Tracking Bear (21 page)

Ella nodded. “He may have made that up to add to his own importance, or maybe he saw someone
there himself and wants to avoid anything that could get him called to a witness stand. But there’s one thing we have to admit—he’s got a pretty good information network.”

“Maybe that’s why Jason Franklin used him.”

“Yes, and that brings up another interesting question. If Albert had known a hit was going down, don’t you think he would have told Jason? He strikes me as the kind who takes pride
in repaying a debt. Not because he’s honorable, mind you, but because it’s part of that reputation he’s building—friends get treated well, enemies get squashed.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right to me, too.” Justine reached the stop sign at the highway and glanced at Ella. “Where to now?”

“Let’s return to the station. I’ll make some calls and get some background on Larry Tso before we go out to
talk to him.”

As they headed back, Ella shifted in her seat and her gaze dropped to the side mirror. “Don’t look now, but we’re being tailed.”

Justine kept her speed even so she wouldn’t tip off the person following them. “How do you want to handle this?”

Ella studied the tan SUV a quarter mile behind them. It remained back far enough so she couldn’t make out the driver’s face.

“If we go to the station, he’ll spook. So let’s head on out of town,
east again, then drive down to the dirt road that parallels the river on the south side of the farms and orchards between here and Waterflow. With all the trees between us, he’ll have to follow closer just to keep us in sight. Start varying your speed, like we’re looking for the right farm road,” Ella said. “Whoever that is doesn’t know where we’re going. That’s probably one reason for the tail.”

Once they reached the area Ella had in mind, Justine left the highway and drove down one of the larger dirt roads that led perpendicular to the highway between fields. They continued down the road that paralleled the main irrigation ditch on their side of the river, passing fields on their left. To their right lay what remained of the bosque, the natural forested area that lined both banks of
the river.

“Is he still there?” Justine asked, slowing as they intersected another road leading back to the highway between fields.

“I can’t see him back there, or spot a dust trail, so he didn’t follow us closer to the river. But I don’t see him giving up this easily.” Ella turned in her seat, and watched for a few minutes. “I was right. He didn’t. He’s following, creeping along the highway
and staying on the shoulder. I can see him from time to time between the trees.”

Justine squinted. “I’m not so sure about this, Ella. How do you know that’s the same vehicle we saw a while ago?”

“It’s the same color and model. Besides, there’s not much traffic on the highway at the moment.” She watched for a moment longer. “He’s a smart one. He stayed where he is so he can speed up and pull
back onto the highway if he sees us crossing over to try and get behind him.”

“Can we find a spot where he can’t see us, then get far enough ahead to cut him off? Or get another unit out here to catch him if he makes a run for it?”

Ella picked up the mike, but soon learned that the closest patrol unit was at least a half hour away, far to the west of them. It was no surprise. “It’s up to us.”
She mulled it over for a second. “There’s only one way to get close to him. Stop the unit at one of the road intersections where we’ll be visible to him, but with cover close by that leads all the way to the highway. We’ll fake car trouble, lifting the hood and all that. Then I’ll duck down and use the cover of an orchard to cross over to the highway where he is. Of course, this is all assuming
he stops to wait for us.”

“Ella, that’s risky. If he’s armed, and he sees you when you get close, he could pick you off. The last dozen or so feet of your approach will be completely in the open. If this is the perp we’ve been looking for, we already know he’ll kill a cop.”

“I still want to know who’s tailing me. I’ll try to find a place to cross where there’s a ditch I can use for cover.”

“All right. Let’s pick the spot carefully for our phony car trouble.”

“Go to the end of the next alfalfa field, pump the brakes to simulate a dying engine, then stop where the dirt track leads past the green farmhouse. I’ll use the cover of the car to duck down, then cut through the trees.”

Justine slowed and looked toward the highway. “Where’s he now?”

“Still moving, but slowly, and a faster
vehicle is passing him now. My guess is he’s keeping tabs on everything we do. Maybe he has a pair of binoculars.”

“I advise against doing this, Ella.”

“Noted. Now pump the brakes a few times and let’s get this show on the road.”

Justine did as Ella had asked, making the car lurch. She then pulled to a complete stop and got out. Ella joined her, walked around, and threw the hood open. While
Justine stood by the driver’s side fender, looking into the engine compartment, Ella made a great show of crawling beneath the vehicle. Once there, she slipped out beneath the passenger’s side.

“I’m off.”

“You said it, not me.” Justine laughed.

Ella moved as silently as Wind through the mature apple orchard. The branches were barren but low to the ground, so she had plenty of cover as long
as she moved from tree to tree rather than in the open.

When she reached the end of the orchard, there was an irrigation ditch, running perpendicular to the highway, which led underneath a culvert. The irrigation water wasn’t flowing this time of year, so she was able to slide easily into the four-foot-deep ditch and walk along its sandy bottom. Saplings and tall grass along the edges helped
hide her, though the cover wasn’t as complete as she’d have liked.

She was less than twenty-five yards away when she heard the SUV start up. She knew the driver couldn’t have heard her, but his instincts had been right on target. She scrambled out of the ditch, but by the time she got onto the shoulder of the highway, he was gone.

Ella informed Justine on her handheld radio. “I didn’t even get
close enough to read the vehicle tags, though they were in-state based on the color.” She paused for a moment, then added, “This person is like the old trickster, Coyote, and I hate these mind games. I prefer an adversary who stands and fights.”

“Don’t we all?”

By the time they reached the station, the tension was giving Ella an industrial-strength headache. “I need you to do a background check
on Larry Tso. Try to find out where he stands on NEED.”

“I’ll get on that right now,” Justine said.

Ella went to her office and sat down. Her head was pounding. Reaching into her bottom drawer, she brought out a bottle of aspirins. She’d just flipped two tabs into her palm when Officer Tache came into her office.

“I need to talk to you. Do you have a moment?”

“Sure, Ralph. Have a seat. What’s
going on?”

Worry lines crisscrossed Tache’s round face. “I’ve been thinking of applying for a job with the Albuquerque Police Department. I’ve already told Big Ed.”

Ella stared at him, shocked. Ralph had been with the department practically forever. “I wish you’d reconsider this, Ralph. Our PD is undergoing hard times right now, I know, and things are always at their worst before they get fixed.
Can’t you stick it out a while longer?”

He shook his head. “My wife heard how Jason Franklin died, and she wants us to move. APD has a lot more officers who can back you up when it’s needed, and their equipment is reliable.”

“Ralph, haven’t you lived on the Rez all your life?”

“Yeah. And so has my wife. But she has a sister in Albuquerque who has a real good job and a nice house in the Northeast
Heights, and she wants to move there. She says she deserves nice things, too.”

Ralph shrugged. “Anyway, I just wanted to give you a heads-up. I haven’t actually applied to the APD yet, but I will soon, and I need to start training someone who can take my place here. If you come across someone who’s interested in criminalistics, let me know. I’ll teach him the basics he needs to know, and he can
take the rest of the courses at the college. I won’t leave you in the lurch.”

“Your experience is invaluable to us. Think about this some more. We really need you here, Ralph.”

“I know. That’s what makes it so difficult to leave. But I have a family to think about, Ella.”

She nodded. “If you need a good reference…”

“I’d appreciate it. I’ll let you know when my application goes through.”

When he left, Ella leaned back in her chair and rubbed her temples. She had to get some paperwork done today.

At that moment, Margaret Bruno showed up at her door, wearing a visitor’s badge on a lanyard around her neck. Ella looked at her speculatively, noticing that the tall blonde wore a gold choker and hoop earrings but no rings. Her makeup was limited to lipstick. She was appealing and tough-looking
at the same time, and might have attracted a police officer who liked the kind of woman who could match him drink for drink, and even arm wrestle him to see who paid the tab.

“Hi, Ella. I just had a word with Chief Atcitty, and he suggested we finish the last session of the training program today.”

Ella sighed. This was the last thing she needed, but she knew that Big Ed was just trying to get
the training over with so they wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.

Margaret sat across from her. “I know it’s a pain, and I understand your still being ticked off after the curveball I threw you at the power plant. But today will be different. We’ll go over some of the latest techniques in pursuit driving, focusing on operations in built-up areas such as neighborhoods and industrial areas.
I promise you’ll see the benefits of what you learn out on the streets.”

Ella looked at Margaret and nodded. “I’ll get the others.”

Nearly two hours later, Ella returned to her desk. The training session had run long, but the exercises, centering on pursuit driving, had been informative and practical.

First, they’d had some hands-on work at the vacant fairgrounds, where they’d had room to
maneuver without interference from traffic. Then they’d moved to an old neighborhood across the highway from where the uranium mill had once stood. The streets were still intact, but virtually all the houses had been torn down and replaced because their foundations had contained uranium tailings.

Bruno had demonstrated real driving skills, teaching them some fast turns and techniques that her
team had been eager to learn, though Ella had been through equivalent sessions years ago while in the FBI. Encouraged by their interest, Bruno had spent the extra time they’d needed so each could practice the maneuvers, and seeing that Ella already had the skills, had shown a little humility herself and asked Ella to help her train the others so they could all get more practice.

The best part,
however, had come when they’d all seen Margaret Bruno finally drive away. She was now out of her team’s hair for good, and they could concentrate completely on the pending cases.

Ella spent the next few hours catching up on reports using her computer terminal. Midway through a manpower utilization update, the computer screen froze, and she was unable to go on.

Big Ed came into her office. “You
might as well shut down your workstation. There’s something wrong with the system server, and it won’t reboot properly. We’re having people look into it now.”

Ella looked at the monitor and scowled. “This is not my day for good news,” she said, and discussed the situation concerning Ralph Tache’s planned departure. “I really don’t want him to leave.”

“I hate to lose him, too, but Tache has to
make his own decision,” Big Ed said, then walked to the door. “Go home, Shorty. It’s almost quitting time, and you did a good job today helping train the others on the SI team with the pursuit driving exercises. Officer Tache mentioned it to me when he returned. You’ll probably be coming in early tomorrow, as usual, so that’ll be a good time to catch up on the paperwork.”

“But I have a truckload
of work to finish.”

“Write down whatever notes you need in longhand, then enter them tomorrow. The work will still be there. Spend a few hours with your family. Remind them what you look like,” he added with a ghost of a smile, “before you change.”

She sighed. “Yeah, right.” Ella reached for her keys and stood up. The truth was that she was still angry and frustrated, not only with herself and
the poor performance they’d shown at the power plant scenario a few days ago, but also with the department and tribe for failing to provide for their officers when it came to adequate field support. She needed to get away for a while, and spending time with her daughter was the perfect way to soothe her spirit.

Rose arrived at the community college lecture hall several minutes late. Lena
Clani, her best friend and fellow member of the Plant Watchers, had called just a half hour ago and asked for her to participate in a college-sponsored lecture on Navajo herbs. Rose had been scheduled to take part in next month’s lecture, but one of the Plant Watchers had become ill at the last minute, and Lena, coordinator for the events, had begged, cajoled, and insisted. A bribe of prickly pear
jelly had finally convinced Rose to take over.