Ghost Medicine (22 page)

Blalock and Ella met Justine out in the hall. “We’re getting nowhere,” Blalock growled.

“Let’s go back to the Emporium. I’ve got that clerk, Cassie’s number, and she has a set of keys to let us in. My gut tells me Billy recognized Harry’s photo but chose to play dumb. He hesitated before responding, then wouldn’t look directly at me for a while afterwards. Like you said, he’s a lousy
liar,” Ella said.

“Billy was at the top of Ute’s list for a reason, and I trust your instincts about him, so let’s go,” Blalock said.

By the time they arrived at the Emporium, the sun was on the horizon. “It’s been a long day, boss,” Justine said.

“Yeah. After we finish here, why don’t you come home with me and have dinner with the family?”

Justine shook her head. “I can’t tonight. Benny’s
cooking.”

“He cooks? You’ve got a good deal going there, cuz,” Ella said as they stepped onto the porch.

“Yeah, I think so, too.”

Blalock met them at the entrance. Cassie had already arrived, and was standing there, waiting with the keys. After being shown a copy of the latest search warrant, Cassie opened the door and went inside with them. She remained at the front register while they continued
on to Billy’s office.

Ella glanced around the room. “Okay, let’s try to find that second cell phone.”

Twenty minutes later, Blalock stopped and shook his head. “It’s not in here.”

Justine appeared in the doorway. “I decided to search the cell phone display by the electronics. None are activated.”

“Did you talk to Cassie?” Ella asked her.

“Yeah, but I didn’t tell her what I was looking for,
if that’s what you meant.”

“I don’t think she’s involved in what O’Donnell has been doing, and she certainly won’t want to be implicated in any of this,” Ella said. “Let’s enlist her help.”

Ella walked out to the main room and approached the young woman, who was killing time straightening items on a candy display beside the register. “Cassie, I need to ask you something important,” Ella said.
“What do you know about Billy’s cell phone?”

“It’s cheap and old school, all he did with it was talk and text. I tried to get him to upgrade, but he said he wasn’t into all that techno stuff.”

“So he only used the cheap model he carried?” Ella asked.

“No. He’d also use the cell phone we have here at the cash register. It’s stuck with Velcro to the bottom of the counter. It’s supposedly only
for emergencies, like if a customer is causing trouble, but Billy used it a lot. He said he wanted to make sure it was always charged and problem free.”

Ella smiled. “Can I see it?”

“Sure.”

Cassie brought it up and handed the phone to Ella. “It’s top of the line, or was last week. You know how competitive the mobile device market is these days.”

Ella moved away from the register and searched
for a contact list. There were no saved numbers, but she was able to retrieve a list of sent calls. “These date back several months, but there’s one local number that shows up frequently.”

“Call it,” Blalock said, looking over her shoulder.

Ella shook her head. “I’d rather get a reverse directory and find out who it belongs to first,” she said.

Blalock nodded. “Okay, let’s get Mandy.”

Moments
later, Mandy returned Blalock’s call. Stepping outside with Ella, Blalock told Mandy what he needed and put her on speaker.

After several moments, Mandy got back on the phone. “I have what you need, Agent Blalock. That cell number is registered to SJCSO Sergeant Robert Kirk. He’s currently assigned to the Hit and Run desk at headquarters in Aztec. Sergeant Kirk’s home address is in Fruitland.”

Ella was surprised to hear his name in connection to their case. She remembered him from the county shooting range. To her, he’d come across as someone coasting toward retirement.

“What’s his work history with the department?” Blalock asked.

“He’s served with the sheriff’s department for twenty years and six months. He worked homicide, then robbery and burglary, but he got shot in 2008 while
on duty and was assigned to the evidence room. Currently he’s been working Hit and Run.”

“Sounds like he’s paid his dues. Thanks, Mandy.”

“I’ve got something else for you, Agent Blalock. I continued digging into Mr. O’Donnell’s computer files. Some were doubly encrypted, so it took me a little longer to crack them. Mr. O’Donnell has active listings on Rogerslist for a ten-millimeter Glock Model
20 and three bullet-resistant vests.”

“Good job, Mandy,” Blalock said, and ended the call. “Let’s see if I can speed up that warrant. After we lock up here, I want to search O’Donnell’s house while he’s still in custody. Since the request has already been put through, it’s just a matter of giving things a little nudge. Should be a piece of cake.”

“I sure wish you hadn’t said that,” Ella said.
“That practically guarantees that something’s going to go south.”

SIXTEEN

After discovering that the warrant would take more time than expected, they decided to grab dinner. They went to the closest grill, a place that specialized in Mexican food. Justine hadn’t been too happy about canceling her dinner date with Benny, but personal plans were subject to change whenever they were working a case.

Ella and Justine chose stuffed sopaipillas, big, golden fried
pastries stuffed with the works, including fresh green chile. Blalock ordered the jumbo burger loaded with red chile and fries with the skins on.

They ate leisurely while waiting for the warrant call, and though the food was a little greasier than Ella would have preferred, she had to admit everything tasted wonderful.

“I’m going to miss meals like this after I retire,” Blalock said, savoring
each bite as if it were his last. “Ruthann is always worried about her weight, or too much salt or too much cholesterol. That means I eat way too much salad. She doesn’t understand that sometimes a guy just needs guy food.”

Ella laughed. “Hey, healthy eating is a good thing. She cares about you.”

“Yeah, I know. Things
are
good between us,” Blalock said, smiling. “What about you, Ella? You’ve
got a kid entering high school this fall. Are you ever going to settle down?”

“Maybe. I have someone new in my life, so we’ll see how things work out.”

Blalock was about to say more when his phone rang. “Finally. Hopefully this is about the warrant.”

Blalock identified himself, listened, then spoke. “Wait a minute, Sheriff Taylor. Could you repeat that?”

As he hung up, Blalock cursed. “That
slippery SOB O’Donnell is already out on bail. Despite being in possession of undocumented Native American artifacts, his buddy on the county commission fast-tracked the process by suggesting that Billy could wear an ankle bracelet. We got the warrant to search his place, but now that the suspect’s been released, we’ll need to play things a little differently.”

“How so?” Ella asked.

Blalock
motioned toward the exit. “Billy’s already home, Sheriff Taylor tracked him there, so we better get there ASAP. County’s sending a detective over to Billy’s place to serve the warrant and await our arrival. That should at least keep O’Donnell from trying to move any evidence off the premises.”

“So we’ll play it by the book but stay on target,” Ella said. “Search for evidence that’ll show a link
between Billy and Harry.”

“If it exists,” Blalock said. “I hate to say this, but there’s a chance all we’ll end up finding is more evidence of a stolen-property operation.”

*   *   *

Twenty minutes later, they stood on the front porch of O’Donnell’s Bloomfield residence, a sprawling ranch house surrounded by a well-maintained lawn beneath the shade of a half dozen pine trees. County Detective
Velasquez, a dark-skinned Hispanic with huge biceps, was waiting for them, warrant in hand.

“I’ve rung the bell, pounded on the door, even circled the house and tried the back, but I can’t get a response,” he said. “I checked with our tech people back at the station, and according to them, O’Donnell’s inside.”

“His ankle bracelet is, but maybe he cut it off and left it there,” Blalock said,
banging on the door. “We have a warrant to search the property, O’Donnell,” he called out after identifying himself. “Open up or we’ll break the door down.”

There was no answer, so Velasquez stepped up. “I’ve got this.” He kicked hard, aiming his boot heel at a spot just below the doorknob. The wood splintered and the door swung open.

“That’s some kick,” Ella said, her pistol out now and at
her side.

“Tae kwon do—black belt,” he said, flashing a wicked grin.

Blalock pushed his way in, pistol ready as he checked the front room. “Come on, O’Donnell. Don’t make me shoot you.”

“No chance of that,” Ella said, pointing to the ankle bracelet that lay on the floor beneath a glass-topped coffee table. “He’s in the wind.”

After issuing an ATL, attempt to locate, they began a thorough search
of the house. An hour passed, but their efforts failed to turn up any new evidence.

As they worked, Blalock stepped away to answer a phone call. He returned moments later. “We’ve got a lead. O’Donnell’s phone at the Emporium showed that he made several dozen calls to a burn phone, not the one that county’s holding. Mandy hasn’t been able to get anything on the phone’s owner, but each time, the
call went through a cell tower in Fruitland.”

“West of Kirtland … Isn’t that where Robert Kirk lives?” Ella said.

“Yep. The calls reveal a pattern, too, and give us probable cause, so I’m going to ask Judge Harris for a warrant to search Kirk’s home next. If we find something, we’ll place him under arrest,” Blalock said. “Damn, I hate dirty cops.”

As Ella went into the bedroom, where Justine
was continuing to search, something shiny on the floor by the edge of the bed caught her eye. “This money clip … I gave Harry one that looked just like it,” she said, bending down to retrieve it.

Justine came over to take a closer look. “I noticed it before. It’s sterling silver, but besides that, there’s nothing distinctive about it. Can you say for sure that it’s the same one?”

Having overheard
their conversation, Blalock hurried over. “If you could prove this was Harry’s, then we’d have the link we’ve been looking for.”

Ella shook her head. “No, I can’t swear it’s the same one. I bought the clip at the Outpost, a trading post outside the Rez, but it wasn’t a one-of-a-kind.”

“According to the conversation I just had with Sheriff Taylor, Sergeant Kirk’s off duty and should be at home
now,” Blalock said. “You want to go pay him a visit? He won’t know we’re waiting for a warrant and we might be able to convince him to talk to us.”

“Keep him busy till it comes in?” Ella nodded. “Good idea. With Billy O’Donnell on the run, something tells me that we need to get there quickly or we’ll be looking for two missing suspects, not just one.”

*   *   *

Ella knew that because it was
possible O’Donnell had already contacted Kirk, they had to go in prepared. If the sergeant was involved in the crimes, he could decide to make a run for it, or resist being taken into custody. Although from what she’d seen that day at the range, that Kirk wasn’t that good a shot, facing a well-armed opponent was always dangerous.

It was eight thirty, close to dark and well past sunset, when Ella
and Blalock pulled into the driveway of Kirk’s modest tract home. There was a light on somewhere inside, but the room facing the front was dark.

They parked beside a brown Jeep Wrangler loaded up with duffel bags and several suitcases. “Looks like someone is about to go on vacation,” Blalock said, gesturing to the Jeep as he stepped out of his unmarked unit.

“Must be a road trip, I don’t see
any camping gear,” Ella said, maintaining the “business as usual” tactic they’d decided upon before arriving.

Ella walked with Blalock up the sidewalk. Though they were both wearing vests beneath their jackets, she still regretted not having argued with Dwayne when he’d decided to ignore tactical training and approach the front door together. He wanted to make it all seem more casual and avoid
putting Kirk on the defensive. Yet by grouping like this, they were also easier targets.

Although they were obviously hoping to avoid a firefight, they’d also taken steps to protect the residents. Deputies had evacuated Kirk’s neighbors, and a SWAT team was positioned behind the corner of the now-empty house to her left. A sniper was also set up across the street, behind some low junipers.

“Once we’re done here, wanna grab a late dinner?” Blalock said, making conversation. His casual tone was in direct contrast to the intensity of his searching gaze—and the fact that his hand was inches away from his handgun.

When they stepped up onto the front porch, Ella noticed movement behind the curtained window. “Looks like somebody’s home,” she announced pleasantly, not moving her head but
showing Blalock the direction with her eyes.

The badger fetish around her throat suddenly felt very warm. Heeding the warning, she stepped back from the door and reached down to her waist, removing her Glock.

Blalock nodded, then rang the doorbell and also stepped back. Drawing his own weapon, he kept it at his side, down low. “Sergeant Kirk—Robert. Got a minute?”

“Back!” Ella yelled, instantly
pushing Blalock with the heel of her left hand.

The sleeve of Ella’s jacket fluttered, and she felt a slight tug just as the left center of the door splintered from two rapid bullet blasts.

“Down!” Blalock yelled.

Ella sank to one knee, held her weapon out at an angle with her left hand, and fired two shots blindly into the door.

The heavily armed and armored SWAT team came down the side of
the house at a practiced jog. The lead officer was holding up a metal shield to protect himself and the three men behind him. All the officers had on gas masks and radio headsets.

“You okay?” the fourth officer in line asked as they passed Blalock. Dwayne was prone now, his pistol aimed at the window.

“Fine. Clah?” Blalock asked, not taking his eyes off the window.