Doug Allyn - Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Vol. 104, No. 4 & 5. Whole No. 633 & 634, October 1994

“Fenced?”

“I’m not sure. I haven’t been up there in years. As I recall, there are old logging trails in and out of it.”

“Can I get in there with a car?”

“It would be difficult, the roads are pretty rough. A vehicle with higher suspension would be better, say a pickup or a van. But I don’t think you realize how big an area we’re talking about. It would take an army to search it all.”

“I won’t have to search it all. It was raining, remember, and Jimmy weighed one eighty. If he’s up there, he’ll be near a road. Where can I rent a pickup?”

“You won’t have to,” I said. “If you’re dead set on crashing around up there, you can borrow my Jeep.”

“I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“No problem. It just sits here all day when I’m working, and you may need the four-wheel drive. Besides, in a way I’ve been involved in this from the first. I’d like to see it through.”

“Then I gratefully accept.”

“Fine, I’m here every morning at eight, you can pick it up any time after that. There is one thing though. A lot of the trails up there are visible from the town. You ,ll almost certainly be noticed, so watch yourself. Oh, and wear a blaze orange vest. It’s bow-hunting season. It’d be a shame if a guy who’s trying so hard to get killed on purpose got shish-kebobbed by accident.”

“I’ll bear it in mind,” he said, smiling. “I insist on paying for the use of your vehicle, though. And I’d like to ask one other favor. A big one.”

“Which is?”

“Have dinner with me tonight. My treat. And let’s talk about something else. Anything.”

I hesitated. I’d been half expecting this. And I’d already decided to keep my distance. God knows my life was complicated enough without someone new in it. And yet...

I said yes. And we had dinner, and lingered, and talked. About everything. What it was like growing up a tomboy in a northwoods town, doing a man’s work from the time I was fifteen. And he told me about his boyhood on interchangeable naval bases with a stepfather who was always at sea. He had less to say about his present life, only that he’d been hoping to straighten Jimmy out.

Our tastes were markedly different, in music, movies, everything. All we seemed to have in common was a mutual lone-wolf wariness. And chemistry, of course. Serious chemistry. The kind that makes differences seem unimportant. At first. I think I felt it the first time I saw him at the river. I expected it to fade.

But it didn’t. Over the next few days, Ray borrowed my Jeep every morning and returned at dusk, tired, but not discouraged. And we had dinner. And talked. And we became... friends. Who might become lovers in time. I sensed it, and so did he. It didn’t need to be said. Or rushed. It would happen. And then too many things began to happen. Too fast.

I was in my office at the Nest finishing up the dive-shop inventory. Hannah McClain rapped once, sharply, then stalked in. “We need to talk,” she said curtly, closing the door behind her. She was dressed for shopping, an ankle-length muted tweed skirt and jacket. Her makeup was immaculate and I envied her. If I wear anything more complicated than lipstick and a trace of blush I look like a Halloween hooker. It must be a great comfort to know that first grim look in your morning mirror can be improved on.

But if marrying money had improved her clothes and her look, some things hadn’t changed. She’d always been working-girl direct with me. And she still was.

“I understand this guy Calderon’s been driving your wheels,” she said brusquely. “Have you two got something going?”

I didn’t say anything.

“Look, don’t play coy with me, Mitch, this is serious. If you care about him at all, you’ve got to get him to move on before he gets hurt.”

“Why should he get hurt? What’s wrong?”

“It’s... Wally,” she sighed, slumping down into the chair facing my desk. “Ever since Calderon’s brother showed up he’s been coming unglued. We had it out last night, and he told me he’d been waiting for something like this to happen all his life.”

“What do you mean, waiting for it?”

“Wally blames himself for his mom being crippled. He was four when she got pregnant the second time, and he was jealous, afraid the baby’d take his place. He wanted it to go away. He even prayed it would. So when Audrey fell and lost the kid, he figured it was his fault. And he’s been afraid ever since that she’d find out and dump him, I guess. Which may be why we’re married three years and still live with his mom and he’s afraid to have kids... Ah hell, what a mess.” She pressed her fingertips against her temples, massaging them.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I need your help. You were always decent to me in school when a lot of kids treated me like white trash. I know everyone in town figures I screwed Wally into marrying me. Well, maybe I did. Nothing ever came easy for me. But I didn’t do it just for the money. And right now I’m willing to drop a fair chunk of cash to avoid trouble. How much would Calderon want to back off? Just go away?”

“I’m not sure,” I said carefully.

“Well, the most I can scrape together’d be six, seven grand if I sell some things Wally gave me. It’ll have to be enough. It’s not like he’s entitled to anything, you know. His brother was, maybe, but not him. Anyway, that’s the best I can do.”

“Why do anything? Why do you want him to go?”

“Because I’m afraid of what Wally might do. He’s a terrific guy in a lot of ways, but on this one subject he’s as crazy as his old man ever was. And he’s not the only one. His fat-ass uncle Gordon, the ex-con? Ever since Audrey took him on at the plant he’s been looking for an angle, a way to buddy up to Wally, and he figures this is it. Calderon’s obviously checking things out up in the hills. And Gordon’s saying he’s sizing up the McClain property getting ready for a lawsuit that’ll throw everybody out of work.”

“That’s nonsense.”

“I know it, and maybe Wally even knows it. But some of the mouth-breathers that do scutwork at the plant don’t. And they can be dead serious when it comes to protecting their jobs. Mitch, you’ve got to call this guy off or he’s gonna end up like his brother.”

“What do you know about his brother?”

“Only what I heard the other night. He went to the plant, then the house, then apparently wound up in the river. That’s really all I know, except that I was surprised when Audrey said Ross wasn’t there.”

“You mean he was?”

“I don’t know, but he almost never leaves the house, even on his days off. He’s always suckin’ around Audrey, or me. God, I want to get out of that damned tomb and get a place of our own. But it’ll never happen if Wally winds up in jail for beating your pal half to death. How about it? Can we do a deal?”

“Maybe we could if it was up to me,” I said honestly, “but it’s not. Ray doesn’t want money, he’s trying to find his brother. And I don’t think he’ll leave until he does.”

“Then maybe he won’t leave at all,” she said coldly, rising to go. “Do me a favor. Tell Calderon if he’s so dead set on committing suicide to take a header off the Mackinac bridge. The view’s terrific and it’d be a lot less trouble for the rest of us. I’ll see you, Mitch.” And she stalked out. She had looks, money, and social position. But I didn’t envy her. Not even a little.

“What do you expect me to do?” Ray asked at dinner that night. “Pack it in because some local rednecks are getting antsy? Stirring up the locals was part of the plan, remember?”

“Wrong. The plan was to draw Walter into the open if he’s here. This is different. The people up here are different, Ray. Nobody lives in the north country because it’s a great career move. They stay here for the lakes, and the hills. And the hunting. This is gun country. NRA heaven.”