Black Thunder (17 page)

Her appetite suddenly lost, Ella shook her head. “I just came from my mom’s breakfast table.”

“You’re lucky to have her,” Carolyn said, then walked over to the x-ray mounted on the lit screen. “This corresponds to the oldest victim, the one buried for at least four years. Detective Nez—Dan—left me an e-mail telling me about a Navajo man named Elroy Johnson. I checked dental records and they’re a match. Johnson was the first victim, without a doubt.”

“Any progress on the others?”

“Nothing
yet. I’m still trying to do some comparisons on Kelewood, but at least you’ve got one solid ID. Good way to start the day, right?”

“You bet,” Ella said, sensing that there was something else on Carolyn’s mind.

Carolyn led Ella back to her office, poured herself a cup of black coffee, and brought Ella one, too. “I’d like your opinion on something.”

“Go on.”

“You and I are strong, independent
women,” Carolyn began in a thoughtful voice. “We have demanding jobs that challenge us, and after-hours routines we enjoy. Generally, things are working right for us. Do you think we should shut the door on relationships? Our track records with men stink big time.”

“That’s a tough question to answer,” Ella said after a long pause. “As you said, we both have the kind of jobs that make it difficult
for whoever’s around us. To find a guy who understands all that, and can live with it, is hard enough, but if you’re hoping to find that special spark, the magic…” Ella shook her head. “I think you and I would have better odds playing the lottery.”

Carolyn laughed. “That’s what I was thinking, too,” she said, then growing serious, continued. “After more years than I care to count, I’m getting
asked out on dates again, but I’m not sure it’s worth the trouble. I know exactly what it’s like when things fall apart, and they invariably do, at least for me.”

“I’m the last person you should be asking about relationships, particularly now,” Ella said, and told her what had happened with Ford.

“You care about him, Ella. It’s written all over your face. Are you sure you’ve made the right decision?”

“Yeah. I’m going to really miss him, but it’s time for both of us to move on. Going solo isn’t so bad,” she added with a shrug.

“You live in a full house, I’m willing to bet that
solo
is something you can only achieve when you’re in the bathroom.”

Ella laughed. “True enough.”

“Thank your lucky stars, kiddo. I get lonely sometimes,” Carolyn said, then added, “Mind you, G.P. can be good company.
He shares my love of food. But he’s a lousy conversationalist.”

Ella laughed. G.P. was Carolyn’s guinea pig.

On her way to the station, Ella called Justine with the news. With luck, Elroy Johnson would open up new investigative avenues that would break the case wide open. They could now also start looking through their list of missing persons for anyone connected to Johnson.

When Ella entered
her office a short time later, she saw Justine typing at the keyboard.

“My computer’s being serviced this morning and I didn’t want to just sit around,” she said, giving Ella an apologetic smile.

“It locked up on you again?”

Justine nodded.

“All the equipment around here is so outdated it’s a wonder we can still do our jobs.”

“We’re lucky we have jobs at all. The tribal budget’s on life support
and I’ve heard that the department will soon be laying off nonessential personnel.”

“Like who? We’re down to bare bones as it is,” Ella said. Standing behind Justine, she glanced at the screen. “What were you looking up?”

“Anything I can find on Elroy Johnson’s widow, Leigh. All I’ve got so far is that she owns a flower shop in Farmington, just off Main. From what I’ve learned, it does a brisk
business.”

“Let me call Dan and Blalock. Maybe one of them can meet us there.”

Dan wasn’t available, but Blalock seemed to welcome the interruption. “Come by my office and I’ll drive you there,” he said, then hung up.

“Justine, I’m going to head over to Blalock’s. But first fill me in—what else do we know about Leigh?” Ella brought out her pocket notebook and pen.

“Her shop’s featured on Facebook,
it’s independent, not franchised, and she offers a variety of services, including a bit of garden landscaping in partnership with a nursery. That’s it.”

“Okay then, I’ll be on my way. Maybe the interview will give us something useful.”

Ella drove to Blalock’s, then, ten minutes later, the FBI agent and she were on their way to Farmington, about thirty miles east of Shiprock.

“Legally, I need
to be there at the interview, but you may have better luck getting Leigh Johnson to talk to you if I hang back,” Blalock said. “My Bureau badge closes as many doors as it opens sometimes and, by and large, members of the Navajo tribe still take a dim view of federal agents.”

“Okay. I’ll take lead. We’ll keep this low-key and see how she takes the news that her husband was found, murdered.”

Blalock parked down the street from the flower shop and they walked up the sidewalk together. As they went through the front door, they saw several customers admiring an array of arrangements displayed inside a large refrigeration unit. At a glance, Ella could see that the shop sold everything from cut flowers to exotic-looking potted plants, including evergreen and fruit tree bonsai.

Ella waited
while a church group placed an order for their altar. Then, once they were done, she approached the counter. As a beautiful, dark-haired Navajo woman came to greet her, Ella brought out her badge. “Is there someplace we can speak in private? My partner can call you if a customer comes in,” she said, gesturing to Blalock.

The woman glanced around. “There’s no one here except you, your partner,
and me. You can speak freely.”

“I’m afraid I have some bad news.” Although there were no indications that Leigh was anything but a Modernist, Ella still couched her words and avoided details.

Leigh didn’t act surprised to learn her husband’s fate, but tears began to flow freely down her cheeks. Reaching for a box of tissues, she turned away from Ella for a moment.

Silence stretched out between
them as Ella waited for Leigh to collect herself. After a few minutes, Leigh finally turned around. “In my heart, I knew he was dead,” she whispered, holding on to the counter with one hand. “He would have come home to me otherwise.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Ella asked gently.

Leigh folded her arms across her chest almost as if hugging herself, then nodded. “Living with the unknown was the
hardest part of all. Now everyone will see I was right about my husband. I’ve believed that he wasn’t guilty of anything.”

“You’ve lost me,” Ella said, looking back to where Blalock was standing, studying flower displays.

Leigh glanced around the shop once again, making sure there were no new customers present. “Do you mind if I work as we talk? When I opened the doors at nine, there were already
customers outside, waiting. I haven’t had a chance to check water levels and take care of the potted plants. Though I’m usually here till eight at night, after-hours I concentrate only on the accounting part of the business.”

“Go ahead. I’ll keep up,” Ella said, stepping out of her way. She turned and nodded to Blalock, who nodded back.

They first went behind the glass to the refrigerated section.
Leigh continued speaking as she tended cut peonies in a large vase. “Elroy was an honorable man who always met his responsibilities. Four years ago, on June first, he didn’t come home, though nothing had changed between us. That’s how I knew something bad had happened. My husband wouldn’t have run out on me.”

“So you reported him missing?” Ella asked.

Leigh nodded. “But I was told I had to wait
twenty-four hours before the police would begin searching for him. Then, Elroy’s business partner, Norman Ben, discovered that there were funds missing from their company’s business accounts. No matter how much I fought it, everyone, including the police, assumed that Elroy had stolen the money and taken off.”

“It must have been difficult to put your life together again after that,” Ella said,
glancing around the shop.

“At first, getting up in the morning was all I could do, but time doesn’t stay still, though grief can sometimes make you believe that. After a year, I finally accepted the fact that Elroy wasn’t coming home, and I would have to figure out what to do with my life. Since my husband was missing, not legally dead, there was no hope of getting his life insurance. So I got
a job, but I hated it and was barely getting by anyway. That’s when I decided to take what was left of our savings and use the money to lease this space. I’d always wanted to run my own flower shop. What I didn’t count on was Norman Ben breathing down my neck. He assumed that I had the company’s missing funds and that’s how I’d been able to start up a business. He’s been out to get me ever since.”

“What makes you think that?” Ella asked.

“Look out there,” she said, pointing to a sedan parked just across the street from the shop with a MADD sticker on the bumper. “That’s Ross Harrison, a private investigator Norman hired to find Elroy. The day I opened the flower shop, he appeared. Since then he’s been coming by, off and on, watching me.”

“Has Harrison actually approached you?” Ella said,
catching Blalock’s eyes and pointing toward Harrison, who was texting on his cell phone.

“Yeah, but the last time he came into my shop and started hassling me I threatened to call the police. After that, he’s stayed on public property. If he’s parked on a public street, there’s nothing I can do.”

“What did the P.I. say to you?” Ella asked, seeing Blalock working his BlackBerry, probably trying
to get background after reading Harrison’s New Mexico tags.

“The creep accused me of conspiring to defraud Norman, his client. He said that if I thought I could launder the company’s money by funneling it through the flower shop I was kidding myself.” She shook her head, then shrugged in resignation. “I’ll never get rid of Harrison or the older guy who works for him, Bruce Talbot. I can’t prove
I’m innocent, not without allowing them access into my business and personal life, and I won’t do that. I’ll just have to get used to being watched whenever I’m off the Rez.”

“They have no right to harass you,” Ella said.

“I’ve threatened to sue all three of them, but I’ve sunk every dime I have into this shop. Even a hint of scandal could ruin me. This is a very conservative community.”

“Clah,”
Blalock said, poking his head in the door.

Ella spotted Harrison, a fit, tanned man in his early forties, going over to Blalock’s sedan and glancing inside.

The moment Ella hurried out of the shop with Blalock, Harrison began walking away quickly.

“FBI agent, stop right there,” Blalock snapped.

Harrison did so and turned around. “Sorry. I was just curious about your ride. I’ve been looking
to buy that same make and model.”

“Save it,” Blalock said.

Harrison reached into his jacket, but seeing Ella tense up and lower her hand to the butt of her weapon, immediately stopped and smiled. “Hey, relax. I’m just reaching for my ID.” He pulled out his identification and handed it to Blalock.

“So you’re Ross Harrison, a P.I. licensed in New Mexico,” Blalock said. “Why are you staking out
this flower shop?”

“Staking out? Nah, I was just hanging around and waiting to interview the proprietor when she wasn’t so busy.”

“You were already parked across the street when I arrived,” Ella said, recalling the vehicle.

“I’m a patient man—paid by the hour.”

“What business do you have with her?” Ella pressed.

“My clients ask for anonymity, but I can tell you why I’m here. A source of mine
claims that Elroy Johnson’s body was one of those found over by Hogback at that secret graveyard. I wanted to ask his widow to verify it for me. But the fact that you’re here suggests my source is right. Care to comment, Investigator Clah?”

“How do you know who I am?” Ella countered.

He gave her an ingratiating smile. “I’m a former Farmington police detective. Although we’ve never met, I recognize
your face from both the media and the few times our cases have overlapped.”

Ella didn’t remember Harrison, but she’d check him out later.

“It’ll be public knowledge soon enough, so how about it? Was Elroy’s body one of those dug up?”

“Yes,” she answered. “So now where does that leave you?”

“My primary job was to find Johnson. My client needed answers about some missing assets. Since Johnson’s
dead, the second part of my job is gonna take some refiguring.” He pulled a card from his wallet and handed it to her. “When it comes to finding missing persons, I’m the best there is. I get things done. Keep that in mind in case the tribe ever needs outside help. My retainer’s reasonable. Call me.”

Not waiting for an answer, Harrison walked away, whistling, and headed across the street to his
sedan.

“That man’s part weasel,” Ella said. “Or cockroach.”

“There
is
something smarmy about him,” Blalock agreed.

“According to Leigh Johnson, Harrison’s client is Norman Ben, Elroy’s business partner. Let’s go pay him a visit and see what he has to say.”

FOURTEEN

They arrived at a small, flat-roofed one-story industrial center on Farmington’s east side and checked the signs in front of the businesses. One in black and turquoise at the far end announced,
THUNDERBIRD CONSTRUCTION
.

As they walked through the front door, they found the reception area empty, but they could hear a voice in the office beyond talking on a phone. A moment later, a round-faced,
portly Navajo man wearing a bolo tie, a shirt with a yellow collar, and jeans came out.

“I’m Norman Ben. You’ve come to the right place if you’re looking for quality
and
economy in your construction needs. How may I help you?”

Blalock brought out his ID and identified himself. Ella followed his lead. By the time the introductions were finished, the man’s expression had changed from friendly
to guarded.