Black Thunder (9 page)

“She wanted to make sure you made it home okay. Partners worry, you know,” Rose said. “So do mothers.” She
stood there looking at Ella for a moment, tears welling in her eyes.

Ella smiled. “I’m fine now, Mom, really. I’m just a little sore. Actually, a lot sore.”

She gave her mom’s hand a gentle squeeze, then went into the kitchen, placed her weapon on top of the cabinet, and plopped down in the chair.

“You know that’s no longer necessary, right? Your daughter could reach your gun no matter how
high you put it,” Rose said.

“I know, but I trust her to leave it alone. I just don’t want to be looking at it continually because it’s part of my work, not who or what I am when I’m home.”

“Your daughter will probably be as tall as you are before long. She’s already five-foot-six and growing like a weed.”

Before Ella could answer, Rose placed a large bowl of mutton stew before her, then brought
over some fry bread. “I put it into the microwave oven when I heard your car coming up the road. There’s more in the freezer, for next week, perhaps. There was just too much for us, and I don’t think your daughter is fond of stew anyway.”

“She just doesn’t like mutton. But
I
do. Thanks, Mom. I’m really hungry tonight.”

“You don’t eat enough. That’s why you’re as thin as a rail.”

“The waistband
of my jeans begs to differ,” she said, chuckling.

“I took some to your brother’s home, too. My son and his wife love my cooking,” Rose said.

“You’ve been cooking almost nonstop lately, Mom. What’s bothering you?”

“
Everyone
has to eat!” Rose countered, crossing her arms across her chest. “I’m just taking care of my family.”

Before Ella could answer, Dawn came into the kitchen, gave her mother
a hug from behind, and sat across the table from her, stifling a yawn.

Ella recognized the hopeful look on her daughter’s face even before Dawn said a word. “Can I just save time and say no?”

“But you don’t even know what I want!” she wailed.

Ella smiled. “I was just teasing. Relax.”

“Mom, this is serious, okay? I want to start my own page on the NT4SKOOL site at Yahoo!, but I need your permission.
Everyone’s doing it, and—”

“
Stop
. You’re not going into any social network where there are adults. We’ve had this talk already. There’re too many predators out there, not to mention convicted felons who know you’re the daughter of a cop and one of our tribe’s top attorneys. That alone makes you a target.”

“But, Mom, I would only allow kids I know on my page. You have to click to give anyone
access and you can block out anyone you want, so it’s not a big deal. Come on, Mom!
Please
? Rita’s mom let her have a NT4SKOOL page.”

“Look in the mirror. Do you see Rita?”

“But—”

“Why don’t we look around for a network just for young people? I’m sure we can find one.”

“Mom, I’m
not
a kid. I’ll be in the eighth grade next year, and that’s practically high school. My friends will laugh at me—or
worse.”

“Dawn, you have an e-mail account in your name and I let you text. You’re not exactly stuck in the Stone Age. But what you’re asking for now isn’t going to happen. Your father doesn’t want you on social networking sites, and he pays for your online stuff, both here and at his house.”

“Yeah, but Dad’s so old school, Mom, and you’re not. You’re cool, all my friends say that. Just let me
try it for a week or two. You can watch me set it up, view my page whenever you want, and I promise not to let anyone ‘friend’ me unless you say it’s okay. Rita doesn’t have to know that part.”

“I’ll have to discuss this with your father first, Dawn.”

“Yeah, and that means no. This summer is going to suck, really suck,” she said, then stormed out of the kitchen.

Ella felt her temper rise. “Dawn,
get back in here.
Now
.”

Dawn did as she was asked. “Mom, I have to study for tomorrow’s science quiz.”

“It’s late, and you should be in bed. Why on earth did you put it off this long?”

“It wasn’t my fault. Wind needed me,” Dawn said, speaking about her pony.

“What’s wrong? Did he colic?” Ella asked quickly. She knew how much her daughter loved that pony. Though she’d been lobbying for a horse,
Dawn hadn’t wanted to sell Wind.

“No, he’s just … old,” she said. “He needs company. He and I went for a walk.”

Ella sighed. “You should have taken your homework and studied outside beside him while there was still light. You used to do that all the time.”

“But it was
earth science
.”

“Meaning what—you’re afraid of boring Wind?”

Dawn cracked a hesitant smile. “Mom, I
hate
science, especially
earth science. How exciting is a sedimentary rock?”

“Hey, you love visiting the Bisti Wilderness, Angel Peak, and all those sandstone formations. And what about Window Rock?”

“Yeah, but reading about sediment, silt, and weathering is like watching corn grow.”

“Not everything in life is there for your entertainment. Sometimes when there’s a job to be done, you just have to buckle down and work.
You need to keep your grades up. Next year in the eighth grade, you’ll have physical science, which is even harder, at least it was for me. Lots of math involved there.”

“I get it. That’s why I was going to go to my room to study.”

Ella glanced at the clock. “It’s too late now, close to midnight. Why don’t we both get up early, say six, and I’ll help you study for about an hour. It’ll be fresher
in your mind then.”

“Okay,” Dawn said. “But think about NT4SKOOL, okay?”

Dawn hurried out of the kitchen before Ella could reply.

Rose, who’d been cleaning the countertop, sat down beside Ella, then sighed. “It was so much easier when she was younger.”

“Yes, it sure was,” Ella said.

“In a lot of ways she reminds me of you at that age,” Rose said.

“Me? Why?”

Rose smiled. “You were the queen
of excuses back then. You’d put off everything to the last second. On weekends, you didn’t even start your homework until Sunday night.”

Ella laughed. “Guilty as charged.”

Ella watched her mother water the three small pots of herbs on the windowsill. The kitchen was the center of their joint home now, culturally and literally, and was the furthest point east from her mom and husband Herman’s
sitting room that vegetation inside the house was certain to grow, aside from the mold in the refrigerator.

A few years ago, her mom and Herman had constructed a new wing for the two of them off the kitchen. This created nearly double the floor space, and allowed privacy for Ella and Dawn. This was a clear advantage for Herman as well, who was always in bed by nine these days. Rose, like Ella,
tended to stay up late and rise early.

“What’s been going on with the Plant Watchers lately?” Ella asked.

“There are only a few of us left. Some have passed away, and others have left the reservation to be closer to their families. We’ve tried to recruit new members so we can pass our knowledge on to another generation, but the younger ones barely have time for themselves these days.”

“It’s
hard for families everywhere, Mom.”

Rose nodded. “It used to be that all you really needed to do was take care of your sheep and tend your garden. They’d provide food, and wool for you to weave. Unlike bank accounts, these were investments you could really keep an eye on. But these days…” Rose shrugged, then without saying good night, ambled down the hall.

As her mother disappeared from view,
Ella thought about what Rose had said. No matter how badly we might want things to remain the same, life was constantly evolving. She saw the proof of that every time she looked at her own near-teen daughter.

Too tired to think anymore, Ella wandered down the hall to her room and tossed back the covers. Her mother had given each of them a light blanket she’d woven in their favorite colors. Ella
had earth tones, Dawn had an array of pinks, and Herman, turquoise.

Snuggled beneath her own, and wrapped in warmth and silence, she fell asleep immediately.

SEVEN

The shrill ring of the alarm clock jolted Ella awake. She’d tried more soothing tones, but had learned the hard way that she often slept right past those. With a groan, she muted the sound but remained where she was, refusing to open her eyes.

Enjoying that blissful state of semialertness, time slipped away from her. When she finally forced one eye open and looked at the clock, she drew
in a sharp breath and jumped out of bed. It was nearly seven.

Ella showered and dressed in a hurry. She’d promised Dawn she’d help her study.

By the time Ella reached the kitchen, there was a flurry of activity there already.

“Mom, there you are! I need to cram for my quiz, it’s on sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rock—chapter seven,” Dawn said, braiding her hair. It had grown to her waist,
and she often worked it into a single braid that hung down her back.

“Why didn’t you wake me earlier, Dawn?”

“Because she just woke up ten minutes ago herself—about the same time as me. Guess we all stayed up too late last night, Daughter,” Rose responded.

“Sorry. I forgot to reset the alarm. I’m ready now, though.” Ella sat down across the kitchen table from her daughter and found chapter
seven. Then she began firing questions at her based on the highlighted vocabulary in the text, asking Dawn to explain or define the terms.

They’d barely discussed the principle of superposition when the phone in Ella’s pocket began ringing. She braced herself. Early morning calls were never good news.

Ella identified herself and heard Big Ed’s voice at the other end.

“Shorty, the bodies we
found over by Hogback are now headline news. We’ve got reporters everywhere. A few even managed to track down Justine’s home address. Once they found out Sergeant Marquez lived there, too, they all but beat down the door.”

“Wonderful,” she said acidly. “That means they’re trying to find out where I live, too.”

“That’s the reason I’m calling. They know you’re the tribe’s lead detective on this
case, so it won’t be long before they succeed.”

“Thanks for the heads-up, Chief.”

Ella ended the call and jammed the phone back into her pocket. “I’ve got to get out of here before the reporters show up. I’ll have more control over the situation if I’m at the station.”

“But, Mom, you were going to help me study for my quiz,” Dawn said.

“Your
shimasání
can do that,” Ella said, then brushed
a kiss on Dawn’s forehead. “I’m sorry, Daughter. It’s better for everyone if I leave now.”

As Ella drove to the station, her thoughts remained on her family. Dawn was pushing the boundaries, but like it or not, that was all part of growing up. It was Rose who worried her the most. There was something troubling her, but in order to help, she needed to know what was going on.

Hearing the monotone
beep that signaled a text message, Ella pulled out her cell phone and glanced down. The message was simple and to the point. It read,
I’M WATCHING YOU
.

Puzzled, Ella looked at the display, then checked the rearview mirror automatically. Nobody was in sight. Had it been meant for someone else? If not, who had her cell number? Remembering that it was printed on her business card, she muttered a
soft curse. If she got another text along the same vein, she’d track it down, but acting now would be premature.

She pushed the entire thing out of her mind just as a call came over her phone. Ella answered and heard Justine’s voice.

“Partner, when you arrive I recommend you come in through the door adjacent to the impound yard. There aren’t any reporters around there, and I can unlock it for
you.”

“Things are that crazy?”

“You bet, but that’s not the only reason I’m calling. Big Ed wants everyone in his office in another half hour.”

“Anything I should know about?”

“One of the secretaries said that he’s been fighting some higher-ups in the tribal council, but I’m not sure how reliable that information is.”

“Have you heard anything about the watch placed on the Bitsillie family?
I’m worried about their safety, especially the boy’s.”

“Officer Talk clocked out and turned her watch over to Philip Cloud. The mother’s keeping both kids out of school today so she can keep an eye on them. That’ll make it easier on the officers,” Justine said.

Ten minutes later Ella arrived at the station. Getting inside the station turned out to be easier than she’d expected. She drove into
the rear impound area past the security guard, then walked across the yard to the station’s rear entrance.

“That wasn’t so hard,” she told Justine, who opened up as soon as she knocked. They immediately headed toward her office, taking another hallway to avoid the lobby.

“You got unexpected help. County Detective Nez got Big Ed’s okay and is now giving the press a statement. I saw the text,
and it’s mostly sound bites. He’s asking for their cooperation in helping keep the public alert, but warning them to be careful not to start a panic. Basically, he’s repackaging what everyone already knows, and finishing by making a promise to leave no stone unturned. You know the drill.”

Ella nodded, familiar with the technique. “What’s Dan doing here so early? Did he turn up something?” They
reached her door, and she opened it, then waved Justine inside.

“He found out about the man we’ve got in custody for impersonating Chester Kelewood, and came up with the same idea—that the deaths may be linked to identity theft.”

“So he wants to interview the suspect?” Ella asked, taking a seat behind her desk.

“Yes, and I gather Big Ed is okay with that, if you are.”

“No problem.”

Before
Ella could say anything else, Big Ed appeared at her door and motioned for them to follow. Once they reached his office, Ella saw that the rest of her team was already there. Agent Blalock and Detective Nez were also present.

Blalock spoke first. “After shooting an officer, then slipping past a dozen law enforcement officers, our suspect may be feeling cocky. We’ll have to pick up the pace if
we want to stop him before he kills again.”