Chapter 34
34
Molly drove them into town, through darkness filled with wild wind and spinning gusts of snow. Most people were already hunkered down for the storm, with the only business still open being The Fang. That was where Lachlan had left his truck.
He hoped it was still here. Out here in Firelight Ridge, people left their keys in the ignition in case their rig needed to be moved while they were gone. Vehicle theft didn’t happen, but there was plenty of vehicle borrowing.
As Maura and Lachlan climbed out of Sam and Molly’s truck, bracing themselves against the wind, Sam rolled down the passenger-side window. “We’re going to head home before things get too bad. You should do the same.”
“We will,” Lachlan assured him. He wanted to get a quick update from Bear, then drive directly home, with the hopes that Maura would come with him.
Maura said softly, over the howl of the wind, “I don’t know how to thank you, Sam. But I’ll figure out a way.”
“No need. Just stay safe, you two.”
The Fang had already emptied out except for Nick Perini and Bear, both sitting on bar stools, and Lila, who danced around the bar counter and hugged them both.
“I was so worried,” she told them. “I just had a feeling something was going to happen in Fairbanks.”
Lachlan knew that her “feelings” were always to be taken seriously. “We’re fine. But really glad Sam was able to come get us before the storm hits.”
“We’re going to close The Fang soon, we were just waiting for you. Do you want some minestrone?”
“That sounds like heaven,” said Maura, still shivering even though The Fang was toasty warm.
Lachlan realized he couldn’t even remember the last time they’d eaten. That happened to him a lot when he was working on a project. Maybe escaping an obsessed stalker counted as “project”?
As they feasted on soup and sourdough bread, Nick told them about Jackie Silver’s adventures in Firelight Ridge. “After she went to your house, Lachlan, she went out to the Chilkoots’, because someone said Maura might be doing some home tutoring out there.”
“We did go out there,” Maura said. “But it was for something completely different. I guess that’s how rumors get started. What did the Chilkoots tell her?”
“You know how they feel about anyone associated with the government. They demanded to see a search warrant and then told her to leave their property. On the way back to town, she got surprised by a moose in the middle of the road. Has anyone else noticed that they’re acting strangely these days?”
Bear had one hip propped against the bar while he listened. “I’ve been hearing some odd reports, yes. Not just the moose. People, too.”
Lachlan exchanged a glance of alarm with Maura. Habitat disruption was one thing, and would affect the wildlife. But people? He thought about the Reed child who had gotten sick. Was the mystery issue spreading to humans now? “What do you mean by that?” he asked Bear. “What’s going on?”
“Secrets. People are keeping secrets. I don’t like it.”
They all looked at him in surprise. Bear was generally a quiet man, the kind people turned to for help with broken heaters and supply runs and anything else the townspeople needed. He was so key to the community that it was hard to imagine it surviving without him. The town didn’t have a mayor, but if it did, Bear would have been elected in a landslide. He got along with everyone, even the most eccentric of old-timers. Lachlan had never heard him speak so forcefully.
“What sort of secrets?”
“The kind with non-disclosure agreements.”
“NDA’s? Who does that kind of thing out here?” asked Nick.
“No one, until now.” Bear gave a very bear-like snarl. “Martha’s been acting weird for a while, and I finally got her to open up. Someone offered her a ton of money for her property, but she had to sign an NDA just to look at the offer.”
A collective gasp rose up. “Martha’s selling her farm?” Lila exclaimed.
“No. She declined. She can’t say anything about the offer, but she thinks other people are getting them too. She says it’s linked to that cell phone company. The oldtimers are warning everyone not to sign up for it, so I took a look at the fine print. The contract gives the phone company right of first refusal if you want to sell your property.”
“Charlie and I found out the company’s owned by an entity named TNG Enterprises,” said Nick alertly. “Is that who’s demanding the NDAs? Do you know anything about them?”
“Never heard of them.” Bear picked up a cloth and wiped the counter even more vigorously than usual.
“So some cell phone company’s trying to buy up property out here in the middle of nowhere? Why?” Nick said. “Some new development?”
“Can’t be that. We’re surrounded by national park land. A new development wouldn’t fly. I don’t know. Like I said, people aren’t talking. Yet. I’m working on it, but I don’t want anyone to get in trouble for breaking a contract.” Bear turned to Maura. “You might see if Pinky’s gotten an offer. I haven’t seen him here since you left.”
“Did the investigator ever talk to him?” she asked.
“Yup. Right here at this bar. He launched into one of his long rants about alien abductions, and then said that government scientists had come and taken you away. Sobbed into his beer over how much he missed his granddaughter, how they’d taken all your stuff with them and he didn’t think he’d ever see you again. Jackie didn’t buy a word of it.”
Even though they all laughed, Lachlan caught a sheen of moisture in Maura’s eyes.
“Oh, Pinky, he did exactly what I asked him to do. I need to get home and check on him. He’s probably worried about me. I’m surprised he isn’t here right now.”
“He was here earlier,” Lila said. “But then he remembered he had to check his trapline before the storm hit.”
“He still hasn’t done that?” Maura shook her head as she slid off the stool. “It seems like he’s forgetting things more and more lately. I keep telling him all those conspiracy theories are going to rot his brain. I swear, they’re like an addiction.”
Lila hopped from behind the bar again to give her a hug goodbye. “Stay inside during this storm, okay?”
“Are you…sensing something?” Maura asked delicately.
“Me? No. Bear’s the weather forecaster in the family. He says it’s going to be a whopper. I’m pretty excited, actually,” she admitted, her eyes shining. “One of the more important moments in our relationship came during a blizzard. I’ve had fond feelings for them ever since.”
“Oooh, tell me more. Sounds juicy.” Maura linked arms with Lila and the two of them walked toward the exit, heads together.
Lachlan hung back to ask Bear one more question. “Has anyone else mentioned seeing a wolf, possibly injured, possibly coming right up to their homes?”
Bear shook his head. “That would be unusual. Maybe it’s Qisaruatsiaq.”
“Excuse me?” Lachlan wasn’t sure if Bear said a name or sneezed.
“It’s an Inuit legend of an old woman who was abandoned to live by herself. Eventually she turned into a wolf.”
A shiver crept down Lachlan’s spine. “And then what?”
“Nothing. She was a wolf, doing what wolves do, hunting.” Bear shrugged as he turned off the neon sign over the bar—the first step in closing down. “You know, Native Alaskan peoples generally have great respect for wolves. It’s the Europeans who feared them. Here, we feel kinship toward them. They’re dedicated to their families—their packs—and they often have to defend their homes, just like us. They’re tremendous hunters, which my Ahtna ancestors admired and also envied.”
Lachlan hadn’t known that Bear had Ahtna heritage, but it did explain his deep connection to the territory here. “What do you know about the wolf packs here locally?”
“We have two types of wolves here, the gray and the brown, but as to packs, I can’t tell you much. I did hear there was a thriving pack out past Wind Valley. I think they gave that professor’s family some trouble. Ate their chickens, that kind of thing.”
Lachlan should have known that Bear knew about the Reeds. He knew everyone. “What else do you know about that family?”
“The Reeds? Not much. She only came in here once, right before they left. She made a call to her family, from what I happened to hear. Crying, saying they were right. A couple days later, an Apache helicopter showed up and they were gone. Her family must have had some serious pull.”
“She came from a wealthy family?”
“That’s what I heard. Oil and gas.”
Oil and gas. A bell chimed in Lachlan’s mind as a connection was made. Wasn’t TNG an oil and gas company before they rebranded?
“Better get going.” Bear gestured toward the front door, which Maura had just opened, letting in a blast of snow.
The storm was here.
He hurried to join Maura in the arctic entry. She had managed to close the door, and was leaning against it as wind pounded against it like a fist. “Now what?” she asked him, her eyes wide, the sparkle of melting snowflakes on her eyelashes.
“Ani is staying with Molly and Sam, so my place is empty,” he offered, visions of sex in a snowstorm dancing through his brain. He firmly dismissed them. “But you probably want to check on Pinky, right?”
She nodded, though with a wry smile. “As much as I love the idea of you, me, and a snowstorm, I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t let Pinky know I’m back. He’s been through so many storms, it’s probably no big deal for him. But he’ll be worried about me.”
“Let’s go, then. My truck’s out back.”
They both took a deep breath and plunged into the storm. The snow was coming down thick and fast now. They were both quiet as he drove, focused on the road, the darkness, the snow, and any potential surprises in their path. He had to stick to low beams. Even though the high beams illuminated more of the road, they also lit up every snowflake and reduced the visibility into essentially a couple of feet. He rolled his shoulders to release the tension gathering in his neck. If they slid off the road, or missed a turn and wound up in the forest, there’d be no way to call for help. They’d be stuck until someone came by.
But when he glanced over at Maura to see if she was okay, he discovered that her eyes were shining and a smile hovered around the corners of her mouth. “You’re okay?” he asked, just for confirmation.
“Very much so. There’s no way SS is getting from the hot springs to here during the storm. I haven’t felt this safe in a long time.”
“We’re in a blizzard,” he reminded her. “Near a remote ridge in the middle of the wilderness.”
Smiling, she said, “Yes, isn’t it wonderful? I’m absolutely, completely safe here.”