Tracking Bear (32 page)

“That’s good work, Justine. Do you think Bruno is the one who broke into the garage and killed Jason?”

Justine shook her head. “I don’t know. For a former cop, that would be really stretching it, but then again, she apparently has a mean, aggressive streak in her. Did you say she carried a nine-millimeter?”

Ella nodded. “A Smith & Wesson, and not the murder weapon.”

“Cops often carry backups of a smaller caliber,” Justine pointed out.

“And cops can go bad, especially after being hardened on the job. Sometimes the lure of being in a position of power and control over others attracts people with dangerous tempers—a bad combination. We need to find out more about her. If Margaret or Shives has been involved in any of these crimes, we’ll need a lot more to go
on than past history. But here’s another tidbit. Shives called Robert Whitesheep several days before Billy Redhouse was killed. We now have a connection that supports the possibility that he’s the Anglo who dealt with the councilman.”

“That’s good news. We’re on a roll now,” Justine said.

“Just keep plugging away at Bruno’s background. You’re doing a great job, Justine.”

“Teamwork, that’s all
it takes. I’ll get back to the terminal and see if I can squeeze any more information from Bruno’s and Shives’s backgrounds, or from anyone else in their past.”

“Go for it, partner.” Ella smiled. “I’m going to try and get a little more paperwork done. Let me know if anything new turns up.”

Another hour passed, and Ella finally decided she couldn’t take another second of red tape. Reports
seemed, magically, to multiply on her desk. No matter how hard she worked, the stack never went down.

Her phone rang, and Ella picked it up quickly, hoping for some crisis that would give her an excuse to leave the office.

She recognized Kevin’s voice.

“I wanted you to know that by the end of today, the pony will have a stall. I’ve also had the old corral repaired and a new gate mounted. I
hired a high school boy to clean up after the pony every day after school, too. Your mother can use the manure in her garden. Mix in a little alfalfa, let it cure, and you’re got a great soil builder, or so I’ve been told.”

“Sounds good.”

“One more thing. I’ve having a load of sand dumped inside the old corral and leveled so that the area can become a riding arena for Dawn.”

“She is
not
taking
riding lessons yet, no way. I don’t care if you line the corral with feathers.”

“I wasn’t thinking of anything formal. I figured you could let her sit on the horse and have someone lead it around. She won’t be in any danger, and she’ll think she’s in heaven.”

“Kevin, I’ve got news for you. That’s not heaven. That’s a nightmare.”

“Oh, come on, Ella. You know she loves that pony. You’ll make
her so happy.”

Ella sighed. She was fighting a losing battle. Dawn would hound them all until someone put her on the pony’s back. “I’ll see if Jennifer Clani will do it.”

“She’s really an excellent choice, you know. She’s got dozens of rodeo ribbons.”

Ella’s eyes narrowed. “You already spoke to her, didn’t you?”

“I refuse to answer that question on the basis that it might incriminate me.”

“One of these days, Kevin…”

He laughed. “How about meeting me at the Totah Café? I’m treating myself to their stuffed sopaipillas tonight. I want to celebrate.”

“What’s the occasion?”

“I’ll tell you when you get there, and I think you’ll be pleased.” When she didn’t accept his invitation right away, he added, “Aw, come on. You got to eat dinner sometime, and it’s news that, as a cop, you’re
going to find interesting.”

“All right. I’ll be there.”

“Great. Half an hour?”

“Sounds good, order for me if you get there first.”

Ella gave the pile of file folders and reports one last glance, then picked up her keys and hurried out of the building.

She arrived at the Totah Café a short time later. Ella could tell, just by looking at Kevin, that he was in a great mood. She approached the
table he’d chosen, one in a corner of the room, curious about his news.

As she sat down, she glanced over at Ernest Ration, who stood in the shadows with his back to the wall, like a stone sentinel.

Ella leaned back and sipped the fresh cup of coffee the waitress brought to their table. “So tell me. What’s up?”

“George Branch has finally stopped taking on-the-air jabs at me,” he said. “Branch
finally understands that we’re on the same side when it comes to NEED.”

“Did you take an official position?”

He nodded. “I gave a statement to the press. But I’ve got to tell you, it sure feels weird to share common ground with that jerk.”

“The fact that he’s stopped harassing you may not be NEED-related. He was having his own share of problems, if you remember.”

“Actually, I think that it’s
remarkable that he hasn’t had those kinds of problems before. An idiot like him is in the business of making enemies.”

The food arrived then, and they both paused their discussion for a moment. Ella took a bite of the sopaipilla, fried bread stuffed with ground beef, beans, salsa, and cheese. No one made them like the Totah Café. “Maybe so, but I think that’s the real reason he stopped. George
Branch is a bully—he doesn’t like it when people fight back. He can dish it out, but he can’t take it.”

“But even deep in his pea brain, he must have known I had nothing to do with whoever was harassing him. That’s just not my style.”

Ella nodded then. As Kevin waited for his glass of iced tea to be refilled, she glanced at Ernest Ration. He’d heard what they said, and, as she read the smug
expression on his face, she knew with certainty who George Branch’s most persistent adversary had been.

“Is it your style, Ernest?” she said softly, as Kevin walked to the counter to get more sugar packets.

“Come on, even if I had been responsible, I’d never admit to something illegal,” he said, chuckling. “But the change in Branch’s attitude is a definite improvement, don’t you think? And I
like knowing that my boss can breathe easier now that we don’t have a vandal lurking around.”

“The vandalism was really starting to get on my nerves,” Kevin said, having heard the last part of their conversation as he returned to his chair. “Did you know Ernest finally caught the kid who cut my tires? Nailed him just in the nick of time. The three of us had a real good talk, and I used the terms
‘probation violation’ and ‘state detention facility in Springer’ several times. He won’t do it again.”

“Who was it?” Ella recalled seeing a motorcycle lately, and suddenly knew. “Not Oliver Washburn, by any chance?”

Ernest’s eyes gave him away, but this time Kevin was the one with the poker face. “I promised not to give the young man’s name to the department, so I can’t really say—not unless
he tries something else. He’s on probation, and all it takes is my word to send him back to Springer.”

“Okay. But why were you singled out?”

“I represented the young man on a vandalism charge a year ago. He lied to me and to the court, but the truth came out during trial, and he was convicted. He blamed me, of course. But it’ll stop now, I’m sure of it.”

“Does that mean Ernest is no longer
needed?”

“No way. He and I discussed that right from the start,” Kevin replied. “I like having a bodyguard around. The tribal president has one, of course, as do many politicians in the state. Tribal Council members often employ low-profile security while on the campaign trail, so I don’t get any comments from my colleagues, especially those who’ve received threats of their own from time to time.
Besides, it’s an extra precaution that’ll help me feel more confident when my daughter visits me, or when I take her out.”

Ella nodded, then smiled. “Right now you’re going to be hard-pressed taking her anywhere that’s away from the pony.”

“Actually, I was thinking of putting her on the pony and going for a short hike around your mother’s home. I think she’d love it.”

Ella sighed. “Someday,
Kevin, you’re going to realize that Dawn doesn’t need to get everything she wants.” She took a sip of coffee, then lowered her voice so Ernest couldn’t hear. “How’s Emily?” Now that he was no longer worried about having someone after him, she wondered if he’d pursue her.

Something flashed in Kevin’s eyes, and it took her a moment to identify it. He was disappointed.

“I like her, Ella, but she’s
just not the one for me. I prefer someone who’ll drive me crazy every once in a while,” he added, looking at her with a smile, “just to keep me on my toes.”

She searched his eyes and found something that unsettled her—something she hoped Dawn would never see. She had a feeling Kevin wanted to renew their old relationship.

Mercifully, her cell phone rang just then. It was Justine. “I asked my
cousin who works at the power plant a few more questions about Shives, and she suggested we talk to a friend of hers, Bertha Finch, who lives next door to him. She arranged for us to meet Bertha this evening. The woman’s taking courses at the college, but will meet us after class.”

“Great. I’ll see you at the station when I’ve finished dinner, and we’ll set out from there.”

Ella placed the cell
phone back in the case attached to her belt. “I hate to do this, but I’m going to have to eat and run.”

“I heard,” Kevin said with a nod. “At least I’m glad you could join me for a while.”

Ella ate half of her sopaipilla, then got a doggie bag for the rest and excused herself. As she drove to the station, her thoughts shifted back to the case. She was certain they were close to finding critical
answers.

After a short meeting with Big Ed to update him on their latest findings, Ella and Justine left the station. “Tell me more about Bertha Finch,” Ella asked. “How will we know her?”

“She’ll be waiting near the side exit of the campus library. Pat, my cousin, said she’ll be easy to recognize because she wears a bright red parka. Pat told me that Bertha’s a computer analyst at the power
plant and always notices—and remembers—details. I think she may be able to give us the kind of insight that we would never get from personnel reports and evaluation files.”

“I’m glad you set this up.”

They met Bertha outside a short time later. She was a half-Navajo woman in her early thirties. Her hair was shiny black, thin, and nearly down to her waist. Her large, owlish glasses somehow seemed
to fit her style. Since there was a definite chill in the air, they all opted to go to the campus administration building and have something hot to drink.

A few moments later they sat down in a large canteen area filled with vending machines, sipping coffee.

Bertha glanced at Justine. “I have another class in twenty minutes, so we better get down to business.”

“We’re trying to find out more
about Delbert Shives—the kind of stuff I can’t get from background files. We’d really appreciate any help you can give us.”

“Why are you’re so interested in him?” Bertha looked at Justine, then Ella.

Ella shook her head. “It’s police business, and we can’t discuss any details at the moment. In fact, we’d also like to ask you to keep this meeting between us.” Ella was determined to keep Shives
from knowing what they were doing for now.

“Okay, but I’m still not sure what kind of information you need,” Bertha said.

Justine leaned back in her chair. “What kind of neighbor is he? Does he have lots of parties, or does he keep to himself? Does he come and go a lot at night? Who comes over to his home? Those kinds of things.”

“Okay, I’ll answer as many of those as I can. He’s quiet, I’ve
never heard loud music or even the TV coming from his place, and he’s usually home on weekends. He does a little bit of gardening, but not much. Just trimming the roses that are there and mowing his small patch of lawn.”

“What kind of people come to visit him?” Ella asked.

“Well, lately he’s had a woman living with him. A tall blonde with a deep tan. Athletic-looking, but looks like she got
strong working on a farm rather than figure skating, you know? He calls her Meg. If they’re romantically involved, you couldn’t tell. They act more like old friends. Maybe she’s the girlfriend of the dark-haired man I’ve seen there once in a while lately, though honestly, I’ve never seen them together.”

“The dark-haired man, is he Navajo?” Justine asked.

“I don’t know. He’s always wearing a
long coat and a baseball cap. He’s tall.”

“Have you ever spoken to either Margaret or the guy with the cap?” Ella said.

“Not really. I said good morning to her a time or two, and she nodded, but the guy, whether he’s coming or going, completely ignores me.” She stopped then continued. “There’s another person, too…” she hesitated.

“Go on, please,” Justine said.

“I’ve never seen Delbert with
any woman besides Margaret, but on the way home yesterday I stopped at the Jiffy Mart. While I was there, I saw Del with a tall, Anglo woman with dark hair. She wore it short in one of those shaggy styles you just blow-dry and go. She looked vaguely familiar, but I never did get a good look at her.”

“What color were her eyes?” Ella asked, hoping she remembered more than she thought.

“I didn’t
notice. I only had a quick glance as I walked past them. Delbert didn’t even say hello. He was completely engrossed in her.” Bertha looked at her watch. “I’ve got to get going. Is there anything else?”

“What kind of car does the guy with the cap drive?” Ella asked on an impulse.

“He may work at a car dealership, because I’ve seen him come up in an SUV one time, and another in a tan car, maybe
a Chevy. If I saw a photo of the model, I’d recognize it. Anything more?”

“Not for now, Bertha. Glad to have met you, and thanks for the information,” Ella said. “If you think of anything else, give us a call.” She handed Bertha her card.

“No problem. Later, Justine.”

As she rushed away, Ella looked at her cousin. “I want to know who these strangers are—the man in the cap and the woman with
the short dark hair—and I’ve got a way to find out, at least with the woman. If I remember right, the Jiffy Mart installed security cameras last year.”