The Alpine Xanadu (22 page)

I glared right back. “Have I ever?”

Lori Cobb’s arrival broke the tension. “I’ve got coffee,” she announced. “Hi, Emma. We ran out this morning. Dwight was supposed to buy some, but he’s … not here.”

“So that’s what’s wrong with everybody,” I said, turning to Sam. “You take it with sugar, right? It might improve your disposition.”
I opened the swinging half door in the counter and marched to Milo’s office. My knock elicited a barked response that sounded like “Yeah?” but could have been a growl from the resident bear.

“Hi,” I said, entering the sheriff’s lair and closing the door. “I heard about your confrontation. Didn’t you drink enough coffee at home?”

“A gallon wouldn’t be enough to keep me from wanting to kick Blackwell’s ass all the way to Wenatchee.”

I’d sat down in my usual place on the other side of the desk. “He’s not originally from here, is he?”

“He’s a California native, but came here from Oregon—Albany, I think.” Milo gazed at the ceiling. “That was almost thirty years ago. He had mills in Oregon and Idaho. The old Wellington & Scenic Mill was up for grabs. Two brothers from Darrington owned it, but they were in their eighties back then. The place needed updating, logging was in its decline, and Jack was willing to put money into it. Not long after that, he bought out Clarence Munn’s Bucker Logging operation and managed the two mills. Everybody thought he was a hero. Marius called him the town’s savior.”

I smiled. “From what I’ve heard about Marius Vandeventer, he called anybody who spent more than a grand around here a savior.”

“Oh, yeah,” Milo agreed. “Marius was a booster. We were surprised when he moved away after he sold the paper. I don’t think Vida’s forgiven Marius for what she called his ‘defection.’ Is he still alive?”

“I’m not sure,” I said. “Vida always heard from him at Christmas, but she hasn’t mentioned him lately. The Vandeventers retired to the desert. I only met him twice, and he left town before I arrived. Vida broke me in. And you’re the one who told me he’d been trying to sell the paper for a couple of years. That’s when I discovered I’d paid too much for it. I wanted to kick myself.”

“Sounds like Marius.” Milo leaned back in his chair, hands behind
his head. “Funny thing about you, little Emma. You make me feel better even when I’m not feeling you.”

“Oh, Milo …” I almost simpered.

“Let’s change the subject before I … Skip it,” he said, sitting up. “Why are you here?”

“Mitch’s report unsettled me. I was worried about you.”

Milo looked askance, but proffered a cigarette. “Is the coffee on?”

I accepted the cigarette and leaned over so that Milo could light it for me. “Lori just came back. No word from SnoCo’s lab junkies?”

The sheriff shook his head. “I don’t expect to hear yet.”

“No more Tiffany sightings?”

“No. Bill phoned from the ski lodge. Tiff wasn’t staying there. She had dinner with some guy nobody recognized. No kid with her.”

We were both silent for a few moments. “I can’t think of anybody from out of town that Tiffany would know. She hardly ever left Alpine.”

Milo’s shrugged. “So where’s the kid?”

“You mean Ashley Rafferty?”

“Ashley?” Milo shrugged. “Yeah, that kid.” He was staring off into space. “Go away, Emma. I’m trying to think.”

I started to stand up, but hesitated. “About what?”

He still didn’t look at me. “I’ll let you know when I figure it out.”

I left Milo to his thoughts. After I stopped at the bank to make a payment on my Visa card, Amanda greeted me with news of a visitor waiting in my office. “She says you’ll be surprised to see her.”

I thought of Mavis. “Is she about my age or maybe a bit older?”

“Yes,” Amanda said. “She got here just a few minutes ago. I gave her coffee. She mentioned having had quite a long drive.”

Leo was the only staffer at his desk and he was on the phone. But as I went through the newsroom, I saw the back of the woman sitting in one of my visitor’s chairs and realized it wasn’t Mavis. In fact, I didn’t recognize the dark blond middle-aged woman when she turned around.

“Emma Lord,” she said, remaining seated. “You look befuddled. I think I’ve caught you off guard.”

Somehow I managed to sit down without falling over my own feet. “You did,” I said. “Have we met? I’m not very good at remembering faces.”

“No.” My guest’s faintly ruddy face looked smug. “I thought you might have seen pictures. I’m Tricia, the first Mrs. Dodge.”

“O
H.”
I
COULDN’T KEEP FROM SLUMPING IN MY CHAIR.
“I
’M
sorry. I mean, I’ve never seen a photo of you.”

“Milo probably burned the ones I left behind.” Tricia licked rose-colored lips. “I would’ve thought you’d be curious enough to check out our wedding picture in the newspaper.”

I shook my head. “No. I believed Milo when he said you used to be married. I
have
met your children a few times over the years.”

Tricia nodded. I wondered if she was enjoying her advantage over me. I still felt knocked for a loop as I tried to see what this plump, blue-eyed, tinted-haired woman might have looked like thirty years ago. Her features were good, if somewhat coarsened by age. She was probably a few inches taller than my five-four, but most people are. I couldn’t judge much about the rest of her, which was covered by a Burberry raincoat. Aware that I was trembling, I kept my hands in my lap.

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” she said, looking pained. “I came here as one mother calling on another mother for help.”

“For Tanya?” I said, beginning to get a grip on my nerves.

She nodded again. “I’m at my wits’ end. She refuses to stay in Bellevue. Short of crawling back into my womb, Tanya insists she feels safe only here in Alpine, where she grew up. And with her father, who, I will admit, was a pillar during her recovery from the gunshot wound.”

“Milo is a very strong person,” I said. “He was extremely disturbed when she took those pills. Frustrated, too.”

“I was shocked. At first her spirits seemed improved in Hawaii.” Tricia licked her lips again. “We were there almost a week, but by the fourth day Tanya didn’t want to go to the beach. So many of the young men reminded her of Bruce.”

I’d never heard her late fiancé’s real name. Milo only called him Buster. “That would be upsetting,” I conceded, trying to recall if the men in Rome had evoked Tom’s image when I went there with Ben to recover my own equilibrium. But I had not needed—or wanted—any look-alikes to bring back my fiancé’s image. It was always with me, like a bad habit.

“It got worse when we came home,” Tricia went on. She shook her head. “Never mind the details. I’m here to ask you to be understanding about my—our—daughter. She needs her father now more than she needs me. Milo wasn’t with us when Bruce shot Tanya and then killed himself. I was.” She shuddered. “It was beyond horrible.”

I fought the memory of Tom falling dead at my feet. Maybe Tricia had forgotten—or never knew—what I’d been through. That didn’t matter. “I do sympathize,” I said.

Tricia smiled, though I didn’t sense much warmth. Maybe she didn’t have any to give. “I must go. Milo wasn’t in when we stopped at his office. I left Tanya with Aunt Thelma and Uncle Elmer at the retirement home. Perhaps we’ll meet again.”

I recalled Ben urging me to make an ally of Tricia. Maybe this was a start. “I hope so,” I said, standing up. “Will you be in town long?”

“No,” she said, also on her feet. “I’ll go back as soon as I get Tanya settled. I have an appointment tomorrow morning in Bellevue. By the way, do you have a key to Milo’s house?”

“No. I never had one.”

“Oh.” Tricia looked mildly surprised. “Then I’ll wait until he
gets back from wherever he is. Typical—so often he wasn’t around when I needed him.” She shrugged and walked out through the newsroom.

Leo appeared as soon as Tricia left the premises. “Was that Holly’s lawyer from Everett, by any chance?”

“That,” I said wearily, “was the first Mrs. Dodge.”

“No shit!” Leo exclaimed, sitting down. “Did she harangue you?”

“She wanted my help with Tanya. I actually felt sorry for her.” I bit my lower lip. “Or maybe she’s trying to guilt-trip me.”

He offered me a cigarette and I took it. “What are you supposed to do? Adopt her?”

“Be sympathetic. I can do that, but it plays havoc with our private life. Milo can’t babysit Tanya. He doesn’t even know she’s back in town.”

“Maybe he knew they were coming and fled the scene.”

“Milo wouldn’t do that.”

“Vida will be sorry she missed Tricia. Or did she like her?”

“No. Tricia was from Sultan. That’s where they got married. Vida never got over the affront to Alpine. Where
is
Vida, by the way?”

“Still off on her appointed rounds,” Leo said, after a glance into the newsroom. “She was going to see Dot Parker. Vida thought maybe Tiffany left her kid with Grandma and Grandpa.”

“Good guess. Nothing about a Holly Gross encounter?”

“Not a peep.” Leo stood up. “I’m taking Mitch to lunch to try to get his head straight about Dodge. Do you want me to mention your not-so-professional involvement with the sheriff?”

I grimaced. “No. I’ll do it myself. I’m waiting for the right moment.”

“Fine. Hey, babe, Tanya can’t hang around with Dodge forever. She’s, what? In her thirties? She’ll settle down and want a life of her own. Right now, maybe she’s just a pawn in some game of Tricia’s.”

“I hope it’s not a game,” I said. “The timing stinks.”

“I don’t mean to be nosy,” he said, flicking off his cigarette ash, “but you two never lived together when you were dating before?”

“No. He wanted a more permanent arrangement. I didn’t.” I gave Leo a sheepish look. “I was still clinging to the Tom Cavanaugh dream.”

“Well …” Leo’s expression was wry. “Tom was as screwed up as the rest of us. It was just less obvious. Ever think what might’ve happened if Dodge had to arrest him and turn him over to the feds for running guns to the wild Irishmen?”

I extinguished my cigarette. “Yes. It took me a couple of years before I could think about Tom technically being a criminal.”

“Tom didn’t see it that way. He thought he was being noble.”

“I know. But the government wouldn’t have agreed. I wondered if, after he was killed, his role would’ve been made public.”

“No point in doing that.” Leo took a last puff on his cigarette. “Too much paperwork involved.”

“I’m glad for Adam’s sake. He was fond of his father, but he saw Tom through realistic eyes. In fact, Adam knew him better than I did.”

“Maybe he heard Tom in confession.”

I stared at Leo. “I never thought of that.”

“Well!” The single word shot out of the newsroom as Vida practically flew across the floor. “If that doesn’t beat all! I just ran into Tricia Dodge! I mean, Tricia … what
is
her last name now?”

“It’s still Sellers,” I said, catching my breath. “Her second divorce won’t be final until this summer.”

“Really,” Vida said, straightening her rose-covered hat, “she hasn’t improved with time. I saw her last fall when she met with Milo to discuss Tanya’s wedding to that idiot who killed himself. Tricia’s aged since then. Living in Bellevue will do that to you. So crowded, so busy. A close friend of Amy’s lives in Kirkland. She looks ten years older than my daughter.”

“All this fresh mountain air,” Leo remarked before sauntering back to his desk. “Good for the complexion.”

Vida frowned at me. “Is Leo being sarcastic?”

“Of course not,” I said. “Well? Does Dot Parker have Tiffany’s daughter in her care?”

“No.” Vida leaned both hands on my desk. “She claims to know nothing about Tiffany or her child.” She paused, scrutinizing me. “You look a bit peaked.” She wagged a finger at me. “Tricia was here!”

“Yes.”

Vida pursed her lips. “It’s almost eleven. We shall take an early lunch. I must hear all about it. The Venison Inn, of course.”

“Fine. A quarter to twelve?”

Vida nodded. “Now I must finish those letters. Such silly problems people have nowadays! Whatever happened to straying husbands and lazy adolescents? Now it’s Twitter and tweeting and Facebook dilemmas.” She made her indignant exit.

I picked up the phone and called Milo. Maybe he was back from wherever he’d been when Tricia had first called on him.

“Dodge went to Everett just after you left,” Lori said. “He’s seeing their lab people. Shall I have him call you when he gets back?”

I hesitated. “Did he have another visitor earlier?” I suddenly remembered that Lori had met Tricia when she’d come to Alpine in October. “I mean his ex-wife,” I added hastily.

“Yes, she just missed him. She seems kind of nice, doesn’t she?”

“She does. Thanks, Lori.”

Our next visitor arrived ten minutes later. Postmaster Roy Everson showed up in the newsroom, seemingly restored to sanity if not to reason. Vida was his victim, which was fine with me.

“Really,” she was saying to Roy as I darted to the restroom, “you must accept the lab tests. Your mother in no way resembled a gopher.…”

Maybe if I hid in the restroom or the back shop, Roy would be
gone when I finally emerged. If all else failed, I could sneak out the back way. But when I peeked into the hall between the newsroom and the front office, I saw Spencer Fleetwood come through the front door.

“Emma,” he called, “is Vida here?”

I gestured at the newsroom. Spence nodded and disappeared.

Roy Everson was leaving when I emerged from the restroom. Spence was talking to Vida. Scooting into my cubbyhole, I closed the door and called Ben.

“I’m standing outside of Jefferson Davis’s home,” Ben said in his crackling voice. “It’s called Beauvoir, and in all the years I spent on the Delta, I’ve never seen it. It’s really not that much of a house. Nothing like Bronsky’s villa. Are you and Dodge married yet?”

“No,” I said, and spilled out my conversation with Tricia.

“Think how grateful Milo’s ex will be if you lavish kindness on Tanya,” Ben said when I finished. “Unless she’s playing a double game.”

“I wonder,” I admitted. “Is she pissed because her ex is happy and she’s not? I do feel sorry for Tanya. She’s still a mess and probably does feel safe with her father. I’ve always felt safe with Milo, more than I ever did with anybody except our parents.”