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days.”
    He didn’t argue, and that worried her even more, but she didn’t say anything else as he got into his old sedan and drove off.
    Ella waited thirty seconds, then set out. The taillights on his car were distinctive, making it easy to find him. Once she hadhis vehicle in sight again, driving down the onlyreal main street in Shiprock, she varied her distance, trying not to make it look obvious that she was following him. At this point, with so many people heading home from work, it wasn’t possible to tell if anyone else was interested, but she watched every car that passed her and then him.
    Several miles east of the Rez, traffic was lighter andthere were still no complications. Ford turned off the main highway into the inexpensive semi-rural subdivision where he currently lived, and she closed up the distance quickly until she was only a few car lengths back. It was almost completely dark outside when they drove up the gravel driveway to his home, a small three-bedroom wood-frame house.
    The house was as dark inside as out, and thisset off alarms for Ella. She knew Ford had a lamp that came on at night—for security, and for the dog. Grabbing a flashlight from the glove compartment, she hurried out of the car. Aiming the beam toward the porch, she could see the front door was ajar a few inches.
    “Don’t go in, not yet!” she yelled, seeing him rushing forward.
    “Somebody broke in! I have to check on my dog, Ella,” he replied,slowing down only slightly.
    Abednego, Ford’s enormous dog, stuck his nose out the opening, hearing his master’s voice. Then the animal pushed the door open with his muzzle and took a step forward.
    “He looks okay,” Ella said quickly, directing the light toward the dog. “But there’s glass on the porch. Put him at stay.”
    At Ford’s signal, Abednego stopped and sat just past the threshold, watchingFord, his tail wagging furiously.
    Ella rushed past Ford and saw a lump of something on the step in front of the dog.
    “Keep him there, Ford,” she said, aiming her flashlight at it as she stepped closer. Resting on a carpet remnant that the dog used as a bed was what appeared to be a pound ofraw hamburger shaped into a ball. Abednego hadn’t touched it, thanks to Ford’s training.
    Glass crunchedbeneath her boots, and Ella realized it had come from the broken porch light. Directing the flashlight beam, she noted what looked to be a pellet stuck in the siding just beyond the place the bulb had been. Beside that fixture was a new motion detector, but the two floodlights connected to it had also been shattered by pellets.
    Ella went into the darkened house, gun drawn. She flicked on theliving room light, then, using the walls and furniture as protection, checked out each room. Although nothing appeared to have been taken or even disturbed, the home still held a few surprises for her.
    Standing at the doorway of Ford’s office, she could see a new computer and a variety of unfamiliar electronic hardware. Ford had gone high tech—very high tech—making her wonder if he was moonlightingfor NASA . . . or, more likely, the NSA.
    Questions filled her mind as she headed back outside. When she reached the entrance, she realized that the sturdy metal door hadn’t been kicked in—the normal method of entry for small time burglars. From what she could tell, the perp had picked the lock, and since it had been equipped with a high-end deadbolt, that had taken some serious skill. The onemistake the otherwise professional burglar had made was not counting on Abednego’s loyalty to Ford—or his intelligence. The dog knew how to push the door back with his nose. Whomever had picked the lock must have had to retreat fast and hop the fence to avoid getting nailed.
    Ford was poking the lump of meat on the steps with a stick when Ella came back outside. “Good thing I trained him neverto accept food from anyone except you and me,” he said. “There are capsules in this mixture—maybe