Shooting Chant (34 page)

“Gotcha, but people are going to think you’re just avoiding going after the Fierce Ones.”

“My job is to find the truth and that’s all I’m worried about. Let’s go to LabKote.”

Within seconds, they were
headed south down Highway 666, Ella leading in her blue unmarked vehicle.

When Ella finally pulled into LabKote’s parking lot, she saw that the section where Kyle Hansen had died was completely deserted, though it was actually closer to the gate. Clifford’s words warning her that an evil presence had taken over these grounds echoed in her mind. She could certainly understand why he felt that
way. Trouble seemed to gravitate here. Ella reached under her seat and grabbed her police baton, slipping it into the empty loop of her belt.

“That fence is almost glowing. Smell something burning?” Justine said as they walked toward the main gate entrance and the adjacent guardhouse.

“I think that’s from the scorching leaves that have blown onto the live wires. The idea of such high voltage
scares me. What would happen if some teenager tried to climb it?” Ella said.

“Maybe they’re trying to keep dinosaurs in there. Remember the movie,
Jurassic Park
?” Justine said, laughing.

They walked up to the gate and were met by the guard, who poked his head out of the door just as they arrived. “Hello Officer Clah. Do you and the other officer have an appointment? I don’t see you on my visitor’s
list.”

The man held a clipboard, but Ella noticed he also had two canisters of Mace and an extra clip for his handgun on his belt. The security here was quietly up-gunning from last time. Just inside the small gatehouse, she could also see a shotgun resting against the wall.

“No, we don’t have an appointment, but we need to see Mr. Morgan, your security chief, and ask him a few questions relevant
to our investigation.” Ella didn’t mention which one, assuming the guard, and Morgan, would think she meant Hansen’s murder. “We’d like to go in right now. Can you escort us?”

“No, I’m not allowed to leave my post except in an emergency situation. You’ll have to wait.” The guard stepped back into the guardhouse and picked up his portable radio transmitter.

“Just open the gate,” Ella demanded.
“You can watch us all the way to the door.”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” the guard said. “But don’t worry. It’ll just be five minutes or so before someone comes out.”

“Don’t waste my time. Open the gate. We promise not to get lost along the sidewalk,” Ella snapped, walking over to the entrance.

“If you really insist,” the guard relented. “Here we go.” He punched in a code number
on a handheld keypad, like a garage door opener. The gate opened to a width of six feet, then stopped.

Ella went in and Justine followed. The gate shut behind them a few seconds later, and the guard stepped back into his small structure, picking up his handheld radio again.

“Nice going, boss,” Justine said as they walked down the sidewalk toward the same door Ella had been through before.

“Sometimes being assertive is all it takes,” Ella said.

“Somebody must have a dog,” Justine remarked, pointing to some tracks. “That’s an interesting addition to their security.”

As Ella looked down, she spotted a set of boot-prints left in the dirt. “Now these look familiar. Those ridges on the heel are distinctive.”

Ella’s assistant bent down and studied the tracks. “It seems to be the same
size and pattern as the boot-prints found at the sniper’s location and near the Brownhat body, but I can’t say for sure. I wish I had my camera, or could make a plaster cast.”

“Uh oh.” As Ella looked up, she saw a long black dog with big white teeth emerge from around the corner of the building and head in their direction. “Don’t run, but get ready for a Doberman.”

Justine reached down into
her pocket, then felt around her belt. “I must have left my Mace in the unit.”

“I’ve got my baton, at least. Something told me I’d be needing it.” Ella stepped around so that she was between Justine and the dog, which was approaching quickly, but not at a run. It wasn’t growling, but she didn’t know if that was good or bad.

“Hey, guard. Call your dog!” Justine yelled toward the gate. The man
was out of view, but Ella knew it was intentional. He’d let them walk right into this.

“Here it comes.” Ella stood still, holding the stick at both ends and out so it would be the first thing the animal would encounter.

The long, sleek animal, standing much taller than Ella expected a Doberman to be, came up within ten feet, stopped, and bared his teeth in a low snarl. His stubby, wagging tail
gave him away, though.

“Good boy, aren’t you a pretty boy?” Justine called in the sweetest voice she could muster. “How about a cookie?”

“You’ve got cookies?” Ella glanced out of the corner of her eye.

“Actually they’re peanut butter and crackers from the station vending machine, but dogs don’t care. Please watch him while I unwrap these.”

“Good boy, that’s a nice puppy,” Ella lowered the
baton, and held out her hand a few inches, palm up. The big male beast took a step closer and sniffed, his stubby tail wagging a bit faster.

“Here boy, have a cookie,” Justine tossed a cracker underhanded so it landed in front of the dog. He grabbed it immediately and gobbled it down, then sat.

“Good boy, sit. That’s it.” Justine called. “Now come!” The vicious-looking dog trotted up and sat
down right in front of Justine, licking his chops. She held out another cracker, and he scooped it right out of the palm of her hand.

“Okay, we can go now,” Ella announced. “Bring your new friend with us.”

Ella walked to the door, with Justine following and the Doberman at heel beside her. Ella knocked, and when the door began to open, Justine sent the dog to fetch a cracker she threw. “I don’t
want to get him in trouble with his boss,” Justine whispered.

As Dr. Landreth greeted them, the Navajo security guard, Jimmie Herder, appeared at the far end of the compound and whistled. The dog ran immediately toward him, cracker in mouth.

*   *   *

“It’s too bad Morgan wasn’t there, and Landreth wasn’t more help,” Justine complained twenty minutes later at the Totah Cafe. “Was Landreth that
boring when you talked to him before? If I heard another word about mutual cooperation and shared profits, I’d have cut my wrists with those slick brochures he kept handing me.” She took a sip of coffee, and ate another french fry from the big plate she and Ella were sharing.

“But did you notice that the photos I’d told you about were gone? In their place was a flowchart for production, and a
map of the U.S. showing the location of LabKote’s many customers. They must sell to hospitals and labs all over the country.” Ella picked up a french fry, dipped it in her ice cream, then popped it into her mouth.

“That’s gross, Ella. How can you do that with strawberry ice cream?” Justine moved a handful of french fries to one side, and salted them.

“So you prefer chocolate french fries, huh?”

Justine made a face. “So, what do we do next?” she asked, taking a sip of cola.

“I’m going to talk to Clifford. Did you see that security guard at LabKote, Jimmie Herder? The Navajo who called the dog?” Ella finished off her share of the fries, and started eying Justine’s. “He was wearing boots, I think. I wonder what size and pattern they are?”

“He’s also the one who discovered Kyle Hansen’s
body, right? I think he’s related to Billy.”

“I’m sure he’s also one of the Fierce Ones. If memory serves, he was at Jesse Woody’s house that night, trying to stay out of sight. What I’d like you to do is check and see if he really is related to Billy. Then call me as soon as you know.”

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

“I’m going to go talk to Clifford. I’m betting that Jimmie Herder
is their man on the inside and that the Fierce Ones know more about LabKote than we do right now.”

Ella drove to the west side substation where Clifford was being held. As she entered the small gravel parking lot, she noticed a pickup with a rental sticker on it.

“I thought it might be you, Kevin,” Ella said as she walked into the small lobby of the facility and saw the attorney standing by
the booking desk.

“Hi, Ella. I hope you’re not here to interview your brother. I’ve told Clifford not to talk to
any
police officers on case related issues unless I’m present, and I have to go now to speak with your boss.” He gave her a long, hard look. “Of course if you’re here as his sister, that’s a different story but, if you are, you’ll have to wait for visiting hours.”

“He’s going to stick
it to the sergeant, then?” Ella asked. “Not that Manuelito doesn’t deserve it.”

“He’s tired of putting up with that nonsense, and I don’t blame him. To make sure the charges of harassment and assault get a fair hearing, I don’t want him to talk to anyone else who was there, you included. I’m also going to have to subpoena you to get a statement, unless you’re willing to give one on your own.”

“I’ll tell the truth about what I saw and about what the parties involved told me, if that’s what you mean. I’m interested in real justice here, not protecting a cop who appears to have stepped over the line. But Big Ed Atcitty may have something to say about when and where. I’ll explain the situation to him, and then get back to you,” Ella said.

“By the way, what did you want to talk to him about,
Ella?” Kevin asked.

“I’ll let you know when I ask him,” Ella said, heading out the door. “Spontaneous answers are always the most informative.” Just then her cell phone rang. Ella waved good-bye to Kevin, and stepped outside the building.

Ella flipped open her cell phone and heard Justine’s voice come through loud and clear.

“Jimmie Herder is in the same clan as Billy. I also called Blalock,
and asked him to pressure the Marine Corps directly into releasing Morgan’s service record. We don’t have the time to go the conventional route.”

“Good work.”

“Did Clifford verify Jimmie’s involvement?”

“Kevin insists on being present when I question Clifford, so I’ll have to wait a few hours, maybe more, before I get any more information.”

“Kevin won’t let you talk to your brother? Strange,
huh?” Justine said.

“Lawyers excel at being irritating,” she answered. “What I want you to do now is get me a copy of that letter Kyle Hansen supposedly wrote his wife. I want to ask her about the letter and see if she ever received it or one just like it.”

“You don’t think Hansen actually wrote it, right?”

“We got that piece of evidence through Morgan and he doesn’t strike me as the kind of
person who would volunteer any information unless it serves him. If you think back, he and everyone connected to LabKote wanted to establish Hansen’s death as a suicide, and they answered all our questions in a way that supported that idea. I’m now wondering if they also came up with that bit of evidence to try and convince us. That’s another thread in this web of events I want to either cut or
pull in for a closer look. Of course, it may be that all they intended to do was protect their company, not allow a murderer to escape justice,” Ella said.

“I got a report from Neskahi. He spoke to Billy about Elisa Brownhat, but Billy was at work the day in question and quite a few people can vouch for him. The sergeant has questioned most of Elisa’s friends, too, but so far he has no indication
of who might have been with her that day.”

“Tell him to stay on it.”

“Will do,” Justine said.

Ella disconnected the call, and got into her vehicle. On the way to the main station, she called Wilson Joe to tell him about the early sample test results.

He was surprised and relieved at the same time. “At least this means we can rule out something in the water and soil. That’s a big plus. I wonder
what the organic results will be. Something killed the baby birds and the insects we found in the area.”

Ella offered to have Justine fax him a copy of the data they’d received, then disconnected. By then, she was at the main police station.

Justine met her by the vending machines. “I had to give up my crackers to keep from being munched, so I need a new supply.” Ella’s cousin laughed. “Want
a candy bar?”

“Sure, I’m starving. Did you get me a copy of Hansen’s letter?” Ella took the chocolate nougat, and immediately popped it out of the wrapper.

“It’s on your desk.”

Ten minutes later, Ella put down the phone and called Justine into her office. “Guess what? There’s no way Kyle Hansen wrote that letter. In it, Kyle addressed his wife as Kathy, and as she just informed me, Kyle always
called her Kat. She hated to be called Kathy, and he knew it.”

“So Morgan, or whoever wrote the bogus note, guessed wrong and goofed. That’s interesting,” Justine said.

Just then, Ella’s phone rang. After a very brief conversation, she hung up, walked to her office door, and shut it.

“What’s up, Ella? Who was the caller?” Justine lowered her voice even though they were alone, recognizing that
her cousin wanted to speak confidentially.

“It was George Branch, the radio gadfly. He didn’t want me to say his name out loud. He told me that his source had just called and told him that Judge Raymond Chase is going to be the next kidnap victim.” Ella looked the address up in the tribal phone book while she spoke.

“Can we trust the tip?” Justine asked.

“The information Branch got from his
source was right on target before, so I’m not taking chances. I’m going to have the judge’s house staked out and see if we can stop this one. If it turns out to be a hoax, at least we will have made a mistake on the side of caution.”

“I guess we really don’t have a choice,” Justine said.

“I’ll get Blalock on the phone and update Big Ed while you find Sergeant Neskahi and Philip Cloud and ask
them to meet me here. If this is on the level, we might have a chance to get the kidnapper this time.”

“Anything else, boss?” Justine said as she headed for the door.

“Yeah. Make sure you wear a vest. There’s always the possibility somebody could be setting us up.”