Red Mesa (45 page)

With the bill of her cap shading her face, and careful not to make eye contact, Ella cruised past the parked unit. Two minutes later, well down the road, she sat up again, turned off the radio, and listened on the
police scanner. The cop hadn’t given her a second glance, apparently.

More than an hour later, after she’d driven along a well-traveled path into the piñon/juniper hills near Beclabito, the road abruptly disappeared into a thick stand of trees near a sandstone cliff.

She quickly parked off the track behind a cluster of junipers and slipped out of the pickup, carrying her rifle and extra cartridges
in her pocket. Somewhere in the distance she could hear the faint chug of a small gasoline engine, but that was the only sign that the area had residents nearby. Moving forward very slowly, keeping low, she studied the area ahead with binoculars. Eventually, through a small gap in the trees, she saw a hogan with a sturdy-looking wooden door a short distance from the cliff. A cord of wood was
stacked a few feet from the entrance.

When Lupe had warned her about video surveillance cameras, she’d expected one or two. Although the cameras were not in plain sight, she could make out at least three mounted on trees, with branches cleared away to give clear fields of view. Wires led down the trees, then disappeared at ground level, obviously buried and leading to a power source and monitor,
the latter of which was probably inside the hogan.

Ella saw Paul Natoni come outside the hogan, take a look around using a pair of binoculars, then go back in. Though she waited patiently for at least an hour, she saw no sign of Jeremiah Manyfarms. The cameras didn’t move, so they were either fixed to a single viewing area, or whoever was inside didn’t care to put them into motion.

Ella circled
around at a distance, coming to the edge of the cliff behind the log dwelling. There weren’t any more cameras visible, though she searched for several minutes for mountings or wires before moving any closer.

As she drew near, she thought she heard Natoni speaking to someone inside, but she couldn’t make out his words clearly. The sturdy structure made that impossible. To make matters even worse,
whoever he was talking to hadn’t answered at all. For some reason she couldn’t explain, that made a chill creep up Ella’s spine.

She searched the entire perimeter for another vehicle, trying to find out who was with him, but only Natoni’s pickup was there, parked around back on the cliff side.

Ella crept even closer, trying to find the electrical generator from the sound it made. She finally
spotted it right outside the entrance, screened from the front by the stack of firewood. Disabling it would be impossible without risking getting caught before she was ready. She searched again, but still couldn’t find any additional cameras aimed toward the back. They must have had to exclude one area from scrutiny, and selected the cliff side with its natural barrier. If she approached carefully,
she could stay out of the side cameras’ viewing field.

Closer now, Ella realized Natoni was taunting someone. His voice had an annoying singsong quality. Ella clasped the badger fetish in her hand for courage. It was hot to the touch. Danger was close, something she already knew.

Heeding the warning, Ella decided to back off and take another look around the area, hoping to spot Manyfarms. She
didn’t want him to take her unawares, or come up the road and cut her off. As she climbed a bluff adjacent to the hogan and looked around from high ground, she saw a vehicle traveling toward them.

It took a few endless minutes before she recognized the SUV through her binoculars. It was Wilson Joe. Fear gripped her. The last thing she wanted was to be responsible for another person now.

Wishing
he’d stayed in Shiprock and done as she’d asked, Ella circled around quickly and flagged him down before he came upon where she’d parked her pickup. Wilson parked his SUV, then climbed out of his own vehicle, carrying his hunting rifle.

“I turned over the tape to Big Ed, but then I realized that I couldn’t let you face this alone,” Wilson said softly. “What did you find?”

“There’s a hogan ahead,
protected by video cameras. I have a feeling that Manyfarms is nearby, but I don’t think he’s inside the hogan, and I couldn’t find his vehicle. Paul Natoni is there, however. I heard him speaking to someone, but the person never answered.” Ella exhaled softly. “You shouldn’t be here, you know. You could get yourself killed.”

Wilson ignored her. “Any chance that Natoni’s talking to himself?”

“Maybe he has a radio or cell phone in there. It sounded to me like he was giving someone a hard time, though. Perhaps it’s Justine’s aunt Lena.”

Ella heard another vehicle coming up the same road. In an area without traffic of any kind, sound traveled a long way. Probably the only reason her and Wilson’s vehicles hadn’t been detected inside the hogan was that the chugging of the generator drowned
out the engine noise.

Ella climbed up on top of her pickup’s cab and focused the binoculars toward the sound.

“You were followed! The first vehicle is Blalock’s, I’m sure of it. No one else dares to drives a sedan out here in the sticks. The second is a tribal unit. My guess is that Sergeant Manuelito volunteered to back him up.”

“Ella, I’m sorry. I don’t know how I didn’t spot them. I kept
looking in the rearview mirror.”

“Maybe Manuelito put a tracking device in your car.” Ella jumped down and quickly searched the rear bumper and fenders of Wilson’s SUV. She found the magnetically attached device immediately. “I need you to do something as quickly as you can.”

“Name it.”

“Drive to another spot beside the cliff and pitch this over the edge. Just don’t let anyone see your vehicle
from the hogan, and try not to let Blalock see you. If FB-Eyes and whoever else it is thinks they’re going to have to drive back down to the bottom, it might buy me some time.”

“What are you planning to do about Natoni?” Wilson asked. “You’d have to wait until he comes out or risk getting shot in a face-to-face confrontation. Maybe you should just let those guys find the hogan.”

“I can’t let
that happen,” Ella said, grasping her rifle firmly in her right hand. “When those cars come up to the hogan, Natoni will bolt, or start shooting. If he’s got someone in there, maybe as a hostage, then that person will be dead. I still don’t know what happened to Justine’s aunt Lena.”

Wilson got behind the wheel. “All right. I’ll go. Watch yourself.”

“Don’t worry about me. Just get Blalock and
Manuelito away from here a little longer.”

As he drove off, Ella knew her luck was about to run out. With every passing second she was risking having Natoni hear the extra vehicles. She had to act now.

Ella returned to her vantage point behind the hogan and, after a quick look to make sure everything was as she’d left it, made her move.

She crept forward like a shadow, her footsteps light and
silent, until she reached the hogan’s log wall. Hearing the hogan’s door open, she froze. Natoni stepped out casually, then waved at Jeremiah Manyfarms, who was just approaching the hogan with a pair of binoculars in hand. Natoni walked toward the other man.

She suddenly realized they’d come in the same vehicle, and Jeremiah must have been in the hogan earlier, or keeping watch outside where
she hadn’t been able to see him. Yet Natoni wouldn’t have taunted Manyfarms. There was still a hostage to contend with.

She’d have to move fast. Manyfarms probably knew about Blalock and the tribal vehicle coming up the track. Noting that the lower half of the open door would be hidden from the two men by the stack of firewood, she crouched down low and slipped inside the hogan.

Ella’s breath
caught in her throat when she saw Paul and Jeremiah’s prisoner. Justine was sitting on the floor, tied to the woodstove and blindfolded, but definitely not dead.

Ella recovered quickly and went to her side, removing the dark scarf that covered her eyes. “It’s me,” she whispered.

Justine, pale, bruised, and with her mouth swollen where someone had hit her, managed a lopsided smile. “Took you
long enough.”

TWENTY-EIGHT

For a moment, Ella couldn’t speak. Her cousin had been badly beaten, and one of her hands was wrapped heavily with bandages. The clothes she was wearing smelled like a PE locker and were much too large on her to be her own. But she was
alive!
“I’m so glad to see you!” Ella managed, her voice trembling with emotion.

“I don’t think I’m going to be able to stand, Ella. They’ve been
giving me painkillers. Strong ones. I almost fall over every time I have to pee. They make me use some kind of chamber pot.”

Ella pulled out her pocketknife and cut through the ropes holding Justine’s feet and arms. “Then let me help you. And stay as quiet as you can, partner,” Ella warned softly.

“There are at least two men around somewhere, Ella. One of them is Paul Natoni. I’ve never seen
their faces, but I recognized Paul even though he tried at first to disguise his voice. He likes to try and intimidate me by sneaking up close. It gives me the creeps. But it’s the other one, the one who is always silent, who scares me the most.”

“That’s Jeremiah Manyfarms,” Ella said, trying to support Justine as she got to her feet. “They’re both outside right now, probably trying to figure
out their next move. I think they know that help is on its way.”

Justine swayed, and leaned on Ella for support. “I can’t make it, Ella, I’m too groggy. I can’t even shoot right-handed,” she said, holding out her bandaged hand. “They cut off part of my finger.”

Anger shook Ella. She wanted to rip out Natoni’s lungs for this. “I’ll explain later. But right now we need to get out of here. Help’s
still a long way off.”

Ella went to the door to peek outside, but Natoni abruptly stepped in, aiming a revolver at her chest.

“Stay where you are,” he snapped. “Hand me your rifle, butt first.”

Suddenly Blalock’s sedan came roaring up, crashing through the brush to Ella’s left. As the vehicle skidded to a stop and Natoni turned his head toward the new threat, Ella saw her chance. She stomped
down on his foot, and at the same time knocked his gun hand to the side.

The pistol fired, and Natoni cursed, stepping back from Ella and whirling around to aim at the vehicle. He fired two shots into the windshield, but the occupants were already diving out both sides. Ella fired her rifle from the hip, catching Paul in the side. He collapsed to the ground, firing again as he fell, but the bullet
went wild.

Big Ed remained behind the open passenger door, his pistol aimed at Natoni. Blalock was in the same position on the other side.

“Where’s Manyfarms?” Ella yelled, stepping away from the hogan and looking to her right.

“He was coming around the other side of the hogan, but took off into the forest when he saw my car,” Blalock answered. “What’s going on?”

Justine came to the door,
waved weakly, and leaned against the side of the hogan just as the tribal unit came roaring up with Sergeant Manuelito and Agent Payestewa.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ella saw Big Ed and the others staring at Justine as if they’d seen a ghost. But she had no time to enjoy her long-awaited vindication. Another vehicle was approaching, Wilson Joe’s.

“Manyfarms was part of this, too,” Ella warned.
“We need to catch him before he gets away.” Ella tried to feed another shell into the rifle chamber, but it jammed. “Damn!”

“Don’t worry about your rifle. We’ve got plenty of firepower now, and roadblocks and four-wheel-drive vehicles searching the entire area,” Blalock said, shaking off his confusion over the quick firefight and Justine’s appearance. He hurried to Natoni, who was on the ground,
groaning. Blalock picked up Natoni’s pistol by the grips and slipped it into his jacket pocket.

“Don’t underestimate Manyfarms,” Ella warned. “He could still hide out in this country. He’s on foot, remember.” Ella tried again to free the spent cartridge from the rifle chamber, but it was wedged firmly.

“We need to begin a search pattern to flush him out.” She looked at Wilson, who was climbing
out of his vehicle with a smile on his face. “In the meantime, Wilson can take Justine to the hospital. She needs medical attention.”

Ella didn’t want to say anything, but the bandage looked nasty, and her cousin had started bleeding again. Although there was no way for her to tell what Justine’s condition really was, Ella knew her assistant was having a problem focusing her attention. Justine
kept blinking her eyes as if trying to clear them.

Big Ed gave Wilson a nod. “I’ll call in backup for you, Professor. They’ll meet you on your way back to the highway. Don’t stop for anyone you don’t recognize as a police officer. Jeremiah Manyfarms is part of this, and he’s armed and on the loose. Sergeant Manuelito can tend our wounded perp.” He turned to Manuelito, who nodded, reached into
his vehicle for a first aid kit, then walked reluctantly over to the wounded kidnapper.

As Wilson helped Justine toward the SUV, Ella looked up at the faces around her. Big Ed’s chagrined expression was mirrored on Blalock’s face. She looked at Manuelito, who was crouched over Paul Natoni, holding a bandage against the man’s wound. The sergeant’s face was stony, but he gave her a nod. “He’ll
live, unfortunately.”

At least Ella knew that was one less nightmare she’d be having in the future. But in order to prevent another, they still had to catch Jeremiah before he could get to a vehicle.

“Let’s track Manyfarms from the place you saw him run into the woods,” Ella said to Big Ed. “Except we spread out on both flanks so he can’t slip past us. Maybe we can trap him against the edge
of the cliff.”

“Good plan,” Big Ed agreed. As everyone spread out to move into the trees, a gunshot caught them all off guard.

Ella saw Wilson pulling Justine around the side of his SUV to get her out of the line of fire, but her injured cousin stumbled. Off balance, Wilson fell to the ground with her.

Ella hurried to help, then saw Manyfarms step out from behind some brush, trying to get into
position to aim his rifle at the two on the ground. Ella dropped her jammed rifle, reaching around for her derringer as she ran, though she knew she was hopelessly outgunned and that a rifle bullet would surely penetrate her vest.