Dana Stabenow - Whisper to the Blood

Kate remembered taking the key of her snow machine with her when she'd stopped to see Vidar. One time in how many years? Maybe her lifetime?

"Anyone could have driven off in his truck. And the tire track alone won't make a conviction, as Judge Singh was pleased to tell me."

"She wasn't pleased," Kate said.

Jim, a little ashamed of himself, said, "I know. I'm just-"

"I know," Kate said.

"Kate?" Johnny said.

"And I told you, Howie's reneging his confession all over the place anyway."

"And the aunties? What was the story they told you?"

"Pretty much the same one they told you," Jim said, unsmiling. "To a woman, they are shocked, shocked at the very idea of such a thing. Auntie Balasha says Howie must be mistaken, and she bawls when she says so." He shuddered. "Auntie Edna says he's full of shit. Auntie Joy says he was such a handsome little boy, she can hardly look at him without smiling at the memory."

"And Auntie Vi?"

"Auntie Vi told me to tend to my business and the aunties would tend to theirs."

"Ouch."

"Yeah."

"Was it just a story, then? Howie made it up?"

Jim thought of Bernie. "I don't know, Kate. I wish I did."

"Kate!"

They both looked at Johnny in mild surprise. "There's no need to shout, kid," Kate said. "Something on your mind?"

Now that he finally had the floor, Johnny seemed reluctant to talk.

"Spit it out," Kate said. "Van's not pregnant, is she?"

Johnny blushed beet red. "No! No, it's nothing like that. Jeez, Kate."

"Sorry," Kate said, sounding less than repentant. "What's up?"

"There's something I've been wanting to tell you for a long time," Johnny said, and again seemed incapable of saying more.

"You're flunking physics," Kate said.

"No, Kate, stop it! It's that guy."

"What guy?" "That guy, Gallagher."

This was so far removed from the topic at hand that Kate was at first wholly at sea. "Huh? Who?"

"The new guy?" Jim said.

"Yeah, or he was last fall, anyway," Johnny said. "He showed up in September. Van and I ran into him in Ahtna."

Kate sat up. "When did you and Van run into him in Ahtna?"

He looked at her, caught off guard. "I… I… it was after we brought the truck home." He could see the thunderheads darkening and he cringed.

"You skipped school," she said in a level voice.

His own voice was very small in reply. "Yes."

"And you went to Ahtna without permission."

"Yes."

"And you took Van with you." "Yes."

"Your name is Johnny Morgan, prepare to die," Jim said in a fake Spanish accent.

Johnny swallowed hard and risked another look at Kate. "I know you're mad, Kate, but we need to talk about that later. The thing is, I know this guy."

"We all know him now, Johnny," Kate said. "Well, it's not like he's a fixture, but we've all met him by now. He didn't run screaming at the first snow, so I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Let's see if he makes it through the whole winter."

"Kate!"

"Sorry, sorry." Kate bent her head but Jim could see the corners of her mouth indent. Johnny would pay for skipping school, but that would be later, and she did so love giving the kid a ride.

"I know him," Johnny said again. "I rode with him."

That brought Kate's head up again, all traces of the smile erased. "What do you mean?"

"On the way here. I rode with him."

"From Phoenix? When you hitched home?"

"Yeah."

Kate stared at him out of narrow eyes, long enough to make him want to squirm some more. He didn't, but it was a near thing. "Did he threaten you? Harm you in any way?"

"No! No, nothing like that, Kate, I promise."

Jim saw Kate's breast rise and fall on a long, silent sigh. "So you know him. He gave you a ride. He didn't hurt you. He also didn't turn you over to the nearest cop shop, which he should have. Although I can't say, when all's said and done, that I'm sorry he didn't."

"Me, neither," Johnny said, with emphasis.

"So what?" Kate said. "Other than the fact that I should look this guy up and thank him for taking you from-outside Phoenix?-to where?"

"All the way to Seattle."

At that Kate did look impressed. "Wow. Okay, that was a nice big chunk of the journey out of the way." And a long way out of his mother's reach. "We owe him, no question. What, you want us to give him some moose? I could make him fry bread. Does he need a job? Or no, wait, he's got one."

"That's not all there is to it," Johnny said miserably. "There's something else. Something I should have told you when he first came to the Park."

They left Kate's snow machine in front of the trooper post and walked the rest of the way to Auntie Vi's. It was full dark and cold with it, and their breath frosted on the air and their boots squeaked on the road no matter how stealthy they tried to be. By contrast Mutt skimmed soundlessly over the snow, drifting in and out of the shadows like a ghost.

Auntie Vi's house was on the uphill road between the village and the airstrip, just up from Bingley's store and just down from the trooper post. It was a sturdy, practical, two-story home that Auntie Vi, a sturdy, practical, and entrepreneurial woman, had built specifically for a bed and breakfast. It was, so far, the only place to rent a room in Niniltna proper, but to be fair, Auntie Vi didn't short her customers just because they had no choice in the matter. Her mattresses were new, her sheets clean, her pillows soft, and her meals as good or better than what you got at the Riverside Cafe. There was a common room with squashy couches and chairs, a television and a DVD player with an extensive library of films, a bookshelf full of books, a pile of board games, and a desk.

"How many people has she got staying there at present?" Kate said, her voice a whisper of sound.

"I don't know," Jim said. "I'm hardly ever here. Have you met Gallagher?"

"Yeah."

"What did you think?"

"I could feel my Spidey sense tingling. You?"

"I thought he was bent. No more or less bent than anyone else who comes into the Park, you understand. You know how it is, Kate. Lots of people come to Alaska on the run from something. Wives, cops, job. Traffic. You heard the story Gallagher-do we call him Greenbaugh now?-you heard the story he spun Johnny. Could be true."

"You didn't check him out?"

Again with the shrug. "No reason to so long as he kept his nose clean in the Park. I'm not one for borrowing trouble. There's plenty of it already on offer."

"Grim but true," Kate said. "Why didn't you do a wants and warrants on him before we came?"

"I'd rather talk to him first, get a feel. If I think he'll bolt, I'll grab him up for twenty-four. Be easier to run a search with prints anyway."

"But I notice we're whispering," she said. "Also tiptoeing." "Girls tiptoe. Guys sneak."

They came to Auntie Vi's driveway, overgrown with spruce and alder and birch and fireweed and way too much devil's club. Unless it was edible, Auntie Vi didn't care enough about landscaping other than to keep the driveway clear enough to drive on.

There was a light on in the living room. The front door was unlocked, as usual, and Jim led the way in. "Stay," Kate said to Mutt, and followed.

The living room was empty. So was the kitchen. So was Auntie Vi's little suite in back of the kitchen.

They went upstairs. "Which one is his?" Kate said.

Jim nodded at a door and Kate tried the handle. "Locked."

They stood side by side looking at the door with, had they but known it, identical speculative looks on their faces. "I know where the keys to the rooms are," Kate said.

"So do I." He looked at her. "I'm a practicing professional police officer. I need a warrant."

She made a face and went downstairs, returning a few moments later with a key. She inserted it into the lock and the door opened smoothly, as any door installed beneath Auntie Vi's auspices would have if it knew what was good for it.