by Aimée
That left a lot of room for interpretation. “There is one question you can answer for me. Have you received any warnings about your son from other adults?”
Mrs. Keeswood’s face grew hard. “You mean those men.…” She hesitated. “They were right, you know. Boys and girls getting into trouble need to be controlled. But I can’t devote all my attention to just Rudy. I have two younger kids who also need clothes and food on the table. I work ten hours a day, and their father has a construction job that takes him out of town. We do the best we can. And with all those tickets you wrote him when he got into trouble, I don’t know how we’re going to pay for it all.”
Ella had heard it all before. It was the same all over the Rez. At least the Keeswood family had been able to find employment. “Who were the men who came to see you?”
She shook her head. “They came two nights ago, and that’s all I will tell you. They warned me to keep Rudy out of trouble. I told them I would try, but that he probably wouldn’t listen to me.”
“What happened then?”
She shrugged. “They told me not to give up, then left.” Mrs. Keeswood glanced at her watch. “Then he got into that fight at school, and they must have caught him alone once they found out he’d been involved. I’ve got to go, I’m sorry. If you want to talk to my son, he’s inside.”
As she drove away, Justine pulled up and parked beside Ella’s Jeep. Together, they walked up to the door. It wasn’t locked. Ella led the way inside and looked around. From the living room she could see a lanky boy in the kitchen wearing jeans and a white T-shirt pouring milk into a cereal bowl. As he turned around, Ella flashed her badge and identified herself.
“I know who you are,” he mumbled sullenly. He gave Justine a glance, then turned away. She’d been the one who’d written all the tickets his parents were going to have to pay.
As Ella approached him, she studied the bruises on his face. His eyes were both swollen and blackened. His lips were cut and his nose most likely broken. He could barely talk. She wasn’t quite sure how he planned to chew his cereal. “Someone worked you over pretty badly. Why don’t you tell me about it.”
“Nothing to tell. I tripped and fell on the way home from school,” he said.
“The Many Devils can’t handle all the grief they’re getting on their own. You should know that by now.”
He shrugged.
“Will you at least tell me if adults did this to you?”
His eyes regarded her with vague interest, and she knew the answer was yes. “What do you care?” he asked.
“Why do you find it so difficult to believe the police want to help?”
“All you want to do is bust us. It’s my business if I get jumped, I can take a few punches. Next time I’ll be ready for them.”
“You may not know it, but there’s more at stake here than somebody getting beat up.”
Again he shrugged. “Then we’ll handle it. We are on our home turf. Nobody is going to put us down for long.”
“Tell the leader of the Many Devils that I want to meet with him. I also want to meet with the leader of the North Siders. Nobody comes packing, not even a wallet chain, and no backup. Just the three of us. We’ll meet in neutral territory. We can do this tomorrow at the turnoff to Big Gap Reservoir. There’s no way anyone can sneak up on anyone else out there. You know the place?”
Rudy looked at her in surprise. “My dad used to take me fishing there. You’re serious about this meeting?”
“Yeah. Just deliver the message and have him get back to me with a time.”
“You would trust us?”
“If your word is as good as mine, I would. Since I figure we have to start somewhere, I’ll have to go with this anyway. Deliver the message.” Ella stood up and walked out. Justine followed without saying a word.
At the station, Ella went to her office. To her surprise, she’d no sooner settled into her chair when Justine came in with a stack of envelopes. Ella looked up.
Her young assistant handed her the mail and said, “Looks like a busy day today. We still have a body to identify, and evidence to sift through. Maybe the victim’s prints will match that on the glove at Lisa’s house, and we’ll have us a killer. I’d better get over to the lab.”
Ella glanced through the stack of letters. Everything there was routine; a letter from the Task Force thanking her for her participation, a letter from the legal department asking for her signature on some papers. Then, at the bottom of the stack, a small envelope caught her eye. It was handwritten with a pencil in a scrawl that was barely legible, and addressed to her, though her name had been misspelled.
A bad feeling spread over her. Holding it carefully by the edges, she slit it open.
The note was written on a torn piece of notebook paper. As she read it a cold chill that had nothing to do with air temperature spread over her.
You’re at the top of The Brotherhood’s list. Watch yourself. The bank robbery on the Rez was to raise money to hire a hit man.
It was unsigned. Ella studied the envelope. It had been mailed from a Denver, Colorado, post office.
Ella picked up the phone and dialed Dwayne Blalock’s number. FB-Eyes, as he was known on the Rez, was a good ally when he chose to be and, right now, the FBI agent’s resources would come in handy.
Blalock picked up the phone on the second ring, and Ella gave him a quick rundown. “Can you check your sources and see if you can come up with more information for me? I’ll send you the original note and envelope. Also, I’d really appreciate it if you would look for a connection between the bank robbers we have in custody and suspected Brotherhood members. We haven’t been able to turn up anything, but the Bureau might know something we don’t.”
“I can tell you this much right off the bat. The Denver area is believed to be a stronghold of The Brotherhood organization. It’s possible that note came from one of our contacts there.”
“Maybe a result of an overheard conversation? It seemed to have been written in haste, judging from the handwriting.”
“My suggestion is that you show a copy of that note to your chief, and attorney, as soon as possible.”
Ella took a deep breath. “Yeah, you’re right.”
Ella hung up, and quickly dialed Kevin’s office to fill him in. At first the silence at the other end of the line was daunting.
“Well, what’s the problem?” Ella asked at last.
“I was wondering about something, and happened to stop and say hi to your brother on the way to the office this morning. We talked for a moment about the way your house was all shot up a few nights ago. He mentioned something that was on my mind, too. Do you think that this drop in Brotherhood activity at the power plant is just an attempt to lull everyone into complacency? Once you’ve forgotten all about them, they turn on you with an assassination attempt? It would also serve to lower the chances of retaliation against them if it wasn’t clear who’d done the hit.”
Ella remembered the feeling she’d experienced the night before, the sensation that she was being studied and watched. “I hadn’t considered that, but it’s possible.” A Brotherhood assassin could have been watching her every move, preparing to take her out of the picture.
“The reason I suggested it is because of something that happened as I was reviewing the case against you. I learned that the legal firm representing Gladys Bekis and the bank robbers has also represented several suspected members of The Brotherhood in the past.”
Ella felt the spidery touch of fear walking along the base of her neck. “Things are sure getting interesting,” she muttered.
“Don’t let your guard down, Ella, there may be more than gang members gunning for you,” Tolino said, then hung up.
Ella leaned back in her chair. So much information was coming at her. Yet there were still no real answers, except maybe with the latest teen killed. Ella recalled everything that had happened when she’d found the latest victim. She pictured going into the neighborhood and findin
g the crime scene, and then relived the feeling that had swept over her, warning her of evil close by. She’d felt the same way at Lisa’s.
Ella picked up the phone and dialed Clifford’s home number. If anyone could help her gather information about their old enemies, the skinwalkers, her brother the hataalii could.
THIRTEEN
Ella took the note to Big Ed. After a brief discussion, Big Ed agreed with her suggestion that it would be best to pass along a warning to all the other Navajo officers about the Anglo activists. Taking advantage of Big Ed’s affable mood, Ella pressed him to allow her to set up a meeting with gang members. It took some time, but she managed to persuade him, providing she arranged to have some form of security for herself.
Ella left Big Ed’s office, found Justine, and gave her the note to examine and copy, asking that the original be sent to Agent Blalock.
Later, as Ella was waiting for her brother to arrive, Sergeant Neskahi knocked on her open door and came inside. His expression was so somber, Ella knew that whatever news he was bringing would not be good.
“Sit down, Sergeant.”
He took the only other chair, and moved it directly across from her desk. “The Many Devils are blaming the North Siders for the death of the unidentified boy we found,” Neskahi said, “and the Siders know the MDs are responsible for the death of that boy in the hospital. There’s been an incredible burst of tagging everywhere, and threats of retaliation are being left all over the place. I spoke to a teacher friend of mine over at the high school, and she told me that things are really tense. Two kids there got into a fight between classes and it took four teachers to break them up. One boy was a member of the North Siders, the other one was from the Many Devils. At least neither of the boys used a weapon.”
“Have the boys picked up and brought here.”
He shook his head. “I’ve already tried. Both kids were suspended, and the mothers have already removed them from school. I checked at their homes and then where the mothers work, but the kids couldn’t be found, or wouldn’t answer the door. Neither household has a father living there, so who knows where the boys are now?”
Ella sat back. “Find one of the North Siders, it doesn’t matter who, and bring him in. We’ll take it one step at a time.”
“I’ve got two officers on patrol searching for the kids, but so far, they haven’t found any of them they can identify as gang members. They’re not hanging around in the usual places, that’s for sure.”
“Keep trying. Those kids have got to be somewhere if they’re not in school. And somebody has to know who our John Doe is. We couldn’t find him in missing persons. Perhaps his parents don’t want to know where he is.”
As Neskahi left, Ella stood and began to pace. She needed at least one concrete lead on the killings, and identifying the last murder victim would be a start in that direction. It still seemed likely that gang kids, one of them the John Doe, had killed Lisa Aspass, and she already knew who was responsible for Taco’s death in the school parking lot. But who had slaughtered the two Many Devils boys? So far what she had were hunches and vague rumors, all which could be wrong.
Ella heard footsteps and glanced up as Clifford walked into her office.
“I’m here, as you asked,” he said calmly. “Now tell me how I can help you.”
Ella gave him a hesitant half-smile, feeling guilty again. She was very aware that she hadn’t had any time yesterday to go see her mother.
She shoved her guilt aside and struggled to focus on the murder investigation. “I’m grasping at straws at this point. Will you come and take a look at the evidence we have on the murder of two boys, and tell me if anything in particular strikes you?”
“Strikes me in what way?”
“I don’t know … just something that captures your attention—for any reason. As a hataalii, you know our people. I’m trying to get a handle on the psychology behind these killings.”
“You don’t believe they’re gang-related anymore?”
Ella expelled her breath in a hiss. “That depends on when you ask me,” she said. “Sometimes I think they’re all a product of gang rivalry. But at other times, I think I’m dealing with two or more killers with completely different motivations. It’s very possible our old enemies are at work here.” She saw her brother nod. They’d fought side by side against the skin-walkers. She knew he understood who she had meant, and would do his best to help.
Ella led Clifford into Justine’s lab. As her assistant brought out everything they had on the latest victim, the teenager they knew only as John Doe, Clifford studied the evidence without handling it. When he came to the table where the contents of the boy’s pockets had been laid out, he stopped short.
“That,” he gestured toward a fetish. “The boy was carrying it?”
“Yes,” Justine answered. “Everything from that evidence pouch came out of the last victim’s pockets. I wish we knew who he was. Maybe that would give us a lead as to his background.”
Clifford looked at the fetish for a long time, then, using a pencil, turned it over. “This is no ordinary fetish. Have you run tests on it?”
Justine shook her head. “For what?”
“I believe it’s a coyote fetish made out of bone. If it turns out to be carved of human bone, then I’m certain it’s an item of power to the skinwalkers. I can’t be sure, but I have a feeling it’s very old. I don’t know where the boy could have found something like this.”
“Maybe it’s part of the loot taken from a previous burglary,” Ella said, thinking out loud, “along with the old coins. The boy found it interesting and kept it.”
“That would make sense. If I’m right about that fetish, the skinwalkers will want it back.” Clifford affirmed.
“One of the boy’s pockets was empty, and had been turned inside out,” Justine said, looking at Ella. “The same was true of the Nahlee boy, though nothing was apparently taken. My guess is his killers were searching through his clothing when you came on the scene.”
“Could be. There were two others in that garage when I went inside, besides the victim.”
“If you don’t need me here anymore, I should be getting to the hospital,” Clifford said. “Mom’s still having trouble with those crutches, and I’m afraid she’ll give up again unless we continue to encourage her. The handyman you had fixing up the house called me because you weren’t home. He said that you wanted to know what it would take to make the rooms accessible to a wheelchair. He told me to tell you all that would be needed would be two small ramps. Fortunately our father was large, and he built the doorways and bathroom accordingly. The handyman did suggest we add a handrail in the bathroom.”
“I hope the entire matter about the wheelchair won’t be something we will have to deal with. I know it would be hard for Mom in the kitchen, having to keep everything she needed down low, and reaching up for the sink. And what about the garden? She’s just got to work her legs and get her mobility back.”
“Why don’t you visit today, and bring up those points?” he added with a stern look. “We need to keep her at those crutches.”
“I’ll do what I can,” Ella said. “And I appreciate your help with the investigation.” She walked outside with her brother. “I know that dealing with things of this nature is extremely distasteful for you.”
He nodded slowly. “The dead and things connected to them are repulsive to me. But these killings affect the entire tribe and I have a duty to the tribe that supersedes my own feelings. If these kids have been stealing from skinwalkers they’re in mortal danger, not only from the ones who’ll want back what has been stolen, but also from the items themselves. You better find out who this dead kid’s relatives were. They could be in danger, too.” He ran a hand through his hair. “The gangs, this theft—it’s a case of the worst of the new finding the worst of the old. I’m not sure how to protect any of us.”
Clifford braced one hand against the top of his pickup and stood there pensively. “Toni
ght I’m going to do a chant taken from the Enemy Way for our family. The prayer I have in mind is one of many evil-chasing ceremonies, but deals specifically with contamination from the outside. To me, that’s what the gangs typify. They’re an evil from the Anglo world that has found its way here and come to harm us.”
After saying good-bye to her brother, and promising to do what she could as a cop to help, Ella returned to her office and called for Justine and Neskahi, who was still at the station, to join her. They arrived within a few minutes.
“Justine, have you been able to determine if there’s a match between the fingerprint found on that glove at the Aspass scene and the print lifted from John Doe?”
“Sorry, boss. It looks like we’re on the right track, but that fingerprint lifted from the rubber glove just wasn’t very distinct. There just aren’t enough points of concurrence, and we need at least ten to establish a match in court.” Justine shrugged.
“Then we’ll have to hope the ME will be able to help us out on that burn, and that the other evidence, like shoe prints, will support the case.”
She then told them what Clifford believed, adding, “We might have a bigger problem than we first thought, though the possible motives for the crimes are becoming clearer, and the John Doe might have been one of those responsible for the Aspass killing. If that fetish was taken in a burglary, it’s likely that other skinwalker items were stolen as well.”
Ella continued. “My brother is seldom wrong about these things, so I think his assumption that the skinwalkers will want these items of power back is probably right on target. The way I see it, we’re dealing with several different sets of criminals, each intent on different goals. The Many Devils are responsible for the burglaries, and there is a gang war going on, but the skinwalkers may be responsible for the death of at least one of the boys involved in the burglaries, possibly both.”
“Which means that deaths will continue until harmony is restored,” Neskahi said. Seeing the surprised look Ella gave him, he shrugged. “I’m not a traditionalist, but sometimes their way of looking at things fits.”