Chapter 7
As they neared the Palmer airport, Jamie said casually, “So when Bobby started hanging around the hangar, Dad took him for a ride in the Beaver. Flew him way out, a couple hundred miles from town. While they were circling over the tundra, he said something like, ‘Sure is a lot of land out here. A man could get dropped out here, and never be seen again.’ I swear, that boy was WHITE when they got back on the ground,” Jamie laughed.
"Hey, Rick! Look out the window.” She paused. “Sure is a lot of land out here.”
Rick glanced at her quickly, but couldn’t tell if she was kidding. She went on, seriously, “Rebecca is my best friend, and I wouldn’t like it if she gets hurt.”
He looked her in the eye and said, “Fair enough. Since you’re her friend, then you should know I like her, too. In some ways it seems like I’ve known her forever. I lose my place and forget what I'm saying when I see her. As corny as it sounds, when she looks at me a certain way, I forget to breathe for a minute. That sounds like a bad romance novel, but I can’t help it.”
"Hmm," was all she said.
Jamie keyed her mic and said, “Palmer traffic, Piper One Charlie ...” while Rick looked over his notes from their conversation. As she banked into the final turn, she smiled at him and said, “I was right. You’re hook, line and sinker for her. It’s okay, boy; I'm just kidding. Kind of. So tell her what you just told me. Some women just want to know they’re worth fighting for, so don’t make her guess how you feel. Just come right out and tell her, ‘kay?”
“Well, she did say I'm taking her to dinner tonight,” Rick said thoughtfully. “I’ve been concentrating so much on finding out what happened to Bob Corbett, and then about Ng … I guess it’s time I slow down for a bit, and take some time for me.”
Jamie didn’t answer right away, but as they rolled to a stop, she said, “I see she’s here to pick you up, but there’s something else. You see that little blue car over by the office? I recognize the driver - that’s Ng’s daughter. You might want to keep your back to her when you get out of the plane.”
Rick climbed out, and ducked his head as if exiting a chopper. Walking quickly to Rebecca’s car, he slid into the passenger seat. “Well?” she asked as they drove away, “did you find out anything useful?” He thought for just a moment, and said, “I found out a couple of things. One: Ng’s a cheapskate who wants everything at a bargain price.”
“Lots of people want a good deal, but that doesn’t sound like news.”
“True enough. Buildings tend to burn down when he doesn’t get his way. And that’s NOT the way lots of people operate.”
She glanced at him. “I get that. But you said ‘a couple of things’.”
“The other thing is … Well, Jamie said I should tell you something. You see, I get … I mean, you should know that …” Rick was starting to get flustered.
Rebecca gave him a quizzical look, but said, “Whatever it is, it’ll have to wait.”
“Why?”
“Did you see that little blue car at the airport? It’s following us.”
He resisted the urge to turn around and look. “Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure,” she said. “I’ve deliberately made a few wrong turns, and she’s staying with us.”
Rick thought. “Have you noticed this is starting to seem like a detective story? Fires, threats, real estate deals gone bad, and now a car chase?”
“It’s a pretty slow, for a car chase,” she said, “but I think we may just have to pull into the lot at the Borough offices, and see what they do then.”
She pulled into a space near the front door, and they watched the little car cruise slowly by. “Have any idea who was that?” she asked.
“Jamie said it was Ng’s daughter. Somebody’s been talking to both sides, it seems.” Rick waited until the car disappeared from sight, and got out. “I need to get back to Anchorage. She said something that reminded me I’ve got to see someone in Juneau. Is it true you can’t drive there?”
“Not unless your car can swim,” Rebecca laughed. “It’s over 600 miles across the Gulf of Alaska from here.”
Rick grimaced. “Okay, then. I’ve got to get back and book a flight. I'm afraid I'm going to have to stand you up for dinner.”
She caught his eye and looked serious. “You’d better make it up soon, boy. I don’t take kindly to the kiss-and-run type.”
“Um … but we haven’t kissed,” he said.
Rebecca broke into a broad smile. “We can fix that, big guy. C’mere.” She gave him a peck on the cheek and said, “I like you, Rick. You’re here trying to help, and I like that. Let’s have dinner soon, and see where this goes.”
* * * * *
Heading south on the highway, Rick noticed that the weather, which had cleared earlier in the day, was getting gloomy. He glanced at his watch and saw it was only mid-afternoon. I forgot it gets dark so early, he thought.
His headlights illuminated a few snowflakes as he drove. The traffic wasn’t too heavy, southbound, but he also noticed a lot a taillights flashing up ahead. Traffic was slowing for no reason that he could see, until he got closer. a bull moose was walking down the shoulder of the road, occasionally wandering into the traffic lanes. Drivers were honking, jamming on the brakes and swerving a bit, as they approached the animal.
Wait until they hear about this back at the home office. They’re going to think I’ve been drinking. That reminded him, though, that he hadn’t heard from Patterson in a couple of days. He hit the speed dial on his phone and waited for the call to go through.
“Hi, Rick. It's good to hear from you,” said the secretary. “What’s the weather like?”
“Hey, Dawn. It’s cloudy, snowing a little, and getting dark already,” he began. “No, the snow stopped, but now it’s getting foggy. I didn’t know it could get foggy when it’s below freezing.”
“That sounds kind of spooky and exciting,” she replied. “I bet it’s fun to be in Alaska, though. I’ve always wanted to visit there … but maybe in the summertime.”
Rick chuckled. “Yeah, that’s what a lot of people say. Listen, is William there?”
Patterson came on the line. “Rick, my boy, what’s up?”
“William, I’ve been trying to reach you for three days. Why haven’t you taken my calls?”
Patterson's voice got softer. “I’ve been catching a lot of flack over the Corbett thing, and something’s fishy. I can’t figure out why the mucky-mucks here would get so personally involved in the death of one field liaison. Guys have died before, but the reaction here is intense.”
Rick thought. “I don’t know, either, but I'm hearing some weird things about the guy that Bob was meeting with, right before. The guy is bad news, apparently, but I'm not sure how bad. Yet.”
“Just watch yourself,” Patterson said. “Somebody higher up is unhappy that you’re spending time chasing the guy. But I’ll cover for you as long as I can. At least until I get a direct order to recall you. So far, that’s not happened.”
“Thanks for the heads-up; I appreciate it. I'm flying to Juneau tonight, if I can get a seat. That fits with my original purpose here, so that should help ease things.”
“Yeah, how’s that Adak installation going, anyway?”
“Frank Merculief says he’s happy with the installation, and the engineers say the coverage is good. Most of that town is flat, although they may need additional antennas in a couple of the low-lying areas.”
“Okay, Rick. Be careful, and I'm sorry I couldn’t talk before. I'm telling you, there’s a lot of heat that may come our way. But until someone gives me a direct order, you carry on.”
“Understood, thanks.”
* * * * *
Rick could see there was ice building up on the radio antenna and side mirrors. He had the defroster on high, and was fumbling to find the button for the rear window defogger. It was getting harder to see.
He concentrated on following the taillights ahead, as they approached a long, sweeping turn. Suddenly, those taillights disappeared, then reappeared, moving sideways. He realized they had reached the long, flat overpass across the Knik River, and that there was ice on the road.
He tapped his brakes to slow down, and the car did a complete 360-degree spin. Rick gripped the wheel and prayed that he wouldn’t hit anyone, or anything. As the spin slowed, he realized the car was headed in more-or-less the right direction again. He took his foot off the gas, and let it slow to a crawl. As he did, a small blue car went by in the other lane.
“I don’t know if she’s following me, or we’re just going in the same direction, but this is getting awfully suspicious,” he muttered.
The rest of the drive into town was uneventful, but at much lower speeds, as he followed the signs to the airport.
To be continued ...
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