“Vinnie,” I said.
Nothing.
“I’ll leave you two to get reacquainted,” Bill said. “Remember, if Maven finds you here, I had nothing to do with it.”
“Thanks, anyway,” I said. When he was gone I pulled up one of the folding chairs that were scattered in the corridor and sat on it. I looked at Vinnie for a long time, waiting for him to do or say something. He didn’t do either.
“All right, Vinnie,” I finally said. “Are you gonna stay in here all winter or am I gonna help you get out of here?”
“I’m gonna stay in here all winter,” he said. When he looked up at me I saw he had nice shiner under his right eye.
“That’s what Indians do,” the man against the back wall said. “They get arrested so they can spend the winter in jail.”
“Thanks for the observation,” I said. “Now go fuck yourself.”
“You wouldn’t be talking like that if there wasn’t no set of bars in the way.”
“You’re right, I wouldn’t,” I said. “I’d be sticking your head down that toilet.”
He smiled. It didn’t do anything for his looks. For the rest of the time I was there, he kept staring at me, his arms folded against his chest.
“All right, tell me what happened,” I said to Vinnie. “And why the hell didn’t you call me?”
“What was I supposed to say?”
“That you were arrested and I should come get you?”
“I couldn’t do that,” he said.
“What about the tribe? They’d bail you out in a second, wouldn’t they?”
“No way,” he said. “There’s no way I’m gonna call the tribe to come bail me out.”
“No, perish the thought,” I said. “It’s so nice in here.”
“No fucking way.”
“So tell me the story, at least.”
“What story?”
“What story. That’s cute. The story of how you got arrested. Start with me leaving you at the bar the other night, and then work your way up to hitting a cop with a hockey stick.”
Vinnie let out a long, tired sigh, rubbed the swelling around his eye. “I didn’t mean to hit that cop, Alex. I didn’t even know he was a cop. He wasn’t in uniform.”
“So what happened?”
“He just got in the way, Alex. I was going after Bruckman.”
“Hold it,” I said. I moved my chair closer to the bars. “Vinnie, this is very important. Tell me everything that happened.”
“After you left the other night, I took a couple of the guys back to the reservation. I was going through town, there’s a gas station on the loop there, I saw Bruckman and some of his friends gassing up their snowmobiles.”
“So they did have snowmobiles,” I said. “But at the bar, they weren’t wearing suits—”
“No, they still didn’t have suits on. Just leather jackets. It’s pretty stupid, but then I’m not surprised.”
“That young woman you saw with them at the bar, was she with them then?”
“Yes,” he said. “She was there.”
“Her name’s Dorothy Parrish.”
“I know,” he said. He looked down at the floor.
“How do you know her, Vinnie? I asked her about you. She said she doesn’t know you at all.”
He let out a burst of air. I might have taken it for a laugh if he wasn’t sitting in a jail cell. “I’m not surprised,” he said.
“I don’t get it,” I said.
“Alex, I’ve known Dorothy Parrish since I was a little kid. She was a couple of years older than me. In high school, she was …” He shook his head. “She was so pretty, first of all. And a really good student. And popular. Everybody loved her. All the guys were hanging around her all the time. The white guys, I mean. The football players. She was the first girl from the tribe to be homecoming queen, did you know that?”
“I take it the two of you didn’t hang around together.”
“No,” he said. “Not hardly. Back then, the reservation was a bunch of shacks. It must have still been that way when you first came up here. You must have seen it.”
“Yes, I remember.”
“I suppose things are a lot better now, but back then … a lot of other kids from the tribe … well, it was hard. But not for Dorothy. She was the exception. When she was at school, at least.”
“Did you hate her for that?”
“Hate her?” he said. “I think Dorothy Parrish was the first girl I ever loved. As much as you can love somebody when you’re sixteen years old and she doesn’t even know your name. Or want to know your name. I would have just reminded her of where she came from. Where she had to go home to every night. She couldn’t wait to graduate and get out of town.”
“Why do you think she came back?” I said.
“I can’t even imagine why,” he said. “She hated this place so much. I never saw her again until the other night.”
“Vinnie,” I said. “She came to the Glasgow. She was looking for me. She wanted me to help her get away from Bruckman.”
He looked at me without saying anything.
“She stayed with me last night,” I said. “In one of the other cabins, I mean. This morning, she was gone. I think Bruckman took her.”
He closed his eyes. “Oh, no,” he said. “Please no.”
“What happened with Bruckman? You said you saw him at the gas station.”
“Yes,” he said. “Dorothy was sitting on one of the snowmobiles. She was right underneath one of the lights. I could see her face. She looked so cold sitting there. So miserable. Bruckman came over to her and started yelling at her. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but she started … God, Alex, she was just cringing. And then he pushed her off the back of the snowmobile. She got up and went into the store next to the gas station. When she came out all the guys were ready to go. She just stood there in front of the door for a long time, and then she got on the back of Lonnie’s snowmobile and they took off. So I followed them, Alex. I don’t know why. I just had to. I couldn’t leave. Jimmy and Buck were in the back seat, but they were totally out of it. I followed Bruckman and his gang down the loop. They were riding right next to the road, so it was easy. They took a right on a little trail that goes west, so I lost them for a while. But I know that trail comes back out along Three Mile Road. So I just kept going west, watching for them. And then I saw their snowmobiles parked in front of Cappy’s, you know, that little place on the edge of town. I didn’t see them, so I figured they were inside warming up. I parked the car, waited for a while. I thought about going inside, but then I figured they’d recognize me. I mean, I had just played hockey with them, and then they saw me at the Horns Inn. So I just waited.”
When he stopped talking it was quiet in the cell, with only the humming of the lights above us. His three cellmates were listening intently, even Mr. Friendly against the wall. This was as much entertainment as he was going to get all day. I pulled my chair up closer to the bars. “Excuse us, gentlemen,” I said.
Mr. Friendly spat on the floor.
“So you waited,” I said, lowering my voice. “And then they eventually came out.” I know where this is going, I thought. They come out, Bruckman roughs her up again, Vinnie takes a hockey stick to him, and an off-duty Soo cop tries to break it up. And now here he sits in jail. But that’s not what he told me.
“He came out by himself,” Vinnie said. “He stood there and smoked a cigarette in the parking lot. And then Juno showed up.”
“Who’s Juno?”
“Juno’s my cousin. On my father’s side. He’s had a lot of problems in his life, Alex. He’s gotten into a lot of trouble. He did a little bit of jail time a couple of years ago. Hell, I’m sure he sat here in this cell more than once. Anyway, he comes in and Bruckman goes up to his car. Juno rolls the window down, and I saw Bruckman giving him something. Kinda obvious what they were doing. So Juno leaves the place and heads west down Three Mile Road, out towards the rez. Bruckman’s still standin
g out there. It’s cold as hell, but he doesn’t seem to mind it, even though he’s only got that leather coat on. I wasn’t sure what to do next, but Jimmy and Buck are still snoring in the back seat, so I figure I’ll just keep waiting, see what happens.”
He stopped and it was silent again, his cellmates still watching him. I didn’t say anything. I just waited for him to find the right words for whatever came next.
“So what happens is, Bruckman goes into the bar for a few minutes, and then he comes back out. He’s smoking another cigarette, just standing there in the parking lot. And Juno comes back. He couldn’t have been gone more than thirty, thirty-five minutes. Just enough time to go to the rez and back. This time when Bruckman goes to Juno’s window, Juno gives him something. Had to be money, I’m thinking. Bruckman was giving him drugs and Juno was taking them to the reservation. So, um …” Vinnie let out a breath and swallowed. “So I started to get mad. This is my cousin and he’s taking drugs back into the reservation. And Bruckman is the guy giving him the drugs, Alex. That’s what really got to me. My own cousin, Alex.” His voice became ragged. “Goddamn it, my father’s brother’s son, is … I just couldn’t stand it, Alex. And then Dorothy comes out of the bar, and she’s standing there under the light by the door. One second outside and already she’s looking cold again. And Bruckman’s yelling at her about something. So she went back inside. But that look on her face. This is the one member of my tribe, the one girl in my whole fucking tribe who found a way out of here, and now here she is back again with this asshole who’s selling drugs to our people. Like we don’t have a hard enough time, Alex. Like we already don’t even have the slightest fucking chance.”
“It’s all right,” I said.
“So I lost it, Alex. I went after him.”
“I understand.”
“I got my hockey stick out and went after him. All his buddies got out there in about two seconds. I think maybe they were already on their way out. I got a few good shots in, but then somebody jumped on me.”
“And then the cops tried to break it up? Did they identify themselves?”
“I don’t even know,” he said. “I don’t remember. I guess there were two off-duty Soo cops there. I was just swinging, Alex. I didn’t care who I hit.”
“What about Bruckman and his guys? The cops arrested you and let him get away?”
“Why would they arrest him?” he said. “I was the one who attacked them.”
“Didn’t you tell them he was selling drugs?”
“After I hit the cop in the face with my hockey stick? I’m gonna tell him what to do?”
“So they got away.”
“Yes.”
“So later that night, Dorothy runs away from him. And then he comes after her.”
“If anything happens to her, Alex … So help me God, I’ll kill him.”
“Save it,” I said. “Let’s just get you out of here.” “I told you, I don’t want the tribe bailing me out.” “I know a bondsman,” I said. “In fact, I think we’ll be his first customer.”
“You don’t have to do this, Alex.”
“Yes, I do,” I said. I stood up and pushed the chair away. “I need you to help me find her.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
There was a pay phone in the lobby, with a phone book sitting on the shelf under it. There was no chain. With city police on one side and county deputies on the other, I guess they figured you weren’t going to steal it. I looked up the number and dialed, shaking my head. This is a mistake, I thought. There’s a bondsman down in Mackinac. He could be here in an hour and a half.
“You have reached Leon Prudell,” the voice said. “I’m not here to speak with you at the present time. If you are in need of my services, please leave a message. I’ll try to get back to you as soon as I possibly can. If this is an emergency, please try paging me at this number …” Then came an 800 number with a nine-digit code I had to scramble to write down.
I hung up the phone, told myself this was my last chance to change my mind, and then dialed Leon’s pager number. I punched in the number for the pay phone and then hung up the phone again. It took less than a minute to ring.
“This is Leon Prudell,” he said. “How can I help you?”
“Prudell, this is Alex McKnight. I need a bail bond.”
“Alex!” he said. “Damn, this pager really works! You’re my first call! You’re calling me to tell me you’ve reconsidered the partnership idea, right?”
“Just get down to the county jail,” I said. “I need a ten-thousand-dollar bond. I can get that for a thousand, right?”
“Yes, ten percent,” he said.
“How do you get the money?” I said. “I mean, where does it come from?”
“I told ya before, I’m hooked up with a security firm. Part-time for now. This will be my first bond. And listen, I don’t even need to fill out all the paperwork. You’re my partner, after all.”
“I’m not your partner,” I said. “How long will it take you to get here?”
“Well, I’m on my other job right now,” he said. “But for you, I’ll drop everything. What are partners for?”
“I’m not your partner,” I said. “Prudell, goddamn it, just get down here.”
“On my way, partner.” And then he hung up.
I banged the phone on the hook. The receptionist peeked up at me and then went back to her typing.
I sat down on one of the hard plastic chairs in the lobby, looked at the cover of a magazine. Michigan Out of Doors, about two years old. I picked up another one, Field and Stream, only a year and a half old. Not that I was in any mood to read. I got up and went outside, pulling my coat around my neck as I stepped out into the parking lot. It was the kind of heavy cold that gets into your bones, makes you feel like sleeping until April. The snow was coming down hard now. A good six inches since this morning.
I stood out there and watched the snow come down, waiting for Prudell to show up with the bond.
“Excuse me, Mr. McKnight?”
I turned around. It was a Soo city officer, holding the door open.
“Can you come back inside for a moment, sir?” he asked. “Chief Maven would like to see you.”
“Tell him if he wants to see me,” I said, “he can come out here.”
The cop didn’t say anything. He just stood there with the door open, each breath turning to mist in the frigid air. The look on his face told me he wasn’t getting paid nearly enough to put up with this.
“I’m coming,” I finally said. “I wouldn’t want to disappoint Chief Maven.”
“Thank you, sir,” he said as he held the door open for me.
“What’s it like working for him, anyway?”
“You don’t want to know,” he said. He led me into the city offices, deep into the middle of the building.
There was another little lobby outside his door, with four plastic chairs. Apparently when the chairs from the front lobby were broken down and wobbly enough, they moved them here. The magazines, too, after they had aged for at least three years. It was the kind of place that made you want to take up smoking.
The officer left me there. I sat in one of the chairs for a few minutes. You’ve been here before, I said to myself, and you know how this works. Maven is sitting in that office right now, probably with his feet up on his desk, reading the paper. You’ll wait here for an hour while he does his little power trip on you. Then when you’re nice and tender he’ll call you in and try to make you his lunch.
Not today. Not after what I’ve been through in the last two days.
I got up, went to his door, and opened it. Maven was on the phone. He looked up at me like I had just run a spear through his chest.
“You wanted to see me, Chief?” I said.
“Goddamn it, McKnight, what’s the matter with you?” He hadn’t changed since the last time I saw him. He was a tough old cop like a thousand others I had known. Thinning hair, mustache, a weathered face that had seen too many hard
winters. He was an ugly bastard, but he made up for it with his winning personality.
I sat down on the chair in front of his desk. “I’m pressed for time,” I said. “You’ve got five minutes.”
“I don’t believe this,” he said. “I’m sorry,” he said into the phone. “I’ve been rudely interrupted here. I’m gonna have to get back to you … Yes … Yes, I will. Yes. I said yes, already. Okay, good-bye!” He slammed the phone down and looked at me. “Did somebody tell you to come in here without knocking?”
“You know, I think I figured out why you’re always in such a bad mood,” I said.
He didn’t say a word. He didn’t blink.
“Look at this place,” I said. His office was four concrete walls. No windows. Not a single picture or personal artifact on his desk. “I just spent a few minutes in the jail,” I said. “And I gotta tell ya, it’s a lot nicer in there than it is in here.”
“That’s what I wanted to see you about,” he said. “What were you doing in the jail?”
“I was visiting a friend.”
“This friend wouldn’t happen to be Vinnie LeBlanc, would it?”
“That would be him.”
“Who told you could see him? He’s in city custody.”
“Yes,” I said. “But it’s the county jail.”
“That doesn’t mean Shit, McKnight. The next time you visit somebody in my custody without asking me first, I’m gonna throw you in the cell next to him. Do you understand?”
“Why did you arrest him?” I said.
“You’re joking.”
“Why?”
“Well, let’s see, because he assaulted a police officer? Because he broke a fucking hockey stick across his fucking nose? You need more than that?”
“He was going after a man named Lonnie Bruckman,” I said. “A man who was selling drugs to another Indian. Did you bring Bruckman in, too? Did you even question him? Did your guys even notice him? Or did they just pick out the Indian and jump on him?”
“This has got nothing to do with you,” he said. “We know about Bruckman. We’re handling it.”
“Who’s ‘we’?” I said. “The county’s looking for him. He abducted a woman last night.”
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