by Gary Striker
“It’s..., it’s floating”, Jim said in bewilderment as his eyes got as big as two silver dollars. “What the hell’s going on here, guys? Are you playing a joke on ol’ Jim and his demented mind”?
“Jim, no, honest! We have no idea what that thing is or why it’s doing what it’s doing!
The threesome stared in bewilderment. Jim approached the device with caution and touched it with his pencil. It floated off the desk and then dropped to the floor at Jane’s feet.
“No way, boys and girls, I didn’t see a thing”, Jim said as he distanced himself.
Steve reached over and picked up the mystery object.
“Jim, join me in a reality check. Let me assure you that this was no magic trick. Let me call my boss. I want you to hear this conversation. I have a plan. We need to get a professional evaluation”, he said as he reached for his cell phone.
“Good morning, Steve”, was Cruz’s greeting.
“Cruz, listen to me. I don’t have time to discuss this with you now, but be assured that we need your help with something, pronto”!
Cruz came to full attention and realized that he was urgently being requested to help resolve an issue.
“Sure, Steve, what’s going on”?
“I’m sitting here in Jim Gagnon’s office with Jane. I found an object that could provide us with a clue as to why Marie may have disappeared.”
“What do you need”, Cruz fired back with all of his energy cells ready to do battle?
“I need you to contact Darren McCall at the L.A.P.D. Crime Lab. Tell him I have an urgent confidential request.”
“Sure, Steve, what is it”?
“I need him to evaluate an object that we found last night. We need a full lab report immediately! I want him to perform every test in the book, leave nothing to chance”!
“I think we both know Darren very well, Steve”, Cruz paused. “I’ll trust the urgency of your request”.
“I don’t care what time of day or night it is. I don’t care if he’s on his honeymoon in Hong Kong! When this box shows up, he needs to be there to go to work. He is to talk to no one except you or me. Is that understood”?
Cruz was evaluating the peculiar nature of this request and Steve’s state of mind! He got cut off at the pass.
“You’ve known me for a long time, Cruz”, Steve stated, “Have you ever seen me blow a gasket? We need your help. Marie needs your help. Now! It can’t wait”!
“Let me talk to Jim”, Cruz requested. “I’ll arrange for a courier and immediate transport of the item. I’ll have it picked up within the hour”
Steve and Jane stared at each other as both took a deep breath and walked about the office. Jim received the shipping details from Cruz within a few minutes.
“I’ll pack this thing myself and have it ready and labelled within a half hour”, Jim assured Cruz. It was nice to make your acquaintance”.
“Likewise, Jim. Tell Steve to give me a call later when he can, please”.
Jim signed off with Cruz and relayed the message. Jane was looking through her cell phone photos and brought one to attention. It showed the object floating above Jim’s desk.
Steve and Jim looked surprised and everyone looked at each other. Jim took the lead.
“Good girl, Jane, always thinking! Steve, get this packed while Jane and I print a picture of that thing. This is one of them newfangled wireless printers. We’ll include a copy of the photo for the lab.”
Jim rifled through his desk and pulled out several fishing sinkers.
“Put these in there too, Steve”, Jim added with a smile, “We certainly don’t want this package to float away”.
“Aye, aye, sir”, Steve acknowledged, as all hands attended to their tasks.
In a few minutes, the carton was setting on Jim’s desk, labeled and ready for transport.
Steve looked at Jane.
“Weren’t you supposed to be working today”, he asked?
“We have in-service days today and tomorrow”, Jane responded, “I told them that I had an emergency and would be at work before noon.”
As Steve sat back, a D.H.L. driver let himself in with a smile.
“Good morning, everybody. Hi, Jim. I haven’t seen you for a while”.
“What took you so long”, Jim asked while looking at the wall clock, “We called you almost twenty minutes ago”?
“These horseless carriage things definitely need improvement, for sure. I was in Fort Kent heading back to Presque Isle when I got the notification.”
Everyone smiled as he checked the parcel into the system and confirmed the shipping method.
“This must be damn important”, the driver acknowledged, “This package will be in Los Angeles and delivered by late this afternoon, L.A. time”.
Nobody said a word. The driver bid everyone a good day and departed with the package.
“Jim, we have a few things to discuss”, Steve said apprehensively, “I believe that we can help each other. I’m going to take Jane back to the school and I have a few things to do. What say we meet for lunch? Do you have time today”?
“There’s a very nice place within walking distance from Jane’s house”, Jim offered.
Jane lit up with a smile!
“You dirty rats”, Jane said in a frustrated voice, “Fiddleheads is my fav’. You’ll really enjoy the place, Steve. They make everything by hand with lots of local favorites. The place sets close to the lake. You can’t miss it. It should be very romantic for the two of you”!
Steve looked at Jim and extended a big wink.
“Well, maybe we should just meet back here in my office”, Jim chided with a smirk, “I’m very busy today”!
Everyone laughed and the lunch date was set for high noon at Fiddleheads.
Jane and Steve were heading back to Eagle Lake when Jane requested that Steve pull the car over by a property entrance.
“What’s up, honey-do”, Steve asked, and in his best repeat John Wayne performance, sauntered a bit closer to Jane. “Ya wanna neck, pilgrim”?
Steve straightened up as he received a whack across the chest.
“Did I say something to offend the madam”, he continued in his best John Wayne impersonation”?
“You are such a bonehead! Is that all men think about”, Jane asked already knowing the answer”?
“I was just trying to attend to your wants and needs, ma’am”, Steve said as he reiterated an earlier criticism.
“Just shut up and listen to me, you Neanderthal”, Jane ordered, “This is the Striker residence. This is where Jim and his expedition went back into Ben Lake last week, about five miles from here. That’s where they lost Mike Nadeau while looking for clues to Marie’s disappearance. Jim presented a few remains from Mike’s possessions at an emergency Town meeting yesterday morning. They found what was left of his stuff after an incident that nobody’s talking about. Jim said some maniac was loose back there. What chance do you think a maniac would have against five former loggers who know the woods and were carrying twenty firearms between them”?
“How do you know this”, Steve asked?
“There are no secrets in Payton Place, mister. Marie’s motorcycle was found next to the lake undamaged and in perfect condition. There was no evidence that she drove it back there. It was clean and polished with not a trace of dirt. There is no way that it could have been trailered back in on that old unmaintained logging road. You’d have to cut trail even for an A.T.V.”.
Steve gazed up the entranceway.
“Nice place the Strikers have here. What’s the deal with this property and Ben Lake”, Steve asked inquisitively?
“This property”, Jane explained, “extends about half way to Ben Lake. Adjoining the back of the property is the Allagash Wilderness Area. This is the safest and most direct route back to the lake”.
Steve surveyed the area.
“I’ll need to discuss the search mission with Jim. There was very little data on the county record regar
ding the original investigation. The F.B.I. hasn’t released any information. None of that’s unusual, but not even the investigators closest to the case had so much as a comment or opinion. It’s like it never happened”.
“Just so you know where you are”, Jane added, “this entrance is six miles north of the Bald Eagle, and the Wallagrass Town Office is another five”.
“What’s a Bald Eagle”, Steve inquired before he realized another shot was coming?
“Oh, you know, one of those big birds with no hair on his head”. Jane smiled victoriously.
Steve kept his mouth shut as the better part of valor.
The Bald Eagle Convenience Store is where we stopped for gas this morning in the center of Eagle Lake”, Jane said in a sorry tone, “You’re such a primate”!
Aliens in the Allagash
Chapter 10
The Game Plan
Jane and Steve arrived back at the Town of Eagle Lake after a pleasant and picturesque drive along the six miles of lake shore. Jane had been conversing with the hospital regarding Danny’s condition.
“It’s not looking good for Danny”, Jane said in a worried voice, “They brought in a specialist from Caribou. They may have to transport him to Bangor.”
Jane pulled into her drive. She was thinking about her new friend.
“I wonder where this is gonna go”, she thought to herself?
Not much had materialized over the past several years. Jane was thinking about how the other guys would wimp out at the slightest insult, whether it was said in jest or not.
“But this guy’s different”, she reflected. “I could fire a Howitzer at his head and the bullets would just bounce off. I think he actually enjoys it”?
Steve looked over as he brought the car to a stop. Jane was gazing into his eyes.
I need to go in for a few minutes”, she said, “I’m going to walk over to the school like I usually do. It’s only a quarter mile from here”.
They entered the living room as Jane stopped and focused on Steve. “Let’s put the world on hold for five minutes, mister. Sit down”!
“You called me more names in two days than I have been called in my whole life”, Steve commented with a smirk, “You must be madly in love”?
“We need to talk, Jane requested, “How about a dinner date”?
“What do you have in mind, sweet thing”?
Jane moved in close and sunk herself into Steve’s chest.
“Are you planning to abuse me, lady”, Steve hoped with a stupid grin pasted onto his face?
“I want to make us dinner tonight”, Jane said, “This is a real special occasion for me, so don’t blow it, you…”, as Jane paused and smiled, then finished with ‘special person’.
Steve laughed and grabbed his new babe.
“I’m so happy that you have reformed at the hands of a skilled mentor. It has to be a tough attitude adjustment for you. Be assured that you will feel much better about yourself in the morning”.
“Don’t you ever shut up, you big dummy”, Jane asked with a look of consternation? ”I haven’t cooked for a man in three years. The last one I threw out of this house”.
“So much for my training seminar. Do I need to make a reservation at that place we passed, what was it, the Eagle Lake Inn”?
“Shut your mouth and pay attention before I suture it closed”, Jane ordered without a smile.
“Yes ma’am, mums the word”, Steve said with a hand gesture.
“Now you listen to me, mister”, Jane commanded as she got Steve’s full attention, “If you keep up this charm routine, I’m going to fall off the edge. Do you have any idea what I’m talking about”?
Steve looked Jane square in the eyes.
“I’ve been madly in love since I first laid eyes on Santa’s little elf back at the Ski Rack. Is that what you had in mind”?
Jane relaxed in Steve’s arms and spoke softly, “Precisely”!
Jane left for work and Steve glanced at his watch.
“It’s 11:30, he said to himself, “I’d better call Cruz before I head over to Fiddleheads.”
Steve sat at the kitchen table with pen and pad in hand, his usual routine for taking a business call.
“Hello, Steve”, was Cruz’s enthusiastic reception, “We’re all set on this end. I spoke with Darren. I’m going to meet him at the lab about 5 PM. The package should be there about that time”. Darren occasionally works the evening hours so we should not draw any attention. Business as usual”.
“Perfect”, Steve returned with a relaxed expression.
“What’s in the mail”, Cruz asked?
“I believe this may be the first step to finding out what happened to Marie. Getting this done A.S.A.P. is imperative as lives may be at risk if we go further”.
“Steve, I’m waiting with bated breath, but how about a clue”, Cruz requisitioned?
“If I told you what was going on, I’d be sharing a room with Roy Decker before sundown. I’m having lunch with Jim Gagnon. I have puzzle pieces that are starting to fit together and Jim may provide some key elements in my investigation”.
“You know Slattery, I brought you into the group on my mama’s intuition. She was never wrong”.
“I’m flattered, sir”, Steve returned, “I had a lot of respect for her after that night at the La Cortina. But as my pilot friend would say, ‘you are only as good as your next landing’. We have a tough road ahead of us and this one is strewn with potholes. But I guarantee you one thing, Cruz, we will find out what happened to Marie”.
“Ok, Steve, let’s regroup later after Darren has a look at that thing you sent”.
Steve sat back and contemplated the next move, then side-stepped to Santa’s elf.
“I’m the one that’s going to be in need of a reality check”, he said to himself, “but that may be already too late. Slattery, you always liked to live on the edge, complements of Billy the Bully”!
Steve walked the short distance to the lake shore. A few people were milling about, but essentially the place was deserted.
“What a beautiful spot”, he remised, “What have you done with your life for the last forty-one years”?
At that moment, Jim Gagnon appeared at the Fiddlehead parking lot as he ripped up the asphalt trying to stop his S.U.V., then noticed Steve a short distance away and floored it before coming to a screeching halt.
“Get in”, was all that Jim said in an urgent voice as he pushed the door open for Steve”.
“What’s with the Mario Andretti routine”, Steve asked as Jim peeled rubber heading back toward the Bald Eagle?
“I just got a call from Cheyenne. He was the one in our group that got into a knife fight with a Martian when we went back to Ben Lake last Saturday”.
Steve looked at Jim as if his clutch just exploded.
“If I go to the asylum, you’re going with me. Just hear me out. I haven’t had a drink in a month, since Marie vanished, but today I’m going to change my ways. Ron Thibodeaux, who heads up our search and rescue team, is coming out of the Allagash as we speak. He took a team back to Ben Lake this morning looking for Mike.
“Where are we going”, Steve asked?
“Just up the road a few miles to the Striker residence”.
“Jane and I stopped there when we came down before”, Steve informed Jim. “She said it was the access way back to Ben Lake”.
“That’s right, and that’s where Ron’s coming out from. Cheyenne said that he had bad trouble. That’s all I know”.
“Does this mean that our lunch date is off, big fella”, Steve asked with a wink?
“Jane warned me about you, but to tell you the truth, you fit in just perfect with the rest of us whackos around here”.
Steve laughed as Jim slowed his vehicle and barely made the turn up the long drive to the Striker residence. Emergency vehicles, State Police, Search and Rescue, and Border Patrol cars filled the lot with lights flashing everywhere.
“Hi Jim”, was Ch
eyenne’s greeting, “I told them to wait until they had a chance to talk with you, but they went back in anyway.”
“Cheyenne, this is Steve Slattery, “Jim said as they shook hands, “Steve has been a big help to us with this problem we’re trying to sort out”.
“Are you the fella that carved up a Martian”, Steve asked with a grin?
“The one and the same”, Cheyenne responded with a big smile as he pulled out his KBar.
“I haven’t seen one of those since I was in the Marine Corps”, Steve commented.
“Semper Fi, amigo”, Cheyenne saluted.
“Semper Fi, Cheyenne”.
Jim hustled over to where Ron was assisting one of the Customs and Border Patrol officers along with two paramedics”.
“Ah shit”, Jim said, “This is Adam, Mike’s son. Elaine is going to lose it this time”.
“He’s ok, Jim”, one of the paramedics reported, “He’s just banged up a bit and looks worse than he is. Nothing broken. Maybe a couple stitches in his head at most. He’ll be ok”.
The paramedic turned about and pointed to another victim.
“That’s Bob’s nephew, Clayton, who moved up here from Augusta last year. He wasn’t so lucky. His neck is broken and his spine appears to be pulverized, judging from the extent of damage. Adam got himself beat up trying to help him, but it was too late”.
“Beat up from what”, Steve asked?
Steve had been surveying the A.T.V.’s of the search and rescue team and had surreptitiously joined the conversation.
“Oh, hey Steve”, Jim said as he turned, “I didn’t see you there, this is Ron Thibodeaux who heads up our search and rescue effort around here”.
“Nice to meet you, albeit under stressful conditions. So what happened to Clayton”?
“To be honest”, Ron began, ”I’m not sure”.
Steve looked skeptically at Jim.
“I don’t know”, Ron stated, “We started hearing weird things and there was a strange looking haze down close to the lake, but not over the lake. Never saw anything like it. The next thing I saw was Clay being tossed around up in a big Cypress tree.”
