“N-o-o-o. That’s not what I mean. We may be one of two boats out there but at least it’ll be all us true sportsmen. ‘Cuz, Doc, you gotta remember that if we do see a muskie—it’ll be a lunker. A super lunker. This time of year, those females are heavy with eggs and winter fat. We got huge fish out there—and you know it, Doc.”
“Is he right?” said Gina. “Or does misery love company?”
“No, he’s right,” said Osborne. “My argument is that you may have monsters out there but they’re canny and their metabolism is slow and—”
“So I stocked up on live suckers and chubs and packed up my plugs—Suick, Eddie, Pikie Minnow, Cisco Kid, Rapala, Swim Whizz, Bobbie baits and a nice new Rizzo Diver. And a Slammer–”
“Enough,” said Osborne, “you’ve twisted my arm. I’ll go, I’ll go.”
Ray gave him a happy grin, eyes snapping with anticipation. “I won’t make too big a thing of it, Doc. I figure we’ll fish from late morning to one or so. Not too long. And just one spot—out by the big boulder. I spotted some green weeds out there.”
“If you bring the coffee, I’ll bring egg salad sandwiches,” said Osborne, feeling a little more enthused. Fishing with Ray wasn’t just fishing—you got a lot of freebies, too. Like good stories and new bad jokes. Plus, he wouldn’t mind catching the biggest muskie of his life. A man is never too old to thrill to the landing of a really, really big fish.
As they walked to their cars after dinner, Osborne glanced across Main Street towards the sports bar where the young crowd liked to hang out. Pick-up after pick-up lined Loon Lake’s main drag on that side of the street.
“Is that Jake Cahak’s Dodge over there?” said Osborne as he opened the car door for Lew. She stood up to check. “Yes, that’s his license plate. You can’t miss that.”
Osborne had to agree: BIG DOG does stand out.
“Something else, Doc,” she said as she slipped into the passenger seat. “It was bugging me that I didn’t get Josie’s laptop sooner so I gave her a call late this afternoon and asked her how she happened to have it today since Mildred’s place was secured before they left with Blue last night. She said Jake had had it since last weekend. She needed a new DVD drive and Nolan arranged for him to install one for her. So you were right—she didn’t leave the house with it that night. And if I had checked the barn, I wouldn’t have found it either.” “Make you feel better?”
“Nah, Jesperson will find some way to make an issue of it, I’m sure.”
“An excuse to tell you another dirty joke.” Lew punched him in the arm.
CHAPTER 25
The day was classic November: the sky a flat steel grey and winds blowing fifteen to twenty out of the north. Heads down, Osborne and Ray heaved the bassboat over the ice until it fell through about eight feet from shore. The lake was so low Ray had to row another twenty feet and touch bottom with an oar until he was confident the water was deep enough to drop his 100-horse Mercury. As Ray throttled forward, Osborne wondered if two pair of long underwear might not have been wise.
Waves spraying off the sides of the boat, they neared the marker set out to prevent the loss of propellers to the monster rocks lurking below. Ray knew just where he wanted to anchor and did so. Within minutes they were casting, the wind to their back. Osborne scanned the lake in all directions. They were the only boat on the lake. True sportsmen or complete idiots?
No action. After twenty minutes, Ray changed his lure but Osborne had an old Rapala crank-bait that felt good when he cast so he stuck with it. His hopes of landing a fish had been high as they set out that morning but were sinking by the minute. Another half hour of no strikes confirmed his hunch that the shark of the north was nestled snug in the weeds below and not in the mood for teasing.
Even Ray’s enthusiasm waned as the promised one o’clock hour neared. That plus Osborne’s confession that his feet were
freezing despite heavy socks and Sorel boots helped them make up their minds: time to eat lunch then call it a day.
Two sandwiches and the dregs of the coffee thermos later, Ray moved to start up the Mercury. He throttled forward … no movement. Again he throttled. The boat did not move.
“Do you think the wind pushed us a little too far over?” said Osborne. Ray tried again. No use. The chilled fishermen stared at each other and neither had to say a word. Under normal conditions, the area near the marker was hazardous. But with the lake as low as it was this year, it was even worse: the sunken boulders were poised to take hostages.
Ray put the outboard in reverse, then forward. Nope. He could not budge the hull off the rock. After thirty minutes of intermittent attempts, he sat down and pulled out his cell phone. “Doc, who do we call? We gotta find somebody to pull us off here.”
“Do you even have cell service?”
Ray checked. “Yes, thank goodness. But I sure as hell can’t call you, can I? Gina doesn’t know how to run a boat. Most of my buddies are out deer hunting.”
“Mine, too,” said Osborne, a sudden image of the hunting shack’s hot pot belly stove making him rue his decision not to hunt. “I would try Erin,” said Osborne, “but she and Mark are in Milwaukee with the kids, visiting his grandparents.”
“Lew?”
“I hate to do that, she’s so busy as it is.” “Not to mention we’ll look like fools.”
“Speak for yourself,” said Osborne. He wasn’t the jabone who had insisted on fishing in these conditions.
“Hey, I got the ticket,” said Ray, pointing an index finger to the sky. “I’ll call the Birchwood Bar—see if there’s anybody watching the football game that’d be willing to get us—for a six-pack.”
“Good idea,” said Osborne. “Be grateful the Packers aren’t playing.”
In less than fifteen minutes, a weathered pontoon with a 150-horse motor was barreling through the waves towards them. A stocky guy in an Army parka with a black knit cap pulled down over his ears waved at Ray, then tossed a yellow strap with a hook at one end their way. “Yo, Ray,” he called over the wind, “you are gonna owe me for this, big guy.”
“Who is that?” said Osborne as Ray wedged the hook in tight and raised the propeller so it would clear the rock as the boat moved.
“You don’t know Clarence? He lives north of the Wisconsin River up on Highway G. Drives a school bus in the winter, works construction in the summer. Good man.”
The good man was more than deserving of his six-pack. Under a black, scruffy beard Clarence was still red-faced from the wind when they took their seats at the bar. Ray was true to his word on the six-pack, threw in a promise of a day’s ice fishing and Clarence was more than pleased.
“So you drive a school bus, Clarence?” said Osborne, warming his feet outside his boots. He was so chilled he’d ordered herbal tea, which he never drank—but it sounded hot and harmless.
“Yep,” said Clarence. “Been drivin’ for twenty-six years. Get to retire in four.”
He took a swig from his beer then set the bottle down on the bar. “Yep, been a good job. I like the kids.”
“You drive for St. Mary’s or the public schools?”
“The high school. The teenagers. I got that serious look,” Clarence scowled at Osborne and Ray, “so I can scare the bejesus out of any that get under my nerves, y’know? But I tell you—,” he banged his bottle so hard on the bar, the beer fizzed over the top, “things have changed in twenty-five years. Too many kids go home to empty houses these days, and you know where that takes you. Man oh man.”
“I can imagine,” said Osborne, shaking his head in agreement. “More drugs, more fooling around.”
“Yep. When you drive a bus, you hear it all. They forget you’re there, y’know.”
“Really,” said Ray. “What’s the strangest thing you’ve heard recently?” He caught Osborne’s eye over Clarence’s head: this was turning into a fun afternoon.
“You two hear about that rich woman that was killed over on Lily Pond Road?”
“Heard a little,” said Ray. “What’d you hear?”
“Well, those two Indian girls that live with old Mildred—they ride my bus. The young one, Josie, she’s been bragging to her friends that she’ll inherit a million bucks from that Reece woman someday. Looks like her day’s come sooner rather than later, doncha know. Now isn’t that something? Don’t we all need friends like that.” Clarence chuckled.
“Did Josie say this recently or a while ago?” said Osborne.
“Ah, she’s been bragging off and on since school started in the fall. You know something else I noticed? Those girls are not friendly to each other. Makes me wonder how they can live in the same house.”
“How do you mean ‘not friendly’?” said Ray, opening another beer for Clarence.
“Just watching ‘em get on the bus you can tell. Josie always sits up front—she’s got two pals and they giggle and make fun of some of the other kids. But Frances is different. Very serious that one. Always goes to the back, always sits alone. Stares out the window most of the ride. She’s got something on her mind if you ask me.”
“Maybe she’s wondering if she inherits a million,” said Ray.
“Could be,” said Clarence, finishing the first of his beers. “Could well be.”
“You know a guy by the name of Jake Cahak by any chance?” said Osborne.
“Guy with a Minnesota plate—drives a Dodge RAM?”
“Yeah, you see him around much?”
“Can I tell you two something in private?” said Clarence. “You can’t tell anyone or I’ll be in big trouble.” “Cross my heart,” said Ray. “Strict confidence,” said Osborne.
“That Josie slipped me a fifty-dollar bill to let her off early to meet that guy. I shouldn’t be doing that.” Clarence shrugged. Osborne knew fifty dollars was a lot to a man whose weekly take-home was maybe three hundred bucks.
“She met Jake?”
“Yep, he was always there waitin’ for her.” “And Frances?”
“Oh, she hates that bastard. You should see the look on her face when he shows up. She never got off early. No sirree.”
Ray’s cell phone rang. He checked the number and handed it to Osborne. “Looks like it’s the Chief, Doc. Why don’t you take it?”
CHAPTER 26
Doc, where are you?” “At the Birchwood Bar with Ray a and friend of his. You sound tense, Lew. What’s wrong?”
“Had a call from Gina a few minutes ago. She’s onto something serious. They’ve located the computer used to steal credit card numbers from people buying fishing licenses: Mildred’s Food Shop.” “Lew.” Osborne was speechless.
“Whether or not Mildred was storing the credit card information and selling it remains to be seen. Could be the girls are involved, who knows at this point. Gina is meeting me at the shop in half an hour. I’m hoping—since you know Frances, Doc—that she might open up more easily if you’re there.”
“Do the girls know you’re coming?”
“No and I don’t want them to.”
“Need Ray?”
“Since he’s right there with you—wouldn’t hurt. Ask him if he would walk the entire property. I know Jesperson did a rush job—plus those Wausau boys are worthless outdoors. They don’t have the eye Ray has.”
“Remember it was dark when they were there, Lew,” said Osborne.
“You’re right, I’m not being fair. Ask Ray to start as far outside
Mildred’s property as seems reasonable and work his way in.”
“Okay, we’re on our way,” said Osborne, getting up from the barstool. “Any more news from the Wausau lab?”
“Only that Josie made dozens of calls to ‘a boy named Jake Cahak.’“
“‘A boy’?”
“Given her age, that’s what they assumed. I’m not surprised. Gina found some strange files on Josie’s laptop, too. Password protected. We’ll get Josie to open those and let’s hope that girl hasn’t gotten herself into something nasty.”
Clarence was disappointed they had to run off but Ray encouraged him to take the rest of his beers and go home. “A bus driver does not need a DUI,” he said.
“Yep, you got that right,” said Clarence as he followed them out the door. “Lose the pension, doncha know.”
Osborne dropped Ray off at the far end of Mildred’s block near an alley that led to the field behind the old barn. “Did I tell you I found Mildred’s pet raccoon in the field back there? About fifty yards south of the barn. If Jesperson’s people didn’t find the carcass, I’m sure some eagle or fisher has. Watch out so you don’t step in it.”
“I’ll keep an eye out,” said Ray. “Been so unusually warm this fall the ground didn’t freeze until a couple weeks ago. Who knows what I’ll find. Good luck with the girls, Doc. Jeez, I sure as hell hope Mildred’s death has nothing to do with them.”
Osborne was surprised to see the Open sign lit in the window of the store. Lew’s cruiser and Gina’s red rental car, a Jeep Liberty, were parked in the lot so he hurried inside. Stools had been pulled up on both sides of the counter. Gina sat behind the counter near the computer dedicated to fish and game licenses. While Lew was seated, too, she was in front of the cash register. Frances sat between the two women and Josie, her arms folded, leaned against the door to the sitting room Mildred had used to watch TV between customers.
“Have a seat, Doc,” said Lew in a lighthearted tone. “We’ve been going over a few things with the girls here.” She and Gina smiled at him and Osborne did his best to smile back as he took the stool next to the one that Josie was supposed to occupy.
“We just started chatting a few minutes ago,” said Lew. “Frances is showing us how the license applications are handled from here. Go ahead, Frances.”
“It’s simple, really,” said Frances. She proceeded to enter Gina’s name, address and Social Security number as if she was applying for a fishing license. “Then I would submit your information to the state and within a minute or two we would receive a print-out that we then slip into one of these plastic covers. Very simple,” said Frances with an easy smile—crooked but not pained. She was more relaxed and self-confident than Osborne had ever seen her. He was amazed at the transformation.
“And if I want to use my credit card?” said Gina.
“We run it through this machine,” said Frances, pointing to a small black box with a digital readout sitting on the counter. “But for fishing and hunting licenses only—no using cards of any kind for groceries. Mrs. Taggert didn’t take any credit cards until the state forced her to a couple years ago. She refused to buy a computerized cash register even. I guess you can say we’re wireless but barely.”
Osborne continued to be impressed with how composed Frances was. She was sitting up straight, her shoulders back and, as she spoke, she looked both Lew and Gina in the eye. Her voice
was soft but firm with a natural grace that Osborne had never noticed: this was a new Frances Dark Sky.
“Do you recall the last time that Mildred would have upgraded the security and firewalls on this?” said Gina, waving at the licensing equipment on the counter.
“I doubt she ever did,” said Frances. “Nothing has changed since it was installed. And she had no computers whatsoever when Josie and I moved in four years ago.”
“Has it been that long?” said Osborne. “Gosh, Frances, seems like just yesterday you came for your first dental exam.” Frances gave him a shy smile but didn’t answer. “You know, girls, I’ve always kind of worried about you. Mildred was not. well, she didn’t seem to be very pleasant at times.”
“She was okay,” said Frances. “She always made us a really nice breakfast—”
“Oh, sure, but she wouldn’t let you wear your good jeans,” said Josie. With a slight roll of the eyes, Frances ignored her sister.
“Her bark was worse than her bite, really,” said Frances. “She was always nervous when customers were here. But pretty nice otherwise—to me, anyway.”
“Yeah,” said
Josie in a snide tone, “easy for you to say. You were her pet.”
Frances gave her sister a long look. “I wasn’t her pet. I was the one willing to do my share around here.” Josie shrugged. “Dr. Osborne,” said Frances, “I know people think Mildred was mean to us but.,” She paused for a second, her eyes on the counter.
She looked up, locking her eyes on Osborne’s. “Do you have any idea what it’s like living with someone, even if they’re your mother, who is on drugs all the time? Cocaine, meth, ecstasy? With people coming through your home who are wiped out and weird. My life on the res was a nightmare—”
“Shut up!” shouted Josie from the corner. “That’s not true.
Mom was framed. She wasn’t dealing and she didn’t do drugs like you say. You’re making all this up. Don’t believe a word she says,” said Josie jabbing a finger at Frances as she spoke. “Girls …,” said Lew.
“She has her reality and I have mine,” said Frances, unruffled by her sister’s outburst. “So, Josie, if you think Mom’s so great why don’t you want to move back to the res?” Before her sister could answer, Frances said, “Because we’re safe here, Josie. Safe.”
“Frances,” said Gina, sounding anxious to change the subject, “we’ve got Josie’s laptop but where’s yours?”
“I don’t have one,” said Frances. “I work on one of the school’s during study hall or the school will let us sign one out overnight. I’ll do that this week ‘cause I have a paper for my lit class due next Wednesday and I’ll need it for that. Why?”
“Just wondering,” said Gina.
“What about your cell phone?” said Lew.
“I don’t have one of those either. Josie got her laptop and cellphone from Mrs. Reece. She paid for the service. Mildred couldn’t afford cell phones plus—-”
“Chief Ferris,” said Josie, interrupting, “I was just wondering—do you know if Mr. Reece and Blue have read Mrs. Reece’s will yet?”
“I don’t know if they have,” said Lew, “but Dr. Osborne and I met with her lawyer. We discussed the will—and I remember you said you heard Blue and her mother arguing over money, right? Could it have been over the will?”
Dead Hot Shot Page 15