Blindfold Game

JANUARY

“IFS YOUR WIFE ON line one.”

“Thanks, Eve.” Kyle picked up the phone. “Hey, baby.”

“Hey. Just wanted to check in.”

“You all settled?”

“We’ve got rooms on the top floor overlooking the bay for one quarter the summer rate. One has a small kitchen, so we don’t have to eat out unless we want to.”

“How are the kids?”

“A little restless. I took them to the SeaLife Center today. There were a bunch of kids there from the local school, and I talked their teacher into taking Gloria and Eli along on the tour.”

“Lilah?”

“How much longer are we going to have to stay down here, Kyle?”

“A few days,” Kyle said.

“When are you coming down?”

He took a deep breath. “I’m not coming down, Lilah.”

“But you said-”

“I know what I said.”

“Kyle-”

“I can’t, Lilah. I have to stay here. I’m the head of the task force. If Hugh’s right, if something’s going to happen, I have to be here to work it.”

There was another silence. When she spoke again her anger was obvious. “When this is over, you and I are going to have a conversation.” He winced. “I know.”

IN SEWARD, LILAH HUNG up without saying goodbye and stood for a moment, staring unseeingly out at the wind-whipped surface of Resurrection Bay. Behind her, Gloria was reading Green Eggs and Ham to Eli, hitting hard on the last word in each line so her little brother would get that it was written in rhyme. He was making those deep, rich chuckles that only seem to come from five-year-olds.

If it hadn’t been for Gloria and Eli, Lilah would still be in Anchorage. She’d be at work, maybe involved in whatever it was that had Kyle so spooked. Here there was nothing to do but tick down one interminable hour after another.

“The hell with it.” She found the phone book, looked up a number, and dialed.

“Kenai Fjord Tours.”

“Hi. Do you guys do any boat rides at this time of year?”