Never-ending-snake (26 page)

“She drove to Window Rock to question a man who was supposed to be a close friend of Adam’s, but it
turned out to be a dead end. Adam and the guy were close in high school, and went into the military after graduation, but they ended up in different units and rarely saw each other after being deployed overseas,” Benny Pete said.

Ella nodded. “Okay, then. Let’s move on.”

“We’ve checked all of Kevin Tolino’s bank accounts, with his permission, of course,” Benny said. “There’s no way the seventy-five
grand Adam was carrying belonged to Kevin. He’s got some modest savings, and decent credit, but most of that is unused. He has no debts to speak of since he always pays off the balance on his charge bills. I also decided to check and see if his office had authorized that kind of money outlay recently for whatever the reason. That’s when I ran into a wall.”

“So I took over,” Joe said. “Since that
kind of money has to go through the comptroller’s office, I checked with my cousin, who works over there. Everything comes across her desk, except for a few petty cash accounts. I told her I was working a case, so she checked for me. She found no withdrawals in the range we were talking about, except as tribal-issue checks that are part of existing purchase orders,” he said. “But the trip wasn’t
a complete waste. I found out Norm Hattery’s been asking about recent, substantial cash outlays, too. He has no authority to make those inquiries, but he’s been sweet-talking one of the office workers in accounting.”

“
How
did that man find out about the cash?” Ella glanced around the room, but no one had an answer.

“Here’s what we do know. That money didn’t originate
with the tribe or come from
Kevin Tolino,” Benny said. “So that leaves Adam.”

Justine spoke then. “I checked into that possibility. Nothing about Marie’s recent purchases indicate a windfall—or the expectation of one.”

“When I went through their trash, I found several past due notices, and an Insufficient Funds notice from their bank,” Benny said. “The total amount was less than a thousand dollars, so he’s not in any deep
trouble—apparently.”

“Then we’re back where we started from,” Ella said. “Either Adam was paid 75K for services yet to be determined, or he was bringing the money to someone here on the Rez. Either way, that cash is the key to our investigation.”

“It doesn’t make sense that Industrial Futures Technology would pay the tribe—or Adam. They already had the tribe’s best offer on the table. In exchange
for their financial and technical support, they’d become an equal partner with the tribe and share in the profits,” Justine said.

“Do we know for sure that Adam was only lobbying on behalf of the tribe? Is it possible he was freelancing and getting paid to bring tribal contracts to other outside parties? Or maybe buying from our craftsmen for someone back East?” Ella asked, looking around the
room.

No one answered immediately, then Joe spoke. “I can see what other contracts the tribe has recently signed with outside firms. Business is kind of slow with the economy like it is, and there shouldn’t be too many coming in right now. Maybe I can get a list to follow up on from my cousin.”

“I can check on the artisans angle,” Benny said.

“There’s also the possibility that Adam was shaking
someone down,” Ella added reluctantly. “He might have needed the bucks, and as a lobbyist, found himself in the position of knowing something he shouldn’t. Dig into that, too, but tread carefully. We’re not out to destroy a reputation.
We’re out to get the suspects responsible for what went down.”

As her team left her office Ella held Justine back. “Transport Kevin to my place before dawn tomorrow.
Double- and triple-check to make sure you’re not followed.” Ella was about to say more, when Blalock called on her cell phone.

“Meet me at my office. We’ve got a lead on Carl Perry’s residence, and we’ll need to coordinate the takedown.”

“I’m on my way.” Ella flipped the cell phone shut, and gave Justine the highlights. “Once I know where I’ll be, I’ll phone in the location to dispatch. Call
me on my direct line if you need me, but be prepared to leave a message.”

“Wear a vest this time—okay cuz?”

Ella nodded. “Count on it.”

Ella sat behind the unoccupied desk inside Blalock’s office. Over the years, he’d had several partners, but none had stayed more than a year or two. To move up the promotional ladder in the FBI you needed to handle high-profile cases, and those were found in big cities like Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York. To a young agent, the reservation was the equivalent
of a career death sentence.

Coordinating county’s SWAT and getting the permissions necessary for Ella to take part in the Bureau-directed operation took time—and, more importantly, a hefty dose of patience.

“Do we know for sure that he’s there?” Ella asked Blalock. Nothing could move forward without first confirming Perry was present at the location.

“The first address we attributed to him
was a phony, so was the second, and now we’re working on the third. But it looks promising. MVD just sent his vehicle registration tags to that address, though his current driver’s license lists one of the other two locations. County’s using Google to check the layout right now for a tactical plan, but I think we need to take a real-time look for ourselves.” He stood, and she
joined him at the
door. “Are you making any progress on the case from your side?”

As they walked to his vehicle, she briefed him on the dead end they’d reached following the money trail, but didn’t bring up Hattery. That was a departmental issue, and Blalock already knew how to deal with the press. Basically, Dwayne never commented until an arrest had been made.

“I’ve got a feeling that once we narrow down the
motive, everything else will fall into place,” Ella said. “Right now, I’d settle for just knowing if the crime’s connected to the casino or the Prickly Weed Project.”

The drive took them east, off the Rez, and through the old farming communities of Waterflow and Fruitland.

“Carl’s made darned sure to place himself well away from curious neighbors,” Ella said, riding with the Bureau agent down
a narrow two-lane paved road, heading north from Kirtland. They’d just passed Flare Hill, an enormous mound of dirt crowned with a derrick that gave off a flame of waste gas. “We’re getting close. The building’s northwest of this road, about a mile beyond the asphalt,” she said, looking at the color printout of an area photo sent to Blalock’s computer by County.

Blalock looked over at her. “The
pavement peters out just ahead.”

“There’s something off to the west—the house, I think. It’s hard to make out from this angle because of the setting sun.”

“We’ll have to move slow. It’s too sandy out here. We haven’t had any rain for a few weeks. Good thing I’ve got extra wide tires on this car,” Blalock muttered.

“Desert smart, and it only took, what, fifteen years? You could have saved yourself
a lot of digging if you’d have wrangled a four-wheel drive from the Bureau instead of this town car,” Ella said. “Have you ever considered a body armor upgrade? On operations like this one, it would be nice added
insurance. Our suspect’s bound to see us coming up that track, and an assault rifle can cut this car to pieces. Think of your SUV.”

“I thought of that. Once I get to that small rise,
I’m taking a short cut and making my own road. As for the body armor, I’ve got myself covered—literally.” He thumped his chest with his knuckles. “I’m wearing the upgrade.”

“The Bureau shelled out for that?” Ella thought about the twenty-year-old department ballistic vest she had on.

“They probably would have covered it, but by the time the paperwork went through, I would have been collecting
my pension—or my son, his inheritance,” Blalock said, making a face. “I had some extra bucks, so I bought my own. I know a guy.”

Ella looked at him thoughtfully. That wasn’t at all like the Agent Blalock she’d grown to know. “Does this new attention to self-preservation have something to do with Ruthann and Andy?”

He shrugged.

Ella heard volumes through his silence. Though she still hated wearing
a vest during summer, she, too, had grown more cautious over the years, mostly because of Dawn. “After my daughter was born I stopped taking unnecessary chances. Family changes your perspective on everything.”

He exhaled softly and nodded. “They’re my new beginning, Clah, just when I thought I was too old to care about stuff like that.” He shook his head. “Forget I said anything. I’m going senile.
That’s all there is to it.”

“No, you’re realizing what’s important—and what isn’t. About time, too.”

He laughed. “Yeah, yeah. Maturity—it’s a real pain, at any age.”

Blalock slowed as they neared the rise, then inched around the base of the hill, making sure he didn’t present a silhouette of the vehicle against the skyline. Although the
route was bumpy they didn’t bog down. Finally easing over
the top for a quick look, they spotted a small white house to the north in what could only be described as the middle of nowhere. The only other sign of civilization in the shallow depression was the forest green Jeep parked just out in front of the building.

“This guy sure knows how to take care of himself,” Ella said. “Sneaking up on him here would only be possible after dark.”

Though they
now had the setting sun to their left, and the chances of being spotted at the moment were close to nil, Blalock eased back down the slope. The house was only a quarter mile away, but there wasn’t much they could use to hide their approach. The tallest vegetation consisted of knee-high shrubs and even shorter tufts of dry grass.

“We left a trail of dust in our wake. We had no choice. You think
he knows we’re coming?” Blalock asked.

“There’s only one vehicle, but that doesn’t mean that O’Riley’s not here with him. If he is, then one of them would have been keeping watch for sure,” Ella said. “Either way, we shouldn’t go in any closer—not without backup. We could get picked off with one of those assault rifles before we make it halfway down the hill. Once it gets dark, we’ll have a much
better chance.”

“You don’t think this is going to go down easy, do you?” he said, after radioing their position.

“It’s not,” she said, feeling the warmth coming from the badger fetish around her neck. She’d never figured out if it was simply her own body temperature that heated it up, but it never failed to predict trouble.

“I can see a light, so it’s likely somebody’s at home,” he said.

“Let’s try and confirm that we’re not just staking out some hermit oil field worker. Do you have a good set of binoculars?”

“Sure,” he said.

“Let’s circle left and get the sunset to our backs. We should be able to get a look through one of those windows,” Ella said. “At the same time we can study the rear and west end of the building before we move in. If I were him, I’d have a back door and
an escape route that would keep me out of view of anyone approaching down the driveway. If there’s an arroyo behind that house, for example, he could take off and we’d never know.”

“Good idea,” he said, getting the binoculars out of the glove compartment and handing them to her. “I’ll notify SWAT. They can stay out of sight below the ridge until we give them the signal to move in.”

Ella left
the sedan and circled left, staying low. Once she had the sun to her back, she crawled forward on her stomach, minimizing her profile.

Blalock followed ten feet behind her and to the left, wearing a cap and holding an M-16 assault rifle with a small, newer-model night scope. “Just in case,” he said. “By the way, we need to pace ourselves. SWAT has been delayed by a TA.”

“Can’t they just go around
the wreck?”

“
They
were involved in the accident. A truck driver ignored their emergency lights and spun the van completely around in an intersection.”

“Any injuries?”

“That’s not clear, but a backup unit has been dispatched from Aztec.”

“That’ll take an hour, maybe.”

Blalock nodded. “So we take it slow.”

The sun was at about the right angle now, making them hard to see from the house, and
even harder to shoot. But their opponent, or opponents, were well trained and even better armed. She’d faced these men before and had been lucky to walk away both times.

Hoping her luck would hold, Ella switched magazines
in her pistol, choosing the rarely used clip with the armor-piercing rounds. Though a head shot would be her best option, she’d have to be too close for comfort to rely on that
tactic, and in low light, the upper torso was the target of choice.

They took turns advancing, staying low and covering each other as they moved to new positions. “He chose this place carefully, and yet I can’t locate a back door. What is it that we don’t know . . .”

“. . . that could get us killed,” Blalock added in a whisper, finishing her thought.

Ella worked her way toward the west side
of the house. About two hundred yards from the building she found a shallow wash that ran parallel to the structure and circled around to the south-facing entrance. She slipped down into it, then circled to the right, trying to get a close-up look at the front. Once in line with a window, she rose to her knees and brought the binoculars up to her eyes. “He’s inside—Carl Perry. Right now he’s pouring
coffee into a thermos bottle. There’s no back or side door. The house looks like one big living area and a bathroom. That door’s open, and it’s unoccupied.”