Authors: Aimée & David Thurlo
“I guess I must have
really slept like a log. I didn’t hear any of that.” Ella yawned.
“You looked exhausted when you came home. I figured you’d need your sleep even more because we all got up in the middle of the night, so I turned off the alarm on your clock radio.”
“Mom, you shouldn’t have done that!”
“Why? You don’t have to report to work, do you?”
“No, but I still have a lot to do on my own.”
Rose glanced
at the position of the sun. “It’s almost time for Dawn and me to get going. We’ll be attending a weavers’ workshop at the Chapter House today. It’ll be an all-day event. Why don’t you come and take your mind off things for a while?”
“Some other time, Mom. I’ve got some leads I want to follow up today on my cousin’s case. It’s been six days now since it happened, and unless I catch whoever’s responsible
soon, I may never get another chance.”
Ella helped get Dawn breakfast and ready for her day. Her daughter was so used to Rose’s morning routines that Ella felt almost superfluous. For a brief moment she found herself wishing that those little routines had been ones that she and Dawn had always shared. But there was no sense in dwelling on what could never be. At least Dawn had a grandmother who
adored her.
Ella walked her mother and daughter to the truck, then went back inside the house. The stillness seemed unbearable. Ella showered and dressed, mentally trying to organize her day and come up with a schedule. She was so used to reporting her whereabouts and having the bulk of her assignments set out for her that it felt strange to do things this way.
She’d just sat down to have breakfast
when the phone rang.
“Ella, it’s Ruth.”
Getting a call from her cousin at home surprised her. Justine’s oldest sister had given her the lead about Jayne and her connection to gambling, but Ella hadn’t expected any more after that.
“What’s going on?” Ella asked.
“I heard Bobby Lujan and Jayne arguing last night outside by his truck. He’s really starting to scare me. When my sister finally came
in, she had a huge bruise on her cheek.”
“Did you hear what the argument was about?”
“Some, but I didn’t hear it all. All I know for sure is that he was threatening her, saying that if she told anyone else, he’d cut her into little pieces.”
“Told anyone what?”
“That’s the part I didn’t hear. I asked Jayne when she came in, but she wouldn’t talk to Mom or to me. She just went and locked herself
in the bathroom.”
“What about this morning?”
“I didn’t have a chance to talk to her. I had to get my kids to school, and then take Mom by the hospital. Her doctor is going to give her something to help her sleep.”
“How is she holding up?”
“Not well, Ella, not well at all. I know you’re in deep trouble, and that you’ve been suspended, but the price Mom’s paying is just as high, even if it’s
for a different reason.”
“Does she still think I hurt Justine?” Ella regretted her words instantly. She shouldn’t have asked Ruth to speak for her mother.
“I don’t think she believes you killed her. Most of the time she’s just angry with you because she thinks you should have caught the killer by now,” Ruth said.
“I’m working very hard to do just that. My own life depends on it.”
“I know.
Will you make sure Jayne is okay? Maybe you can talk to Bobby,” Ruth said.
“Where is he? The address I had for him is no longer valid.”
“I don’t know, but I’ll try to find out.”
“Is your sister home right now?”
“Yeah, but she’ll be taking off soon. She’s got a new job in Farmington.”
“Do you know where?” Ella asked. Jayne’s job-hopping would make finding her just that much harder unless Ruth
could help.
“She told me she quit her job at the Daily Double and is now a cocktail waitress at a bar called The Fancy. She’s supposed to be there just before noon.”
Not wanting Jayne to recognize her right off, Ella left her hair loose and wore a western-cut blouse, denim skirt, and blue-tinted glasses. This wasn’t an outfit people would associate with her. She then cleaned out the glass from
the broken window in her truck. The passenger-side glass had been spared, but two bullet holes in the driver’s-side door and four on the passenger side would be objects of discussion sooner or later when her mom noticed them.
After a forty-minute drive, she located the bar beside the highway between Farmington and Aztec near a large, private stable. Parking in the gravel parking lot, Ella went
inside The Fancy and sat down at a table in a dark corner of the room. From this spot she could watch the door and the bar at the same time.
She deliberately opted to be there when Jayne arrived rather than tailing her. Today she wanted to keep an eye on Jayne for a while before making any move. Jayne, she knew from experience, would bolt like a jackrabbit at the first sign of trouble.
It was
still early for lunch, and only a few unemployed or retired patrons were in the outer room. From the noise she picked up from her location beside an interior wall, she suspected there was gambling going on in the next room, but she wouldn’t push it for now.
Time passed slowly. Ella ordered coffee from a young-looking waitress, preferring to sip that rather than alcohol, which could slow her down
or dull her reactions at just the wrong time. No one spoke to her and no one asked any questions, though most of the men looked her over at least once, probably assessing their chances. To discourage their approach, she was careful not to lead anyone on by making eye contact.
Two hours passed, and the lunch crowd had come and gone, but there was still no sign of Jayne. Ella put a few bills on
the table and was ready to leave when she saw Jayne walk in with a tall man she guessed to be Bobby Lujan. Whoever he was, the rough-looking character was holding on to her arm in a death grip.
“Don’t give me any more crap,” he growled loud enough for Ella to hear.
As the man forced Jayne to sit at an empty table close to the bar, Ella moved her chair back so she was in the shadows. Safe from
being identified, Ella watched the two openly.
She could see the fear in Jayne’s face plainly, but suspected that if she came out into the open and offered to help her cousin, Jayne would side against her and nothing would be accomplished.
“I can’t do it, Bobby,” Jayne whispered loudly.
“How else are you going to square your debt? Unless you pay Manny Rodriguez, he’s going to come looking for
you. And get one thing straight. I’m not bailing you out again unless you come through for me.”
“What you’re asking me to do … I can’t. That man is disgusting. He hurts people. I heard talk.”
“He likes to get a little rough, but he just loves being with Indian women. He won’t really hurt you, and in a few hours you’ll have a couple of hundred dollars—more if you stay with him all night. With
the cash you’ll be making, you’ll be able to square your debts. Or at least most of them. You’ll still owe me, but we can work something out—unless you want me to go straight to the police and tell them everything I know.”
“I’m sorry, I just can’t do this, no matter what it costs. Just let me go.” She stood up, but Bobby grabbed her shoulders and jerked her against his chest. Grasping her hand,
he twisted it backwards until she cried out.
“You and I need to have a private talk.”
Ella watched them head to the door, and noticed other patrons doing the same, trying to decide if they should risk a fight by stepping in. Domestic disputes were the most volatile of situations, and cops hated them more than almost any other call. But Ella was afraid not to interfere. Jayne couldn’t handle
Bobby alone, and she couldn’t let them leave without putting her cousin in even more danger.
Ella followed as Bobby hauled her outside. Jayne tried to bolt out on the sidewalk, but he caught her before she’d gone more than a few feet.
“We’re going to my place now.” He started pulling her toward a shiny, low-slung luxury car.
“No, Bobby, don’t. I can get the money some other way.”
Ella, still
unnoticed by the preoccupied couple, stepped out from behind the Dumpster and kicked Bobby in the back of the knees.
“Damn!” he yelled as his leg gave out. Recovering his balance quickly, he let go of Jayne and swung his fist around.
Ella stepped back and grabbed his extended arm, using Bobby’s own momentum to twist his arm behind his back and shove him face-first into the side of the car. “That’s
enough.” Ella looked over at Jayne, who was about to bolt again. “Don’t run. He’ll just find you again, Jayne.”
“Count on it,” Bobby growled.
“I’m the best chance you’ve got, Jayne,” Ella added.
“An ex-cop?” he scoffed. “You’ll be in jail yourself before long.”
Ignoring the lowlife, she held Jayne’s gaze. “Think, cousin. How many options do you have left?”
Bobby looked up and called out to
a guy coming out of the bar. “Jerry, give me a hand.”
It was the bartender, a man the size and shape of a vending machine, and Ella knew that it was about to get very rough. She tried to turn Lujan around so he would be the one to face the bartender, but a beefy hand grasped her shoulder like a vise.
Ella expected Jayne to bolt. After all, it was something she did well. Instead, Jayne kicked
Jerry right in the groin. The bartender, who clearly hadn’t expected the move, groaned and doubled over, releasing Ella and clutching something even more important to him.
Bobby tried to slip past Ella and grab Jayne, but Ella slammed him across the bridge of his nose with the side of her hand. He staggered back, moaning as blood flowed from his nostrils.
Just then the wail of a siren sounded
in the distance. “Cops!” Jayne yelled. “I’ve got to get out of here!” She turned and ran toward the alley behind the bar.
Ella took off after her and caught up within a hundred feet.
“I don’t have a car! I came with Bobby. Where’s yours?”
“Follow me!” Ella answered.
Ella led the way around the back of the bar onto the other side, where her pickup was parked. She didn’t have to look back to
know Jayne was right behind her.
When they reached Ella’s truck, they scrambled inside. “I need to get back on the Rez. I have no jurisdiction here,” Ella said.
“You have no jurisdiction anywhere. You’re suspended,” Jayne yelled as Ella started the truck and backed out of the parking slot.
“Yeah. I forgot.”
Jayne said nothing for a while as Ella headed back to the Rez.
“It’s really hard for
you, isn’t it?” Jayne said at last. “I mean not knowing what’s going to happen next, after being a cop all these years.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“Why did you help me back there with Bobby? You’re not an official cop anymore, and you could have been in a lot more trouble than me.”
“I had to follow you. I’m trying to find out more about Bobby,” Ella said, leaving Ruth’s name out of it. “But when I realized
that you were in serious trouble, that Bobby meant business, I couldn’t risk letting you handle it on your own.”
Taking her eyes off the road for a moment, Ella glanced over at her cousin. “Your family has been very good to me for many years. I owe Justine more than to let something happen to her sister when I could have put a stop to it. You don’t honestly think that I would turn my back on
you, Jayne, do you? Or, for that matter, that I had anything to do with Justine’s death?”
“No, I know you didn’t kill her,” she said quietly. “You two weren’t just partners, you were friends, too. But why are you focusing on me? Do you still think I had something to do with Justine’s death?”
“No, not directly, but I think it’s possible that the people you hang around with might have decided
to use Justine as leverage against you in some way. My guess is that they tried to kidnap her, but Justine fought back, and in the struggle, they ended up killing her.”
“You’re right to think Justine would have fought hard. She didn’t take any bull from anyone. But you’re off base about your suspects. Bobby would have avoided Justine because she was a cop. Bobby’s a gambler, but he likes more
favorable odds than that.”
“Maybe someone he answers to had a different opinion,” Ella said.
Jayne considered it. “Every once in a while, Bobby tries to force me to do what he calls a ‘favor’ for one of his buddies. Its always something illegal and often it’s just plain dangerous. I think Bobby gets pressured into that, but I don’t know by whom, unless it’s Manny Rodriguez.”
“The state police
and more than one local PD have been after Manny Rodriguez for years, but they’ve never managed to keep him in jail for more than an overnight stay. He’s got a lot of money, and that buys him top-of-the-line lawyers.”
“Hasn’t anyone ever pressed charges?” Jayne asked.
“A few have. But it’s always been thrown out of court. He probably manages to buy their eventual silence—one way or another.”
Jayne hesitated. “I owe you one, Ella, so I’m going to give it to you straight this time. Bobby found out that the night Justine was killed, I was at the Palomino Lounge, alone. They have slot machines in the back room and I go there a lot. But if the cops raid the place or go in there asking questions, the manager will know I was the one who snitched and I’ll be in even more trouble than I am now.
The owner has an enemies list, and real bad things happen to those people.”
“I’m not after illegal gambling operations. I just want Justine’s killer. By the way, where was Bobby that night?”
“He said he was at a pueblo casino near Albuquerque. He won big that night at one of the slot machines, so there’ll be plenty of people who’ll remember him. In fact, I think the casino takes photos of their
big winners, so there’s probably a snapshot of him on the board there.”
Ella got the name of the casino. She’d have Blalock check out Bobby’s alibi later.
“Why aren’t you investigating Justine’s friends, like Paul Natoni? The guy practically drips slime, but Justine always got really angry whenever I pointed that out. In my book, he’s worse than Bobby. Bobby’s no prize, but at least he doesn’t
put on an act. Paul’s a con man. He has great packaging, and he loves making promises, but it’s all a show. Deep down he’s a heavy-duty creep.”