“Yeah, boss.”
“Rock,” Collins began. “Why am I looking at a shooting report with your name in the victim slot.”
“I don’t know, library a little thin at home?” Del Rio quipped.
“Goddammit Rock, don’t you smart mouth…” Collins bellowed, then paused. Del Rio heard a long sigh from the other end of the call. “Are you okay boy?”
“Barely more than a flesh wound,” Del Rio said, a little more serious. “I’ve already been in and out of the ER and going back to work as we speak. Don’t even need anything more than a large Ibuprofen for the pain.”
“I can scratch together a dozen agents and have them there first thing in the morning.”
“Don’t need them.”
“Look Rock, it sounds like this thing is bigger than we thought. Are you sure you can’t use the help?”
“We’re close boss. If you add more bodies to the mix it might do more harm than good. There is one thing you can do for me though.”
“Name it.”
“Get Bart Cooper on a fast jet up here from Phoenix as soon possible,” Del Rio said. “I want to hand him some samples to run through his lab. He’s the best we’ve got out west and he might be able to find something I can use to close this thing out.”
“Consider it done. Are you sure that’s all you need?”
“That should do it.”
“Okay,” Collins relented. “I’ll have Bart call you when he’s close to landing so you can meet him. Look Rock, one more shooting and I’ll send the entire Marine Corps if I have to call in every marker I’ve got in this town. I don’t like having my kids shot at.”
“Not a big fan of being a target myself. Thanks, boss.”
Del Rio ended the call and made his way back upstairs to where Chee was keeping watch on his attacker. The woman sat in a chair, hands still cuffed behind her back. She was no longer muttering in Navajo, but appeared to be in shock. Chee shook her head as Del Rio stepped in, the woman hadn’t said anything else then. He took a seat directly across from the officer, only now seeing the name ‘Dineh’ on her uniform, and simply stared at her for a few moments.
“Officer Dineh,” he said sharply and the woman looked up at him. “Would you care to explain why you just tried to kill me?”
“I didn’t,” she cried, shaking her head vigorously. “I saw the Coyote and he was going to kill the President. So I shot at him and he ran away.”
“In front of dozens of witnesses, including several of your fellow GPD officers and your own chief,” Del Rio shot back, “you drew your service weapon and shot at me twice. The first shot did this,” he added, holding up his left arm, “and the second nearly took my head off. There certainly was not any coyote standing near me at the time. Did you see this coyote, Officer Chee?”
“No, I did not.” Cheer replied coldly. “All I saw was this officer shooting at you for no apparent reason.”
The woman merely shook her head back and forth in denial as tears streaked down her face. It was all the response Del Rio could get from her, no matter how he phrased the question. She denied talking with anyone dressed in the outfit Del Rio described prior to the shooting. Just then a man in red scrubs barged into the room, unaware it was in use.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Am I interrupting?”
Del Rio read the man’s name and function as a Respiratory Therapist off his ID badge and decided he’d gotten all he was going to get from the distraught officer at this time.
“Actually, Mr. Bates,” Del Rio said, “we were just finishing. Are you cleared to draw blood?”
“Why, yes,” the man replied, puzzled.
“Good. Billy,” Del Rio asked, using the man’s given name, “I’d like for you to draw this woman’s blood and leave it for me to have tested. Please do so now.”
“I … uh, …” the man stammered. “I’m not sure that’s legal…”
“Just draw the sample, Mr. Bates, and let me worry about the legalities.”
Dubious, he still walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a needle without further comment. With practiced skill he quickly drew the requested sample, placed it on the table, and exited the room. Del Rio slipped the sample into a bag he had prepared with Dineh’s name written in black sharpie on the outside. He walked over to the door and waved in a Gallup police sergeant.
“Take Officer Dineh to your jail and hold her there until the U.S. District Attorney files whatever charges they see fit,” Del Rio instructed the man, before quietly adding, “and keep an eye on her. I don’t want her doing anything stupid to herself until we’ve sorted out just what the hell happened here.”
The Sergeant nodded somberly before walking over to his colleague and gently helping her to her feet. Del Rio watched as he escorted her out where two other Gallup city cops waited to take her downstairs.
“What do you think Chee?”
“I don’t know,” she replied. “She seems certain she didn’t shoot at you, but saw the Coyote instead.”
“Just like I saw a man in a hat and trench coat that no one else seems to recall seeing? There’s a lot of people seeing other people where none should be around here, isn’t there?”
“You don’t think you’re seeing things, too, do you?”
“No, I don’t,” Del Rio said, “but I can’t discount the possibility. Which is why this sample from her will have plenty of company to go along with it when I send it out with the other samples down in your car. They’re all going to a lab in Phoenix to see if they can find some answers for us.”
With that, Del Rio reached into the ruined jacket’s pocket and pulled out another bag with another blood-filled syringe inside with Del Rio’s name written on the outside.
“I had them pull a sample from me while I was downstairs,” he explained. “We have to be sure I’m not being affected by whatever is making the others claim they see things that aren’t there.”
Before Chee could respond, Tso ducked his head into the room. “Del Rio, Yazzie’s awake and he wants to see you.”
TWENTY-ONE
Yazzie was sitting upright in his bed looking a little ashen, but awake and alert. His wife sat nearby, holding tightly to one hand as if afraid she’d lose her husband for good if she ever loosened that grip. She looked every bit as worn and tired as her husband, even though she herself had not been physically attacked.
“Agent Del Rio,” Yazzie said weakly as they entered the room, “Officer Chee, I understand I have the two of you to thank for saving my life.”
“I’m glad we were there to prevent a fifth murder,” Del Rio replied. “I just wish we could have caught the guy there and then. I don’t suppose you got a good look at him?”
“No,” Yazzie gently shook his head sadly. “I heard something behind me and I got hit before I could turn around. All I saw was some type of fur.”
“Like a coyote, perhaps?” Del Rio prodded and Yazzie’s face turned even greyer. “Sir, I don’t for one second believe that this is some Navajo legend come to life. This is a flesh and blood man who knows your people’s legends all too well and is using them to get into his victims’ heads.”
Yazzie nodded his head. He didn’t seem to be altogether convinced. He also seemed reluctant to continue the conversation past the point of thanking his rescuers. Del Rio picked up on it and guessed the reason.
“With the exception of Officer Chee,” Del Rio announced to the others in the room, “can we have the room please?”
Tso and the two guards balked, eventually relented and left the room. Beth Yazzie was not so easily dispatched.
“It’s okay,” Yazzie told her. “I think I am in safe hands. It will only be for a few minutes.”
She acquiesced, if somewhat stiffly, and shot a warning look at Del Rio that told him her husband had better be safe and sound when she returned to his side. In respectful understanding, Del Rio nodded slightly in return. Chee closed the door behind Yazzie’s wife as she left.
“I think now is the
time for you to tell me what is really going on here,” Del Rio began, only the slightest hint of accusation in his tone. “What the real connection between you and the four victims is that led to their untimely deaths. All of us in this room know it isn’t connected to some proposed casino resort out in the middle of nowhere, is it?”
Defeated, Yazzie shook his head and told his story.
“We’ve been working with the Hopi Chairman on a proposal to swap some land adjacent to their reservation in exchange for business interests in coal mining and lumber they would develop on that land once it was transferred to them,” Yazzie explained. “The land in question isn’t being used by anyone anyway. We’re not even sure if any clan could make a claim on it for that matter, but the Hopi want to add it to their holdings. It’s a sound business deal, and it could lead to better relations between our peoples. The five of us thought that now would be a good time to pursue it, but we needed to go slowly; not push too hard and too fast.”
“Why?” Del Rio asked.
“Because there are still some people, mostly the older ones who won’t let the past go. They’d oppose it with everything they had, and likely derail the whole thing. That’s why we were being careful with who we approached. I didn’t figure on making any public announcement for at least two or three years.”
“Apparently one of you approached the wrong person or someone overheard and it set them off. So the question is was it Jim or Shelly they approached?”
“You really think it is one of them?”
“It has to be Ben,” Chee said. “We just can’t pin down which one.”
“I can’t believe it,” Yazzie said. “I know I never spoke to either one. I don’t know if any of the others did or even if they would have. I knew Rick had brought Tommie in, but I hadn’t heard about any new prospects from him or from the other two either. They were supposed to be very sure before approaching anyone with this.”
Disappointed, not really surprised, Del Rio pressed on.
“Are there any others who know who might be in jeopardy?”
“Not that I know of,” Yazzie replied. “I hadn’t approached anyone myself other than the four who he’s already killed. I’m sorry. I wish I could be of more help.”
Del Rio turned and opened the door, waving Mrs. Yazzie and the guards back into the room.
“If you think of anything else that might be of help,” Del Rio said as he gestured for Chee to follow him out, “give one of us a call.”
Out in the hallway, Del Rio flagged down Tso.
“Can you have you have your people look into land records and see if either Jim or Shelly, or any close relative of theirs, own any land near the Hopi Reservation?” Del Rio asked.
“Sure, it will take some time though,” Tso replied. “Any reason?”
“Let’s just call it a hunch,” Del Rio replied, not wanting to give away Yazzie’s secret unless he had no other choice. “Right now we need something to tell us which one of our suspects is the one we want. Maybe there’s a connection between one of them and the proximity to the Hopi.”
“Okay,” Tso said and wandered off to find a phone and order the records search.
“Why didn’t you tell him?” Chee asked.
“Not our place to,” Del Rio replied. “Yazzie can fill him in when’s he’s ready. Besides, it sounds like a good idea when you think about it. I’d hate to be the one who ruined the chance to improve relations between the tribes. Maybe there’s still a chance to make it work, despite our killer’s best efforts to the contrary.”
Del Rio’s phone vibrated, indicating he’d just received a text. It was from Bart Cooper; his plane would be landing in Gallup in twenty minutes. It was time to run the samples out and see if science could crack through the supernatural shroud that kept the answers Del Rio sought cloaked from his view.
****
They were waiting on the taxiway when the jet landed and rolled to a stop at the end of the runway after turning around to prepare for an immediate take off. Chee rolled out to the waiting jet as the stairwell dropped to the ground. Bart Cooper still had on the scrubs he wore in his lab, not having had the time to change his clothes before finding himself in the air.
He looked more like someone who’d just been out surfing the waves in Southern California and less than your typical FBI agent, but when you were the best in your field, you were allowed to have a few more idiosyncrasies than the Bureau generally allowed.
“Damn, Jackie,” Cooper yelled over the engines as Del Rio approached, his dark blue FBI windbreaker – serving as a temporary replacement for his ruined jacket - whipping in the wind, “your boss really put a boot in my boss’ ass this time. If they had put me on a slightly faster jet we’d have been landing as soon as we took off in Phoenix. I take it that shot-up arm of yours has something to do with the big rush?”
Chee immediately liked this newcomer and couldn’t help wondering if there was anyone else on the planet who could get away with calling Del Rio “Jackie” without getting shot.
“No, we caught the person who gave me that,” Del Rio replied as he handed over the samples they’d gathered during the investigation. “What I need is for you to commune with those unholy machines of yours. I need to know if there is anything in these samples that shouldn’t be there. They’ve run the basic tests up here and couldn’t find anything.”
“Okay, is there anything specific I’m looking for?”
“Everything, anything you can think of,” Del Rio said. “I don’t care how crazy it sounds. If you have a test for it, run it.”
“Whew,” Cooper breathed. “Sounds like a lot of overtime. How soon do you need it?”
“Last week,” Del Rio replied. “If you need the backup with your boss, let me know. I’m sure Baker has some more heavy boots lying around.”
“No worries,” Cooper said. “We’ll get to it and won’t stop until we have something for you, Jackie. Sounds like I’d better call ahead for pizzas, it’s going to be a long night.”
“Good luck Bart,” Del Rio said as he stepped away.
The stairs were quickly retracted and the pilot waited until Del Rio and Chee had retreated to the car before pulling away and roaring down the runaway. They watched the jet lift into the sky which was beginning to darken with the daily monsoon storm. It looked like it was going to be a big one.
“What now?” Chee asked.
“Now we wait and see what answers we get from Tso and Bart’s searches,” Del Rio said. “Other than that, there’s really nothing else we can do right now. We might as well call it a day and head back to the hotel before that storm rolls in.”
They didn’t make it back before the storm broke. It was indeed a heavier downpour than any Del Rio had experienced since he’d arrived. They were both pretty well soaked by the time they sprinted from the car to the lobby. Chee had grabbed the bag with the remains of Del Rio’s jacket and followed him into his suite.
“Just drop it anywhere in the room,” Del Rio said as he checked his laptop for e-mail and gingerly slipped the windbreaker off. The pain in his arm was no worse than a dull ache now and he didn’t want to do anything to make it worse, no matter how strong the Ibuprofen pills were.
“Sure,” Chee replied. “Can I borrow a towel?”
“Go ahead.”
She disappeared into the other room and Del Rio heard her moving around. He caught the time on the computer screen about the time his stomach rumbled. They’d been on the run all day and had eaten lunch, if you wanted to call an overcooked burger and greasy fries a lunch, on the run hours before.
“Hey, Chee,” Del Rio called over his shoulder as pulled back the blinds a little to glance out the window. “Since it’s pouring buckets out there, what do you say we go downstairs and abuse the Nation’s tab for some dinner?”
“Actually,” she replied, “I was thinking more along the lines of breakfast.”
Breakfast? Who the hell eats breakfast for dinner? Del Rio thought as he
turned to respond, stopping dead in his tracks.
Chee stood leaning against the doorjamb between the suite’s two rooms wearing one of his white, long-sleeved shirts, which looked amazingly bright against her mocha-colored skin, and nothing else. That was not quite true. He noticed, as he saw the shirt wasn’t buttoned all the way up, a necklace he hadn’t noticed her wearing before. Attached to the silver necklace, lying just above the swell of her bosom, was a teardrop shaped piece of coral encased by several smaller pieces of turquoise and all set in silver.
It was an exquisitely beautiful sight to behold; the necklace was very nice as well.
Del Rio was pretty sure that all the reasons why this wasn’t a good idea were floating around somewhere in his brain, but that portion of his brain had apparently called it a day and had cut off communication, because none of them came to mind as he crossed the room.
“What do you think?” Chee asked playfully, a little nervous and even a little surprised by her own boldness. All of the previous night’s logically arrived at reasons why getting involved physically with her partner was a bad idea had seemingly washed away by the storm. She could not pinpoint exactly when during the day they had been tossed aside, though she suspected seeing him nearly get killed in the hospital had played a major role. When she had entered his room, she knew the last thing she wanted to do this night was to return alone to hers. Unsure what his response would be, and bracing herself for the disappointment of rejection, she felt a little shiver of fear. Until she took a close look at his eyes.
“I think,” he said softly as he stepped closer and placed his hands on her shoulders, “that I have never heard a better idea than that in my entire life.”
Chee’s smile lit up the room brighter than any flash of lightning from the outside could have dared hoped as he pulled her to him.
TWENTY-TWO
The warmth of the sunlight streaming on Del Rio’s shoulder woke him up. It actually felt good on the bruised muscles, even the constant ache in his arm was negligible, and he decided to lay there and enjoy the feeling until he realized what he’d just thought and what it meant.
Jack Del Rio: Complete Trilogy: Reservations, Betrayals, Endgames Page 18