The Bear Mountain Secret

by Gayle Siebert

  “Pleased to meet you,” Shirley says, and reaches for a quick shake of Rick’s hand.

  “Pleased to meet you, Shirley,” Rick says. “I can’t do nuthin’ ‘bout the drought but I think I’ll be able to help Mr. Danielson with his other two problems.”

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  KATHY PUSHES THE lobby doors open and is relieved to see Kiersten behind the reception desk, busy with a white-haired couple. “Oh my god, it’s Kiersten!”

  When she’s done checking the couple in and they’re rolling their suitcases toward the elevator, Kiersten smiles and says, “Hi Kathy!”

  “Hi,” Kathy responds. She indicates Astrid, and says to Kiersten, “This is my new friend, Astrid.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Astrid,” Kiersten says.

  “You, too,” Astrid replies.’

  “Are you okay?” Kathy asks.

  “Okay? Yeah. Why?”

  Kathy scans the area to make sure no one else is near enough to overhear before continuing. “Yesterday the manager said you left suddenly without telling anyone.”

  “Well that’s—he’s wrong. I wouldn’t leave without telling him.”

  “But when my room got robbed, the cops wanted to talk to you but they, or he, your boss I guess, said you were missing!”

  “Oh, no, I wasn’t missing!” Kiersten squirms and looks away for a second before continuing, “I heard about your room being robbed. Sorry about that! Must’ve been spooky staying after that!”

  “Um, no, Astrid let me stay at her place.” Kathy frowns, then takes a deep breath. “Kiersten, I’m sorry, but I don’t understand why he, your boss that is, would say you were missing if you weren’t.”

  Kiersten’s face flushes; she shuffles a little pile of papers, and says, “I, uh, well, yeah,” she looks away again, as if something across the room has attracted her attention. Kathy turns to see what it is but sees nothing but the couple that just checked in entering the elevator.

  “Yeah.” Kiersten picks up her mug and takes a sip of coffee before continuing, “I, ahh, I get these panic attacks. I was on the phone with my boyfriend when I felt an attack coming on. He came right away and took me to the hospital.”

  “To the hospital?” Kathy studies Kiersten’s face. A panic attack is nothing to be ashamed of, but talking about it seems to be making her uncomfortable. She takes a breath and says in what she hopes is a comforting tone, “I’ve heard they can be bad.”

  “Sometimes.” Kiersten takes another sip of coffee, this time holding the mug in both hands as if to cover half her face. “I thought I was having a heart attack.” Kiersten puts the mug down and busies herself with the little pile of paper again before looking back up; when their eyes meet, she looks away. “I wasn’t, of course and I didn’t really need to go to the hospital. My boyfriend is just over-protective.”

  “Can’t fault him for that,” Astrid says.

  “Oh, it must be awful,” Kathy says. “How long have you had these, er, attacks?”

  “Umm, not long.”

  There’s an awkward lull in the conversation. Finally, Kathy says, “well, anyway, we’re both glad you’re back.” Then her gaze falls on Kiersten’s plain white coffee mug. “Hey, where’s your favourite mug?” she asks.

  “My mug? Oh, I lost it. So. How can I help you? I understand why you wouldn’t want to stay in that room tonight. I have a couple of other rooms I could put you in for the rest of your stay. Sorry, I can’t upgrade you because that’s one of our best rooms already, but I can put you in one on the second floor, access only from the inside hallway, but with a balcony, closer to the river. Still has a nice view of the river. Or if you want I can put you close to the pool. But you said before you’d like to be upstairs, I guess so no one could…well you know…”

  “Umm, no thanks, Kiersten. I just want to check out. It’s a day early, but …”

  “I totally don’t blame you.”

  “The deal we made was for a week, though.”

  “I don’t think the manager will hold you to that! Umm, you know, in light of what happened, I think we can refund you for last night and cancel the extra night no charge but I’ll have to check with him and see. I’ll go find out!” She jumps to her feet, spins and strides off, pushing through the doorway and letting it slam shut behind her.

  “Well,” Astrid says.

  Kathy turns to Astrid and says quietly, “she’s sure acting weird.”

  “I guess she’s embarrassed.”

  “About having an illness?”

  “Lots of people are private about stuff like that,” Astrid says.

  After a brief wait, Kiersten comes through the door behind the reception desk with the manager right behind her. “Good day, ladies,” he says.

  “Hello, Mr. er, Passmore.” Kathy responds.

  “Kiersten tells me you’d like to check out early, Ms. Klein?”

  Kathy nods, “Yes.”

  “I understand. We’ll just check you out, minus two days.”

  “I, well, it’s only really one day.”

  “You couldn’t stay last night so of course no charge for that, and no charge for today. We’ll comp you for an extra day as well,” he says, and pushes the paperwork across the countertop. “Hope you don’t think badly of us.”

  “It wasn’t your fault. I don’t blame you.”

  “Well, it’s kind of a thank you. If you hadn’t scared them off, they might’ve gone on to the next room, maybe down the whole row. Don’t need that on our Yelp review! We’re going to beef up our security system and have a locksmith do something about those patio doors so they can’t be pried open. Please accept our apologies.”

  “Apology accepted, and thank you. This is more than generous,” Kathy says, folding the papers and tucking them in her purse.

  “You’re welcome.” He turns and leaves.

  Kiersten settles into her chair and fusses with the keyboard, then looks up at Kathy and says, “I feel responsible. I now know why you didn’t want a room on the ground floor. I mean, with the door to the outside. I never would have thought about it. But it turned out okay, didn’t it?”

  It’s not okay, of course; Kathy is surprised at how violated she feels, thinking about someone pawing through her things, not to mention the loss of the valuable pendant. Definitely not okay. It’s not Kiersten’s fault, though. “Well, nobody died,” Kathy says. It’s the best response she can come up with. “It’s not your fault. It was the last room. What could you do?”

  “I know, but I feel bad. Could I treat you to lunch, or maybe dinner, tomorrow? I’d say tonight but my boyfriend is going out of town tomorrow and we’re having a special date tonight.”

  “It’s okay, Kiersten. We’re flying out tomorrow. But that’s a nice offer. Thanks! You’ve been great. It’s been nice meeting you.”

  “You too,” Kiersten says, biting her lip.

  As Kathy and Astrid head back outside, Astrid says, “Kiersten seems nice. She looked downright mournful you’re leaving.”

  “Maybe she’s lonely.”

  “But she has a boyfriend.”

  “You don’t think a person in a relationship can be lonely?” Kathy clicks the button on the remote to unlock the doors and they both take their seats in the SUV. Kathy sits quietly for a moment, then shakes her head.

  “Yeah, it can be tough to make friends,” Astrid says.

  “Some people need them more than others,” Kathy agrees, and starts the engine. “I’ve always been more of a loner. I guess I learned how to be alone, growing up.” She backs out of the parking stall, then shifts into drive and heads the Sorrento to the exit. “To the cop shop now I guess. Where is it?”

  “Just go back out to the highway. You know how to get to Dot’s. It’s a little past that, across the road from The Plaza Bowling Alley.”

  “Hope it doesn’t take too long.”

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  “THE SMELL OF PERFUME was so strong. It turned out the bottle was on the bathroom floor, broken.
He must’ve dropped it. And then I thought I heard something, and saw the patio door was open. Whoever it was, we interrupted them. I don’t remember seeing a car, like, parked in front. I don’t think there was one. I parked right in front of my door. So that’s all I know,” Kathy tells Sergeant Villeneuve. “Not much, is it? Astrid was behind me so she saw even less. You didn’t notice a car parked out in front, did you, Astrid?”

  “Well, there were a few cars in the lot, about what you’d expect, same as when you got there,” Astrid tells the Sergeant. “That’s all.”

  “We were just at the Riverview to check out, and saw Kiersten,” Kathy continues. “She explained why she left suddenly, like I told you, so she isn’t the thief. I thought she might be when she disappeared like that. I hated myself for even thinking that, when it seemed more likely she was abducted. I’m glad I was wrong, on both counts! So, I guess that’s it.” Kathy leans back with a shrug. “Do you think you might get my things back?”

  “Dat’s a long shot,” Sergeant Villeneuve says. He reads the list Kathy handed him, and lets out a low whistle. “Some special pendant, eh?”

  “Yeah. An American Double Eagle gold coin. A keepsake.”

  “Dat’s a shame.” He’s tapping at his keyboard, studying the monitor. “You have a photo of it, by any chance?”

  “Umm, yeah, actually, I do! But it’s in my insurance papers at home. I can email it to you when I’m back there.”

  “Good. Lots of prints in the room like you’d expect, but we did get a hit on one. We got a BOLO out on him.” He turns his monitor so the women can see the mug shot. “Dis guy, he look familiar? Like you seen him around maybe?”

  Kathy and Astrid study the monitor, then both shake their heads. “Sorry, no,” Kathy says, “I haven’t.”

  “I don’t know—maybe I’ve seen him around town but a lot of young guys look like that now. That tattoo on his neck, though…” Astrid sighs. “I really don’t know.”

  Sergeant Villeneuve shrugs and turns the monitor back. “Okay. If he tosses your suitcase somewhere, we might get your clothes back, but your laptop and dat necklace—real easy to get rid of. He probably had a big party and dat’s duh end of dat.”

  “Could he find a buyer for a $5,000 necklace so quickly?”

  “Doubt he knew what it was.”

  “Surely he’d know it was gold! It’s so heavy! That’s why I take it off at night. Grrr! Wish I’d remembered to put it on yesterday morning! Better yet, I wish I’d left it at home.”

  “He might not realize it was real. He could fence it for fifty bucks or just trade it for drugs. Likely some drug dealer’s wearing it now.” Sergeant Villeneuve clicks his tongue. “Oh, while you’re here. Dis broken mug…” he makes a couple of clicks on his keyboard and swings the monitor toward Kathy again. “Found it in pieces just outside the patio door. Yours?”

  Kathy shakes her head. She studies it carefully, noticing it’s got some lettering on it: ‘FT’ and below that, a large, slanted ‘T’. “What’s printed on it?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe advertising. Why?”

  “Well it could be nothing, but this morning when we were at the motel to check out, I noticed Kiersten didn’t have her favourite mug, the one that said, ‘I have one nerve left and you’re on it’. I asked where it was and she said she lost it. That looks like it could be hers.”

  “Hmmm.” Sergeant Villeneuve leans back, crosses his arms, and swivels his chair for a heartbeat. “I talked to her dis morning. I’ll check wid her again and see if she can identify it.”

  “I’ll need the police file number for my insurance claim,” Kathy says.

  “Sure.” He takes one of his cards from the little holder on his desk, and checking with the computer monitor, jots a number on the back before handing it to her.

  “Thank you,” Kathy says; she and Astrid exchange glances, then both stand. “So, that’s it then?”

  “Yup,” Sergeant Villeneuve gets up, walks them to the door and pushes the buzzer to let them out. “I’ll let you know if we find anyting.”

  Back in the Sorrento, Kathy starts the engine, turns the fan up to its highest setting to blast the hot air out, then backs out of the parking stall and drives to the exit. “Okay, two things done,” she says. “I’m getting hungry. Lunch? At Dot’s, maybe?”

  “I don’t know,” Astrid says, “it’s fast service there but it would still kill another hour at least. I’d rather not be in town that long, would you?”

  “Not really. I’m looking forward to checking out that place up on Bear Mountain Haul Road, so we can get back to your place and ride some horses.”

  “I’m with you!”

  Astrid says. “Do you find this? I hardly ever go to town, and when I do, after an hour I can’t wait to get back home.”

  “Me, too. Although it’s different for me, I go to town every day, and we live less than twenty minutes away.” She turns to glance at Astrid and says, “you might think this is corny, but I miss Rick, even when we’re only apart for a short while.”

  “Do you really?”

  “Yeah. After five years. I told you you’d think it was corny.”

  “No, not corny. I’d say you’re lucky.”

  “Don’t you miss Denver?”

  “I, uh, not when he’s only gone for an hour. When he’s away for weeks judging horse shows, yes. And I’ve seen all the gorgeous girls on the show circuit. I suppose I worry a bit.” She takes a deep breath.

  “I know. It’s hard to trust, isn’t it? Rick was, well, to put it plainly, a total asshole when we dated in high school. I know he’s changed, but… Anyhow. Enough of that! A person’s got to eat. How about A & W?”

  “A & W it is. And if you can eat and drive at the same time, we won’t even have to go in.”

  “I eat half my breakfasts while I’m driving to work! Beyond Meat Burger, here we come!” Kathy says, driving past Dot’s and heading for the main drag, and the A & W.

  Seventeen

  Meet Silverface

  KATHY DRIVES THE Sorrento as far as she dares onto the dry weeds at the side of the gravel road and shifts into park. “Are you sure we’re on the right road? Maybe we missed a turnoff somewhere.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Well it looks like this is the end of the line, and no carved bear anywhere.”

  “There’s that track there, though,” Astrid says, pointing to a road access overgrown with weeds and grass.

  “Not much of a track. And there’s that,” Kathy says, and points out a sign three meters up the trunk of a native fir.

  “No trespassing. Oh. But if you’re looking for someone, looking for their house, it’s not really trespassing is it? And that could be the driveway. It’s overgrown but it is gravel.”

  “Hmm. I don’t know. Doesn’t look like it gets much traffic but I guess since we’ve come this far, we might as well have a look. Maybe we should walk in, though. Just in case there’s no place to turn around.”

  “Good plan. Buster needs to pee so the sooner I let him out, the better.”

  “That’s why he’s been whining for the last ten minutes?”

  “Yup, that’s why. I was gonna hafta ask you to pull over pretty quick anyway so this is just as well. I really don’t know why Denver insisted we take the dogs along.”

  “Made him feel better, I guess. Buster is protective of you. He’s such a sweet old guy I don’t know if he’d actually do anything, but he looks formidable enough to keep the bad guys away,” Kathy says.

  “Sure. All I have to do is remember to let him out as soon as I get out, and if he runs off after a raccoon we’ll just ask the bad guy to wait until he gets back!”

  “Not funny.”

  “Nope. Not funny at all.”

  Kathy powers the windows down a couple of inches, turns the engine off and they both get out. Astrid opens the back to let the dogs out.

  Buster shuffles a couple of meters away before squatting and peeing. “You’ve gotte
n so decrepit you can’t even lift your leg without falling over, can you, old man?” Astrid says, giving his ears an affectionate rub. “Now let’s see if this trail leads to anything.”

  With the dogs going ahead sniffing everything and stirring clouds of grasshoppers out of the sere grass, they set off. About a hundred meters into the trees, the trail curves and they come to a cleared area with a log house at the far edge. The wide open area around the house is surrounded by chain link fence. Three large black tanks stand in the shade at the side of the garage, and there’s a tall, free-standing antenna tower on the rise on the opposite end of the house. A small grey sedan, its rear window winking in the sun, sits on the paved area in front of the garage door. On a mound just inside the gate is a chainsaw sculpture of a bear.

  “This is it!” Kathy exclaims. “That guy did say you couldn’t see the house from the road.”

  As they near the gate they see a sign with the words “Caution! Electrified Fence!” above an image of a person being struck down by a zig-zag bolt of energy.

  “Jeez! Electrified?” Kathy says. “Can’t touch the gate, then. How do we get to the door?”

  “There’s an intercom.” Astrid goes to it, pushes the button, waits, then pushes it again.

  A woman’s voice answers, “yes?”

  “Hi, umm, we’re looking for Hank…”

  “No one by that name here.” Click.

  “Nice woman,” Kathy says. “Stuck way out here, you’d think she’d welcome company.”

  “I don’t think anyone who puts up a barricade like this is interested in having visitors. It’s like prison fencing.”

  “Survivalists?” Kathy suggests.

  “Maybe. Yeah, maybe. That’s the only thing that makes sense. Looks like those tanks collect rainwater from the roof, and the antenna might be for a ham radio? But there’s overhead wires from the road to the house.”

  “And a satellite TV dish on that tower. I guess even survivalists take advantage of modern conveniences, at least until Armageddon or whatever it is they’re worried about wipes them out.”

  “Yeah. There’s crazies everywhere, looks like. Anyhow, what do you want to do now?”