by Garry Ryan
Aidan stood up. She looked at Eva before turning and leaving the kitchen.
Eva looked at Lane and Harper in turn. Her face was a mask.
“We need to know,” Harper said.
Eva said, “What good will that do?”
“There are two other families who don’t know what happened to their sons.” Lane cut his muffin and ate half.
“What will it cost?” Eva asked.
“I’m not sure what you mean?” Lane studied Eva’s expression.
“The more you dig, the deeper you get, the more it costs. Is it time to stop digging?” Eva kept her eyes on Lane.
“We need to find out what happened to the two who haven’t been found yet. Just like we needed to find out who was responsible for what happened to Alex.” Lane brushed the crumbs from his fingers.
Eva shrugged. “Make sure the hole you dig isn’t too deep to crawl out of.”
Lane tried to smile but could not.
As they thanked Eva and made ready to leave, she said, “Norm took it hard. When his mom was dying, she gave him a job. Something to make him feel better. She asked Norm to look out for Alex. Norm never grew up enough to know that sometimes it’s hard to keep a promise like that. Besides, Norm didn’t know that I promised his mom I would look out for him.”
Outside, Aidan’s truck sat behind their Chev in the driveway.
Lane and Harper got into the Chev.
Lane said, “Norm’s place?”
“That’s the next step. Erinn has been on my case about making sure we have backup since the last two shootings. We’d better call it in,” Harper said.
“Do you think we’ll be overdoing it? You know, maybe scaring Norm?”
“You got shot. We don’t want any more people getting shot.” Harper pulled out onto the gravel road and turned left. He called in a request for assistance.
Lane thought about saying, “Let’s leave him alone,” but then changed his mind. That decision was to haunt him for the rest of his life.
Ten minutes later, their trailing cloud of dust drifted east as they eased into Norm’s driveway and parked. “There’s his machine.” Harper pointed at the four-wheel ATV parked near the front door of Norm’s freshly painted white wartime house with one bedroom above and kitchen and sitting room below. Along the southern line of the property was a wall of wood being dried for winter. On the northern side there were two sheds in front of a line of mature pine trees. Next to the trees, an ancient yellow road grader sat rusting in grass reaching as high as its tires. A crop of potatoes grew knee-deep from the house to the driveway.
There was the sound of a truck approaching. It downshifted and Aidan drove up behind them.
Harper said, “I’ll keep an eye out.”
Lane got out of the car and walked back to Aidan.
“You’ll scare him. Let me talk with him.” Aidan made to open the door of her truck.
Lane held her door shut. “When did you know that Norm was the other person who saw what happened when Alex was run down?”
Aidan kept her eyes on the house. “A couple of days ago. He didn’t tell us when it happened, because he couldn’t get the words out. And, he didn’t think anyone would believe him. You have to understand, he’s just a kid!”
“Aidan, you okay?” The voice came from an open window on the first floor of Norm’s house.
“Norm?” Aidan said.
“Yep.”
Lane tried to spot Norm through the window but could not.
“I’m fine, Norm!” Aidan said to Lane, “Let me go to him.”
“Will you stand with me behind the truck?” Lane asked.
“Okay.”
Lane said, “Norm?”
“Yep!”
“Is it okay if Aidan and I move to the back of the truck?” Lane thought he might be making a mistake but thought, You’re committed now.
“Sure! That other fella want to go there too?” Norm asked.
“Yes!” Harper said.
“Go ahead!” Norm said.
Lane kept his eyes on the window as the three of them moved to the back of the pickup. He feared seeing a muzzle flash before they could crouch behind the truck.
“Feel better?” Norm asked.
“Yes!” Lane said.
“Aidan? Is Eva okay?” Norm asked.
“She’s fine!” Aidan looked from Lane to Harper and kept her voice low when she said, “He won’t hurt anyone.”
“Sorry I shot you in the hind quarters! I thought you two was takin’ Eva away to jail that day! My mother told me to watch out for Eva. Eva’s like a mother to me. She’s done nothin’ wrong!” Norm said.
Lane heard the approach of a helicopter. He thought, Pretty soon, he won’t be able to hear me. “Apology accepted! Can you come on out now?”
“I waited a year for those guys to get arrested before I gave that first one a lead pill in the ear! I think I’ll wait a while longer! Is that the police helicopter?” Norm asked.
“I think so!” Lane thought, Go for it. “Thanks for saving our lives at Blake’s place! We didn’t have a chance up against that rifle of his!”
“I rode over there after Blake said those things to Eva at the Super Service. I saw him firin’ his gun and walkin’ toward your car! Someone had to do something, or he woulda killt ya both!”
The helicopter was close now. Its rotor made conversation impossible.
They looked up. The police machine made a slow pass.
They’ve seen us huddled here. They’ll be setting up roadblocks and alerting the tactical team next, Lane thought.
The helicopter flew north.
Lane looked at Aidan. He said, “Norm, it’s going to get very crowded around here very soon. Please come out now!”
“Tell ’em to stay out of the potato patch. Them potatoes is for Eva and Aidan!”
Aidan said, “Norm! Come out, Norm!”
Lane pulled out his cell and turned to Aidan. “What’s his phone number?”
“He doesn’t have a phone,” Aidan said.
The helicopter made another pass. It made a sharp turn over Norm’s house. Lane could see the pilot looking down on them. Lane waved. The pilot nodded once.
Harper’s cellphone rang. “Harper.”
Aidan started to move out of cover.
Lane grabbed her arm.
“He won’t hurt me.” She struggled to free herself from Lane.
Lane pulled out a pair of handcuffs. “I’ll cuff you to the bumper if you move again.”
“Shithead!” Aidan sat on the bumper.
Harper spoke into his phone. “The suspect has made no threatening moves. He’s admitted to shooting Blake Rogers and apologized for shooting Detective Lane. He also made a direct reference to at least one of the disappearances. Norm’s only request has been that we stay out of his potato patch.” Harper listened, looked at Aidan and then at Lane. Harper closed his phone. “We sit tight.”
They waited in silence for the first few minutes as the helicopter circled nearby.
“Blake and his friends were gay, right?” Aidan looked at Lane.
“It looks that way.” Lane kept his eyes on Norm’s house.
“You’re gay, right?” Aidan asked.
Lane looked at her.
“Eva told me.” Aidan looked right back at Lane.
“Yes, I am.” Where is this going? Lane thought.
“How come Blake was always acting so macho, then? I mean it doesn’t make sense. He was gay. So what? Why did he have to be so damned cruel?” Aidan asked.
Lane shrugged. “People are people. Some are like you, me, Harper, Eva, and some aren’t. Assuming that Blake will be a certain type of person because he’s gay is just that, an assumption.”
Harper said, “They’re here.”
The first of the black-outfitted tactical team appeared behind the shed. Another took up a position on this side of the woodpile.
The helicopter hovered just far enough away so that conversation
was possible.
Before Lane could speak, an unfamiliar voice came from the trees along the north side of the property.
“Norm?”
“Who are you?” Norm asked.
“Smith. John Smith.”
Lane studied the trees but couldn’t see the officer.
The silence lasted thirty seconds.
“Shit!” Harper pointed to Lane’s left.
A black-clad officer with an automatic rifle crawled past them and wiggled down the middle of the potato patch.
Harper dialled and spoke into his phone. “What’s the guy doing in the potatoes?”
“Norm? Go out the door facing the woodpile. Keep your hands in the air!” Smith said.
“He’ll get confused! He gets confused when there are too many people around!” Aidan said. “How many times do I have to explain that he’s just a kid?”
Lane looked at her. There were tears in her eyes.
“Look!” Harper pointed.
Norm stood in the yard. He was wearing his cowboy hat with the string tied under the chin. His gun belt was slung low around his hips. There was no pistol in the holster. Norm held a rifle above his head like he was acting out a scene from a movie.
Lane had a flash of memory. He remembered the bolt action and box of shells in Eva’s kitchen cupboard. He went to shout a warning, thought better of it and turned to Harper. “That rifle is a twenty-two?”
“Looks like it.” Harper looked hard at Lane. “No bolt action, right?”
“And no shells,” Lane said.
“What’s happening?” Aidan asked.
“Put the rifle down!” Smith spoke as the officer in the potato patch stood up with his weapon trained on Norm.
Norm turned and dropped his arms. The rifle was across his chest and pointed in the general direction of the tactical officer in the potatoes.
“Norm’s rifle is useless!” Lane stepped out from behind the pickup.
Someone said, “Put the fucking weapon down!”
“There are no bullets in the suspect’s weapon!” Lane said.
Norm looked around, spotting another tactical team member.
Lane stood in the open with his arms waving.
Norm turned in Lane’s direction. “Those potatoes are for Eva.”
Three shots were fired in rapid succession.
Lane stood horrified as two holes appeared in Norm’s chest. Another caught him in the throat. Blood poured down along his shoulder, to his elbow and onto the ground.
Norm looked at his chest and the blood. He dropped the rifle and clutched at his wounds. He spat blood. It spilled over his chin. He sat down.
“Norm!” Aidan said. “Let me go, you bastard!”
Lane looked to his right. Aidan’s legs kicked straight out as Harper held her by the waist.
When Lane looked at Norm, there was a black form leaning over the fallen man with his hand at Norm’s neck. The officer spoke into his radio. He looked at the officer in the potato patch and shook his head.
Two men went inside the house and returned. “Clear!”
The officer who’d fired the shots took his helmet and balaclava off. He turned to face Lane.
“Stockwell,” Lane said.
Stockwell smiled. He moved his left index finger in the air as if he were putting the number one on a scoreboard.
“You fucking idiot!” Aidan’s voice was distorted with rage and grief.
Lane turned.
Harper had Aidan by the waist. Her feet were running but not touching the ground. Her face was wild with rage.
It took both of them to hold her back.
“You fucking murderer!” Aidan screamed at Stockwell.
The officer near the body said, “His gun’s empty.
It’s useless. No way it could fire!”
Aidan began to weep. Lane looked at the still form of Norm on the grass. Paramedics ran past. They made their way to Norm and began to attempt to revive him.
Harper started to say something, decided not to, and shook his head.
Later, when Lane could talk with them, the officers on the roadblock said Eva walked past, ignoring their commands. She just looked at them when they went to stop her. “There was just no way I was going to cuff that old woman and drag her into the back seat of the unit,” one officer explained.
Eva’s eyes met Lane’s as she approached. Harper stood to one side. Eva looked at Norm’s body then put her arms around Aidan. Harper stared at Norm’s body.
“He got confused. You know how he watches old movies? He came out with the rifle held above his head just like in a movie. He didn’t want anyone in his potato patch. The potatoes were for us!” The words spilled out of Aidan. “How could this happen? Wasn’t Alex enough?”
Eva looked past Aidan toward Norm. She looked at Lane and Harper. “Who shot him?” she asked.
Both detectives looked over at Stockwell, who stood in the potatoes, speaking with another officer who stood just inside the patch.
Eva turned to Aidan, “Wait here.”
Lane followed as Eva walked toward Stockwell. When she got within a few metres of him, Stockwell turned.
“What’s she doing here?” Stockwell asked.
Lane heard the arrogance in Stockwell’s voice. Eva took the scene in without a word. Lane saw the name McTavish on the other officer’s black outfit.
“Get out of the garden.” Eva stood a good head shorter than Stockwell.
McTavish had his grey hair cut short. He looked directly at Lane who looked directly back at him.
“What did you say?” Stockwell sounded as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Norm.” Eva nodded in the direction of Norm’s body and the paramedics administering CPR. “He didn’t like people walking in his potatoes. Respect his memory.”
“What the fuck is she talking about?” Stockwell smiled at McTavish.
Lane kept his eyes on McTavish. He stared back at Lane with grey cold eyes. McTavish looked at Eva.
“It’s about respect,” Lane said.
“What kind of politically correct bullshit is this?” Stockwell crossed his arms as if the decision were already made.
Mctavish looked down and carefully moved one foot to the empty space between the hilled potatoes. In a few steps, he was out of the crop without doing any further damage.
The three of them stood at the edge of the potatoes, looking at Stockwell. Lane looked around him, the eyes of each officer in the yard focused on Stockwell.
“I’m not fucking moving because she says so!” Stockwell said.
McTavish kept silent, but his eyes were on Stockwell.
Lane looked at Eva. He saw in her eyes that she might easily step forward and cut Stockwell’s throat.
Lane could feel the rage rising off of her. He thought, Go ahead Eva, I won’t stop you.
Stockwell walked straight out of the patch, each step deliberately crushing a plant where its stalk met the soil.
Lane watched Eva. She kept her eyes on Stockwell.
He turned his back on her and marched away.
Lane looked around. The other officers watched Stockwell with undisguised contempt.
Eva looked at Lane and then McTavish. She said, “Norm was a child in his heart. Treat his body like you would treat a child’s?”
“Of course,” McTavish said.
She looked at the paramedics. “It’s over. His spirit’s gone.”
Lane nodded.
“We will be at my place if you need us.” Eva walked back to Aidan. Aidan got in the passenger side of her pickup. Harper opened the door so Eva could climb in behind the wheel. She started the engine and waited for other vehicles to get out of the way before reversing and driving away.
McTavish looked at Lane. “I saw you stepping away from cover. Why?”
“I realized Norm’s weapon was useless. I was too late.” Lane felt as if he were in a hole and someone was shoveling guilt down on him.
“Norm
shot the cowboy who was shooting at you?”
McTavish asked.
“Yes,” Lane said.
“And the others?” McTavish asked.
“Norm killed two of the men who were in the truck that ran down Eva’s grandson.” Lane felt Harper’s hand at his back.
McTavish turned to Harper. “The bodies of the two who are missing?”
“Yes, we don’t know where they are for certain,” Harper said.
McTavish said, “You know, after the facts about this shooting get out, there’ll be hell to pay. Stockwell was acting like a cowboy.”
After several more hours at the scene, Harper drove them back to the city. When they passed the Super Service gas station, he said, “What do we do now?”
Lane made no attempt to hide his anger when he said, “We have to find the missing men! This whole mess needs to be cleared up and out in the open before it will be finished!”
TUESDAY, JULY 16
chapter 18
“We’re not walking on egg shells in this house for one more second!” Arthur said.
Lane had just yelled at Roz, who’d touched his hand with a cold nose. He watched as she ducked away, then returned with her tail wagging to say all was forgiven. It was then that Lane remembered Roz begging forgiveness from the woman who’d found the body of Skip Lombardi along the Elbow River. The woman who drove away with the abandoned Roz running behind. He thought, Shit! By the time I remember anything it’s too late!
“What?” Arthur looked across the cold cuts, potato salad, and pickles set out for dinner. Matt and Christine were looking for an exit. Arthur looked at each of them and said, “You two stay put. I’m tired of walking on eggshells with the two of you as well!”
Lane looked at Roz. He offered his open hand. She came to get her neck rubbed. “I took too long to put evidence together, and a man died because of it.”
“You shot him?” Arthur glared at Lane across the table.
Lane felt the intensity of the look and felt his skin flush. “No. But if I’d put it together a minute earlier, I could have stopped someone else from shooting him.”
Arthur’s voice oozed sarcasm when he said, “So not only are you responsible for your actions, now you’re responsible for the actions of others! Give me a break. I’m sorry to tell you this, but the entire world doesn’t revolve around you.”
