by Aimée
“I’m going back to the office, then,” Justine said. “I need to finish a few reports before I call it a night, and I want to stop by my aunt’s to see if Thomas is home. I think she’s been hiding him from me, and I want to catch her unawares.”
Neskahi called in next. “I’m going to stick around here a while longer. I have a feeling about tonight.”
“What kind of feeling?” Ella pressed, never one to discount a colleague’s gut reaction to anything.
“I don’t know. Maybe we’re missing something, maybe we’re not. Anyway, you won’t be far, and there are extra patrols in this area. I’ll be okay.”
“Stay in radio contact,” Ella advised, then signed off.
Throughout the drive to the Totah Cafe, Wilson remained silent. Ella allowed him time to mull over his thoughts. Maybe, the alcohol fog that had clouded his brain would lift, and he would see that she’d done him a very big favor tonight. She was his friend, and would always honor that.
Ella parked and led the way to a booth in the back, the one which would give her the clearest view of the room. Without asking Wilson what he wanted, she ordered an entire pot of coffee. “That should hold us while we talk,” she said.
He remained morose, staring at his hands.
Finally, after his second cup of coffee, Wilson began to come around. Ella saw him take a sip of water, then pour himself another cup of coffee. His hand wasn’t shaking so much anymore, and his eyes looked red, but clear.
“It looks like I owe you one,” Wilson said quietly, sipping the strong coffee. “I don’t know what the administration at the college would have done had they learned that I had been out driving around like this. Hell, a while before you came along, someone almost hit me broadside. I pulled out into the street, and all I ever saw was his lights as he swerved. I was lucky. Considering what happened to your mom, I’m surprised you didn’t throw the book at me.”
“I think you’re forgetting how many times you’ve saved Clifford’s life, and mine.”
“We were all pretty close once.” He met her gaze. “We were facing trouble from every corner, hunted by everyone, including the cops, and yet, when I look back on those days I don’t regret one single moment. We knew where we stood then, and what we were fighting against. Things don’t seem so clear-cut now. Was it really simpler then?”
“Things were never simple. But we always knew that no matter how tough things got, none of us stood alone. It’s that way now, too, even if you don’t realize it.” Ella reminded him.
“Things have changed in all of our lives. We’ve changed.”
She nodded slowly. “That’s true enough. But not all change is bad. For one thing, I never expect to see you like this again—not if you want to stay out of jail.”
He looked into her eyes. “You won’t.” For a long time Wilson stared into his cup then, finally, he looked up again. “Something’s eating at you, Ella. Something that goes beyond your job. Is it your mother?”
Ella was glad that he’d given her an out. She wasn’t ready to talk to him about Lisa and the skinwalker connection. That was the last thing he needed to hear while he was still coming out of his alcoholic haze. “Mom’s doing better now, and she can take care of herself again, but I’ve got to admit, she had me scared silly for a while.”
Time passed quickly, and as Wilson relaxed Ella was glad to see that their conversation became more natural and easygoing. They hadn’t spoken this freely with each other in months, but of course, there were still many issues she couldn’t broach with him. She wondered how she would ever be able to bring up the possibility of Lisa being linked with skinwalkers.
She was about to suggest they call it a night when Justine came into the cafe. In her hand was a thick manila folder, and the red tab let her know it was an active case file. Her face was set, a sign that some progress had been made.
Justine smiled at Wilson, then at Ella as she sat down. “A report from the ME was in my office when I got back. It’s a breakdown of the chemicals used in the flash powder that burned the first victim’s attacker,” she said, avoiding Lisa’s name for Wilson’s sake. “None of the components are unusual, so their origin would be difficult to trace.”
Wilson stared at a photo that had slipped partially out of the folder as she set it down on the table.
Ella looked at him, concerned by the strange expression on his face. “Are you feeling okay?”
Wilson nodded. “I was just thinking of the last time I saw that little fetish.”
Ella kept her face expressionless, but it took some effort. “This one?” She brought it out all the way so he could see it clearly. “This was hers?”
He nodded. “Sure. I remember the first time I saw it. I discovered it underneath her pillow by accident one afternoon when I was helping her carry the laundry and make the bed. It surprised me that she had one at all. Then again, a lot of Navajos carry Zuni fetishes for protection. You do, too, though yours is a badger,” he added, looking at Ella.
“Yeah, but the one Ella carries isn’t made of human bone,” Justine muttered.
Wilson’s eyes grew wide. “What did you say?”
Justine looked at Ella, who stiffened, then nodded. “It’s been tested. It’s human bone,” Justine answered.
Ella watched as Wilson realized the implications, his expression turning from confusion, to surprise, then finally anger.
Wilson met Ella’s gaze with a cold one of his own. “Do you think Lisa was a skinwalker, and that gang members are being killed because they stole her ritual items?”
Ella paused, trying to figure out the best way to answer. Wilson knew her too well. He wouldn’t accept anything but the truth.
“Your silence tells me all I need to know,” he said, getting up abruptly and heading for the door.
Justine looked at Ella. “I hope you’re not angry, but I thought if Wilson knew, he might be more inclined to help us. He’s the only one who might know where Lisa got the powder, or who taught her to make it. This way, too, he didn’t have to hear it from you, and I know you’ve been worried about how to do that without destroying your friendship.”
Ella tossed a few bills on the table. “This may not have been the best time. But, either way, it’s done. We’ll discuss the new evidence later. Right now I’ve got to go after him.”
“I’m coming with you.”
Ella left the cafe with Justine right behind her. Wilson was walking along the side of the road, staring at the ground. His face was tucked down into his jacket, shielded from the wind. He was headed back toward where they’d left his pickup.
“Wait a minute,” Justine said, stopping abruptly in mid-stride and taking a quick glance back toward the cafe. “What the heck is he doing here?”
“He, who?” Ella asked.
“Don’t let on that we’re on to him, but he’s to your left, parked near the window. It’s my cousin, Thomas Bileen.”
Ella turned casually, catching a glimpse of the boy as she pretended to look down the road in the opposite direction. She took a moment to study him out of the corner of her eye.
“Was he here when you arrived?”
Justine considered it for a moment. “There was a car there, the space wasn’t empty, but I don’t remember seeing him in it at the time. Maybe he had ducked down.
“Forget about Wilson for now. He’ll be okay. Pull your car around like you’re leaving, but cut off Thomas’s exit instead. I’ll go over there and talk to him once you’re in place.”
Justine completed the maneuver within a few moments, and Ella strode over to where Thomas’s car was parked. He’d ducked down from the moment Justine had got into her car, and was obviously trying to avoid being seen.
As Ella drew near, the boy looked up, and his eyes grew wide. In a heartbeat, he bolted out of the car, and headed into the brush behind the cafe.
SEVENTEEN
Ella ran back to her Jeep, then headed out across the open terrain, keeping the boy in her headlight
s as well as she could. The way the Jeep was bouncing, the searchlight would have been impractical. As Ella increased her speed, hoping to catch up to the boy before he reached a place where she couldn’t follow, she heard Justine request backup over the radio.
The boy kept his wits, running over uneven ground that slowed her down. As he took off up a narrow canyon, Ella was forced to leave her vehicle and continue the pursuit on foot.
Despite his baggy pants, Thomas was fast on his feet and Ella was sure she wouldn’t be able to catch him without help. Hoping backup would arrive soon, she continued after him, managing to keep him in sight.
As Ella raced uphill, she cursed the many cups of coffee that were now sloshing inside her. Suddenly a vehicle swerved into action just ahead, cutting the teen off. It wasn’t a marked unit, and she had no idea who was inside.
Before she had time to consider it, the driver fired twice at the running youth from inside the vehicle. Ella saw Thomas dive for cover.
“Stop shooting!” Ella yelled, unsure if the driver was an ally or an enemy. It wasn’t Wilson’s truck, and something told her it wasn’t an off-duty cop responding to the call in his or her own private vehicle either. Stopping for a second, Ella drew her pistol and crouched, expecting trouble.
The driver turned his pickup around, his identity hidden by the bright headlights, and fired in her direction, forcing Ella down to the ground. Ella returned fire, but it was a nearly impossible shot from her angle, and she missed the truck altogether. Ella crawled over to better cover behind a boulder, keeping her head low. As she peered out from behind the edge of the large rock, she saw Justine zig-zagging forward on foot. Her vehicle was at an angle to the hill, probably bogged down in the sand. A heartbeat later Neskahi’s vehicle pulled up next to Justine. She jumped inside, and they moved on toward her position.
The driver who’d attacked her and the boy kept his headlights aimed their way, blinding them as he fired two more shots toward where the boy had taken refuge. From her position, Ella couldn’t see Thomas. Afraid that their enemy in the truck might be able to see well enough to target the boy, she fired back, putting out first one, then the second headlight with direct hits.
Ella continued firing and emptied her gun, trying to cover Neskahi and Justine’s approach. When the slide came open, signifying that her clip was empty, Ella crouched back down behind her boulder. She braced herself for return fire as she felt around in her pocket for a second clip. In the seconds it would take her to reload, the shooter could do a lot of damage, and she had no idea where he was at the moment.
A shotgun blast got her attention. Ella looked out around the base of the rock and saw that Neskahi had dropped Justine off behind cover. She’d fired that shot, while he had stayed in his vehicle and pursued the shooter, who was now fleeing in his truck at high speed.
Ella came out into the open and ran toward the spot where she’d seen the boy take cover. “Are you okay?” she yelled.
She heard the sound of someone gasping for air, but no one answered her. “You really don’t want me to leave you here all alone now, do you? Let’s face it, whoever that was shooting at you could come back, and I doubt you’re carrying a gun.”
She heard the rustle of cloth against the brush, then a boy wearing the dark baggy pants and the red jacket of the Many Devils, stood up. “What are you going to do to me now?”
Justine arrived just as Ella approached Thomas Bileen, and he looked warily at her shotgun. “Hi, Cuz.” Thomas managed weakly.
“Be glad that we’re the ones who ended up with you tonight, Cuz.” Justine sighed. “I’d hate to have to explain your death tonight to your mom.”
“Get in my Jeep, Thomas. We’re going to drive to the station and have a long talk.” Ella ordered.
Justine glanced at Ella. “It looks like you’ve got this covered. How about if I back my car out of here and see if Neskahi can use some help?”
“Go,” Ella answered.
Two hours later, Ella sat in her office. Justine was in the lab, but Neskahi was still out in the field. He’d chased the driver and vehicle into an area familiar to him before the attacker had disappeared. He’d opted to continue the search on his own.
Sixteen-year-old Thomas Bileen sat in the chair across from Ella, apparently hoping to somehow intimidate her with his mad-dogging. His parents could not be located, and he had turned down an offer from Justine to be there with him.
“You realize that so far you’ve given me nothing, including any incentive to help you stay alive,” Ella said, her expression impassive. Hostile stares didn’t frighten her after years working for the FBI.
“So, you’re going to put me in jail, like you did before. I don’t care.” the boy said, his tone cocky.
Ella knew that was exactly what he wanted. Jail time was a status symbol in the gangs, and it would also be nice and safe at the moment to be locked up. “No, not at all. True, you ran away from a police officer, but I’m not going to hold you on that. You’re free to go, but if I were you, I’d keep an eye out while walking back to your car. Someone is trying to blow you away.”
Thomas lost his hostility in a second, and it was replaced with uncertainty, then fear. His voice raised an octave. “You’re just going to let me go? You can’t do that. They’ll find me!”
“Who’ll find you?” Ella never looked up, feigning disinterest while making a show of searching through her files.
“Don’t you know what’s going on?” His voice rose even higher.
“Does it have anything to do with this young man?” Ella brought out a police photo of Shopper, the gang member she’s found with his throat slit.
Thomas crumbled in his seat, and his face turned pale. When he finally spoke, his voice was crumbling, and moisture was forming in his eyes. “Yeah. He was my homie, Shopper. His real name is Glenn Shorty. He came from Tuba City about four months ago. I think he ran away when his parents tried to put him in the D-home. He was the one that witch tried to fry when we broke into her house. He managed to hit her with that box, then whacked her on the head with some horse statue. But now the other skinwalkers are after the Many Devils. They’ve gotten two of us already, and I’m next. If you don’t keep me locked up here, they’ll find me again. Those skinwalkers are cold.”
“If you decide to make a statement, we’ll protect you.”
The boy slumped in his chair, looked around the room one more time, then finally nodded.
Ella called in Justine and Big Ed. Both brought tape recorders. Once everything was set up, she nodded to the boy. “Okay, we’re ready. Tell us all you know about the crimes we’ve been discussing.”
“And you’ll keep those witches from getting me, like they did to Shopper, right?” The boy looked at Ella, then the chief.
Big Ed nodded. “We’ll put you in protective custody, and do all we can, if you’ll cooperate.”
“My homie Shopper, Glenn Shorty, I mean, belongs to the Many Devils. We needed money to get some guns for protection from the Siders so we started breaking into houses and selling the stuff we got. Sometimes we’d find a pistol or shotgun, and we’d keep those. Hunting rifles are no good up close. Then we hit that witch’s house right after she left for work. We didn’t know she was a witch at the time, though. Shopper and I were trying to open this small metal box we’d found when she suddenly came back to the house. She walked right in on us. Instead of yelling or running away, she got real angry and ordered us to put the box down. Her voice was really strange, spooky-like. We thought she might be crazy or something.
“We laughed at her, I mean what could she do? She was a skinny woman, and there were two of us.” Thomas shook his head. “We didn’t know she was a witch.”
“You said that. Then what happened?” Big Ed pressed.
“She muttered some strange Navajo-sounding word, then she pointed her finger at me. My legs just buckled and I fell back against the wall, hitting it really hard with my head. Shopper freaked out and threw the box at
her. He lucked out and it hit her right above the eye. She went down, and was bleeding pretty good. We thought she was knocked out. I wanted to get out of there fast, but Shopper laughed and called me a wimp. He went to get the box. It had come open and he wanted to see what was in it that was so important. I told him to forget it, but he wouldn’t listen. The box was on the floor beside the witch and, the second he got close, she blew some yellow powder all over him. She’d been faking, you know? Shopper started choking and sputtering. He told me to get her. I saw the witch crawling away, but I just couldn’t move. It was as if she had glued my feet to the floor with some kind of magic trick.
“Then Shopper grabbed a metal statue, a horse I think, and really whacked her on the head with it. Blood splattered everywhere, even on me. She fell down on the carpet and didn’t move. That’s when the yellow powder on him started burning. Man, it was like fireworks. Shopper started screaming, and I pushed him down on the carpet and helped him smother the flames. I guess when the witch got hit by the statue, it must have broken her spell, because I could move again.”
“So the woman was dead?” Ella asked.
“It sure looked like it. She wasn’t moving, and there was blood everywhere. Shopper was really pissed. He wanted whatever was in the box she’d fought so hard to keep, kinda like a lesson to her who was toughest. We found the fetish of a wolf or a coyote first. I couldn’t really tell which. It looked really cool, so we figured we could sell it easy. The other thing just looked spooky, but Shopper decided we should take it with us, too. He put it in his pocket, then we took the TV and VCR out to our car and split.”
“Tell us about the second object. Can you describe it?” Ella asked.
“It looked like a really ugly rag doll, and I mean really ugly. Kind of like one of the voodoo dolls you would see on TV, only worse. The cloth was yellow and dirty and the hair looked almost real, but half of it had fallen out.” Thomas shook his head. “How could anything that disgusting be worth that much? But Shopper thought it might be real old, like from a museum.”