Mourning Dove

by Aimée

  “I hadn’t ruled it out completely—until now. Blowing up that economically worthless sweat lodge places what happened to your brother in an entirely new level of investigation. I think Jimmy made some serious enemies. They killed him, tried to make it look like a carjacking, and are now trying to obliterate any trail, even a hint of one, that might lead back to them. Jimmy came to this place before he died—and brought knowledge with him that they feared—maybe the identity of his killers. They couldn’t risk the possibility that we’d find a message he’d left us, or evidence in that sweat hogan. So they blew it to hell.”

  He nodded slowly. “It makes sense and ties in. He wrote about the sweat lodge in one of his old stories, and maybe even had a drawing or two.”

  “And someone stole them from his house.”

  “It would explain how they were able to find it, and maybe if they knew we were coming here now. . . .”

  “They had to make sure they got here first so we wouldn’t find anything they’d overlooked,” Ella concluded.

  “I’ll poke around and see what I can find out,” Samuel suggested.

  “No, that’s my job. What I need from you now is information you’ve been holding back on. I want to know who Juanita is and what part she played in the rift between you and your brother.”

  Samuel averted his gaze, and stared off across the water, his jaw clenched. “That was a low point in my life.”

  “No more games, Samuel. I need answers,” Ella pressed.

  He nodded once, then began slowly. “My brother and I were close when we were kids but, by the time I graduated from high school, we’d stopped being friends and hanging out together. He went his way, me, mine. We had nothing in common.”

  Samuel cleared his throat, looking back for a moment at the officers working the crime scene. Then, he continued. “He’d been gone for about three months when Juanita Betoni came to see me. She wanted to break up with my brother, but wasn’t sure if she should tell him while he was still over there. She was afraid he’d do something crazy and get himself killed, or get distracted and careless. My brother had been talking marriage in his e-mail letters and phone calls and making all kinds of plans for both of them. Juanita didn’t want to lead him on, and wasn’t sure how to handle things, so she asked for my advice.”

  “What did you tell her?”

  “After seeing Jimmy’s letters, I suggested she tell him that they needed to slow down and wait until he returned before discussing anything serious.”

  “Not break up, just slow down?”

  He nodded. “I figured Jimmy would get the message without losing face. Juanita appreciated my help, so we kept in touch after that. She didn’t really know any of the girlfriends or wives of the other soldiers in Jimmy’s unit, so she started coming over to my house to visit and talk, and share the news. One thing led to another. . . .”

  “How did your brother find out?”

  “I still don’t know, but he did. Maybe Juanita inadvertently told him. I got an e-mail from him a few months later where he called me a few choice names. He accused me of betraying him, and moving in on his woman. Turning her against him. I guess in his shoes I would have done the same. But the truth is what he had with Juanita was over before I came into the picture.”

  “Where can I find Juanita?”

  “She lives in Kirtland, but works at the hospital in Shiprock. She’s a nurse.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  As Ella turned, he added, “Let me work with your crime team. Every extra set of eyes helps.”

  Ella shook her head. “No, thanks. My people are used to working as a team, and you’ll just get in their way. Go home for now and try to write down anything and everything you know about your brother’s activities overseas and his duties and associates in the Guard. Call me if you discover anything that seems important or out of place.”

  Samuel walked back to his own vehicle, and Ella joined Justine, who was studying a set of footprints. “There were three men here recently, but only two of them today,” Justine said, “not three as we’d previously thought. The third set is older, and after comparing them with those we saw originally, I think they’re a match to the deceased’s. Now, after the explosion, we know why they pinned us down without really trying to kill us. There must have been something in the sweat house that they were afraid we might find. A hidden message?”

  “That’s exactly why we need to work this area slowly. I want every scrap of evidence we can find. One thing’s clear—we’re dealing with someone who can shoot quickly and accurately between two separate targets. That sounds more like someone with combat training than it does a hunter. A police officer, or a soldier.”

  “I’ll know what caliber weapon was used soon enough, too. We’re going to recover slugs from the embankment for sure. But Ella, before we really go after any of our former servicemen—which admittedly is a logical move based on the explosives and military tactics used by the perps—we’ll need some solid evidence to back us up. Our people are very protective of our soldiers and the ill will that’ll stir up may create some serious problems for our department.”

  “I know,” Ella said somberly.

  Ella worked alongside Justine up on the edge of the bluff where the sniper had sighted in on them. They quickly found several ejected nine-millimeter cases. Several autoloader rifles, most of them small and readily available, could be obtained in that caliber. Once they had the cases and some recovered slugs in the lab, Justine was confident she could determine from the rifling marks and other comparisons the kind of weapon used, possibly even a make or model.

  Ella had just discovered what looked like an impression in the ground where the shooter had rested the butt of the weapon when her cell phone rang. It was Farmington Police Sergeant Calvin Sanders, Jimmy’s former lieutenant in the Army.

  “I’ve got some information for you. You’d asked me to get Officer Kent Miller’s blood type. I checked with our department’s doctor, but I’ve been told that kind of information can’t be released without his permission, the proper paperwork, or unless he’s been in a shooting incident and his blood must be identified and matched to evidence. And the Army—well, you’ll have to deal with them directly.”

  “I understand. Have you been able to find or speak with Officer Miller?”

  “No, but after some of the crap we’ve been through in Iraq, my guess is he’s still someplace quiet where he can sort out all the images in his head. If you don’t find a way to do that, you end up in a padded cell.”

  “Does Officer Miller have any relatives in town?”

  There was a pause. “I believe his sister lives here in Farmington. But she’s married, and I don’t know her last name.”

  “Get it for me, and her address, if you can. I’d like to pay her a visit.”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” he answered.

  Ella hung up, then went back to join Justine. The sun had begun to set, and with the wind still blowing, her team had asked for and received extra help, along with powerful lights and a generator. Ella recognized Officer Michael Cloud, who had a twin brother, also on the force. Herman was their uncle.

  Seeing her approach, Michael smiled. “Hey, Ella. You think we’re going to be related soon?”

  “Mom and your uncle?” Ella answered, wondering if he’d heard something she hadn’t.

  He nodded. “I’m curious. I was wondering if your mom might have finally said yes.”

  Ella shrugged. “She’s been thinking about it, but I don’t know any more than that.”

  “Fair enough.” Michael went back to work.

  Forcing herself to concentrate on the work at hand, Ella pushed it out of her mind for now. She’d have to ask her mom about that later on tonight. With meticulous precision, she processed the scene along with her team, bagging and tagging anything that may have been part of an explosive device or could have been inside the sweat house. She loved this—the gathering of evidence, the solving of a puzzle. It was
an arena she understood.

  They worked under the bright portable lights for another three-and-a-half hours. Then, assured there was nothing more to be found for now, they began to pack up.

  Sergeant Neskahi, then Tache and Justine drove away. Ella was last to leave, in no rush to go home tonight. It was nine and her daughter would already be asleep. Ella would miss talking to Dawn, but her priority tonight would be speaking with her mother, Rose. Change was in the air and sweeping down on her like a cool breeze from the north.

  Ella sat at the kitchen table as Rose fixed her a late-night snack. “You really have to start eating on a regular basis, daughter. You’re as thin as a rail.”

  Ella glanced down at herself. “I’m as heavy as a railroad tie. I’m five pounds over where I should be.”

  “That’s some Anglo health-nut measurement. Trust your mother. You’re too thin,” Rose said, scooping scrambled eggs into a homemade tortilla along with roasted green chile and warmed-over hash browns. “And this is not a proper dinner. Won’t you let me make you something more substantial?”

  “No, Mom. I’ve got a craving for this. It’s fine,” Ella said, enjoying the wonderful aroma of food. “But there’s something else you can do. Sit down at the table with me. I think it’s time we talked.”

  Rose exhaled softly, and joined her, a cup of herbal tea in her hands. “You want to know if I’m getting married, don’t you?”

  “I ran into Bizaadii’s nephew,” Ella said. “We talked about it. But now I can see it in your eyes. You said yes, didn’t you?”

  Rose nodded slowly, a hesitant smile on her face. “I was hoping for a chance to tell you earlier today, but you’ve been so busy, and I was afraid that I’d need time to explain. I didn’t want you to be upset.” Taking a deep breath, she continued. “A part of me will always continue to love your father, but Bizaadii and I think alike and we’re good companions. He and I . . . need each other. Can you understand?”

  Ella nodded. Rose was a beautiful Navajo woman who deserved a chance to lead a life of her own. “Mom, you shouldn’t have worried about how I’d react. I’m happy for you,” she said but, unfortunately, her words came out sounding like an afterthought.

  “You don’t sound very happy,” Rose observed instantly.

  “I’m just trying to sort everything out now that it’s really going to happen. Have you made plans? Will you live here?”

  She shook her head. “We’ll live in Bizaadii’s new house down by Hogback. It’s close to the river, and he has irrigation there, so we can have a big garden. I’ll no longer be here to give your daughter breakfast each morning, but you can work something out with Boots.”

  “Boots, yeah.” The problem was that, now, Dawn wouldn’t be with family a lot of the time. Her mother’s influence on Dawn had shaped her daughter’s view of everything, but Ella hadn’t realized how much she’d taken Rose for granted until that very minute. “I can’t imagine this household without you, Mom. We’re going to miss you.”

  “It’s time we all went on with our lives, daughter,” she said gently. “You, too.”

  Without Rose around, Ella suddenly realized that Kevin, in a home office now, would probably make his move to get more time with Dawn. Though it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for their daughter, the possibility made her feel as if she were standing on quicksand.

  “You’ll have privacy, daughter, and for the first time you’ll be able to raise your daughter without interference from anyone, including me,” she said with a smile. “Think about it as an opportunity—to grow, to live life on your own terms.”

  As Ella listened to her mom, she wondered if Rose had come to feel that Ella and Dawn had encroached on her life. “Mom, if anyone should move out of your house, it should be me and my daughter,” she said at last. “We need to find a place of our own.”

  “This house has too many memories for me, and neither Bizaadii nor I would feel comfortable here. The best thing I can do is give it to you and my granddaughter.” She placed her hand over Ella’s. “But, daughter, you also need to go forward with your life. Find another man. Add to your family if that’s what you decide. Or not.”

  Ella smiled ruefully. “Mom, my life is complicated enough as is. Like it or not, I’m probably going to have to give my daughter’s father more time with her now.” She stopped abruptly, closed her eyes, and shook her head. She wanted Rose to stay—for things to be the same—but she wasn’t being fair. “You have your own life, Mom, I respect that. My daughter and I will be fine,” she said.

  “I know what you’re afraid of, daughter, but he’s not going to take her from you, not in the ways that really count,” Rose said in a resolute and convincing tone. “The bonds between you and your child are very strong, and the reality of having a child around during the week will finally waken her father up to the real challenges of being a parent. Remember that he works from home. That means that the constant noise of having his daughter and her friends around will be a distraction. He’s not really used to that. And wait till summer. . . .”

  Ella looked at her mother. “I hope you’re right, Mom.”

  Ella wondered about the road ahead. Her life was about to take another surprising turn and there was nothing she could do except wait and let things develop at their own speed.

  The following morning, Ella helped Dawn get ready for school. Her daughter chattered a mile a minute about the new hand-tooled Western saddle she wanted. Kevin had offered to get it for her and she was delighted. She had already made drawings of Wind and the new saddle, and was waving them around at every step.

  Getting her daughter to sit still in the mornings was difficult, but once she’d examined the drawings to Dawn’s satisfaction, Ella somehow managed to get to work braiding Dawn’s long, ebony hair.

  “Your shimasání is getting married, daughter,” Ella tossed out casually, not wanting to be too dramatic.

  Dawn nodded. “I know. I heard Shimasání talking on the phone yesterday. I didn’t think I was supposed to know yet, so I didn’t say anything.”

  Ella finished Dawn’s hair, but remained sitting with her on the edge of the bed. “That means it’ll be just you and me here at home. And Boots, of course, in the afternoon. How do you feel about that?”

  “Can I visit Shimasání?”

  “Of course. She’d be hurt if you didn’t,” Ella assured Dawn.

  “Then it’s okay. It’ll be like it is with Daddy, kind of. I’ll visit him lots, too.” Dawn picked up her backpack. “Hurry up, Mom! I”m meeting Beth Ann before school!”

  “Beth Ann again?”

  “She’s my best friend, Mom!” she said, rushing out of the room toward the kitchen.

  Rose, who’d been standing in the doorway, jumped back as Dawn ran by. “Is that the same girl who went with you and your daughter to the rodeo last month?”

  “Yes, Mom, don’t you remember? She’s the granddaughter of one of your Plant Watcher friends. The children do everything together. Notice she’s wearing a turquoise and red sweatshirt this morning? Her little friend will probably be wearing the identical thing.”

  “Some things never change. You did the same at her age,” Rose said.

  Ella laughed, then followed her mother into the kitchen. Rose had already laid out breakfast for Dawn. Seeing it, Ella wondered what they’d do without her mother around the house, and not just for helping with the meals and Dawn. Having Rose at home had made Ella feel as if a part of her had also remained home . . . maybe the best part of her. No matter how competent Boots was, it wouldn’t be the same without Rose.

  As they sat down at the table for breakfast, Ella watched Dawn eat the homemade breakfast burrito that was her mother’s specialty. She’d miss the familiar routines. Yet life was about moving forward. Navajos, in fact, defined death as lack of growth.

  Her life as a single mom had been a good one, and Ella had been fortunate to have her own mother around. But she realized now how complacent she’d grown with the arrangem
ents. It was time to take a closer look at her life.

  As a car pulled up outside, Dawn kissed them both good-bye, and rushed out the door. The car pool, too, had worked because Rose drove every other week. Maybe Boots would do the same.

  Rose’s gaze rested on Ella. “There’ll be changes in this household, that’s inevitable. But they’ll be for the good.”

  Ella smiled, but didn’t say anything.

  “Daughter, believe me, you need this. It’s your chance to deal with your daughter without me around, interfering. I’ve stood in for you at times and I loved doing that, but it’s time for you to connect with her around the clock. Settle the issues with her father once and for all so you can look to your future.”

  “Kevin is my daughter’s father. He’ll never be out of my life,” she said.

  “You love your daughter and your work and those are very good things. But you need to open your eyes to the other opportunities life is offering.”

  “Is that what you’ve done?”

  Rose nodded. “My time has come to move on—and so has yours.”

  Ella finished her breakfast without another word, then washed the dishes silently. Her mother was right. After nearly dying, buried in a mine cave-in two years ago, she’d promised herself never to get so bogged down with work that she overlooked the important things life had to offer. And, in her own defense, she had become a better parent. These days, it was herself she tended to neglect most of all.

  Though still young, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been on a special date, or even if she had any date clothes for anything fancier than a trail ride or cookout. Even after the death of her husband, the man Rose had shared most of her lifetime with, her mother had found the courage to rebuild her life. Ella had known love, too, but only fleetingly, and a part of her yearned for the everyday commitment that her mother had found—twice.

  Ella left for the station in her tribal vehicle five minutes later. It was time to put all those thoughts aside. Duty called.

  She was almost at the station when her cell phone rang. It was Ford. “Good morning,” she said. “I hope you’re calling to tell me you’ve already deciphered the story. This case is really bearing down on me.”