The Black Silent

CHAPTER 33

"Bring her in," said Martha Harlasen in the commanding voice one develops while raising six boys. Sam had carried the chair with Sarah in it, up from the boat.

"Got any big bolt cutters?" Sam asked Eugene Harlasen.

"Out here in the sticks? Of course," he said. He was a strong-looking, graying man who seemed firm in the body and in the mind, with a face that reminded Sam of Abraham Lincoln or at least the likenesses that he had seen.

In minutes they were doing the careful work of breaking off the cuffs. Although a bit painful, because of a slight twisting motion, they came off with the giant cutters and Sarah was loosed from the chair.

Sam picked up Sarah to follow Martha. For just a moment Sam's eyes connected with hers; then he followed her through the doorway exiting the entry area. Martha was a blond woman, maybe forty-five, much younger than her husband. To the right of the entry stood a grand piano in a music room, to the left a living room, and straight ahead the hallway that they entered. He glanced at books on bookshelves and pictures on the wall.

At the end of the hall, near the staircase to the upstairs, was a guest bedroom with a large queen-size bed. Sam laid Sarah down gently. She roused briefly and squeezed his arm. Haley was right behind him and sat with her on the bed.

Sam turned back to Eugene Harlasen, who waited behind them in the hallway. They closed the bedroom door. As he appraised the man and pondered the firm handshake, he liked what he felt and saw, both in the man and in the small things, the pictures, the reading material in the house. Eugene seemed a good man and this seemed a solid family.

"We wouldn't be here if it wasn't an emergency," Sam said. "We appreciate you taking this risk for Sarah and Ben."

"I know that," Harlasen said. "Ben and Haley are good friends."

"We have a very serious problem. Garth Frick is a criminal, and he's temporarily in control of the sheriff's department. He has the Sanker Corporation behind him and all of their resources. That's a formidable combination. It's very dangerous to hide us. And to oppose him."

Not surprisingly, Harlasen's face was dead sober, but as Haley joined them, Sam saw the resolve he was hoping for.

"Evil men win if everyone runs and hides," Harlasen said. "I've heard about Frick."

"Who did you hear from?" Sam asked.

"Lattimer Gibbons."

"What did you hear from him?"

"That, according to Ben Anderson, Frick is crazy."

"Where is Lattimer now?"

"I don't know-at home probably. He's unwell. I don't think he gets around that much."

"Unwell, as in ill?" Sam asked.

"Very. As of a couple of years ago, anyway. Martha and I make a point of calling him now and then, to raise his spirits, you know? He's got some artery disease. And it was pretty much throughout the circulatory system. Already he'd had minor strokes. They were going to try multiple bypasses."

That didn't match Sam's memory of Gibbons. From Haley's expression, she was thinking the same thing. Something had not only cured Lattimer Gibbons's arterial ailment but left him in peak condition.

Sam decided to change the subject. Eugene and his family would be safest if they knew nothing more.

"I need to pick up something really important at Fisherman's Bay, so I need to borrow a vehicle. Secondly, we need a boat. Haley and I may need to leave the island."

Harlasen nodded. "We have a boat. It's down anchored in the bay. It's a Zodiac the kids use for fishing. It'll get you to Friday Harbor, at least."

"First the vehicle."

"Frankly, Sam, you don't look so good. Maybe we should help."

Sam shrugged and smiled, but he felt weary at the mere thought of the task that lay ahead.

"Just let me drive you in the pickup and bring you back," Eugene said.

"It's dangerous," Sam said. "And I'm concerned for your family. I want you out of this.

Just let me use the truck. If anybody asks you, claim we stole it. You're already endangering yourselves by hiding Sarah."

Eugene thought for a moment; he seemed uncertain.

"Please," Sam insisted. "You need to stay out of this as best you can. You've already done a great deal."

Eugene reluctantly handed Sam the keys.

"Sam," Martha called out. "Sarah wants to talk with you."

Sam walked from the living room to the bedroom and found Sarah sitting up in bed. She asked to be alone with Haley and him.

"I have to tell you something."

"Yes?" Haley said.

"Ben had someone call before they caught me."

For a few moments Haley had to think about what Sarah had said.

"It was Nelson Gempshorn," Sarah continued. "He said Ben was running but would come to me. He said absolutely not to talk, said the boat would come at eight p.m., at Fisherman's Bay. Then they caught me before I could make the rendezvous. And Nelson said to bring Haley. Ben tried to call her."

"We didn't connect. I went right over to Sanker," Haley explained.

"If I missed them, I was supposed to wait for a call at the Horngraves'," Sarah said.

"But where did Ben want to take you?"

"My guess? President Channel. I was to be ready to dive. You know the experimental area?"

"Did you tell Frick about President Channel?"

"No."

"Nelson was coming in a boat to get you?" Haley asked.

"Yes. That was my understanding."

"You would be diving underwater? At night?"

"That's what I gathered. I can't be sure."

"Is there any other connection between Ben and diving and President Channel or Orcas or Waldron Island across the way?" Haley asked.

Sarah thought for a moment. "I mailed things to West Sound. Just a PO box, no real location. I asked him, but he…" She shook her head. "On the phone Nelson referred to the place Ben and I took a picnic."

"Was the picnic at Orcas, along President Channel?"

Sarah nodded.

"Do you know about the other people Ben was working with?"

"Only names-Lattimer, Nelson Gempshorn. I think it's a secret society. They all sign something."

"Where do they meet?" Haley asked.

"I don't know."

Haley thought out loud. "Ben mailed things to West Sound. But that's a fairly big area.

Turtle Mountain and such."

Sarah nodded.

"Sarah, was Ben involved with anything? Other people?"

She looked uncertain and deeply conflicted. "I think it was a government secret." She had tears in her eyes, probably torn between a promise made and the exigencies of the moment.

"What do you mean?" Sam broke in at last. "Ben's research?"

Sarah nodded. "Ben has been talking to the government. I don't know who or how or what was said."