“Can’t you save him?” Jenna asked.
“Oh, dear, no, I’m afraid not.” He put his fingers into the bullet hole and felt around. When he pulled them out, they were covered with blood and black specks of metal.
“No. That’s a cop killer bullet.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, a real cop killer is a bullet with a titanium core, so it can penetrate a bulletproof vest. This is a homemade cop killer. They split the lead of a bullet so when it hits the skin it mushrooms, causing a tremendous amount of tissue damage and bleeding. Even if the bullet doesn’t hit an organ, it can still be fatal.” Dr. Lombardi stroked Oscar’s side gently. He cared for the animal, even though it was too late.
“I’d like to give him an injection,” Dr. Lombardi said, looking at Eddie. “There’s no need to let him suffer.”
Eddie looked at Jenna. She knew what that meant. They would put Oscar to sleep so he wouldn’t be in pain any longer. She closed her eyes and nodded her head and it was done.
After it was over, Jenna felt numbed by it, just as she had felt after Bobby died. Eddie walked her into the waiting room, and Dr. Lombardi sat behind the reception desk and took out an invoice, which he rolled into the typewriter.
“I’m the only guy without a computer these days,” he joked, typing out some words. “What would you like to do with the body?”
“I don’t know.”
“There’s a pet cemetery out by the airport. The Boy Scouts maintain it. You could have him buried there if you like, for twenty dollars.”
“Yes,” Jenna said, “that would be nice.”
Dr. Lombardi turned back to the typewriter.
“What would you like the headstone to read?”
Jenna was at a loss. Headstone. What would it say?
“I guess, just ‘Oscar.’ ”
Dr. Lombardi typed away. He finished his invoice and pulled the paper out of the typewriter, laying it on the desk.
“Would it be possible to get a little lamb on the headstone?” Jenna asked and immediately felt foolish.
Dr. Lombardi smiled.
“I’m afraid it isn’t really a headstone. One of the scouts nails two pieces of wood together and paints the name on it.”
Jenna laughed and sniffled. ”I don’t know why I asked.”
Dr. Lombardi nodded and pushed the invoice across the desk.
“I take credit cards, check, or cash.”
It’s the little things that make death so casual. An event that happens every day, really, for millions of people. Animals, humans, whatever. They all die and they all have to be attended to. And Jenna felt somehow refreshed that Oscar’s death was quick and easy and that his post-death business could be done and paid for on the spot. That would never happen with people, when maybe it really should. They die, stick them in the ground, and put up a board with their name painted on it, pay on your way out. It wasn’t callous; it was natural.
As he and Jenna drove away, Eddie remembered the key in his pocket and he said they should swing by Field’s to see if everything was okay. They pulled up in front of the dark house and Eddie was suddenly concerned. The front door was ajar, yet all the lights were out and the house seemed empty. They got out and went inside and Eddie flipped on the hallway light.
“Hey,” a voice called out from the kitchen. Eddie and Jenna walked down the hallway and into the dark kitchen, turned on the light, and found Field, still handcuffed to his chair, grinning at them. His nose had stopped bleeding finally, but not before covering the entire front of his shirt with a dark stain.
“I thought you two had forgotten about me already.”
Eddie didn’t say a word as he uncuffed Field and helped him get washed up. But Field was chattering away, asking Jenna if she found him more attractive with a broken nose.
“I kind of liked it the other way,” Jenna answered.
“Aw, once the swelling goes down, I think you’re really going to like it like this.”
Eddie insisted on taking Field to the hospital to have his ribs checked out, and even though Field put up a good fight, he ended up capitulating and letting them drive him there. It wasn’t until they finally got Field back into his house, bandaged and high on painkillers, that Eddie told him about Oscar. Field shook his head in dismay.
“It doesn’t seem right.”
“I’m going to call the sheriff and have that little shit arrested,” Eddie said.
He and Jenna put Field to bed and headed home. It was almost midnight and the rain had begun in earnest. There had been a palpable change in Jenna and Eddie’s relationship. Having gone through the evening’s events together, they had achieved a level of intimacy and understanding that didn’t exist before. They were no longer strangers in love, dancing as fast as they could to entertain each other. And although status was the last thing on either of their minds, Eddie did note to himself that Jenna was staying with him and not with Robert.
They went into their own bedrooms as a matter of habit and little else: Jenna knew she would spend the night in Eddie’s bed because she could not bear to spend it alone. Listening to the rain and the wind howl outside, Jenna took off her boots and began to undress.
There was a knock at the front door. Eddie emerged from his room, trudged down the hallway, and opened the door. Jenna stuck her head out of her room to see who it was. It was David Livingstone. Jenna quickly buttoned up her jeans and stepped out into the living room.
“Come inside,” Eddie offered to David. David shook his head and stayed on the porch.
“There’s no time,” he said.
“What’s going on?” Jenna asked.
“I think I can help you.”
David looked thin and drawn, worried about something. He kept looking over his shoulder at the rain.
“What? How?”
“I can help you, but you have to come right away.”
Jenna and Eddie exchanged a glance. Maybe things were turning. You have to reach the bottom before you can rise to the top. Jenna thought David had closed himself off from any possibility of helping, but he must have had second thoughts. Maybe he had decided he was willing to take the risk he had been warned against.
“Let me get my boots on,” Jenna said, turning to her room.
“I’ll get my jacket,” Eddie said, but David stopped him with a wave of his hand.
“No. She must come alone.”
Eddie raised his eyebrows in surprise, but then shrugged. Jenna disappeared into her room.
“Sure you don’t want to come in?” Eddie asked David.
“I’m wet, and we have to hurry.”
Eddie nodded. Soon, Jenna returned ready to go. Eddie found a nylon rain poncho in the closet and gave it to Jenna to help keep her dry.
“I’m not sure you should go out in this weather,” Eddie said to Jenna. “Why don’t you wait until the rain blows over?”
“We have to go now,” David interrupted.
Jenna looked into Eddie’s eyes.
“I have to go, Eddie.”
Eddie shook his head. “Be safe, then.”
“I’ll be okay.”
She kissed Eddie on the cheek and hurried out the door. She and David stepped off the porch and disappeared into the dark rain.
WITHIN HALF AN HOUR, Robert was standing on Eddie’s porch, pounding on the door. Eddie groaned when he saw that it was Robert. He didn’t have the energy to deal with him. But he opened the door anyway.
“Where is she? I want to talk to her,” Robert demanded, pushing his way into the living room.
Eddie snorted.
“Haven’t you done enough damage today?”
“I want to talk to her.”
“She’s not here.”
Robert stared at Eddie.
“Bullshit. Where is she?”
“She left.”
Robert thought it over for a moment. Where would she have gone? No, she had to be in the house, somewhere. He bolted down the hallway, throwing open doors to all
the rooms and looking inside. Eddie took a seat at the kitchen table while Robert searched the house. After a minute, Robert returned.
“Where’d she go?”
“She left with the shaman to find her son. Do you believe that?”
“Look, buddy,” Robert said, glaring at Eddie. “I don’t like you. And if I knew you better, I still wouldn’t like you. So do me a favor. Tell me where she is, and then fuck off.”
Eddie clenched his teeth together tightly. It was the only way he could keep himself in his seat. The only way he could keep from running across the room and belting Robert in the face. He tried to remain calm.
“You got a lot of nerve,” Eddie said. “Coming up here with a hired gun, beating up my friend, shooting Jenna’s dog, and now standing in my house insulting me to my face. The only reason we’re not having it out right now is my respect for Jenna. So you better leave before you push me too far.”
Robert stood quietly for a moment.
“Sorry about your friend,” he mumbled.
“What?”
“Sorry about your friend. I fired that guy. I didn’t think he was going to hurt anyone. But I fired him.”
“That’s the first smart thing you’ve done up here.”
“Yeah, but where’s Jenna?”
“I told you. She went off with the shaman.”
Robert sighed and scratched his head.
“When’s she coming back?”
“I don’t know.”
Robert closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He didn’t know what his next step would be. He didn’t know where Jenna went or how long she would be gone. One thing was for certain, though. When she returned, she wouldn’t go to the hotel looking for Robert. She’d come right back here. So here is where Robert would have to wait. When he opened his eyes, Eddie was holding the front door open, gesturing for Robert to leave.
“I’m staying,” Robert said.
“I didn’t invite you.”
“I know you didn’t,” Robert said, sitting on the couch. “But I’m staying, anyway.”
Eddie laughed and closed the door.
“You have a lot of nerve.”
“I have a lot at stake.”
Eddie shook his head and walked down the hall to his bedroom. Robert shrugged off his wet windbreaker and wrapped himself in a blanket that was folded on the back of the sofa. And then he sat by himself in the quiet room, waiting for Jenna to return.
DAVID LED JENNA down to the beach and to a wide, wooden canoe that had been pulled up out of reach of the water. He motioned for her to grab the back of the canoe and push as he waded into the water and pulled the nose free of the beach.
“Where are we going?” Jenna asked, having to shout above the sound of the rain.
“We’re going to him,” David answered.
With the boat almost free, David climbed in and took up his paddle. Jenna gave a final push, stepping into the water up to her calves, and pulled herself into the canoe. There was about an inch of water in the canoe and Jenna hoped it was rain and not a leak. The heavy boat felt cumbersome in the water and Jenna was surprised that David could handle it himself. She asked him if he wanted her to paddle, too, but he shook his head and guided the canoe out into the inlet.
The ride was remarkably smooth, despite the choppy water. The canoe seemed to cut through the waves rather easily, and Jenna enjoyed the feeling of being out on the water. She didn’t enjoy the rain, however, which fell in big drops, and she was thankful Eddie had given her the poncho. Her jeans were soaked from kneeling in the canoe and her hair was wet and plastered to her face. David stroked his paddle without pause.
Soon they were far enough out that Jenna became nervous. Behind her she could barely make out the dim glow of Wrangell. Aside from that, there was no light. She was very concerned about David’s ability to navigate in the darkness. How did he know where to go? And as the rain continued, the bottom of the canoe continued to fill. As if sensing Jenna’s growing concerns, David paused briefly, for the first time taking a break, and turned toward Jenna. She could barely make out his silhouette at the front of the boat.
“The rain will stop soon,” he said.
Without the paddle stroking the water, the only sound was of the rain pattering around them. The sound was soothing, and Jenna realized how tired she was. It had been a long day, full of stress and tension. So long that she vaguely thought the things that had happened in the morning had happened the previous day. She yawned deeply.
“We have a long trip ahead. You should get some rest.”
Jenna didn’t know how on earth she would be able to rest in the bottom of a wooden canoe, but she stretched her legs in front of her and was surprised that the floor wasn’t as wet as she had thought. She leaned back against the end of the canoe and lifted her face to the rain. The cool drops felt good and she yawned again.
“I’m so tired.”
“I know. You should sleep.”
“So tired.”
Her voice was weary and thick. She thought about what she had said and how it sounded; and she remembered what it was like to have a drugged sleep overtake her. She felt now what she felt like long ago when she forced herself into sleep with sleeping pills and wine. The thickness around her, the heaviness of her limbs, the duality of mind and body clarified, for her thoughts were clear but her body was unable to carry out orders. That’s how she had felt in the boat with Bobby. Drugged so that she could see what was happening but could not respond. She had read about that happening to people on the operating table. The anesthesiologist would give a wrong dose, enough to paralyze the body but leave the mind awake, and patients were forced to undergo painful surgery, unable to tell the doctors they could feel everything. But the rain still felt good. It felt clear and alive, like cold little pellets dropping on her face. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth, letting the sweet drops fall into her mouth, and very soon, she was asleep.
Chapter 35
SHERIFF LARSON GENERALLY PREFERRED TO FIND ALTERNATIVE solutions. Arresting someone was always filled with such feelings of vengeance and animosity, it could hardly be considered healthy. He managed to talk Ed Fleming out of filing a complaint on that out-of-towner under the condition the kid be shown the door and told not to return. So the sheriff wrote out a warrant and put a file together on him—a technique he had used several times in the past with indigents—and headed over to the Stikine Inn good and early.
He woke the kid up, made him stuff his belongings into his bag, and took him to the office, where he fingerprinted him and took a photocopy of the kid’s driver’s license. He then showed Joey the warrant and told him he wasn’t planning on serving it unless he found the kid in town after the eight-thirty flight to Ketchikan. Then he and Joey drove to the airport and waited together for the plane to arrive. The kid seemed a little pissed off, but resigned to the entire process.
When boarding time came, Joey picked up his bag.
“Thanks for saving me the cab fare,” he said.
Sheriff Larson clamped his hand down on Joey’s shoulder.
“You’re walking out of here because I don’t want to gum up our system with your type. You’ll get in trouble again back where you came from and then they can deal with you.”
“Well thought out, Captain,” Joey smirked, walking toward the plane.
“If I see you back here again, we’re going to get to know each other real well, get me?” Sheriff Larson called after Joey, to which Joey responded by giving the sheriff the finger as he climbed the stairs to the plane.
Sheriff Larson laughed at that. Stupid little prick’s going to get himself killed one day. And it won’t have happened to a nicer guy. The sheriff settled himself into his cruiser and headed back to town, hoping that would be the last they’d seen of that kid but knowing there would always be another on the way.
JENNA AWOKE in the early morning feeling cold and damp and very stiff. The sky was clear and bright blue and the water was calm. She s
at up and saw that David was still paddling away, steering the boat toward some land in front of them. As they approached, Jenna could see that they were heading toward a small bay.
“Are we there?” she asked.
“Almost,” David answered.
The woods seemed so quiet. The tall pine trees grew down to the water’s edge, so there was no beach to speak of, just trees and some rocks rising from the water. The colors were so lush and green they almost seemed surreal. There was hardly a sound, hardly a birdcall, and the silence was a bit unsettling. Jenna felt as if she had awakened to a world devoid of life, some kind of postapocalyptic dream.
As they drew closer, Jenna saw some movement in the woods—a person running along the shore, then darting into a tangle of leaves. As they reached the mouth of a small bay, she heard a splash and looked toward the shore to her right, but she could see nothing. Again a splash to her left and she turned, but only saw some ripples in the water by the shore.
“What’s that?” she asked, becoming afraid.
She wanted to be reassured by David, but he didn’t respond.
“Where are we?”
David still didn’t respond. He simply lifted his paddle out of the water and set it in the boat in front of him. He turned to Jenna, and when she saw his face, her heart dropped. David’s eyes were large, black marbles and his teeth were pointy and sharp.
“We’re here,” he said, smiling, and as Jenna watched, his face grew broad and flat, his eyes widening and his nose disappearing, his ears rising and shrinking, his lips retreating over small, brown teeth, and quickly and easily, he slipped over the side of the boat and into the water, vanishing into the darkness.
When he reemerged, a few yards from the canoe, his head bobbing to the surface of the calm water, it was not his head at all. It was the head of a small otter, who quickly disappeared again beneath the surface.
EDDIE FELT UNCOMFORTABLE on this bright, sunny morning with a strange man sitting on his couch. He felt as if someone was watching him, keeping track of what he was doing. And he was doing nothing, which only made it worse. It was as if everything had suddenly left his life. No girl to be in love with, no shaman to track down, no dog, no fishing boat, no Field. Just Robert, sitting on the couch, staring out the window. And so, sucked into the nothingness of the situation, Eddie quietly sat at the kitchen table and waited for Jenna.