Earthcrack: A Lin Hanna Mystery (17 page)

“It may be just a coincidence,” Lin said,
“but it is at least interesting that Cullen had a business card from this
gallery.
 
Maybe the gallery owner
remembers him and maybe he would know something more about him.”

“I also find it interesting that Neal is
obviously well acquainted with this gallery owner but he hasn’t mentioned
knowing Cullen at all,” Lin confessed. “I’m not sure why, but I have a strange
feeling that this entire incident is causing Neal Smith a lot of distress.”
 
Lin explained—Neal’s reactions
whenever she mentioned the discovery of the remains—his nervousness and
his ready dismissal of her questions.
 
“If I say anything, he cuts me off, just says it was an unfortunate
accident and he has confidence the authorities have done their job.”

“Don’t be too quick to jump to
conclusions,” Sue cautioned, “after all, there are lots of reasons a person
might have a card from a gallery—I have picked several up myself since I’ve
been here.
 
Neal’s reactions could
simply reflect his distress at having his students involved in a frightening
situation.”

“I know,” Lin admitted, “I don’t want to
make any assumptions, but I can’t help but feel there is something more here
than has yet been discovered.
 
I am
more convinced than ever that there are questions to be asked and I intend to
see what else I can learn.”

“And I intend to help you,” Sue smiled.

It was mid-afternoon when they arrived
back at Wupatki.
 
They had not
stopped for lunch after leaving the family, instead eating the snacks they had
picked up at the convenience store.
 
Now they were beginning to be hungry.

Sue pulled to the side of the visitor’s
parking lot to let Lin out near her apartment. “I have an idea.
 
I’m going to be ready for a good dinner
in a couple of hours.
 
Why don’t you
rest up a bit and then drive into Flag and meet me for an early dinner
somewhere.
 
We can talk about what
we learned and how to proceed from this point.”

“Sounds like a great idea,” Lin
responded. “ Where shall we meet?”

Sue suggested a Mexican restaurant named
Salsa Brava near the eastern part of town and they agreed to meet there at
five-thirty.

As she reentered her apartment, Lin
glanced at the clock.
 
It was only three—plenty
of time before she would have to leave to meet Sue.
 
Plenty of time to satisfy her curiosity
about one more thing—the phone number on the back of the card from the
gallery.
 
Grabbing her keys, Lin
hurried out to her car, making sure she still had the card in her pocket.
 
She drove once more to the Doney Peak
area, where the cell service was good, parked her car at one end of the almost
deserted parking lot, and dialed the number written on the back.
 
The phone rang—four rings, five—apparently
no one was home to answer.
 
Then
voice mail kicked in.
 
A familiar
male voice said—“Sorry, we are not here to receive your call, please
leave a mess…” Lin broke off the call—she was not going to leave a
message for Dr. Neal Smith!

Darren Steele drained the last of his
beer and signaled the bartender for another.
 
It was getting late—close to
closing time.
 

“That’s your limit, buddy,” the bartender
put the beer in front of him, “almost closing anyway—thirty minutes.”

“Okay, Okay, I know,” Darren quickly took
a long drink from the frosty glass.
 
What was he going to do now? Thus far he had failed to locate the
pottery even though he felt certain he was close somehow.
 
It had to be in that area just beyond
the box canyon at Lomaki.
 
That was
where the original meeting had been set, that was the part of the park Cullen
was familiar with.
 
It was close to
his collection site and…Darren suddenly had a thought.
 
Cullen was not the only Hopi who
collected feathers and eaglets in that area.
 
There was someone else.
 
Darren didn’t know the man but he felt
sure he could find out who it was.
 
He had to head back to the reservation and make some inquiries.
 
He needed to get more information, he
needed to find the pottery and make good on this deal somehow.

Darren left the bar and headed next door
to his motel room on foot.
 
The Pine
Forest Tourist Inn wasn’t fancy but it was the best he could afford and it was
on the east side of town on the way to the park area where he had been
searching.
 
Darren was getting low
on funds again.
 
In fact, he planned
to check out of the motel tomorrow, but until he thought about the other
collector, he hadn’t known where he was going or what he was going to do.
 
He was growing increasingly frustrated
and scared.
 
He was pretty sure he
was being followed, probably by someone Chou had sent to keep an eye on
him.
 
He had spotted a truck with
New Mexico plates on several occasions but hadn’t identified the driver.

Arriving back at his room, Darren
sprawled out on the bed.
 
He felt
sick and tired of this whole thing.
 
He had to succeed; otherwise, he would have nowhere to go from
here.
 
He kicked off his boots and
fell into a drunken slumber.
 
Tomorrow—he would do something tomorrow.

Awakening shortly after dawn, Darren hit
the shower and dressed in the last clean shirt he had.
 
He packed his duffle bag, checked out of
the motel, and headed out on Hwy 89.
 
This time he drove on past the park entrance and continued on to the
Tuba City cut off.
 
Tuba was the
largest town in that part of the Rez—maybe someone there would know the
man he was looking for.
 

When Darren arrived in Tuba City he went
to the local McDonalds and ordered a breakfast biscuit and large coffee.
 
The coffee would hopefully help him get
rid of his lingering headache.
 
He
sat down at a large u-shaped counter in the middle where there were other folks
eating.
 
He finished his breakfast
and then got up to refill his coffee.
 
Returning to his seat he spoke to the man sitting across from him.

“Looks like a nice morning,” he said, “good
day to be outside.”

“Yes, it is,” the man responded, “I don’t
believe I know you, you new around here.”

“Well, sort of,” Darren wanted to avoid
giving his name, “ I grew up east of here in the Chuskas.
 
I’m here looking for some work maybe—you
know anyone hiring?”

“Not really, things are pretty slow
around here these days.
 
Not much
work.”

“Well, I was afraid of that,” Darren
responded, “guess I’ll just look up this guy a friend of mine mentioned and see
if he knows anything.”

“Who’s that,” the man asked.

Darren took on a sheepish look, “I’m
embarrassed, I had his name on a piece of paper and then, this morning, I couldn’t
find it.
 
Guess I lost it.
 
I know he is Hopi and I think he is some
kind of clan bigwig—looks for eaglets and eagle feathers or some
such.
 
He probably doesn’t live
around here.”

“I wouldn’t know,” the man responded, “but
folks over in Moenkopi, just across the highway, probably would know.
 
You could ask there.”

“Thanks,” Darren responded.
 
He refilled his coffee cup and headed
out to his truck.

Driving the few blocks over to Moenkopi
on the Hopi side of the highway, he spotted a convenience store.
 
He needed some gas anyway so he pulled
in to the pump. After he gassed up he went inside to pay.

“Maybe you can help me,” he spoke to the
clerk, “I’m looking for someone.
 
I’ve
lost his name but I know he is one of those who collect eagle feathers and
eaglets for the tribe.
 
Maybe you
know who he is?”

“Sure, that must be Henry Piestewa, he is
the only collector I know around here.”

The clerk briefly described where Henry
lived and Darren was soon on his way.
 
The small trailer was located at the end of a side street.
 
The yard was neatly swept and there was
an older model green SUV parked beside the trailer.

Darren got out of his truck but waited
beside it until an older man came to the door of the trailer.

“Henry Piestewa?” Darren asked.

“That’s right, how can I help you,” Henry
responded.

“ I am looking for some information about
a friend of mine who disappeared about this time last year, Cullen
Honeyestewa.
 
Someone told me you
knew him and might know something about his disappearance.”

“ Who are you,” Henry spoke warily, “why
do you want information about Cullen?”

“I am Billy, Billy Begay,” Darren quickly
made up a name that was probably pretty common on the reservation.
 
He did not want this man to know who he
was.

“Cullen and I were doing some business
together.
 
After he disappeared the
deal fell through.
 
I’m trying to
find out if anyone has any information about what happened to him and what he
was doing at the time.
 
I know he
collected eagle feathers and such and I was supposed to meet him around that
place somewhere but he disappeared and I couldn’t find him later,” Darren hoped
this would cause Henry to open up and talk about Cullen, maybe about where the
collection site was.

“I knew this man Cullen,” Henry
responded, “ we collected the sacred birds and feathers together from our clan’s
designated site, but I know nothing about any other business he was doing.
 
I am afraid I can’t help you,” Henry
spoke warily, he was not sure about this fellow…

“Perhaps you can help me,” Darren pressed
on. “ I was supposed to meet Cullen somewhere near the collection site.
 
I know it is a secret but he said it was
safer near there and we could take care of our business without violating the
sacred site.
 
I think maybe he had
hidden some items there for me.
 
Then he disappeared and I have not been able to locate anyone who could
help me find my property.
 
I hoped
you might help me,” Darren wanted this story to be believable.

Henry was not buying this story. “I
seriously doubt Cullen hid anything anywhere,” he responded.
 
“ You see, Cullen didn’t just disappear.
He is dead.
 
His body was found a
couple of weeks ago over in the park.
 
There was nothing found with him so I’m afraid you are out of luck.
 
That is all I know.”

Darren tried not to show his concern over
this news.
 
He was not aware that
anyone knew what had happened to Cullen. “Could you at least help me find the
place?
 
I could look for myself, if
I knew where he might have been going.
 
I would not try to enter any sacred areas—I just need to know the
general location,” Darren tried not to sound too desperate for the information.

“I have nothing more to say to you,” Henry
responded. “I do not know anything about what Cullen was doing business-wise
and I am certainly not going to betray the trust of my tribe by discussing our
collection locations.
 
You will have
to leave now.
 
I cannot help you.”

Henry turned and went back into the
trailer closing the door behind him.
 
Darren had no choice but to leave.
 
He knew that Henry knew the location of the collection site and he still
felt certain that somewhere near there he would find the pottery he was looking
for.
 
He simply had to find a way to
locate it.

He drove out from Moenkopi returning to
Tuba City where he found a cheap room for that night.
 
He registered as Billy Begay and decided
to stay in the room and watch TV the rest of the day.
 
He had already spent enough time wandering
around the two towns and he didn’t want to risk being identified.
 
After all, Raymond Tso, his cousin and
would-be business partner, was a well-known businessman here.
 
Above all, at this point, he did not
want Raymond to know where he was.
 
He hadn’t seen the truck with New Mexico plates since he left Flagstaff
but he knew it would not be difficult to trace his steps up here to the
Rez.
 
That was another good reason
to stay hidden as much as possible.

***

The next morning, Darren went once more
to the McDonalds to get some breakfast.
 
This time he chose a seat alone near a window where he could observe who
was coming into the parking lot.
 
He
wasn’t sure what his next move would be.
 
He wanted to go back to the park and hunt for the pottery but he wasn’t
sure how to proceed.
 
If he went
during the day, he would have to find a place to hide his truck and he might
bump into visitors near the ruin.
 
Maybe there was a back way in from a forest service road.
 
That was the part of the park furthest
away from the visitor center so maybe he could manage to avoid being
observed.
 
Anyway, he had to try
something.
 
Time was running out if
he expected to make any sort of deal for these pots.

Just as he was refilling his coffee cup,
Darren saw Henry Piestewa’s SUV drive by.
 
He hurried to get his coffee and get out to his truck.
 
The SUV was stopped at the intersection
by a red light.
 
Darren managed to
start his truck and pull out into the line of traffic several cars back.
 

Where was Henry going this morning?
 
He had his right turn signal on which
meant he was not heading back home.
 
Darren decided to take a chance and follow him.
 
Maybe he was heading for the park to
collect feathers or something.
 
Maybe he had thought about what Darren had said the day before about a
business deal.
 
Maybe he was going
to hunt for something also.
 
Darren
followed the green SUV out of town, taking care to remain some distance
behind.
 
It wasn’t difficult.
 
Henry was not driving very fast.
 

Darren was totally focused on the SUV ahead,
making sure he could follow at a safe distance as the traffic thinned, leaving
Tuba City and heading toward the highway.
 
He was so focused on the vehicle ahead that he didn’t notice the old
battered jeep that had pulled out into the line of traffic behind him in
town.
 
Now that they were on the
open road, the driver of the jeep was careful to remain far enough back to
avoid being obvious.

As he reached Highway 89, Darren began
watching for the truck with the New Mexico plates.
 
He felt sure that man would try to pick
him up on this main road to Flagstaff.
 
The only vehicle he saw behind him was a battered old jeep moving pretty
slowly.
 
Probably it was someone
going into Flagstaff for the day to shop.
 
Lots of folks did that—nothing to be concerned about.
 
He proceeded deliberately, staying just
far enough behind Henry’s car to avoid being seen.
  
He could only hope that maybe the
guy from New Mexico had lost him when he left Flagstaff—or better still,
he had given up and headed for home.

Darren’s spirits lifted considerably when
he saw Henry’s car enter the northern gateway to Wupatki.
 
He was heading toward Lomaki, the first
ruin reached from this side of the park.
 
This was where the box canyon he had been searching fruitlessly was
located and he felt sure the sacred site was nearby.
 
He was equally certain that the pottery
had to be hidden somewhere near here.
 
Maybe Henry knew more than he was willing to talk about—otherwise,
why was he heading for this area today?
 
Darren drove on toward the park entrance with a new determination to
track Henry down and make him tell what he really knew.