Victoria Houston - Loon Lake 14 - Dead Lil' Hustler

by Victoria Houston

  Ray shook his head. “Sure he wasn’t talking largemouth bass?”

  “No. Brook trout.”

  “Do you have the professor’s name and number?” asked Lew. “He might point us in the right direction. My worry is he tried finding a place that’s so far off the beaten path that he may have gotten lost. Happens up here too often.”

  “I’ll put my secretary on it,” said Barber. “I can tell her who to call at the university. My cell phone is in the car. I’ll go get it.” He jumped up from the picnic table.

  “Hold on a minute,” said Lew, grabbing his arm. “A couple more questions first. What about you, Mr. Barber? What do you do and how can I can reach you if I need to?”

  “Oh, sorry. I run All Tech, a software company with offices in Chicago and I live in Wilmette, Illinois. Liam is my only child and—what more do you need to know? This isn’t about me.”

  “Of course not, but the parents of missing children forget they may be the target. Are you a wealthy man?”

  “If you’re thinking Liam may have been kidnapped that doesn’t strike me as plausible. I know no one who—”

  “I’m sure you don’t but I want you to give it some thought. This region has a number of summer camps where celebrities and very wealthy people send their children. We’ve had more than one instance when—”

  Barber waved a hand before she could finish. “I see what you mean. But I’ve had no phone calls, no strange messages, nothing to hint that anyone even knows I’ve been worried about Liam.”

  “Last question,” said Lew. “Have you already talked with the county sheriff? Checked to see if they’ve heard or seen anything?”

  “He’s next on my list but when I stopped by the Bass Lake office, they told me to start with you. Oh, one more thing: Liam’s car is missing. It’s a staff vehicle—an old Jeep Wrangler. I’ve got the license number for it.” He rummaged through his wallet for another scrap of paper.

  “Hold on for a second, Mr. Barber. I’ll check in with the sheriff, see if they know anything.” Lew reached for her phone. “Hey, Chief Ferris here. Is Sheriff Moore in? Ask him if he has a minute, please? I have details on a missing person I’d like to run by him.” Lew covered her phone and said, “I’m putting this on speaker in case you would like to add something.”

  “Lewellyn, I heard you found that missing banker,” said a relaxed male voice. “Don’t know if I have much for you on that case, though I—”

  “That’s not why I’m calling, Garry.” Lew interrupted him. Garry was a talker and right now she didn’t want to take the time to humor him. “One of the summer interns working out of the Bass Lake Natural Resources Center here in Loon Lake has been missing for four days. He was researching invasive plant species and the family is concerned that he may have wandered too far into a remote area and gotten lost. We’re talking city kid here. Who knows if he has a compass much less knows how to use it? Know what I mean? His car is missing, too. I was hoping some of your people might have found it or could keep an eye out as they’re driving around. We’ll cover Loon Lake but who’s to say he might not be out in the county somewhere.”

  “Sure, give me the info. I’ll post it for our neighboring counties, too. Say, Lewellyn, whereabouts in the national forest were those remains found?”

  “Two kayakers spotted the body floating in the Pine River. The Wausau boys are working the site right now. Why?”

  “That’s what I thought I’d heard. Tell them to be veeery careful. Lost one of my best K-9 search and rescue dogs in that area last spring. Wolves. The Violet Lake Pack.”

  “Thanks, Garry, you’re not the first to mention that. Appreciate the help—and the warning.” Her phone off, Lew turned to Barber.

  “Where are you staying, Mr. Barber?”

  “The Loon Lake Inn. Haven’t checked in yet. Please, call me Jake.”

  “Oh, one more thing,” said Lew, pulling the notebook from her back pocket again. “Where has your son been living?”

  “Liam is sharing an apartment with another intern. Phil Branch is the boy’s name. They rented a house near the Loon Lake Library and I’ve been calling the house phone number but no one answers. I have the address in my car. I went by there the minute I got into town but no one was home.”

  “You didn’t go in?” asked Lew.

  “I don’t have a key and—”

  “Sure, that’s understandable,” said Lew. “I’d like you to do two things right now. First, make that call to your secretary so we can locate that professor who may know where your son has been fishing. Then follow me into town. We need to check the apartment and talk to Liam’s roommate. He may know something.” She checked the time. “If the other intern was working today, he should be home by now. We need to catch him before he goes anywhere.”

  “So… you think I’m right about this?” asked Barber. “You think Liam is lost?”

  Lew’s eyes met his. “I want you to be wrong. I will do my best to prove you wrong.”

  But Osborne could see that she was worried.

  Chapter Twelve

  At the last minute, Osborne decided to follow Lew and the others into Loon Lake. After all, Mike would be fine in the backyard and Ray had offered to feed him later that evening.

  Their four cars made an odd caravan driving into the little town: Lew’s authoritative Loon Lake police cruiser was followed by Jake Barber’s imposing black Navigator. Behind the rear bumper of the Navigator chugged Ray’s battered pickup, the late afternoon sun flashing off the leaping walleye its owner had fastened to the rusting hood. Bringing up the rear was an uninteresting dark green Subaru, which looked out of place but the retired dentist at the wheel didn’t mind.

  After parking on a side street in one of Loon Lake’s quiet, tree-lined neighborhoods, Jake pointed in the direction of a small frame house with a one-car garage. They gathered on the sidewalk before trooping up to the front stoop. As they neared the house, Lew led the way. Osborne chose to be last in line. One of his pleasures since meeting Lew had been watching her at work.

  Although many women her age lived in bodies that had softened with time, Lew’s had gained muscle—though the trim fit of her uniform’s khaki shirt did little to obscure the fact she was female. Behind her strode Jake Barber, his tall, squarish frame defined by well-cut dress pants. The late afternoon heat had given him an excuse to remove his coat and tie and unbutton the collar of his white shirt. At the moment, he looked less like a distraught father than a businessman intent on negotiations at the bargaining table.

  Behind Jake loped Ray whose appearance belied the serious nature of the house call. Lanky, light-footed, and loose-limbed, his torso appeared to move in three sections with the midriff taking the lead followed by long legs followed by head and shoulders—the latter appearing to make a last minute decision to join the rest of his body. Osborne had learned long ago that Ray’s casual appearance was a mask. He might look goofy but the man could be trusted to be as alert as a great blue heron: He would not miss a detail—sight, sound, not even a scent—that could lead them to Jake’s missing son.

  Lew rapped on the front door and waited. No answer. She knocked again and a muffled male voice hollered, “Hey, you guys, take it easy.”

  Seconds later a sleepy youth who couldn’t have been much over the age of twenty yanked open the door. At the sight of his visitors, he stumbled back in surprise. “Whoa, who are you?”

  “Police. Does Liam Barber live here?” asked Lew.

  “Yeah but he’s not home right now. Why?”

  Ignoring the question, Lew turned sideways and, indicating Jake, said, “This is Liam’s father and I’m Chief Lewellyn Ferris with the Loon Lake Police. Mr. Barber is very concerned that his son may be lost. The staff at the Bass Lake office wasn’t much help, so we’re hoping you might know something.

  “Oh, and these two gentlemen,” she waved toward Ray and Osborne, “may be able to help us locate Liam if necessary. May we come in?”

  The boy
opened the door wide and let them into a small living room that held an old television on a stand in one corner and a sagging brown sofa strewn with T-shirts, a pair of wrinkled cargo shorts, a scruffy blue wool blanket, and a soiled paper plate holding a slice of dead pizza. Two floor lamps with shades that looked as though they had been stepped on and an old wooden desk holding an open laptop computer completed the room’s décor. None of it encouraged Osborne to want to sit down.

  “Sorry I didn’t hear you at first—I was working on my app,” said the boy, pointing toward the computer. “Liam and I have to have ’em done before we go back to school.” He leaned back against the desk as he spoke.

  “When was the last time you saw Liam?” asked Jake, pushing aside the stuff on the sofa and sitting down. He leaned forward on his elbows, hands clasped between his knees.

  The intensity of his gaze caused the boy to gulp before he could answer. “Last Monday,” said the boy, clearing his throat. “By the way, you guys, I’m Phil,” he said as he threw nervous looks at the four adults crowding the room. “Phil Branch. Um, I think it was Monday… yeah.” A disoriented expression crossed his face as he struggled to remember.

  “Too much weed lately?” asked Ray, his voice teasing.

  The kid gave a nervous laugh. “Um, no, not really.” Thrusting his shoulders back, he said, “Now I remember. Liam said he was planning to work his square on the grid and squeeze in some fishing when he could. I didn’t think about his being gone ’cause he keeps a sleeping bag and a two-man tent in the car and lot of times he stays overnight out there.”

  “Out where? And what’s the grid?” asked Lew.

  “Oh, here, I’ll show you,” said Phil, turning to touch the keyboard on the open laptop. The computer screen lit up. “Liam and I are responsible for finding samples of invasive plant species growing in this section of the Nicolet National Forest.” He pointed to a colored section on a map, then zoomed in. “See, here? The section is so big that we decided to break it down into squares on a grid and tackle one square at a time. Otherwise you’d go nuts, you know?”

  “You’re looking at twenty square miles,” said Osborne. “That’s a heck of lot of forest land to cover on foot.”

  “Yeah, we call it ‘job security,’” said Phil with an attempt at a laugh. “We don’t have to do it all this summer but as much as we can.” Moving the cursor, he said, “Liam has been working this section and I’m working over here.” He pointed.

  Ray peered closely at the map. “Did anyone at the Bass Lake office happen to mention to you two guys that you’ve been working in a wolf rendezvous site?”

  “Oh yeah. They gave us whistles. I haven’t seen a wolf yet though. Pretty silly if you ask me.”

  “So you’re saying that my son is working this section?” asked Jake, leaning over Phil’s shoulder to point at the screen.

  “Right. He told me he was hoping to harvest enough plants that he could take a long enough break one afternoon to hike in a couple miles to fish the Pine River. Figured he would have to bushwhack his way in ’cause no one ever goes there.”

  “Except the wolves,” said Osborne.

  “You think?” Phil looked up questioning. “I was told they’re afraid of people.”

  “Yes and no,” said Ray. “If they feel threatened—or if one of their pups is threatened—you are not going to stop a wolf by blowing a whistle.”

  The reality of Ray’s statement dawned slowly on Phil’s face. “Oh my God,” he said, his eyes darting from Ray to Lew and Jake. “You don’t think…”

  “Ray, did you put the Gazetteer in the truck?” asked Lew.

  “I’ve got one if you need it,” said Osborne before Ray could answer. “Want me to grab it?”

  “Doc, you have to be at the hospital in an hour,” said Lew, glancing at her watch. “Ray, you’re officially deputized to assist me on this search as of right now.”

  “I want to, Chief, but I promised I would guide these two guys from Milwaukee tonight and—”

  “How much are they paying you?” asked Jake. Before Ray could answer, he said, “I’ll give you five times your fee. Call ’em and cancel.”

  “Okedoke.”

  That was one of the few times Osborne had seen Ray take orders from anyone other than Lewellyn Ferris.

  Lew’s cell phone rang. She listened and covered the mouthpiece. “It’s Dani. They’ve traced the phone.” She waited. “No, are you kidding? Thanks.” She clicked her cell phone shut. “The signal from Liam’s phone indicates it is here in the house. At this location—where is his bedroom?”

  “Around the corner on your right,” said Phil.

  They hurried to a closed bedroom door and Lew pushed it open. An unmade bed, a small plywood dresser, and two folding chairs heaped with clothes that had been thrown at them. A pair of waders hung from a hook on the wall. Lew lifted a three-ring binder from the top of the dresser and under it found a cell phone. She picked it up and pressed the power button. “Um, out of juice.”

  “That happens a lot. Liam forgets to plug it in at night. His laptop runs down, too.”

  Jake shook his head. He walked over to the waders and stood staring at them. “I wonder why he didn’t take these.”

  No one had an answer.

  As they left the house, Jake’s secretary called his cell phone. She had reached the professor and learned that the trout stream he’d told Liam about was in the Nicolet National Forest: the Pine River. Problem was, he hadn’t been there in twenty years and couldn’t remember how he’d found it. “One of those twisty back roads—I found it by accident,” was all he could offer.

  Chapter Thirteen

  After the nurse’s aide removed her dinner tray, Nancy Jarvison relaxed back against the pillows and opened her iPad. She was halfway into the first chapter of the new book she had just downloaded when she heard a bustling in the hall.

  “Sssh,” she said as loud as she could. She looked down at the screen but the annoying clatter continued, this time punctuated with snorts and feminine laughter.

  “Oh, for Pete’s sake,” she said to herself. “What’s the purpose of a private room if I have to listen to all this nonsense? Idiots.”

  Bracing her bandaged left shoulder with her right hand, she swung her legs over the side of the bed. Peering through the half-open door into the hallway, she could see the two nurse’s aides wheeling a large canvas cart toward the next room. She was about to lambast them both when she heard one say, “That’s Bud Jarvison’s ex-wife in 324. What a bitch. No wonder he dumped her.”

  “They’re divorced? I didn’t know that. I have to tell my sister. She had a fling with him a while back. He’s a pretty handsome guy even if he is kinda heavy and, man, that dude has money.”

  “I think they’re divorced. Yeah, I’m sure. After fishing last Saturday night, Jimmie and I stopped into Thunder Bay Bar for a couple beers. Bud was there with a woman. He kept trying to get her to stand up for the pole dance contest but she refused. I heard him promise her a hundred bucks if she’d get up and strip.”

  “For a hundred bucks? I’d do it.”

  “Yeah, well, she looked to be six months pregnant so I don’t think you would if you were that far along.”

  Nancy backed away from the door. Bud at that disgusting strip joint with another woman? A pregnant woman? She could feel her blood pounding in her ears. How many times had he promised not to embarrass her like that?

  The aides were moving down the hall, away from her room, still talking. Nancy edged closer to the crack in the door.

  “Who’s the girlfriend, anyone we know?”

  “Never saw her before. But very pretty. I think she’s Hispanic. Maybe one of the waitresses from the Mexican restaurant in Rhinelander? Yep, pretty and pregnant—poor thing. She’ll be lucky if she gets anything from Bud. Somebody shoulda told her…”

  Back at her bedside, Nancy picked up her cell phone and pressed familiar numbers. “Hi, Brenda, would you do me a favor? Pick me up tomo
rrow morning early—like eight o’clock, please? And don’t tell Bud. I’m planning a surprise.”

  She sank onto the bed, thinking. Then she inhaled sharply and, moving carefully, sat back against the pillows. She needed time to figure this out.

  She heard a gentle knock on her door and her husband walked into the room. Nancy put a hand to her forehead. “Bud, honey, do you mind? I have an awful headache. Do you mind if we don’t visit right now?”

  “Of course not, sweetheart. Say, have you heard anything more about how Doc Osborne’s grandson is doing?”

  “No. Why would I?” The longer he stood there the angrier she got and she did not want him to see that.

  “Earlier today you heard a nurse say the boy is very ill.”

  “Oh that. No I haven’t heard anything. Just go, okay?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Arriving at the hospital half an hour before Erin was expecting him, Osborne hustled past the waiting room, hoping not to be seen. One quick glance assured him Bud was nowhere in sight. That was a relief.

  He found Erin and Mark sitting beside Cody’s bed while a nurse was busy recording data she saw on the myriad of instruments connected to his grandson.

  “Any change?” asked Osborne.

  “No, Dad. But Cody is so sedated right now that I couldn’t tell if there was. One of the residents came in a while ago and asked for permission to run additional blood tests for research he’s doing. I told him to go ahead. Can’t hurt, right?” She glanced at the nurse for confirmation and got a nod back.

  “Okay, Dad, you’re on. We’ll be back in an hour or so.”

  Osborne sat down in one of their chairs and opened Lunkers Love Nightcrawlers. He scooted the chair closer to where Cody’s head rested on a pillow and, encouraged by a slight smile from the nurse, he started to read.

  • • •

  On the drive out to the forest, Jake rode in the cruiser with Lew while Ray followed in his pickup. After driving for about fifteen minutes, Lew checked in with the dispatch center. She reached Marlaine, the night operator.