by Nick Adams
“Need a lift?” he asked. Trying to smooth things over between us.
“I’m parked on the trail.”
“Is Willie out there?”
“He’ll keep his mouth shut.”
“It would’ve been better if you’d left him out.”
I said, “Maybe I would have. But I didn’t know.”
He looked at me. I didn’t have to continue.
A pair of headlights appeared in the distance. It was a small car, moving fast. Uncle Danny turned on the spotlight and the car slowed. It was Amy Cutler’s car. I went forward. She came along slowly and stopped before me in the road. I walked over to her window. She looked terrified. Like I was some sort of a monster rising up out of a dark swamp. Probably thought something had gone wrong and I’d killed Tommy.
“Relax,” I said. “Everything is fine.”
She exhaled and slouched back in her seat.
“Your boy is across the river, burning dead dogs. Any excuses?”
She hesitated. Then said, “You know everything?”
“I do now.”
She kept quiet.
“Go help him clean up and get out of here.”
“Okay,” she said quietly.
I stepped aside and she drove by and went up the driveway. Uncle Danny inched the cruiser forward.
“What’s her deal?” I asked him.
“She’s loyal to Tommy.”
“So she’s severing all ties with her mother?”
“Won’t be too difficult. Her mother’s a closet drunk. Why do you think she’s spent the past ten years glued to Tommy’s hip? Most of her public personality is a front.”
I shook my head. “See, this is why I’m unsociable. This is why I could throw on a backpack tomorrow and just walk away from society. No regrets.”
“People have their share of problems,” he said. “They sure do make mistakes.”
“Mistakes, my ass. There’s no carnivore in the wild that’s half as devious as people.”
He took a deep breath. Said nothing.
“What else?” I said. “Santa Claus is a lie. No one can be trusted. Anything else I should know?”
He said nothing. There was no point in beating him up any further. So I turned away and went for the trailhead. Uncle Danny drove up the road and slowly out of sight.
A minute later I stepped off the road into the pitch darkness of the trail. Willie and Kendra came out from behind two trees. There was a long silence. Dark, heavy silence. A million crickets and peepers in the background. We all stood there looking at each other. I wasn’t eager to offer. Neither of them wanted to ask.
“Sorry, Kendra,” I forced myself to say. “I found Simon. But not it time. He’s gone. Buried. I’m sorry.”
She took it better than I expected. There was no outburst and no hysterics. It was like she just went cold and numb. Breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly. Stood there with her arms crossed. She’d had two weeks to prepare.
“Uncle Danny,” Willie said after a while.
“I’ll explain on the way home,” I said.
And I did. We walked back to the truck and climbed in. Willie drove. I softened the details of the dead dogs and spent most of the time explaining the situation regarding Lucy Kurtz. Willie and Kendra listened quietly with only a few questions.
Willie left us off before my parents’ house. He didn’t want to thunder his truck through the peaceful campground.
“Keep the AK for now,” I told him.
“Okay,” he nodded. He was looking at Kendra. “I don’t know what to say but sorry.”
She just nodded.
“See ya,” Willie grunted. Backed his truck around and headed for home.
“Let’s keep moving,” I said to Kendra. “Or else my dad will be out here asking questions.”
She went along in silence. Breathing deep and sniffing now and then. We walked along by the motor homes and the tent sites. It was a calm night. People were sitting around campfires and chatting gladly. Enjoying the perfect weather. Enjoying life.
“You decide how much to tell your father,” I told her when we neared cabin 2. “I’m trusting you to handle it.”
“You can’t even trust your uncle,” she said. “Now you trust me?”
“You’ve got your act together. And I can trust my uncle. This just changes things a little bit.”
“I understand what he did.”
“Yeah.”
“It’s messed up,” she said. “But I understand. I’ll leave him out of my story.”
“I understand it. I just don’t like being lied to. Kept in the dark.”
“Nobody won. Except maybe Lucy. It’s a bad deal all around.”
“Tonight it’s bad,” I said. “But it’ll work out. Uncle Danny’s tired of playing by the rules. Everyone trusts him. No one would expect him to go against the book on anything. I sure didn’t. That means he’s a damn good ally.”
“So, you’re not going to let this go?”
No way was I letting anything go. I was just getting started. Busting heads around the campground wouldn’t be enough anymore. Time to branch out. Time to put a major hurt on everyone involved in that dogfighting ring. Hit hard. Ruin everything for them. Their business was easy money and the thrill of blood sports. They already had the more populated southern half of the state. Now they were pushing north, taking advantage of quiet bedroom communities to spread their product under the cover of darkness. Steal people’s pets and force them to kill each other. It was all one big party. Good times, good money. Parasites spreading a contagion. They laughed at Kendra the night she was calling for Simon.
Well, party’s over, boys. Hope it was good while it lasted. It’s about to get goddamn scary.
“No,” I answered. “I’m not.”
Kendra stood there quietly. I waited for it.
“I want to help,” she said.
“Don’t make any decisions yet.”
“You already have.”
“Let everything sink in. See how you feel in the light of day.”
She didn’t argue. Didn’t have the energy. We stood there quietly.
“I’m starting to understand you better,” she said.
I looked at her.
“I was talking with Willie. Telling him all about Simon. He told me about your dog, Max.”
“What does Max have to do with anything?”
“He influenced you. You grew up with him and followed his lead. It’s like you’re part German shepherd now. You take it on yourself to look out for everyone. Before, I thought you were just cranky. But now it makes more sense. I see it.”
“Don’t expect me to wag my tail.”
She made a faint attempt at a smile.
I said, “You should talk to your dad. Sooner you do it, the sooner it’ll be over with.”
She nodded. Took off her silly hat and hugged me. Thanked me and then went up to her cabin and disappeared inside.
I walked to cabin 8. Went in and gave Frank a big bear hug. Got right down on the floor and wrestled around with him a bit. He was warm and full of optimism and life. Just being around him for a minute lightened my mood. It was amazing.
Then I got undressed and had a long shower. Got into some sweats. Made a full pot of coffee and went out to the porch for a smoke. I knew I wouldn’t sleep. Not after all that. I’d be up all night.
I was right.
Within an hour I heard the distinct rumble of an old ATV in the distance. It was moving slowly up the trail behind my cabin. Then it went silent. I sat still in my rocker. Listened closely and started to hear heavy walking. I knew it was Willie about a minute before I saw him.
“You up?” he whispered from the dark.
“You’re as sneaky as a Clydesdale, Will.”
“You’re chair is in a shadow. I can’t see.”
I laughed quietly.
“I can’t stop thinking about all this,” he said.
“There’s coffee in the pot,” I offer
ed. “We can think together.”
We worked through that pot and made another. I shared the last House Special sub with him. He was grateful but not satisfied.
Another hour and Kendra showed up. Walking silently in the dark. Frank alerted to her presence by whining and wagging his tail.
“Can’t sleep,” she said, stepping onto the porch.
I said, “Join the club.”
She hugged Frank and he was very grateful, as usual. It was good fun for him and good medicine for her. A dog can comfort someone far better than any person can. They don’t try to say anything. Through thick or thin, they just stick right with you and help keep you going.
“I’ve been thinking,” Kendra said when she returned to the porch with a mug of coffee. “I don’t think I can take this passively. You know, move on and pretend it didn’t happen. I really don’t think I can do it. Forgiving people that are sorry is one thing. This is too much.”
“You don’t strike me as the vengeful type,” Willie said.
She paused a beat, said, “Welcome to the new me.” No joke. Her face was dead serious.
I said, “Look, if we’re going to stop these people, we have to hash everything out. We need to be careful. No mistakes, like I made with the Escalade. Simon would probably still be alive if I hadn’t botched that play.”
“Don’t go there,” Kendra said. “Simon wouldn’t have been there at all if not for me.”
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s deal with this right now. We all know who’s really to blame here. I’m just saying, we can’t make mistakes.”
“No more blaming yourselves,” Willie said. He was looking around at us both.
“Agreed?” I said, looking around.
We all agreed.
“All right,” I said. “So we need to be smart. We need to keep our mouths shut. We’ve got this money. We’ll need a van or something, so we don’t have to use our personal vehicles. There’s a lot to think about.”
“I think you should donate some of the money,” Kendra said. “To dog rescues. Animal shelters.”
“I’m fine with that.”
Willie nodded.
“We’ll count it all up and set an operating budget,” I said. “Willie, you’ll get a salary because you’re in a tight spot. And you can get a few hours every week covering the grounds for me. Fair?”
“Awesome,” he said.
“Won’t be awesome for those dogfighters,” I said. “Not when I get my hands on them.”
NOTES
Thanks for giving Resolution a try. I’m really hoping readers will enjoy Evan Warner and all of his odd quirks, because for me, he’s fun to think about and write about. Evan asks: what would Clint do? I ask: what would Evan do?
Book 2 is already underway. If book 1 sells okay, hopefully I’ll have the second one ready for late summer or fall 2016.
Just a guess, not a promise.
Reviews are hugely appreciated. Even brief ones help. Especially when trying to get a new series off the ground.
Questions or comments, you can find me at Shawn Underhill (Author) on Facebook. I hardly ever check Twitter, so don’t be offended if I don’t reply to tweets.