by Lee McIntyre
“But I haven’t seen my wife in seven months,” Adam pleaded.
The nurse motioned with her eyes and Lisa took the hint. “Emma, let’s walk down the hall and look at the babies through the glass.”
The nurse turned back to Adam. “You know she has to have a Caesarean.”
“I was there when she had the other one.”
“But this time you can’t. She’s already on the table. You’ll have to wait here.”
Adam sat on the couch and watched Emma push some colored beads along a curved wire. Then she plopped down in front of the fish tank and started naming the fish.
Lisa got up from her seat and joined Adam on the sofa.
“She seems fine,” Adam said, marveling at the small miracle before him.
“She is fine,” Lisa replied. “She’s glad to be back, of course, but she shouldn’t have any long-term problems. Kids are more resilient than people think. And we had her in a good placement.”
Adam nodded and looked down.
“You wife’s going to be fine too,” Lisa said.
“She’s in there alone.”
“I asked them to give her a message that you were here. That seemed to calm her.”
“She’s awake?”
“I think so, but you still can’t go in.”
Adam sat forward in his seat. “What am I supposed to do? I can’t think about anything else.”
Lisa put a hand on his arm. “Are you okay? You’ve been through a lot. Do you want to talk about something else?”
Adam looked at her and let a few seconds pass. “How did CPS let you come here today? With me here?”
Lisa hesitated, then gave him a smile. “I quit. I’ve had enough.”
Adam looked at her, uncomprehending.
“Wanda turns out to be quite the rebel. She’s down in the lobby. She said I needed closure.”
Adam couldn’t bring himself to say the words yet, but he hoped his eyes said enough. “So you’ve been talking to Wanda?”
Now Lisa was smiling for real. “Yes. We’ve been talking every day. She’s been a real help at filling in some missing pieces.”
Adam saw his chance and decided to ask his real question. “So what happened to Emma after she left protective custody? How did that happen?”
Lisa shook her head. “It looks like Steve Carnap got someone in the Governor’s office to override the system. He was in the process of having Emma transferred back to your wife. It was right there on the page, but we were too scared to see it. Placement terminated: transfer pending. But the transfer was back to your wife.”
Adam’s jaw tensed.
So Carnap had been telling the truth. Right after he’d completely screwed over Adam’s life.
“A regular humanitarian.”
Emma was done with the fish. She walked over to a little desk with colored markers and began to draw pictures of the fish.
“Can I ask you something?” Lisa said.
“Sure.” Adam looked up.
“How in the world did you get Steve Carnap for a lawyer?”
Adam’s cheeks burned, but it was a legitimate question.
“My wife’s college friend. She’s a lawyer back in Boston. Turns out she went to law school with someone on the Governor’s staff. When she asked for the name of a good family lawyer in Oregon, guess whose name they gave her?”
“Coincidence?”
Adam shook his head. “Couldn’t be. They knew who I was by that point. They were reeling me in. Carnap worked the whole goddamned time to frame me.”
Lisa shifted in her seat for a moment, like she was working up to her real question. “Frame you for some things, but what about now? I was shocked when I heard what had happened up at Timberline Lodge, but I was even more shocked when I heard this morning that they’d let you go. How did that happen?”
Adam studied his hands. “Well, they didn’t really have any eyewitnesses.”
Lisa gave him an incredulous look.
“Beauchamp was in shock and the Governor has been so discredited that I don’t think anybody will ever believe a word he says again. Plus, I don’t think he saw what happened to Carnap. Hell, he may even be glad he’s dead.”
Lisa looked like she’d just bitten into a bad peach.
“And you heard about the jurisdiction issue from today right?” Adam said.
“Yes, it’s been all over the news. I guess it’s not over with the tribal courts yet, but I gathered that what happened today was pretty extraordinary. Maybe this helped.”
Lisa lay a copy of yesterday’s Oregonian newspaper on Adam’s lap and the headline screamed up at him:
STATE VOWS ACTION ON TRIBAL CUSTODY: “Every child will go home.”
Adam looked down.
“This is the first newspaper I’ve seen in months. Did the Oregonian already print the Indian – ?”
“It’s been full of it. For two weeks now. No one can talk about anything else.”
Adam tensed.
“Which must be partially why you had to leave your job –”
Castro looked away for a moment, then shook her head, “It was time for me to go anyway. I don’t blame you for that. But I do assume that this was you.” Lisa pointed to the paper that was still in his lap. “The reporter hasn’t given up her source yet and says she won’t, but who else could it be? Only a few people know what really happened: Wanda, a couple of bikers, and maybe a whole lot of Indians.”
Adam flashed on what it might look like to see Edward White Robe smiling.
“So you think that might’ve been what helped me today?” Adam said.
“Probably more than a bit. But there must’ve been something else too. I heard that Tugg confessed to killing Carnap, but why did they believe him?”
Adam could tell by the question that Lisa believed she was sitting next to the killer. He owed her the truth, but did he owe her a confession?
“A twist of fate and a damn good friend.”
Adam saw the look in Lisa’s eyes and decided he could risk it.
“It turns out that a Glock is unique. With a standard handgun there are nicks on the bullet from the rifling in the barrel, which is there so the gas can escape when it’s fired. The police use those for ballistics. But Glocks use a hexagonal barrel to solve the gas problem instead of rifling. Which means that if you get two Glocks with identical calibers, you can’t tell which slug came out of which gun.”
“Oh,” Lisa said. “It sounds like you’re some sort of firearms expert.”
“Not me, Tugg.”
“I see.”
“What?”
Lisa fixed her gaze. “It sounds like the twist of fate and the damn good friend might be the same thing.”
Chapter 82
Adam looked down at the beautiful sight before him.
Just as he’d dreamed, his family was back together again —plus one.
Adam sat on the corner of Kate’s hospital bed while she tried to nurse the baby. Lisa Castro had left hours ago, as Adam and Kate finally had their tearful reunion in the recovery room. Then they’d gone off to Kate’s room, where Emma now slept in an oversized chair in the corner.
They had so much to say, but was now the right time to say it?
“He’s beautiful.”
“He’s you,” Kate replied. She tried to push her nipple into his mouth again, but he was still rejecting it. His little stocking cap had slipped down over his eyes. Kate adjusted it.
“I haven’t seen you stand yet,” Adam said.
“Duh.”
“No, I mean how were you during the pregnancy? It must have been terrible.”
Kate smiled and looked up at him. “All I did was lie there and think about you and Emma. And I made them work on my leg muscles every day. I’m going to fight this. After all we’ve been through —”
Adam smiled and brushed a lock of hair from Kate’s face. “You are my life.”
Kate beamed up at him and snuggled her chin into the palm of his
hand.
The little guy looked like he had fallen asleep.
“I’m just so damn relieved that we’ve got everyone back together again,” Adam said. “We’ll make it somehow. We came up from nothing once, we can do it again. As long as we’re together.”
“But for how long?”
“Yeah, I don’t know,” Adam said. “The tribal court thing will go like it’s going to go. But I don’t think they’re going to come after me for the other stuff now. Tugg’s confession put the kibosh on all that. He confessed about Rachel and the skinheads, even though I don’t think he did either of them.”
Kate seemed to get the hint about the skinheads. She’d hadn’t asked him about what had happened at the Lodge, so maybe twenty-three years ago didn’t matter. It was so long ago.
“So you think Steve Carnap or the Governor killed Rachel?” Kate said.
Adam shook his head. “I don’t know. They denied it, but so did Tugg, initially. Then he confessed.”
“So you think Tugg did it?” Kate said.
“No, I don’t believe that. I don’t know what happened but that wasn’t it.”
The baby gave a grimace and put all four limbs out at once. Then he settled down and went back to sleep. What in the world could he have to dream about?
“So do you think Tugg did it?” Adam asked.
“No I’m pretty sure he didn’t.” Kate looked over at Emma, then down at the baby. “Because I think I did.”
Chapter 83
An electric shock passed through Adam’s spinal cord. He looked down at Kate, who was fussily rearranging the baby’s blanket. He looked toward the door, but it was closed tight. It was just the four of them.
“Kate, how could you do it?”
Kate looked up and stopped smiling. “She threatened my family and lied about my husband.”
“No, I mean how did you do it? Good God, did Tugg help you?”
“No.” Kate was smiling at the baby again. “I said he didn’t do it.”
Was she really going to make him ask?
Kate wouldn’t look at him. “Families in Transition, remember? You’re not the only one with loyalties. Or connections to some tough guys.”
Kate had a shattered look on her face, but her voice was still strong. A wind over reeds.
“I asked a client whose family I helped out while he was in prison. I won’t say his name, but he owed me. He was always asking if there was anything he could do for me. Finally I had something. I didn’t ask him to kill her. I asked him to go talk to her. Try to get her to confess that she’d made up the whole abuse charge. But I guess things got out of hand.”
Adam had the sensation that his body was floating upward.
Kate kept talking. “Anyway, then things got pretty bad. I couldn’t tell you because I knew you’d confess to protect me. But I also knew that you’d be the main suspect. The one silver lining was when I remembered that case they dropped when the main witness recanted after the initial abuse allegation. I hoped that maybe the same thing would happen if Rachel was dead and couldn’t testify. But I never figured on Steve Carnap. Setting us up the whole time and trying to make you the scapegoat. I hope he suffered.”
Adam looked down at the stranger who was wearing his wife’s face. Then something occurred to him. “Does Tugg know?”
Kate’s eyes were vacant for a moment. “Maybe. But if he does he’ll keep quiet. Tugg would never do anything to hurt us. Maybe I should turn myself in.”
Was she serious? Adam had had enough sacrifice for a lifetime. But then he saw that the court’s judgment wasn’t the one she really cared about.
“No, you can’t do that.” His voice was soft. “Think of Emma and the baby. Think of all we’ve been through. I would’ve done the same thing as you. You aren’t responsible for how things turned out. There’s no going back now. Tugg confessed to four murders that he didn’t do, but as long as they’re not going to execute him, we can’t ever speak of this again. It’s too dangerous.”
This thing dies with both of us.
Adam was still sitting on the edge of the bed, but the world had shifted. Things had come full circle, but this time the debt had been paid.
“It’s like we’re throwing him to the wolves.” Kate’s eyes were glistening.
“No, there’s got to be a better way than that,” Adam said. “Tugg will be okay. He’s been to prison before. And Tugg would say that this was what he wanted. He did what he thought was right – for all of us – and he knew the consequences.”
“But that doesn’t make it right.” Kate’s eyes were like crushed grapes now.
They were both silent for a moment before Kate continued.
“We owe Tugg our lives.”
“Yes we do,” Adam said. “And I’ll make sure this comes out right somehow.”
Emma shifted in her sleep. Somehow she’d turned four while Adam had been in jail.
“What do you mean?”
Adam gave a cryptic smile. “Trust me. Tugg’s a survivor. He’ll make it. I’ll make sure of it. Tugg will be set for life.”
Kate crinkled her eyes. “Adam, that makes no sense. He’s hasn’t even had a trial yet, let alone been sentenced to life.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
Kate’s confusion was palpable, but Adam just let it lie, as he stared off into the mid-distance.
“Life and the next life too, I guess. That’s what Kurt always said. Remember, Tugg’s one of the Immortals now.”
Chapter 84
She looked out the window of the pickup truck and saw the high mesas in the distance. A rooster tail of dust had kicked up behind, but the road ahead was clear and the sky was bottle blue. The wind tousled her hair as it blew through the cab.
Suddenly, she saw a dust cloud up ahead.
What the hell was that? Was it even on the road?
She slowed to a crawl, then realized it was a pack of wild mustangs thundering across the high desert.
Lisa pulled off the road and jumped out of the cab. “Ahhhhhhhh, go go go!” she screamed joyously.
Orange and white. Dappled and grey. She spotted pure black, tan, white, and a couple that were lost in the cloud of dust.
She heard a spurting noise and turned around to see wisps of white smoke coming from her radiator.
Damn.
It had been a long journey. Three hundred miles and about fifteen years, but finally she had made it. Even if she had to walk the rest of the way, she could do it. But which way was town?
Governor Beauchamp had told her that he’d give her his highest recommendation for the new job, for what it was worth. Under the circumstances, she said, it would probably hurt her.
She suspected that Peter Beauchamp was in love with her, but with a five-year age gap and all that had happened, how in the world could she stay? So she’d called in the favor. Played it smart for once. Even if it was tilting at windmills.
“You know he was only 14 when the skinheads were killed, Peter, so that was a juvenile offense anyway.”
“Yes, I know it,” the Governor replied.
“And there must be enough of a trail between Governor Halliday and Steve Carnap to show that they brought Rachel into it. They were leveraging her by offering a pardon for her brother. They got what they wanted from her once she’d accused Adam. They’re probably the ones who killed her, too. Can’t you get the police to dig a little? See if there’s any evidence?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Governor Beauchamp said. “They found Morgan’s old cell phone in the desert in Arizona. There were calls from the local cell towers five hours before the murder. I’ll write the pardon myself. But you know I’ve got no jurisdiction over the tribal courts. They’ve got him now. He’s locked away tight as a drum from what I hear. And they are going to prosecute.”
“That’s what I heard too,” Lisa said.
The horses were gone now, disappeared toward the horizon.
Lisa took out her handkerchief and opened the
hood.
A plume of white smoke rose up toward the sky.
Smoke signals, Lisa laughed. Another culturally inappropriate reference that she’d have to scrub from her vocabulary.
It’d be a steep learning curve, but she was committed. How much more good could she do by helping to strengthen the tribal foster care system than she’d done in fifteen years of work for the county? All those Indian kids coming back would need places to go. Most could go straight back to their families, but some had been the victims of real abuse or neglect. She could help with that. After all, placement was her specialty.
Did she really want to walk? Maybe she should call for help. But who did you call for a tow truck on an Indian reservation?
Lisa remembered that she had Tulie Price’s number in her cell phone history. Tulie would tease her, of course, but then she’d come. Even if Lisa couldn’t describe where she was.
This was Tulie’s land. She wouldn’t need a milepost to find her.
Lisa spied another dust cloud on the horizon. Damned if she wouldn’t learn to ride a horse, now that she was here. But today it was hopeless.
Lisa held her hands up against the bright sun and stared at the approaching cloud. Then she heard the whine of an engine.
She’d be damned if she’d be rescued. Who wanted to start out like that?
Lisa turned around and pretended to work on the radiator.
“Do you need some help?”
Lisa smiled at the impertinent wall of muscle that was facing her.
No helmet. No leather jacket. No shirt at all. Just black jeans, boots, and a pair of Ray-Bans.
“I thought you biker guys always had to wear your vests.”
Lisa could feel his sly smile all the way down to her boots.
“Are you gonna rat me out? Biker clubs usually steer clear of the reservation. They won’t see me unless you turn me in.”
Lisa squinted into the sunshine. “And I see you’re on a brand new bike. Where’s your Harley? I thought you guys always rode a Harley?”
“I lost mine. Got a new bike from the tribe, though. Said they owed a debt to a friend of mine. You like it?”