The Deadly River (18 page)

They stored the supplies they’d brought in the little cabin and Dawn bustled about, cleaning the dust of the past year out of the place. This was their first visit in a long time and the cabin showcased their neglect.

Ray voiced their thoughts as he helped Dawn by cleaning the places too high for her to reach. “Another couple of years and we’ll have enough in the bank to tear this place down and start building the house.”

The two had been planning this project for the past ten years. They wanted a summer home on this little lake where their children and grandchildren could enjoy the Montana outdoors the way the two of them had as children.

She turned and smiled at him. “I can’t wait.” She patted her tummy where the two of them knew a new life was starting to stir itself. Gathering her in his arms, Ray’s voice seemed choked as he replied, “Me either.”

Finally the cabin met with Dawn’s approval. After a final careful look around, she gathered a bouquet of flowers they had brought with them. “Okay my friend, it’s time for our annual pilgrimage.”

The two left the cabin and walked up the road to where it crested at the top of the hill. They stopped at the tall rock cairn that that Ray had pointed out to Lee when he’d visited. Bowing their heads, before the cairn, they both said silent prayers. When they finished, they still stood there, lost in thoughts of times long past. Finally, Dawn turned to Ray, tears running down her face. Ray’s eyes were equally moist as he enveloped her in his arms. Looking over her head at the cairn, he spoke slowly and reverently. “Another year has passed my old friend and I still miss you terribly. We all do. Every day I think of you and hope you approve of the reputation I am giving the name you lent me. I do try.” The tears were coursing down his cheeks now.

Dawn freed herself from his embrace and took his hand to lead him back to the cabin. As she walked down the hill, she looked back and softly said her farewell. “Goodbye for another year, Ray Moore
¹
. I hope you’re living well and are in a better place. We all still remember you and you’ve become a real hero to many people around here.”

It was a Friday afternoon when the three River Rats, as they had come to call themselves, came in sight of the first town they’d encountered since leaving St. Dubois. It was a small community that both Mike and Tony were familiar with. As soon as they came into sight of the town, they noticed the now-familiar sewer pipes sticking out of the riverbank.

They had just had a long few days, sampling the area where the Flathead River merged with the Clark Fork. That had taken its toll as they fought the currents of the two merging rivers. The challenge of working their way past the town was just too much right now, so they
decided to hold off on starting this area until Monday. They packed up and headed home, taking the raft and all their belongings.

When they arrived at the truck stop, they heard that a practice baseball game was scheduled for Saturday between the Town Team and whoever showed up. It would be the Town Team’s final weekend off before the League play-offs, so it would probably be the last chance for the pick-up team to play this season. All three of the River Rats signed up to play.

Saturday morning, the three met at the little home Mike and Tony shared. As agreed, they were dressed to work. The raft was absolutely filthy, with a foot-wide, solid brown crust around the raft at the waterline. Breaking out a hose and scrub brushes, they cleaned the raft inside and out, turning it over to drain. By the time they finished and cleaned themselves up, it was time for the game.

The game was great exercise and they enjoyed it immensely. It was good to get out of the raft and stretch their legs. But this time, the Town Team was ready for Lee. He got some good hits, and the team made a couple of nice plays, but the rusty pickup team was no match for the more experienced, and well-practiced, Town Team. The final score was twenty-one to seven.

As they picked up their gear and prepared to depart, Charlie Benton came over to talk to Lee. “I’ve been reading your weekly reports. It sounds about like what we had been expecting, eh?”

“Yeah, I guess so. But that town dump really threw me for a loop.”

Charlie chuckled. “Yes, it’s a real disgrace. Hopefully your samples will throw some light on this kind of thing. But that’s not why I want to talk to you.”

“Oh?”

“I’ve been talking to my town team guys and they would like to have you join them next year, if you’re still around. What do you think? There would be a pay raise involved. I can probably get you up to about $4.00 per hour.”

“Wow, Mr. Benton! That is very generous. Right now, I don’t have any solid plans, but I’m really not sure if this is the life I want to have
forever. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what comes next and I haven’t made a final decision. But I promise that I’ll let you know before we close the sawmill for the winter, if that’s okay with you.”

That’s good. But don’t forget, if you decide to go back to college, you can still come here during the summer and play ball.”

“I won’t forget, sir. Thank you.”

Charlie nodded and smiled as he left to go talk to his team members.

Sheriff Rose poured his coffee slowly. “Would either of you like coffee?”

The DA declined, but Willy quickly said “Yes, please.” The sheriff filled a cup for him and brought it back to the table. He took his seat and Warthen resumed the conversation. “Okay Willy. I’m willing to do some dealing with you. I think you’re talking about Bill Wards and I’d be willing to forgive a lot of sins if I could build a good case against him.

“What’s in it for me. If I give him to you, I’ve gotta get out of here. My life wouldn’t be worth shit if I stay in prison in this state.”

“Willy, here’s what I can do. If you give us the details of the things you talked about, in writing, and then you testify to them in his trial, I’ll drop the charges against you. But the charges will come back if you try to stay in Montana. In other words, you are to stay here in jail until you testify in court against Wards. Then I’ll let you out of jail as soon as the trial is over, providing you immediately get out of Montana. How does that sound?”

Willy’s mind was working far harder than it had in years and the strain showed on his face. He thought for a long while and then asked a question. “But what if the Feds let him go first? I’d be dead meat if he’s free.”

“I’ll guarantee you that no one will let him go, Willy. I can stop that from happening.”

“Then you got a deal.”

“Okay then Willy. I’m going to bring Mrs. Rose in here to take notes about your story while we talk. Then she’ll type it up and you’ll have to sign it. Then I’ll schedule a trial for Mr. Wards. You need to understand that you’ll stay in jail until the trial and that could be two or three months from now.”

Happiness was written all over Willy’s face. “Hell, I can do that standing on my head. Go ahead and get Mrs. Rose. I’m ready.”

Both the sheriff and the County Attorney stayed in the room as Willy gave his statement, asking questions and making sure that Willy forgot nothing. The session lasted another four hours.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: JOSE ORTEGA

J
ose was sound asleep in his bunk when Willy returned to the cell-block. As soon as Willy entered, he let out a rebel yell that echoed through the closed space and brought Jose to a sitting position. “What the fuck is wrong with you, man? I was sleeping!”

“I don’t give a shit, my friend. I’m gonna get out of here! You can have this place all to yourself in a couple of months!”

“How’d you pull that off? They know you tried to rob that place.”

“Easy. I just agreed to testify against that asshole Wards. That’ll teach him to leave us here and ignore us like we was worthless. He’s gonna go to prison, but I ain’t.”

“He’ll kill you when he hears about this, you dumb shit!”

“He won’t hear about it until I testify at his trial and, as soon as I testify, I’m outa here! I’m going home to the Lone Star State. He won’t have a chance to get to me.”

“But the FBI is gonna turn him loose. Then what, dummy?”

“Ain’t gonna happen, Jose. The County Attorney is stopping the FBI from doing that, ‘cause now the locals are filing charges against him. He’s gonna go to prison!”

Jose lapsed into silence, thinking hard about his jailhouse friend’s good luck.

Taking samples of the river water through the little town wasn’t as bad as the River Rats had expected. There were several small sewer pipes that serviced residential buildings and one larger one that seemed to carry the waste from a group of businesses. But the three had developed a routine for taking these samples now and the work moved ahead smoothly.

Once they were past the town, the valleys seemed to open a bit and there were more farms and ranches. Following directions from Professor Davis, they were careful to sample wherever water ran off of the fields. They didn’t notice anything at these points, but the professor had mentioned that he wanted to test these places for DDT, fertilizers, and other chemical contaminants.

Steadily they worked their way downriver, soon coming to the small city of Plains, Montana. There, they actually rented motel rooms for several days and luxuriated in warm showers, soft beds and restaurant food. These amenities made the work much easier, they all agreed.

The day after Willy’s session with the lawmen, Patty Rose came to the cellblock with a typed version of the information Willy had provided the day before. She made no attempt to hide her purpose in the visit as she loudly informed Willy, “Here’s the papers that I typed from what you told us.” She handed the stack of papers to Willy.

Willy wasn’t used to working with papers. “What’cha want me to do with this?”

“What you have there is a carbon copy of your story as I recorded it yesterday. Please read it over and see if you agree with everything it says. If you don’t, mark it with a pencil and I’ll make changes. When it’s okay, just let me know and I’ll bring the original up and you can sign it. You can keep the copy so you can refer to it when you’re preparing to testify. We keep the signed original so we know that you’re telling the same story when you get on the stand. If you do tell the same story, you go free immediately after the trial. Oh, here’s a pencil.”