Stabenow, Dana - Liam Campbell 04 - Better To Rest

by Better To Rest(lit)

  “Hans Brilleaux, Wy Chouinard.

  Brillo Pad gave Wy the once-over. “Delighted. You folks staying the night in Anchorage?

  “You done with Lydia Tompkins? Liam said.

  “Who?

  “Lydia Tompkins, Liam said, enunciating the name in careful, independent syllables. “The woman I sent you two days ago.

  Brillo Pad tore his eyes from Wy and said, “Sure. I knew that. Ah, yeah. Head injury, whacked her skull pretty good, causing internal bleeding and a clot. Bam. On the physical evidence of the body, good chance it was accidental, not intentional. She clawed him, but no skin or blood, only fibers. If I had to guess, Id say they came from a Carhartts jacket.

  “Great.

  “I know, not many of those around Alaska, are there? He helped Liam maneuver the body bag out of the 180. “Whos this?

  “The first womans daughter. How quick can you look at her?

  Brillo Pad whistled long and low. “Daughter, huh? Man, youre the reason Ive been in business the last six months.

  “Im figuring the same guy did both women. Any hard evidence you can find, say fibers from the same coat, would be most helpful.

  “Ill take her straight to the lab, see what I can see. So, are you staying in town tonight?

  “Were going home, Liam told Brillo.

  “Okay. Ill give you a call when Ive got something.

  He drove off, and Wy got clearance from the tower. They were back in the air five minutes later.

  Liam felt a sense of relief as the lights of the big city receded behind them, and wondered at it. “Its easier flying at night, he said over the headset.

  She looked at him in the darkness of the cabin. “Youre not as afraid to fly in the dark?

  “I dont think I am. Or at least not as much as I am during the day.

  “Its a miracle, she said lightly.

  “Maybe its just that I cant see how far up we are. He peered out of the window, saw a flare burning on one of the Inlet oil rigs far below, and straightened hastily.

  “Or maybe youre just tired of being scared and your little monkey brain has decided enough is enough.

  “Maybe, he said, unconvinced. He was glad, though, to be spared some of the usual terror. He wasnt relaxed enough to doze, but at least he wasnt holding the aircraft up by the edge of his seat.

  It was dark and warm in the cabin. Outside the stars were very bright, competing with the new moon, and both lit every rugged peak and every hanging glacier of the pass in bold relief. The moonlight reflected off the snow and lit the cabin of the aircraft with enough light to read by. He was very conscious of Wys shoulder brushing his, of her strong hands, relaxed and competent, resting on the yoke, of her long, jeans-clad legs stretched out in front of her, the soles of her feet just touching the rudder pedals. He turned a little in his seat so he could watch her.

  She glanced over. “What?

  “Nothing. I just like watching you work, is all.

  Her teeth flashed in the dim light. “Since when?

  “Since tonight, I guess.

  She held up a hand and turned a knob on the tuner. A womans voice gave a recorded weather report. When it began to repeat, she turned it off.

  “I love you, Wy.

  She reached for his hand and brought it to her lips. “Same goes.

  He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm. They flew on steadily for a few moments, content.

  “Liam?

  “What?

  It was odd, but the question she had been dreading to ask came out more easily than she had imagined. Maybe everything was easier at five thousand feet. “Are you going to take that job that John Barton offered you?

  “I dont know. His answer, too, was much less tense than it might have been.

  “Do you want it?

  Did he? Did he want to go back to the fast track, to being John Dillinger Bartons fair-haired, handpicked successor, well up on the ladder to the top?

  He remembered the answer hed given Brillo Pad when the ME had wanted to know if they were staying the night in Anchorage. Were going home . It was natural now, or so it seemed, for him to call Newenham home. He thought of the people he would never have met if not for his fall from grace and his transfer to Newenham. Bill Billington, a magistrate unlike any other he had ever encountered. Moses Alakuyak, that not-quite-dried-up little demon. Charlene Taylor. Newenham had given him Wy back. Newenham had given him Tim.

  He thought then of the mighty river flowing past their deck, of the great bay it emptied into, of the rolling muskeg and the hundreds of lakes and the ragged peaks and glaciers and hidden valleys beyond. Of the little herd of caribou that he had been told wandered into town in the early spring when they overran their calving grounds. Of the walrus hauling out in herds on the beaches of an island just miles down the coast. Of the hundred tiny towns and villages, cabins and fish cabins and lodges sprinkled across this vast area with a lavish hand, each one housing some gem of a person like Leonard Nunapitchuk, who refused to be a victim, who remained stubbornly in his own house even after his wife had been murdered in it by the same man who had kidnapped and murdered his daughter.

  “You know, Wy, I dont know the answer to that one, either. Three years ago I wouldnt have hesitated; I would have grabbed it and ran. I had a wife, and a son, and a career where there was nowhere to go but up. And then I met you. Wy?

  “What?

  “If I take the job, will you come with me? You and Tim?

  There was a brief silence. “I dont know, Liam. This is honest. I dont know.

  He laughed then. “Yeah, well, were not the most decisive couple on the block, now, are we?

  “I guess not. She laughed, too, a little. “Liam.

  “What?

  She took his hand, and his curled around hers in a comforting grip. “There is Tim.

  “There certainly is. I wasnt thinking wed leave him behind.

  “I know.

  “I like him, Wy. I like him a lot. And without sounding too egotistical, I think he likes me. Id like to be his father. And, he added pointedly, “Id like to make it official.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah, she said. “Man, I never knew anyone more hot to get married than you.

  He leaned over to kiss her. “Hot doesnt even come close, he said with his best sexy growl, and then his mike got tangled up with hers and they both started to laugh.

  “Tim cant get into any more trouble in Anchorage than he has in Newenham, he said, sitting back. “Same cliques, same drugs, same joysticks. He can go to the malls and the movies, and itll be harder to keep tabs on him if he finds a friend with a car, but otherwise its not that different.

  “Its a lot bigger than Newenham. The schools bound to induce big-time culture shock. And then there is Natalie.

  Liam shook his head. “I never would have thought to hear you using Natalie Gosuk as a reason to keep Tim in Newenham. He was gentle but inexorable. “Are you sure she isnt just an excuse to keep you there, too?

  She was silent. They were out of the pass and were losing altitude, on approach across the Nushugak into the Newenham airport.

  “Do you know the words in the wedding service, Wy? Forsaking all others, so long as you both shall live. Thats what I want. Forsaking all others. And all other places. We dont have to move to Anchorage; thats not what Im saying.

  She didnt sound angry. “It kind of sounds like that, Liam.

  He was exasperated. “Do you get anything about me at all, woman? I love you! Ive always loved you! I would have walked out on my wife and my child if youd asked me! But you didnt ask!

  She stared at him. “Dont you get anything about me? she said at last. “I wouldnt have wanted you if youd been able to do something like that. One of the reasons I love you, that Ive always loved you, is that youre an honorable man. I knew all I had to do was drive to Glenallen and knock on your door. I always knew that.

  “But you didnt.

  “So I didnt love you enough to? Is that what this is about?
I let you back into my life, Liam, into Tims life. Youre important to both of us now.

  “I want to be essential.

  “You are. You were then. She was silent. “Or...

  “What.

  She took a deep breath. “I dont know, Liam. Love is supposed to be unselfish. If you love, youre supposed to want whats best for the person you love.

  “And?

  “And if Id loved you enough then, I shouldnt have asked you to choose between me and Jenny and Charlie. If Id loved you enough, I should have bought the house next door to yours, so youd never have to be far away from your son.

  His feeling of comfort vanished. The plane seemed very high in the air and nowhere near as steady beneath his butt as it had been a moment before. “Youre telling me you didnt love me enough.

  The silence that followed seemed to him to be very long. “I guess I didnt.

  The next question was as difficult but came much more quickly. “Do you now?

  If he hadnt been listening so intently for her answer he might have missed it. “Wy?

  “Did you hear that?

  “Hear what?

  “The engine seemed to miss a beat.

  “What? Liam sat up, peering at the prop, instantly focused on where they were.

  “There! It happened again!

  She was adamant so he listened. A high-pitched drone whined past the outside of the aircraft. The Cessna seemed to shudder, although it might have been Wys hands clenching on the yoke. “What the hell?

  “What is it?

  Her hands were already a blur of movement. “I think someones shooting at us.

  “What!

  “I said I think

  There was another whine, followed this time by the unmistakable impact of metal on metal. The prop began to shudder, and the cowling and indeed the entire front of the aircraft with it. “Hang on! she shouted, and kicked the rudder and put the Cessna into a shallow dive and a spiraling turn.

  It was an unnecessary command; Liam had his hands clenched around the edge of his seat and with every muscle strained upward, keeping that plane in the sky. Oh, God yes, anything but down, please, please, Ill never get drunk again, Ill do all of Miranda every single time no matter how the Supreme Court rules, Ill marry and settle down and live a nice, quiet life, just please dont let this plane go down with me on board.

  But when he risked a glance out the window, down seemed to be coming up very fast indeed, and now he cursed the light of the moon that so clearly illuminated the river beneath them. No, not into the riverit was too cold; theyd never survive long enough to make it to the shoreand then the shore was beneath themoh, no, not the shore, they were going to crash, the plane was going to hit the ground and break into pieces and they were going to break into pieces with it, not the shore, please not the shore. Wys face was tight-lipped and grim, the yoke shook back and forth in her hands in time with the shaking of the propeller and the cowling and the whole front of the plane, Oh, God, he thought he was going to be sick.

  The ground rushed up at them and suddenly he saw a stretch of open ground, oh, God, was it an airstrip? It was white with snow or frost but it was long and straight and there were no trees in the middle of it, no trees for the plane to run into, no trees to decapitate him or impale him or skewer him, a Campbell shish kebab. “Is it an airstrip? he shouted.

  “Shut up! she shouted back, and the ground rushed up, filling his range of terrified vision, up, up, up, until they hit down, hard, bounced once, hit again, and then, miraculously, all three gear were on the ground and she had cut the engine and they were running out the length of the airstrip, this blessed airstrip that had appeared out of nowhere to aid and to succor them in their time of need.

  The Cessna rumbled and rolled and thumped and chunked over hummocks of ice and snow and what might have been a fallen tree and finally stopped.

  It was very quiet in the cabin of the little plane. Liam could hear himself inhale, exhale, inhale. His heartbeat was clearly audible, too, a rapid thudding sound, like a drumbeat, slowing now.

  “Liam.

  “What?

  “Im sorry I told you to shut up.

  “Its okay. Everythings okay. Im fine. Youre fine, and Im fine, and were on the ground, oh, God, how I love the ground, and everythings fine. He was light-headed, a little dizzy.

  “Liam?

  “Really. Im fine. Im justIm fine.

  Another silence. “Wy?

  “What?

  “Why does the plane always break when Im on board?

  She ruffled up. “It doesnt always break. Its only broken once before when you were on board. And it didnt break this time; somebody broke it.

  She opened the door and climbed out. He followed.

  One end of the propeller had been hit, it looked by, yes, by a bullet. The squared-off end of the prop was not quite holed but sort of splooshed, dented, cratered, if you could call something that small a crater.

  Liam could. “I have to sit down, he said, and staggered over to a tree trunk.

  “Me, too, Wy said, and followed him.

  They both sat down at the same time, not bothering to clear off the trunk, and as a result the snow on the trunk wet their pants through immediately. They didnt move, except that Liam put his head between his knees.

  “You okay?

  “Im fine, Liam said, his head still between his knees. “Where are we?

  “Bulge. The village across the river. Their front street.

  “Oh. He peered around, and now that the terror had cleared from his eyes he saw the three little houses, shacks, really, clustered at one end of the airstrip. “Where is everybody?

  Wy let her head fall back and closed her eyes against the glare of the moon. “Nobody lives here during the winter.

  “Yeah? Summer cottages.

  “One room, river view.

  He turned his head, still keeping it low. “You sound almost cheerful. She looked it, too, as near as he could make out her expression in the moonlight.

  “I am, she said, and laughed out loud and opened her eyes.

  He sat up with caution. “Whats so damn funny?

  She laughed again, a joyous sound. “I didnt know it was coming!

  “What?

  “I didnt know anybody was going to shoot at us!

  He stared at her. “Okay, he said. “I didnt, either, which goes without saying, as Id much rather shoot it out on the ground, although Id rather never shoot it out at all. What the hell are you talking about?

  “I didnt know anybody was going to shoot at us, and I didnt know wed have to make an emergency landing! I didnt know anything about it! I didnt hear any voices, or feel any feelings! I didnt have any visions!

  “Wy, honey, Liam said, “youve got a first-aid kit in the plane, dont you? Is there any, well, you know, Valium in it?

  “Im fine, Liam, she said, and got up to do a neat dance step, of necessity shuffling a bit because of the snow, but still... “Listen, she said, coming to sit back next to him. She seized his hands in both of hers and kissed him soundly, a loud smack that echoed off the sides of the plane and back at them, and made her laugh again.

  “Wy

  “Moses came to see me last night, she said.

  “Wy, let me get the first-aid kit. Youve got some whiskey in it, dont you? I think you could use a drink, and I know I could.

  He tried to stand up and she wouldnt let him. “Wait a minute, Liam. I know I sound crazy, but listen. Moses came to see me last night, and he told me he was my grandfather.

  “Oh. All that meant to Liam was that the little martinet was going to be his grandfather-in-law. He could only imagine how much Moses was going to be beat up on him now. There were probably one hundred additional movements in tai chi that Moses had been saving up to torture him with, and hed have to learn them all. “Maybe I dont want to marry you after all.

  She laughed again, a clear, full-throated sound that rang down the airstrip like a bell. “Hes a shaman.

 
“Ive noticed, Liam said dryly.

  “No, no, listen. She shook his hands. “Listen, Liam. Im his granddaughter, and he hears voices.

  “Wy, I dont

  “He told me I was going to hear them, too.

  “think What? What do you mean?

  “I mean just what you think I mean. He told me that hearing the voices is hereditary in our family, that sometimes it takes a while for them to kick in. He told me the reason I made us come to the fish camp last month is because I knew Gheen was coming and that Tim was in danger.

  He looked at her and remembered how determined, how in fact implacable she had been to fly into the teeth of thirty-five-knot winds, blowing snow and fog and the years first winter storm. She was going to go; nothing anyone could say or do short of busting up the plane with a crowbar was going to stop her. He had been angry with her, and terrified, because he knew hed have to go with her. “Did you?

  She rounded on him. “Of course not! I told Moses last night that all I did was follow the trail of dead bodies that crazy bastard left. It was pointing right toward Old Man Creek. It didnt take any voices to see that; it was right there on the map!

  She looked as fierce as she sounded; there was plenty of moonlight to show him that. “Thats why you were nervous about the flights, he said.

  “What flights?

  “The one to the glacier this morning and the one to Anchorage tonight. You were looking for advice from the voices if you should fly or not.

  “Voices, she said with scorn. “Imagine. Im a pilot, Liam. Im not a shaman. Besides, a shaman is a man. All the shamans Ive known are men.

  “How many have you known?

  “Thats not the point. Okay, one, all right, Moses! But Ive never read about a woman shaman, or heard about one, and besides, I dont believe in any of that stuff anyway. Hes my friend, and my tai chi teacher, and it turns out he happens to be my grandfather, too. She made a visible effort to calm down. “Hes also a drunk, and he was drunk on his ass last night. He probably didnt have a clue what he was saying.