Canyon Secret

by Patrick Lee

  The North Fork Road was in horrible condition. Nolan complained about how difficult it was to take a decent drink from his second and then third beer. “A man would die of thirst drivin’ up this road. God himself would walk that there river rather than ride on this bumpy son-of-a-bitch.”

  Tomas shot him a look and pointed toward Hannah. He signaled by using his thumb. Mikhail looked at him through the rear view mirror. Unfazed, Nolan continued, “Tell me, Hannah, what kind of woman is your ma?”

  She pivoted around in the front seat and faced Nolan and Tomas. “Well, she’s a character. In fact, you two will get along just fine.”

  “And will she have a drink or two with me?”

  She laughed, “Oh, I think so. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if she hasn’t had a couple already. She does that when she gets a little nervous.”

  Nolan managed a drink of his beer, “Well then. Maybe I’ll tell her a few stories about my favorite Bohunk sittin’ up there like a monkey humped over a football.”

  Tomas howled. He should have expected it. But he thought Nolan might behave with Hannah along. He laughed so loud his father looked in the mirror at him. Mikhail shook his head and said, “See what I mean? He just can’t help hisself.” To his surprise, Hannah laughed as hard as Tomas. The vision of a monkey humped over a football struck her funny bone. The quick look she snuck at Mikhail with his huge hands draped over the steering wheel strangely fit Nolan’s description of Mikhail.

  June Holley sat on a wooden chair on the front porch of the Polebridge Mercantile. The September smells of fading summer filled her nostrils. She completed her baking an hour earlier and managed to fit in a relaxing half-hour in the tub. The ice-cold beer she pulled from the big cooler poured from the bottle and slid smoothly into her Mason jar. She wore her cleanest blue jeans and white blouse. As she often did, she cursed her large chest and shoulders as the buttons pushed the limits of the buttonholes. She envied smaller women without the challenge of tight fitting clothes. When Hannah complained in her younger years about being flat chested, June warned her that down the road she’d be thankful for the body that she had.

  Her gray hair gathered easily into the ponytail. June smiled to herself as she dismissed the thought of applying a touch of lipstick. “Hell with em’. They’ll take me as I am. No sense in putting on the dog. It’ll be fun meeting Hannah’s friends.” She petted the three-legged dog behind the ear as she enjoyed her second beer. The cloud of dust a mile away caught her attention. Her nerves settled with the effect of the beer and the smell of dying leaves. The colors started earlier this year due to the lack of rain. Brilliant red colors from the red ocher dogwood bushes dotted the facing side hills.

  Mikhail guided the dusty station wagon down the half-mile road and stopped in front of the Mercantile. Dust lingered as he turned off the key. June Holley rose from her chair and waved the dust away with her non-beer drinking hand. Mikhail watched as Hannah rushed to her mother and disappeared into her mother’s hug.

  The backseat car door opened and Nolan emerged with three empty beer bottles in his hands. After he set the bottles on the hood of the station wagon, he interrupted Hannah and her mother, “I need to use your can. I got to pee like a race horse.”

  June Holley pointed to the back of the mercantile. As Nolan trotted off, he heard June Holley say, “He’s too short to be much of a racehorse.” In the outhouse, Nolan smiled as he thought of how feisty the old lady must have been as a younger woman. He regretted not knowing her during her heyday.

  Warm thoughts of his mother and his aunt flooded Nolan’s mind. This lady in jeans and bursting out of her white blouse took him back to days at the Columbia Gardens in East Butte with his mother and aunt Cassie. He treasured the memories of the bantering that went on between the two most important women in his young life. He looked forward to carrying on with Hannah’s mother. The outhouse door slammed as he walked out zippering his black work pants. He looked up and saw Hannah introducing Mikhail and Tomas. “Poor bastard,” he thought as Mikhail shyly nodded hello to June Holley. “This will be a great place to start,” he thought. “He’s goin’ to get it good today. But first I need a cold beer.”

  More traffic than normal moved along the highway in Hungry Horse. Ted Hughes waited outside of his small house trailer for David Sednick. They planned to drive around the outside of Glacier Park and back through the Park via the Going To The Sun Highway.

  An hour earlier Ted Hughes telephoned his boss in Butte. He planned to push Sednick about his huge bank account. His boss instructed him to approach David Sednick about the source of the money. He also needed to tell Sednick that his life was in danger and his best chance was with the FBI and any deal that they might make for him. He stood up from sitting on the top stair of his trailer home as David’s shiny black Chevy pickup stopped in the front. Through the open front window, Hughes welcomed David Sednick, “Looks like you washed her up for the trip.”

  “Ya. It got away from me. I hate dirty rigs, let alone when it’s mine.” Hughes smelled the liquor on David’s breath and recognized the bewildered hangover stare that followed a night of heavy drinking. It then occurred to Hughes that maybe the way to get Sednick to open up was to get him drunk. Now he had a plan. There’d be lots of stops today at the many bars between Hungry Horse and the town of St. Mary’s. David Sednick would tell him what he wanted to know.

  In Seattle, Roy Devers dried himself after a long morning shower in his girlfriend’s apartment. He mentally organized his day. First thing he’d do after Leslie left was to call Montana and set up a meeting with his contact, R.T. Hansen. The night before, he let Leslie know that he had work in Montana somewhere around the last part of September. Now with his phone call this morning, he’d nail down a time to eyeball his target for the first time. Hansen would arrange a meeting with his victim, and the hunt would be on. Devers figured a couple of days and nights observing Sednick’s habits should do it. He told Leslie he’d return around October 1st.

  After he hung up the telephone, R.T. Hansen adjusted his tie and neatly rearranged the few bills and envelopes on his desk. He enjoyed the morning solitude in his office due to the Labor Day shut-down of all work on Hungry Horse Dam. The realization of only a few weeks of work left brought some temporary peace and quiet. He shook his head trying to imagine what it would be like to not have to work and carry on his double life. Palm Springs will suit me just fine. My beautiful secret friend is there waiting for me.

  His phone conversation with Roy Devers went well. They agreed on September 24th for the meeting with David Sednick. Devers would be at the Club Café while he and Sednick visited over lunch. The thought of being done with the whole ugly business pleased him. It almost pleased him as much as the thought of telling his wife Betty that he had enough. She wouldn’t be joining him on his vacation in California and retirement. He reviewed his plan to pay her enough to make her comfortable for the rest of her life. And then he was on his own. She most likely wouldn’t care anyway. “Sounds like she and the sheriff are off to the races. Good. I’m sick to death of her. I’m not losing anything.”

  June Holley reluctantly climbed into the front seat of the station wagon with Mikhail. She watched her daughter snuggle in the back seat between Tomas and John Nolan. “Well after you cross the bridge, you go through the Park entrance. Then we’ll grab a left to get to Bowman Lake. It’s about six miles I figure. Or as my friend would say, it’s about a six-pack trip.”

  Nolan perked right up after hearing June’s comment, “Well for a lady like yourself, it’s more like a tiptoe through the tulips.” He smiled across at Tomas. “Yep. Just like a goddamn tiptoe through the proverbial tulips I imagine.”

  She struggled to turn around to face Nolan. “What in the hell you goin’ on about back there. I ain’t tiptoed nowhere in my life. I’m not exactly your dainty little dancer, don’t you know.”

  “Oh, but I bet you got around just fine when you were a touch younger.” Nolan spilled his b
eer as Mikhail jerked the station wagon with his sudden slam on the brakes. The second of the four whitetail deer passed quickly in front of them. “Jesus H. Christ. You’re one thickheaded Bohunk alright. How am I suppose’ to carry on an intelligent conversation with you drivin’ like some kind of a ninny?”

  Hannah gently elbowed Tomas. Her smile made it plain that she soaked in every bit of the theater unfolding before them. Her mother continued, “So, John Nolan. Anybody ever tell you that you’re full of shit?” Hannah’s smile broadened into a controlled laugh, and she elbowed Tomas again.

  He straightened up his posture in the backseat, took a drink of beer, and twisted his lips in order to answer his new friend. “Well, let’s look at it this way. The nun in the first grade at Holy Savior told me that I’d back up the confessional line if I ever decided to tell the priest all of my lies.”

  “So even the nuns knew you were full of shit.”

  “Yep. That was right after she took me into the bathroom, pulled down my pants, and took a good long look at my pee wee.”

  Even June Holley laughed. She snorted in an attempt to catch her laugh. Mikhail momentarily raised his eyes to the roof of the station wagon and shook his head in disbelief. There was no stoppin’ Nolan today. He grinned and through the rear view mirror picked up the warm sight of his son and the new love of his life laughing together. John Nolan enriched all of their lives with his powerful sense of timing with his stories. The rough six-mile trip to the picnic grounds at Bowman Lake flew by.

  After they closed down the Dew Drop Inn, Agent Hughes drove David’s pickup back to his trailer. Hughes congratulated himself for pulling off his plan to get Sednick drunk. It worked well. As they drove David continued his slurred bragging about his bank account. “Ya Ted, I got thousands in there. Easiest money I ever made. My partner gave me a good size commission to stash his dirty money in a couple of banks. In a few weeks I’ll take it out for him. That’s all there’s to it.”

  Hughes pushed the issue, “Where does he get his money?” After David dropped the empty beer can on the floor of his truck, he formed an answer, “Don’t know. Don’t care. I don’t ask.”

  “Who is this guy, Dave?”

  David straightened up in his seat, “Oh, can’t tell you that Ted. It don’t matter anyway. Once the Dam is finished, we go our own way.”

  Ted Hughes dropped off David in front of his trailer. “That was a hell of a good time. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He watched David stagger into his trailer. Hughes parked David’s truck and walked the half-mile to his own place. As he walked he reviewed his night’s work. “With time, the identity of the main man will come out. After that we will close in and possibly prevent another murder.” Hughes planned to call Butte on Tuesday morning to receive further instructions.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Mikhail walked to the waiting bus at the end of his afternoon shift. Bud Reynolds strolled beside him. September 10th came to a close as Bud’s wristwatch struck midnight. “How does it feel to have your last shift in?”

  “Pretty good. This was a good job, Bud. I’m happy we get to work together at the Aluminum Plant.”

  Bud nodded his agreement and handed Mikhail the keys to his black panel van. “I parked my brother’s van near the barracks for you. It’s gassed up and ready to go. You still plan on headin’ out in the mornin’?”

  He stopped and received the keys, “Ya. Probably about six in the morning. I can get to Butte before noon. My daughter Katya promised me lunch.”

  “When do you plan to come back to Columbia Falls?”

  Mikhail cleared his throat before he answered, “They told me we could move in on September 20th. We’re gonna rent until I sell my house in McQueen. We can start house payments after that. They been good about it. Katya’s excited to see it.”

  “Well, we’re glad to be your neighbors. You can start your new job at the Plant around October 10th or so. Whenever you’re ready to go.”

  Mikhail held out his hand. Bud shook it and smiled. The brief eye contact cemented the new friendship without another word exchanged. Mikhail climbed up the stairs to the bus and took an empty seat near the front. The men on board the bus chattered and made plans to meet at the Dam Town Tavern. Mikhail turned down their offer to join them. He needed to pack and get some sleep before leaving in the morning.

  As September moved along, the mornings seemed to stay darker a little bit longer. Tomas carried his father’s army bag full of his clothes to the panel van. In his white tee shirt and work jeans, he now stood only a couple of inches shorter than his father. He shivered from the cold and the anxiety of his father leaving to move out of their home in McQueen. “Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you, Dad?”

  Mikhail flipped the heavy army bag onto the floor of the van. “No. I can take care of it. Most of the furniture will go to the Salvation Army.”

  His voice cracked as he spoke, “Well, I mean you gotta deal with leavin’ the neighbors. Maybe I should be there with you.”

  Mikhail shook his head, “No. You best finish workin’ your last couple of weeks. We’ll get back here in about ten days. Then I can use your help.”

  Tomas realized the conversation was just about over. He sighed a sign of relief as he heard Nolan push open the barracks door. He appeared in his underwear. “Hey,Bohunk. Ain’t you gonna give me a goodbye kiss?”

  Mikhail unzippered his work coat and set it on the front seat. “I’ll see you soon enough I expect.”

  Barefooted, Nolan tiptoed across the gravel, “Ouch, ouch! Holy shit! I better get more than a kiss for this pain I’m goin’ through.” He wrapped his arms around Mikhail. “I’m gonna miss you so much. Me and my nephew will have to find company with the girls on the hill.”

  Mikhail pushed him away. “Nolan, you keep my son away from there. It wouldn’t hurt you to stay away too.”

  Tomas managed a smile as he walked close to his father. “Drive careful, Dad. I gotta go down for breakfast before work. See you on the 20th.”

  Mikhail reached out and hugged his son. He tried to tell him how proud he was of him, but the words stayed inside. He knew a tougher goodbye with Tomas was only a month away. The next few weeks promised to be bittersweet. He dreaded leaving McQueen and his connection with the past. But his family had a new start, a new house, and new friends. Tomas’ leaving for the Navy would be hard. But his son would experience the world in a way he couldn’t provide. And Hannah. Their goodbye yesterday was special.

  “Hey! Snap out of it. You’re squeezing the life out of nephew. He won’t be worth a shit to any of them lovely ladies of the night.” Mikhail released Tomas. He thumped Nolan on the chest with a slight thunderclap. The van door closed and soon disappeared down Sugar Hill.

  The next morning at ten, Barnie Harbold entered Mikhail’s front porch. The old leather brief case hung by his side as Mikhail opened the door. “Good morning, Mr. Anzich. I’m Barnie Harbold. I got the paperwork in my case here.” He extended his hand, but Mikhail turned his back and walked into the kitchen.

  Harbold sat down at the kitchen table and opened his briefcase. His fingers struggled to pull out the legal papers needed to buy Mikhail’s house and property. He laid the papers on the table and unclipped the paperclip. “Here’s how it works, Mr. Anzich. The Anaconda Company will buy your house up in Columbia Falls in exchange for your house here in McQueen. The realtor up in Columbia Falls there puts the price at close to yours here. So no money’s exchanged. We pay the realtor, and your house in McQueen belongs to the Company. Any questions?”

  Mikhail and Katya sat at the table opposite of Harbold. He paused before he answered, “How long does it all take?”

  Harbold stacked the papers in front of him, “It will take about three to four weeks for the papers to clear. Usually—”

  “Will I owe anything’?”

  “No. You’ll own your house in Columbia falls free and clear once the Company sends their check to the realtor in Columbia Falls.”r />
  Mikhail extended his hand and temporarily released his icy stare, “I’ll read the papers now.” He and Katya carefully read the terms of the sale agreement. It seemed too easy for Mikhail. Second thoughts plagued him the entire drive to Butte the day before. After a sound night of sleep, all thoughts of doubt left him. His large index finger stopped about halfway down the page at the legal definition of the house and property. He reread the sentence, nodded his head and continued.

  Katya finished reading the page and waited for her father to catch up. Inside she vacillated between excitement and nausea. “How in the world would they say goodbye to their friends and neighbors? How would her father face saying goodbye to his lifelong friends? And how would Anna stand up to the demands of moving into a new home?” Then the excitement of a new beginning flushed over her. “It will be for the best. Dad knows what he’s doin’.”

  The second page contained lines for signatures. “I’m ready to sign.”

  Harbold fumbled to hand Mikhail the fountain pen. The other homeowner that sold thought about the terms for a few days. The suddenness and decisiveness surprised him. “Are you sure? You can think about it for a bit if you want. There—”

  Mikhail resumed his penetrating stare at the man in front of him, “I’ll think on it then. Come by in two days and I’ll have my mind made up.” Mikhail felt his daughter’s hand squeeze his leg. He looked at her and smiled confidently.