“I don’t want to land here,” she protested. “I want to go to the other end.”
“You said Beaver Lake. I’m landing here. I have to deliver something.”
Tessa tried not to show just how mad she was. Her anger was mixed with some nervousness. Kratz’s behavior shocked her. She was not only dependent on him today; in the evening the pilot was supposed to pick her up. She also didn’t understand why he had been so unfriendly. He couldn't afford to insult clients like her.
The Otter set down on the lake and glided slowly toward the pier. The forest came so close to the water, as if the trees wanted to dive into the lake. Kratz climbed out of the machine, balancing himself skillfully on the pontoons. This time nobody rushed to tie up the plane at the pier. Kratz did it himself; he was an experienced pilot. Tessa remained sitting. There was no way she was going to get out here.
He opened the luggage compartment and threw her backpack on the dock. Then he took out several boxes from the plane’s belly and piled them on the dock, which began to rock. When he was done, he opened the door. “Please get out.” His voice sounded almost mocking.
She tried to show that she was calm, although her pulse was racing. “Come on, Kratz, we can deal with this peacefully. We—”
“That’s what you’re good at, you lawyers, dickering and manipulating others. But not with me. I’ve had enough. This is the last straw.”
“What are you talking about? Is there something I should know?”
“There’s only one thing you should know, lady. This is your last stop.”
She shuddered. She was alone here with Kratz. Nobody else for miles. She deliberated feverishly. Only her father knew where she had wanted to go. But even he didn’t know that the pilot had flown her here, fourteen kilometers from where she wanted to be. The only clue were the boxes lined up on the pier. Who were they for?
Talking it over was the only way to resolve the situation. “Does it have something to do with the second pilot?” she asked. “What happened?”
Kratz’s face became even more threatening. But now he began to get it off his chest. “I trained him for seven long years. Seven years. And for what? Now he’s flying on his own. That’s the thanks I get. What an idiot I was! And that’s what you did to me. All the money that the government threw at the Sitklat’l. They’ve bought two of their own planes. From now on, they’ll do everything on their own. And I can see where I’m going to be stuck. Nobody’s going to help me. But you lawyers don’t give a shit about that. The main thing is you get your money.”
“Kratz, I didn’t know that. I had no idea. There must be enough customers for two companies. With the mines and the tourism. Nobody can do that on his own.”
He spit on the dock. “That’s the way people talk who have no idea. People who don’t even live here.” With a quick movement he picked up her backpack. “How long should I wait? Do you want me to throw it in the water?”
She had her ID and her credit card on her. An old practice. But her pistol was in the backpack. She had put it in there because she didn’t want it to fall out of her jacket pocket again.
Maybe he just wanted more money. “I’ll give you another three hundred if you fly me to the other end of the lake.”
Kratz turned around suddenly, a surprised look on his face.
She heard a voice, and a man showed up on the dock.
40
“Hello Kratz,” Tsaytis Chelin called out. “Have you brought back something nice for me?” At the same moment he noticed Tessa, who was leaning out of the open floatplane door.
“You’re here?”
He came over to her, held out his hand, and helped her onto the dock. Kratz wouldn’t dare to leave her here alone in the wilderness now. She ripped the backpack out of his hand.
“He wanted to kick me off here and leave me stranded,” she complained to Tsaytis. “Watch out for him.”
“Ah, she didn’t understand me right,” the pilot replied. “I’ve got to unload these things, and then I’ll fly her on to the other side of the lake.”
Tessa grabbed Tsaytis by the arm. “Don’t believe him. He’s lying.”
Tsaytis nodded to her. “I’ve got it. Who are these boxes for, Kratz?”
“I don’t know. My wife drafted the contract. I’m just carrying it out.”
Tsaytis bent over the boxes. “They could be for me. But there’s nothing written on them. Why don’t you go ahead and open up one of them so that I can see what’s inside?”
“They’re not for you.”
“Then I’ll just open them anyhow. And you”—he turned to Tessa—“do you have your cell phone with you? Can you film the whole thing?”
She didn’t know exactly what Tsaytis was up to, but she reached into her backpack. What her hand touched inside wasn’t the cell phone, but her pistol. Her phone was in the pocket of her jacket.
In this moment, Kratz punched Tsaytis in the jaw so hard that he fell onto the dock. With his boots he kicked him in the head and stomach. The dock swung back and forth. Kratz lost his balance and landed on his knees. Tessa quickly pulled out her pistol and pointed it at him.
“Don’t move or I’ll shoot,” she yelled.
Kratz grimaced; the fall must have done more damage than she thought. He tried to get up; one arm dangled at his side. She shot in the air. The sound could certainly be heard all around. Kratz gave a start.
“Don’t shoot him,” Tsaytis said. He clambered up; his face was covered with blood. “You little shit,” he screamed at Kratz.
“He’s gone crazy because Noreen’s brother quit working for him,” Tessa explained, without taking her eyes off of Kratz.
With his hand, Tsaytis wiped the blood off his face. “This is a free market, Kratz. Is it only supposed to work for people like you?”
The pilot contorted his face. “Just keep talking, you goddam idiot; you bedded her to get money from the government.”
Tsaytis, unblinking, looked at Kratz, who was cowering on the dock, and then at Tessa. “We really should tie him up.” And turning to the pilot, he said: “Don’t do anything stupid; the lady here is so angry she could shoot you.”
“You’ll live to regret this,” Kratz snarled. “Somebody will knock you off for this. You can bet on it.”
Tessa aimed her pistol at the pilot’s head. “Are you threatening to murder us? The police will really be interested in hearing that.”
Tsaytis took a rope from his jacket pocket, something Tessa also always carried around with her in the wilderness.
Kratz tried to kick him, but his injured arm made it impossible to do any damage. His arm and Tessa’s gun.
“Leave my arm alone; it’s broken,” he hissed.
“Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t, but we can’t let you run around loose,” Tsaytis said calmly. He tied the pilot’s hands and feet up. Kratz lay on the dock, out of commission and boiling with rage.
With his knife Tsaytis opened the first box.
Two hunting rifles and a lot of ammunition.
In the second box was a bow and a dozen arrows.
Tessa stepped back in shock. “My god. That’s meant for the bear poachers.”
Tsaytis squatted next to the boxes with a furious look on his face. “That’s what I almost expected. Now we have the ringleader.” He stood up and looked disgustedly down at Kratz. “So you’re in bed with the poachers, you friggin’ creep.”
“You’re nuts. What poachers? I don’t have anything to do with them. I don’t know what’s in these boxes.”
“Oh yeah. You’re probably also flying drugs around everywhere, asshole.”
“You can believe what you want; I’ll take you to court for slander until you wish you had never met me.”
“Tough luck, Kratz. I have the best witness in the world.”
“She’s a goddamned whore.”
Tessa lunged out with her pistol and would have hit Kratz in the head with it if Tsaytis hadn’t grabbed her arm.
; “Tessa, Tessa,” he warned her. “Put that gun away now; otherwise something worse might happen.”
She had trouble controlling herself. Tsaytis kept her away from Kratz. “Put it away, Tessa. The game’s up for Kratz Hilder.” He picked up the backpack, and she put the locked pistol in it.
Taking her arm gently, he led her away to the end of the dock. They sat down on the shaking boards.
Her heart was beating wildly.
“Did he murder Fran and Hank and the children?”
“I doubt it. But we have to leave that up to the police.” He checked his nose. “Doesn’t seem to be broken. But it hurts to breathe.”
“What are you doing here, Tsaytis?”
“Our people have finally caught two young guys we’ve been tracking around here for a long time. We thought they were waiting for somebody. Maybe a boat. And who came? Kratz Hilder.”
“Have you been suspicious of him for a while?”
“No, not really. But when you warned me about him, it clicked. Suddenly everything fit together. How the poachers could move around so quickly, how they could get to where the dead bears were found later so fast. Kratz flew them around.”
They didn’t let the pilot out of their sight, in order to make sure he didn’t roll into the water.
“What’s going on with Noreen’s brother? Was Kratz trying to take his revenge?”
“Noreen set up a new flying company with her brother. I think that’s a good idea. She’s a smart businesswoman.” Tsaytis looked out at the lake, which was glittering in the midday sun that had broken through. It was dark on the other side where the tall trees threw shadows onto the water. Only the lapping of the waves and the calling of birds could be heard. “We’ll have our own two floatplanes. Before, we always had to take Kratz’s plans into consideration. He’s less interested in tourism, and more interested in the mining companies and cargo transports.”
“I was afraid he was just going to leave me behind here. Did he think he could get away with that?”
Tsaytis looked at her with his dark eyes.
Tessa suddenly remembered a different pair of eyes. Worried, questioning, thoughtful. Ron Halprin’s eyes.
I understand you very well, Tessa. Probably better than you think.
“I don’t know what Kratz was planning to do with you. After everything that has happened, I’d stay out of his way.”
“He’s completely out of control. He acted . . . like he was crazy.”
“It’s not only our new firm. Noreen’s brother told us that Kratz’s wife wants to leave him. Maybe that was the last straw.”
“So you caught two of your young studs red-handed.”
“Yes.”
She drove off the no-see-ums buzzing around her head with fierce swats. These bloodsuckers didn’t seem to bother Tsaytis. He sat there motionless.
“Did they kill another bear?” she asked.
“No, a doe. They probably wanted the cadaver as bait for the bears.”
“Did Kratz deliver drugs to these guys?”
“No. He gave them money. That’s what they told us. The park ranger was the drug dealer. Kratz wants to destroy our tourist trade. He’s completely obsessed with the idea. A hate-filled person.”
“What’s going to happen with these youngsters?”
Tsaytis took a deep breath. “We’re not going to abandon them. We’ll try to get them back on the right track. We made mistakes with them and failed to make them a part of the plans we have for the future. They should be proud of our traditions, of what we have accomplished. And also of what we are trying to do now.”
She considered it all and counted to three, then spoke: “Tsaytis, I’ve got to ask you this question, though I find it hard to do. If Kratz can get these young guys to kill bears for money, wouldn’t they . . . wouldn’t they be ready . . . couldn’t they be convinced to do something worse?”
He turned his head. “You mean, to murder people?”
She didn’t avoid looking at him directly, but she also didn’t answer the question.
Tsaytis shook his head. “On that day they were nowhere near the farm.”
“How do you know that?”
“’Cause we’ve been watching them.” Tsaytis threw a glance at Kratz, who was lying there and flinching incessantly, plagued, like Tessa, by the no-see-ums.
“Where are you going to go now?” Tsaytis asked at the same time as she asked him: “What are you going to do now?” For a moment they smiled at each other.
Tsaytis answered first: “I’m waiting for my pals. They should be here soon. We have a satellite phone.”
“And then?”
“We’re going to call the police and wait here. Then you can confirm what happened.”
“No, no, no.” She held up her hands. “I don’t have any time; I have to get to the other end of the lake as fast as possible.”
Tsaytis didn’t ask what she wanted to do there. “You can’t fly with him.” He made a dismissive gesture toward Kratz, whose obscene screaming they could hear very clearly.
“What a disaster.” She stood up and impatiently spun around.
Tsaytis remained sitting, looking out over the water. “We have two boats,” he said. “You can take mine. A couple of us can fly back with the police helicopter.”
She breathed in. “Would you really do that?”
He stood up and stretched. “If you start off right now, you’ll be reasonably safe. The wind usually comes up in the early afternoon. I’ll give you an extra can of gas. You can make your witness statement later.”
He knows for sure that I want to go to the farm, Tessa thought. “Tsaytis, I don’t know how I can thank you enough.”
He wanted to say something when a man came out of the woods. A conversation took place between the person and Tsaytis.
Tessa didn’t understand every word of the Sitklat’l language. But one word really caught her attention: bastard.
41
As she prepared to leave, Tsaytis didn’t say much; he had done everything in his power for her. He watched from the shore how she handled the motor. Then she raised her hand to signal that she was ready to sail. There was a silent understanding between them that the murders of Fran and her family didn’t involve Kratz, or his young teenage accomplices and the dead bears. That’s why Tsaytis didn’t insist that she stay until the police arrived.
Carefully she steered the boat across the lake while she watched out for deadheads that could capsize it. It was also possible that the motor could conk out but she pushed the fear in the far back of her mind. From the water she saw nothing but virgin forest. If the motor broke down, she might be able to swim to the shore, but what then? It would be so easy to get injured or lost in the impenetrable forest. A vision that filled her with dread. The wilderness was merciless.
At least the surface of the lake was still calm; there was just a gentle breeze. Beaver Lake could be dangerous even for experienced sailors. She had never steered such a big motorboat before, but its size increased her confidence. In addition, Tsaytis had given her a life jacket. Far and wide, there was no other boat to be seen. The vessel’s airflow kept her cool despite the heat of the noonday sun, which stood at its zenith. The journey seemed long to her. At the speed she was going, she would need more than half an hour to reach the other end of the lake. Two bald eagles circled overhead. One of them dove suddenly and came back up with a fish in its yellow talons. The second eagle pursued it. Her eyes scoured the shore; the trees, as straight and sharp as lances, formed a green wall, its reflection dark in the lake. There was movement on the rocks protruding from the water. A wolf or a coyote—at this distance she couldn’t tell what it was. When she looked at the lake again, she saw a floating tree trunk straight ahead, just a few meters away. She only missed hitting it by a hair’s breadth. Her heart stopped for one beat. Better not to take one’s eyes off the water. As she throttled the motor down, she could hear the plaintive cries of the loons.
Finally
the other end of the lake came nearer. She could make out the roof of Fran’s cabin. Relieved, she steered toward it. When she reached the shore, she tied the bowline to a tree and threw her life jacket into the boat. Almost in a trance, she walked up to the cabin. The door wasn’t ajar like last time. Instead she saw the police seal across the entrance. She felt her throat drying up in disappointment. If the seal hadn’t been removed from the cabin door, it could mean that it was still on the farmhouse door, too.
She had no choice; she wanted to get there as fast as possible. The shortest route led through the woods, but it was also the most dangerous one. She had only done it once when Hank had led her through the underbrush to the lake to join Fran and the kids. There was no clearly defined trail; she remembered that well. Hank had made his path through the wilderness almost like a sleepwalker. That was too risky for her. She had to take the longer hike on the ATV trail to the logging road.
She looked at her watch. One o’clock.
If Kratz hadn’t spilled the beans, she still had enough time before other people showed up at the farm. She fastened the bear spray to the outside of her backpack, drank some water, ate a chocolate bar, and started off. Without a cooling breeze, she began to sweat profusely under her hat with the mosquito netting. The June sun was surprisingly warm. Grizzlies liked to use the ATV trail through the woods; just like humans, they preferred to travel on the most comfortable path instead of crashing their way through the undergrowth. Tessa would have felt better if she had had the four-wheeler instead of being on foot. Continually she looked behind her and into the woods.
She began to talk loudly to herself, in order to give wild animals the chance to notice her and make an escape. She said whatever occurred to her. “I have enemies I didn’t know about. Kratz Hilder. Maybe Fran and Hank also had enemies they didn’t know about. And that I don’t know about. The same goes for my parents. And Dana and Savannah. What have we all overlooked?” Her voice gave out. The pain overcame her like a thousand jellyfish stings. She hiked faster. “I’m going to get you,” she repeated like a battle cry. “I swear I’m going to get you.”
MURDEROUS MORNING: A heart-stopping crime novel with a stunning end. Page 27