The Yuletide Rescue

by Margaret Daley

  Bree finished the last of her omelet. As she stood to take her dishes over to the sink, David did, too. “I’ll clean these up later. I’ll go get my bunny boots.”

  “I’ll take care of this while you get ready. That’s the least I can do.”

  She gave him a smile. “A man who does dishes. How about windows?”

  He chuckled. “Nope.” He shooed her away. “Go on, so when the detective shows up we’ll be through. I know the snow has covered any evidence of which way the intruder left after ransacking Jeremiah’s place. After we look through the house, I want to go out back and check the directions the footsteps were headed yesterday. Who knows? We might find something.”

  “You are an optimistic guy.”

  “That’s part of my job. I’m always optimistic that I will find the person I’m looking for.”

  “Even when it seems hopeless?”

  “Yes, because that way I’m giving one hundred percent to the search.”

  Bree paused by the doorway. “That’s the way I am when dealing with my patients. I’m determined they’re going to get better.”

  Across the expanse of her kitchen, their gazes linked, and the light in his gray eyes reached deep inside her, pushing the darkness away.

  He smiled. “I’ll meet you in the foyer in five minutes.”

  As Bree made her way to her bedroom, she thought about that last look. It almost made her forget about all the people she had been close to in the past years who had died. But she couldn’t. She had to keep them front and center in her mind. She didn’t want any more heartache. What she needed was more days at the free clinic. To throw herself even more into her job and forget all about the hope she’d felt looking into David’s eyes.

  * * *

  David and Bree met the detective on Jeremiah’s front porch. The tired lines on his friend’s face spoke of a long night, probably dealing with one crisis after another. “Thanks for coming. Bree, this is Lieutenant Thomas Caldwell. Thomas, Dr. Bree Mathison.”

  After they shook hand, David continued, “Now that the introductions are over, we can get down to business. We haven’t been inside since last night when we discovered the house had been broken into. As I told you, Jeremiah is dead and Bree is the executor of his will.”

  Thomas turned to Bree. “Do you think you can go through the house and tell me if anything has been stolen?”

  “If he bought something in the past month, no. Otherwise, maybe.”

  “Better than nothing.” Thomas indicated that Bree should unlock the door.

  When David stepped into the house, he was hit all over again with how thorough whoever trashed the place had been. He couldn’t see anything not searched. “This isn’t the work of a teenage prank. Too organized.”

  “I agree.” Thomas moved to the living room. “I’ve been to crime scenes which turned out to be some teenagers looking for a kick. In this case, I think someone was looking for something specific.” He flipped his hand toward the bookcase. “Every book has been checked, then tossed into that pile.”

  “Jeremiah didn’t have a lot,” Bree said. “All his money went into his plane and recently the TV, but it’s still here.” She made a full circle of the room. “I forgot how bad this is. I’m not even sure where to begin.”

  Thomas started taking photographs. “I’ll walk through the house. If I have any questions, I’ll give a holler.”

  David took hold of Bree’s hand, now minus the gloves she’d stuffed in her parka’s pockets. He rubbed her hands between his palms. “We’ll take it one room at a time. I’ll help.”

  “You’ve got an organization to run.”

  “Ella can keep me informed. This is too big a job for one person. I might also be able to talk my dad into helping.”

  “That’s right. He’s visiting you. I hate to take you away from him.”

  “You aren’t. I’m volunteering, and I know my dad. He will, too.”

  Her eyes shiny, she blinked and averted her face while she swiped her free hand across her cheeks.

  He gently squeezed the one he still held. “Like this cleanup, one step at a time. One day at a time.”

  She swung her attention back to his face. “Jeremiah’s gone. I still can’t believe it. I...” She swallowed hard.

  Thomas came back into the living room. “Does Jeremiah have a computer? I couldn’t find one.”

  “Not a big one, just a tablet. He usually kept it in his bedroom. He loves—loved to read books on it before going to bed. I gave it to him for his birthday because the print was getting too small for him in books. It isn’t on his bedside table?” Bree’s words rushed together as if she couldn’t get them out quickly enough.

  “I didn’t see one.”

  With her eyes wide and glistening, Bree charged past Thomas.

  David exchanged a look with Thomas. “I’ll go see about her. This has hit her hard.”

  “I understand. This house is worse than most I’ve seen searched. I’ll be in the kitchen. I want to check the back door and the area around it since you said that was the entry point.”

  David headed down the short hallway to Jeremiah’s bedroom and found Bree on her hands and knees, looking under the bed. She sat back on her heels and peered up at him.

  “It’s not here. Why would someone take a tablet worth a few hundred dollars and leave this?” Bree gestured toward the wall mount with a shotgun and rifle still on it. When she rose to her feet, she held a revolver. “This is brand-new. Jeremiah had a small collection of guns that he kept under his bed. I didn’t think about those guns last night since the shotgun and rifle were still in place. The other three handguns are there, too. I know the TV is large and hard to conceal while carrying it away from here, but these weapons are easy and on the black market they would bring someone a nice stash of money.” She panned the room. “He was always helping others. I don’t understand...” Her last sentence ended on a sob.

  David came to her and took the Glock from her hand, then placed it on the bedside table. “Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason to things that occur.”

  She hugged her arms against her chest, one tear then another sliding down her cheeks. “I’ve worked ER. I should be used to what people do to others.”

  David framed Bree’s face, touched by the sorrow in her expression. All he wanted to do was take the pain away. The pads of his thumbs wiped away her tears as they flowed unchecked. Finally he drew her against him and enclosed her in his embrace. She cried, the sound solidifying his need to help her get to the bottom of what was going on. Maybe it was nothing. He hoped that was the case.

  As he stroked her back, she cuddled even closer, her tears slowing until she finally leaned away and tilted her head back. “Thank you. I’ve needed to do that since the crash. All I could do last night was go over and over the wreck and wonder if there was anything I could have done to prevent Jeremiah’s death. Everything happened so fast. I couldn’t fly the plane, but even if I could, I don’t know how I could have changed seats with him in time. I certainly couldn’t do CPR. I couldn’t—”

  “Shh. I know it’s human nature to look at a situation and rehash it in your mind, trying to come up with a different ending. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do to change the outcome. Don’t beat yourself up over it. I know Jeremiah wouldn’t want you to.”

  Now if only David could follow his own advice. He had many regrets—a few big ones that he hadn’t been able to get past.

  “You’re right.” She blew out a long sigh. “He would be the first to say regrets are a waste of time. The past is just that.” She stepped away from him, rubbing her hand over her face. “Where’s your friend?”

  “In the kitchen, checking where the person or persons came in. I think whoever did this had help.”

  “They could have been here a long ti
me. Probably were, to do this.” Bree swept her arm across her body, then maneuvered around a pile of clothes pulled out from the dresser. She shook her head. “Jeremiah was always so neat. I’m glad he didn’t see this.”

  “I wonder if any of your neighbors saw anything.”

  Bree halted in the doorway into the bedroom. “Maybe. There’s no one near behind us, but Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson live across the street. They’re retired. After Thomas leaves, we could go over there and talk to them.”

  “Go where?” Thomas’s question came from the hallway. He approached Bree. “You two aren’t going to investigate, are you?”

  Bree’s face reddened as she slanted a look over her shoulder. “I figure this isn’t going to be a priority case, even with you being David’s friend and the fact the tablet was stolen.”

  “I have to admit we have more pressing cases, but have you thought of something that might help?”

  “Only questioning the few neighbors there are.” David followed Bree from the room and paused in the hallway near Thomas.

  “I’ll do that, and I promise if I discover anything, I’ll let you know. In fact, I’ll do that right now. It’s too bad we got so much snow last night. Any footprints you saw then are gone, but I’m sure you expected that.”

  “Am I free to start cleaning this up?” Bree asked as she started down the corridor.

  “Yes. Let me know if you find the tablet anywhere in this mess or if something else is missing.” Thomas pulled out a business card and passed it to Bree in the foyer.

  She stuck it in her front pocket. “I appreciate you coming, especially today.”

  He shrugged. “Snow happens here. We can’t let it stop everything.”

  David opened the front door, a chill sweeping into the house, and shook Thomas’s hand. “Thanks. We’ll be going to pick up Jeremiah’s body tomorrow unless we have another storm system moving through.”

  “You and Bree?”

  “And Chance O’Malley with the state police.”

  Thomas nodded. “Good. If I need to know something, you have my number.”

  David shut the door, then turned toward Bree. His gaze linked with hers, and the wall around his heart began to crumble. For the past three years, he’d shut down his emotions. That was the only way he could have functioned the last months of service. So much death and nothing he could do about it.

  Bree looked toward the living room. “I guess I’ll start in here. You don’t have to stay. You’ve already helped me enough.”

  David ignored her and followed her into the living room. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.” There was no way he would leave her alone to deal with this. What if the people returned to look again?

  * * *

  The next day as the sun began its ascent in the eastern sky, Bree stared out the Cessna’s window at the snow-blanketed ground below. The nearer she came to the wreck site, the tenser she became. Her clasped hands in her lap ached as she squeezed them tighter. Sweat beaded her forehead and upper lip.

  Why did I insist on coming?

  Because she owed Jeremiah for all the times he was there for her. Recovering his body had become important to her. The final act of kindness she could do for him.

  “How much farther?” Chance asked, his husky voice coming through Bree’s headset.

  She glanced at him in the seat behind her. She’d met David’s state trooper friend that morning and felt better that he was coming along. When she saw that both David and Chance were armed with not only a rifle but a revolver, too, flashes of the scene of those men dressed in white descending on the plane played through her mind. And she couldn’t shake the feeling of danger.

  “We’re close. I’ll fly over and assess where to land. I might use the same clearing as before. I know I can land safely there.” David slid a look toward Bree as though asking her if that was okay.

  She gave him a nod. He smiled, then returned his attention to flying. But the effects of his smile stayed with Bree. It comforted her and eased her anxiety.

  Until the lake came into view. Bree sat forward, staring out the windshield at the scene below. She searched the shoreline for the wreck and gasped. “The plane’s gone.”

  FIVE

  An hour later at the wreck site, Bree crested the rise, not far from where she’d made her snow cave, and saw an expanse of white interspersed with trees. No evidence of where she’d spent a terrifying night with wolves nearby.

  Carrying a long pole, David came up beside her on the right. “Your duffel bag isn’t where I dropped it.”

  Chance, with a rifle in his hands, took up a position on her left. “Are you sure of its location?”

  “Yes. I memorized the exact cluster of trees so we could find it.” He held up the pole. “I used this to poke holes all over the area, even out of range of where I thought it was.” His gaze on the empty site below them, David frowned. “The shoreline has been disturbed, so we know we’re in the right place. But there’s no plane.”

  “Could it have sunk into the water?”

  “Maybe. We know it didn’t fly out of here, which means either it is under the water or someone airlifted it.”

  Chance raised a set of binoculars to his eyes and surveyed the wreck site. “Let’s go down and check it out. There are footprints near the area, but I don’t see where they came from, so there’s a possibility the helicopter returned and took the plane.”

  “Why would someone go to the trouble and expense?” David asked as he began his trek down the slope, using the pole to check the path ahead.

  Still stunned, Bree automatically fell into step behind David with Chance following.

  “After what you saw two days ago, if someone took the plane, they were most likely searching for something,” Chance said. “So the question becomes, what? What was on the plane that someone would go to those lengths?”

  “Besides some of the stuff I took with me to the village and an overnight bag for Jeremiah, the only cargo was the two seals.” At the bottom of the incline, Bree stopped and turned around. “What are you implying?”

  Chance stared right at her. “Something valuable. Something possibly illegal.”

  She squeezed her gloved hands into fists. “What? Drugs? There’s no way Jeremiah would traffic in drugs knowingly. I suppose the seals could have drugs in them. You’ll need to talk to the man who shipped them to Anchorage from Daring.” The presence of David inches behind her quieted some of her anger at the state trooper for implying Jeremiah was a drug runner.

  Chance frowned. “It’s my job to look at all aspects of a case. I knew Jeremiah, and I agree with you, Bree, but I still have to consider it and rule it out. I will contact the man in Daring.”

  She drew in a frigid breath of air, trying to calm her heartbeat. “He hated taking medicine, even aspirin.”

  David placed his hand on her shoulder. “Which means he wouldn’t take the drugs, but some dealers don’t. They’re in it for the money.”

  Bree whirled around and glared at David. His arms fell to his sides. “You, too?”

  “Do you want to know what happened and why?”

  The pounding of her heart against her rib cage clamored in her mind. “Yes, but why did you and Chance jump to that first?”

  David sighed and clasped both of her upper arms. “Because drugs are a major problem here, as in other places. There’s a lot of wilderness to cover in Alaska. And there is still the possibility of him not knowing he was transporting it.”

  “He had a heart attack, and suddenly we’re talking about him being a drug dealer.” The heat of her anger kept the cold at bay. She had to make David and Chance realize that Jeremiah wouldn’t do anything illegal. He had always been there for her. She would be there for him now.

  “But we don’t know what caused the heart
attack. What if it was poison or something else?” David asked as Chance trudged toward the wreck site.

  Bree glanced at the state trooper, then at David. Her vision blurred as tears filled her eyes. But she would not cry in front of him, having done enough of that yesterday. She was thankful her sunglasses shielded her eyes. “He was overweight and wouldn’t take his blood pressure pills. Those two things could cause a heart attack.”

  “C’mon. Let’s go check it out.” But before David started, he turned to her. “I cared about Jeremiah, too, Bree. Like I told you, he was always ready to help me search by air if someone was missing.”

  “Yeah, right. Does that sound like a drug dealer?”

  “I’m not saying he is. Neither is Chance. But everything has to be considered.”

  Bree sidestepped David and plowed ahead through the deep snow, glad she’d worn snowshoes. She paused next to Chance a few feet from the footprints that disturbed the pristine white landscape—that and the hole in the ice where the tail of the plane had been. New ice was already forming over the gap.

  “The hole is too small for the plane to have sunk below the water,” Bree finally broke the silence as all three of them took in the multiple footsteps.

  “There probably were at least two or three people on the ground.” Chance took several pictures before he went closer.

  “If someone wanted the plane for whatever reason, then what did they do with Jeremiah’s body?” Bree asked.

  David pointed to one set of footsteps that headed into the nearby trees. “I’m going to see where these lead. Maybe one person walked in, although without snowshoes, that would be hard.”

  Chance studied the footprints, as if trying to determine how many sets there were. Bree felt useless doing nothing, so she trailed David.

  He slowed his pace and waited for her. “Are you okay?”

  “No, but I will be just as soon as everyone realizes Jeremiah is innocent.”

  David ducked down beneath the heavy drape of snow-encrusted evergreen branches and held them for Bree, who went into the stand of trees before him. She froze. Not far away the trail led to a mound of black on the ground—black like Jeremiah’s outer winter clothing. She hurried toward the shape, praying it was her friend’s body. Then at least she would be able to put him to rest.