Enemy Way

by Aimée

“The EMTs are on the way, but we can’t let them come in until it’s safe,” Ella shouted. “Do what you can for him.” Ella glanced across the way and saw Neskahi had taken a position near the other cop, Officer Poyer.

  Ella reached for her hand-held, keeping low. No shots had been fired in her direction yet, but the car with the gang kids was bullet-riddled, and pockmarks around on the rest room doors showed that those inside had also been targets. “We’ve got to get the leaders to cease fire,” she called to Neskahi and Officer Poyer. Any ideas how to get them to do that?”

  “Just don’t offer to go over there and talk to them. Your career will be over in a hurry,” Justine warned.

  Ella nodded. “I need ideas. If we don’t stop the shooting soon, Dodge could bleed to death.”

  As Ella hooked her radio back to her belt, she realized the boys in the car had stopped firing. The only shots were coming from the house. “I think we just got a break. Either the Many Devils have run out of ammo, or they’re out of action. They’re not returning fire.”

  “The boys in the house haven’t slowed down though,” Justine said as a burst of gunfire from the bathrooms struck the Many Devils’ car again.

  Ella grabbed the car mike, and used the loudspeaker to identify herself. “If the wounded officer here dies, you’re all going to be locked up for as long as the law allows. Give yourselves up. We have you outgunned, and more officers are on the way. Play it smart.”

  “We can’t come out,” a voice called from the car. “If we do, we’ll be gunned down.”

  Ella recognized Franklin Ahe’s voice. This time the bluster was gone. The kid was scared. What he’d planned as an act of revenge had really backfired.

  Ella called out to the North Siders’ leader, Redhouse. “Lay down your weapons and come out on the far side.”

  “No way. I don’t trust you cops either.”

  “Don’t make us use force,” Ella countered.

  A burst of gunfire struck her Jeep, shattering the driver’s-side window, effectively ending the conversation.

  * * *

  As three more units pulled up, Ella was able to have Dodge carried to where the EMTs could treat him. Meanwhile, she organized an assault team. She sent two shotgun-armed cops with gas masks to positions where they could cover the windows and doors of the rest rooms where the Siders were holed up.

  The boys in the car didn’t need much persuasion to leave once they saw the additional units, realizing their best chance lay in surrendering to the police. They left their weapons behind and slipped out of the car on the side away from the building, while the police gave them some covering fire. They were quickly taken into custody.

  Ella then turned to Justine. “Fire the tear gas through the rest room windows. It’s time to fumigate.”

  Justine sent a round of gas through each window. The North Siders surrendered within a minute, choking and coughing. Working with Philip Cloud, Sergeant Neskahi led the boys behind the line of patrol units and turned them over to Sergeant Hobson. The by-the-book cop had the gang kids facedown on the ground instantly.

  Ella smiled grimly. The old cop was like a gnarled cottonwood. His presence alone was enough to command respect. None of the boys so much as moved as they were handcuffed and searched.

  Once the scene was under control, Ella had the two leaders brought over to her. The war wasn’t over, she knew that from the defiance and hatred in their eyes. The gangs would continue to fight each other and the police as long as they were allowed to exist.

  “Listen to me carefully, boys. I know speeches don’t work on hardasses like you two, but you do seem to understand force—and fear—so try this on for size. You’re wasting your lives fighting each other when you have a much more powerful enemy to worry about. You both know by now that there’s more going on around here than your little turf war. Don’t make things easier for the ones who want to destroy you. If you try to kill each other, you’re playing right into their hands.”

  Ahe looked at her. “You’re back to that skinwalker thing? They’re fakes, like magicians on TV.”

  “Whether or not you believe skinwalkers have power is completely irrelevant. Learn from experience. Two out of the three gang members they went after are dead already. Whether you want to call it magic or not, they are more effective at killing their enemies than you, and they don’t waste time strutting around playing macho games. What you have to accept is that they believe in what they’re doing. They believe in the power of relics. Stealing from them was a big mistake.”

  “That’s not our problem,” Redhouse said. “They’re after the Many Devils, not us. We didn’t take anything from them. And if they want to kill the Many Devils, that’s just fine.”

  “They’re not taking any more of us out,” Ahe argued. “If anyone should worry, it’s the Siders. They aren’t going to grab one of our homies without paying the price.”

  “You still don’t get it,” Ella interrupted them. “Thomas Bileen wasn’t taken by the North Siders, he was taken by the Navajo witches. But they’re my problem. I’ll deal with them. And Redhouse, don’t be so sure that when the skinwalkers are through with the Many Devils, they won’t turn their attention to you and your homies. They’ve killed with less reason before, and you guys are a pretty easy target.”

  She looked at both gang leaders with disgust. “All you boys are going to be cooling your heels in jail. And while you’re there, I suggest you think hard about this gang war. If you continue it, the tribe itself will come down on you. That’s worse than just having a cop pulling you over. Remember that the law we enforce is an invention of the Anglos. Long before there were cops out here, the Dineh had their own ways of dealing with threats to the tribe.”

  Redhouse scoffed. “The People won’t go up against us. They’re too scared.”

  “Ask the MDs how scared the Fierce Ones are, they know firsthand about that. And now that they know your names, how long do you think you can last? Your families will be driven out, and the pressure will start coming in from all sides. The tribe’s patience doesn’t last forever.”

  As the boys were taken away, Neskahi and Justine joined Ella. “It’s getting dark now. If we’re going to make our move, we’ll have to make it soon.” Neskahi advised.

  “Let’s get rolling,” Ella agreed. “You know the plan, so stay in radio contact. I’ll meet you there.”

  Ella strode back to her Jeep, passed out coffee and sandwiches to her team, and got underway, heading toward her brother’s house. Through the thickened cloud layer, the thin sliver of the first quarter moon was dimmed. That muted light would come in handy tonight. Darkness was a powerful ally. Even the gods had looked to him for help, since Darkness went wherever he wished. Even Wind couldn’t boast of power like that.

  Without thinking of what she was doing, she clasped the Badger fetish in her hand. It felt warm, but not overly so. She held on to it for a moment longer, willing it to give her courage to face whatever lay ahead.

  * * *

  Lying on the cold concrete foundation of a half-finished house, Ella brought out her infrared scope, using it like binoculars. Fifty yards away, people were gathering behind the Benally house. She’d seen skinwalker gatherings before, and something wasn’t quite right about this one. She tried harder to make out the faces but she was too far away.

  Ella glanced at the duplicate doll beside her in disgust. Her brother had done an exceptional job. The responsibility for using it to trap their enemies, and then bringing it back, now weighed heavily on her. No matter what it took, she would make sure it was never used against her brother.

  Minutes later, when it seemed as if everyone the group below expected had arrived, Ella saw a boy being brought out the back door. He was blindfolded and, although she couldn’t make out his features, she didn’t have to guess at his identity. The person holding him turned Thomas directly toward her, as if he knew exactly where she was hiding.

  Ella gasped, the boldness of the action taking her co
mpletely by surprise.

  “What’s that all about?” Justine asked, her voice crackling through the static of the radio.

  “I’d say they’re offering me a trade—the boy for the doll.”

  “So, it’s moving according to plan,” Justine said.

  “For now,” Neskahi warned.

  Ella took the doll and prepared to go down to face her enemies. “I want you both to cover me with your rifles. I’ve got a vest on, but I’ll feel safer with trusted eyes watching.”

  “You’ve got it,” Neskahi said. “And if you have to bail, we’ll make sure you have all the backup you need to get out.”

  Ella checked her nine-millimeter pistol and the backup derringer in her boot, then went in. Skinwalkers preferred more traditional weapons, like their flint-edged knifes and arrows, or magic, but they were quite capable of using serious firepower. Young George Nahlee had been utterly destroyed by one of their shotguns.

  Skinwalker magic worked best against those who believed in their power, and Ella knew this. But she also believed in the power of good, something her family had demonstrated in abundance in countering evil. Ella knew she had to depend on that power tonight.

  As she approached the gathering of witches, the badger fetish around her neck seemed to increase in weight, as if it didn’t want her to go any closer.

  Acknowledging the warning while continuing her advance, Ella approached the circle, where a piñon fire burned brightly. The paint on the faces of those present obscured their identities, while the shadows cast by the flames made them seem more supernatural than human. The rifles and shotguns held by a few of the skinwalkers brought a touch of modern reality back into the situation. “Come no farther,” a man’s voice commanded.

  The skinwalker who held the boy stayed in the shadows by the back door, with a revolver stuck in his belt. “Put the doll down on the ground, then move back.”

  “No. The doll for the boy. We trade at the same time, or not at all,” she said firmly.

  “We will trade,” he answered.

  “Good. Let him go.” At the same moment the boy was released, Ella placed the doll down on the ground and moved back a few steps from it. The boy started to come toward her, still blindfolded, and the skinwalker who’d been holding him began moving toward the doll. Ella could sense the boy’s fear as he hurried forward toward the sound of her voice. “Just a few more feet. That’s good. Just keep coming.”

  “It’s okay,” she said as he reached her. Taking the blindfold off Thomas, Ella pulled him behind her and began moving away from the group, never turning her back on them.

  Suddenly the witch who’d picked up the doll screamed in rage and threw it to the ground. “It’s a trick.”

  Ella fought the urge to retrieve the doll right then, but to make a move now would put her among the armed kidnappers and leave the boy undefended. She’d have to retrieve it later, after the skinwalkers were arrested. Her team would move in just as soon as she and the boy were clear.

  “It doesn’t matter. We were prepared for treachery,” a shrill woman’s voice called out.

  Ella turned her head and saw Jane Clah approaching from the house, with another small group of skinwalkers. She had a cane, but scarcely seemed to need it now. Wilson Joe was walking behind her in stiff, halting steps. Ella’s jaw dropped. She could see his eyes were dull, despite the glow of the fire, so she knew he hadn’t come there on his own power. If he recognized her at all, he made no indication of it. Her heart turned to ice.

  “You see?” Jane said, pointing her cane at Wilson. “I planned a surprise for you. I knew you couldn’t be trusted.” She gestured toward the doll, and the man who’d held Thomas earlier brought it to her.

  Jane studied it, then looked at Ella, her gaze probing and cold. “Interesting. It isn’t the real one, of course, but it may yet prove useful.” Her smile was feral. “But, right now we’ve got other matters to discuss. As you can see, I control your friend, the college professor. Bring me the real doll, and you may have him back. If it isn’t here with us before sunrise, your friend’s mind will be lost forever. I will make sure of that. Right now, the effects of the herb mixture we’ve given him only make him compliant. But in greater quantities…” She shrugged. “The effects won’t kill his body, but not much of the man you know will remain.”

  Ella nodded, not trusting her voice. Jane Clah was as evil as Ella’s father-in-law Randall had ever been, if not more. Right now, she wasn’t at all sure if the woman before her had been Randall’s follower, or his leader.

  “This other doll will also remain with me. I sense it has … possibilities.”

  “You know it’s a phony, yet you would keep it?” Ella said, forcing her voice to remain steady. “You must have a plan to trick your own followers someday.”

  Jane Clah laughed. “You’re hoping to foster suspicions among us and create division? Don’t waste your time; it won’t work. They know enough to trust me completely. I’ve led them through far worse than anything you can threaten them with.” Jane studied the doll in her hand. “This is no ordinary copy, I can sense that.” She paused, then added, “You made a mistake tonight, and I believe I know what it was.”

  Ella backed away, pulling Thomas Bileen along. “The real doll will be yours, provided my friend is returned unharmed. Don’t waste both our time discussing the copy,” she said, forcing herself to sound disinterested, though the prospect of what that evil woman might do with her brother’s creation made her sick. She’d given her word to Clifford. If she failed him, she’d also be failing herself in the worst possible way.

  Jane laughed, the sound full of derision and contempt. “Go quickly, now. You only have until sunrise to trade for your friend.”

  Ella hurried Thomas along until they reached Justine. Sergeant Hobson was there, too, having responded to Justine’s call for backup. Ella turned the boy over to the sergeant.

  Thomas was so frightened that he was shaking like a leaf, his speech unsteady. “They’re all crazy down there,” he said, his words rushing together. “You were right all along. You’d better give them the real doll, or your friend won’t have a chance.”

  “I’ll handle it,” Ella said gently. “Leave with this officer now.”

  “No, they’ll find me again!”

  Sergeant Hobson turned the boy around and looked him right in the eye. “Nobody is going to snatch you this time, Nephew,” he said, using the term to denote tribal ties, not actual kinship. “It’s easy to take someone by surprise when they’re not expecting trouble. But they’ve used up all their tricks. Now we’re armed and dangerous, and if anyone gets near us before we reach safety, they’re history.”

  Ella knew Hobson was tough, but so were the skinwalkers. Yet the boy responded to the sergeant’s confident words, calming down.

  Once Thomas was safely away, Ella left Justine on watch and walked back to the Jeep with Neskahi.

  “What do you need from me?” Neskahi asked.

  “Hang tight. I’ll give you instructions in a minute.”

  Ella called Blalock on the cellular and breathed a huge sigh of relief when she learned that the real doll had arrived safely in the mail. “Will you meet one of my people at the Flare Hill turnoff with the doll? I’m facing a hostage situation here. That doll is the payoff, and I don’t have a lot of time.”

  “You’ve got it. And I’ll be there to help, too. I’m walking over to my weapons closet right now.”

  Ella nodded to Neskahi and handed him a note with detailed instructions. “Take care of my shopping list, then meet Blalock and bring him and the doll here. Get going.”

  “What’s going on?” Blalock asked.

  She’d wanted to end the conversation, but Blalock refused to be put off. He wanted details, and Ella knew that if she refused to give them, he’d only continue to press for information, and he might dig in his heels and refuse to bring the doll.

  “Wilson Joe is being held hostage,” she admitted finally, giving him
the details of the situation, but not her own plans for resolving it. That would have been too risky over the air.

  Blalock snorted in disgust, and asked if there was anything else she needed. When Ella said no, he ended the call to get underway.

  Ella hung up the cellular. Blalock would be a plus to have on her team. She’d need all the well-trained manpower she could get to carry off what she had in mind. That … and a lot of luck.

  Ella knew she’d need to summon her brother. A medicine man was the best defense against the evil ones, and Clifford had helped her before. But first, she dialed the ER at Shiprock Hospital next and asked for Jeremiah Crow. His cooperation was absolutely the key to the operation.

  * * *

  It was close to four in the morning, and bitterly cold. Taking her cue from the bank robbers, Ella had staged a phoney accident near the turnoff to the neighborhood. The screech of tires, followed by shouts of pain and cries for help at the site, had all combined to make it very convincing. The road was close enough to be easily seen from the Benally house, and she knew the skinwalkers were watching their every move.

  According to plan, the cops watching the house had left for the accident, making no attempt to hide their departure. Ella had left too, joining the general exodus, but as soon as possible, she sneaked back with her assault team, taking a roundabout route that hid them from view.

  As Angel Hawk made a wide circle over the staged accident scene, now filled with emergency vehicles, she knew she’d successfully diverted the skinwalker’s attention. Through her nightscope she could see figures at the front windows, watching from behind the curtains.

  Clifford, unofficially armed with a .38 revolver and wearing a bulletproof vest, crouched beside Ella. “You could lose some of your people tonight,” he whispered, “despite the Enemy Way I sang, maybe we’ll lose our teacher friend as well.”

  “I know, but I have no other choice. You can back out, though, if you’d like,” she said.

  “No, I’m in. You have your own abilities, but I’m the only real equalizing force you have against the metaphysical weapons the skinwalkers will throw at you. I can counter any of their illusions, or at the very least, warn your people when they’re being tricked. And there is that item I made for you. I want to find it.”