by Aimée
“You got all that?” Justine finally asked.
“Yeah, I’ll be there. Get a warrant to search the place if you can’t contact the aunt to get permission. He’s connected to this case, if only as a witness.”
“Okay. Sergeant Neskahi and I will join you there.”
Ella went back inside the lunchroom and took Blalock aside to bring him up to date. “You want to ride along on this?”
“Sorry. I’ve got to interview a witness on another case I’m working on. I’m also scheduled to talk to a DEA agent about anyone who might be dealing peyote in the area. Fill me in later. Smith hasn’t given me anything else, by the way.”
“Okay.”
Ella returned to the table with Blalock and focused her gaze on Smith who was drinking coffee from a foam cup. “Noah Charley has disappeared. Do you know who he is?”
“Sure I do,” Smith said with a shrug.
“Any idea where we might be able to find him?”
“If he’s not at work try at home, wherever that is.”
Ella regarded him for a moment. “Let me ask you this. If there was a Brotherhood, who do you think their leader would be?”
He smiled slowly. “If there was an organization like that, only members would have that information. It wouldn’t pay to advertise, if you get my meaning.”
“Thanks for your help,” Ella said.
“I didn’t help you,” he said emphatically.
Ella nodded slowly. “All right.”
* * *
It took over an hour for Ella to find Noah Charley’s home. It was in a low area west of the Hogback oil field occupied by a few head of cattle competing for the meager forage. The stucco house was simple and had few amenities. Electricity came from a generator, and not much of one at that. A well had been drilled, but water had to be carried inside from the old hand pump. Still, the man was better off than many Navajos Ella had visited.
No GMC pickup, or any vehicle, for that matter, was in sight. Justine’s car appeared not long after Ella arrived, with Neskahi at the wheel and Justine playing passenger because of her injured ankle. Ella decided to search the place since it looked like nobody was home and Justine had managed to get oral permission from the aunt to look inside for clues to her nephew’s whereabouts. Typically, the house wasn’t locked.
Justine hobbled into the bedroom to look around while Neskahi searched the living room. “All his clothes are gone,” Justine called out to Ella, “except for one shoe sticking out from under the bed. But this doesn’t make much sense. If he had planned to go off, why wouldn’t he have picked up his paycheck? He earned it, and it’s been waiting for him since yesterday.”
Neskahi spoke up from the other room. “It looks like he decided to leave in a hurry. But so far, I haven’t managed to find anything that lets us know where he went.”
Ella came out of the kitchen and took the shoe Justine had found. “Does this shoe size correspond to any of the tracks we found at the scene of Bitah’s murder? The vehicle tracks Blalock identified were too common to help us out. Maybe we’ll get lucky with this.”
“We might. I don’t remember any of the sizes, though. I’d have to check,” Justine responded.
“Bag it, then check it out as soon as you get back to the office.”
They helped Justine finish searching the bedroom as Ella filled her and Neskahi in on the Hashké group. “Did your cousin say anything about that?” Ella asked Neskahi.
“No he didn’t, but just getting the few answers I did was like pulling up an elm. He made it clear that he didn’t want anyone to see him talking to a cop, even if the cop is his cousin.”
Ella frowned. “Do you realize what’s going on here? We have people who are afraid to talk to us. They’re being intimidated into silence, and that means big trouble for us and everyone who could end up a victim.”
Ella glanced at a discarded newspaper on the floor next to an empty fried chicken bucket. A photo of Senator Yellowhair was on the page, but someone had drawn a black circle over one eye and darkened every other tooth. She picked the paper up and stared at it, lost in thought. “It’s time for me to find out if The Brotherhood has anything against Senator Yellowhair.”
“You’re thinking they might have killed his daughter in retaliation for something he did or should have done?” Neskahi asked.
“The Brotherhood advocates violence, so why not? It would be a beautiful frame. If they knew Bitah was part of that splinter religious group they might have used the jimsonweed-laced peyote as a way to throw suspicion on Bitah. That will discredit him and the Fierce Ones and throw suspicions off of themselves. It’s worth checking out, anyway.” Ella was abruptly interrupted as her hand-held crackled and her call sign came over the air, along with a general alert.
“We have a ten-thirty-nine at the mine. Any available units please respond.”
Ella acknowledged the code for a disturbance. “Ten-four.”
Ella glanced at Neskahi. “Justine and I will respond to this call. I want you to stay out of this. One of us will need to remain low profile in order to work this case from behind the scenes. Everyone knows you’re a cop, but not everyone knows you’re part of this case.” She glanced at Justine. “You can ride with me in the Jeep. Neskahi can drive back in your vehicle.”
“Is there anything specific you want me to do here before I go?” Neskahi asked.
“Take one last look around. Make sure we didn’t miss anything. Then go back to your cousin and pressure him to work with us.”
“I suppose I could threaten to become his shadow, following him everywhere.”
“Whatever it takes.” Ella walked outside and headed for the Jeep with Justine, who was still using a crutch. Switching on her sirens, Ella hurried back to the highway as fast as the road would allow.
When she finally reached the parking lot of the mine, she saw a group of Navajo and Anglo workers standing outside the buildings. From their gestures she could tell they weren’t discussing the weather. At least it appeared none of the anger had resulted in any violence, so far. No other units had arrived on the scene yet, and the few security guards were standing by the doors, protecting property rather than personnel.
Ella squealed to a stop and reached for her PR-24. The baton could give her the edge she needed.
Ella threw open her door and strode forward. She was as tall as most of the men here, but they outweighed her by a considerable margin, not to mention far outnumbering her and Justine.
Despite that, everyone took a step back, and the men exchanging insults stopped speaking abruptly. Ella started to congratulate herself on her intimidation skills when she realized they weren’t looking at her. She glanced back quickly and saw Justine leaning casually against the side of the Jeep, shotgun cradled in her arms, gaze leveled on the crowd.
TEN
Ella had to fight back the urge to smile. Though she knew that Justine had no intention of using deadly force unless it was in self-defense, her tactic had worked, helping diffuse the situation.
Ella focused her eagle-sharp gaze on the closest man to her. She recognized Jeremiah Franklin, having gone to high school with him. “What’s the problem here, Jeremiah?”
“There’s no problem.”
“Then there’s no reason for everyone to continue standing around out here, is there?” I suggest you all go home. How come you’re out here instead of working, anyway? You guys can all afford to lose your jobs?”
Billy Pete came forward, edging around two Anglos. “The company has just decided to change almost everyone’s shifts. Most of the Anglos get straight days, eight to four, the rest of us get night and graveyard shifts.”
“Did they give a reason for this?”
“They wanted to cut down on possible confrontations between the Anglo workers and the tribe, but what they’re going to get is exactly the opposite. The few Anglos with vital jobs skills that have to continue working at night with us feel pretty isolated now. And everyone hates be
ing put on shifts that force them to completely rearrange their family schedules.”
“The Anglos working with us should be nervous,” Jeremiah said, “if they’ve been causing trouble.”
“This is not the time for such talk!” Raymond Nez snapped.
Jeremiah shrugged and walked away.
Ella looked at Raymond. His jaw was set and there was defiance in his eyes. She could see why Jeremiah had backed down. This guy was trouble waiting to happen.
“You were out here earlier this morning asking questions, wanting to find out what’s going on,” Raymond said. “And you’ve learned a few things. I give you credit for intelligence and skill and, most of all, for persistence. But you don’t know the whole story. It would be far better for everyone if you’d let the workers here settle their differences without interference from the police.”
“I know about the ‘Fierce Ones who carry out vengeance’,” she said, translating the Navajo group’s name while watching Raymond carefully.
He smiled slowly. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He glanced around at the crowd. “And I doubt anyone else here does either.”
The other men were trying hard not to look at her. In the Navajo culture it was considered impolite to look someone directly in the eyes, but Ella’s gut told her that their avoidance had little to do with that. There was fear and mistrust here, two emotions that were almost guaranteed to create trouble.
Ella saw an Anglo worker separate himself from the other group and approach. She braced herself for more trouble. He was a tall, brown-haired, blue-eyed man with the look of authority. “I’m Randy Watson, Officer. I’m a supervisor here. How can I help?”
“I need information and answers.”
He smiled. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Let’s talk inside. Could you find us a place?” Seeing him nod, Ella took Justine aside. “Call in and tell dispatch that things are under control here for the moment. Tempers appear to have cooled. I’d like you to stay outside and see what you can do to get us some information.” Knowing her assistant, it was quite possible she’d get far more from the lingering workers than Ella herself would. Justine’s approach mingled genuine sweetness with a core of steel, and her Navajo was a lot better than Ella’s.
Ella strode inside the building, following Watson to one of the empty conference rooms. “This place is becoming a war zone. If trouble escalates, everyone loses. Do you agree?”
He nodded. “Of course.”
“Then tell me what you know about The Brotherhood.”
“I could say that I’ve never heard of them, but I won’t insult your intelligence.” Watson leaned back in the chair and stretched out his legs in front of him. “I’ve heard of the group, but I’m not a member. Personally, I don’t think it’s much of an organization. To my mind, if they counted any significant number of the Anglo workers as followers, they would have flexed their muscles more. That type of organization is by nature made up of racist bullies and there’s nothing they like better than exercising their power.”
“You may have a point, but it only takes a few to stir things up and create a crisis situation.”
“I’m keeping a tight watch on the men under my supervision. If I find any of them deliberately creating division between the miners, they’ll be fired on the spot.”
“But you can’t be everywhere at once.”
“There are other supervisors who, like me, are keeping their eyes open.”
Ella sensed the man was being honest with her. “If you discover who the members of The Brotherhood or the Navajo group are, will you call me?”
“I’ll fire them, then I’ll call you. I have a job to do here, too.”
“Fair enough.”
Ella stood up. “One more thing. Does anyone here, Anglo or Navajo, have any grievance against state senator Yellowhair?”
“James Yellowhair?” he asked, surprised. “No, quite the opposite. He’s always supported the mine. Admittedly, he’s trying to get the company to train more Navajos to take over key positions but, hell, he’s an elected official whose funding for re-election comes mostly from the tribe. You’d expect him to take that stand.”
“Do you think that gives The Brotherhood a gripe against him?”
He considered. “Maybe, but it’s like resenting a porcupine for having quills. It’s the nature of the beast. I really don’t see what other position they could expect him to take.”
She offered Watson her hand. Though like many Navajos she disliked touching strangers, she was making a concession she felt certain this man would appreciate.
He shook her hand firmly and gave her a nod. “We’ll weed out the troublemakers. Just give us time.”
Ella left the building, once again feeling that her help was not wanted and wishing it wasn’t needed. As she joined Justine she saw most of the workers had left, but Raymond Nez was still there. His expression was no longer openly hostile, but Justine was still holding the shotgun.
As Ella approached she saw Nez’s face grow taut. Justine turned, exchanged a few quick words with Nez, then hobbled over to the Jeep, stowing the shotgun.
“That’s one interesting man,” Justine said as they got underway.
Ella, alerted by her tone, glanced at her assistant. “Don’t tell me you’re attracted to him.”
Justine shrugged. “He’s good-looking and has a certain charisma, I suppose, but I’m not about to forget he’s a suspect in our investigation. It’s strange how he comes on really strong about Navajo rights, but is not fanatical in any way. He’s loyal to the tribe and, as a supervisor, he claims he’s trying to look out for the men under him. I think he’s just trying to make sure our people get the breaks they deserve.”
“You’re basing all that on a ten-minute conversation?”
“I’ve met men like him before. You’re going to have to trust my instincts on this one.”
Ella wanted to tell Justine that it wasn’t her instincts she was worried about. No matter how much Justine wanted to gloss over it, her experience in the field was limited. Inexperience, coupled with hormones, could color gut instincts. “You’re thinking you can turn this guy into an informant?”
“It’s worth a shot.”
“It could also be trouble.”
“I know I screwed up once before when our elders were being killed, but believe me, I learned my lesson.”
Ella considered her reply silently for several moments. She didn’t want to undermine her assistant’s confidence, but neither did she want to see her in a situation that was beyond her capabilities to handle. “I think that Nez is a very smart cookie. If he’s part of the Fierce Ones, and I tend to think that’s a real good bet, chances are he’s learned to cover himself far better than you think. I’m not sure how dangerous he is. You’d have to be very careful.”
“I won’t lower my guard around him. I admit it was a mistake getting involved with the wrong man in those killings last year, but I seldom make the same mistake twice.”
“Make sure you don’t then. I don’t want to worry about you,” Ella admitted at last.
“I’ll treat him just like I do my brother’s new stallion,” Justine said with a tiny grin. “I won’t be fooled into thinking he’s harmless just because he takes food from my hand when it’s offered.”
Ella smiled. “All right. See what you can do.” She had no right to hold her assistant back. Experience was gained in only one way. Hoping she was making the right decision, Ella headed the Jeep back toward Shiprock.
They walked inside the station a short time later. At once, Ella could feel the tension in the air. People were speaking in hushed voices, and phones were ringing continually.
Justine glanced at Ella. “Something is not right,” she mumbled. “There are usually two or three uniforms hanging around, bringing in reports or suspects, but everyone is on the phone. It feels weird in here.”
“I know.”
Big Ed leaned out of his office door
way and motioned to them. “I need to talk to you both. We’ve got a situation.”
Ella followed with Justine. When they stepped inside Big Ed’s office, he uncharacteristically asked them to close the door and sit down. “There’s been an outbreak of meningitis in the Newcomb area south of here. It started with one child believed to have the flu, but the child got sicker and by the time they brought him up to the hospital and the diagnosis was made, it was too late. There was no real alarm until it was discovered that the child had been staying at a daycare center because it was sheep shearing time. Now other children from the center have shown up with symptoms after they returned to their homes, some in Shiprock and eastern Arizona. We need to hold vaccination clinics for the entire New Mexico area of the Rez. Arizona officials will be dealing with everyone on their side of the state line.”
“It’s going to be a tough job getting everyone to come in. A lot of the rural families are traditionalists who would be more comfortable calling in a hataalii than working with a doctor,” Ella said.
“No kidding,” Big Ed snapped. “That’s why I need you to go visit the hospital and see what kind of support we can give them. Talk to Dr. Natoni. He’s in charge of this. I’ve already got units lined up to help transfer medical supplies to the Chapter Houses, but there may be more we can do. Maybe your brother can offer some advice, too.”
“My brother is a hataalii. He believes in the old ways. I can’t ask him to sanction vaccinations he doesn’t believe in.”
“Do your best. Maybe he can at least tell people what to look for in symptoms.”
“I’m working two major cases already, Chief,” Ella protested.
“Consider this your third one,” Big Ed shot back. “We’ll try to keep Justine out of this one, if possible, though.” He looked over at Justine, who nodded.
Ella saw the determined look on his face and realized that no arguments, however logical, would be accepted. “I’ll go over to the hospital now.”