Dead Hot Mama (23 page)

Ray and Lauren were standing by the rear passenger door to Osborne’s car. Lauren had a backpack slung over her shoulder.

“Lauren, I want to see you up at the house,” said Theurian.

“Later, Dad, I’m going ice fishing with Nick and Ray. We can talk when I get back, okay?”

“No, it’s not okay. I want to talk to you now.”

“Dad, I have plans—”

“You heard what I said.”

“Tell you what, Dave,” said Ray, opening the car door and shoveling Lauren in as he spoke. “How ‘bout I take the kids fishing and have her back here by three this afternoon. That works for you, doesn’t it?” He slammed the car door closed.

Osborne watched Dave Theurian in his rearview mirror as he pulled around to follow Lew down the long drive: the slight figure, shoulders slumped, hands thrust deep in his pockets, staring after them as they disappeared into the haze of snow. He didn’t wave.

Once
they were outside the entrance to the Theurian’s drive, Lew pulled her cruiser over off to the side of the road. She walked back to Osborne’s car.

“Doc, Ray, let’s talk for a minute. I just checked in with Marlene, and something’s come up. Gina, you wait here with Lauren, okay?”

“What did you find?” she asked Ray after the two men had climbed into the backseat of her cruiser. She crooked an elbow across the back of the front seat to listen, her eyes dark with worry.

Oh, thought Osborne, so that’s what Ray was doing while they were listening to Theurian. He should have known.

“What you thought I might,” sai Ray. “A grim experience, might I add.”

“Tagged with supplier names and dates? Poly-bagged?”

“No. Not an iota of identification. Unprocessed tissue wrapped in heavy-duty plastic. At least it isn’t Saran Wrap. I’m sure it’s what Lauren saw early this morning.”

“Doc, Dave Theurian was careful to point out that every harvested unit of tissue is tagged, dated, and catalogued. This sounds more cavalier.”

“This sounds like you have cause to shut down Theurian Resources until some questions are answered,” said Osborne. “If what Ray is describing is what I think he is, I can’t help but speculate someone is obtaining tissue samples illegally. Yet Dave Theurian comes across pretty darn straight.”

“I agree,” said Lew. “All my years in police work, I consider myself a good judge when it comes to people lying. I didn’t get that vibe as he talked about his business. About his wife maybe, about shooting a buck, yes—but not about his business. And if he had something to hide in those basement lockers, why wasn’t he concerned about Ray being in the house on his own?”

“He was more worried about his wife’s
reaction
to our getting into that room,” said Lew. “And he didn’t lock the door behind him when we left. He didn’t behave like a man with something to hide—not in the house anyway.”

“That leaves the lovely Mitten, doesn’t it,” said Ray. “The family hunter and gatherer. Well, folks, I can pretty well guarantee you her quarry ain’t venison.”

“Guessing or you’re sure?”

“I’ve butchered enough deer to know the difference.”

“You didn’t touch anything did you?”

“Nope, did not disturb a thing. Just opened the doors and looked in. Oh, no berries, by the way—just more of the same.”

Lew stared out the window in silence.

“Why are we so calm?” asked Osborne after a moment. “Think about what Ray is telling us he found down there. Shouldn’t we be sick to our stomachs? Out vomiting in the road?”

“We could,” said Lew. “But what good would that do?” She kept her eyes fixed on the falling snow, thinking.

Finally she said, “As I came down the drive, Marlene radioed that Arne Steadman is demanding to see me in my office
with
his grandson at eleven. Or as he put it to Marlene—’Tell that idiot woman she left me six goddam phone messages and that’s five too many.’”

Lew managed a weak grin. “So that’s another priority for the moment, though with all this snow even the highway is going to be slow going. I’m not sure I can make it by eleven.”

“We could get stuck,” said Ray.

“Nah, if I’m going to get anything accomplished I need that meeting with Arne … and Bud.”

“What do you want us to do about the situation here?” asked Osborne. “Surely you don’t want Lauren going back in there, do you?”

“Hell, no. Let’s get back to Loon Lake,” said Lew, her voice suddenly brisk with plans. “I’ll call the sheriff on my cell phone and explain why I have good reason to suspect exceedingly unpleasant circumstances here. And I’ll have Marlene get in touch with Bruce. Let him know we need him up here ASAR At least the county can pay his bill this time.”

“My advice,” said Ray, “be sure it’s Bruce who opens those lockers down there, not Sheriff Kopitzke. Know what I mean? You don’t need old Kopitzke having a heart attack on your watch.”

“It’s not pretty, huh.”

“Chief, this is raw—”

“I hear you, Ray.”

“I’m worried about Lauren,” said Osborne, “what do we say to this kid? You think she’ll want to stay in a house where—”

“I know, I know,” said Lew, “that’s another problem I’m mulling over as we drive back. Doc, will you swing by my office when we get into town? Hopefully, I’ll have a few minutes before my meeting with Arne, and we can all sit down with her together …”

“What about Theurian? You think it’s okay to leave him here right now?” said Ray. “What you got in there is worse than—”

“Jeez, Ray, think about it, will you?” Lew banged her steering wheel in frustration. “I’ve got a limited number of authorized personnel and even less time. At least this snowstorm buys me a window. And we’re due to get another foot before morning. I don’t see Theurian going anywhere and that science project in his basement sure isn’t walking. If things go halfway decently, I ought to he back here with the sheriff in a couple hours.”

“I never got any breakfast,” said Ray in a tiny voice.

“Out!” said Lew with a mock swipe of her hand. “And Doc—drive slow. The last thing I need is one of us in the ditch.”

Half a dozen fender benders around Loon Lake and enough snow to force traffic to a crawl delayed everyone, including Arne Steadman. While Lauren was using the ladies’ room, the adults gathered in Lew’s office for a quick debate. It was decided that Gina would deliver the news.

“Lauren, come over here and sit by me,” said Gina, patting the seat of the chair beside her as Lauren walked into the room. The girl loped over and plunked herself down.

“Can we call Nick?” she said.

“In a minute, hon,” said Gina.

Ray and Doc, steaming mugs of coffee in hand, pulled over two more chairs. As they were settling in, Lew’s phone rang. She hit the speaker button. “What is it, Marlene?”

“Michalski’s on his way back to your office. I told him not to interrupt your meeting, but he said his grandfather is stuck and he can’t wait, he has to be somewhere—”

Before Marlene could finish, there was a quick knock and the door to Lew’s office opened. Bud Michalski poked his head in, “Sorry, Chief Ferris, but I have to leave. Grandpops was supposed to tell you that I can’t start work until after the first of the year …”

Lauren was on her feet. “That’s him! That’s the man I saw with my stepmom. He’s the guy who was in the ice house. He was at our house this morning—”

Ray was fast. He tackled Bud in the hall. But the man kicked back, his boot slamming into the bridge of Ray’s nose. Ray cursed and grabbed at his face, blood spurting through his fingers. Lew had her gun out and was shouting, but Bud scrambled down the hall and through the main doors. A cluster of people filling out accident reports in the front foyer made it unwise to get off a shot.

Lew dashed through the doors after Bud, but he must have parked on a side street. There was no sign of him in the unplowed lot serving the department. With the snowfall limiting visibility, it was impossible to see past the parking area.

“Dammit,” said Lew. She hurried over to Marlene at the switchboard. “Where’s Roger? Where’s Terry?”

“Accidents all over town—they’re working the bad ones.”

It took half an hour to get a license plate number from the DMV for the car registered to Bud Michalski. Spelling was a problem for the clerk on duty. Once Lew got it, she put out an APB for a black Chevy Blazer—as well as a red Hummer, license plate unknown.

Lauren drove Ray to the emergency room in Osborne’s car, while Gina and Osborne worked the phones. A call to Dave Theurian for help in locating his wife went unanswered. Sheriff Kopitzke said he didn’t care how many, if any, body parts were involved, it would be at least an hour before he could get to the Theurian home. He had six more accidents on county roads.

“How about getting some
live
people to the hospital first,” he said before hanging up on Lew.

She stared at the phone in her hand. “That man
is
going to have a heart attack.”

She reached Bruce at the crime lab in Wausau, and he said he would be happy to help out, but Highway 51 south of the exit for Highway 17 was closed due to three jack-knifed semi-trailer trucks. As soon as the roads opened, he promised to be on his way. With the wind whipping the snow to near-blizzard conditions, Bruce’s arrival time was pushed back to early evening.

It was one-thirty when a state trooper radioed in that Bud’s Blazer was parked at the Thunder Bay Bar on Highway 47.

“Don’t approach, I’ll take it from here,” said Lew.

“Chief Ferris, these roads are bad,” the trooper said. “We’ve got motorists stranded from here to Hurley. You make sure the guy is worth it before you risk your life in this weather.”

“Doc, I’d like to take Michalski by surprise if I can,” said Lew, “but I’ve got Roger and Terry out for at least another half hour.”

“Surprise?” said Osborne, jumping to his feet without hesitation. “Driving up in your cruiser isn’t what I’d call surprise. We’ll take my car.”

“No, I have a better idea …” A quick check with Marlene confirmed that Roger, slow out of the gate as usual, had not yet picked up the department snowmobiles. They were still parked at the trailhead near the Corner Bar, one half mile from Thunder Bay.

“We’ll ride up just like any customer. But, Doc. your helmet and clothes—don’t tell me they’re back at your house?”

“Still in my trunk from the other day.” Osborne was on his way to the parking lot as he spoke.

“Doc, I want you armed. We don’t know what to expect …”

“I’m no good with a handgun, Lew. My twenty gauge is in the car. I’ll get that, too.”

Within five minutes, they were sweating as they finished pulling on the heavy snow pants and thick boots. They had just zipped their parkas and grabbed for helmets and gloves when Arne Steadman blocked the door to the office.

“Out of the way, Arne,” said Lew. “Emergency. We’ll talk later.”

“What’s this about my grandson?”

“I
said
we’ll talk later.”

“Paul,” Arne shook a thick finger at Osborne, “what do you know about this?”

“Sorry, Arne,” said Lew, shouldering her way past the old man. “Doc’s working on city time right now. You heard me—later.”

Osborne and Lew hurried outside. Even though it was only mid-afternoon, the falling snow so darkened the day it looked like the sun had already set. Lew paused at her cruiser. “Maybe we should take yours instead. That way someone driving up Highway 47 won’t see mine and get spooked.” They climbed into Osborne’s car.

Lauren and Ray had returned it after getting his nose taped. He decided it would be safer to walk Lauren and Gina over to the Pub for a late lunch. With all the excitement, no one had yet taken the time to tell the teenager why—if Ray’s assessment of the contents of Mitten Theurian’s wild game lockers was correct—her father and stepmother were soon to be arrested.

The drive to the Corner Bar was excruciating: a forty- minute crawl along the highway instead of the usual fifteen. But once they were on the snowmobiles, it was less than five minutes to the Thunder Bay parking lot, where Bud’s Blazer was one of two vehicles parked in front.

Laura, the bartender they had spoken with the day before, had the door open before Lew touched the handle. “I’m closing,” she said.

“Not yet you aren’t,” said Lew, pushing past her. The darkened interior was empty.

“Where’s Bud? Whose car is that parked next to his?”

“That’s my car—he’s gone. Left about fifteen minutes ago. He left with the boss. Her car’s out back. She brought the sleds, and they took off on one.”

“Which way?”

“To the east, I think. Sounded like, anyway.”

“Did you say they’re on one sled?”

“Yeah, he couldn’t get the other one started.”

“But they didn’t say where they were going?”

“Did that guy do something wrong?”

“Credit card fraud. Laura, tell the others this bar is closed.” The bartender put a hand to her throat. “I had noth—”

“Don’t worry, you’re not under arrest. We’re after Bud and Karin Hikennen. If there’s anything you can say that will help us …”

A crafty look came over the woman’s face. “Chief, I couldn’t tell you this yesterday. I didn’t dare even tell you his name. I couldn’t risk losing my job, y’know.”

“Make it fast, Laura.” Lew’s voice was kind but firm.

“When that rider from Tomahawk—the one that’s missing …”

“Right.”

“The night he was here, Bud and him were talking about some kind of party Bud was taking him to. Bud kept calling it a ‘real party,’ that the girls were more fun and the booze was free. Told the guy where to meet him—”

“By snowmobile?”

“Yeah. I couldn’t say anything before. I mean, if that was just a party and Bud knew I said something that got him in trouble …”

“It’s okay. That helps.”

“Anything else, anything that Bud or Karin might have said before they left …”

“She has a really foul mouth and was going bananas waiting for him. When he finally got here, he kept trying to calm her down. I couldn’t really hear what they said, y’know. I just wanted to keep out of their way.”

“Was she chewing gum?” asked Osborne.

“Doc, we don’t have time,” said Lew, giving him a funny look.

“Shit, yes, like a huge wad.”

“Bear with me, Lew,” said Osborne. “She didn’t happen to spit it out while she was here?”

Laura gave him a strange look. “Couple times—right in that ashtray. I emptied it in the trash.”

“Good. Save the trash for us, would you please?”

Back in the parking lot, Lew pulled out the trail map they had used the day before. “We’ve got a good chance of catching them, Doc. Two people on a sled—especially a guy the size of Bud. They can’t go that fast.” She looked at him sharply. “You okay with your gun slung that way? The trails could be bumpy …”

“It’s comfortable. I’m more worried about finding our way. This snow is deep.”

“I got it down,” said Lew with assurance. “Remember, I know that spring pond. You follow me.”