He shook his head. “Sleep well.”
As soon as he left, she breathed a sigh of relief. It was time for a new plan. She’d wait till morning and see what kind of situation presented itself then. The first chance she got, she’d be gone.
SHORTLY AFTER SUNRISE, Ranger left the cabin, then facing east, took a pinch of pollen from his jish and made an offering to the Holy Ones, asking for protection and blessings.
Once his morning ritual ended, he walked back into the cabin. Last night he’d heard Dana open the window, then shut it. He had a feeling that she’d planned to make a run for it, but discovered that the windows were just too small to climb through. He already knew she’d taken the keys from the table. Everything was going according to plan.
He’d give her a chance to escape today and see what she did. The last time he’d spoken to his brother, he’d told Hunter that he believed Dana could be trusted. But Hunter had required proof, and had come up with a plan to test her. Ranger had been ordered to give Dana a chance to slip away, then follow her. If she went to Trujillo or one of his henchmen to report, they’d have their answer.
Ranger had brought her here to where there’d be an extra set of wheels waiting. Regardless of which vehicle Dana stole, he’d be able to pursue. He kept an extra key to both vehicles with him at all times, and the truck and the sedan had hidden GPS devices so they could be tracked.
As he stepped into the kitchen, Dana turned her head and smiled at him. “Good morning. Is there anything to eat here?” she asked, rummaging through the cupboards.
“There’s cereal and powdered milk in the top shelf,” he said, pointing.
She turned to look, and he took a quick glance at the hall table. The keys were there.
“Found it,” she said. “Do you want some, too?”
He shook his head. “I’ll eat later. I just wanted to let you know I’ll be outside for about twenty minutes. I’m going to reconnoiter the area.”
“You’re going to do what?”
“I need to make sure no one’s picked up our trail, so I’m hiking farther up the mountain to a good observation spot. By the time you finish breakfast, I should be back. If you need me, just come up the trail beyond the woodpile.”
Ranger went out the back door, wearing his shoulder holster and.45 pistol beneath his jacket. Now it began.
He continued past the woodpile, then climbed about fifty yards farther into the forest. From this spot, surrounded by vegetation and hidden in the shade, he had a good view of both vehicles. All he had to do now was wait.
After several minutes Dana came out and headed for the truck, keys in hand. For a moment he thought that she hadn’t realized that the keys were for the car. Then he saw her bend down by the truck tire.
Dana reached down, but then shook her head, and walked quickly to the sedan. Apparently, she’d thought about flattening the tire, then changed her mind, not wanting to leave him stranded. In a backward sort of way, his respect for her went up a notch. Her actions meant she believed in doing the right thing-which also meant she couldn’t be associated with Trujillo.
Ranger watched as Dana climbed into the sedan, released the brake, then steered as it rolled down the lane, making almost no noise at all except for the tires crunching on the gravel. The car was already out of sight around the first curve when she finally started the engine.
He dialed his brother on the cell phone while jogging back down the trail to the truck. “She took the car,” Ranger said. “For the record, she thought about disabling the truck, but changed her mind.”
“If you need backup, call in. I’ll have a few men I can trust close by.”
“You’re wrong about her, brother,” Ranger said. “I think I know where she’s going. It took me awhile to put things together, but there’s only one answer that makes sense. The medicine man knew about her photographic memory and found a way to make use of it. If I’m right, she’s going to try to find Hastiin Dííl to give him names. She hasn’t said anything about her plans because she was undoubtedly sworn to secrecy.”
“Do you think she has any idea where to go find him?” Hunter asked.
“Maybe. I suspected that she’d used the computer at the safe house so I searched its memory. I know she did an Internet search on medicine men and medicine hogans. It’s possible she also read a news article lifted from the tribal newspaper and has figured out the location of Hastiin Dííl’s medicine hogan. That’s no secret, because our new leader is also a well-known healer.”
“You’re making a dangerous assumption-that she’s innocent, and had nothing to do with the death of the Singer. But based on what?”
“I trust my instincts,” Ranger said, climbing into the truck and starting the engine.
“You said you believed she has the names of the Brotherhood of Warriors. If so, then she must know that you’re part of us.”
“The way I see it, she didn’t get all the names because I don’t think she knows quite what to make of me. I would have seen some kind of indication if she knew I was in the brotherhood. But it’s also possible she’s guarding the secret she was given.”
“So we’ll play this out and see what we get,” Hunter said. “ Trujillo ’s place-or more to the point, one of his places-is southeast of Farmington, near the Bolack Ranch. There’s only one road leading from the highway, so if she goes in that direction, you’ll have your answer. But what if she decides to make a phone call instead? There are pay phones at every convenience store between Shiprock and that location.”
“Then she only has to go as far as Shiprock, doesn’t she?” Ranger answered. “I’ll stay close in case she makes a stop, and keep in touch.” As Ranger ended the call, he took out the small unit with the GPS screen and turned it on. It would show, on a simple display, where Dana was headed.
He’d been certain that she wouldn’t go to Trujillo ’s, and was satisfied to see that his guess had been right. Currently she was taking the road that led to a small community called Rattlesnake. It was a mixed area, but traditionalists outnumbered modern Navajos four to one.
Ranger dialed his brother as he hurried on, taking a shortcut down a fire road that would get him out of the foothills. “Are there any medicine hogans close to Rattlesnake? She’s driving south in that direction.”
Hunter didn’t respond right away. “Not that I recall, but there’s the Bilagáana Trading Post. It’s farther south down the same road, maybe ten miles from Rattlesnake.”
Ranger had heard of it. Bilagáana meant white man, and the trading post had been aptly named by the white man who ran it. Jonas Sullivan was in his eighties, and had lived among the Diné almost all of his adult life. Jonas was one of the few white men who truly understood the concept of the Hohzo- maintaining beauty, order, harmony and stability in one’s life. Though it was a concept the Anglo world-the white world-found unattainable for the most part, Jonas Sullivan walked in beauty.
Twenty-five minutes later, after having just topped the hill leading into Rattlesnake, he saw the sedan passing the last house of the old settlement. Hanging back, he followed the dust trail down the graveled road.
Dana reached the trading post, a low, white cinder block structure with a nearly flat metal roof and one of those old-west-style fronts. She parked and walked right past the pay phone, disappearing into the store.
Ranger parked just down the road beside a small grove of stunted trees and waited. She was on a hunt of her own, but it wasn’t for a phone, obviously, or Trujillo, unless she was meeting him there. But that seemed unlikely. Trujillo, like Dana, would be remembered by everyone who saw him.
Ranger leaned back and prepared to wait and see how things played out.
DANA WENT INSIDE the trading post, stepping around the familiar potbelly stove, well-stoked at the moment to take the chill out of the interior. A cast-iron kettle on the top was steaming, adding humidity to the dry desert air.