Changing Woman (7 page)

Rose was standing at the window, lost in thought, a piece of paper in her hand. Hearing footsteps, she turned her head and smiled at Ella. “I came across your brother’s baptismal certificate in the back of a drawer this morning,” she said, and smiled sadly. “I still remember
that day as if it were yesterday. Your father wanted
your brother baptized and he wouldn’t take no for an answer, so I eventually gave in. But I hated it.”

Rose looked down at her hands. “That was so many years ago, but the time between then and now seems like nothing more than the passing of a few hours.”

“Do you miss Dad?” Ella asked softly.

Rose nodded and sighed. “I liked knowing that he
needed me to take care of him, whether he admitted it or not.”

Ella was suddenly aware of how lonely her mother was. It should have occurred to her before now that having her daughter and granddaughter around wouldn’t be enough all by itself for Rose, but she’d never stopped to think about it. “Mom, you need to start going out and meeting new people.”

She shook her head. “I can’t. It just doesn’t
seem right. Even when Bizaadii asked me to go have dinner with him at the Totah Café, I said no.”

She recognized the nickname. It meant “the gabby one” and it had been given as a joke to Herman Cloud, who was known for being a man of few words. Herman was also Philip and Michael Cloud’s uncle, and a longtime family friend.

“But why? You two have known each other practically forever and you’re
both traditionalists, so you have a lot in common. Why don’t you reconsider his invitation?”

Rose smiled knowingly. “Think it through, daughter. How would you really feel seeing your mother in the company of a man who is not your father?”

Ella wanted to deny that it would bother her, and open that door for her mother, but experience told her that Rose would see through any attempt she made to
hide the truth. “It would probably make me feel strangely at first, but I’d get over it. You’ve helped me out so much, Mom. You take care of my daughter and I can never thank you enough for that. But you’re entitled to a life of your own as well.

“And your friend has been close to me and my brother for a long time,” Ella added. “Remember how he helped me when I returned to the Rez, and how many
times he’s helped protect us from our enemies? That man is very special to me. You couldn’t have picked a better companion.”

Rose nodded slowly and thoughtfully, then looked at Ella. “And what about you? I worry more about your future, daughter. You’re still young, but instead of having a busy social life, all you do is work. Our people believe we have a right to remarry when we lose our mates,
and on this I agree, as long as those left behind show respect by waiting a few years before seeking a new companion. What are you waiting for?”

“I don’t like to date coworkers, you know that, and meeting men outside the department is difficult.” She stopped, then in a thoughtful voice added, “But now maybe things will be different…” Ella realized what she’d said, and silently cursed herself
for her own stupidity. Rose wouldn’t let this go now.

“So there
is
someone!”

“No, not really.” Ella knew that denying anything was pointless. She was only postponing the matter. The subject would keep cropping up in every conversation until Rose finally got the answer she was looking for.

Well, at least it had distracted her. Ella stopped by the front door, then glanced back, trying to look
casual. “Oh, Mom, my friend the deputy federal marshal is coming back into town as part of an investigation. I may ask him over for dinner.”

As Ella bent down to kiss Dawn good-bye, she heard her mother chuckling.

It was eight-thirty by the time she walked through the side door of the station. Lucas Payestewa, the young Hopi FBI agent, greeted her, holding a cup of coffee in each hand. “ ’Morning.”

Ella smiled at him, accepting the offered cup. It was hard not to like the chubby little fed most of the cops
now called Paycheck. “Good morning, and thanks for the brew. Is Blalock already in?”

“He’s with Big Ed, so we should probably head over there and join the council.”

A few moments later, both FBI agents, Ella, and the Special Investigations team composed of Justine, Officer Tache, and
Sergeant Neskahi were sitting or standing around Big Ed’s desk.

“Now that we’re all here,” Big Ed said, “Officer Tache can start his report. Ralph?”

“I finally recovered the bullet this morning. I went out there at around five-thirty after the sky was starting to lighten up, looked around, and resighted the trajectory. That’s when I found it. The round had lodged in a telephone pole after ricocheting
off the sidewalk.”

“Was it a fifty-caliber like I thought?” Ella asked.

“You were right on the money with that one.”

“The bullet is pretty banged up,” Justine said, taking over for Ralph as they reached her area of expertise. “We probably won’t be able to positively link it to a particular weapon, but we should have enough points of similarity to disqualify some makes and models.”

Justine
glanced over at Ella. “I also followed up on the report you left on my desk and spoke to the owner of the sporting goods store in Farmington that was robbed. He verified that the ammunition stolen is manufactured by PMC, and consists of full-metal-jacketed rounds of six-sixty grains.” Justine paused. “Those are elephant-hunting-size slugs, equal to more than four of the bullets you use in your nine-millimeter
pistol, Ella.”

Big Ed cleared his throat and watched the people in the room for a minute or two before speaking. No one said a word. They all knew him well enough to wait, knowing when he had something to say.

“We have a deadly situation on our hands, people. Every officer in the Four Corner states is on the lookout for Artie Manyfarms and that special target rifle. But they have other things
to do, too, so we can’t count on
anyone else solving our problems. This is now our top priority. I want this sniper, people. I have a gut feeling he’s still on our land.”

“Chief, pardon me for saying so, but the police are stretched pretty thin all over the Rez right now,” Blalock said. “No one in this room slept more than a few hours last night. You need help. Is there a chance you can import
talent from other PDs or the BIA?”

“I’d rather not bring in anyone who doesn’t know the area or the people here, and a lot of the Bureau of Indian Affairs officers are from other tribes.” Big Ed stood and began to pace. “But it’s more than that. Our people need to believe in
us,
and bringing in outsiders isn’t going to help. The vandalism episodes we’ve been having have really undermined us,
and have taken a huge toll on morale. If it looks like we can’t make an arrest without outsiders on our team, it’ll lower this department’s credibility to zero.”

“Catching the perps is going to take a combination of hard work and luck, Chief. There’s nothing we can do without more cops,” Ella said. “The only tactic that’s worked as a deterrent is increasing our patrols, but just as soon as they’re
scaled back, it all starts up again. That’s the way it’s been since last October, off and on.”

“To catch this sniper we’re going to have to work with the community and encourage people to tip us off if they hear something, like who the next target might be,” Big Ed said. “But unless we stop the vandals nobody will be very anxious to help us.”

“I’m going to get a map of the area, post it on the
bulletin board in my office, then start indicating with colored pins where the incidents occurred, and when. There might be a pattern if we look at it long enough,” Justine suggested. “That could help with placing our manpower.”

“Chief, maybe we should take a closer look at what Lieutenant Manuelito is doing in the Window Rock area.
Petty crime has gone down significantly in that district,” Tache
said.

Ella bristled. Manuelito was a hard line cop who had never given her anything but grief. It was no secret that there was bad blood between them. But, in all fairness, he’d come through for all of them last year when his help had been sorely needed. That particular operation had earned him a promotion and a transfer.

“I know what he’s been doing,” Big Ed said. “He’s set up random, variable-intensity
patrols on a grid system. They tried the same thing over at To’hajiilee, but it didn’t work nearly as well.”

Ella couldn’t help wondering if Manuelito had simply driven the bad guys toward easier pickings in the more populous Shiprock area, or maybe gone on the take and tipped them off to vulnerable locations. She tried to push back the thought, almost sure that her intense dislike of the man
was playing a big part in her suspicions.

“These vandals always seem to be one step ahead of us,” Ella said. “I figure that they must have police scanners and know when our officers are responding to calls. That would explain why the community crime watch hasn’t been more effective in helping us catch these guys in the act. The suspects almost always clear the area before we arrive.”

“Do you
have a recommendation?” Big Ed asked, knowing she did.

“Let’s get encrypted cell phones and use them instead of our radios. We can’t ask our officers to lay out their own money for this, Chief, but this happens to be something we really need to gain the upper hand.”

“There’s no way I can squeeze the funds for this from our current budget,” Big Ed answered. “But there may be another way. Maybe
community business leaders will come forward with a grant if we can convince them it’ll help put a stop to this crime wave, which seems to be focused on our area. Let me work on it from that angle and see how it goes.”

“I’ll find out if the bureau can help you,” Blalock said.

“We have to keep up the pressure on whoever’s responsible for the wave of petty crimes, now more than ever,” Big Ed continued.
“But I want the SI team’s top priority to be finding this sniper. Clear?”

All of the Navajo cops nodded.

Ella stood, and as she did everyone’s attention shifted to her. “First, I want to thank Agent Blalock for the use of the new-model FBI vest. But I’d also like to request that the FBI loan us similar vests for everyone in the SI team. If I’m the target, those who work beside me will also be
in the line of fire at a crime scene.”

“I’ll make the request formal,” Big Ed said.

“And I’ll push from my end, too.” Blalock looked around the room, reading the expressions of his fellow cops. “In the meantime, let me bring everyone up to date. We’ve traced the serial number of the explosive used to blow up the Dumpster outside the Totah Café. That stick came from a road construction site over
by Navajo Lake, where they lost a whole case of high explosives. ATF stands ready to lend a hand if they’re needed.”

Payestewa spoke slowly. “What we need is a motive for all these low-budget, harassing petty crimes. This is too organized to be as random as it appears at first glance.”

Big Ed and Ella exchanged a quick look, but neither said anything, wanting to protect their only source—Coyote.

The Hopi agent continued. “What bothers me is that no one’s claiming responsibility. Usually a variety of groups are eager to take the credit, especially when local youth gangs are involved. If nothing else, we should have heard some gossip, and that’s the really weird thing about this. Until now, I never believed it was possible to keep secrets on the Rez.”

“People are distracted these days,”
Big Ed said, leaning back in his chair. “They’re fighting for survival.”

Big Ed’s secretary came in holding a police report and handed it silently to her boss.

The chief studied it, then expelled his breath through clenched teeth. “Joe Wallace’s outhouse was blown up. He’s mad as hell and wants officers out there right now.” He glanced at Ella. “I want you to handle this personally, Shorty,
and see if you can unruffle his feathers. I shouldn’t have to remind you that his brother is one of the new members of the Tribal Council.”

When the meeting ended, Ella walked to her office with Justine alongside her.

“I appreciate you asking for extra vests,” Justine said. “My family worries about me on the job more than ever now.”

“I don’t like the idea of getting special treatment,” Ella
answered.

“If there’s only one vest, then it’s right you should get it. The sniper is gunning for you. Besides, you have a young daughter to worry about.” Justine paused, then added, “Not that you’re getting any extra sympathy from me on that count. I think you’re lucky to have a little girl like Dawn.”

Ella looked at her in surprise. “Since when are you into kids? And, just so you know, there
are days when I’d cheerfully give her away to the first person who comes to the door.”

Justine smiled. “Yeah, yeah. You’re tough, Ella. And, to answer your question, I’ve always liked kids, though I doubt I’ll ever have any. Time’s passing, and all that.”

Before Ella could reply, she heard the phone in her office ringing. Jogging ahead, she grabbed it after the third ring.

“Investigator Clah,”
Ella snapped as she reached for the phone, but whoever it was had already hung up.

Ella muttered a curse. “I hate it when that happens.” Suddenly her cell phone began to ring. A sick feeling spread over her. Whoever it was sure was trying hard to track her down.

She flipped the unit open with one hand. “Ella Clah,” she answered.

“Ella, it’s me, Kevin. I’ve got some bad news. Your mom is in
the emergency room at the hospital.”

Ella felt her stomach plummet. For a moment she couldn’t breathe, or speak.

“Ella, did you hear what I said?”

Through sheer force of will she managed to answer. “What happened? Where’s Dawn?” Ella asked all in the same breath.

“Dawn is safe. She’s with me,” Kevin answered.

Knowing that her daughter was safe and her mother in a place where she was getting help gave Ella time to gather
her wits. “What happened?”

“I’d just turned down the gravel road leading home when I spotted Rose driving in my direction, toward the highway. She was all over the road, but she pulled over when I honked the horn and she saw me trying to get her attention. It turns out she’d cut her hand and was trying to drive herself to the hospital. There was blood everywhere, but you would have been proud
of Dawn. She handled it really well. She kept telling Rose ’That’s okay, that’s okay.’ “