by Jim Craig
We followed Rainey down the stairs to the next deck and along a long passageway toward the front of the ship. Pushing her way through a heavy door marked Crew Only we entered an office area filled with desks, filing cabinets and lockers. For some reason I flashed back on old memories of being escorted to the principal’s office. And not for a Good Citizen Award either.
When the door closed behind us, Rainey turned and stood with her arms crossed over her chest. Her face was dead serious, but when she reached up to fix a strand of hair I noticed her hand shaking.
“Willie called in. Those troopers you flew out to Taroka? He found them.”
My eyes bugged. “And?” But I knew the answer before she said anything else. She was looking at me closely.
“Dead. Both of them.”
The news hit me like a slug in the chest. The dread I’d been trying to ignore had come true. “Willie spotted them in the water?”
“No, they were in the lodge. Shot to death."
“In the lodge? What the hell? Where in the lodge?”
Rainey shook her head. That was all she knew. I stared at the carpet trying to make sense of it.
I’d just been in that lodge. Spent several hours there as a matter of fact. That’s why I’d been there. Looking for the troopers. I pictured Daniel's face and his strange wicked grin during the fire fight. And Arnold, with his blond young guy crew cut. Both dead.
I studied Rainey’s face. There was something in the way she was looking at me. Something in her eyes was completely foreign. Like she didn’t know me. Like she didn’t want to know me.
“Rainey, what’s going on?”
“Willie said the cops are talking about you.”
“Me? What about me?”
“Johnny, just look at me and tell me you’re not involved in anything weird.”
My mouth fell open. “Rainey, are you kidding me? I don’t believe what I’m hearing. I can’t believe you even have to ask me that.”
She was studying me closely. Way too professionally for my tastes. I could feel my blood pressure screaming in my ears. Everything around me had gone dark and all I could see through a murky tunnel was Rainey’s doubtful look. I thought Rainey was one of my closest friends. And now she was interrogating me?
Brandy chimed in. “You can’t think Johnny had anything to do with this.” She held onto my arm as if I needed the support. She was right. I did. Rainey just stood there with her arms folded looking at me.
“Rainey, for God’s sake. I don’t have any idea what happened to those guys. I flew them out there. They walked away heading for the lodge. They were supposed to be back in a couple of hours, but only one came back. Then the guy they were after started shooting at us. I got away but the troopers never returned to the plane. I went to the lodge looking for them but they'd left. You gotta believe me.”
I saw Rainey take a deep breath. Her face seemed to relent. She uncrossed her arms and reached for my hands. She closed her eyes briefly and exhaled.
“Thank God, Johnny. Of course, I believe you, but I had to ask. The cops are freaking.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short lived. I had to know more. This was getting out of hand.
“Tell me everything Willie said.”
“Okay, okay. Somehow he figured out how to call me here on the ship. He knew I was working here now, and he asked if you two were on board."
"Where is he now?"
"He was at the lodge and he was pretty shook up. He called the cops first about what he’d found. They told him to wait there and they wanted to know why you weren't there."
"Me? What about the people running the lodge? You know they're on the ferry with us? I've been trying to tell you that."
"Wait, Johnny, wait." Rainey put her hands up to slow me down. "Then Willie said that the cops kept asking about you, the pilot that took them out there. He asked why and they said that in one of the last reports the troopers made they'd said something about not liking their pilot’s attitude."
I just stared at Rainey speechless.
"And when Willie told them that you'd left Taroka and then left Chenega on the ferry, they said ‘That’s a problem.’”
“Oh for crap’s sake, I didn’t do anything. I just flew those guys out there. Nothing else.”
I had to sit down. I found a chair and collapsed into it. Rainey rested a hand on my shoulder.
"Why are you on the ferry?"
"Look, the fog has had me grounded for days now. The phones were out at the lodge so I came to Chenega with a boat to call in. Those people running the lodge got on the ferry so I followed them."
"You followed them?" Rainey's voice sounded confused. I looked up to see both her and Brandy staring at me trying to understand.
"I know, I know, it's these lodge people, I'm telling you. I didn't want them to just disappear before the police talked to them."
Brandy elbowed Rainey. "One of them's a little hottie."
Rainey's eyes dropped shut. "Oh no. Johnny, you didn't…"
I jumped to my feet. "No! That's crap. That's got nothing to do with anything!"
Rainey put her hands up in front of me again. "Stop, Johnny. Settle down. Willie called me to warn you, but I've to let the captain know what's happening. I can vouch for you, but I’m just a rookie out here.”
“Vouch for me? I can’t believe this. What about Greta and Charlie? They’re the ones that need to be talked to.”
Rainey headed for the door. “Just wait here. I’ll see what the captain wants to do.”
Brandy and I sat there looking around the small office. My mind was racing. I couldn't think. I was hot.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I growled at her. "Why would you say something like that?"
Brandy threw up her hands. "What? About the little hottie? I saw how you looked at her. And how you just had to get on this damn boat."
"Brandy, give me a break. People were murdered. Somebody killed two cops! And you want to play little jealousy games?"
She glared at me, her eyes smoldering. Then she turned on her heel and left the room slamming the heavy metal door behind her.
I didn't care. I hadn't wanted her on board in the first place. I needed to figure this thing out by myself, and I didn't need any stupid distractions. My mind was whirling trying to come to grips with all the odd events that had happened in the last couple days.
I went back over every detail and all the events on Taroka Island, step by step, everything that had happened. If the bodies had been found in the lodge, Charlie and Greta must have known all about it. They'd lied to me about everything.
The door opened then and Brandy stepped back in. I started to tell her to stay out, but she beat me to it.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she said. "You're right. This is some serious shit. I just got distracted."
I just looked at her. Then I flashed on Greta's blue eyes and realized the effect she had on people. Not just me. Everybody.
"Let's go over it again, Johnny. Tell me everything from the beginning."
I took a deep breath. The earlier sarcasm and challenge in her voice were gone. I knew I needed help, and Brandy was smart.
"Okay." I started from the beginning. From the phone call at The Yukon Bar.
She listened carefully looking for any angle that might help. After a minute she broke in.
“So why would one of the troopers report something about your attitude? What did you do?”
“Nothing. I don’t know. One of them was an older guy. Kind of crotchety. Daniels. He seemed to take an instant dislike to me. So I returned the favor.”
“How do you mean?”
“Not much really. Nothing that should cast any suspicion on me. He was worried about the weather and sort of challenged me. Like whether I knew what I was doing or not.”
Brandy nodded. She’d dealt with nervous passengers before too.
“I think I said something about we didn’t have to fly if they didn’t want to. He pro
bably didn’t like being told that. But, really it was no big deal.”
She didn’t say anything, thinking it over.
“For Christ’s sake, Brandy, these guys were murdered. No wonder everybody’s freaking out.”
“Okay, so let’s assume you’re innocent,” Brandy started to ponder out loud.
I cut her off and snapped, “Assume I’m innocent? What?”
“Relax, relax,” she giggled at me. “I’m kidding. Lighten up, would ya?”
“Very funny. You got a rotten sense of timing. Have I ever told you that?”
She reached over and took my arm. “I don’t remember any complaints,” she poked at me with a grin.
I sat back and gave up a little smile. “Okay, okay, you’re right. Having a heart attack won’t help anything.”
“That’s right.” She put her hand on my back and rubbed gently. “So, if you didn’t do anything, who did?”
We looked at each other. “Well, unless there was someone else on the island I didn’t know about, the only other possibilities are Charlie and Greta. And the kid, but …”
“We can probably eliminate him, don’t you think?”
Before I could answer, the office door swung open with a bang. A big guy in the same dark uniform as Rainey looked at us in surprise. He was about twice Rainey’s size with a shaved Charlie Brown head and a pink clean shaven face.
“What are you doing in here?” he snapped.
I stood up but then I wished I hadn’t. He puffed up his chest and glared down at me like an exterminator eyeing a cockroach.
“We’re authorized,” I said.
“How? Are you crew?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Didn’t you see the sign? Or can’t you read?” His fat face twisted into a sneer.
That got me hot. “Hey, back off, will ya? Rainey brought us in here and told us to stay put.”
“Rainey? Who’s that?”
Oh, shit. “Rainey. She’s part of your security crew. Don’t you even know who you’re working with?”
That made him frown and pause. I jumped at the chance.
“She’s new. Blond ponytail. She put us in here. I’m serious. She told us to wait here."
“Well, she’s not here now, so you can’t be in here.” His tone was a little more civil, but not much.
We stood up, but his bulk made it impossible to get to the door. He awkwardly backed out into the corridor, and we left.
I led the way down the passageway and turned around to give Brandy an exasperated look, but the Michelin Man was still standing in the doorway staring at us.
“Let’s see if we can find Charlie and Greta.”
We made our way back to the Solarium. I had to get to the bottom of the mess before more fingers started pointing in my direction. I tried to think like a cop.
I could understand why they were looking at me. If you come upon a crime scene and find three or four people there, they all have to be considered suspects. I'd seen enough TV cop shows to know that much.
I just had to make sure I didn’t act suspicious. So, maybe getting on the ferry hadn’t been such a great idea after all. Leaving the scene of a murder.
But I didn’t know there was a murder at the time. The cops wouldn’t understand that, of course. I should talk to them. That was a good thought. Try to interrupt their suspicions as soon as possible. But how? Out on the water miles from civilization didn’t make it easy.
Brandy tugged at my sleeve and broke into my thoughts. “Johnny, why don’t we just walk around the entire ship and look in every possible spot from top to bottom?”
“Yeah, good idea. I think there’s a sitting area two decks down toward the front.”
“Tell me again what this Charlie looks like. I didn’t get much of a look at him.”
“Too focused on Greta probably. Checking out the competition?” I smirked at her.
She punched at me but I ducked away. She laughed then and agreed. “You’re right, she won’t be any trouble to pick out of a crowd.”
“He’s a big man, maybe six five or so and well over two hundred pounds. Scraggly blond beard, but the main thing is his glasses. Coke bottle types and crazy eyeballs. When I last saw him he was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.”
“Okay, a wild eyed Goliath. Got it. Like a regular at the Yukon?”
I chuckled and nodded in agreement. We took the stairs down to the lower deck, and walked its length on both sides passing more doors marked Crew Only. The doors leading to the bridge had windows in them and I peeked in as we walked by. Crew members inside were seated in front of instruments panels and radar screens. We didn’t meet anyone in the halls on that deck, so we continued the search one level down.
The observation lounge was half filled with people. Most were sitting in the front row of easy chairs attached to the deck in rows and facing out through tall windows. Perfect for watching the scenery. We split up and walked the perimeter of the room eyeballing every person in sight. We met up again in the center of the lounge.
I looked at Brandy’s face for any sign of success. She shook her head and looked to the exits.
“I think the private cabins are on this deck. Two rows of them. Here, let’s check out the map.” She stopped in front of a small framed diagram on the wall that showed the emergency evacuation plan. Arrows from cabins and the lounge led to the rear of the ship where the life boats were located.
“Yup, two rows of cabins alright.” I looked down the narrow passageway at a long line of closed doors.
Taking our time we walked to the rear of the ferry. I listened as best as I could to any sounds that might come through the doors on our way by, but didn’t pick up anything. At the end of the row of cabins the deck opened onto an open sitting area and I stopped for a moment to look around. Brandy circled the room while I moved to the other side of the ship and surveyed the people there. Seeing no one likely I waited for Brandy to rejoin me.
Listening to people’s voices it seemed that the level of conversation had settled down. I reminded myself that most of the passengers had probably been on board for more than a couple of days and were settled into the routine of riding the ferry and its life aboard.
Not everybody was happy though. Seated in a corner near me, an older woman was hugging what looked like her teenage granddaughter. Grandma looked stoic, but the young girl was shaking and crying. Two suitcases were at their feet. One of them was half open, held by only one clasp. Clothes were bulging out of the opening.
I looked at the older lady and leaned over trying to make eye contact, but she wouldn’t look at me. Either would the young girl. I wrote it off as a teenage mood swing. Brandy walked up and crooked her finger at me.
I stepped away from my place against the wall and followed her. “Over there,” she nodded with a slight movement of her chin. “Is that him?”
A tall guy in a gray and white plaid jacket was pouring himself coffee from the beverage bar across from us. Not Charlie.
“Nope, but kind of looks him,” I said. “Let’s check this corridor.”
We walked down the row of cabin doors in slow motion again, but no one came out and I didn’t hear anything either. When we reached the observation lounge again, we stopped.
“What’s below us?” Brandy asked.
“I think it’s the vehicle deck. Wait, there’s Rainey.”
We spotted her across the room and caught her eye. She came toward us carrying a clipboard.
“Hey, you two. I’m glad I found you.”
“We’ve been looking for those people, but no luck so far. Is the vehicle deck below us?”
“Yes, but it’s locked up. No access to the public unless we’re in port. What was that name of the guy from the lodge?”
“Westridge. Charlie Westridge."
She flipped through the pages on her clipboard with a concerned expression. “No one on here by that name.”
“You’re kidding. I saw them from the shore. Uh, maybe they’re und
er her last name. And I have no idea what that is. What about their first names? Can’t be that many Charlies and Gretas traveling together.”
“Nope, I already looked.”
“Weird. Can I see that?” I felt my blood pounding at my ears again. This was not good. Not good at all.
Rainey handed me the clipboard as her radio started squawking. She stepped off to the side and Brandy and I started looking at the list of names. Before we had a chance to make any sense of the pages, Rainey interrupted us.
“We need to go to the bridge. The captain needs to talk to you.”
“The captain? What now?”
“I don’t know, Johnny. I just work here. That’s what I was told. To bring you to the bridge.”
She headed for a stairway up to the level above us. I followed but looked at Brandy with a question mark on my face. Brandy looked back at me and shrugged her shoulders with a tight lipped blank face.
Again that sense of heading for the principal’s office. Before I stepped through the doorway I stopped to catch the view in front of the ferry. We were making steady progress. The green mountains above Puget and Johnstone Bays were in view now to the north. Along with bright sunshine, cloudless blue skies and white snow fields on the peaks.
I scanned the horizon ahead and then to the south. Miles away but easily visible well out in the Gulf I could see another fog bank. Low and gray just like the one we’d left behind, I was glad it was far away.
When we reached the bridge Rainey had us wait in the hallway outside. She pushed through the door while I watched through its round window, but then she moved out of sight to the right. Another crew member was seated in front of slanted windows looking out at the ocean. Next to him were the engine controls and a large screen like a video game.
When Rainey came back into view, someone else was right behind her. It was the Michelin Man again. He spotted me through the window and his eyes narrowed in recognition. I pretended to be casually waiting, but I tracked his eyes and realized he was listening to a conversation that I couldn’t hear. Every few seconds he looked out at me with increasing interest.
It didn’t take long. The door began to open, and I stepped back and steeled myself for whatever was about to happen. I figured the captain had been called by the troopers with some questions for me, or even to put me on the phone with them. This would be my chance to clear some things up. To explain that they didn’t need to waste any time wondering about me. I took a deep breath and started to feel the relief of putting the misunderstanding behind me.
A pleasant looking brunette woman in a white shirt and epaulets bearing four gold stripes came out first. Rainey was right behind her. The brunette stopped in front of me. She wore a pair of half glasses with dark frames attached to a silver chain around her neck.
“Are you Johnny Wainwright?” She didn’t smile. Her voice was flat and her eyes gave me no clue what she was thinking.
“Yes. And this is Brandy Fontaine,” I said. “What can I do for you?” I reached forward to shake hands.
She didn’t shake. Instead she crossed her arms and straightened up. Arching her back with her nose raised, she looked me up and down. She never glanced at Brandy. I looked at Rainey behind her and saw her clenching her teeth and shaking her head at me with a strained and worried look. The kind of look you see on someone who’s standing on thin ice when they hear it crack.
“I’m Captain Ferguson and I’ve been directed to take you into custody. Darrell?”
The big snarly guy stepped around Rainey and came up beside the captain. “Yes, m’am?”
“Would you take Mr. Wainwright here below, please?”
“Hey, wait a minute. What is this?” I felt my knees go loose like I was about to drop. I raised my hands in protest. “You can’t be serious. Am I being arrested or something?”
The captain turned and nodded at the big man moving toward me. I tried to step to the side to keep talking to the captain, but a meaty hand grabbed my jacket in the chest and held me in place against the wall.
“As the captain of this vessel, Mr. Wainwright, I have the legal authority and responsibility to carry out the duties of local law enforcement in situations like this.”
“Situation like what? I haven’t done anything. What am I being accused of?”
Darrell turned me around to face the wall and pulled off my pack.
“Save it for the police. You can tell them your story when they get here. In the meantime, you get to wait below.” The captain turned and started back to the bridge.
“Captain, wait a minute. Listen to me for a minute. The people you really need to worry about are on your ship here somewhere.”
She kept walking and opened the door. I raised my head to stare at the ceiling in frustration. I looked at Brandy trying not to scream. I thought about running but then thought better of it. Not to mention that I was pinned to the wall like a butterfly on a board.
Brandy put her hands up toward me in a calming gesture. “Take it easy, Johnny. Just go along for now. I’ll find Charlie. And we’ll get it cleared up. Don’t worry.”
Yeah, right, I thought. The captain looked like she was ready to hold a trial and hang me from the radar mast.
“Uh, captain?” Darrell spoke up. "You need to see this."
Captain Ferguson stopped and looked back. Darrell had opened up my pack and the Sponge Bob pack. Holding it up for her to see, he held a clear plastic bag with a handgun inside. It looked like a Glock.
All eyes locked on me. I gulped and stared. "That isn't mine. I swear. It belongs to that kid."
"Yeah, right," said Darrell. He was holding the bag by the corner and holding it up to the light inspecting the weapon. "Looks like it has blood and hair on it too. Crime techs will run a bunch of tests on it that will tell the whole story."
I was getting pissed. And kicking myself thinking about how Charlie had tossed me the Glock back on Taroka. When I get pissed I get sarcastic.
"Gee whiz, CSI boy, you've got it all figured out, don't you?"
Darrell shoved me against the wall again with an elbow and leaned over to speak into my ear. "Fired a gun recently, jerkoff? They'll test for that too."
He smirked when he saw me cringe. “Where do I put him, Captain?”
She frowned. “That is a good question, isn’t it? It’s not like we have a brig on board. Never had to arrest anybody before.” She looked at me like I was a dead rat. Something that the cook had just pulled out of a stew pot and held up for the crew to behold. Then she chuckled.
“We don’t even have any handcuffs on board, do we?” she asked with an embarrassed laugh as if the novelty of the situation was funny somehow.
“No problem,” Darrell chimed in cheerfully. He held up a pair of shining metal cuffs and smiled.
“Well, there you go. Use the forward supply room,” the captain said. “A boat from Seward is on its way to meet us.” With a grim nod she collected the two packs and the Glock and stepped through the doorway out of sight.
Darrell fumbled with the cuffs trying to get them open. I stood there in disbelief. Brandy and Rainey looked at each other, speechless. Needing both hands to wrestle the cuffs open, Darrell shifted his weight to hold me against the wall with a heavy forearm.
I was fed up. “Say, maybe I can help you with those, Darrell.” I lifted my arms and slid my hands through the open rings while he struggled to close them. When he was satisfied that I was secure, he pulled on the front of my jacket to start me moving down the passageway.
Along the way Darrell twisted his huge shape around to take a look at Rainey and pushed me to walk in front of him.
“Good thing I used to work as a private security guard and still had my cuffs with me,” he said to her.
“Yeah, Darrell," I gushed in a high voice as fake as a Chinese Timex. "You really got it going on. You got the key too?”
He didn’t answer right away. I wasn’t sure if he was thinking about the answer, or simply trying to walk an
d talk at the same time.
“Uh oh,” I said to no one in particular. “The Junior G-man may be one key short of a full ring.”
“You shut up,” he thumped the back of my head with a flick of a finger that felt like a two by four. I took his advice.
We walked on in silence until Darrell realized he had a little parade following him. He stopped before opening a locked doorway at the top of a metal staircase.
“I can take care of this myself,” he said looking at Rainey and Brandy. They didn’t need any further explanation and turned on their heels. I tried to make eye contact with one or the other, but they didn’t look back. Rainey had her hand at the small of Brandy’s back and the two of them walked away in silence. The heavy metal door slammed shut echoing through the metal stairwell.
