by Jade Alters
“No, harbor master,” said Josh gently. “This is as far as it goes. Keep your daughters close to home. Be on the lookout for strangers traveling in groups of three or four, young men with strong builds and an attitude. They’ve been working the mainland coast, but if they’ve dropped down, they might hit some of the island villages. Don’t engage them, but notify the Coast Guard Admiralty. Nobody else.”
“I can tell the others to be on the lookout?”
“Yes. You can let them know there are slave traders on the coast. Tell them what I told you. They might be posing as members of a motorcycle gang or as oil workers. They will probably be dressed in dark clothing.”
“That would be half the fellas that come through here.”
“I know. I’m sorry I can’t tell you more than that.”
“And about McCarthy? What do I say?”
Josh was having a hard time looking the harbor master in the eye. Protocol placed him on a suspect’s list, but common sense said this man was aching for the loss of his best friend. He mumbled without looking up, “Don’t say anything until it’s official. If we find McCarthy, you’ll be the first to know.”
The harbor master fumbled with his cap, then placed it on his head, turning to the captain in a half-salute. “I’m glad he didn’t have a wife. The others did. They were going to meet with them in Seattle.”
“We still don’t know anything yet, Harbor Master.”
“Yes, sir.” He stood at the exit door hesitantly. “I don’t have a good feeling about this, though. A Coast Guard cutter, those don’t just vanish.”
“No, they don’t.”
After he left, I sighed and leaned back. “Can Natalia come out now? She’s been hanging out in the control room, listening, the entire time.”
She flounced in without anyone’s permission and flung herself into a chair, pouting. “Thanks for making me a part of the discussion.”
Josh groaned. “C’mere. C’mere.” He made her sit on his lap a minute while he kissed her and stroked her head like he was petting a bird. “We weren’t shutting you out. Darkhorse, explain it to her.”
I took her hands. “You’re off the mainland, now. If these island people learn the man behind the abductions is a Russian, they’ll rip apart every Russian that comes into port. What do you think will happen then?”
“Bad relations on top of already bad relations?”
I sniffed. “A lot of bad relations. The traders will appeal to Canada for asylum. The islands line up with the Canadian border. Same thing if they get wind we’ve got a witness and some cutlery that just might provide some hot little fingerprints. They’ll just slip into Canada. Then, what are we going to do?”
“If they do that, we’ll never get Denisovich. He wasn’t with the others. He stayed on the ship, and I was never on that ship.”
“There you go. The first line of defense is to prevent wars. This is a hot one in the making. We need to get to Denisovich before he can act, before he can cross over into Canada. If he senses things are going wrong, he’ll disappear. We have one strong point on our side. He doesn’t know what happened in Valdez. He doesn’t know we have you. As long as the harbor master stays quiet, Denisovich won’t know he lost two of his men.”
“Meaning he will continue his plan.”
“If he’s in Ketchikan, he could be in Canadian waters, halfway to Russia before we catch sight of the island if he receives one whiff things went south. We have to make him believe nobody is on his tail. We’ve got to catch up with him while he is still in our jurisdiction.”
She stood up and went to the window. The cutter was purring smoothly through the blue waters, sea otters floating along beside it on their backs, waiting for treats. I could tell she was in a turmoil. Her blue-green eyes were cloudy, and her fingers tapped continuously against her thigh. Embracing her from behind, I nuzzled her neck. No perfume was as delightful as the sweet natural scent of her freshly-washed hair and skin. I inhaled deeply. She patted my arm, as though she was the one comforting me. “It’s the girls. Thinking about them in that despicable man’s hands. If we put out an all-alert, we could find them quickly.”
There was music floating in from someone’s quarters and I swayed with it, rocking her back and forth. “Natalia, you said yourself you didn’t know who could be trusted in Valdez. Who do you think can be trusted along the entire coast? There are a lot of ports that can be infiltrated. This could be a national security issue.” I nuzzled more deeply against her neck. “You don’t run rabidly through the streets screaming that the sky is falling unless you’re holding a piece of the sky.”
She giggled. “How did you do that? It’s a ridiculous analogy.”
“Yes, it is,” I agreed, and hummed to the music.
“I hope they do all get mauled by bears,” she said viciously. “I hope they get cuffed and slashed, and when the life has been mauled out of them, they get torn to shreds.”
My embrace slipped down to the soft crease of her inner thighs. “Bloodthirsty little woman, aren’t you? I like that.”
I would have liked to have taken the exploration further, but I was interrupted by a rude voice. “You’re on watch,” said Josh, steering me toward the pilot’s cabin. “We’ll arrive at our destination in two hours. You have the helm.”
I blew kisses at her. “He did that on purpose. Remember, whatever he gets, I get some, too.”
She gave me a big, Hollywood-girl smile. “Even if it’s a beating?”
“Especially if it’s a beating.”
I went up the cabin steps to relieve the commander, and Natalia followed me in. I sighed. “As much as I would like, I really can’t play doctors and nurses right now. When I’m on the captain’s deck, I’m serious. I have responsibilities to a crew.”
She stood next to me at the wheel, with its high overhead view of the ship’s passage. “I know that.” She peered intently ahead, her eyes seeking a passing boat, a structure that would provide answers. “I’m really not into playing around. Not now. Not this close to our target.” She laughed nervously. “I’m on pins and needles, actually.”
To prove just how anxious she was, she walked rapidly around the cabin then rushed back to my side and said in a low, urgent voice, “I need a gun.”
I felt the hairs crawling up the back of my neck and took a deep breath. Just one look at her face told me what she was thinking about. “No, you don’t. You’re not coming on land,” I said tersely.
She was going into combat mode and there wasn’t so much as a harbor seal out in the water to distract her. “Yes, I am,” she said, leaning so she was nearly shouting in my ear. “I know this is a military operation, but it is also a criminal investigation within the State of Alaska. I am a state trooper. I investigate criminal activity. I’m licensed to carry a gun.”
“Natalia, you are our witness. It’s too dangerous. You know we can’t take any risks with you. That’s insane.”
“I am authorized by the state.”
Even though we weren’t close to Ketchikan, I picked up the binoculars and scrutinized the islands as we went past them. Here, they were like a jigsaw puzzle, with ribbons of water separating the pieces. “You need to take it up with Josh. He’s the captain.”
She threw her arms in the air and pouted. “He already said no.” She waited for me to say something, maybe give a gasp of indignation, but I kept my eyes firmly on my navigational equipment.
“Fine,” she snapped. “You want to play it that way? You’re in violation of state law. I demand to be allowed to assist in the investigation or I will file a report that I was hindered from observing the evidence.”
The backs of my wrists were beginning to feel furry and I swallowed mightily. There was only one thing I could do. I hit the com button. “Captain, you’d better come in here. We have a problem.”
He was up the steps in seconds. “Did you see something?”
I pursed my lips. “No. It’s Natalia. She’s threatening to tell the state i
f we don’t let her assist with the investigation.”
“Just a minute,” he said. There was a great deal of urgency in his eyes, and I knew exactly what that urgency meant. He began running to the lower deck, ripping off his clothes, until he reached the leeward guardrails. Completely naked, but with the hair starting to sprout from his limbs and back, he jumped over the rails.
Pete peered through the window, surprised but not shocked. “What was that all about?” he asked.
“Woman trouble,” I grumbled as I shoved my way past him, tearing away my shirt and knocking off my shoes. I barely made it to the guardrails when I shifted. I leapt into the water. fully bear, terrifying the surrounding fish and marine mammals.
Although all bears can swim, only polar bears find it enjoyable. We paddled around in the water, circling the boat until our more rational sides took over. Or at least the sides that didn’t explode into eighteen hundred pounds of flesh. Eighteen hundred for heavy-weight Josh. Twelve hundred for me. We shifted back to human form in the water. It was warmer than the Valdez storm, but it still felt cold to an unprotected body. We pulled ourselves up the rope ladder before we began to get stomach cramps.
Natalia was waiting for us on the main deck. “Well?” she asked, tapping her foot.
Josh stormed into the locker room and returned a few seconds later, carrying a M4 Carbine. “Can you shoot one of these?”
She nodded. “I can.”
He shoved it at her. “Take it.”
I whistled when she walked away. “She beat us.”
He was watching her butt swaying back and forth as she moved down the hall. “She’s a mama bear. Did you see the bright spot?”
“On her stomach? How could you miss it?”
“What do you say?”
“She’s a mama bear.”
Natalia
It was insane. I had always criticized my friends for having lineups, but this wasn’t even a line. I loved these four men with every inch of my heart and couldn’t really put one above the other. I think that was the way they wanted it, equally, which endeared me more deeply, but son-of-a-bitch, they kept their passions at high volume. Even during sex, they activated the nuclear settings until I exploded into surreal realms of insatiable desires and pleasures. And now, what was this? Every time we argued, they were going to turn into bears? You know, I must have been a little insane to accept this situation. There was Pete, a perfectly normal human male with a good career ahead of him, and some obvious puppy-dog beams of adoration, but no pizzazz. No high-voltage chemistry readings.
They let me have a gun. Damn, they don’t give these things out to state troopers, but I didn’t bother to tell them. I’ve handled plenty of rifles, pistols and revolvers. I could handle this, too. I suited up, feeling confident.
The landing party consisted only of four bears, two human enlisted personnel and me. They probably wouldn’t have sent any humans in if I hadn’t come along, but for anyone watching, it would look strange to see a single state trooper stalking the woods with a carbine, with no other company than some ambling wildlife.
The lodge was a seaman’s dream come true. It was set up on a grassy knoll with a backdrop of forested hills and a deep rolling lawn splashing down the side of a slope, reaching a discreet, sandy beach. The lodge spread out with giant windows facing the sea and a tower perched over one corner.
A huge satellite dish was mounted to the top of the building. There was a boat pier, but no boat in sight. There was also a hangar for a plane, but the plane itself was resting on its skis, tied to the pier. I looked inside the cockpit. The toggle appeared to have been tampered with. It was loose, and there were scratches around the starter. Someone must have tried to start the plane without a key and didn’t know about the safety switch. Cessna’s can be tough that way.
I felt the hairs at the back of my neck prickle and I held my weapon higher, my eyes trying vainly to stretch outwards. That tower was a perfect observational point. If somebody was there, they must have seen us by now. But the landing was eerily quiet.
I advanced forward, the two enlisted men one step ahead of me. The bears had circled around to the back of the house. If there was someone inside, trouble should start any minute. All was quiet. I took another step, my heart hammering wildly. A whistle high above startled me and I looked up. Darkhorse was sitting in the open tower window, waving. “All’s clear.”
I let out my breath and looked down at my hands, which were visibly shaking. I didn’t know if it was from relief or fear. I didn’t want to make an emotional outburst, but when I saw my four lovers come out the door in their human form, I felt tears in my eyes and ran into their arms. “Is this befitting state trooper behavior?” asked Josh, feigning surprise.
“Oh, yes.” I wiped at my cheeks.
“Well, Trooper. We still have one more job. We’ve got to check the hangar.”
There was a sound of dread in his words that caused little alarm bells to go off in my head. “What do you think might be in the hangar?”
From the way he guided me, with Darkhorse taking my free arm, and the others flanking me on both sides, I knew the answer. “There weren’t any bodies in the house,” Josh said tightly. “Zilch. Nada. But there was blood. And somebody, a lot of people, had been living there until a few days ago. All the beds are unmade, trash baskets are full. There’s still fresh food in the refrigerator. The house is trashed—dirty dishes, clothes and towels on the bathroom floor, cigarette butts and beer cans strewn everywhere. We’ll call in a forensics team, but we still have to look in the hangar.”
“They didn’t worry about leaving evidence behind,” I remarked.
“Because they plan to be in international waters,” said Josh positively.
Before we reached the hangar doors, Lee broke away and turned his head. “I smell death.”
If possible, Roy turned paler than usual. “I smell it, too.”
Josh halted and looked at me sternly. “Are you sure you want to go through with this?”
I nodded. “All right,” he sighed. “Lead the way, Commander.”
Darkhorse opened the hangar doors. The stench rolled out, nauseating me. I gagged, water streaming from my eyes. I gagged again as I walked, blinking, into the shadowy building. Stretched out in a row on the floor were four dead men in their pajamas or underwear, their bodies arranged neat and straight, their heads turned in the same direction. Each of them had his throat slashed.
“They were murdered in their sleep,” said Darkhorse bitterly. They had been murdered, drained of their blood, dragged out to the hangar, and uniformly arranged that way.
I reeled back against a wall to steady myself. I’d been on a few hard cases, but this was ice cold. This was the impassionate display of a calculating man who used any means to justify an end goal, including horror. A man who placed absolutely no value on human life.
“Denisovich is a coward,” said Lee, taking my hands. “He murders people when they are defenseless.”
He started to steer me away, then stopped. “Do you hear that?”
I gave him a bitter smile. “I don’t think my senses are as good as yours.”
“I heard something. Captain, I heard something at the back of the hangar.”
Josh was still studying the four bodies and the faint blood trail that led to the door. Darkhorse was taking photos. He pointed out some footprints for Darkhorse to photograph, then turned to Lee long enough to say, “Check it out.”
If Josh didn’t have confidence in me, he certainly had it in his men. It seemed unfair. It wasn’t my fault I couldn’t morph into eighteen hundred pounds of man-eating jaws.
Lee began trotting off purposefully, so I followed. If there was a new development in this case, I wasn’t going to be the last to know. It still chafed me a little that they’d withheld information to the Sitka harbor master. Maybe erring on the side of caution was the best thing to do this close to the border, but I felt if departments had been more candid with each othe
r from the beginning, maybe things wouldn’t have gotten so out of hand.
I could tell he was depending on his heightened senses to track the sound. “Is it dangerous?” I asked, holding my carbine ready.
He sniffed the air. “No. It’s young—a young girl.”
The hangar was lit only by the daylight shining weakly through the doors. The far corners remained in shadow. I advanced toward the dark end, weapon to the shoulder, and just made out a dark form pressed against the wall. As I moved closer and adjusted my eyes to the lighting, it slowly acquired definition. I first made out an old army cot without a mattress flush with the corner of one wall. There was something on the bed, but the odd shape made it difficult to tell what it was. I crept over, easing my weapon down. There was no need for it. The shape was a woman lying flat on the bare springs, her hands tied to the headposts, her legs spread, her ankles lashed to the bottom posts of the cot. Other than a gag around her mouth, she was completely naked.
She was so pale and still, I thought at first she might be dead, until she whimpered and struggled weakly. Throwing all caution to the wind, I set the carbine on the floor and rushed to her side, then whipped out my knife and began cutting away the ropes. Lee hovered over me, blocking what little light reached in from the hangar doors. “Don’t just stand there,” I told him crossly. “Do something.”
“Blankets,” he said, blinking and snapping to attention. The two enlisted men had followed us a few feet behind. Throwing back his shoulders and straightening his shirt, he instructed them to run back to the house and bring clothing and covers for the victim. In the meantime, I had removed her gag, cut her wrists loose, and was slowly drawing her arms to her sides. She panted and cried hoarsely in pain as the blood rushed back into her limbs and I massaged them gently. She grabbed the front of my blouse, her teeth grinding together as noiseless sobs filled her throat. She wouldn’t let go. I folded her into my arms, covering her as best I could. “Cut her ankles loose,” I told Lee.