A River Through Two Harbors

by Dennis Herschbach

  One of the men shifted his feet. “There’s an outhouse in the back. Knock yourself out.”

  Deidre escorted the poor girl out the backdoor and to the outdoor toilet. She waited outside while the girl did what she came to do and heard the girl whimper from pain as she passed her liquid.

  Those damn animals she thought as the door opened and the girl looked at her, tears in her eyes. They made their way back into the lodge.

  “Stay in this room. I’m going to make arrangements to get us all out of here. I’ll be in the other room. If you need anything, need to know I’m still here, call my name, and I’ll answer you. My name is Deidre. Do you understand?” All three nodded.

  She moved into the other room, leaving the door half open. “Pete, we’ve got to get some help. My cell phone registers zero bars, and I don’t think we can get any reception until we reach Highway 61. That would take way too long. Do any of your neighbors have a land line?”

  Pete didn’t have to think. “Mrs. Ostberg has one. She’s about five miles on the other side of me, off Highway 1. Do you want me to go?”

  “I think that’d be best. You know the way, and the girls would probably feel safer with me than with another man. Do you mind?”

  Pete turned to LaTourell. “Where’s the snow machine?”

  “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Don’t play stupid with me,” Pete snapped. He was a different person than Deidre was used to. “You didn’t walk in from the road, and I saw the snowmobile tracks on the trail. Where is it?”

  Deidre heard the hammer on his rifle click into firing position, and she was stepping forward when LaTourell, his pupils dilated with fear, answered. “It’s out back. There’s a small shed beside the toilet. We keep it there. The key’s in the ignition.” He glared at the floor.

  Deidre found a scrap of paper, and using a pen she had in her pocket, she scribbled three numbers.

  “Call this number. It’s the sheriff’s number. Tell him I need a couple of deputies, and they should get here as soon as they can. Then call 911 and have them send out two search and rescue units. Tell them to bring sleds and transportation for three girls and an injured man. Finally, this is the home number of Zak Burton. Identify yourself by saying you are calling at my request. Tell him I need him here as soon as possible. Give him the directions. He’ll be able to find it on a map.”

  Pete walked out the back door. In minutes the roar of a snowmobile engine disrupted the winter silence of the wilderness, and Deidre saw the taillights of the machine disappear over the hill.

  She stood at the window a few seconds. The moon had risen, and under normal conditions, she would have turned out the lights and watched the muted shadows produced by moon glow as it reflected from the pristine snow. Tonight, however, she was in a tenuous position and turned back to face her prisoners.

  She pulled up a chair so she could face them and kept the pistol on her lap. It was difficult for her to look at the men, difficult to remain silent, but she knew it would be futile to say anything. They looked at the floor. She watched them for any threatening movement. The stalemate lasted for nearly an hour before she saw the single headlight of the snowmobile bouncing up and down and side to side as Pete returned to the lodge.

  He walked in and stomped his feet to dislodge the snow from his boots. Deidre noticed a ring of frost on his parka hood, and his nose was red and running.

  “It’s bitter cold out there,” he announced. “Looks like it will be the coldest night of the year.”

  Pete relieved Deidre of guard duty, and she checked on the girls.

  “How you doing?” They shrugged. “Do you know Kimi Thomas?” All three girls jerked upright.

  “How do you know Kimi?” one of them asked.

  “I thought you’d like to know she’s safe in a hospital in Duluth.”

  “Is she alive? I mean is she okay?” another girl blurted out.

  Deidre nodded. “She’s fine and will be returning to Canada very soon. How about Allison. Did you know her?”

  “Yes. Yes, what about her?”

  “She’s with Kimi. You must know Jean, too? She’s also there. All three are doing fine, and they’re going to be so happy to see you. I know they will.”

  Tears of joy and disbelief ran down their cheeks, and they spent the next fifteen minutes questioning Deidre. She answered as best she could, then left the girls to talk among themselves about their friends.

  Pete sat back in his chair and rested his rifle across both knees.

  “What kind of rifle is that,” Deidre asked, wanting to relieve some of her tension by talking about a subject that didn’t much matter.

  “This old thing,” Pete said as he laid his hand on the gun’s breech. “I got this from an old-timer years ago. I was only nineteen but was already working in the woods, so I had a few bucks to spend at the time.

  “He had a son he wanted to give it to, but the kid wanted a new 30-06. Well, the old man got mad and offered it to me. I traded a beat-up chain saw and ten dollars for it, even up. Best gun I ever owned. It’s only a 30-30, but it shoots real straight, and see the extra long magazine? Holds ten shots, counting the one in the barrel. You can really crank them off in a hurry if you know how to work the action. I’ve dropped more deer with this rifle than I can remember.”

  Deidre was surprised it was only a 30-30 caliber, but she supposed the octagonal barrel gave it the appearance of being larger.

  “Can I have a drink of something?” the wounded man growled.

  “What is there?” Deidre asked.

  “There’s a bottle of brandy under the counter and beer in the kitchen.”

  “No water?” Deidre asked.

  “None fit to drink,” he answered.

  “Well, then I guess you’re out of luck,” she said. He spat on the floor and mumbled something under his breath.

  Suffer, you bastard, she thought and went in the other room to check on the girls. She sat on one of the beds. “How you doing?” she inquired.

  One girl smiled tentatively. “We’re okay. Can you tell us what’s going to happen to us?”

  Deidre realized she had been so wrapped up in dealing with the suspects, she had neglected the victims, something she believed happened too often in the system.

  “I’ve called for help. They should be here very soon. Search and Rescue will take you out to the road on sleds. From there, you’ll be transported to the hospital in Duluth.” She looked at the girl who had used the outhouse. “You’re having some trouble peeing, aren’t you?”

  The girl nodded, and crossed her legs at the thought.

  “They’ll get that cleared up for you in no time. Do any of you have problems that need attention right now?”

  The other two shook their heads.

  “Okay. Then depending on how much care you need in the hospital, I think you’ll be back in Thunder Bay in a week or so. Do you have families?”

  One girl began to cry. “I have a mother. Don’t know where my dad is. She and I used to fight a lot, because she didn’t like my friends and what we did. The last time I saw her she told me I couldn’t go out, but I did anyway, went to a party. The next thing I knew, I woke up in a canoe. It was dark, and I had no idea where I was or where I was being taken. My hands and feet were tied together, and they put duct tape over my mouth. I ended up here.”

  “Do you know when that was?” Deidre wanted to know.

  “August. There were seven other girls in the cabin, but every few days some would disappear, and then they would be replaced. I don’t know why I didn’t get taken.”

  Deidre looked at her youthful beauty and her shapely body. The thought crossed her mind that perhaps the traffickers were saving her for a special client.

  “Were Anna and Kimi in the cabin w
ith you.”

  The same girl answered. “Anna was able to pry the chain loose from the bed, and she offered to help free us. Kimi was the only one who had the courage to go with her. They were gone only a couple of hours, when LaTourell and Jameson dragged Anna back to the cabin.”

  “Is he the other guy out there?” she asked, motioning with her head.

  “That’s him. Like I said, they dragged her into the cabin. She was so scared, she couldn’t talk, we all were. LaTourell said to watch what was going to happen to Anna and learn what happens to girls who try to run away.” She looked at the floor and swallowed hard. “I guess I can’t tell you what they did to her.” She wept openly, her body convulsing with each sob. The other two girls wrapped their arms around themselves.

  “I know. I found her body and was present when the medical examiner finished her autopsy. It was brutal. I’m so sorry you had to endure what you have. What about you two? Do you have family waiting for you?”

  “I was living on the streets,” one of the other victims said with flat affect. “What will happen to me?”

  Deidre smiled at her. “The head of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation has assured me that you’ll be well taken care of. Their social service network is already working on behalf of Allison and Jean, and I’m positive they’ll work for you, too. You’re going to be okay.” She wished she believed her words.

  The third girl looked away and stared at the wall.

  “They’re coming,” Pete shouted from the other room.

  Deidre hurried to the door and stepped outside. She counted four single headlights bouncing along the trail leading to the lodge.

  In minutes, she was meeting with four members of Search and Rescue and two sheriff’s deputies.

  She directed the EMT trained rescue members to where the girls were, and stepped aside to allow them to enter the cabin. One looked after Jameson, the others cared for the girls in the bedroom.

  “Let me take a look at your back,” he said to Jameson. The man stood and turned around.

  “Take these damn straps off my wrists, so I can move my arm.”

  “Oh, sure, right away,” the EMT said, sarcasm dripping from the words. “Stand still so I can get a better look.”

  He could see where the slug had entered his back, about four inches from the left of his spine, but because of the angle of the shot, it hadn’t penetrated the rib cage. Instead, there was a neat puncture wound where it had entered, but the exit point had blown out a piece of flesh the size of a golf ball. It had also removed some skin and a little flesh from the inside of his bicep.

  “You’re lucky that old man is a good shot, mister, or you’d be dead by now. ’Course, maybe he isn’t that good and missed where he was aiming. Either way, you’ll live. Always going to have a reminder, though.”

  He placed a gauze compress on the open wound and bound it tightly with a bandage. Jameson winced and cursed, and Deidre thought the EMT was being none too gentle.

  The rescue squad had brought sleeping bags with them, and they helped each girl into one. Then each was gently lifted and carried outside to a waiting ride.

  As they went by her, one of the girls asked, “Will we get to see Allison and Jean?”

  Deidre smiled. “Of course you will,” and she brushed a lock of hair from the girl’s eyes.

  Now she had to decide what to do with the two suspects, because, technically, she had no authority to make an arrest. She addressed one of the deputies.

  “In the confusion, I didn’t read these two their rights, although, I actually tied them up for my own safety. I’m requesting that you arrest them for kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, battery, and anything else you can think of.”

  A look of disbelief crossed the deputy’s face. They had almost created what would have been a major faux pas.

  He began, “You have the right,” and continued until the two men had been read their Miranda rights. Deidre breathed a sigh of relief. Neither man had said anything that would have been used in court, and now anything they said could be used against them.

  Not only that, now they were in the custody of the Lake County Sheriff’s Department and were no longer her responsibility.

  “Do you need a ride out?” the deputy asked.

  “No, you go do what you have to do. We’ll walk.”

  She put her arm around Pete’s shoulders. “Come on, friend. Supper’s getting cold.”

  Chapter 33

  The moon was near full and high in the sky as she and Pete trekked through the silence. What sounded like the crack of a rifle shot split the icy air, and both she and her companion spun around to see who was behind them. They burst out laughing, because it had only been the sound of a tree, splitting from the extreme cold. Deidre took in the beauty of the moonlight reflecting off the snow, and she thought she could have read a book it was so bright.

  As they neared the road, they could see lights and hear the voices of people. The deputies hadn’t driven off with their prisoners, neither had the rescue people pulled away. Evidently, they were taking their time, making sure all was in order. She walked up to a group huddled around a car that hadn’t been there when she had started in and elbowed her way through the knot of bodies.

  “You sure have a way of being in the middle of things,” Zak Burton said, a huge grin cutting his face. “I can’t believe you did this. It was pretty stupid—or gutsy. I’m not sure which.” He paused. “But I’m sure glad you’re okay. We decided the deputies will take the suspects in. Jameson will be housed in the jail and LaTourell will go to the ER. My guess is that he’ll join Jameson by tomorrow. Is there any place we can go to talk?”

  Deidre was exhausted and hungry. “Tell you what, Zak. Come with me and Pete. We’ll have a bite to eat at his place, and then we can go to my cabin. We can talk as long as you want. I’ll give you the good bed, and you can stay the night, then leave in the morning. I’ve got company coming in the afternoon. What do you say?”

  Zak looked please. “How can I turn down an offer like that?”

  By the time they arrived at Pete’s, the stew had hardly had a chance to cool, and he reheated it in a few minutes. Deidre had little appetite, and picked at the meal. As she raised her fork to her mouth, her hand trembled, and she hoped the other two didn’t notice. She was relieved to see that they were engrossed in the food.

  “This stew is incredible,” Zak said as he ladled another helping into his bowl. Deidre left hers half full and pushed away from the table.

  “Finish up, Zak. I need to get home.” She called her dog over to her and pet his head.

  “I bet you want to go home too,” she said, scratching his ears while he looked at her through sad eyes as only a Labrador retriever can.

  *****

  Zak was entranced by Deidre’s cabin. “Most of us would give anything to have a place like this,” he said, a little envious of what she had.

  “Yeah, it’s nice, but it can get pretty lonely up here, especially during the winter.”

  “No one in your life, then?” Zak questioned, not meaning to get personal.

  “Not really, just me and Pete,” was all she answered, and looked at her dog who raised his head at the sound of his name. His tail thumped on the floor, but he didn’t get up from his spot near the stove.

  “How are you doing?” Zak asked, concern in his tone.

  “Okay I guess. Shit! I’m not okay. I couldn’t eat my supper. I’m a ball of nerves, and I’m angry, angry at those men, angry that I didn’t figure this out sooner, angry that I know we haven’t stopped the abuse of women.” Deidre’s feelings spilled out.

  She went to her cupboard. “Want something to drink?”

  “What are you having?”

  “Brandy-coke. Want one?”

  “Sounds good.”

  De
idre dumped a few ice cubes in each of two glasses, added brandy from a half-empty bottle, and topped the drink off with a little Coca-Cola. Zak took a sip, and shuddered and coughed.

  “Too strong?” she asked.

  Zak cleared his throat. “Just right.”

  “I know we haven’t drained the headwaters of their operation, but we sure have cut off one of its feeder streams. Because of you, six girls are still alive and have a chance at a new start. There’ll be no more women funneled to Duluth down this route.

  “All we can do is to keep working and making a difference one life at a time.”

  “What happens to the attorney, Gerald Colter?” Deidre needed to know. “And Judge DeMarcus?”

  “You didn’t read this morning’s paper?” To her, this morning seemed like last month. She shook her head.

  “The judge was last seen drinking at a bar Christmas Eve. Yesterday, friends checked on him at home. He was on lying on the floor, dead. Shot himself through the mouth with a thirty-eight-caliber pistol.

  “He left a three-page suicide letter. I haven’t seen it yet, but a copy will be on my desk when I get back. Would you like to read it?”

  Deidre had to think about the question. “The next time I’m in Duluth,” she affirmed.

  “As for Colter,” Zak continued, “On Monday, I’ll turn over the files we have on him, along with a copy of what was on the flash drive you gave us. We’re dealing with a federal offense, and we’ll let a federal pro­se­cutor handle the case against him. Hopefully, that investigation will lead to others who are involved. How about you? What are your plans?”

  “Retire—again.” Deidre laughed halfheartedly. She didn’t have a plan. “I suppose I’ll spend some time alone. Try to sort things out. Maybe I’ll move back into civilization, Two Harbors, maybe even Duluth.”

  She stopped talking. Why did she say Duluth? The thought had never crossed her mind before. Deidre looked at her watch.

  “My God. It’s one-thirty. I have to get some sleep. Towels and washcloths are under the sink. Help yourself, just don’t borrow my toothbrush.” She wobbled as she stood up. The drink had been potent.