by Aimée
“She’s not a suspect, not based on the information you have uncovered,” Ella answered, in a deceptively calm voice. “And remember, this is not a police matter—your words.”
“If she isn’t currently the target of a police investigation, then maybe it is she who has friends open to persuasion,” Slowman baited.
Ella stared back at him, willing herself not to react. “You’re finished here, so it’s time you went back and made your report.” She gave him a puzzled look. “Which brings me to an interesting point. Who will you report to? Senator Yellowhair?”
Slowman’s face clouded. “He’s one of many.”
“Yes, no doubt, at your actual level of authority. The higher your position, the fewer people you account to.”
Carolyn chuckled.
Slowman took the syringes from the bookshelf and dropped them into a paper sack. “We’ll be in touch, Dr. Roanhorse. Don’t bother coming back to work. Until this matter is settled, you may consider yourself on suspension.”
Ella and Justine walked outside with them and waited until the men drove away.
“I’m going back to the office now,” Justine said when they were out of sight. “I’ll let Big Ed know what went down here.”
“Thanks.”
Carolyn was putting books back on the shelf when Ella went back inside.
“You should have kept your mouth shut,” Ella said.
“It wouldn’t have made any difference. Once they found those syringes, I knew they would put me on suspension. Besides, Slowman’s an ass.”
“Maybe, but you really shouldn’t go out of your way to antagonize people. You need some friends right now.”
“I shouldn’t have to suck up to people in the hope that they’ll give me a fair shake. They won’t, and besides, I’ll hate myself afterward.”
As Ella drove back into town she listened to the news on the radio. More cases of bacterial infections were popping up at all the sites Carolyn and her team had visited. Quarantines were being placed on affected areas.
Ella felt as though there was a hand squeezing her heart. Her best friend was being systematically destroyed, and there seemed to be nothing she could do to prevent it.
Then a thought dawned on her. Ella drove to the tribal newspaper’s local office. If she could convince them to give Carolyn a fair shake, that would go a long way to helping her friend’s image.
Ella walked inside and asked to see the editor-in-chief, Jaime Beyale. After a few minutes, Ella was invited to her office.
As Jaime saw Ella approach, she frowned instead of greeting Ella with her usual smile. “What are you doing here?”
“I was hoping we could talk,” Ella said, wondering about her friend’s uncharacteristic reaction. “What’s the matter?”
“I don’t want to be the piece of taffy the senator and you start pulling on.”
“What’s that mean? Is he pressuring you on something?”
“Of course. We’re all under the gun here. Senator Yellowhair has control over the funds that support this paper. He put pressure on the tribal council, and they put pressure on us.”
“The tribe is asking that you all take a position against Carolyn Roanhorse?”
“No, of course not. They’d never do that directly. But we will be running an article about the M.E. and the claims that are being made against her competency. It’ll be fair, with criticism aimed at both sides. The piece will be out in tonight’s edition, if you want to read it.”
Ella studied her for a moment. “There’s more, isn’t there?”
Jaime sat back and gazed at Ella pensively. “I’m working on another article right now. It’ll be out in a few days. I decided to look into the M.E.’s past, everything from her personal history to her professional record, and I’ve found some … shall we say, interesting things.”
“Don’t get coy. Give it to me straight,” Ella snapped.
“Carolyn Roanhorse had a twin sister. The girl died in a fire caused by a faulty heater at their home. The children were alone when it happened, so only Carolyn knows why she was able to get her two brothers out—though their rooms were farther away—but not her sister.”
“What exactly are you implying?” Ella asked, spitting out the words as if they were a rotted piñon nut.
“I’m not implying anything. I’m stating a fact.”
“You know damn well what a story like that will do if you print it.”
“Some people might, quite naturally, conclude that she’s a skinwalker who paid the price. And that is a possibility, you know. The evidence against her so far—”
“Is circumstantial. There is not an ounce of actual, physical evidence.” Ella spun Jaime’s chair around, forcing the woman to look directly at her. “I’m not in the least bit impressed by innuendo, or the games the press likes to play with public figures. But Dr. Roanhorse is a private citizen, and I will make damn sure she knows she can sue you for libel if you step out of line. Clear?”
“Of course. But you realize that the way you’re acting just supports the senator’s allegations. Your friendship with Dr. Roanhorse clouds your judgment.”
A choking anger almost engulfed Ella, but she managed to keep a lid on it. It was obvious that Jaime had already sold out to the senator. Wordlessly, she turned and went back out to her Jeep. Had she stayed, she knew she would have been far too tempted to do something that went along well with a charge of police brutality.
* * *
Ella drove down the highway, trying to gather her thoughts. Too many things were happening at once. Before she could figure out her next step, a call came over the radio.
“Chief Atcitty wants you to investigate a ten-thirty-eight at the Medical Center. What’s your ETA?” the dispatcher asked.
The code for vandalism was clear enough, but what she couldn’t figure out was why the chief had specifically wanted her to respond. “Thirty minutes. Enroute now.”
“Ten-four.”
When her cellular rang, she wasn’t surprised to hear the chief’s voice. “Tread carefully with this one, Shorty. Our M.E.’s personal car was vandalized at the center.”
“What was she doing there? She’s been suspended.”
“Ask her.”
“Count on it.”
“The evening paper’s out. Have you seen it?”
“No, but I was told that a story weighing the M.E.’s competency was coming out. I was assured it would be fair.”
“Yeah, that story was quite objective, but the sidebar on the M.E.’s personal life wasn’t. And it’s only part one.”
“That wasn’t supposed to be appearing tonight—” Ella clamped her mouth shut. Jaime had obviously lied, suspecting that Ella had been in no mood to hear the truth. “The story about her brothers and sister. Is that there?”
“It tells briefly about a childhood fire that claimed the life of her twin, but not the circumstances. That is supposed to be revealed in tomorrow’s edition.”
“Thanks for letting me know, Chief.”
Things were getting worse and worse. For the first time in a long time, she felt inadequate. Her best just wasn’t enough. No matter how hard she tried, she wasn’t uncovering the answers that so many were counting on her to find.
She brushed that thought aside firmly. This was no time to start feeling sorry for herself. If Ella knew one thing about herself it was that she always got results because she never gave up on a case. That, more than her intuition, was what had made her such a good investigator.
Ella arrived at the medical center and drove to the back lot where Carolyn usually parked. She saw her friend there, leaning against her pickup door.
Ella parked, then approached. Carolyn gestured to the flat tires and busted windshield. “Some farewell gift. Most people get a watch when they’re forced out. I get this.”
Ella studied the damage. There wasn’t much in the way of obvious clues. “When did this happen, and what were you doing here at the hospital?”
&nb
sp; “I came to get some personal things from my desk, you know, poison, voodoo dolls, and black candles. I went in, picked up my stuff, and when I came out this is what I found.”
“I can make out a report, but there’s not going to be much we can do about it. I’ll have an officer check with security to see if anyone saw or heard the vandal.”
“Thanks. I need this on the record so I can file a claim with my insurance.”
Ella wrote it up and took some photographs as documentation. “Let me give you a ride home, then you can call a garage and have someone come over and fix the tires. You and I need to talk.”
“You mean about the newspaper story?”
“You’ve seen it, then?”
She nodded. “When I walked into the morgue, Howard Lee was reading it aloud to Nelson Yellowhair.”
“Who’s going to take your place as M.E?”
“Nobody, as far as I know. But that’s the tribe’s problem now.”
The weight of responsibility hung heavily on Ella’s shoulders. “I’m going to find answers, but until I do you’re in danger.”
“Danger? Why? I’ve lost my job. I don’t pose a threat to anyone now.”
“Don’t kid yourself. That newspaper article is going to make people think you’re either a skinwalker, or have strong connections to them. You’re going to be an easy scapegoat.”
Carolyn leaned back against the headrest. “I hadn’t thought of that, but you may be right. As I was walking down the hall at the hospital I heard my new nickname. I’m the chindi doctor now. Charming, don’t you think?”
Ella heard the pain in her friend’s voice, though the casual tone had been meant to disguise it. Sorrow wrapped itself around her. “I’m really sorry this is happening to you. I know how much your job means to you.”
Carolyn covered her face with one hand, then stared out into the darkness. “It’s a real mess, I’ll say that.”
“There’s something that’s bugging me…” Ella said.
“Why I didn’t get my sister out?”
“No, of course not.”
“Admit it, you’re curious.”
“I wondered about it, but I know you must have had a good reason.”
“I did,” she said quietly. “I was only fifteen, but I remember it like yesterday. I’d been sitting at the kitchen table having a late-night snack, waiting for my parents to return. They had gone to the trading post for groceries and were overdue. I saw smoke filling the hallway that led to the bedrooms. By the time I got out of my chair and started yelling, flames had erupted from the heater further down the hall. I got to the boys, since their room was on my side of the fire. But I was never able to reach Anna, who was sleeping in the back room. The flames were in my way and there was no window where she was.”
Carolyn closed her eyes and said nothing for several long moments. “You know what they say about the bond between twins? It was that way for me and Anna. We were really close.”
“I’m sorry, Carolyn, I really am.”
Carolyn sat up and wiped a tear from her face. “It was a long time ago,” she said, her voice firm. “What I resent is having people use it against me in this way.”
“If I could have stopped it I would have.”
“I know that.”
“But there’s something weird about the timing for this newspaper story,” Ella said. “The latest note I got from the person claiming to be Randall Clah was a warning that you had many secrets. That was only a little more than a day before this story came out in the newspaper. My question is, who knew about your past?”
“It happened over twenty years ago, but everyone around knew back then. There are no secrets on the Rez. I’m just glad my brothers are in the military and not here. At least I don’t have to worry that they’ll be hurt by this.”
“If the story was common knowledge, it couldn’t have been easy for you as a kid growing up here.”
“It wasn’t. The same rumors flew around then. But we lived in an isolated area. We didn’t have many neighbors and only rarely did we see other relatives and members of our clan.”
Ella parked the Jeep next to Carolyn’s trailer. “Did you go to the boarding school in Holbrook?”
“Yes. And as far as I was concerned it was a great place. Nobody knew me there.” Carolyn pushed open the door. “Hey, why don’t you come in and have something cold to drink with me?”
Ella might have said no with all the work she had to do, except that she sensed how badly her friend needed company. “Sounds good.”
Ella walked inside. The room had been restored to order and a huge bouquet of flowers now adorned the desk at the far corner.
Carolyn smiled wryly. “I got them for myself. I needed a pick-me-up.”
“I was wondering if Dr. Lavery had contacted you.”
Carolyn smiled widely. “How do you do that?”
Ella chuckled. “So, he has been in touch. I thought you two might have met before, being M.E.s and all.”
“Sometimes I wonder if you do have powers.”
“You’re evading.”
Carolyn laughed. “Yeah, he called. He’s been very nice and supportive, too. We met last year at a symposium.”
“Maybe he just likes you.”
“No, he’s not interested in me in that way. But it feels good when there’s someone else in my own field who I can discuss business with.”
Ella stiffened suddenly, her skin prickling. “Do you hear it?”
“What?” Carolyn listened for a moment, then shrugged. “There’s no one around here for miles.”
Ella peered out the side of the curtain as Carolyn poured soft drinks into two glasses. “Someone’s out there,” Ella said.
She started toward the door, when the window behind her exploded inward, sending a shower of glass into the room. As she dove to the floor, a second window shattered, cascading down in a clangor of tingling glass. Ella looked up and saw a growing pool of flames from each of the broken bottles. The smell of kerosene was unmistakable.
Reacting instantly, Ella grabbed Carolyn’s arm and ran to the door, shoving it open and jumping out of the trailer.
Carolyn sputtered, wiping blood from her arms where the broken glass had cut her. “My home! Everything I own!”
She started to run back in, but Ella tackled her. “Nothing there is worth your life.”
“No, listen! We can still get in. It hasn’t reached my bedroom, or the study. I can grab my papers, and I may be able to save part of my trailer.”
Carolyn scrambled to her feet and ran toward her open bedroom window. Ella started to go after her, but then turned and ran to her Jeep. As she grabbed the vehicle’s small fire extinguisher, she called in the emergency.
Assured of help she hurried into the trailer after Carolyn. The flames were still confined to the living room. Carolyn was battling the flames there, fire extinguisher in hand. Ella joined in.
“I have an extinguisher in each room. A leftover from my childhood. When yours runs out, go get the other one from the study. It’s on the back of the door.”
Ella and Carolyn worked together to beat back the flames, but, after a short while, it was clear they were fighting a losing battle. The small extinguishers didn’t have the capacity to deal with the intensity of the flames fueled by the kerosene Molotov cocktails.
“Let’s get out of here,” Ella choked. “The flames are spreading and the air is getting dangerous.”
“I’m not leaving! This is my home.”
Ella threw her empty fire extinguisher down and forced Carolyn toward the door. “It was your home. Don’t let it become your grave.”
Carolyn resisted, pushing Ella away. In a lightning fast move, Ella jabbed Carolyn right in the nose, stunning her. Then she pushed her dazed friend out of the burning trailer.
TWENTY
Carolyn hit the ground wheezing, with blood streaming out of her nose. She pinched it hard, trying to stop the flow. “Thand’s a lot!”
; “I didn’t break it,” Ella said, then added, “I didn’t, did I?”
“No, but id hurths and ids a meth.” She looked back at her trailer. Flames were visible in every window now and all the contents, papers and everything, were lost. “My thome!”
Ella wiped soot from her eyes. “You’ll find a new one.”
“Id won’d be thimple. People won’t thell to me.”
Ella’s heart ached for her friend. “You can always buy in Kirkland or Farmington if that happens. But I think you’ll be able to cut a deal here. Not everyone will believe the stories.”
“How did you dow? Did you thee thomebody?” Carolyn demanded.
“I heard someone. My hearing’s acute.”
Carolyn stopped pinching her nose and breathed slowly through her mouth. “It stopped bleeding, at least.” Carolyn stared at the flames that licked at what was left of her trailer. “Fire and I are old enemies. I wonder if whoever did this thought of that. And here’s another cheery thought. Now that I don’t have a job, I can’t sleep in my office either.”
“No problem. You’ll come home with me.”
Carolyn shook her head. “That wouldn’t be fair. I might be placing you and your mother in danger.”
“My mother is already in danger, just by virtue of who our family is, and what we stand for. Look at it this way. If you come with me, you’d be doing us all a favor. I could count on you to watch over Mom for me.”
Carolyn nodded, conceding the point. “I can do that. I wouldn’t let anyone touch her, rest assured. They’d have to kill me first.”
“Of course. I know that. My invitation isn’t magnanimous at all. It’s really very self-serving.”
Ella searched the ground around the smoking trailer as they talked. There were footprints leading to and from the trailer and, as she neared the spot where a vehicle had been parked, she saw the by now familiar quarter-sized imprints on the ground. They didn’t go up to the vehicle, however. They disappeared into a twisting canyon, where hiding places were almost unlimited. A chill traveled through her.
Carolyn came up from behind her. “What’s wrong?”
