Steve Hamilton - A Cold Day in Paradise

“Just give them to me.” I took the gloves from him and put them on. “I’ll need a plastic bag, too.” My voice sounded like it was coming from somewhere else.

“What’s the matter, Alex?”

I didn’t say anything. I just opened the envelope slowly and unfolded the single piece of paper that was inside.

Alex

It hurts me so much to see you building a wall around yourself with a policeman hiding in the bushes like a cat waiting for a mouse. I had to ask myself why is this happening? You know I am only here to serve you. How many other mousetraps do you have that I have not even seen yet? I was sad for two days until it came to me that you have been poisoned against me. I should have seen from the beginning that he is no good for you. He is like Judas waiting to betray you with the kiss of death before you are handed over to the enemy. I made up my mind that I had to be a brave mouse one more time and remove the betrayer. It was not so easy because he knew who I am and he tried to summon all the forces of darkness to his aid but I was stronger and he did not have a chance in the end. You are free of him now and I have found a new way to remove them and not leave so much blood behind. The blood is what sends the signals. It is not the microwaves. That is my discovery. Now there is so much cold water on top of him. He will never be seen again. All that cold water Alex. Just think of all that cold water. I hope this pleases you. I think that you owe me a blessing now. Don’t you think so? I think it is finally time for us to be together.

Yours forever

Rose

I made myself put the letter in the plastic bag. I made myself go behind the bar and pick up the phone. When Maven answered I said two things: “I have another note from him. Get out to the Glasgow Inn right now.” I couldn’t say anything else. I couldn’t say anything about Edwin. I couldn’t even say his name.

I went outside. To get away from the note, to breathe some fresh air, I don’t even know. The first angry raindrops hit me in the face. In the distance I could hear the approaching storm whipping the waves into whitecaps.

I couldn’t see the lake through the trees. But I knew it was there.

All that cold water.

I was still standing in the parking lot when Maven got there. The rain had stopped and then started again, driven by the northwest wind. I just stood out there and let it hit me like buckshot.

“Where is it?” Maven said as he slammed his car door.

“Inside.”

“Did you open it?”

“Yes,” I said. My voice sounded like it belonged to someone else.

“You know it’s evidence, McKnight. Why in the hell did you open it?”

I just looked at him. “It was addressed to me,” I said. “I wanted to read it.”

“Well, goddamn it, what are we standing out here in the rain for?”

He started for the door.

“Are you coming in or not?” he said.

“You don’t need me,” I said.

He shook his head and then went inside. I stood out there alone in the parking lot, looking at nothing. I felt cold all the way through my body. The bullet inside me seemed to vibrate in time with my heartbeat.

Finally, Maven came back out. He had the plastic bag in his hand, the letter inside. He looked at me, then down at the letter, and then back at me again. “McKnight,” he said, “you get more fucking stupid every day, did you know that?”

I didn’t say anything.

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?”

I just looked at him. I couldn’t comprehend what he was saying.

“We could have had the whole force out looking for him thirty minutes ago,” he said.

I heard the front door to the Glasgow open and close behind us. Maven kept standing there, staring me in the eyes. As he spoke I could see a small bead of spit forming on his bottom lip.

“You’re standing out here in the fucking rain while your friend is on the fucking bottom of the lake, McKnight.”

I just stood there.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” he said. “Don’t you care that your best friend is feeding the fucking fish right now?” The spit hit me in the face as he gave me a good shove in the shoulder.

And then it all came apart. I grabbed him by the neck with both hands. I squeezed with all my strength, with everything I had left inside me. If I could have, I would have torn his head right off his body.

His knee came up and caught me in the groin, and then his hand was on the back of my arm, driving me down onto the ground. I twisted free and started swinging. That’s when Jackie tackled me.

“Alex, for God’s sake!” he yelled as he sat on top of me. He still had his white apron on.

“Get off me,” I said.

“You need to go look for Fulton,” he said. “You don’t need to get arrested right now.”

“Too late,” Maven said, rubbing his neck. “You should have told him that before he assaulted me.”

Jackie got off me and pulled me to my feet. “Maven, I’m a witness to what happened here. You struck him first and then he retaliated. I would have done the same thing myself. Now, will the two of you just cut this shit out and go find the guy? Maybe he’s still alive. Has that occurred to you?”

Maven went back to his car and pulled out the radio. I went to my truck. “McKnight,” I heard him say, “where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m going to go find Edwin,” I said.

“The fuck you are. Get back here.”

I didn’t even look back at him as I got in the truck and sent the gravel flying. In my rearview mirror I could see him with his hands in the air.

I sped down the main road toward the highway. I knew I needed to get back to the reservation, start at the Bay Mills Casino. That was the last place Edwin was seen. I picked up the cellular phone and called the Fulton house. Please answer it, Uttley. Don’t let Edwin’s mother get it.

Uttley answered. “Alex,” he said. “I just called your cabin.”

“Lane, listen very carefully,” I said. “I received another note from… him. Rose. Whoever he is.”

“Oh God.”

“He got Edwin, Lane. At least that’s what the note said.”

“I can’t believe this.”

“Lane, you’ve got to put up a good front for Mrs. Fulton. Until we find out for sure.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m on my way to the casino,” I said.

“You called the police?”

I checked my rearview mirror, half-expecting to see Maven’s car speeding to catch up with me. “Yes, they know about it,” I said.

“I’m coming out there, Alex.”

“Lane, no. I think you better stay with Mrs. Fulton and Sylvia.”

“I can’t do that, Alex. I have to help you. Besides, if I stay here, Mrs. Fulton will know that something is wrong. It’s like she can read my mind.”

“All right, all right,” I said. “I’ll meet you at the casino. Hurry.”

I hung up and kept driving. I thought about what Maven had said. Why didn’t I tell him about Edwin when I called? He was right, they could have started searching right away. Why did I just go stand out there like that, listening to the wind and the waves?

Just like in that apartment. When Rose drew that gun. I froze. I am so fucking pathetic.

I tightened my grip on the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white. For some reason, Sylvia came into my mind. The way her skin felt the last time we were together. The look in her eyes as she watched me watching her robe slip to the floor.

God help me. Why am I thinking about this? I am losing my mind.

When I got to the casino, I saw Soo Police cars. Maven must have called them from his car. The tribal police were there, as well, probably wondering what the Soo Police were doing on the reservation. I had just been there a matter of hours ago, but that was when I expected to find Edwin throwing his money away at the blackjack tables. Now the morning light, muted by the rain, made the casino look sinister and out of place, like a madhouse.