by Ed Robinson
I threw a tennis ball for Red a few times, making sure to stop and pet him real good each time he brought it back. He was happy to see me. Dogs have short memories. He’d forgotten about how little attention I’d paid him recently. His tail wagged and his ears flopped like this was the greatest day of his life.
“I’ve got Rominger,” Brody said. “I already told him, but he wants to talk to you.”
She knew that I hated talking on the phone, even a secure one like this.
“Yo,” I said.
“Is this hermit character a reliable witness?” he asked. “I’m going to the DA blind here.”
“You mean will a homeless bum be believable in court?” I asked.
“Something like that,” he said. “But also, will he show up?”
“I’m working on immunity for him,” I explained. “I think he will appear, but I can’t guarantee it. As far as court goes, if he cleans up first, he’ll be an outstanding witness. He’s sober and smart. Don’t forget he was once a professional.”
“That’s what I was hoping to hear,” he said. “I’ll ask for their advice on what to do with the Chief. I’m going to have to assure them that we have a solid witness.”
“I’m ninety-five percent certain he’ll show up and do a fine job,” I said. “Assuming he has immunity. Emphasize that to the DA.”
“Will do,” he said. “Oh, and thanks. Your contributions won’t go unnoticed.”
“Great, now when are you going to find that car?”
“Our guys have been pulling over white Subarus for days now,” he said. “It’s becoming a joke at HQ.”
“Too bad the kid didn’t take off in a bright yellow Hummer,” I said.
“If he’s been driving our roads, we would have found him by now,” he said. “That’s our thing. You know, Highway Patrol? He’s got to be in deep hiding.”
“Lots of hiding places in these mountains,” I said. “But the kid isn’t going it alone. Someone has to be hiding him.”
“Maybe his father knows where he went,” Rominger said. “We’ll bring him in after I get legal advice. Charge him with something so we can hold him. That ought to break the dam on this thing. I’m starting to think we can get to the bottom of this, for the first time. I hate to admit it, but it’s mostly because of you.”
“And Brody, and Red,” I said. “Creekside Investigations. What do you think?”
“Hanging a shingle?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “We mentioned the possibility. Brody has the background for it.”
“And you’ve got some skills,” he said. “Adding the dog to the mix gives you a formidable team.”
“Thanks,” I said. “That’s kind of what we were thinking.”
“If we get a murder conviction in this case,” he said. “It would be a great jumpstart to your business.”
“We’ll worry about that later,” I said. “Let’s get this thing done first.”
I rounded up Red and went inside. The kitchen smelled like something good to eat. My pretty woman was putting plates on the table. I stood inside the door feeling blessed. I’d never really experienced that feeling of gratitude. I’d had ups and downs. I’d been financially stable, and I’d been dead broke. I’d had a string of women come and go. At that moment, I realized that I was experiencing the best time of my life. I owed it all to Brody.
I gave her an unexpected hug and held it for an extra few seconds. I looked into her sparkly eyes and asked if she was as happy as I was.
“I am happy here,” she said. “And I’m happy with you. You seem to have come to life here in the mountains. You’ve found your purpose.”
“My purpose is to love you,” I said. “This is spur of the moment, so I don’t have a ring yet, but will you marry me? I promise you my undying love, for as long as we both shall live.”
“I never imagined that you’d ask me that,” she said.
I never imagined that I’d ask it,” I admitted. “But right now I can’t think of anything that I want more. Please, be my lawfully wedded wife.”
“I will,” she said. “You may now kiss the bride.”
We kissed and hugged for a ridiculous amount of time, right there in the kitchen. Red joined us to see what the fuss was all about. We both knelt down to include him in the group hug. He gave each of us a big doggie kiss. No matter how long I live, or what happens to me in this life, I will never forget that moment. I’d finally shed all the demons within me. I’d finally realized what giving yourself completely to another person really meant. All of the bad memories that had haunted me for so long melted away. I had a future, and its name was Brody.
Our bedroom activities kept us up late into the night. All previous scorecards were forgotten. The slate had been wiped clean, and we expended enough energy in the process to light a small town. My sleep was deep and without dreams. When I woke, I was ready to face anything. The first thing I had to face was Red. We both slept too late, and he was impatient to go outside. He violated the bedroom boundary to put his nose in my face and remind me of my duties.
“Sorry, boy,” I said. “I’m coming.”
I let him out the back door and started the coffee maker. Before I could get my first cup, Angelina Will’s car appeared in the driveway. She was the last person I cared to see that morning, but she wouldn’t have come if it wasn’t important. I quickly put on some pants and woke Brody.
“We’ve got company,” I said. “I’ll stall her while you get dressed.”
“Her?”
“Yea, sorry,” I said. “Something must be up.”
I remembered that Red was outside and scrambled to call him in before Angelina got out of the car. I was too late. He had his muzzle in her face, accepting kisses and rubs. He was an equal opportunity lover.
“Good morning,” I said. “You want some coffee?”
“I don’t need to come inside,” she said. “Be nice if you had a phone.”
“What’s up?”
“The car turned up near Elk River Falls,” she said. “Just the car, not Zack.”
“Has it been taken in for evidence collection?”
“Happening now,” she said. “But the kid is still missing.”
“And?”
“Can you go looking for him?” she asked. “Maybe take your dog? We can get him a good scent off the car.”
“A boat bum’s work is never done,” I said. “Why not canvas the area with your people? How far could he have gone?”
“Have you been there?” she asked. “Not exactly a walk in the park.”
“We’ve been there,” I said. “But not past the falls. I’d guess it’s rough territory. Not the kind our boy would try to navigate.”
“That’s the issue, exactly,” she said. “You’re probably looking for a body at this point.”
“Ah, fuck,” I said. “You think he offed himself?”
“He’s not camping out in the wilderness,” she said. “It’s a dangerous area.”
“Where is the car now?” I asked. “Red needs a fresh scent and a trail to follow.”
“It’s where we found it,” she said. “Until you can get there. Once you get what you need we’ll haul it in for analysis.”
“So, you mean, like now.”
“Yea, sorry,” she said. “Time is of the essence.”
“We haven’t even had breakfast,” I said. “Not even Red.”
“Do what you need to do to get ready,” she said. “The car is just before the actual parking area at the falls. Off to the left and out of the way, like he didn’t want to take up a parking spot that the hikers might need.”
“Considerate of him,” I said. “We’ve got to eat and take a shower. I need two hours. Don’t let anyone near that car.”
“Our department will reimburse you for your time,” she said. “We don’t have a dog.”
“We’ll help either way,” I said. “Just bad timing is all.”
“Long night?”
“I proposed to Brody,” I said. “We celebrated.”
“Congratulations, Breeze and Brody,” she said. “See you at Elk River Falls in two hours.”
First I had a dog’s nose up in my face, then I had a femme fatale up in my face. I still wasn’t fully awake but the day had been laid out for me. Me and Red were going to look for a body along the Elk River. Not exactly what I had planned. I didn’t know if the Chief had been arrested. Angelina hadn’t said. I’d let her get away without asking because I’d been off guard. I started thinking about moving somewhere else and regaining our anonymity, instead of opening a private detective business. Meanwhile, I had a job to do. If Zack was out there, Red would find him.
“You want to go hiking at Elk River Falls?” I asked Brody. “The car turned up there, but the kid didn’t.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” she said. “I’ll go with you.”
“I told her two hours,” I said. “So we can eat and prepare properly. If we’re looking for his body, it will keep that long.”
“Is that what she thinks?” Brody asked. “That he’s dead?”
“She certainly hinted at it,” I said. “Remember when we hiked to those falls? All the warning signs about how dangerous it was.”
“Yes,” she said. “Kind of creeped me out at the time.”
“If he went off the top of the falls, all we have to do is follow the river downstream,” I said. “He’ll get hung up in the rocks or the trees somewhere. Can’t be far.”
“Why couldn’t the cops do that?”
“I suppose they are holding out hope that he’s still alive, and that Red can find him.”
“What’s going on with the Chief?” she asked.
“Didn’t think to ask,” I said. “I wasn’t fully awake at the time.”
“Start the coffee,” she said. “I’ll start the bacon.”
We finished breakfast and prepared a day pack for hiking. Red got excited when I opened the car’s rear hatch and told him to get in. He hadn’t been away from the cabin in a long time. It would be good for him to get out and follow a trail again. He seemed to live for the opportunity.
Police cruisers from several agencies lined the dirt road leading to the falls. I stopped when I saw Angelina. She directed Red and me to the Subaru. A gloved hand opened the driver’s door, and I motioned for Red to pick up a scent. There was a light jacket in the backseat. I held it for Red to sniff. Within a few seconds, he let me know he was ready to hunt.
I kept him on the leash as we walked down the road towards the falls. He was clearly on Zack’s trail, which continued in an obvious direction. Brody jogged to catch up.
“I’ve got a cop radio,” she said. “No cell coverage out here.”
The dirt road led to a well-worn but narrow trail. Red wanted to go faster, but I held him in check. He was confident he was going to find what we were looking for. He led us to the top of the falls and tried to go out onto the dangerous rocks that overlooked the river below. That was the end of the trail as far as he was concerned. It looked like our fears were about to be realized. I had Red search all around us, including at the base of the falls and alongside the river, but he never picked up the scent again.
The Elk River was flowing at a moderate rate. Water depth ranged from a few inches to three or four feet deep. Boulders were strewn everywhere. I studied the current and depth for a minute, trying to decide if a body could make it downstream at all. I decided that it was possible. A living person would get beat all to hell on the rocks, but a limp, freshly dead body could slither and bounce through them, at least for a while.
The river wound its way back towards Banner Elk from here. The only thing we could do was follow it.
“Look for rocks where we can get out in the river and look downstream,” I told Brody. “Also take note of any place where we can cross, in case he’s washed up on the other side.”
“Gotcha,” she said. “Let’s roll.”
Red wasn’t pleased that the target had not been found, but he was happy to be in the woods with us. He gave a doggie shrug and followed along, tail wagging. Parts of the walk were easy, but the farther we got from the falls, the denser the forest became. Several times we had to leave the river’s edge to find an easier path. Each time we returned to the banks, we’d take several minutes to search the water for any sign of Zack. I saw more than one spot that looked as if a body couldn’t pass through, but we continued searching.
We took a break for water and rest. I tried to give Red a drink, but he preferred the river water. Brody and I sat on the rocks and contemplated our efforts.
“Nice day for a walk in the woods,” she said. “But how long do we keep this up?”
“He’s got to be near here,” I said. “The water is getting thinner. We’ll find him soon.”
I was right about that. Zack’s body was less than a half-mile from where we’d rested. It was, however, on the opposite side of the river. A combination of rocks and fallen trees snagged him, stopping his progress. We had to backtrack a bit to a safe crossing point. Then we had to get wet to free the corpse and drag it onto dry land. He had obvious trauma to the head.
We used the radio to call Angelina, and the GPS to give her coordinates. We explained the terrain and left the recovery decisions up to her. There was a pause before she responded.
“Can a chopper get to him?” she asked.
“No place to land,” I said. “But they could lower a basket. Trees are thirty, maybe forty feet tall.”
“Stand by,” she said.
Red sniffed the body while we waited. He looked up at me and cocked his head sideways.
“That’s him, boy,” I said. “You found him. Good boy.”
That satisfied him. I got a treat out of my pack and rewarded him. He carried it away from the body before eating it.
“What do you think went on here?” Brody asked. “Why did he kill himself?”
“He must have thought it preferable to going to jail for the rest of his life,” I said.
“First he ran, and now this,” she said. “We can’t bring him to trial, but the case appears to be solved.”
“A rather unsatisfying ending,” I said. “If it is indeed the end.”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“The cops still have the Chief to deal with,” I said. “What if the son was protecting the father, instead of the other way around?”
“What father would let his son take the rap like that?” she asked. “Highly improbable.”
“Maybe there’s more to this than we know,” I said. “Then again, maybe it’s exactly what it appears to be.”
“Don’t tell me,” she said. “Your gut is questioning our conclusions.”
“I can’t quite put my finger on it,” I said. “We’ve done a good job unraveling this thing, damn good job actually, but I keep worrying that we’ve missed something.”
“Because of those dreams?”
“I’ve tried to dismiss them as just dreams,” I said. “You and I have turned this thing inside out. Maybe my lack of investigative experience makes me question my findings. When you think about it, this hasn’t been that difficult. Too easy is what I’m thinking.”
“Occam’s Razor,” she said. “The simplest solutions are more likely to be correct than the complex ones.”
“I shouldn’t make more assumptions than the minimum needed,” I said.
“I haven’t heard it put that way before,” she said. “I don’t agree with the way you framed it. We shouldn’t assume anything. We should be guided by the facts, which all lead to Zack as the murderer.”
“I can’t disagree with you,” I said. “Just keep an open mind. If alternatives present themselves, we should look into them.”
“He’s dead,” she said. “We can’t ask him if he did it.”
“His mother has apparently been committed,” I said. “That only leaves the Chief.”
“We’ll have to see how this development affects him,” she
said. “No point in protecting his son now.”
“True,” I said. “There’s no reason he shouldn’t talk. He’s still facing charges of some kind. He can probably buy some leniency if he tells the whole story.”
The body was lifted out of the woods and Brody, and I were left to hike back to our car. Red was having a grand time roaming about. I’d let him off the leash after the chopper left. We’d done our job, it was time for him to have a little fun. When we reached the dirt road, everyone was gone but Angelina. The Subaru was gone too.
“Thank you for this,” she said. “Avery County will be cutting you a check for your time.”
“Sorry about how it worked out,” I said. “But it’s what we all expected.”
“What’s going on with the Chief?” Brody asked Angelina.
“He’s in custody,” she said. “I don’t know the details yet.”
“Who took him in?” I asked.
“Highway Patrol,” she said. “They’ve been working with the DA’s office. I’m just shoe leather.”
“As are we,” I told her. “I’d be curious to know how that works out. We’ve invested a lot of time in this.”
“I’ll talk to Rominger,” she said. “He can fill you in if and when it’s appropriate.”
“I appreciate it,” I said. “I guess we’re finished here.”
“Do you mind if I say goodbye to Red?” she asked.
I looked to Brody before responding. She gave me a shrug.
“No problem,” I said.
She knelt and petted him. He responded with a big wet kiss. He didn’t know or care about our human tensions. He was an equal opportunity licker. Angelina stood and gave me a nod. I took it as our final farewell, which suited me just fine. Then she turned to Brody and did the same. I took that as a sign of respect.
We loaded Red in the car and drove out of there. We’d accomplished what we came to do, but we still felt let down. The excitement of the chase was over. There was nothing left for us to do. We’d worked hard and made some personal sacrifices to assist law enforcement. Now it was in their hands. We had to depend on them, and the legal system, to finish out the mission. Brody had plenty of experience with that, but I did not. I hated waiting on other people or depending on them, but I had no standing going forward. I wasn’t a cop, a lawyer, or a judge. I was a simple boat bum turned mountain man. Other than producing the hermit, my part was done.
