Enemy Way (15 page)

The sound of a vehicle pulling up outside brought her out of her musings. Ella unsnapped her holster and went to the window, looking out without exposing
her silhouette. Even here, she couldn’t afford to let her guard down, now more than ever.

Ella saw Kevin Tolino step out of his pickup and wait by the running board. The small traditional courtesy, though they were both progressives, mollified her bad mood somewhat. She went to the door, and waved for him to come inside.

“What brings you here, neighbor?” Ella asked.

“Big Ed Atcitty called me,”
Kevin said. “He wanted the best attorney in the tribe to represent you.”

Ella fought a sinking feeling. She’d called him a cockroach not too long ago, and now she’d have to depend on this man to clear her good name. “I’m not sure if that’s such a great idea after the other night.”

“I
am
the best attorney around,” he answered.

There was no false bravado in his tone. To him, it was a statement
of fact. Ella watched him for a moment. She really owed him an apology, and this was as good a time to offer one as any she could think of. “Look, I shouldn’t have said … Okay. What I really mean is that sometimes I talk too much and…” She shook her head, exasperated. “Aw, hell. I’m sorry I called you a cockroach.”

Kevin smiled. “That was hard to say.”

“Not as hard as admitting I was wrong.”

“Apology accepted, if that’s what it was. But I wasn’t going to hold it against you. I know that you were hurting at the time, and you said what you did out of anger, not common sense. I detest the drunken-driver situation here on the Rez as much as you do. It’s a plague that’s spreading among The People, and nobody seems to be able to stop it. It’s going to destroy us as a people unless we find
a way to bring it under control pretty soon.”

She waved him to a chair, then filled a teakettle with cold water and put it on the burner. “I’ve been put in a position where I have to prove my innocence or I’m going to lose everything I’ve dedicated my life to. A criminal is innocent until proven guilty, but when it’s a cop who’s accused, it’s the other way around. Do you realize I could be placed
on suspension at any time?”

“Let’s take this one step at a time. First of all, take your time and tell me everything that happened after you got to the hospital that night.”

“I’m used to giving testimony and writing reports, so I’ve already taken notes on everything I can recall.” Ella reached into her pocket and pulled out a small notebook. “The newspaper reporters who were there should help
balance out the statements given by Bekis family members. They might have some photos you can use, too.”

“Okay, I’ll look this over, then I want you to send me a copy of this tomorrow morning. I strongly advise you not to approach any of the Bekis family, not physically, not on the phone, and not in writing, for any reason. They could very easily make up another story. If they approach
you,
tell
them to talk to me, then don’t say another word. Needless to say, don’t touch them physically either.”

“I won’t go near any of them,” she agreed. But if there was something else she could do to bring out the truth, she’d do that. Kevin didn’t need to hear that now, though.

Kevin remained for dinner, and went through her notes again and again, questioning and asking for clarification on every
aspect of her confrontation at the hospital. He was harder on her than any opposition attorney would have been, but she couldn’t fault him for doing his job.

By the time he left, it was close to eleven, and Ella was exhausted. She looked at the phone, wishing she’d at least called the doctor to get his latest take on her mother’s condition. Right now, the switchboard would be closed, and her
mother would be asleep, hopefully. She’d stop by tomorrow morning early, she promised herself.

“Come on, Two. You can sleep in bed with me tonight. It’s cold out there, and I need a friend.” Sleep never came easily unless she was exhausted. In the back of her mind there was always that fear of what her dreams might become, tonight especially.

During her waking hours she didn’t have to think
about the hatred and wasted dreams of Navajo children who had fallen victim to the influence or violence of a gang, and of mothers who had seen the destruction of their children’s innocence. The thought that she or another cop might be faced with the choice of killing one kid to save another wasn’t something she dwelled upon. The responsibilities of the moment were enough to handle.

But at night,
the decisions she might have to make as a cop tormented her. Serving justice had little to do with the nightmares of a cop.

Two’s choices were much simpler than hers. The dog followed Ella through the house, his toenails clicking against the hardwood floor.

Ella undressed and crawled into bed, glad to have the mutt lying beside her feet. His comforting weight even kept her toes warm.

She wasn’t
sure how much time had passed when a low sound crept through the haze of bloody images her dream had become. The persistent rumbling reached her, nudging her senses. Ella stirred, and came fully awake as the sound intensified. As she pushed the nightmare away and opened her eyes, she realized that Two was growling. The menacing response from the normally quite gentle dog surprised Ella.

She sat
up and listened, hearing the sound of a car engine. Whatever it was had to be right out in the yard. Two’s ears were pricked forward and his lips curled away from his teeth in a snarl. It was a lethal warning if she’d ever heard one.

Grabbing her pistol, Ella eased over to the window and peeked outside, listening. Suddenly the glass exploded and a hail of gunfire sent her diving to the floor.

EIGHT

Ella lay with her stomach pressed to the floor as the wall shook, ripped apart by a rain of bullets. Stucco and glass rained down on her as she pushed Two beneath the bed.

Her heart was racing, adrenalin making her senses painfully sharp. She didn’t know how many gunmen were outside, but there were enough to make it impossible for her to avoid the barrage that was systematically destroying
her bedroom. The blinds twanged as bullets passed through them, slamming against the opposite wall. More glass fragments rained onto the windowsill, then fell onto the floor, making it difficult to move without cutting her skin to ribbons.

Then the shelf holding her shooting trophies lost a bracket, and the contents fell to the floor with a crash.

As abruptly as the shooting had begun, it stopped
and she heard two or more vehicles bouncing away at high speed down the dirt road. The silence that followed was almost as nerve-wracking as the chaos that had preceded it.

Ella checked Two. He was still angry, but he was uninjured. He stayed right beside her as she made her way to the phone. It still had a dial tone, she discovered with relief, so she didn’t have to pick up the cell phone, which
was recharging, or try to go outside and use the Jeep’s radio.

An officer-needs-help call usually elicited a lightning fast response. Though on the Rez distances between patrol areas were great, she didn’t have long to wait before Michael Cloud, his brother Philip, and two other Tribal Police units arrived almost simultaneously. The crime-scene van and Justine Goodluck’s patrol car were just
seconds behind them.

Ella stood on the porch, Two by her side. She hadn’t turned on any of the lights, and had only checked the inside of the house, not the yard. The dog had never left her sight. She placed one hand on his collar, grasping it as the officers came up.

“Did you see any suspicious vehicles on the highway on your way here?” she asked Michael, who was the first to come up.

“The
road’s almost empty, like it normally is at one in the morning,” he said. “But Philip and I studied the vehicle tracks leading out of here as we came up. You had at least three vehicles visit you, one most likely a pickup. Did you manage to make any IDs?”

She shook her head. “I couldn’t. The gunfire kept me pinned. It was pretty intense for a while.”

He nodded. “The wall around that window looks
like a sieve. Is that where you were?”

“Yes. It’s my bedroom. They must have been watching and noticed that’s where the last light was turned off. There were no automatic weapons I could detect, but they must have fired sixty or seventy rounds in all, large and small caliber. Only a few rounds went below window level, though, so I guess all they wanted to do was send me a message.”

Michael Cloud
glanced at Tache and Ute, who were already working the scene, taking photos of tracks and gathering up the shell casings they’d found outside. “To me, it looks like a gangbangers’ drive-by shooting,” Cloud said. “There are casings from at least three different caliber weapons here, even twenty-twos.”

Justine approached, flashlight in hand. “Look at the side of Ella’s Jeep,” she pointed the light
toward three foot high red spray-painted markings. “At least they didn’t fill it full of holes, too.”

Ella groaned. “Not again. That’s the Many Devil’s tag. You can still smell the paint. Get a photo or two of that, and I’ll see how much I can rub off before it sets in. I don’t want to drive into Shiprock tomorrow giving those punks a free ad.” She glanced at her watch. “Did I say tomorrow? I
should have said today.” She looked at the others. “The rest of you should just go get some sleep.”

“I’ll stick around, just in case they come back,” Cloud said.

Ella shook her head. “You’re working graveyard right?” Seeing Michael nod, she added. “Just make a pass by here every once in a while at random intervals. I really doubt they’ll return anytime soon.” She smiled grimly, then added, “They
probably need more ammunition.”

*   *   *

It was still early when Ella woke. After successfully removing the paint, thanks to the protective undercoating so recently applied, she’d slept with Two on the living room couch. In the center of the house there were no bullet holes in any of the walls and, more importantly, it was where she felt safest.

Ella was in the kitchen placing a slice of cheese
between two halves of a tortilla when she heard someone at the front door. Ella peered out the window cautiously and saw her brother’s truck.

Clifford came into the kitchen. “I came because I was angry with you for not visiting more with Mom yesterday, but I can see you’ve had your hands full. What in the heck happened here? Your bedroom must be a wreck. Were you injured?”

“Nah, I’m fine. How’s
Mom?”

“Disappointed that you didn’t come back to see her when she was awake.”

“I really couldn’t help it,” she answered, feeling guilty. “Things have been crazy and it never ends. Look around you. I went to bed exhausted, but then had a very rude awakening. This was meant as a show of force from one of the gangs. And it worked, they’ve got my attention.”

“I’d say they were trying to kill you.”

She shook her head. “Look closer. All the shots came through waist high and above, and the sound of the cars gave me a few seconds warning. All Two and I had to do was flatten until it was over. The window was the target, not me, though I’m sure no one would have gone into mourning if I’d taken a round or two,” she said, and recounted the events.

“I don’t like this. Are we dealing with a youth
gang, or hardened criminals? We can’t take them all on at once.” Clifford asked.

“We’ve done it before, against adults.”

“But look at all the firepower, Sister. Are you sure it wasn’t someone like those Anglo bigots, The Brotherhood? They’ve tried to kill you more than once, and might just want to pin the blame on other Navajos. It would fit their concept of justice.”

“I suppose it could happen.
I’ll ask around discreetly and see if anybody knows what they’ve been up to lately. Maybe they have something in the works,” Ella said, then shrugged. “At least Mom wasn’t here last night.”

“But she’ll hear about this soon, if she hasn’t already. If it wasn’t The Brotherhood shooting at you, do you have any idea who else it could have been?”

“From the gang tag they left on my car, which could
of course been left by anyone, it suggests the Many Devils. They sure have a reason to retaliate against me after we jailed three of them for stealing from parked cars. We also have another ready to go to court with a handful of driving offenses. At least one of them, Thomas Bileen, was also involved in terrorizing the Peshlakai woman and throwing a baseball bat at my windshield.”

“Your assistant’s
cousin? Mom will be really depressed when she learns about that. This Navajo gang flare-up is just another example of what the white world has given our children and what’s happening to us as a people.”

Ella slumped down in her seat. “Can you break the news to her? It would probably be better coming from you.”

“You’re not going to the hospital this morning?”

“Not right away. First I have to
find someone to come and check the utilities and repair the house. I also want them to measure and see what needs to be done to accommodate a wheelchair, just in case. Then I have to go to work.”

He nodded slowly. “Okay. I’ll see Mother. But take care of yourself, and make time to get to the hospital sometime today. I can only drop by myself. I have a patient of my own. Mom worries when you can’t
come by more often, though she did appreciate the note and the herbs yesterday. I know how you get when you’re on a case. Time seems to slip right past you.”

“All right,” Ella said at last. “Tell you what. I’ll stop by this morning on my way in, and I’ll stay as long as I can manage. I promise.”

“Good,” was Clifford’s only response.

Ella stared across the kitchen for a while after her brother
left. Clifford was right. Her work, for years, had become her center, a focus for all of her attention and dedication. And now, it seemed more like an ungrateful lover than anything else, demanding more than she could possibly give.

After calling a handyman, a Navajo man who’d done several repair jobs at the police station, Ella fed Two, and let him outside. Then she got a brainstorm and went
back inside.