Chapter 28
28
They went straight to The Fang. As they drove down Pioneer Road, Ruth looked at everything they passed with fresh eyes, as if she’d transformed into a new person since she’d left. The Magic Breakfast Bus, about to close for the winter. The former hardware store, now a cozy apartment, though still a good place to find roofing nails if you were completely out. The trapper’s cabins with solar panels propped on the mossy roofs.
Firelight Ridge was a testament to making the best of what was available, to surviving in a challenging environment, and to choosing life in the mountains over a life of convenience. It had accepted her without judgement. She loved the place.
Not that hot showers weren’t an amazing invention. Karaoke machines and hot showers…two things she wouldn’t mind bringing back to Firelight Ridge.
At the Fang, Lila greeted them with a huge grin and bear hugs. Her white hair was brightened with streaks of deep blue and strands of silver. As she looked into Ruth’s eyes, her smile dropped. “What happened?”
Where should she start? The prison? The truck theft? The gunshots at Martha’s? She wasn’t sure how much to share.
“It’s a long story.” She settled herself onto a stool and glanced at the old miners at the other end of the bar. Everything and everyone looked so familiar and beloved. Behind the bar, old photos were pinned to the wall, and the personal glassware of the regulars filled a shelf—Lasse Ullstrom’s drinking horn, Pinky’s mug, Oil Can’s thermos. Time had stopped here in The Fang, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Have you seen Martha?” She wanted to tell Martha about the gunshots before anyone else.
“I think she took her woofers rafting, kind of a last-day adventure sort of thing.”
That made sense. Ruth forced herself to relax. Not everything was an ominous sign of danger. “How are things here?”
“Strange. Scary.” Lila pulled out a bottle of wine and set a glass on the table. “Are you here for a full report?”
Ruth glanced at Gunnar as he slid onto the stool next to her. The words “strange and scary” perfectly described what they’d seen since they’d gotten back. “Yes, please. What’s going on?”
“I was hoping you could explain it.” Lila poured wine into her glass, and gave Gunnar a glass of soda water. “Something’s happening out at the Chilkoots’.”
That much, she knew. “Can you say more?”
“Well, I’m sure you’ve seen the military types showing up in town all summer. No one knew where they were staying, but then Bennie Thomas saw a caravan of camouflage trucks heading out to the Chilkoot compound.”
“Yes, we saw them too,” said Ruth. “Are they military?”
“No. Toni used to be in the Army, and she said they weren’t official vehicles. But maybe some kind of private militia?” Lila’s eyes—so violet they looked purple in the dark bar—were full of questions. “Does that sound like something your family would be involved with?”
“Well, of course it’s possible. They were stockpiling weapons for years, but most of them were seized in the raid. And Luke’s best fighters are still in prison.”
“But why would Luke need his own militia?” Lila asked.
Gunnar toyed with his glass of club soda. “Good question. You said ‘first of all.’ What next?”
Lila propped her elbows on the counter. “Yesterday, some helicopters flew across town. They were all heading in the direction of the Chilkoots’. None of them touched down at the airstrip, where someone could find out what they were up to. Oh, one more thing. Elias said he tried to go to the compound to give your aunts some salmon he’d caught, and he got turned around at a checkpoint a few miles from the property, right on a public road. They weren’t letting anyone pass, not even Elias.”
“We saw that. They barely let us pass through,” said Ruth. “Is anyone doing anything about it?”
“Bear called the Blackbear police, but the dispatcher said most of the department is down with food poisoning and they can’t spare anyone to come out here.” She fixed her worried eyes on Ruth. “Any ideas what’s going on?”
“No. I’m sorry. We’re trying to figure it out, but…well, I’m not really welcome out there anymore.”
The sadness of the situation slammed into her. Her own family was up to something nefarious and they didn’t trust her or want her around. She didn’t trust them either. There wasn’t a single person on that compound that she could fully trust, not even the children, like Miller, because they were all still under the thumb of the adults.
She felt tears sting her eyes. Under the shelter of the bar, Gunnar’s hand settled on her knee.
Gunnar. She could trust Gunnar.
“Well, people are starting to worry,” Lila was saying. “Especially given what Luke and Naomi were planning the last time. I have a bad feeling myself, but I can’t fill in any of the details. So if you can find out anything, Ruth, I hope you’ll trust us enough to share it.”
Ruth nodded tightly and took a sip of her wine. It tasted like vinegar to her—not fun, just sour. This was her responsibility. She was a Chilkoot, and her kin were planning something that involved camouflage trucks and helicopters and roadblocks, and who else was going to figure out what, if not her?
“We need to talk to Elias,” Ruth said as soon as they left The Fang. “I want to find out what he knows about the checkpoint.”
“Agreed.” As they drove through town, Gunnar swore he sensed unease in the atmosphere. In the few days they’d been gone, the town had emptied of tourists, and the temperature had dropped a few degrees. Fall was here, and it never lasted long in the mountains, with winter on its heels.
They drove to the rental cabin where Charlie Santa Lucia, Nick Perini, and most importantly, Nick’s daughter Hailey were staying. As Gunnar had predicted, Elias was there; he was teaching Hailey how to shoot a bow and arrow, which had apparently been a longtime dream of hers ever since watching The Hunger Games .
“Let me talk to him alone,” Ruth murmured. “It can be hard to snitch on the family, but it might be easier if it’s just me.”
“Sure.”
While Ruth huddled with Elias, out of earshot, Gunnar waited by the truck, alert for signs of helicopters or camouflage trucks. But all was peaceful. Calm-before-the-storm peaceful, perhaps, but he’d take it. He was enjoying the familiar Firelight Ridge birdsong and the fragrance of spruce trees and sunshine on dirt roads when Nick emerged from the cabin and joined him.
“I was hoping to see you,” he said.
“Oh yeah? I’m backed up for a couple of weeks, so unless it’s an emergency?—”
“The car’s fine.”
Too bad—Gunnar had a special soft spot for the red convertible BMW Charlie had driven to Alaska, and looked forward to the day he could get his hands on that engine.
“It’s something else.” Nick’s serious tone made Gunnar stand up straighter. Nick was a private investigator, and an excellent observer in general. Maybe he had information to share about the Chilkoot compound. “What’s up?”
“I think someone broke into your garage.”
Gunnar laughed, his tension easing. “Sometimes I forget you’re new around here. I don’t even have a lock for the place. I leave it open in case someone needs an emergency part and I’m not around. Honor system.”
“I know that. This is different. I went by to grab a can of motor oil—here’s what I owe you, by the way,” he pulled a twenty from his pocket and handed it to Gunnar, “and it looked to me as if someone had been poking around in the office. I saw a bit of fresh mud near the office door.”
Gunnar’s unease came rushing back. “Everyone knows my office is off-limits.”
“Exactly. I poked my head in just to see if everything looked normal, and it…well, it was hard to tell. I’ve been a PI for a long time, and my instincts told me someone had been there. I took a few photos for you, which I’ll delete as soon as you tell me to.”
He showed Gunnar the photos on his phone. One quick glance told Gunnar that someone had been in there. The computer screen was tilted in a way he never would have left it, and the pottery mug that held his pens and pencils had been moved. But so what? Maybe someone had needed a pen to note down what they’d “borrowed.”
“It doesn’t look like anything’s missing.” He frowned at the photo, then flipped to the next one. “What’s this?”
“That’s the waste basket in the corner. To me it looked like someone might have gone through it.”
“Damn.” Gunnar swore. “You’re right. What the hell? Who goes through the trash like that? Do you think this was a professional?”
“It’s possible. I could tell right away that something was off, but I’m not sure anyone else would. Even you might have missed it if I hadn’t brought it to your attention.”
Gunnar shook his head slowly as he looked at the photos again. “I probably would have, you’re right. Thanks, Nick.”
“You might think about getting a lock.”
“Would a lock stop a professional?”
“It would slow them down.” Nick gave him a keen look. “Charlie mentioned that you’d found something strange on your computer. Do you think this has to do with that?”
“It’s possible. It looks like my computer screen has been shifted. I guess I’ll have to go see for myself.” He glanced over at Ruth, who was still deep in conversation with Elias.
“Need backup? I’m not as techie as Charlie, but I do plenty of work online.”
Gunnar thought about it for a moment, and decided it wouldn’t hurt to have someone else in his corner. “Want to walk down there? I can leave the truck for Ruth when she’s done.”
A few minutes later he and Nick stepped cautiously into the cool interior of his shop. Gunnar sniffed the air, searching for any odor that wasn’t the predictable motor oil and diesel. But everything smelled normal to him.
Not to Nick, though. The other man stiffened, and motioned for him to stay where he was. Gunnar froze as Nick drew out a small Glock and held it steady before him.
Was that really necessary? It felt like a violation to see a weapon wielded in his shop. Risky, too…so many metal surfaces in here. Who knew where a bullet would ricochet to?
Nick advanced into the garage with silent footfalls. Gunnar followed, scanning the darker corners where someone might be able to hide. He thought he saw movement behind Frank Stetson’s four-by, which was waiting for his attention behind the lift.
He took a step forward, squinting into the shadows, then jumped as something darted out toward him. Not something—some one .
Before Gunnar could even react, Nick was swinging the gun around to aim at the intruder.
“No!” Gunnar flung his body between Nick and his target. His hip slammed against Ingrid Sonders’ Toyota, probably causing body damage to both it and him. “Don’t shoot.”
“I’m not shooting,” Nick said, irritated, as he reached out to grab the small figure darting past him. He grabbed onto a handful of clothing and stared down at the small person before him. “Who are you?”
Gunnar knew who it was, but the poor kid looked too frightened to say a word. “Noah. What are you doing here? Are you all right?” He turned to Nick, who still held him by the back of his jacket collar. “This is one of Ruth’s little brothers, Noah Chilkoot. You can let him go.”
“Not until I know what he’s doing here.” Nick gestured with his chin toward Gunnar’s office door. “Maybe he was the one.”
Good point. Had the Chilkoots sent Noah here to rummage in his office for some reason?
Gunnar crouched down before the kid, who he figured was about seven years old, though he didn’t know precisely. Although he knew Noah by sight, he’d never had a conversation with him. “What are you doing here, Noah? I’m a friend of your sister Ruth. Sarah too, actually. Are you looking for them?”
Noah glanced from Nick to Gunnar and back a few times. Nick tucked his gun into the back of his pants, out of sight. “Is Ruth here?” he finally asked in a small voice.
“She’s not here, but I know where she is. Do you want to talk to her?”
Noah nodded. Like all the other Chilkoots, he had red hair, though his shade of red was more carroty than most. Freckles sprinkled his face, and a bruise colored his jaw.
“I can take you to her. Or you can stay here while I go and get her.”
“I can get Ruth,” Nick said quickly, clearly aware that Noah would feel more comfortable without the man who’d aimed a gun at him.
But neither of them had to fetch Ruth, because just then the familiar roar of his Toyota V-8 engine interrupted them. A moment later, Ruth hurried into the garage, shading her eyes so they’d adjust to the lower light. As soon as she saw her little brother, she ran to him and crouched before him.
“Noah! What are you doing here? What’s going on? Does Auntie Magda know you’re here?”
“No.” Noah burst into tears. “I hid in the back of the truck under a tarp. No one knows where I am. You better not tell them!” He spat those words at Nick, who apparently had now attained villain status in his eyes.
Nick raised his palms. “I won’t tell a soul, you have my word.”
“Me too,” said Gunnar, offering a boy scout pledge gesture.
“Did you run away?” Ruth asked her brother, her gaze landing on the bruise that Gunnar had noticed too. She touched it lightly. “What happened?”
“We want to stay with you.” Noah wiped away a tear, leaving a smear of dirt across his cheek. “Everyone’s being really mean to us and we’re scared. We snuck out of Jared’s truck when it stopped here for gas. Can we stay with you?”
“We?” Ruth’s eyes widened. “What do you mean, ‘we’?”
Noah put his fingers to his mouth and gave a whistle. All around the garage, small figures emerged from their hiding places behind work benches and broken vehicles and cases of motor oil.
Gunnar cringed, thinking of all the ways they could get hurt while hiding in his garage with no supervision. Fortunately, they all seemed to have intact limbs and all their fingers.
They made their way to Noah’s side. Six kids, seven counting Noah. All of them looking to Ruth as if she was their only hope.