Better to rest (18 page)

“Yes.

“Right out of 1957, isnt it? We used to tease her that Mamie Eisenhower was going to come walking out of it one day with a plateful of pork chops. She could have afforded to remodel it once every five years, but she said everything still worked.

“Was she a miser?

“No, just frugal. She was very generous with her grandchildren. She was very generous with her friends, come to that. She gave the Literary Ladies Christmas and birthday presents every year. Charlene nodded to a large painting by Byron Birdsall on the wall. A narrow creek crooked its way between snow-covered banks, leading the eye to Denali, gilt in the setting sun. The creek seemed to shimmer with life and the whole painting radiated an inner glow. “I saw that in Artique one year and came home raving about it.

“Wow.

“Yeah. She was generous to a fault. Especially to her children.

“How so?

“Karen and Jerry regularly run out of money. All they had to do was ask.

“Did fishermen really used to make that kind of money? The kind of money that would set a whole family up for two generations?

Charlene gave her a tolerant look. “Given the year you came to Newenham, I suppose its hard for you to imagine, but yes, salmon fishermen, especially the seiners, used to make that much money. Some of it was luck but mostly it was experienceexperience and good equipment. Stanley Sr. had both. He worked deckhand on his fathers gillnetter from the time he was six, according to Lydia. And that was back when the law said you could only fish under sail.

“No kidding? Prince had a brief vision of the bay covered with white sails skimming over a deep blue surface.

“No kidding. So, anything else?

Prince gathered up her notes. “Not for the moment. Ill call if I think of anything else.

“Me, too. Diana?

Prince paused, one hand on the doorknob.

Charlenes voice remained pleasant and even. “Id take it as a personal favor if you found this son of a bitch and strung him up by his balls.

Diana touched the brim of her flat-brimmed hat. “Ill do my best.

THIRTEEN

The phone rang as he was getting out of his blueberry-stained uniform and into the last clean one hanging in Wys closet. Since Wy didnt own a lot of dress-up clothes, most of hers were folded into the dresser drawers and he had most of the closet for his own. It hadnt been like that with Jenny, a true disciple of the womens department at Nordstrom. He remembered having to hang his uniforms in Charlies closet, and thinking that that would be a problem in fifteen or sixteen years.

He wondered what kind of a teenager Charlie would have been. Probably not as high-maintenance as Tim Gosuk, but you never knew. Hed dealt with enough parents in severe shock at their offsprings behavior to know that all biological, sociological and anthropological studies to the contrary, much of the time procreating was a crapshoot. Hed read another study recently that claimed that a bad kid in a good neighborhood had a better chance of succeeding in life than a good kid in a bad neighborhood. The author of that study had obviously never been to the village of Ualik, where Tim had gotten his start.

The phone rang. He heard Wy answer it in the living room.

She was upset about something, and it wasnt his not coming home last night. Hed finally told her that hed spent the night at the office, and shed nodded without much interest, her mind obviously elsewhere. Hed expected irritation, even anger. What he hadnt expected was indifference. It unsettled him.

It made him wonder where Gary had spent the night.

“Liam?

He buckled his belt and padded out to the living room, snagging his shoes on the way. He tucked the receiver in between his shoulder and his chin and sat down on the couch. “Campbell.

“Sir, this is Prince. I have interviewed all of Lydias book club members.

“Yeah?

“No hope there; they were all pretty tight. But she did do some volunteer work down at the Maklak Center.

The
MC
on Lydias calendar. “Any run-ins with clients?

“Theyre closed for the day. They open again tomorrow at eight.

“Baloney. Nose around, find out who works there, call them at home.

“Yes, sir. Also, one of Lydias friends thinks she might have had a gentleman caller.

“A what?

“A boyfriend, sir.

Liam remembered the frankly female appraisal in Lydias eyes the night they had met. “I wouldnt bet the farm against it. Got a name?

“No. One of the Literary Ladies

“The who?

“The book club, thats what they called themselves. Anyway, one of them saw a bouquet of flowers Lydia got. She said it was a birthday present from a friend, and that she got the distinct impression that the friend was male and that the relationship was romantic.

“Any indication it was a local guy?

“No. But Charlene Taylor says Lydia never went farther from Newenham than a Costco run to Anchorage.

“So a local guy. How did the flowers get here?

“SharonSharon Ilutsik, the one who saw the flowersdidnt know, but she figured they were Goldstreaked down from Anchorage. There isnt a florist in Newenham, and this was a professional arrangement.

“She remember the date?

“No, but Lydia said they were a birthday present.

Liam got his shoes tied and stood up, changing ears. Wy was standing out on the deck, staring across the river. The wind had picked up and was teasing curls out of a fat braid, forming a bronze corona around her head. Clouds, low and thick and dark, were scudding by, and Liam thought he saw a snowflake in the dimming light. “Okay, Diana, he said, “find out Lydias birthday and call Alaska Airlines to check their records to see when the flowers came in. Should have been paid by credit card, if he called it in to Anchorage.

“Will do. You coming back in?

“No. Ive got a dinner date with my dad.

“Lucky you. She meant it.

“Yeah. He didnt.

He hung up and joined Wy on the deck. “Hey.

She looked up at him with a faint smile showing through the escaped wisps of hair. “Hey, yourself.

“How was your day, dear?

She laughed, as hed meant her to. “Not bad. Got a flight from the U.S. Air Force, a thing that hardly ever happens, since they prefer to fly their own. Not to mention the FBI. We small-time air-taxi outfits just love federal expense accounts.

He grinned. “I should start taking a commission.

“Right after you take your first flying lesson.

“Thatll happen.

“I can hardly wait.

A gust of wind whistled overhead and tugged at their clothes. She was in a blue plaid shirt tucked into blue jeans cinched down by a wide leather belt. Her hiking boots were stained with salt, mud and wax, held together by a new pair of shoelaces, red-and-white-striped like a barber pole. It didnt vary much from what she had been wearing the day before, or three years before. It had to be one of the most unseductive outfits hed ever seen on a woman of his acquaintance, and he didnt understand why his first, last and only inclination was to rip it off.

As if he had spoken his need out loud she looked up and met his eyes.

“Wheres Tim?

Her eyes widened. “Basketball practice.

“When will he be back?

“Theyre going out for pizza after. Her knees were shaking. She wasnt sure how much longer theyd hold her up.

His eyes narrow and intent, he reached out a hand and unbuttoned the top button of her shirt.

“Not out here, she said, her voice weak, her head falling back.

“Why not? He unbuttoned the second button.

“In the wind, and the snow, and the cold?

“Ill keep you warm. He lowered his mouth to her throat.

“Someone will see.

“Let them, he said, and bit her.

Liam Campbell was a civilized man and an intuitive and generous lover, but that evening something feral had gotten off the chain. He took her down to the deck with hands that were rough and impatient, and he knew it and didnt seem to be able to control it. He ripped open her shirt and pushed up the T-shirt and bra beneath it and put his mouth on her breast, sucking hard. She made a sound deep in her throat, her own hands fumbling with his clothes, but he would have none of it. He didnt want her participation; he wanted her submission, and he pulled at her jeans until they tangled around her feet, unzipped his, and pushed inside.

“Liam! The word was almost a scream.

He managed to hold it together for one frantic, heart-thumping moment. “Dont let me hurt you.

“You arent. You wont. You couldnt. She pulled one foot free of her jeans and hooked it around the small of his back, tilting up and pulling him deeper. “Do it.

She screamed for real this time, a sound swallowed up by the wind and the snow and the dark. For a split second he could feel everything as if with a separate sense. The sudden quick flush of heat rising up from her torso. The kiss of snowflakes on his ass. The long, lovely line of her throat as she arched up into him, like she couldnt bear an inch of space between them.

“Do it again, he muttered.

Her eyelids fluttered. “What? Her voice was slurred.

He thrust again. “Come on, he said, “come again for me, baby.

“No, Liam, I cant

“Sure, you can.

And she could.

And then he followed her into the dark.

Neither of them moved for long moments afterward, lying in a stupor of sexual satisfaction on the deck, the wind gusting to twenty-five knots, the temperature dropping another degree every minute, the snow moving from a snow flurry to a snowfall. Liam thought he could stay there, in that position, on top of that woman, forever, and he might have, if she didnt eventually exhibit some signs of being unable to breathe.

“Im sorry, he said, and shifted his weight to his elbows.

She smiled without opening her eyes. “Dont be.

“Okay. He nuzzled her neck.

He felt a laugh catch in her breast.

“The only time a man is sane, he said, belatedly going for a little foreplay with her ear, which he knew she loved, “is the first ten minutes after orgasm.

She laughed out loud this time.

He raised his head and smiled down at her. “Its true.

“Says who?

“Says Dapper Dan.

“And who, may I ask, is Dapper Dan? Not that Im contesting his thesis. She raised her hips and exercised a muscle or two.

“Oh, man, Ill give you a week to quit that. He gave her a hickey, just to reestablish his supremacy. “Dapper Dan was a friend of Damon Runyons.

“Whyd they call him Dapper Dan?

“Because he was very dapper, and a very successful ladies man.

“Not unlike someone else we might name.

“The only woman I want to be successful with now is right here. Lying under me, as a matter of fact.

She raised a hand to trace his eyebrow, nose and lips. He sucked her finger into his mouth. She shivered, and he smiled.

But when they managed to pull themselves off the deck, get dressed and go back inside, the constraint came back. “Im supposed to meet Dad for dinner at Bills.

“Tell him to come here instead.

“He wants to talk about that wreck on the glacier, and he doesnt want civilians around when he does.

She grimaced. “Okay.

“Wy?

“What?

“You seemed a little out of it when I got home. Whats going on?

She made a wry mouth. “So much for my powers of concealment.

“I love you. He said it simply, without flourishes. “Ill always see more than you want me to.

Her eyes softened. “Oh, Liam.

“There is something, isnt there?

“Yes.

He took a deep breath. Damn the torpedoes. Remember the
Maine. Tora, tora, tora.
“Is it about the job John offered me in Anchorage?

She looked as relieved as he did to finally open up the subject to discussion. “No.

“All right, then. He had not spent so many years walking through the fire to get to her to give up without a serious fight. Hed go to war for Wyanet Chouinard. He just didnt know if hed live in Newenham for her.

She seemed to make up her mind about something. “Ill banish Tim to his room the minute he gets back. Well talk then, really talk. A half smile. “Dont be late.

When he was gone the house seemed very empty. She checked for messages on the answering machine. A teacher in Togiak wanted a competitive bid for bringing four students and herself into Newenham over the Thanksgiving weekend for the Bristol Bay Academic Olympics. Dagfinn Grant had given her a quote and she thought it was too high. Wy, knowing Finn, thought it probably had been, and called her back. They arranged fares and pickup times to their mutual satisfaction, and Wy filled in the dates on her calendar. Shed been looking for a toehold into business with the various school districts. This was a start.

Ronald Nukwak had called from Manokotak, needing a ride for his family to Newenham for a wedding. That one she let go, reluctantly, because Ronald already owed her for seven round-trips, Manokotak to Newenham and back again. If one of the kids had been sick, she would have rolled out the Cub, but this wasnt an emergency. She hated losing Ronalds business, not to mention pissing off the half of Manokotak to whom Ronald was related, but she had bills to pay, too.

She heard enough of the next message to understand the speaker was calling from Ualik, but they were on a cell phone that faded in and out. Somebody wanted a ride, but she didnt know who and couldnt figure out when, so she let that one go, too.

She closed her calendar and leaned back with a sigh. The first time shed flown into Ualik and landed on the runway that also formed the main street of the town, shed found Tim Gosuk crouched, shivering, beneath his own porch, hiding from his next beating. The village hadnt improved in the interim. The last time shed been there her fare had been late getting to the plane, and during her wait two men had staggered by, and a third had stopped and threatened her, followed by two small children, who also smelled of drink and who threw snowballs at her. She wouldnt have minded the snowballs so much except that they hit the plane. She had run them off, and theyd come back with their father just as she was loading the passenger, a woman who was also drunk and who she was very much afraid was going to throw up en route. The father cursed her most foully and, what really scared her, got in front of the plane after shed started the engine. She knew from firsthand experience what a prop could do to a human head, and she was just about to cut the engine when he staggered off again. The kids threw snowballs until she was in the air.