Arctic Christmas Ambush

by Sherri Shackelford

  “Mark?” Kara asked Shane incredulously the next day. “You’re saying the killer is Mark?”

  “Looks like it,” Shane replied.

  They’d returned to the resort to discover a hive of activity taking place.

  There were two buses parked outside the front door, and guests were gathering in the lobby with their luggage. No one appeared to be complaining. The explosion at Walt’s had added an extra layer of apprehension to the group.

  There were at least a dozen officers, some of them with patches that showed they worked in Anchorage. The extra authority on-site was allowing Graham to direct the guests with minimal pushback. He was operating without his right-hand man since they’d arrested Mark.

  “Are you sure?” she asked.

  She hadn’t had a chance to speak with Shane for almost twenty-four hours. He’d been too busy with the investigation. She’d only just managed to catch up with him in the lobby when she went down for lunch.

  Shane pressed the button for the second floor. “The tracks from Walt’s house led directly to the resort. One of the investigators from the ABI discovered there’d been a suspicious drowning at the last hotel he managed. He quit shortly after. They decided to go over our security camera footage again. They caught him on camera, following Finn to the outdoor pool. That was enough to get a search warrant for his room. They discovered Finn’s phone and computer, along with the gun they suspect killed Walt.”

  “But why?”

  “There was a recent deposit into his bank account. The amount was significant. Looks like he was hired by someone. The information has been passed on to ABI and the marshals at WITSEC. You’ll still be in protective custody until they can find out who hired him.”

  “And Mark won’t say?”

  “Not yet. Once he starts seeing the evidence piling up against him, he’ll come around.”

  They’d reached her room and she rested her hand on the knob. “Well that explains a lot. Like how he discovered the postcard on the front desk. And why nothing ever showed up on the security cameras. He was probably erasing the footage as fast as they were recording. But why didn’t he erase the footage of himself following Finn?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe he thought he had. He knew all the blind spots in the hotel. He had access to the master keys. He was perfect. Why kill Walt, though?”

  “Mark knew I was going up there that morning. I always pass through the lobby on my way to the kennels. He didn’t know Walt had been a marshal. If Walt caught him setting a trap for me, he wouldn’t be able to talk his way out of it. Walt would have known immediately that he was lying. That’s probably what they were arguing about. What I don’t understand is how Finn fits into all this.”

  “He was always hanging out in the lobby. He must have seen something or heard something.”

  “Well, at least it’s over now.”

  “Yes.”

  “How long do you think before the guests are cleared out?”

  “Probably by this afternoon.”

  “I’m going to check on the dogs. They tend to sense disruption. Between the fire and the evacuation, they’re probably agitated.”

  “Sounds good. How about I meet you in the lobby and walk you over?”

  “Don’t tell me you’re still worried.”

  “Actually, I was hoping to visit with a certain puppy named Snowball.”

  “Well look at me flattering myself. I guess no one can compete with a puppy.”

  Two hours later, Kara watched the second busload of guests exit the parking lot while the employees scurried to close up the resort after them.

  With everything that had happened, she was feeling oddly useless with all the activity buzzing around her. She’d promised to wait for Shane, but he’d gotten caught up in interviews with the officers and the investigators.

  When she couldn’t stand the confinement anymore, she donned her coat, wrinkling her nose at the smell of smoke in the material. Between that and the scorched hem, she was down another coat.

  She stepped outside and glanced in the direction of Walt’s house. Though the majority of the fire had burned out almost immediately, wispy tendrils of smoke drifted into the sky. If only they’d discovered that Mark was the killer an hour sooner. The captain wouldn’t be in the hospital right now.

  She opened the door to the kennels and began the gauntlet of greetings. Trisha peered out from the stall where Zoya and the puppies were kept.

  “Hey, Doc,” she called. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  The note of concern in her voice had Kara worried. “What is it?”

  “Snowball. He hasn’t been acting right since the explosion. All the dogs were agitated when it happened. Everyone has calmed down except this little guy.”

  Trisha stepped aside to let Kara peer into the enclosure. Zoya and four of the puppies were sleeping in a haphazard pile of paws and noses. Snowball was sitting in the corner and his ears drooped.

  “Poor little guy,” Kara said. “I can look after him if you want to get out of here.”

  “Would you?” Trisha’s shoulders sagged in relief. “I haven’t been home in days. My mom’s been feeding my cat. He’s probably forgotten what I look like by now.”

  “Who’s going to watch them over the holidays?”

  “I’ve got that duty.”

  “Tell you what,” Kara said. “Why don’t you spend Christmas with your family, and I’ll look out for these guys.”

  Trisha’s eyes lit up. “Are you sure?”

  “Positive. Go home. I’ll take care of the dogs tonight.”

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Trisha pressed her palms together and nodded. “I am dying to get out of here.”

  Kara laughed. “Then go. I’ll take care of everything.”

  She sat on the floor and peered at Snowball. He scooted his paws forward, then sat back up again.

  When she heard the door open and close, she thought it was Trisha coming back until she heard a familiar voice call, “Hello.”

  She tipped her head back and leaned out of the enclosure. “Down here.”

  As she sat up, Snowball bounced past her. He trotted down the corridor to meet Shane.

  She shook her head. “You’ve got a fan.”

  He took off his coat and hung it on a peg near the door, then scooped up the puppy. Snowball rewarded him with several enthusiastic licks.

  Kara’s eyes widened. “You shaved!”

  He ran his hand self-consciously down his chin. “Things were a little patchy after the fire.”

  She wasn’t certain which way she liked him best. Come to think of it, why did she have to choose? She liked him both with and without the beard.

  “Have you heard from the hospital?” she asked.

  “The news is good. The captain is out of surgery. Everything went well.” He plopped down next to her. “You can’t say it hasn’t been an eventful few days.”

  Snowball nipped at the badge on his chest.

  “I can’t believe how quickly the guests cleared out.”

  “A murder and an explosion will do that to people.”

  She offered a wry grin. “Trisha said that Graham gave everyone the night off. It’ll take at least another day to close up the resort. Maybe more.”

  “They deserve the break. They’ve been working nonstop for nearly three days.”

  “So have you.” She rolled her head toward him. “Why aren’t you at home?”

  “Because you’re here.”

  Her pulse tripped. “I offered to watch the dogs so Trisha could go home.”

  “Don’t you want to go home?”

  She stretched, loosening the tight muscles of her neck. “Yes. But I can keep track of the vet clinic from here just as easily as from home. Figured I might as well stay here.” She hadn’t meant to sound
quite so pathetic. “It’s all right, you know. This is what I like to do. This is where I’m happy.”

  Shane had ceased petting Snowball, and the puppy nudged his nose beneath Shane’s hand.

  “I don’t know what’s going to happen after this,” Shane said. “And there’s something I wanted to say to you in case we don’t get the chance to be alone again.”

  She glanced at her folded hands. “What’s that?”

  “You were right about me,” he said. “I wanted you to trust me. I wanted you to share yourself with me, but I wasn’t willing to do the same. I wanted something from you that I wasn’t willing to give in return.”

  Her heart thudded dully in her chest. “Neither of us is very good at being vulnerable.”

  “I don’t like the resort. I don’t like being here. I don’t like staying here. I don’t have a lot of good memories of this place.” He ducked his head. “I didn’t want to tell you about my family because I’m ashamed.”

  Her hands tightened reflexively. “I had no idea.”

  What did Shane have to be ashamed of?

  “Most people don’t. Most of the old staff from the resort are gone. My parents are gone. There’s no one left to remember. No one but me. That’s the problem, I guess. See, I worked my first two years in Anchorage. I’d go on calls to these houses. To these same houses. And I’d see the same things over and over and over again. I’d look at their kids and I’d see my own guilt and shame mirrored in their eyes, but I didn’t figure I had a right to that kind of pain. Whenever I took someone to the battered women’s shelter, I’d think how blessed I was. I grew up in paradise. I swam in the hot springs whenever I wanted. I rode my bike through the hotel. We had a second house in Texas. No matter what happened in our family, there was always food on the table. I didn’t think I had a right to be anything but grateful for my life.”

  Her heart broke a little for him. “Oh, Shane. I’m so sorry.”

  The signs had been there all along. Only he was good at hiding them. Children who came from abusive homes often were.

  “I grew up trying to fix things, and I always failed. Somewhere along the line I started to think I was a failure.”

  She reached for his hand and squeezed his fingers.

  “I knew I wasn’t going to be like him. I never doubted that. Instead, I just never let people get close to me. I was afraid to love someone because I was afraid of giving another person that sort of power over me again. And not just the power to hurt me, the power to make me feel helpless. I figured if I was the one to love a little less, then no one would have control over me. Does that make sense?”

  “More than you’ll ever know.”

  “You scared me, I guess. That’s why I issued an ultimatum. I figured if I forced the issue, then I’d be the one in control. Turns out, that’s not the way it works. I just wound up feeling like a failure again.”

  “You’re not a failure. I didn’t give you much help. I think I’ve always been afraid that my old life is one mistake away. I didn’t want people to know about the person I was, because I feared talking about her might conjure her up again.”

  She’d wanted Shane to trust her, to open up to her. Now she’d have to strip away all her own lies until there was nothing left but truth, like he’d done for her. That was the only way to complete the bridge between them. All at once the challenge seemed insurmountable. The distance too far.

  “We’re a pair, aren’t we?” he said.

  “You read my mind.” She smiled sadly. “As awful as these past few days have been, I’m grateful for the experience. I’ve always admired what you do, but I’ve been afraid, as well. If you were afraid to love because someone might have control over you, then I was afraid of authority for the same reason. Seeing you these past few days has been a revelation. I think I understand why you do what you do now.”

  The world was full of good people and bad people, and she’d known both. The trick was learning to recognize the difference. Sometimes, though, the simplest things proved to be the most complicated.

  “I knew this was my calling,” Shane said, his voice quietly urgent, as though he was willing her to understand. “I can’t save everyone. Some days, I feel like I can’t help anyone. But it’s better than throwing in the towel. It’s better than giving up. I can’t change the world, and I can’t save the world, but I can make my little corner of the world better. That’s enough.”

  A curious numbness assailed her. He deserved so much.

  “You’re the bravest man I’ve ever known,” she said.

  He reddened and turned away for a moment.

  “Maybe there’s hope for us, after all.” When he turned back, he stuck out his hand. “Friends?”

  Her ears buzzed, and for a moment she felt as though she was back in the clearing when Walt’s house exploded. The world shattered around her, and there was nothing left but floating embers. He was telling her goodbye. She’d known this was possible. Now that it had finally come to pass, she was almost relieved. Like all the firsts she’d go through this year after Walt’s death, this was another milestone. A sad milestone, but an important one nonetheless.

  She shook Shane’s hand, savoring the feel of his calloused fingers one last time. “Friends.”

  She’d known this was coming. She’d move on. She’d start over. It wouldn’t be the first time.

  The stillness surrounded them, and they sat in silence. She stared ahead, trying to identify what she was feeling. She was afraid, but there was also a glimmer of hope. She’d walked a little into the fire, and she’d survived. Maybe she could go a little farther next time.

  All her life she’d feared that there was something fundamentally wrong with her. There’d been this insidious feeling that she was the one at fault. That she was defective. What else explained how everything had gone so wrong in her life?

  The story she’d told herself was false. There were good times and bad times in every life. Sometimes they clumped together. Other times they were spread apart. She was grateful that she’d had Walt in her life. She was grateful for all the things she’d learned from Shane.

  She wasn’t a person who was broken beyond repair. She was a person who learned from her mistakes.

  Together she and Shane fed the dogs and cleaned out the kennels. They worked well as a team, passing the time in quiet contemplation. Each moment felt like a gift. The future stretched out before her like a blanket of snow, clean and unblemished. Walt’s death was going to hurt for a very long time, but she wasn’t afraid of the pain anymore. Losing Shane was going to be hard. She’d survive.

  She’d spend Christmas alone this year, but there was always the chance that next year might be different. Even while she mourned the loss of Walt and the end of her time with Shane, she knew her future was filled with possibilities, as long as she was open to them.

  The work felt good and her muscles ached. They reached the end of their rows at almost the same time and smiled at the timing.

  Her phone rang, and they both laughed nervously at the interruption. The area code was for a local number.

  Curious, she took the call.

  “Is this Dr. Riley?” a female voice asked.

  “This is she.”

  “This is Eileen Turro.”

  “Walt’s friend,” Kara clarified.

  “I guess that’s what you could call me. I can’t even remember a time when he wasn’t in my life.”

  “You heard about what happened?”

  “The town is all abuzz. You can’t have a dozen officers descend on the town and smoke billowing into the sky without word getting out.”

  “I suppose not. I’m sorry.” Kara’s throat clogged with emotion. “I know we’ll all miss him.”

  “He spoke fondly of you. That was a rarity for Walt. He mostly kept to himself. He held you in high regard.”

&nbs
p; Kara’s eyes burned. “The feeling was returned.”

  “I left a message for Sergeant Taylor at the trooper station. I haven’t heard back from him. I know you two, well, uh, anyway, you hear things around town. I thought you might know where he is.”

  Kara blushed. “Actually, um, he’s with me.”

  “Well I’ll be. You mind if I talk to him? This involves you too.”

  “Why don’t I put you on speakerphone?”

  “All righty.”

  Kara held out her phone and Shane moved next to her.

  “Eileen?” Kara said. “Sergeant Taylor can hear you now.”

  “Since I’ve got you both on the line, I’m starting to feel a little ridiculous. It’s just that Walt asked me a legal question a few days ago, and what with everything that’s happened over the past couple of days, it’s been wearing on me. Probably it’s just a coincidence, but it’s been bothering me.”

  Shane leaned over the phone. “What’s been bothering you, Eileen?”

  “Walt hadn’t been feeling well and the doctor in town sent him to Anchorage for some tests. I don’t know what they told him up there, but when he got back, he asked me to change some paperwork on his estate.”

  Kara’s chest squeezed. “But he didn’t say what was wrong?”

  “No. You know how he was. Getting inside that man’s head was like trying to slide between two coats of paint.”

  “Yes,” Kara said, smiling at the thought. “I know.”

  “Anyway, Walt wanted some advice on a rather complicated legal question involving a living trust and an original deed. It was all fairly complicated for a hypothetical question.”

  Kara’s pulse picked up speed. “What was his question?”

  “Okay. I’ll try and explain it as best I can. I’m a lawyer and I don’t understand all the bits and pieces.” She heaved a sigh. “Here goes nothing. When people pass property or land to their loved ones, they generally use a trust. There are a couple different kinds, but the one Walt was asking about was specific.”

  “Okay. I think I follow so far.”

  “Say I own a piece of land and I want to put it in trust for my son. Only I don’t make any provisions for what happens after my son dies. So when my son dies, the trust is closed.”