A Stolen Season

Chapter Sixteen

The Sudbury detachment was a single-story brick building in the middle of town. It had about as much charm as Maven’s building back home. Moreland was waiting at the front door for us. He led us both to an interview room. It happened to look exactly like an interview room in the States, or probably any interview room in any police station anywhere in the world. A single table, a few chairs. A mirror on one wall.

“Would you like Chief Maven to stay?” Moreland asked me. “Or would you prefer to do this one-on-one?”

“I’m not exactly sure what it is we’re doing,” I said. “But the chief brought me all the way out here. I don’t see why he can’t stay in the room.”

“Very well.” He sat down at the table and asked me to sit across from him. Maven took a third chair and sat at the end, as if he were the referee in a chess match.

“As I indicated before, I’d like to ask you some questions,” Moreland said to me. He took out a legal pad and a pen. “Some for our investigation. Some for myself.”

“Go ahead.”

“First of all, tell me everything that happened, from the moment Natalie came out to your place.”

I thought back for a few moments, then I gave him the full rundown. Natalie showing up at night. The two of us spending the next day together, going to the Glasgow, going into town, even the quick side trip to see if Leon was home. Everything I could think of. Then going back to my cabin…

“You left her there alone,” he said. “For the first time all day?”

“Yes. Things were getting a little tense between us. We both needed a few minutes to cool off. Plus I had to go take care of some people in one of the other cabins.”

“Why were things getting tense?”

“Because I didn’t want her to go back to Toronto. I could tell she was scared.”

“Did she say that to you?”

“Yes. She described the meeting with Laraque and the woman.”

“Rhapsody.”

“Rhapsody, yes. She had been spending a lot of time with her. I already knew that part. But this was the first time she had met Laraque in person. From the way she described him…”

“Yes?”

“She told me that she had a gut feeling Laraque had seen through the whole trap. That he was just playing with her. With everyone.”

Moreland was busy taking notes. Perhaps this was helping him. Doing this police business, writing things down like I’m sure he’d done a thousand times before.

“She also told me,” I went on, “that you didn’t like the idea of her going undercover in the first place.”

He looked up at me. “She told you that?”

“Yes, she did. I guess you could say that you and I were both in complete agreement on that point.”

He looked down at his pad. He wasn’t writing anything now. He was just staring at the words.

“So you left her at your cabin,” he finally said. “How long were you gone?”

“Fifteen minutes. Maybe twenty.”

“You live in a pretty isolated place, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“When you came back, you saw a vehicle?”

“I saw taillights. That’s all.”

“You can’t tell us anything else about the vehicle?”

“No, I’m sorry. It was a little foggy.”

“It was foggy.”

“Yes.”

“So you were gone for fifteen or twenty minutes. And when you came back…”

He looked down at the paper again.

“I didn’t hear anything,” I said. “I know that’s the next question. The cabin was close enough for me to hear a gunshot.”

“So whoever this was, he used a suppressor.”

“It would seem.”

“You heard about Don Resnik. We estimate he was killed about six hours before Natalie, although he wasn’t found until the next day. Someone shot him in his apartment. His body was right by the door. So they figure he answered the door and got it right then. Whether he looked through his peephole or not…Well, in any case, he still had his wallet. Nothing else looked out of place. So it wasn’t a random robbery.”

“Was it the same gun that killed him?”

“No, it wasn’t. The ammunition was similar, but it was definitely two different guns.”

“But it still could have been the same person,” I said. “He could have made it from Toronto to Paradise in six hours.”

“Yes, although he probably would have had to take a plane. Which would explain a change of guns. We’re checking on that angle right now. Everyone who flew into Chippewa Airport. Or Pelston. Or Soo, Canada. Any airport that would have gotten him to your place in time.”

“So what about Laraque? Does anyone know where he was all day?”

“The folks in Toronto tell me he was seen several times that day. They were definitely keeping an eye on him.”

“It could have been somebody working for him.”

“It could have been, yes. But how did this person know to find Natalie in your cabin? That’s the question I keep coming back to.”

“I don’t know the answer. I really don’t.”

“Why would Laraque have two police officers killed, anyway? If you look at it objectively, it’s probably the dumbest thing he could ever do.”

“Why?” I said. “Because it would turn up the heat on him? If he knew he was getting set up, how much more heat could he feel? Maybe this was a message to you and to those guys in Toronto, and to every other law enforcement officer in the country.”

“You’re assuming he considers himself untouchable then.”

“If he does,” I said, “I’d like the chance to prove him wrong.”

“Meaning what? If you knew for sure that it was him-”

“What would I want to do to him? Once again, Sergeant, I think we’d be in total agreement.”

“What I’d want to do is build a good case against him and put him away forever.”

“You’re speaking like a police officer now,” I said. “But as a man…as a friend who loved her…I think you’d have a different idea.”

“I understand what you’re saying. That’s why we follow the law instead of our own personal motives.”

“I was a cop for eight years, Sergeant Moreland. I know all about what the law can do. And what it can’t do. There’s knowing something without any doubt, and there’s being able to prove it in a courtroom. It’s not always the same thing.”

He put the pen down and sat back in his chair.

“You see, this is where we run into a real problem, Mr. McKnight.” He looked over at Maven, who had been sitting there as still as a wax replica the whole time. “What do you think, Chief?”

“I can understand what McKnight is saying,” Maven said. “I’d have the same thoughts myself. But ultimately…”

“The phone,” I said.

They both looked at me.

“When they found Resnik, you said he still had his wallet, right?”

“Yes.”

“Did he have his cell phone?”

“I honestly don’t know. Why do you ask?”

“Natalie called him that day. First she called the Mounties’ office to check in. Then she called Resnik to see how he was doing.”

“But if she used her cell phone…”

“She didn’t. She used my phone. A regular landline.”

“Why would she do that?”

“Because she wasn’t getting a signal. Cell phones never work very well in Paradise.”

“So if she called Resnik on your phone…,” Moreland said. “It wouldn’t be too hard to trace it back to you. The number’s right there on the phone, in the caller history. You have a listed number?”

“Yes.”

“They look it up in a reverse directory. Hell, they could have gone to the Internet, looked you up in three seconds. They’ve got your name, your address…”

“Six hours later…,” I said. Suddenly, I was feeling sick to my stomach.

Moreland picked up his pen again and started writing.

“I can’t do any more of this right now,” he finally said. He sounded tired. He sounded like he’d be gone from this job in a matter of days. “I do have something to give you, though.”

He stood up and left the room. When he came back, he had a folded-up blue flag in his arms. There was a small wooden box on top of the flag, and on top of the box was a hat. I recognized it immediately.

“Her medals are in this box,” Moreland said, “along with her badge and her warrant card. Ordinarily, all of these items go to the nearest member of her immediate family. As you know, Natalie’s family is all pretty much gone. So I figured, in her mind anyway, you’d be as close to family as anyone else.”

He put everything down on the table.

“I’ll be honest, Mr. McKnight. I often thought that you were the worst thing that ever happened to her. Whenever there was trouble in her life, you seemed to be right there in the middle of it. But maybe I was wrong about that. I don’t know. Maybe you were her last chance at being happy.”

He put his hand on the hat for a moment, lightly.

“I know I’ve asked you before not to come back to Canada,” he said. “That was just me talking, you understand. Just looking out for Natalie. Well, now I have the chance to make it official. The people in Toronto have asked me to formally exclude you from entry into this country, for the foreseeable future.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It means you go home today, and you stay there. Your name is on a list now. If you try to cross the border, anywhere along the border, you’ll be detained. Is that understood?”

“No. It is not understood. Why are you doing this?”

“I told you, this comes from Toronto,” he said. “Although I don’t necessarily disagree with it. We’re going to work with the Michigan State Police and the FBI to solve two murders. One in each country. Your particular talent for getting in the way of things is not going to be helpful.”

“Sergeant Moreland-”

“Good day, Mr. McKnight. Chief Maven. I’m glad you could be here. Have a safe trip home.”

Those were his last words to us. He left the room. He was walking even more slowly now, like he didn’t have much left, like the day had taken just about everything from him.

There was nothing else for us to do except leave. We went out to Maven’s car and started the long journey home.

“That’s why you’re here,” I said. We weren’t even out of Sudbury yet. “To make sure I go right back to Michigan.”

“If you think that’s the only reason,” he said, “then I don’t know what to say to you.”

Three hours later, we hadn’t said another word to each other. I sat with the flag and box in my lap, Natalie’s hat in my hands. I kept turning the hat around and around while I thought about everything Sergeant Moreland had said. Especially about Antoine Laraque.

Three hours to think about that while the trees rushed by, and then the flat, wide open fields as we got closer to the lake. Then the lake itself. We drove through Blind River again. As we got close to the bridge, I finally cleared my throat and said something.

“About what I said back there…”

“Forget it,” Maven said.

“Seriously, I appreciate what you did today. I guess I’m not used to you giving me any kind of break.”

“I said forget it.”

“Okay.”

We crossed the bridge. Maven drove to Paradise. The sun was going down now. Eight hours in the car, a couple of hours in Sudbury. It had been a hell of a day.

“I’ll buy you a drink,” I said as we got close to the Glasgow.

“I’m gonna get home to dinner.”

“Okay, good enough.”

“Moreland was right, by the way.”

“About what?”

“About everything,” he said. “First of all, when he said you were Natalie’s last chance to be happy. I saw the two of you together in that restaurant. She was a happy woman. I hope you’ll remember that.”

I wasn’t sure what to make of that one. How much more could Maven do for me in one day?

“He was also right about you staying the hell away from there,” Maven went on, suddenly sounding a lot more like the man I knew. “So help me God, if I find out you’re sticking your nose in this thing…”

“Somebody took her life away from her,” I said, “and that person is walking around on this earth right now.”

“I’ll make sure they tell me what’s going on,” he said. We had come to the second cabin now. He pulled over and put the car in park. “Every step of the way, until they nail this guy. I’ll call you every goddamned day if you want. Just don’t go and mess this up, McKnight. Do you hear me? Will you listen to me for once in your life? If you do something stupid, then your life will be over, too. Do you think Natalie would have wanted that?”

I didn’t have an answer for that one. I couldn’t tell him the truth, that I didn’t care what happened to me. That I truly, honestly did not care. I could only care about one thing.

“Thank you again, Chief.” I got out of the car.

“McKnight, God damn it.”

“Thank you. I mean it.” I shut the door and walked away. I didn’t hear him leave until I was inside.

I hadn’t eaten anything all day, and there sure as hell wasn’t any food here in the second cabin. I didn’t feel much like being sociable, even with Jackie, but I didn’t have much choice. I went down to the Glasgow, told Jackie about the service, had some of his beef stew. I had a cold Canadian, held the bottle in my hand for a long time, thinking about what Natalie had said. You think Canadian beer is better than American beer…For once you get something right.

I couldn’t stay long. I said good night to Jackie, went back up to the cabin. It was dark now. As I pulled in, I saw Vinnie’s truck parked there. He must have spent at least part of the day fixing his battery cables. Now he was inside waiting for me.

I went through the whole day again. With Vinnie, I went a little deeper into what Moreland had told me. Everything about Laraque, and how the killer probably tracked down Natalie to my cabin. Vinnie listened carefully to everything I said. When I was done, he told me he was taking me somewhere.

“I really don’t feel like going anywhere else today,” I said.

“Everything’s ready,” he said. “You have to come.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Let’s go, Alex. It’s time.”

Anyone else I might have kept arguing. I figured I owed Vinnie the benefit of the doubt. So I let him drive me over to the reservation, past the casino, to his cousin Buck’s house. He parked his truck and took me out behind the house. I had been here once before, and now it looked like I was back for the same reason.

Buck had built a sweat lodge in his back yard, a half circle about ten feet in diameter. He had lashed some saplings together and then covered them with canvas and every old rug he could get his hands on. From the outside, it looked like something in the middle of a garbage dump. But on the inside, it was something pretty amazing.

Buck was there with three other men from the Bay Mills tribe. They all nodded to me solemnly, without a word spoken. Wide faces with dark, careful eyes. Long hair down every back. They had a fire going, and they were heating rocks in the middle of it. As soon as he saw me, one man started to lift the rocks with a long shovel and take them into the sweat lodge.

The other men started to undress. I knew the drill, so I did the same. Soon we were all standing there in our underwear. It was cold enough to start me shivering in three seconds, even though the calendar still claimed it was July.

The men went into the sweat lodge. I followed them. The steam was already overpowering. Buck dipped a great iron ladle into a bucket of water and poured it on the hot rocks. Then he put a few sprigs of sage on the rocks. One of the four medicines. The last time I had been here, the medicine had been for Vinnie. His brother had been murdered. Today the medicine was for me.

I sat there in the dark, and as I did I felt my muscles begin to relax. All the tension in my body, since that one horrible moment, me sitting on the floor, holding on to Natalie. It was slowly leaving me. Buck put more water on the rocks. I was sweating. The steam filled my lungs. It was inside me and all around me and now it felt like I was floating in it.

It was dark. There was a faint glow from the rocks and nothing else. Vinnie had told me once that he saw things in the steam, that that was part of the experience, part of why the Ojibwa treasured this. I had believed him only as far as you can believe something you’ll never see with your own eyes. But on this night, as the steam grew so thick it seemed to be something you could hold in your hand, I looked into it and I saw Natalie. God help me, I saw her standing there right in front of me. She was in her uniform. Her hair was pinned up. She wasn’t wearing her hat. She smiled at me and reached out her hand like she would touch my chest. Then she was gone.

If I was imagining it…If my mind was using the blank slate of the steam to create this picture…I don’t know. I don’t really care. I saw her and she was as real to me as anything else. When I came back out of the sweat lodge into the sudden shock of the cold air, I felt like I had been plugged into something powerful and been recharged. My heart didn’t hurt any less, but at least I had some life in me now. I felt like I was ready to face anything. Or anybody.

“You look good,” Vinnie said to me. “You look much better.”

“Thank you. How did you know I needed that?”

“You’re my blood brother, remember?”

“I might need your help,” I said. “I have some things to do now.”

He looked at me. In the dim light from the house I could see the bruises on his face, the raccoon-like shiners around his eyes. “I won’t help you destroy yourself. This thing will devour you if you let it. You know that.”

“Vinnie, do you remember when we went up to find your brother? Everything that happened by that lake?”

“Yes, of course.”

I grabbed his right hand. “You took these two fingers right here,” I said. “You took these two fingers and you dipped them in your own blood, and you painted two stripes on each side of my face. Do you remember that?”

“Yes, Alex.”

“You painted my face and you said it was time to go to war.”

“Yes. I did that.”

“Natalie was my family,” I said, letting go of his hand. “You know what she meant to me.”

“Yes.”

“So it’s my blood now,” I said. “And it’s my war.”