Turquoise Girl

by Thurlo, David

  “I’m on it.”

  Ella hung up, glanced at Blalock, and gave him the short version. “We’re going to have to protect that scumbag at least long enough for us to either arrest him for murder or clear him. What do you say we go pay Jimmy Levaldo a visit.”

  “The only way you’re going to muzzle that group is to give Levaldo some serious reasonable doubt. We’ll need to convince him that there are other strong suspects—without giving him names,” he said. “That’s the only way we’ll get them to hold off.”

  “Yeah, but let’s make sure they also know that we’ll throw their butts in jail if they interfere,” Ella said.

  Less than thirty seconds later, Ella’s cell phone rang again. It was Justine.

  “I have an update, Ella. Several of the Fierce Ones have shown up at Jimmy’s place. Michael Cloud patrols that area, and he got a tip. When he went to check it out, Michael heard loud, angry voices coming from the ceremonial hogan in the back of Levaldo’s property.”

  “How many people are there?” Ella asked.

  “Michael can’t say for sure, but he counted six pickups. Big Ed already knows about the Barbara Tom incident and told me to give you whatever support you needed.”

  “Have Michael keep his distance until we join him. If there are any other officers who can reach the location within a half hour, have them meet us there,” Ella said, then hung up.

  Before she could update Blalock, she heard her radio call sign and picked up the mike. Dispatch instructed Ella to switch to the tactical frequency Big Ed was using.

  “I’m in on this one,” the police chief said. “Don’t make a move until I arrive. I know this group.”

  “Big Ed Atcitty wants to be involved?” Blalock asked as the transmission ended. “I don’t remember the last time he went out into the field.”

  “With luck his presence will keep things from getting out of hand. I believe that Jimmy belongs to Clare Atcitty’s clan. That connection, via Big Ed’s wife, means a great deal to traditionalists like the Fierce Ones.”

  Ella and Blalock raced to the site, each lost in their own thoughts. The last time there’d been a confrontation between law enforcement and members of the vigilante group, weapons had been plentiful on both sides. Experience told her that it would only take one misstep by a hothead for things to escalate into violence and bloodshed.

  In the grip of that certainty, Ella listened for the whispers of Wind, but this time Wind was keeping its secrets.

  Eleven

  Ella stood with Big Ed at the base of the low hill that hid Jimmy Levaldo’s home. The residence, a quarter mile away, was northeast of Shiprock among rolling hills and junipers, which afforded plenty of cover for the officers, but also for anyone outside and around the gray stucco house.

  Her boss had studied the scene through his binoculars, and had now returned to discuss the situation with the other officers standing by.

  “Someone obviously called for an emergency meeting. Most of these guys have full-time jobs, so they usually get together on weekends or late at night. Billy Eltsosie works alone at the gas station, so the fact he’s here should be a reminder of how much punch the Fierce Ones carry with the small business owners in this area.”

  Big Ed looked at Blalock and the handful of tribal officers who’d been close enough to take the call, but said nothing else.

  Ella remained silent, knowing Big Ed would often lapse into long silences as he gathered his thoughts.

  “Investigator Clah and I will approach first,” he said at last. “Everyone else stay out of sight, but be ready to move in instantly if necessary. Agent Blalock will make that call,” he said, looking at the FBI agent, who nodded.

  “I suggest that Justine move in close and keep us under surveillance,” Ella said. “She can report to Blalock.”

  “Absolutely,” Big Ed said. “You and I will drive over to the hogan in my vehicle. It runs quiet and is unmarked. I don’t want to give them any advance notice. If we catch them cold they won’t have time to prepare a response.”

  “Good idea,” Ella said, then turned to work out last-minute logistics with the other officers, while Justine slipped away on foot to scout ahead. Once Justine was well on her way, Ella joined the chief, who was waiting beside his vehicle. “Ready when you are,” she said.

  “Climb in. You have your Taser?” Big Ed asked.

  Ella nodded. “It’s covered by my Windbreaker, but it’s on my belt.”

  “Good.” Big Ed was wearing a leather jacket that accentuated his bulk and effectively hid his sidearm and Taser. He drove, and because the road wasn’t visible until it passed over a hill, they weren’t spotted until they were a hundred yards from the hogan.

  Two men were outside, standing guard. When Big Ed stepped out of the car, the men keeping watch quickly conferred and one ran inside. Jimmy appeared less than ten seconds later.

  Big Ed chose to remain where he was and extend Jimmy the courtesy of not approaching the hogan uninvited. Her boss had been determined to keep it low-key, and Ella had followed his lead, getting out of the car, but remaining by the door.

  Jimmy approached Big Ed. “Yáat’ééh,” he greeted.

  Big Ed responded in kind. “Nephew, we need to talk.”

  The term, Ella knew, didn’t imply kinship, it was a customary way for an older man to speak to a younger one. It also reminded Jimmy that Big Ed merited his respect.

  “We can talk freely here. We’re Navajo brothers.”

  “What separates us is the law,” Big Ed said in a firm voice.

  “You’re speaking of Anglo laws, not ours. We’ve always looked after our own.”

  Big Ed said nothing for a long time. “You want the tribe to walk in beauty,” he said at last. “That’s our common ground. But if you take justice into your own hands, and work around the laws that the tribal council has asked us to uphold, costly mistakes will continue to be made.”

  Ella saw Jimmy wince, though he covered it almost instantly. “You don’t share your information with us so what can be done? We can’t depend on the white man’s courts. You know as well as I do that justice all too often slips right through their fingers.”

  “With information comes responsibility. I can’t allow my officers to share information with those who refuse to accept responsibility for their own mistakes. Is justice served when you go after the wrong person? What of the damage that does, not only to the person, but to their family and their clans?”

  Jimmy stared off into the distance, his expression thoughtful. “We have a very bad Anglo among us, but you and your people have done nothing to stop him.”

  “That’s not true. We are handling the matter.”

  “You say that but nothing gets done.”

  At that moment Lena Clani stepped out of the hogan. “Everyone talks about justice, but my daughter is dead and no one has been arrested for her murder.” Anger made her words resonate, giving them a peculiar power over the ones there.

  “Finding the person who killed your daughter requires gathering evidence and that takes time,” Big Ed said.

  He glanced at Jimmy and continued. “Our men, when they go off to war, understand that battles aren’t won overnight. Corn takes time to grow, rugs to weave, prayers to sing.”

  Big Ed looked straight at Lena and spoke softly but clearly as he continued. “Yet you would have us rush right out and arrest the first likely suspect mostly because you want to believe he’s guilty. Without real justice, you can’t walk in beauty.”

  “Talk, talk, and more talk,” Lena said, her entire body was shaking with rage and pain. “That’s all that ever happens around here. Your time is up. Now it’s our turn to find this justice you say is so important.”

  Joe Jackson, who was barely twenty, came out of the hogan and stood beside the seventy-year-old woman. “She’s right. Every day we lose more control over what happens on our land,” he said. “We have our own way of finding the truth. Our land—our justice.”

&
nbsp; Robert Todacheene come out of the hogan next, a Winchester carbine in his hands.

  “Don’t let this get ugly,” Ella said, turning to Lena for help.

  “Sniper! In the trees!” Todacheene shouted, swinging the barrel of his carbine toward Ella.

  “Shorty!” Big Ed warned.

  “No!” Lena shouted, too late.

  Ella dove to the side, reaching for her own weapon and Justine fired from somewhere behind them. Robert flinched, dropping the rifle, and fell to his knees, grabbing his left side.

  Jackson tried to grab Ella’s gun, still in its holster, but the catch was fastened and all he got was her sharp backhand across his face. Before she could take a breath, somebody else came running out of the hogan. He took a swing at her, and she caught a glancing blow to her cheek as she tried to slip the punch. As she stepped to one side, Jimmy flew by her, head first, and crashed into whoever had punched her. The two men tumbled to the ground in a thrashing heap.

  She was just getting her bearings when Big Ed grabbed Ella’s wrist and hauled her to her feet. He had a grim smile on his face that told her he’d been the one to throw Jimmy.

  “Back to back, Shorty,” he yelled. Ella got the message, standing so that they literally covered each other’s backs.

  Lena had disappeared, along with Robert, but several more men had emerged from the hogan and were circling, along with Jimmy and Joe, searching for an opening. Ella glanced down and noted gratefully that the rifle on the ground was within kicking distance. Anyone making a grab for it would catch a boot in the chin.

  They were outnumbered, but their assailants’ confidence had been shaken. No one was eager to try and tackle Big Ed and they knew Ella still had her pistol. She didn’t have to draw her weapon—one man had already been shot. They just needed to hold their own for another minute or so. As the wail of sirens rose in the air, some of the men took off running for their trucks. Others, realizing that they’d never make it, just ran for the tree line.

  “Down on the ground!” Justine yelled from somewhere behind the hogan. She looked around the side. “You both okay?”

  “Yes,” Ella called back. It was over. As she moved in to help round up their assailants, she saw that Jimmy and three of the older members of the Fierce Ones were already in handcuffs or tough plastic restraints.

  Jimmy glared at her and Big Ed as Blalock brought him over, none too gently. “This isn’t over,” Jimmy said. “You won’t be able to hold us for long. We were having a meeting—a lawful assembly, I think the lawyers call it. There was a shot, and Robert thought we were under attack from a sniper. You had all those guns and we only had one. There are going to be many sides to this story before it’s all said and done.”

  Ella knew his argument had more than an even chance of standing up in court. The Fierce Ones, except for maybe Jimmy, would probably just spend the night in jail and be released in the morning.

  Ella nodded to Blalock, then took Jimmy aside. “You were here, and you saw who’s not thinking clearly. We didn’t lose our cool, it was your people, overreacting to our backup. And that poor woman is so grief stricken she can’t tell right from wrong anymore. But we can’t continue to fight each other. If we do, we’ll all lose.”

  “You’re right about that,” he muttered, glancing around to make sure she was the only one who’d heard him. “But the Fierce Ones won’t forget who was in the crosshairs today, and how this all started. Your tactics may come back to haunt you. After today it’s going to be even harder to keep things under control.”

  “I won’t apologize when my officers have their lives threatened. But we didn’t come here to create problems, we came here to address our mutual concerns. With that in mind, what can we do to help?” Big Ed asked, coming over to join them.

  “First of all, you’ll need to control your officers. We have our share of hotheads, too, men who need to be kept on a short leash. If we’re going to maintain order, and focus on the problem, I need the chance to track down and talk to the right people. But I have to act fast and with me in jail…” He shrugged.

  Big Ed glanced at Ella. “Release him,” he said.

  He was right. There were times when someone had to make a controversial call, and in this case, bending the rules was worth the risk. Ella looked down and saw that Jimmy had those single-use nylon restraints. She brought out her pocketknife and freed his wrists.

  “Go do what you said, and remember today, nephew,” Big Ed said.

  Jimmy nodded once, then quickly went into the main house.

  Lena drew back the blanket covering the entrance to the hogan, tied it out of the way with a leather thong, then walked over. Ella could see Robert Todacheene inside the hogan being tended by Michael Cloud and another officer. From the blood still drying on her hands, it was obvious that Lena had been tending the wounded man.

  “Some people will do anything to avoid trouble,” Lena said, obviously having overheard part of their conversation with Jimmy. “But who’ll speak for my daughter?”

  “Give us a chance to find out who did this to her, to prove it without a shadow of doubt,” Ella said gently, pushing back her anger. “That’s the only way to restore order.”

  Lena stared at her, tears in her eyes. “I didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt today, but I will not rest until my daughter’s killer is caught.”

  “As a mother, I understand. I’d do the same thing,” Ella said quietly, walking Lena to her pickup. “You’ve been through a lot here today. Would you like me to find someone to drive you home?”

  “No. I’m not helpless,” she said, her voice stronger now.

  As Ella looked at Lena, she realized that there was more than one meaning woven into her words. “You’re my mother’s friend, and I sympathize deeply with your loss,” Ella said. “But please don’t make me choose between my sworn duty and my love for you and your family.”

  Lena regarded her for several seconds. “Will you give me your word that you’ll get justice for my daughter?”

  “I won’t give up until we catch her killer,” Ella said measuring her words carefully.

  “That’s not a yes, and that’s why you and I will continue to have a problem.”

  As Lena drove away, Big Ed joined Ella. “I can’t blame that woman for being upset,” Big Ed said, “but she’s gone overboard. You’ll have to watch her. She’s not through stirring things up yet.”

  “I know.”

  Justine came up to Ella as the other officers started to drive away. “Sorry I gave myself away. The guy must have seen a flash from my scope.”

  “I’m not blaming you, Justine. We needed your backup, it turned out.”

  “You paid the price, though. You’re going to be black-and-blue all over tomorrow,” she said.

  Ella looked down at herself. She had tiny drops of blood splattered on her shirt. At least they weren’t hers. “I’ll ride with you back to the station. I’d like to wash up and change clothes. After that, we can decide what to do next.”

  “You sure you’re okay?” Justine asked.

  “Yeah, and thanks for watching my back. I don’t know if he’d have shot me, but he had me cold when you took him down.”

  “You’ve covered my back more times than I can remember. And the good news is Robert will be healthy enough to face charges. My bullet was deflected by the receiver on the rifle and missed his lungs. It nicked him in the ribs.”

  “Good work, partner,” Ella said. “Now let’s get out of here.”

  They reached the station in Shiprock twenty-five minutes later, and Ella went directly to her office. Justine stopped by the lab first, then joined Ella. “I’ve got the list of felons you asked for. Good news, it’s short,” she said, holding out the one name she’d scribbled on a sheet for Ella to see.

  “Wilbert Bruce is a bad seed,” Ella said, reading it. “It was before my time on the force, but I remember hearing that he killed a clerk at a convenience store for ten bucks and change. So he’s out now?”


  “Yeah and he’s clean. I understand that he credits your father for that, too. Your dad went to visit him in prison often and counseled him. That’s what I heard anyway.”

  “I suppose you’ve got an address?” Ella asked.

  “Yep. Ready to go?”

  They were underway minutes later, Justine at the wheel. “Tell me more about Wilbert Bruce,” Ella said. “What’s he do for a living these days?”

  “Your father opened some doors for him and he apprenticed with a Mexican craftsman in Waterflow after he was released. These days, Wilbert’s a skilled saddle maker in his own right and very much in demand. He has a huge waiting list.”

  “Saddles are expensive. I’m surprised he’s that successful. Around here people mostly buy secondhand saddles through one of the feed stores or have ones that have been passed down through the family.”

  “He cut a deal with some shops in Albuquerque and Santa Fe and I understand most of his high-end business comes from there. Especially Santa Fe, I’d imagine.”

  “Any arrests since he served time?”

  “Not a one, not even a moving violation. Wilbert’s as clean as a whistle. Your father must have been a tremendous influence on him.”

  Ella remembered her dad as a multifaceted man. People who spoke of him tended to do so in absolutes—all good or all bad. Her father never did things halfway and people tended to see him in that same light. Yet, to her, he’d just been Dad—human, and a man who’d tried to be too many things to too many people. She couldn’t help but wonder if Dawn would remember her in the same light someday.

  When they arrived at Wilbert’s residence, a simple stucco building with a pitched metal roof and a small shop attached to the side, the first thing Ella noted was how well maintained everything was. Except for a few native plants in the front of the house there was no landscaping to speak of, yet there were no tumbleweeds or trash or old cars anywhere. Even the small sign above the shop door that read WB SADDLES AND TACK was freshly painted.