crazy every once in a while,” he added, looking at her with a smile, “just to keep me on my toes.”

  She searched his eyes and found something that unsettled her—something she hoped Dawn would never see. She had a feeling Kevin wanted to renew their old relationship.

  Mercifully, her cell phone rang just then. It was Justine. “I asked my cousin who works at the power plant a few more questions about Shives, and she suggested we talk to a friend of hers, Bertha Finch, who lives next door to him. She arranged for us to meet Bertha this evening. The woman’s taking courses at the college, but will meet us after class.”

  “Great. I’ll see you at the station when I’ve finished dinner, and we’ll set out from there.”

  Ella placed the cell phone back in the case attached to her belt. “I hate to do this, but I’m going to have to eat and run.”

  “I heard,” Kevin said with a nod. “At least I’m glad you could join me for a while.”

  Ella ate half of her sopaipilla, then got a doggie bag for the rest and excused herself. As she drove to the station, her thoughts shifted back to the case. She was certain they were close to finding critical answers.

  After a short meeting with Big Ed to update him on their latest findings, Ella and Justine left the station. “Tell me more about Bertha Finch,” Ella asked. “How will we know her?”

  “She’ll be waiting near the side exit of the campus library. Pat, my cousin, said she’ll be easy to recognize because she wears a bright red parka. Pat told me that Bertha’s a computer analyst at the power plant and always notices—and remembers—details. I think she may be able to give us the kind of insight that we would never get from personnel reports and evaluation files.”

  “I’m glad you set this up.”

  They met Bertha outside a short time later. She was a half-Navajo woman in her early thirties. Her hair was shiny black, thin, and nearly down to her waist. Her large, owlish glasses somehow seemed to fit her style. Since there was a definite chill in the air, they all opted to go to the campus administration building and have something hot to drink.

  A few moments later they sat down in a large canteen area filled with vending machines, sipping coffee.

  Bertha glanced at Justine. “I have another class in twenty minutes, so we better get down to business.”

  “We’re trying to find out more about Delbert Shives—the kind of stuff I can’t get from background files. We’d really appreciate any help you can give us.”

  “Why are you’re so interested in him?” Bertha looked at Justine, then Ella.

  Ella shook her head. “It’s police business, and we can’t discuss any details at the moment. In fact, we’d also like to ask you to keep this meeting between us.” Ella was determined to keep Shives from knowing what they were doing for now.

  “Okay, but I’m still not sure what kind of information you need,” Bertha said.

  Justine leaned back in her chair. “What kind of neighbor is he? Does he have lots of parties, or does he keep to himself? Does he come and go a lot at night? Who comes over to his home?
Those kinds of things.”

  “Okay, I’ll answer as many of those as I can. He’s quiet, I’ve never heard loud music or even the TV coming from his place, and he’s usually home on weekends. He does a little bit of gardening, but not much. Just trimming the roses that are there and mowing his small patch of lawn.”

  “What kind of people come to visit him?” Ella asked.

  “Well, lately he’s had a woman living with him. A tall blonde with a deep tan. Athletic-looking, but looks like she got strong working on a farm rather than figure skating, you know? He calls her Meg. If they’re romantically involved, you couldn’t tell. They act more like old friends. Maybe she’s the girlfriend of the dark-haired man I’ve seen there once in a while lately, though honestly, I’ve never seen them together.”

  “The dark-haired man, is he Navajo?” Justine asked.

  “I don’t know. He’s always wearing a long coat and a baseball cap. He’s tall.”

  “Have you ever spoken to either Margaret or the guy with the cap?” Ella said.

  “Not really. I said good morning to her a time or two, and she nodded, but the guy, whether he’s coming or going, completely ignores me.” She stopped then continued. “There’s another person, too…” she hesitated.

  “Go on, please,” Justine said.

  “I’ve never seen Delbert with any woman besides Margaret, but on the way home yesterday I stopped at the Jiffy Mart. While I was there, I saw Del with a tall, Anglo woman with dark hair. She wore it short in one of those shaggy styles you just blow-dry and go. She looked vaguely familiar, but I never did get a good look at her.”

  “What color were her eyes?” Ella asked, hoping she remembered more than she thought.

  “I didn’t notice. I only had a quick glance as I walked past them. Delbert didn’t even say hello. He was completely engrossed in her.” Bertha looked at her watch. “I’ve got to get going. Is there anything else?”

  “What kind of car does the guy with the cap drive?” Ella asked on an impulse.

  “He may work at a car dealership, because I’ve seen him come up in an SUV one time, and another in a tan car, maybe a Chevy. If I saw a photo of the model, I’d recognize it. Anything more?”

  “Not for now, Bertha. Glad to have met you, and thanks for the information,” Ella said. “If you think of anything else, give us a call.” She handed Bertha her card.

  “No problem. Later, Justine.”

  As she rushed away, Ella looked at her cousin. “I want to know who these strangers are—the man in the cap and the woman with the short dark hair—and I’ve got a way to find out, at least with the woman. If I remember right, the Jiffy Mart installed security cameras last year.”

  “Yeah, they found out that if they have them, their insurance rates go down.”

  “Yeah, robbers don’t like to see their photos on the news. Let’s go over there and see if we can still get the videotape.”

  “Those are usually recycled every twenty-four to forty-eight hours.”

  “Then let’s hope we get lucky. We need a break, and hopefully those tapes will give it to us.”

  “Are you thinking that this might be the dark-haired intruder who shot at Wilson, and the one who killed Jason? A woman? Or the man in the cap. His vehicles sound like those seen at more than one shooting lately.”

  Ella shrugged. “One step at a time.”

  Ella and Justine sat in the back room of the Jiffy Mart. The clerk, a Navajo kid barely out of his teens, had refused to give them the tapes without a court order or his boss’s permission. Since neither was possible, they had persuaded him to let them view the tapes at the store.

  “I wonder if he’s studying to be a lawyer,” Justine said with a wry smile.

  Ella chuckled. “He’d be a natural.”

  Justine took the tapes that had been used the day before in the outside security camera and stuck the first one in the machine. They ran it fast-forward, but there was nothing of interest to them there. It wasn’t until they got to the third tape that they found what they’d been searching for.

  “There’s Shives,” Ella said, pointing to a figure on the screen. “Stop the tape, run it back and let’s see if we can get a better look at the woman.”

  As the scene unfolded, Ella noticed one thing. “Do you realize that she’s deliberately keeping her face away from the camera? Look closely. When she gets out of the SUV, she holds her hand in front of her face as if brushing away a hair, then she positions herself with her back to the camera.”

  Ella and Justine watched a few more seconds, then ran it back and replayed it again. “That’s one cautious lady. Even though she had no reason to believe we’d ever see this tape, she wasn’t taking any chances,” Ella said.

  “You want me to run it through again?” Justine asked.

  “No, let’s see if we can read the license plate when she pulls out.”

  The SUV backed out, then for an instant, they could make out three numbers.

  “It happens too fast to get the rest,” Justine said.

  “Yeah, but there’s something else there…like a rental company sticker.” Ella ran it back then froze the screen. “I wish this was in color. There, what’s that letter? Is it an F?”

  “Maybe. I can get equipment that will really clear it up, but I don’t think I’ll be able to get a court order to take the tape. Maybe we can phone the store owner.”

  Ella ran it back, then moved closer to the monitor. “I’ve got it. It’s an E with a circle around it. There’s a new rental place in Farmington. The Circle of Excellence, or the Circle E for short.”

  Justine checked her watch. “Do you want to pay them a visit tonight?”

  Ella sensed her partner’s reluctance. “Do you have plans?”

  “Yeah, sort of,” Justine said. “But I can cancel.”

  “No, don’t,” Ella said after a moment. They’d been running themselves ragged on this case. “Let’s call it a day.”

  Justine readily agreed. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. It’s late. We’ll have better results talking to the daytime people—the ones who actually make the decisions.”

  Ella smiled. “Hot date?”

  Justine’s face fell. “No. Wilson and I are going to talk, and I have a feeling we’ll probably break up tonight. It’s just not working out.”

  “Is he still hinting about marriage?”

  She nodded. “And I’ve come to realize that I’m years away from making a commitment like that.”

  Ella nodded somberly. “I think Wilson and you have different goals, and that’s hard to reconcile. Just make sure you know what you’ll be giving up.”

  Justine dropped her off at the station, and Ella went directly to her vehicle. As she pulled out of the parking lot, she picked up her cell and called home. Jennifer Clani, Dawn’s baby-sitter, answered.

  “How are things going there?”

  “Your daughter’s father stopped by after dinner. He took your daughter for a short ride on the pony, and I went with them.”

  “Good. Where did you all go?”

  “Not far, just a few hundred yards away, then back. Mostly I led the pony while he kept her balanced. She had a wonderful time. She’s now sound asleep.”

  Ella felt her heart sink a bit. She’d really hoped that tonight would be one of the times when Dawn would be awake and lively, and they could spend some time playing together.

  “Has she come up with a name for the pony yet?”

  “Yes. Her father suggested Wind because Wind carries secrets, and that’s sort of the way the pony arrived. Your mother approved.”

  Ella laughed. “Score one for him.”

  Twenty-Three

  Shortly after sunrise, Ella felt someone bounce up on the bed beside her. “Shimá, wake up! Wind wants breakfast.”

  Ella placed the pillow over her head. “The pony’s probably asleep. Go back to bed.”

  “No, he’s awake! I saw him from my window!”

  Ella opened her eyes re
luctantly and saw her daughter’s face less than a foot away from her face.

  “Yay! You’re up.”

  Ella sighed. “I didn’t have much of a choice.” Feeling positively diabolical, she reached for the cell phone on her desk. “Would you like to talk to your daddy and tell him that you’re about to go feed Wind?”

  “Yes!”

  Ella dialed, glad for a chance at payback, then gave her daughter the phone. Dawn’s conversation with her father bought her another ten minutes of relaxation and enormous satisfaction.

  All too soon, her daughter crawled back in bed beside her, reviving Ella for the second time. “Daddy said that he’ll remember today.”

  Ella laughed. “Okay, daughter, it’s time now. Let’s go feed Wind.”

  After the horse had been given a flake of hay, and over Dawn’s protests, they went back inside. Ella helped her mother fix breakfast while Dawn rolled the ball for Two, who dutifully fetched it and brought it back for her.

  “That one has a way with animals,” Rose said softly. “A real gift.”

  “She’s no different from any other kid,” Ella said, wishing more than anything that it really were so. The legend concerning their clan would follow them always. It was said that each child received a special gift from the Gods.

  Rose shook her head. “She’ll inherit a talent…maybe intuition, or something else entirely that will mark her as special,” Rose said, then grew quiet as Ella’s phone rang.

  Justine identified herself. “My car broke down. Any way you can come by and pick me up? I was on my way to the station, but now I’m stuck.”

  “Where?”

  “By the highway, at the end of the road leading to my mother’s place.”

  “Okay, I’ll be there shortly.”

  “Before you leave…did Rose happen to make some homemade tortillas or fry bread this morning?”

  Ella laughed. “Hungry, are you?”