Stabenow, Dana - Liam Campbell 04 - Better To Rest

by Better To Rest(lit)

  “Well use helicopters. Ill call Elmendorf, see whats available. And theres an Air National Guard base, tooKulik, isnt it? Ill ask them what theyve got.

  “I know those guys, Dad, Liam said evenly. “Theyre on call for rescues all over the state. I dont think theyre going to volunteer their crews and their equipment to recover bodies that have been lying there for sixty years. Were coming up on storm season. Theyll have plenty of work on their hands rescuing the living.

  Charles eyes narrowed. “Those guys who came busting up on the four-wheelers when we were out at the wreck...

  “What about them? Liam said, wondering where this was going.

  “They were treasure hunting.

  “They said they were caribou hunting.

  “Crap. They knew about this gold coin and they went looking for more where it came from.

  Liam couldnt deny it. “So?

  “So if we dont get that wreck out of there youre going to start losing Newenhammers who think there might be gold in them thar hills.

  Liam remembered the slab of ice that had nearly killed him and Wy the previous morning. “Youll lose just as many going after it.

  “Not if I round up good equipment and good equipment operators. Leave it to me. Charles stood up and threw down a couple of bills. “Excuse me. Ive got some calls to make.

  The three of them watched him stride out the door. When it closed behind him, Liam looked at Mason and said, “Whats going on?

  “I dont know, Mason said. “I dont, he added when he saw Liams skepticism. “My boss heard about the wreck and called the commander out on Elmendorf. The BOC told him that Colonel Campbell was flying in. My boss asked him to ask Colonel Campbell to let me hitch a ride to Newenham. He said okay. I have to say we were all a little surprised. I mean, the United States Air Force doesnt exactly hand out rides on an F-15.

  “So the inference is he wanted you here. Why?

  Mason was using a french fry to mop up the last drop of steak juice and was very intent on the job. “He said that co-operation between federal organizations was essential to the smooth working of government, and that he was happy to be able to contribute to it, in however small a way. He met Liams eyes with a bland expression in his own.

  “What can you do here?

  “Not much, Mason said. “I dont have a lot of authority over the sixty-year-old wreck of a military plane. If it was sabotaged, or the flight was in any way related to espionage of some kind, then I could step in, maybe. And only maybe. He smiled. “In Alaska the FBI is more concerned with Russians importing underage girls who come thinking theyre going to be part of an ethnic dance group and who wind up shaking it down in the strip clubs.

  “Were you on that case? Jo said.

  “From the start. Mason didnt sound happy about it.

  “Were the girls in on it?

  “The older one, the twenty-year-old, maybe. The two younger ones, no way.

  “Are they still in jail?

  Mason winced. “We prefer to call it protective custody.

  “Waiting on the INS?

  “That, and the fact that we need them to testify against the guys who brought them into the country.

  Liam reached for his wallet. “Im due home.

  “Give Wy my love.

  “Wheres Gary? Liam said, suddenly noticing her brothers absence.

  “Relax, Jo said. “Hes doing some patchup work for a guy he knows in Ikikika.

  Liam tried not to show his relief.

  She waited until he was inches from a clean getaway. “Whats going on with your father, Liam?

  “I know as much as you do, Jo. And sometimes I think, he added, a trifle grimly, “a lot less.

  “Man, she said.

  “What?

  “Sons and their fathers.

  “What about them?

  “Tell the truth. You guys just sit around thinking up ways to fail each other, dont you?

  “Go to hell, Liam said, and marched to the bar, wallet in hand.

  Jo watched him go, admiring the straight spine that managed to broadcast every ounce of the offended dignity that he was feeling.

  Fathers and sons, she thought.

  There oughta be a law.

  She was unaware that shed said the words out loud until Special Agent James Mason said, “Against what?

  “Many things, she said, recovering. “Many, many things.

  “There already are, he said. “And speaking as a member and on behalf of the law-enforcement community, I have enough laws to make people mind already. My old man used to say that every time Congress enacted another law, they took another little piece of our freedom away.

  “Sounds like a right-wing reactionary to me.

  He laughed. “Its early, he said, reaching for his jacket. “Youre at the Bay View Inn.

  “Yes.

  “So am I. Ive got a bottle in my room. Want a drink?

  She looked him over with care. He met her eyes without guile, something to mistrust in any member of any law-enforcement agency. “Sure, she said.

  After paying his tab Liam paused at the chess table. “Get the hell outta my light, Clarence said. Eric Mollberg had gone to the bar for a refill. Moses looked up and growled, “What?

  “Do you know who did it?

  Moses moved his last pawn to the last row and exchanged it for his queen.

  “Do you?

  “Check, Moses said. Clarence swore loudly.

  “Goddamn it, old man, Liam said.

  “Goddamn it, yourself, Moses said. He reached for a bottle of Oly and flatfooted it. “Beer! he bellowed, and behind him Liam heard the bar cooler open. “I dont know, he said finally, glaring up at Liam, who seemed to have planted himself like a rock.

  “Youd tell me if you did.

  “It doesnt work like that. Youll find him. He tried for one of his fallen-angel smiles, not quite succeeding. “Besides, youre not a believer, boy. What you doing bothering the old shaman when you know youre going to do whatever the hell you were going to do in the first place? Go on home. Shes waiting for you.

  “I am. Liam didnt move.

  “Go on, then! Quit interfering with my chess game.

  Clarence gave a sudden cry that sounded just like the cackle of a raven, and moved his rook. “Checkmate.

  “Fuck, Moses said.

  Clarence sat back in his chair and looked up at Liam beneath shaggy brows. “You talking about Lydia?

  Liam shifted his gaze from one side of the table to the other, and nodded.

  “You should have seen her when we was all young, Clarence said. “That girl had boys buzzing around like mosquitoes, wanting to suck that juicy little thing dry.

  Moses uttered a sharp bark of laughter. “Including you.

  “Including you, Clarence retorted. His beady little black eyes sparkled and he all but smacked his lips. “Those were the days. Get hold of a truck and drive your girl and your friends and their girls to Icky and have an all-day party on the beach at One Lake. You remember that party out the beach that one summer?

  Moses grinned.

  “Yeah, Clarence said. “I see you do. Bet Leslie and Walter and Silent Cal and Stan do, too.

  “Stans dead.

  Clarence frowned. “Stans dead?

  “Going on five years.

  Clarence was outraged. “Goddamn! Hows a man supposed to get drunk with his friends if they keep dying on him!

  “What about Lydia at the beach? Liam said.

  Moses and Clarence got matching faraway looks on their faces. “We went up to the fish camp used to be at Icky.

  “Wasnt Icky, Moses said. “The fish camp was out the end of River Road.

  “It was up Icky way, this fish camp, Clarence said, glaring. “A bunch of the guys and the girls in the school. We took some beer, and somebody had some records and had figured out a way to run a record player off his pickup battery. We stayed up there two days and two nights, dancing and singing and laughing and pulling fish out of the river. Claren
ce looked at Moses. “Remember the eagles?

  Moses nodded. “Couple eagles sitting in this cottonwood snag, old Silent Cal got too close and one of those eagles hoisted up its tail feathers and shot a stream of yellow shit straight into old Silent Cals face.

  Both old men shook with remembered glee, until Liam was afraid Clarence at least might go off into an apoplexy.

  “I think he thought he was going to get lucky that night, Clarence said, mopping his eyes. “But his girl wouldnt have anything to do with him after that. He winked at Liam. “Not to say she didnt get lucky herself.

  Moses leaned forward and leveled a forefinger. “Clarence, you are a dirty old man.

  “I wasnt then.

  Again both men fell into choking fits.

  “When was that? Liam said.

  “Oh, hell, Clarence said, knuckling his eyes. “Long time. Long time ago. Before the war.

  “Not long before, Moses said instantly.

  “Long time before, Clarence said, glaring.

  “We werent that old long time before the war, old man.

  “Set up the pieces; well see how old I am!

  Liam left them to it.

  December 15, 1941

  Its cleer but god its cold they say its thirty-seven below the coldest in twenty-five years. Our mechanic Billy hes from Duluth in Minnesota hes a good guy he lost a filling the other day just by breathing in. He can only do a twenty-minute shift and even then he has to work in mittens. It took him two hours to replace a plug yesterday.

  Havent written for a while because we spent a week tdy flying out of Anchorage One day we went to Adak to pick up eighteen patients. 1250 miles and usually eight to ten hours flying time. There was a front hanging off Umnak and it was rough as hell. The nurse was a pistol she piled blankets all over the patients to keep them from bouncing around and give her parka to another. Roepke brought us down to 50 feet. Everybody puked. He brought us back up to thirteen thousand and the cabin temperature dropped to twenty below but at least it smoothed out. He put her down at Naknek in a forty mile an hour crosswind he had to really crab her in. Man that was no fun. While we were on the ground another Gooney crashed and burned on landing. The crew got out okay. We overnighted. The whole flight took two days two hours and ten minutes.

  Came back to find a letter from Helen. She lost the baby. Says shes sick and needs money to pay the hospital.

  Went to Petes for dinner when we got back. Hes a good guy knows not to talk to much. Wanted to know about Krasnoyarsk and what it looked like and how many people lived there. Told him it looked like Nome.

  FIFTEEN

  Diana Prince caught a call just as she was headed out the door at the end of the day. Someone had made a charge of child abuse against Bernadette Kusegta, who ran a small day-care center out of her home. The complainant, one Gloria Crow, accused Bernadette of interfering with her three-year-old daughter, Tammie. Kusegta, plump and attractive, with her black hair permed into a mass of large curls, looked white beneath her brown skin. She sat, unmoving, her eyes fixed on a point somewhere beyond the large room decorated in primary colors. It was heaped with toys and books, and a small inflatable swimming pool filled with about four inches of water sat on the floor, one lone rubber duck floating in the middle of it.

  “Well, go on, arrest her! Crow said. “What are you waiting for? She was slender and sharp-featured and vibrating with rage.

  “When did you see the marks, maam? Prince said.

  “Tonight! When my baby came home! She was crying and holding her bottom!

  “Did she say that Ms. Kusegta had hurt her?

  “No, but who else could have done it? Go on, arrest her! She hurt my baby!

  “You said, When your baby came home, maam. From that, Im guessing you didnt go get her.

  “No! So what?

  “Who did bring your daughter home, Ms. Crow?

  “Leslie did; he picked her up on his way home.

  “Is Leslie your husband?

  “Hes my roommate.

  “Whats his full name?

  “Leslie Clark.

  “And when he brought your daughter home, she was crying and holding her bottom.

  “Yes!

  “And then you looked and found the marks.

  “Yes! I know she did it; she was the only one who could have! Arrest her right now!

  “Where is your daughter now, maam?

  “Shes home, of course! I came here as soon as I saw what that bitch did to her!

  “Is Leslie there with her?

  “Of course! Did you think Id leave my baby all alone?

  Diana flipped her notebook closed. “Ill need to talk to your daughter, maam. Right now.

  They made it in the door before the boyfriend started beating on the little girl again, but only just. He was now in the lockup, protesting his innocence in spite of the similarity in size and shape between his hands and the marks on Tammies defenseless little bottom. Bernadette Kusegtas face had regained some of its natural color, and Gloria Crow was still insisting that Leslie could never have done such a thing, that she would have known if he could, that she would never have let him in her house or left her daughter with him if shed known. Diana took statements and called Bill Billington for an arraignment at ten A . M . the next morning. It was almost ten before she was through, and she was tired and heartsick and wanted nothing so much as a long, hot bath. Preferably with bubbles, but if no bubbles were to be had she might pour in a bottle of Lysol.

  She had her hand on the knob of the door when the phone rang. It would have forwarded to Liams cell after the second ring, but she seemed to be constitutionally incapable of walking out on a ringing phone. Cursing herself, she snatched it up. “Alaska State Troopers, Newenham post.

  The voice was loud enough to make her wince away from the receiver. “Maam! Maam! Please, calm down, I cant understand a word!

  There was a gulping kind of sob. “Please help me; I think my sisters dead.

  “What happened to her?

  “Oh, God, Karen, please, Karen, dont do this, please dont do this!

  “Maam? Where are you?

  “Were at my mothers. Please help us, please!

  “Where is your mothers house, maam? Maam?

  “Oh, God, I think shes dead. The voice dulled and flattened. “Oh, Karen. Oh, Karen.

  “Maam? Diana clenched the phone so hard her arm ached. “I need you to tell me where you are. Maam?

  After a long, silent moment, when she thought the caller might have hung up, the woman told her. Diana told her she was coming, called Liam, and called Joe Gould.

  She got to Lydias house five minutes after Joe and a split second before Liam. The three of them stood once again in Lydias kitchen, looking at another body on the same floor.

  “Strangled, this time, Joe said.

  “What was your first clue? Diana said, her voice hollow. Karens eyes were open and bulging, her tongue protruded from her mouth, and her throat was one livid bruise.

  To Liams everlasting shame, his first reaction at the sight was relief. Now Wy would never know what had happened in Lydias bedroom.

  Joe did not change expression.

  This time there had been a fight. The kitchen table and chairs were knocked over, drawers had been pulled out and dumped, cupboards opened and emptied on the floor. Broken dishes and spilled rice crunched underfoot, and the body was coated with powdered chocolate. “Lets check the rest of the house, Liam said.

  It was trashed. The bed had been ripped apart and the mattress dumped to the floor. The drawers to the filing cabinet had been opened and dumped. The shelves in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom had been swept clean, bottles of Bayer and boxes of Band-Aids and bars of scented soap winding up in the sink or toilet and all over the floor. Betsy Amakuk sat on the couch in the living room, where all the books had been pulled from the shelves. She was weeping into Stan Jr.s shoulder. Stan Jr. patted her awkwardly. He looked angry. Jerry wasnt there.

  “Somebo
dy was looking for something, Diana said.

  “No shit, Liam said, and returned to the kitchen. Joe Gould was zipping Karen into a black plastic body bag. “To the airport, Joe, straight to the airport and no stopping. He dialed Wys number on his cell phone. When she answered, he said, “I need you to take the Cessna to Anchorage tonight. Right now, in fact. Can do?

  “Are you coming?

  “Yes. Youll be transporting a body. Silence. “Wy?

  “Whose body? she said, but he got the feeling she was only killing time.

  “Karen Tompkins.

  “What?

  “Karen Tompkins, Lydias daughter. We just found her. I need to get her body to the ME in Anchorage tonight. Can you take it?

  Another silence. “I All right. Ill call Bill to stay with Tim and head for the airport to start pulling seats.

  “Meet you there. He hung up and looked at Prince. “You know the drill.

  “I do.

  “Well do a turnaround and come straight back.

  “Okay. She was straining toward the door, eager to start questioning the neighbors.

  “Go, he said, and she bolted for the door like the starter pistol had been fired.

  “Give me a hand, Joe said, and Liam went to Karen Tompkins black plastic-clad feet. They lifted her easily and bore her from the room. Liam glanced back at the isolated island of faded linoleum in a sea of broken crockery, spilled flatware and a layer of white flour, an eerie reverse print of the dead womans body.

  They were in the air half an hour later, the second and third rows of seats pulled and stacked in the shed next to the tie-down. “Karen Tompkins?

  “Yeah.

  “Lydia Tompkins daughter?

  “Yeah.

  “What happened?

  “It looks like somebody strangled her.

  She made a noise of distress. “Why?

  “I dont know yet.

  The night was clear and calm, and the moon rose in time to light their way through Lake Clark Pass, a narrow gorge hedged about on all sides by very tall, very steep mountains already covered with snow. They landed at Merrill seventy minutes later, to be met by the meat wagon. Brillo Pad was driving.

  Brillo Pad, aka Dr. Hans Brilleaux, had a very thick, very wiry, very curly head of very black hair, hence the nickname. Brillo Pad was fifty-six years old and very proud of his hairs continued thickness and lack of gray. “Liam, he said, big white buckteeth flashing in a grin. His face was swarthy and his nose was large and red-veined.