Earthway (9 page)

As Clifford mingled, Ella stopped at the table and picked up one of the small club sandwiches comprised of cheese, bacon, and a delicious, tangy sauce. As she ate,
she carefully watched the people there. The administrators had all dressed conservatively in business suits, or long Southwestern-style dresses with silver and turquoise jewelry.

The faculty, including guest speakers like Clifford, were almost too casual in comparison. Several of the professors wore western-style jeans, boots, and leather vests or jackets. Most had chosen bolo ties. Her brother,
with his white headband, colorful western-style shirt, jeans, and his best deerskin moccasins, fit right in.

Just as Ella turned to track down another sandwich, Dr. Lee, dressed in a black velveteen dress and wearing a multi-strand liquid-silver necklace, entered the room. The middle-aged woman was accompanied by a long-haired Navajo woman in her twenties, wearing a pale-green knit top and multicolored
broom skirt that nearly reached the floor.

Dr. Lee quickly worked the room, introducing herself and her young teaching assistant, Mona Tso, to the guest lecturers and full-time staff. As the group of mostly gregarious people continued to mingle, Ella grabbed a cup of punch and retreated to the perimeter, listening and watching from the shadows, but never looking directly at a person long enough
to catch anyone’s eye.

To Ella’s surprise, Dr. Lee seemed to do the same, taking a few snacks on a paper plate, then stepping out of the way to observe. Her gaze darted around the room, studying faces, listening in on conversations, and occasionally checking her watch. When the professor looked in her direction, Ella always made sure to be seen looking at a painting on the wall or studying one
of the printed bulletins, which listed all the faculty members and guests.

Time passed, and though the professor still seemed preoccupied, she began smiling more and engaging others in conversation. Ella made it a point to listen to Dr. Lee, but found nothing particularly memorable or noteworthy about her exchanges.

Ella then turned her attention to the people gathered around her brother, and
joined them for a few minutes. When she looked around again a short time later, Ella realized that Dr. Lee was nowhere in sight.

Ella excused herself, stepped out into the hallway, and caught a glimpse of Dr. Lee going into an office farther down the hall. Moving as quietly as she knew how, Ella followed. The door had been left wide open, and she listened for the sound of voices, but there was
only silence.

Ella edged closer, wondering why Dr. Lee had left the gathering. Boredom was a possibility, but that seemed unlikely. Before she could give it any more thought, Ella heard Dr. Lee call out.

“Detective, I’m waiting. You have questions, so come on in and we’ll talk.” Dr. Lee poked her head out of the office and met Ella’s surprised gaze. “Do hurry, will you? I haven’t got all night.”

Ella knew she’d been silent. Even over rough terrain, she could track without making a sound and here, there’d been very little to give her away. She’d greatly underestimated Dr. Lee. When Ella entered the small office she found the professor sitting behind her desk, leaning back on her chair, her hands folded on her lap.

“About time. Both the Feds and the tribe have been showing a great deal
of interest in me lately. So let’s get to it. What’s the problem?”

Ella wondered if she’d made those assumptions after finding Ford’s listening device, or if she’d had more to go on. “You have a history of demonstrating against the operation and construction of nuclear power plants,” Ella said, not elaborating. Her gaze stayed on Dr. Lee but the woman gave nothing away.

“And you want to know
if I’ll be a problem once the
Tsétaak’á
Generating Station opens? Is that it?”

“In a nutshell,” Ella answered, glad to take the direct approach.

“As I’m sure you already know, I’ve discontinued my efforts to prevent the opening of the Hogback facility.” She met Ella’s gaze and, though it was an atypical response for a Navajo, held it. “I’ve come to realize that other types of influence are more
effective—and are more long lasting—than demonstrations.”

“Explain,” Ella prodded when Dr. Lee didn’t elaborate.

“Women are the real source of power on the reservation.
We’re the property owners, and always get custody of the kids. Our primary clan, the one we’re ‘born into,’ is our mother’s. It’s through our women that change—the real kind—will come. That’s why I teach women’s studies these
days. Influencing those who’ll impact the future, that’s the legacy I want to leave behind.
My
voice won’t prevent future nuclear power plants, but the young women who are in my classes today may someday accomplish that goal.”

It was a practiced speech. Ella could feel it in her gut. “So you’re no longer interested in stopping the opening of our nuclear facility?”

“No. This is a fight for the
next generation,” Dr. Lee said. “Does that disappoint you?”

Ella blinked, surprised by the aggression in her tone. “I’m neither pleased nor disappointed. I’m only after the truth.”

Ella allowed the silence to stretch out between them for several long minutes. Dr. Lee scarcely moved, her breathing regular and slow. Intuition assured Ella that she, too, was being methodically sized up.

“What’s
frightening you?” Dr. Lee asked at last, her gaze narrowed. “Has there been another threat against the plant? Are you here to determine if
I’m
involved?”

“What makes you think anyone has made any threats?” Ella deflected. Dr. Lee’s tactic disturbed her. The activists she’d met in the past had usually been argumentative and highly driven people—warriors of a different kind, anxious to take action.
Yet there was a coolness about Dr. Lee that seemed out of character with the radical, outspoken activist her old files claimed her to be. Maybe age
had
mellowed her, or maybe she was just fishing, trying to find out what Ella knew.

Dr. Lee stood. “I’m here most mornings, teaching, but I have office hours in the afternoons. If I can help you with something, Investigator Clah, don’t hesitate to
ask,” she said. “You might consider stopping by and acquainting yourself
with what we have to offer in women’s studies these days. We give the students plenty to think about, and there’s more than enough to satisfy anyone who needs a commitment to a cause.”

“I didn’t come here tonight only because of you,” Ella said, just to gauge her reaction.

“I’m sure you didn’t,” Dr. Lee answered with a
laugh. “Multitasking is the province of a skilled law enforcement officer.”

“You say you’re no longer involved with the activists who’ve worked hard to stop the power plant from opening. Does that mean you’ve lost contact with those people?” Ella glanced at Dr. Lee’s desktop computer. “Or do you mean that you only stay in touch via e-mail?” It was a shot in the dark—a way to see how Dr. Lee would
react more than anything else.

Dr. Lee calmly pulled back a strand of gray hair that had worked itself loose from the traditional Navajo bun at the nape of her neck. “They’ve gone their way and I have mine, so we’ve lost touch. And, no, Detective, you can’t browse through my mail. There are some rights I
will
fight to preserve. The right to privacy is one. But if you really suspected I was involved
in something dangerous, I’m sure you’d already have found a way to check my computer and private mail. Seems like these days, the government can invade almost every aspect of a person’s life without due process.”

“Thank you for taking time to talk to me, Professor,” Ella said, following her to the door.

“For the record, if I had been communicating with those activists and trying to hide it,
I wouldn’t be stupid enough to use a computer that’s on a college network. My e-mails are subject to examination at any time by the administration—standard policy. If I were hiding something, I’d make darned sure no one would ever find it.” Dr. Lee stepped back so Ella could pass, then locked the door behind them.

Whether Jane Lee was involved in a plot against the power plant remained an open
question. To Ella, the professor was now even more of an enigma than before. She was clearly a woman of layers, not afraid of a challenge and still defiant.

“By the way, have you seen the new generating station close up?” Ella asked without any particular inflection. There was no denying the photos she’d seen of Dr. Lee photographing the plant. “It’s state-of-the-art. Safety’s been the primary
concern, if you believe such publicity.”

Dr. Lee smiled. “So
that’s
where this is all coming from! You’re right, I
have
looked at it from a distance, and I even took photos,” she answered. “Who wouldn’t? It’s a piece of history in the making. From that standpoint, it interests me, if only as a visual I can share with my classes.”

Again, Ella picked up nothing from either Dr. Lee’s inflection
or her body language. That alone made her suspicions grow. Instinct told her that Dr. Lee had learned from past mistakes, and that would make her a formidable enemy.

A
s they walked down the hall, Ella noticed Ford and Justine just inside the reception area, talking to one of the faculty members. Apparently having seen them, too, Dr. Lee excused herself and walked ahead to greet them.

While Dr. Lee and Ford spoke, Justine stepped away discreetly and joined Ella.

“How did it go at the hospital?” Ella whispered.

“There
was an ugly scene. Ralph’s sister is a devout Christian, but the rest of the family got their backs up the second they saw Reverend Tome. Rather than make things worse for everyone, Ford spoke briefly to Trudy, then left. Afterwards, we dropped Abednego off at the house—he’s now wearing his canine ballistic vest—then drove straight here.”

Ella watched Ford and Dr. Lee in conversation. Her gut
was telling her that Jane Lee was guilty of something. Jane’s failure to even mention the bombing, which had to have been on everyone’s mind at the college, assured Ella that she was hiding something.

When Justine went to get herself a cup of punch, Ford came over, greeting Ella with his usual warm smile. Glancing
around casually, he lowered his voice, and added, “I was hoping to make myself
a little more useful here tonight.”

“There’s a desktop computer in Dr. Lee’s office. . . .”

“Say no more,” he answered.

“Her door’s locked.”

“I’m sure you can get around that,” he answered, “so the real question is whether you think the risk is worth it.”

Ella took a deep breath. “How fast can you work?”

“Depends on what I’m up against,” he answered honestly.

Ella considered it for a moment.
If they both disappeared for more than just a minute or two, Dr. Lee would go check on things. Ella was as sure of that as she was of her next breath. And if they left Justine to stall Dr. Lee, she’d catch on immediately.

“The risk is unacceptable,” Ella said at last. “You recently hacked into her laptop but found nothing?”

“That’s right.”

“Did you access all her e-mails?” Ella asked.

“There
were some encrypted files I couldn’t access without the passwords. It’s been a while since I did this kind of work,” he admitted grudgingly.

“I have an idea,” Ella said, thinking of Teeny, the nickname she’d given her old friend, Bruce Little. He was the best hacker she knew. “But it’ll have to wait until tomorrow. I’ll swing by your place shortly after seven. That okay with you?”

“That’s fine,”
he answered.

Putting away her cell phone, on which she had been talking, Justine joined them again. “I just spoke to Phillip Cloud. He’s on guard duty by your house, Ford. He and his brother will be taking turns tonight, watching with night-vision binoculars. He wanted us to know that your dog began barking like mad a short time ago. Then he stopped.”

“Abednego needs a reason to bark. . . .”
Ford said slowly.

“Could you take my brother home?” Ella asked Justine. “I want to go check on Abednego.”

“Not a problem.” Justine answered.

“Thanks,” Ella replied, already on the move.

“Let me go with you,” Ford said, quickly falling into step beside her. “Abednego’s reliable. He
knows
something’s not right or he wouldn’t have been barking.”

“Dogs can also bark at silly things like a cat
on the cinder block wall. Let’s not see too much in this,” she said, reaching the door. “Maybe it’s the vest.”

“No, if that was bothering him, he’d just try and take it off. When Abednego barks, there’s a reason,” Ford said firmly but softly, following her out. “Dogs have very highly attuned hearing, and often pick up what a human ear can’t.”

Ella still wasn’t sure how much credibility to give
his view of the dog. Ford was very fond of the animal and that tainted his judgement.

When they pulled up to Ford’s home twenty minutes later, nothing looked disturbed.

“The lights aren’t on, so no one’s approached the house. The motion sensors I installed are
very
sensitive,” Ford said. “That means Abednego must have heard or smelled something.”