Never-ending-snake (10 page)

As Ella walked over to the nurses’ station, she spotted Justine, who was at the other end of the hall, and motioned for her to come over.

Before Justine reached her, Ella saw an orderly who’d been standing near the water fountain enter the ICU. As the door was closing, she spotted the man heading toward Adam’s bed.

Acting on instinct,
Ella followed him inside. The orderly glanced out the window, then at the staff, who were busy with their other patients. Sensing something was off, Ella moved in closer. Despite the white coat, he wasn’t acting like hospital personnel. As he stepped toward Adam’s bed, his coat shifted slightly and Ella saw he was wearing a shoulder holster.

Ella leaped forward and slammed him against the wall. “Who are you?” she demanded, identifying herself.

“Officer Michael Betone. I’m on special duty, Investigator Clah. I’ve got my badge and ID in my pocket,” he said quickly.

From the corner of her eye Ella could see the three staff members staring at her in alarm.

“I know him, Ella,” Justine said quickly, hurrying
inside. “Sorry about that, Mike,” she added as Ella released him.

“Why were you away from your post?” Ella demanded angrily.

“I was watching the entrance from down by the water-cooler,” he said. “Didn’t you see me? I’ve been moving around a bit so I don’t alarm anyone.” Although it was something that didn’t come naturally to any Navajo, he forced himself to look directly at her. “No one will
get near him, Investigator Clah, not on my watch. We owe that soldier our protection after all he’s done.”

Ella nodded, somewhat mollified by his response. Officer Betone’s words had reminded her once again of the sensitive nature of their case. If the tribe’s hero turned out to
have feet of clay, whoever ripped his mask off would also answer to The People.

As another familiar voice called out
to her, Ella turned her head, and saw Dwayne Blalock approaching. “What’s going on?” he asked quickly, looking from Justine to the officer.

“Nothing, my mistake,” Ella said. “I apologize, Officer Betone. Carry on.”

Ella walked back out of the room and into the hall before speaking again, not wanting to share their private discussion with those in intensive care.

“How much checking have you’ve
done on the pilot, Pete Sanchez?” Blalock asked her immediately.

“None. We’ve had other priorities. How about you? Have you looked into his background?”

“I checked with my contact in INS and Homeland Security. There’s been a lot of illegal gun traffic headed down into Mexico lately and those drug cartels south of the border pay big bucks. They’re at war with each other right now, and with the
authorities, too.”

“Are you thinking that Sanchez was involved in that, and
he
was the target?” Ella asked, surprised.

“In your report you said that the gunmen concentrated on the businessmen first, then you, when you defended yourself. Yet the fact is that you guys were between the gunmen and the pilot, and he ducked into the plane to avoid getting shot a second time, right?”

“Right.”

“We
need to question him as soon as possible,” Blalock said.

“Sanchez wasn’t critical, so he won’t be at this hospital. This is a tribal facility.”

“I know. He was taken to the regional medical center in Farmington. What do you say we head over there next and pay him a visit?”

“Investigator Clah?” a nurse asked, looking back and forth between Ella and Justine as she walked up from the nurses’ station.

“That’s me,” Ella answered.

“You have a call from Chief Atcitty. Use the phone on the counter over there,” she pointed. “Push the hold button first.”

Ella’s cell phone, according to hospital rules, had been turned off. If the chief had taken the time to track her down, something important must have gone down. Ella walked over to the nurse’s station and quickly picked up the phone.

“We’ve got
at least a dozen reporters here, Shorty,” Big Ed said. “I’m going to give them an official statement, but I want you to steer clear and stick to the investigation. When you return to the station, just be warned that the press is lying in wait.”

“Thanks for the heads-up,” she answered.

After hanging up, Ella joined the others and told them about Big Ed’s call, suggesting they keep their eyes
and ears open concerning reporters. “Now we need to split up and get back to business,” she advised as the three walked to the closest exit.

“I’ll continue digging into the pilot’s background then,” Blalock said. “If I hit paydirt, you’ll be the second to know.”

They walked down the steps and entered the parking lot. A yellow sports car came down the lane, then stopped right in front of them,
blocking their way. Ella recognized the vehicle and the driver, instantly. It was Abigail Yellowhair, classy as usual, this time dressed in a conservative gray business suit.

The widow of a former high-profile politician, she had become an extremely powerful force on the Rez, but Ella didn’t trust her. Abigail had played a role in too many questionable incidents around the Rez. Ella still vividly
recalled the threats Abigail had made last year when her adopted
daughter, Barbara, got arrested. The woman was still in prison, and Abigail wasn’t the type to forgive and forget.

“Excuse me, officers—and Agent Blalock. I just heard the news about yesterday’s shootings. How is Adam Lonewolf doing? Is he going to survive?”

Abigail looked exhausted, and judging from the carry-on bag on the seat
beside her—ID label still attached—she’d come directly from the airport, probably the one in Farmington, or maybe even Albuquerque.

Justine looked at Ella instead of answering, and Ella also held her tongue, leaving Blalock to take the initiative. “I’m sure the families of the victims appreciate your concern, Mrs. Yellowhair,” he said, glancing over at Ella, who nodded. “Mr. Lonewolf’s in critical
condition—touch-and-go, unfortunately. The other victims are out of danger, but no visitors except for immediately family are allowed at this time.”

“Thank you, Dwayne,” Abigail responded. “I’m sure you and the tribe’s finest are already making progress in tracking down the animals who conducted this brazen attack.”

“Thanks for your support, Mrs. Yellowhair,” Justine responded.

“Stay safe,
Justine,” Abigail said. “And you, too, Ella,” she added. “I’ll leave you to your work, then,” she added, then drove away.

Blalock shook his head. “Is it just me, or do I detect a small level of insincerity in her voice when the ‘she wolf’ refers to you, Ella?”

“You think?” Ella replied, glancing over at Justine, who just rolled her eyes.

“Well, now that we know Mrs. Yellowhair will be closely
monitoring our progress, I guess we’d better get to it, huh?” Blalock said.

They separated in the parking lot, and Ella and Justine
were soon on their way. Not wanting to waste any time, Ella pulled out her cell phone and called Rose. “Mom, just a heads-up. I’m going to text message my kid and tell her that her dad’s awake.”

“Then I’ll have to pull her out of school early. The second she reads
it, she’ll want me to pick her up and take her to the hospital.”

“It’s almost two now, so she’ll probably see the message before going to her last class. If she calls you and pushes it, take her. It’ll be good for both of them.”

Ella hung up, then left a text message for Dawn. The middle school—which had rules that applied to cell phone use—allowed calls and text messaging between classes as
long as that didn’t create other problems, like tardiness. But students caught using them during class risked confiscation and a visit from a parent in order to get them back. Ella knew that her daughter would be checking her cell phone as often as possible today.

Placing the cell phone back in her pocket, she glanced at Justine. “What did we ever do in the days before cell phones?”

“I’m permanently
attached to mine these days.”

Though they’d both thought they’d been prepared for the media circus, the reality hit them hard as they approached the station’s parking lot. There were antenna and dish-encrusted vans from every area station—network, local, and cable. Half of the media people were carrying video cameras, and the other half were looking over their notes, playing with microphones,
or checking their hair and ties.

“Let’s see if we can sneak in through the back,” Ella said.

Justine detoured, driving into the maintenance yard, but the press had all the doorways covered. Judging from the way they swarmed over anyone trying to enter or leave the station, they were hungry for information on the still-developing story.

“Now what, partner?” Justine asked.

“We go in and keep
our mouths shut—no comments. Big Ed will be taking the heat, not us.”

Ella picked up the bag that had the clothing she’d worn during the attack, then took the lead, pushing her way inside. The reporters pressed in, throwing out questions that always began with “Investigator Clah.” Clear passage was nearly impossible. At one point, one of the reporters grabbed her arm, hoping to make her turn
and face the camera. Ella stepped on his toe with the heel of her boot, and with a yelp, he released her.

Once they got past the outer lobby, Ella finally took a deep breath. “You okay, cuz?”

“Yeah,” Justine muttered, taking the bag from Ella’s hand. “I’m going to my lab. Good luck evading those reporters. They’re out for blood.”

Ella watched her escape, then glanced back at the mostly male,
barrel-chested patrol officers who’d formed a wall, blocking the reporters from going any farther than the reception area. Life had become very complicated at the station—and things were bound to get worse before they got better.

“Shorty!” she heard a familiar voice call from down the hall.

Ella hurried to Big Ed’s office.

“I’ve got a statement ready, and I wanted you to look it over,” he said
as Ella came in. “I’m going to try and shift their focus from Adam to Kevin by telling them that we suspect Kevin was the real target because of his current legal activities. I hope that’ll take some of the pressure off the Lonewolf family.”

“Do you think the press will buy your spin?”

“I hope so. Kevin was in the middle of a high-profile case, so it’s not out of left field.”

“Kevin’s not going
to be happy to see his case appear on the headlines and as part of the lead story tonight,” she said.

“It’s the lesser of two evils. I’m hoping the reporters will dig in the opposite direction so they don’t mess up our investigation. If they discover that Adam was carrying cash—and how much—things are going to get much worse.”

“A hero-gone-bad story would explode onto every screen and newspaper
in the country,” Ella said, nodding slowly.

“Before I go out there and publicly name you as the lead detective, there’s something I need to know. Are you one hundred percent certain that you can investigate this case despite your connection to Tolino?”

“Absolutely. If Kevin’s broken the law, I’ll bring him in. But I know that man, Chief. To serve a greater good, he might cross into the gray
area, but he’d stay on the right side of the law all the way.”

“All right then.” He picked up his notes and led the way out of his office. “Time to talk to the vultures.”

Ella slipped down the hall and went straight to the lab. “Anything new?” Ella asked, seeing Justine processing evidence.

“I’ve checked all your clothing, but didn’t find anything other than what you’d expect.”

“Do you have
Kevin’s laptop here?” Ella asked, looking around.

Justine nodded. “It’s inside the box on the second shelf over there,” she said, pointing with her lips.

Ella put evidence gloves on before handling the computer. She didn’t expect Justine to find anything on the laptop except Kevin’s prints, but she wouldn’t break protocols.

Taking a seat by the desk, Ella turned on the device. As the main screen
came up Justine joined her, looking over her shoulder. “Are you searching for anything in particular?” she asked.

Ella nodded. “Kevin said that he had a file in here listing his sources.”

“If that’s true, he was incredibly trusting,” Justine said, surprised. “Anyone could have hacked into it.”

Ella shook her head. “It would have taken an expert, and even then, he would have found it a challenge.
First, you need a password to get in, then another one to access his files, which are encrypted. Also you’d have to know where to look. The directory is hidden within the operating system files, and the files themselves have extensions that must be changed in order to read them using word processing programs. If you don’t know the names of his sources, you wouldn’t know where to look, either.
The directory file is within a printer driver directory folder and has the name ix128.”

Ella called up the word processing program, found the file, then changed the name so it would be recognized as a text file. Only then was she able to open it. “This is more extensive than just a list of names. He has background info here, too.” Ella studied the contents for a few minutes. “He only has three
major sources, but talk about well-placed . . .”