Changing Woman Read Online Free PDF Page A

at her absolute worst tonight. Her BMW had lost its windshield.
    “I called right after I heard the first windshield pop. What tookyou so long? Did you stop for doughnuts along the way?”
    “Actually, we were here three minutes after the call, Myrna,” Ella said. “We were the closest unit.”
    “I still remember when we had that break-in at the clinic last year. The bad guys got away then, too, but at least this time you didn’t pepper the entire neighborhood with bullets. I suppose we should be grateful for that.” Myrna walkedout to her car and stared at the mounds of cubed glass on the hood and dash. “Look at what they did! I saved for ten years to get that car. It doesn’t even have a license plate yet.”
    Justine gave Ella a tight-lipped look. “Look, Mrs. Manus, count your blessings. You’re insured. Lots of people on the Rez have to get by without that, even when it’s breaking the law, because they just don’t havethe money.”
    “Yes, but now my rates will go through the roof. If you’d been doing your jobs properly, these criminals would have been in jail before tonight and none of this would have been necessary.”
    “We all want to put a stop to this crime wave,” Justine began.
    Ella tuned her out as an uneasy feeling began to creep up her spine. Losing track of what her partner was saying, she looked aroundcarefully, trying to figure out what was wrong, but almost everyone had gone inside now. Yet, she could feel someone watching them. It was that creepy tingling at the back of her neck that made no sense in logical terms but, on a gut level, she knew not to ignore it.
    Once Mrs. Manus went back inside her home, Justine looked over at her partner. “What’s wrong, Ella? You’ve got that look on yourface.”
    “What look?” Ella continued to study the area as they crossed the street, heading in the direction of their police unit.
    “The
look. The one that says you know something’s up. What’s going on?”
    “I don’t know yet,” Ella answered slowly. She felt the badger fetish she wore around her neck growing warm despite the chill. It was probably just her body heat working overtime when her nerveswere on edge but, the truth was, that whenever that fetish felt hot, there was danger close by. She reached beneath her jacket, unsnapping the strap that kept her weapon fastened in place. The metal was cold, almost sticking to her fingers, but the familiar touch was somehow reassuring.
    “Let’s get back to the vehicle as soon as we can. Step up the pace, but don’t run,” Ella ordered, quietly.“I think we’re being watched.”
    “By whom?” Justine glanced around casually, careful not to tip off their watcher. “I don’t see a soul. Everyone’s inside now, smart cookies that they are. It’s freezing out here.”
    “Yeah. But he’s there. I can feel it.” Sometimes the subconscious mind processed information that was minute by regular standards, but as a cop, she’d learned to trust her instincts.Ella’s gaze continued to sweep the area.
    As they approached the unit, passing under the illumination of a streetlight across the intersection, Ella saw a flash of light, like a small explosion, from the hill farther east. The stop sign, less than three feet in front of them, twitched abruptly.
    Ella dove forward, knocking Justine to the grass as the crack of a distant rifle shot reverberatedin the air. Justine rolled into the long shadow cast by their police unit while Ella crawled over to the side of the vehicle.
    “Stay low. I’m calling it in,” Ella said, reaching for the handheld radio clipped to her waist.

THREE
    “Backup is on the way,” Ella whispered, looking around the front tire rather than risking a look over the hood. “I saw the muzzle flash way up on the mesa about a quarter of a mile from here. I’m going over there now.”
    “We don’t have night-vision glasses and it’s pitchblack outside. And we’ll be sitting ducks in the vehicle. Let’s just