Escaping Yellowstone

by Larry LaVoie

  “You want a beer?” Cody asked.

  “Why not. We’re not going anywhere, are we?”

  “This part of we, is here for the duration. Are you and Blake spending the night?”

  “Yeah, he’s watching football with Dad. They’ll be glued to the set all day tomorrow. Mom will be lucky to get them off the couch for dinner.”

  Cody and Wendy got beers out of the fridge and found a spot in the living room that was quiet. Cody kicked back in a Lazy Boy chair and Wendy sat on one end of the couch. Wendy reached out with her beer. “Can you take the cap off for me, big brother?”

  “I’m not sure you’re old enough to drink if you can’t even open the bottle.”

  “Funny.”

  He reached out, grabbed the bottle, twisted off the cap, and handed it back to her. He opened his and tipped it up. He tipped it back down, burped, and said, “Okay, what do you want to know?”

  “You know that’s gross. Let me give you a little sisterly advice, don’t do that in front of Lisa if you want to impress her.”

  “Right,” Cody said. “I’ll file that away with the advice you gave me about kissing when we were in high school.”

  “Get out of here. I was only a freshman. What did I know about kissing?”

  “Apparently nothing.”

  “Quit it. You’re stalling. Give me the details. Mom says you spent a week in Hawaii and even stayed in her apartment. Are you…”

  “No. We’re just friends.”

  “That’s not what Mom says.”

  “Remind me to keep my mouth shut when I‘m talking to her. Neither of you can keep any secrets. Besides Mom just wants more grandkids.”

  “Listen, it’s okay. You’ve been out of a relationship for a while. I can understand you being embarrassed to talk about it.”

  “Honestly, there is nothing to talk about. You must have heard I’m leaving Yellowstone.”

  “I heard. What are you going to do?”

  Cody shrugged. “I’m going to teach winter term at University of Idaho and then we’ll see.”

  “Give me Lisa’s number.”

  “Are you kidding me! If I wanted to screw up a relationship that’s the first thing I would do. No, you’re not getting her number.”

  Wendy grinned. She lifted her beer in a toast. “That’s all I wanted to know.”

  Chapter 13

  Yellowstone Park, November 26

  In the days Cody was away over Thanksgiving, a foot of snow fell in Yellowstone, transforming the park into a winter wonderland. The pine trees, with their branches drooping under the weight of the snow, were a sight Cody would never tire of. Doug had finished his work on his original thesis and returned to his home. The park was all but absent of visitors. It was nearly impossible to navigate the roads without snow tires and four-wheel drive. Many of the roads were closed and only available by snow taxi or snowmobile. It was Cody’s favorite time of year. He was back in his office in Mammoth and called Lisa.

  “You wouldn’t believe how beautiful it is here.”

  “I miss a white Christmas,” Lisa said. “It’s been forever.”

  “We always have them here. You’re coming home for Christmas, why not leave a few days early and visit Yellowstone. I promise I’ll take good care of you like you did me.”

  “I guess I could take a few extra days off, now that the threat is over.”

  “You don’t sound so sure. Are you still concerned?”

  “It’s silly. The thing about probabilities, there’s always a little wiggle room.”

  “Come to Yellowstone. I miss you.”

  “I miss you, too.”

  “My sister Wendy asked for your number. I told her that would be the end of our relationship.”

  “Really. If it’s that bad, I’d love to talk to her.”

  “No, you wouldn’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “You know how siblings are.”

  “No, I’m an only child.”

  “I thought you had a brother.”

  Lisa was quiet for a moment. “Didn’t you say that you had a brother?” Cody asked.

  “He died when I was four years old. I barely remember him.”

  “I’m sorry. Okay, I’ll give you my sister’s number. I’d rather you call her.” Cody gave her his sister’s number mobile phone. “Please take what she tells you with a grain of salt, especially if she mentions any old girlfriends.”

  “Now that conversation could get interesting.” Lisa kidded. “I hate it, but I have to go. Ashlar is standing in my office doorway with an anxious look.”

  “Tell him hi for me. I love you.”

  “Me, too. Bye.”

  Cody was getting ready to leave for the day when Catherine called from the Post Office. He picked up his phone. “Hi, Catherine. Did you get snowed in?”

  “No, Elliott drove his Subaru all-wheel-drive up here and has agreed to stay with me through the end of the year.”

  “It must be getting serious.”

  “At our age, you don’t waste time, but I didn’t call for that. There was a man here looking for you.”

  “Oh, what’s his name?”

  “That’s just it. He showed up yesterday and seemed reluctant to give me any information.”

  “Is he still around?”

  “I doubt it in this storm. He asked where you lived, but I told him I couldn’t give him that information. Have you been home yet?”

  “No, I just got back to the office.”

  “Well, he was driving a beat-up pickup. I don’t know how he managed to get around in this stuff.”

  “Maybe it had 4-wheel drive?”

  “Probably. It was camouflage-green like he may be a hunter.”

  “Thanks for the heads up. Call me on my cell if he returns.”

  “Okay.”

  Cody hung up. He was glad Catherine had someone to look out for her. She didn’t live far from the Post Office, but there was no way she could walk the distance in the snow and he was relieved he didn’t have to worry about her. He heard a ringtone coming from his computer. An ALERT! flashed on the screen. He clicked on it and read the message. One of the ground sensors had stopped working. It was a little unusual, but not unheard of. If power was cut off and the battery backup was low it would trigger an alarm. He looked outside. It was already dark and still snowing. It would have to wait until morning. He made a note of its location and left the office. Time to break out the snowmobile, he thought, driving through an unplowed stretch of road leading to his cabin. He triggered the remote garage door opener. As it lifted he could see there was a snowdrift at least two feet he needed to drive through to get into the garage. He saw his government issue Ski-Doo snowmobile on one side of the garage. That too would have to wait until morning. He hadn’t been home in four days and needed to turn up the heat and find something to eat. He pushed through the drift and parked his Jeep. There was a chance he wouldn’t use it again until he left for Christmas. He closed the garage door and entered his house through the back door. Inside he stopped. Something was wrong. He felt a cold wind.

  “Shit,” he said turning on the lights and walking through the kitchen. He stopped at the door leading to the dining room. Furniture was tossed like a bear had gotten in the house, but they would be hibernating. Maybe a Moose? It wouldn’t be the first time.

  It never entered his mind that it could be a human intruder until he saw the figure sitting in an out of place chair facing him. He was armed with a rifle. “What the hell?” Cody said raising his hands.

  The man pointed the rifle. “Dr. Dakota Street, grab a seat. We need to talk.”

  “You don’t need a rifle to talk,” Cody said. “Who are you?”

  The man was still sitting, but appeared to be larger than Cody in weight and possibly height. He was dressed in snow gear and had on wool gloves and a knit cap that covered his face. Cody looked around the room. There was no escape. “What do you want?”

  The man shoved the muzzle
toward Cody. “I told you to pull up a chair.”

  Cody tipped an overturned chair upright and sat down. Through the light coming from the kitchen he could see the front door had been broken from its hinges. A cold breeze brought snow in a white drift across the plank floor. Cody wracked his brain trying to figure out who this guy was. “Are you the one who was asking for me at the Post Office?”

  “How much money do you make?”

  “You want money, rob a bank,” Cody said. “I don’t have any.”

  “I’ll bet you do, being a doctor and all.”

  “I’m a geologist. It’s the medical doctors who make all the money.”

  “Don’t see no reason for you to get all that schooling if it don’t make you money?”

  Cody heard something in the man’s voice. What he lacked in schooling he looked like he made up for in the way he brandished the rifle. For now, he was glad they were talking. He still was looking for a way out. “Look, Mr. … you obviously have me at a disadvantage, knowing my name when I don’t know yours. Either way, if you’re looking for money you came to the wrong house..”

  “How much is a life worth?” the man asked.

  Cody sensed a crack in the man’s voice. He was distraught. “Is this because of Melissa?”

  “You took her from me,” he said, shaking.

  Cody narrowed his eyes and shook his head. He couldn’t remember Melissa talking about a boyfriend or a brother. Would she be close to someone like him? He was sorry he hadn’t gotten to know Melissa better. He knew nothing about her personal life. “There’s no amount of money that can take away the grief of losing someone you love,” Cody said.

  The man wiped back some tears. Cody started to get up and the man jabbed the gun at him. Cody sat back down.

  “Somebody’s got to pay.”

  “Her death was a tragic accident. Nobody is responsible,” Cody said.

  The man jumped up and poked the muzzle of the rifle in Cody’s chest. Cody leaned back as far as he could in the chair.

  “The Government admitted wrong doing. Did you know that? They paid off her parents!”

  “They fired me.” Cody said, wondering if it was better to keep his mouth shut when talking to a mad man.

  “Then why are you still working?”

  “Look, I know you’re hurting, but right now you’re breaking several dozen Federal Laws. It’s a crime to bring a firearm into―”

  “You think I give a shit? You’ve got to pay for what you did.”

  “You think killing me is going to make things better?”

  “Mister, I feel better already. I drank your whiskey. Good stuff. Now, I want to know where you hide the money.”

  “If I had any money, I’d give it to you,” Cody said.

  The man pulled back the rifle and used the lever action to chamber a round. Shit, Cody thought. If I’d known it wasn’t loaded, I could at least have tried to take it from him.

  “Wrong answer!” The gunman pressed the tip of the muzzle to Cody’s forehead.

  This is going to hurt, Cody thought. Actually, it did hurt. The cold steel felt like it was pushing through the skin on his forehead. He couldn’t lean back any farther. “Wait a minute,” Cody said. “You can have my Jeep.”

  “Is it paid for?”

  “It’s paid for. It runs perfectly.”

  The man lowered the rifle a bit. “Give me the keys.”

  “They’re in my pocket.” Cody watched the man closely. “I need to stand to get them.”

  The man backed away a few inches. “No funny stuff.”

  Cody stood and reached in his pocket. He pulled them out and saw the rifle was pointing away. With the keys in his right fist he grabbed the rifle with his left hand and hit the man in the jaw with his right. The gun went off and the man fell backwards. Cody held tightly to the rifle grip and pulled it from the man. He chambered a round and turned the rifle on the intruder. He called the Park Rangers and held him until they arrived.

  Chief Ranger Eric Nelson took Cody’s statement as his men took the man into custody. “I can send someone over to fix that door,” Nelson said, as he was leaving.

  “I can handle it,” Cody said. He just wanted to be alone. He had some tools in the garage. He would nail the door shut if he had to.

  The door was nailed in place and the propane stove was turned up on high. Cody started to straighten things up. He was still hungry. He found his favorite bottle of Scotch in the trash under the sink. What makes someone throw an empty bottle in the garbage while he’s trashing your house? He checked his watch. The snow was still falling outside. He could take the snowmobile back into town for something to eat or have a beer and a frozen Hungry Man beef dinner. He opted for the frozen dinner. While it was cooking, he plopped down in the same chair the intruder had used, took a long pull on the beer and thought about the incident. That was stupid, he thought in retrospect. This isn’t the movies. I could have been killed. He heard a noise outside, jumped up and went to the window.

  He hadn’t noticed the pickup when he had driven in, but a wrecker was towing it through the deep snow past his cabin. He finished off his beer and got another one. This is going to be a long night.

  Chapter 14

  Honolulu, Hawaii, December 3

  Lisa Wilson was enjoying a weekend off. NASA had told her Dark Angel not only would miss the moon, but the smaller asteroid Demon would not impact until Dark Angel was past the moon. As new data arrived, the number crunchers in three labs completed their study and all concluded there was nothing to be concerned about. She breathed a long sigh of relief and called Cody with the good news.

  “It looks like I’m going to be able to get home for the holidays after all,” she said.

  “That’s fantastic! I can’t wait.” He grinned and then regained his composure. “We had a bit of a scare here,” he said, “but it turned out to be nothing. I’m getting ready to wrap up things and contemplate my future.”

  “Why don’t you travel to Portland, and maybe we can get together,” Lisa offered.

  Cody thought about it a minute. “If you’re coming home anyway, why not take me up on the park visit? You could stay at my place and I can give you a snowmobile tour of Yellowstone. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed. Everything is white.”

  “Well, Martin made it clear to me he would be handling the publicity over the holidays. I think he’s jealous of the attention I’ve been getting. I guess that means being away from the cameras for a few days won’t hurt.”

  “If it’s the paparazzi you want to avoid, then I guarantee you won’t find much attention here, except from me, of course.”

  Lisa laughed. “You want me to come to a frozen wasteland just before Christmas. I’m not sure how I’m going to sell that to my parents.”

  “Invite them up here, too. I’m telling you, there isn’t anywhere in the world prettier than Yellowstone in the winter. Most of the visitors are out of the park. Wait, I’ve got a better idea, why not have both of our families up here? I can rent rooms in the lodge at Old Faithful and we can have Christmas here in the park. There’s still plenty of time to plan it.”

  Lisa could hear the excitement in Cody’s voice. She also knew it would be a big commitment: Two families who had never met each other spending Christmas together. She thought of their relationship. She barely knew Cody. They had spent a week together, but this would be different. They would be isolated in the wilderness. It would be a big step. Maybe it was too soon. What if they weren’t compatible? She had spent an enjoyable week with him, but that was on her turf.

  “What do you say?” Cody encouraged. “Our families together over the holidays. What better way to spend Christmas?”

  “I can’t promise anything, but I’ll run it past my parents.”

  “I’ll do the same. Call me back when you know, or I’ll call you. Regardless, I would like to have you up here before I leave for good.”

  “Okay, I’ll work something out.”

 
; Cody called his father as soon as Lisa was off the phone.

  “I know it’s short notice, but think about it, a huge Christmas tree in a rustic lodge with a gigantic rock fireplace. Snow everywhere you look. I’ll cover everything. All you have to do is convince Mom and Wendy. You could arrive a few days before Christmas. Mom and Wendy are dying to meet Lisa. Be sure and tell them that.”

  “What do I need to know about your girl’s parents?” George Street asked.

  “Dad, I’m telling you, they are good people. Lisa’s dad is a real estate broker and developer, her mom is a professor at Portland State.”

  “I don’t know, it doesn’t sound like we have anything in common.”

  “Dad, you’re an engineer. You can do this.”

  “Let me talk to your mom and I’ll call you back.”

  Cody tried calling Lisa back, but her phone went directly to voicemail. He figured she was talking to her parents.

  He called Catherine at the Post Office. After exchanging pleasantries and agreeing to meet her and Elliott for drinks, he asked for the person in charge of reservations at Old Faithful Lodge. She gave him the number.

  “You sound excited,” Catherine said.

  “I’ll tell you all about it over drinks. I gotta go.” He hung up and made reservations for five days for eight adults and two children. December 21 through December 26.

  The next call was to his sister. “Wendy, you’ve got to help me with this.”

  “You mean, I’d get to meet this mystery girl of yours, for real?”

  “I gave her your number. Hasn’t she called you?”

  “We’ve played phone tag a few times. “

  “You’ll like her, I promise.”

  “You would guarantee a white Christmas for the kids?”

  “Guaranteed.”

  “I’m in. What about football?”

  “Football?”

  “Yeah, Blake needs his football.”

  “I’m sure they have ESPN in the bar at the lodge.” He wasn’t certain. In fact, the woman who had taken the reservations had made it a point to let him know there was no TV reception at the Old Faithful Lodge.