Alaska Twilight (24 page)
“Then you’ll need to find another lawyer. I’m too busy to waste my time on a lost cause. I’m sorry. This is something you need to accept. I told you from the beginning it was a long shot. I’ve found no one who can testify that Tank is a bad father. It would be your word against his. Even your father won’t testify against him.”
“My father is a weakling,” Marley shot back. “He was taken in by Tank right from the beginning.”
“It’s over, Marley. That’s all I can tell you. Let me know if there’s ever anything else I can do for you.”
The phone clicked in her ear. Marley pulled it away from her head and stared at it with disbelief. This couldn’t be happening. She had to get custody of Brooke. Leigh insisted on it. Marley stared with wide eyes out the window in the direction of Denali. The mountain rose in the distance, and its peak punched through the clouds and disappeared in the mist.
She would just grab Brooke and get to New York where a competent lawyer would make sure Marley kept possession of her. Possession was nine-tenths of the law, right? These backwoods yokels would never know what hit them once she got a
real
lawyer to take her case.
S
omething was going to have to be done about that bear. Tank had never run into a predatory bear that was this aggressive. He’d heard stories but had never come up against one himself. Bears were generally safe if left to themselves. They’d rather run than fight most of the time. Several things could cause a bear to begin to see humans as prey, however. This one looked old, which was the most common reason. A bear that lost some of its teeth would have a hard time finding enough to eat. Sometimes close contact with humans showed a bear how easy it was to obtain food from them. The bear comes to associate humans with easy food and then one day makes the leap to seeing humans as food themselves.
Whatever the reason, he was going to have to get rid of this bear. He would push for moving it to a remote place, but his superiors might insist on destroying it. If only that could be avoided. At least he wouldn’t have to do it. Hunters would be called in to take care of the problem.
He became aware of Haley’s gaze on him. Her amber eyes studied him, and he could still see fear in their depths. The encounter had shaken her, as well it should. Shoot, even he had felt the effects of fear and adrenaline pumping through his veins. It was a good thing Libby and Brooke had never gotten out of their chopper.
“Enjoying living dangerously?” he asked with a grin.
“About as much as a polar bear likes the desert.”
To give her credit, she was trying to smile, though her poor attempt looked more like a grimace. The color that had leached from her cheeks came surging back, so he took encouragement. “Or as much as a lizard likes the ice.”
Her smile seemed more genuine. “I think you just described me. The desert seems even more appealing after today.” She glanced outside the chopper window at the gray clouds. “I always thought there would be more sunshine in Alaska in the summer. We’ve had so many gray days. Is this usual?”
“Some years we get more than others. But we’re near the coast. If we were farther inland, there would be more sunshine.”
She stretched her leg out and rubbed her knee. “You ever been to Phoenix? Valley of the Sun, we call it. You can always count on the sun to be up there shining down and making everything more cheerful.”
“I’ve never been, but you make it sound very appealing. Do they have bears there?” He grinned and winked at her.
“In the zoo.” She laughed and unzipped her backpack, then extracted a small package of powdered-sugar donuts. She offered him one, but he declined. “We have black bears in Arizona. The last grizzly was killed in the early nineteen hundreds—1902, I think.”
“Tragic.” Tank shook his head. “The grizzly used to roam all over the West. Its habitat is reduced to the Yellowstone area, a bit of Washington, and here in Alaska.”
“When man and animal clash, animal loses,” Haley said. “I have to admit I wouldn’t want to worry about a grizzly roaming the desert where I live.”
“You’ve had some bad experiences. Bears are fascinating.”
“I’ve already seen that.”
The chopper flew over the cluster of buildings. Kipp turned around in the front seat and glanced back at Tank. “Are we landing at Stalwart? Aren’t we going back to our campsite?”
Tank shook his head. “I need to report that predatory bear and figure out what we’re going to do about it.” He eyed Kipp. The bear activist still looked a little pale.
Kipp nodded. “I don’t mind admitting I’ve never seen a bear act that way. The look in its eyes—I think it thought we were caribou or something.”
“It was definitely looking at us for lunch,” Erika put in. She shuddered.
The chopper flew lower, over the roofs of buildings to the north side of town, where it hovered over a grassy field, and then finally touched down. The pilot kicked off the motor, and the rotors slowed. The other chopper landed behind them.
“How long do you plan to stay here?” Kipp asked. “So far, this trip has been a bust. I’ve gotten little video of bears and even fewer pictures. And what about the gear we left at camp?”
“I’ll pick it up for us later. Besides, you’ve got all summer to get your video,” Tank pointed out. “I can’t let you go back out there until we deal with the predatory bear. Cool your jets. Learn a little about the people of Alaska while you’re here. Take some video of some of the characters in town. It will add to the drama of your story.”
Kipp’s blue eyes brightened. “You might have something there.” He motioned to Denny and Erika. “Let’s head for the café and see what we might learn. Coming, Haley?”
“I need to drop off some film at the general store,” Haley said. “I’ll join up with you when I’m done.”
“Can’t it wait?” Kipp sounded petulant. “I want to talk about the project with you.”
“She’s been attacked twice,” Tank said. “I’m hopeful there’s something on her film that will give us a clue to what’s going on. So no, it can’t wait.” He handed Brooke to his sister. “Why don’t you get us rooms booked, sis? I’ll go with Haley to the general store and have them put a rush on the film.”
“Got it. Can we all meet for supper later? I’m starved.”
“Me too,” Brooke put in. “I want chicken fingers.”
Tank glanced at his watch. “It’s almost five already. Give us half an hour, and we’ll meet at the café for supper.” He took Haley’s arm and hustled her across the muddy street. “Got all your film?”
“I think so.” She stopped just outside the rickety screen door to the store. “I think you’ve got more important things to worry about than my film. I’ll be fine. You go report your bear, and I’ll see you at the café.”
“This won’t take long. I want to make sure Gus realizes how important this is.” He opened the door for her, and they stepped inside. The scent of cinnamon, cloves, and bear grease greeted them. Barrels of flour, sugar, and other necessities stood at the end of the counter. “Hey, Gus. We’ve got film to send to Anchorage. You got a good lab to send it to? These are professional pictures, so we need a quality place.”
Gus General was a man of indeterminate age. He had enough wrinkles on his face to pass for a sea lion, but Tank was never sure if they were from age or exposure. He’d been a trapper in his early years, and the harshness of the Alaska weather could have made the tracks on his face. He was never without his suspenders and a flannel shirt, no matter how hot the day. Nearly as tall as Tank, he was as grizzled and humped as a musk ox.
Gus wagged his huge head. “Got just the place.” He accepted the rolls Haley shoved across the counter. “Should be back in about a week.”
“That long? Can you hurry them up? It’s important.”
“No sooner than three days,” Gus said.
“We’ll take it.” Tank leaned over the counter. “You still do much trapping, Gus?”
“Yep.”
“Ever see a big brown bear with a missing toe on its front right paw? It has missing teeth too.”
Gus chewed the stick of cinnamon in his mouth.
“Old one?”
“Yeah.”
Gus nodded. “’Bout took me out two weeks ago. Had to climb a tree to get away from it.”
“Have you seen it more than once?” Tank asked.
“Once was enough.”
He thanked Gus and got directions to where he’d seen the bear, though Tank doubted it would do much good. Tracking the bear down was going to be difficult. He needed to put out a warning to Stalwart residents about the danger. And get it reported to his boss.
Haley was tired of tossing and turning in the too-hard bed. Her wristwatch said it was four in the morning. Oscar was restless as well and kept running to the door and whining. He was going to wake Augusta and Joy if Haley didn’t let him out. She strapped on her prosthesis and tiptoed to the door. She slipped a room key into her pocket and opened the door as quietly as she could. Oscar dashed into the dark hall.
The hallway smelled musty with faint traces of cooking mixed with old carpet. She snapped a leash on the dog, then pushed open the outside door and exited the building. Oscar tugged at his leash, and she let him take the lead. He stepped off the sidewalk, then nosed a patch of grass at the end of the street.
She used to love walking the city at night. This small village had a different feel to it. Safer, more quaint. It had its appeal. The thought took her by surprise. Haley glanced up and caught her breath at the stars in the not-quite-dark sky. This time of year, though it never went totally dark, the stars still glimmered in amazing abundance. She’d never seen so many stars in the sky. God’s handiwork lay before her as priceless as the Alaskan oil fields. If she were on speaking terms with God, she’d thank him.
She tugged on Oscar’s leash and guided him toward the park. There was no use thinking about it. God had cut her off long ago. She passed the general store, and Oscar paused to lap at a mud puddle. She heard a sound behind her—a strange
fwump
. A whoosh of air rushed past her cheek. It left a stinging sensation. She passed her hand over her face and stared at her bloody fingers. The sound of shattering glass seemed to come from all around.
Oscar whined and tugged at his leash, his head pointing back toward the store. Haley heard a crackling noise and turned to look. Tongues of red flame licked voraciously at the windowsills. Small shards of glass, glittering in the glow, lay around the building. Her hand to her mouth, Haley backed away. She saw a shadow move from behind the building, and she shrank back into the concealing darkness of a spruce tree’s shadow. The needles brushed her cheek, and the scent of spruce tar covered the odor of smoke.
The figure was carrying something, a gas can maybe? The shadow flitted past the well house in the back, then was gone. Haley swiped at her stinging cheek again. She felt something hard still stuck there, maybe glass. Her knees felt weak and shaky. She turned and took off toward Chet Gillespie’s office.
Behind her, the fire gained in intensity, and she heard a shout. Two men ran across the street from the Caribou Bar by the café. She heard distant shouts of
fire
and knew they would handle it. But Chet needed to know what she’d seen. Though she couldn’t identify the man, she was certain the fire had been deliberately set.
She threw open the door to Chet’s office and ran inside. A young man, his boots propped on the desk, was snoring in the chair. She slammed the door behind her, and he made a snort like a bull, then opened his eyes. Blinking in confusion, he staggered to his feet.
“Fire!” She pointed out the window where the conflagration was threatening to spread to the next building. “I saw a man sneaking behind the store with what looked like a gas can. You’d better call Chet.”
T
he ruins of the general store still smoldered, though the fire had been extinguished nearly twenty-four hours earlier by the volunteer fire department. Tank stood looking at the remains. Haley stood next to him.
“My film is all lost,” Haley mourned. A butterfly bandage on her face marked the place where flying glass had cut her cheek. It could have been worse. A few inches higher and she would have lost an eye.
Tank nodded. “I have to wonder . . .” He glanced at her and shut his mouth.
“What? You think someone didn’t want my film developed?”
“You’d thought of it too?”
“Pretty hard not to. All these things seem to be related to my camera or my film. It makes no sense.”
Tank saw Gus wandering the ruins with a dazed look on his craggy face. “Let’s see if Gus has any idea what happened. It may not have anything to do with you at all.” She followed him as he moved to intercept Gus.
Gus had soot on his face and arms. A pile of goods lay at his feet, but Tank didn’t think the stuff was salvageable. Still, he supposed if he were Gus, he’d have to try to save what he could too. He doubted the old man had insurance. Most didn’t out here.
Tank clapped Gus on the shoulder. “I’m sure sorry, Gus. Anything I can do to help?”
Gus grunted. “Clean up. Could use able bodies.”
Haley began to snap pictures of the scene. Tank moved out of her way. “I’ll be glad to pitch in. Any idea what happened?”