Never-ending-snake (23 page)

Ella glanced down at the article, an interview with Billy Garnenez, one of the Tribal Industries bureaucrats and the director of the Prickly Weed Project. Garnenez was
claiming that the land would soon be available and that financial backing was securely in place, despite rumors to the contrary.

“But that’s not the truth, daughter,” Rose said. “A private company called Industrial Futures Technology was approached to partner up with us and supply the tribe with experts and the equipment to make things happen. But then cost estimates soared—or IFT got greedy.
Whatever the case, the tribe has limited resources, so we couldn’t meet their new price. Our new lobbyist was working hard to get IFT to meet our terms—at least that’s what I heard. But with his death, who knows what will happen? If the tribe can’t find a way to get energy industry backing and support, the Prickly Weed Project will have to be put on hold indefinitely, or dropped.”

Ella recalled
that Teeny, who was seldom wrong about things like these, had told her that the deal had already been cut with IFT, but it wasn’t official. That suggested that Adam Lonewolf had succeeded in bringing the energy company on board. “Some of the investors must be sweating this. A lot of money could be lost if the deal fell through.”

“The ones in tribal government are pushing as hard as they can to
keep things moving forward. But they may be fighting the impossible. The money’s either there—or not,” Rose stood. “I’m going to bed now, daughter, and I suggest you do the same. You’re going to be putting in some very long hours—particularly if your daughter’s father moves in.”

“Mom, I haven’t—”

Rose smiled, then crossed through the kitchen into her and Herman’s wing of the house without looking
back.

Ella stood. She needed a chance to think things through, but she was too tired right now. Maybe things would make more sense in the morning. As she went to her room, she thought about Ford and wondered how
he’d
react if Kevin moved in. Even if his religious beliefs demanded charity, she had a feeling he wasn’t going to like this at all. Ford was a jealous man.

By six-thirty the
following morning, the kitchen was buzzing. Dawn had just sat down in front of her oatmeal and Rose was busy preparing scrambled eggs for herself and Herman.

“Mom, Dad’s in real trouble, isn’t he?” Dawn asked as Ella took a seat, cup of coffee in hand. “I heard that the soldier who got shot trying to protect him died yesterday. That means Dad’s their next target, right?”

“Your father is being
kept safe. Don’t worry,” Ella said.

“Mom, he’s stuck in a hospital bed, all shot up. Even you’d be scared if you couldn’t move.”

It was her use of the word “even” that made Ella smile. “Everyone feels afraid at one time or another. It’s perfectly natural. Without fear, we wouldn’t have courage. One gives way to the other.”

Dawn stared at her cereal, then picked up a piece of toast, holding
it in her hand but not taking a bite. “Mom, you have us—but Dad only has . . . me. His parents died, and his relatives don’t live around here anymore,” she said at last. “I should go help him out until he heals up and can go back to work.”

Rose glanced at Ella with a look that clearly said “I told you so.”

Ella took a deep breath. At least the conversation she’d had with her mother had prepared
her somewhat for this. “Daughter, that’s not a good idea. Your father’s still in danger, and I don’t want you to be at risk, too.”

Dawn glanced at her grandmother, then back down at her bowl. For several long moments she said nothing.

For those few wonderful minutes, Ella thought she’d managed to get Dawn to understand and drop the subject, but her hopes were soon dashed.

“When bad things happen,
Shimá
, families have to stick together. That’s what you’ve always said, that I can count on you no matter what, right?” she asked Ella.

“Yes,” Ella said, sighing. She knew where this was going, but there was no way to head it off at the pass.

“You and Dad aren’t together anymore, but he’s still my dad. He should be able to count on me, just like I count on you. If I can’t go to him, will you
let him stay here with us? He can have my room.”

“He might be safer someplace farther away, maybe even another state.”

“Mom, if you take care of things like you always do, there’s no better place for Dad than with us. We’re his family.”

“Let me think about this,” Ella said at last.

As the rattle of an old diesel pickup announced her ride to school had arrived, Dawn kissed her mom, and ran
outside, grabbing her book bag along the way.

“If you don’t bring her father here, you’re asking for trouble,” Rose said.

Ella knew her mother was right. “Mom, I’m just not sure what to do.” Hearing the approaching deep rumble of the police unit, Ella glanced out the window. “My partner’s here.
I’m going to meet her outside and save some time. We have to go to Window Rock sometime this morning.”

Ella grabbed her handgun and hurried out.

Justine was just getting out of the SUV when Ella joined her. Without a word, Ella climbed in on the passenger side.

“What’s up, partner? You have an argument with your mom or something?” Justine asked.

“Or something,” Ella said, then shook her head, signaling Justine to drop it.

“Where to first?” Justine asked, switching on the ignition.

“Teeny’s.”

When they arrived, Teeny quickly ushered them inside. Seeing the pot of coffee next to the computers, Ella smiled. “You haven’t slept, have you?”

“I caught a few winks,” he answered. “While the computer’s running, there’s not much I can do.”

From his reddened eyes Ella guessed that he’d slept an hour, maybe two. But puzzles, and computer problems, were addictive to Teeny. He couldn’t back off
until he’d mastered the challenge.

“The deceased—hell, we’re not Traditionalists here—
Adam’s
BlackBerry files are encrypted with a program I’ve never seen before. Most of what we retrieved earlier was a deliberate giveaway meant to misdirect hackers. I wasn’t as far along as I thought. My own programs, ones I wrote myself, will decode nearly everything, but it’s going to take time because I keep
having to tweak the parameters.”

“Do you have anything you can give me right now?” Ella asked.

“I’ve managed to isolate his schedule for the last several days. That part wasn’t encrypted at the same level.” He handed her a list. “Adam met with Billy Garnenez and with Alfred Begaye during his last visit to the Rez, then flew back out to D.C. hours later. The next day he had two meetings.
The
first was at IFT, the second with a group of lobbyists attending an energy seminar. After that, he caught the flight back here with you and Tolino. What surprised me was that even though the Prickly Weed Project is at such a critical juncture, he had no local appointments scheduled—or maybe he hadn’t gotten around to entering them.”

Ella studied it, wondering if Adam
had
sealed the deal with
IFT. Yet he hadn’t been in a cheerful mood on the flight back, something she would have expected from a man who’d just closed the biggest deal of his new career. This case was getting stranger and stranger. Maybe Teeny’s sources were wrong and her mom was right. “Thanks. This is a start.”

“I’ll have the rest of the files from that BlackBerry within hours.”

“If you can cut corners . . .”

He
nodded, then after a pause, added, “I heard that Kevin’s due to be released from the hospital—today if his doctor gives a thumbs-up. Word’s also out that he’s still a target. If my sources are right and Kevin’s planning to go home, consider borrowing a couple of my men to keep him safe.”

“Kevin can’t go home, the risk is still too high,” Ella said. “I’m not sure where he’ll end up.”

“The tribe’s
going to need Kevin accessible and so are the police, so your best option is a safe house. But that also means that some skillful surveillance is all it’ll take for the wrong people to track him down. You’re going to have to watch your backs,” Teeny said.

“I hear you, and that’s just one of many things I need to take into account.” The idea of having Kevin at her house was making more sense now,
but she still wasn’t comfortable with that. “Call me directly as soon as you’ve broken the encryption,” she said, heading toward the door.

As Justine stepped out, Teeny put his hand on Ella’s arm. “Something’s really bugging you. Can I help?”

“It’s this case,” Ella said. “Every time I think I’ve got a handle on it, it weaves like a snake and goes in a different direction.”

“Never-ending-snake
. . . the inevitable struggle against evil,” he said quietly.

“What keeps a cop in business,” she answered with a grim smile.

Saying good-bye to Teeny, she joined Justine in the SUV. “Head for Window Rock. We’re going to pay Billy a visit.”

As they traveled south down the long, lonely stretch of highway, Ella leaned back. Traveling great distances was as much a part of the reservation as summer
thunderstorms that evaporated before they ever reached the ground. Today’s trip was taking them deeper into the Navajo Nation, across the state line and to the tribe’s capital and government center, Window Rock, Arizona.

“Remember the reporter who’s been hanging around the station?” Justine asked.

“Norm Hattery, right?”

“Yeah. While you were speaking to Teeny, I heard from my sister, Jayne.
That reporter’s sure resourceful. He found out that Jayne and Marie Lonewolf are friends and since he hasn’t been able to find either Marie or Adam’s parents, he’s following up with family friends and trying to locate them that way. Jayne told him that they’re probably holed up somewhere to get some privacy, and that talking to people about Adam now isn’t going to get him far because the
Diné
don’t speak of the recently deceased.”

“How did Norm track down the Lonewolf family’s friends? Do you have any idea where he’s getting his information?”

“From what Jayne said, Norm has been going out with Mavis Neskahi.”

“Joe’s sister?”
she asked surprised. “Ah, now I get it. She works at the hospital, doesn’t she? In the business office.”

Justine nodded. “Admissions. Jayne made it a point
to go talk to Mavis and warned her that she’s being used, but Mavis told Jayne to back off. Jayne wasn’t about to do that, and kept pumping her for information. Eventually she found out that Mavis had met Norm in the elevator the day the wounded were brought in. Mavis also admitted that she’s gone out with Norm for meals a couple of times since then, but insisted that she’s done nothing wrong. She
said they weren’t dates or anything like that, just for lunch and dinner.”

“I have a bad feeling about this. . . .”

“So did my sister. Jayne kept pressuring her, and managed to find out that Norm had heard the helicopter take off from the hospital while everyone was at the press conference. Since he picked up a call on his scanner for that time interval, he’d asked Mavis later who’d been transported.
Mavis told him somebody had died and let it go at that. She used that as an example of how careful she was about giving out information.”

“So Norm must have instantly assumed it was Adam because of the timing,” Ella said with a nod. “We have to talk to Mavis and make sure she understands how easy it is for an experienced reporter to get answers even when she doesn’t reply directly. But let’s
not mention this to Joe. It’ll just create more problems.”

“He already knows. Joe saw them together and nearly exploded. He knows precisely what Norm’s trying to do, so he cornered Hattery and warned him to steer clear of his sister.”

“That may have made things worse,” Ella said, reaching for her phone, intending to call Joe. Then, changing her mind, put it away. Some things were better said
in person.

“How much do you think Norm’s managed to put together?” Justine asked her.

“I’m sure he now suspects that Adam’s not really dead, and may have other sources that can tell him where
the helicopter
didn’t
go—like to any off-base hospital within flight range. If he’s smart enough, and has enough contacts, he’ll eventually find out that Angel Hawk landed at the Air Force base, not the
public terminal, in Albuquerque.”

“Sounds like he gets the same kind of gut feelings we do when we’re close to something important,” Justine said. “If Hattery’s sensing a big story now, there’s no way he’s going to back off.”

Ella leaned back in her seat. “The main problem with this case is that all the players, including Kevin, are holding back on us at some level. We need to identify what’s
pertinent to the case and set everything else aside.”

“So where do we start?” Justine asked.

“With the cash. We need to follow the money. We have to pinpoint where it came from and where it was going. Adam can’t help us with that, so we have to concentrate on the people Adam works for, or had contact with, and push them hard. We also have to figure out who has the most to gain by taking Adam—or
Kevin—out of the picture. This wasn’t a robbery—it was a hit. So we’ll start by talking to Billy Garnenez, who’s one of Adam’s most important local contacts.”

The drive was uneventful, and they arrived at the tribal government offices among the beautiful, piñon-covered sandstone mesas south of the Chuska Range. The complex, overlooked by the massive Window Rock formation, was quite modest considering
it served the largest tribe in the country. The Navajo Nation itself was larger than some states. Finding Garnenez’s office was easy, and they were soon seated there.

Billy leaned back in his chair, his expression sober. “All the tribal employees have been looking for a way to honor our fallen hero’s service to his country and the Navajo Nation. Do you have any suggestions?”

“The best way to
honor him is to help us find the people responsible for what happened,” Ella answered. “I know it’s
not in keeping with traditional beliefs to discuss him so openly this soon after . . . but we have a duty.”

He opened his hands in a gesture of assent.

“I know that he’d been serving as a lobbyist for the tribe these past few months,” Ella continued. “In your opinion, how successful was he at
that job?”