Darkwind: Ancient Enemy 2 (30 page)

Stella could feel tears of frustration threatening. She hated being in this position of begging for help.

David grabbed her hand on the table and held it.

Stella couldn’t help the tears now … she wiped away at them. “Sorry.”

Alice’s eyes were tearing up and she reached across the table and took Stella’s other hand and held it for a moment.

Billy just sat there in his chair, his body rigid, his dark eyes unreadable. He hadn’t said a word the entire time when Stella told her story.

“I want to help you,” Alice said and she looked at Billy. The two of them stared at each other for a long moment, almost like they were reading each other’s mind, and then Billy nodded slightly.

“Okay,” Alice said. “We’ll help you. Billy knows how to find Joe Blackhorn, how to get in touch with him. He’ll let him know you’re coming to see him.”

Stella felt a rush of air escape her lungs, the tension draining out of her and she cried some more. “Thank you, Alice.” She looked at Billy. “And thank you so much, Billy.”

Billy nodded again in response. He reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a piece of paper folded up neatly. He slid the folded piece of paper across the table to her. “These are the directions to Joe Blackhorn’s property. He lives far away from here. The closest town would be Many Farms.”

Stella looked down at the folded up piece of paper that looked like it was copy paper for a printer. She glanced around at the others in the diner, but they were all in different areas of the dining area and involved in their own conversations. She reached into her coat pocket slowly and she could sense the other two tensing slightly.

“Just the payment I promised,” Stella whispered, but she kept her movements slow. She grabbed the envelope of hundred dollar bills out of her coat and then slid the envelope across the table at Billy.

Billy took the envelope in a flash, like a snake reaching out for a mouse in a lightning-quick movement, and then the envelope was gone, tucked safely away inside of Billy’s jean jacket.

Stella looked at the folded paper on the table again and she snatched it up. She didn’t unfold the paper and look at it—that would be rude. She tucked the square of paper down into the pocket of her jeans. “Thank you so much,” she said to Billy.

“I will send someone to speak to Joe Blackhorn,” Billy said. “He will tell Joe Blackhorn that you will be there tonight.”

“Good,” Stella replied.
The sooner the better.

“There’s no promise that Joe Blackhorn will help you,” Alice said and then she looked at Billy like she was making sure this was true.

Billy shrugged but he kept his eyes on Stella. “I cannot speak for Joe Blackhorn. He is his own man. But if you tell him your story maybe he will listen, and maybe he will help.”

“That’s all I’m asking for,” Stella told them. “Just a chance.”

“It is a long journey,” Billy said. “You will want to begin soon.”

“Yes,” Stella said, standing up.

Alice came around the table and gave Stella another hug, squeezing her hard for a few seconds.

“Thank you for doing this,” Stella whispered to Alice.

“Be careful,” she said and let Stella go. She looked down at David who was standing up now.

Billy looked at David and nodded at him, but Billy didn’t shake his hand again.

Stella and David left the diner and hurried back out to the pickup truck where Cole was still waiting.

• • •

After Stella and David were gone, Alice grabbed her coat and looked at Billy. “Thank you for coming with me,” she said. “I know that kind of nonsense must’ve been hard for you to sit through.”

Billy didn’t say anything.

“I need to make that phone call now,” she told Billy as she made her way to the hallway that led to the restrooms.

Outside of the women’s bathroom, Alice got her cell phone out of her purse and dialed the number for the Tribal Police office. “Hello, can I speak to Captain Begay?” she said after a receptionist answered.

Alice waited a few minutes on the phone and then she heard Captain Begay’s deep gruff voice. “Captain Begay speaking.”

“Hi, this is Alice Newcastle. I spoke to you a few hours ago.”

“Yes,” Begay perked up. He was silent, but she could practically feel the tension from him through the phone, the impatience … the hope.

“It’s done,” Alice said. She couldn’t help feeling bad. She felt like she was betraying a friend, but it was obvious now that Stella was mentally disturbed. She didn’t know which parts of Stella’s story were true, or if any of it was true, but she couldn’t let this continue. Stella needed help … and Stella was right about one thing … David needed help most of all.

“They’re on their way to the destination?” Begay asked.

“Yes. We sent them to a friend’s property and told that friend not to be there. He’s going to leave a note on the door saying that he’ll be back in a few hours and sign it as Joe Blackhorn. Stella, David, and whoever she’s with will be there tonight, within a few hours. I’ll send you the address they’re going to. It’s near Many Farms.”

There were distant clattering noises on the phone; it sounded like Captain Begay was searching for a pen and paper. “Okay. Send the directions to the e-mail I gave you before.”

“Okay,” Alice said.

“Thank you, Alice,” Begay said after he was done. “I know this probably wasn’t easy for you.”

“Just go easy on her,” Alice said.

“Everything will be fine,” Begay told her and he hung up.

Alice pulled up the file on her phone that had the directions and a hand drawn map that Billy had made in it. She wrote out a quick e-mail and attached the file and then sent it to Captain Begay’s e-mail address.

Navajo Reservation—Captain Begay’s office

C
aptain Begay hung up his phone and checked his e-mail.

The e-mail from Alice was there with an attachment. He read the e-mail, opened up the attachment and looked over the handwritten directions and roughly drawn map. It was good enough, he supposed. He knew the area this was in. He printed out twenty copies of the map and the directions.

As the copy machine on the other side of the office spit out pages, Begay dialed his lieutenant who had a group of officers waiting on standby. “We’re good to go,” Begay said into the phone. “We’ll meet in half an hour and then head out there.”

Begay looked up at the large map of the Big Reservation on the wall beside him; he was already planning out the best route to this place that Stella thought was Joe Blackhorn’s property. Stella Weaver, David Bear, and whoever they were traveling with would be on their way to the destination now. They would get there and read the note. Hopefully they would wait. Begay and his men would have them boxed in by then.

Nobody was going to get hurt, Begay thought. That was the most important thing. This was going to go smoothly and nobody was going to get hurt. Begay and his men were going to show up in force, box them inside in the canyon, and then the man with them was going to surrender. And after that David would be back with his aunt … he would be back with his family again. It would take a long time for that boy to heal, Begay thought, but the process could at least begin.

Begay got his coat and put it on. He was about to head out to his car, but he hesitated for a moment. He reached into his wallet and took out a business card. He stared at the card for a long moment, not sure if he should do this at this time or not. He could put this off for a while; he could claim that he had gotten wrapped up in the pursuit of Stella and the others.

But he decided to make the call.

Begay picked up the black phone on his desk and dialed the number on the business card. The phone rang four times, then five. Begay was bracing himself for the call to go to voicemail, but then Palmer answered.

“Special Agent Palmer here.”

“It’s Captain Begay from the Navajo Tribal Police,” Begay said into the phone.

“Yes.”

“We’re going to be apprehending Stella Weaver and David Bear soon,” he said.

Silence for a moment.

“They are traveling to a man’s property. They believe it’s the property of a man people claim is a shaman … that’s sort of like a medicine man.”

Palmer breathed out a huff of breath like he was annoyed. “I know what a shaman is. Are they traveling with someone else?” Palmer asked. “A man?”

“Yes,” Begay said. “How did you know?”

“There have been some … some developments up here. She was up here in Colorado at numerous crime scenes, and it seems like they might be traveling with a man who was involved with a bank robbery and several murders.”

“What kind of murders?” Begay asked. “Like the bodies we found here?”

Palmer hesitated on the phone. And it seemed to Begay like Palmer wasn’t sure how much he should tell some lowly Tribal Police officer. Then Palmer sighed and spoke. “Yeah. They’re a lot like the ones down there. Mutilations.”

“How many?” Begay asked. He was sure he was pushing his luck with Palmer. He wouldn’t normally pry like this, but he felt some kind of strange bond with this FBI agent that he couldn’t explain.

“A lot,” Palmer said. “Five in one location. Three in another. And three in one other place.”

Begay just sighed. “Thanks for the heads up about the man,” he said.

“No problem. I’m coming down there right now. I’m going to be flying in to Farmington as soon as possible.”

Begay nodded again; he already knew that was going to happen.

“Have you notified Agent Klein yet?” Palmer asked.

“Not yet. He’s going to be my next call.”

“Good. Just be careful, captain. This guy Stella and David are with, he’s a real piece of work judging from what I’ve seen so far up here.”

Begay sighed heavily into the phone again. “We’ll take all necessary precautions.”

Palmer hung up and Begay set the phone receiver back down into the cradle gently.

Eleven more bodies up in Colorado. All from one man? That didn’t make any more sense than what had happened down here. Begay thought about this woman and this boy traveling with a possible bank robbery and murder suspect. They had gone up to Colorado and now they had come back down here. Why? Just to go and see Joe Blackhorn? Everyone around here knew that Blackhorn was a shaman … a powerful one, the rumors said. Begay didn’t know the man—he had never met him—but he had heard the stories of the man’s colorful past.

Why were they risking everything to meet with Alice Newcastle just to find Joe Blackhorn? Begay wondered. They’d had plenty of chances to run. They could’ve went anywhere from Colorado. They could’ve even left the U.S. But instead of running, they were going to what they thought was a shaman’s property.

Begay didn’t feel good about this. After the bodies and mutilations he’d seen, and then Palmer’s description of what had happened up in Colorado, this didn’t feel right. He tried not to be a superstitious person, but this felt otherworldly to him, something that was too big for him and his men. Too big for the FBI.

He picked up the phone and dialed the FBI office in Farmington. Moments later he got Klein on the phone and told him what was going on.

“You wait for me!” Klein screamed into the phone. “I’m on my way! Don’t do anything until I get there. You understand me?”

Begay hung the phone up without responding to Klein’s orders, but he felt like throwing it across the room. He hated Klein giving him orders; he hated the fact that murders and other major crimes on the Rez fell under the jurisdiction of the FBI and the government. It was like the whites didn’t believe the Navajo were smart enough to take care of themselves, to solve their own problems.

It was an old argument, one that would never be solved; nothing was ever going to change so there wasn’t any use in ruminating over it.

Begay grabbed his hat and plopped it down on his head, adjusting it. Then he walked towards the door to gather his men together.

He had no intention of waiting for Agent Klein.

Navajo Reservation

C
ole drove the pickup truck down Route 13 around the Lukachukai Mountains. He would connect with another small road and then another one after that. The farther they traveled the more remote everything became.

The afternoon was giving way to evening, the shadows lengthening, the sun dipping down below the mountains, the air getting even colder.

But within a few hours they should be at this man’s property, this shaman.

Cole still didn’t feel right about this, but he didn’t want to pound the point home again to Stella. He’d made his case already and he wasn’t going to keep doing it. They had made their decision. Like Stella had said, what other choices did they have?

What if they ran? Would that thing just keep following them to the ends of the earth? Was there a place they could hide from that thing? It was like David was a beacon to the thing, like that thing could always tell where David was going, and it wouldn’t stop until it had someone kill David for it, until the threat of David was gone.

They had eaten a little more from their stash of snacks, but none of them were very hungry.

It was a scary feeling driving to this shaman’s property, but there was also a feeling of hope. Maybe the shaman could finally help them; maybe this shaman could finally explain everything to them.

Cole wondered what he was going to do when all of this was over. But he didn’t like to plan too far ahead. Right now he just wanted to focus on what was in front of him right now, put all of his energy into surviving.

And he needed to stay alert. He still wasn’t sure if they could trust Stella’s friend, and if anything looked shady he wanted to be able to get out of there.

“Shit!” Cole yelled.

Cole slammed on the brakes as two pickup trucks pulled out onto the road from each side. Both vehicles had been hidden behind large rocks and brush and now they were blocking the road, parked nose-to-nose.

“Hold on!” Cole yelled as the truck slid to a stop on the road, the tires screeching in the cold air.

The evening was approaching quickly, but there was still plenty of light to see the men in the pickup trucks. There were two men each in the cabs of the trucks and two men in the beds of each of the trucks. All of the men in the beds of the trucks were laying low with the barrels of their rifles pointing at them.