by Trevor Scott
“Could I get a copy of those?” Max asked.
“Of course. But you have to understand that we might have missed some people coming and going. Campers aren’t required to check out. They order their permits online with a group leader, and must now give the names of each party member. They must designate their entry point. But many people get dropped off and picked up at the entry points.”
“Why is that?” Max asked.
Kim took this. “There have been a lot of car break ins at entry points over the years. So, some of the locals make money allowing campers to park at their homes to watch their vehicles.”
That made sense, Max thought. “And some even enter the BWCA from other locations.” He smiled at Kim.
“Sometimes locals do that,” the district ranger admitted. “But that practice is frowned upon.”
“I’ve noticed all of the canoes have a Minnesota sticker on them,” Max said.
Kim said, “That’s required by the state of Minnesota.”
Max thought about one more thing. “Will you please have your people check on the missing young girl, Judy Walker?”
“We will,” the district ranger said.
Max handed the phone back to Kim, who took the phone off speaker and turned her back to finish the conversation, while he pulled out his map from his small day pack and unfolded it on his lap as he sat on the rock. He found their current position and tried his best to track where the gunshot came from. But he was having a difficult time. All he saw was trees for a couple of miles to the northwest.
Kim sat on the rock next to him and asked what he was looking at.
“We’re here,” he said. “And the gunshot came from back this way. It’s mostly forest, though.”
“Except for those three lakes,” she said, pointing at the map. “But there’s no campsite on any of them. No portage into the lakes, either.”
“These lakes don’t have names?” Max said.
“The lakes without navigation might not get a name.”
He checked the legend on the map and said, “It looks like it might be a quarter mile wide on both sides for each of them.”
“That sounds right,” she agreed.
Then he found the narrowest point from their current lake and estimated the distance to the first lake. “That’s about a quarter mile through the forest.”
“If someone’s back there, they’d have to be crazy,” Kim reasoned.
“As a fisherman, I might hike back there to try to slay some native trout,” he said. “It could be a good place for them to grow big.”
“I know people who have done that,” Kim said. “They pull their canoes into the woods and hike in.”
“We don’t have time to check on them today. We can check them out in the morning.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Max and Kim went to help set up camp. By the time they finished, darkness had started to envelope the lake. The mist had subsided, but with the darkness came a slight chill in the air.
The man in charge of the young girls had a fire going and one of the ladies was helping prepare dinner for them.
Max, Robin, Kim and Donny ate their own meals of dehydrated pasta, and then they joined the girls around the large campfire as darkness was complete.
Donny was showing a few of the girls how to whittle with a small knife.
Robin was answering all kinds of questions about her job as a lawyer back in Salt Lake City.
Then a number of the girls sat near Max and wanted to know about his time in the military.
Max wasn’t one to share these stories with just anyone. He usually reserved talking with anyone about the wars with those who had been there. It was hard for civilians to understand what he had gone through. There was no way to sugarcoat how he had watched young bodies blown to pieces, or a head seemingly explode in front of him. Other than TV or video games, these young girls would have no frame of reference. So instead, he simply relayed stories from his time with Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
“But I thought you were a warrior,” the oldest looking girl said. She appeared to be Native American.
“I was for my first ten years,” Max said. “Then I became an officer and decided to learn to investigate crimes.”
“Isn’t it more important to kill your enemy?” she asked.
“Renata,” one of the female counselors warned. “I’m sure he doesn’t want to talk about that.”
His sister put her hand on his lower back for comfort.
“It’s not appropriate conversation for young ladies,” Max said.
“But at least you know how to use that gun,” the girl said hopefully.
Robin said, “My brother is an expert marksman with handguns and rifles.”
“Were you ever shot?” another girl asked.
“A couple of times,” Max said. “And blown up.”
Silence, as those around the fire contemplated Max’s revelation. He was proud of his service, but he didn’t feel extra special that he had been wounded in action. It was simply a matter of fact.
Finally, the male counselor said, “I think it’s time for you girls to hit the sleeping bags. We’ll consider breaking camp in the morning and heading back.”
There were a number of girls who protested, but an equal number of girls seemed happy with this prospect. Flashlights came on as the girls wandered to their tents. Some went directly to the latrine back in the woods, making sure to have a buddy with them as instructed.
Once they were gone, the adults only left around the fire, the shorter of the female counselors said, “Do we really need to head back?”
The lead counselor said, “We have a missing girl.”
“I know. But this might be our last chance to get through to these girls.”
Max understood their dilemma. He said, “Although we don’t know what happened with Judy, it might be a good idea to head back to the entry point.”
“What will you do?” the man asked.
Before Max could answer, another shot broke the silence of night. His head swiveled directly toward the sound, pinpointing the location even better.
“I’m gonna look into that,” Max said, and then got up from the fire and wished them all a good night.
As he wandered toward his tent, his sister caught up with him and wrapped her arm in his. “What do you think?”
He didn’t answer until he had gotten far enough away from the camp of girls and the campfire. Then he stopped and faced Robin. “I think that girl didn’t run away,” he said. “Just like Kim’s sister didn’t take off or get eaten by a damn bear.”
“I agree,” Robin said. “This Judy Walker didn’t take her purse with her. She left her phone and everything of importance in that purse.”
Just then a loon called across the lake, its eerie cry echoing off the water. Max had only heard this call on TV, but it was much more spectral in person. It was as if the Minnesota state bird was crying and laughing at him all at once.
12
The leader of the pack sat around the campfire and listened to the sounds of the night. There were those damn loons, of course. But their voices were drowned out by the sounds coming from the tent. The professor was having his way with the new arrival again, making sure she understood her place in their pack.
When the SAT phone clipped to his belt suddenly buzzed, the leader wasn’t sure if he should pick up. But eventually he pulled the phone from its case and put it to his ear.
“Why are you calling so late?” he asked.
He listened for a moment and then nodded as if the caller could see him do so.
About to answer, the leader instead yelled at the car salesman, “Don’t shoot that damn gun again.”
The fat salesman looked confused. “It keeps those stupid bears away.”
“It also tells everyone in the county that we’re here,” the leader said. Then he got back on the phone and thanked the caller.
There should have been no contact
, the leader knew. But they had prepared for every possible outcome.
The fat man came over to the fire and holstered his handgun. Then he took a seat on a log. “What’s the problem?”
“There is no problem.”
“We weren’t supposed to get a call unless there was a problem,” the salesman reminded his friend.
The leader said, “Just stop shooting. The bears aren’t a problem.”
“What about the wolves?”
“We are the wolves,” the leader reminded his old friend. “What’s going on back there?”
The fat man turned toward the tent and then back to his friend. “The professor again. You know how he likes the young ones.”
The leader shook his head. “He’s around young girls every day.”
“Pent up energy.” The fat salesman laughed and his jowls shook long after the laugh finished.
“Where’s the doc?”
“Sleeping. I think he’s getting bored.”
“Thailand was more interesting to him.”
“I agree. I didn’t know he liked them that young.”
“The man wants what the man wants.”
Just then, the professor exited the tent and zipped the fly on the tent before doing the same to his pants. The man might have been the lowest on the totem pole, but that also meant he got first shot at each of the girls.
Sitting at the fire, the professor stroked his scraggly beard before talking. “I usually don’t like an audience, but I must admit that was quite interesting.”
“You took Doc’s place with the second time?” the leader asked.
“That’s the rule,” the professor said. “Without rules, we have chaos.”
The leader knew this better than anyone in the pack. Which meant he had to wait for the salesman to take his turn before he batted clean-up—the unintended consequences of size and power.
•
Pam almost immediately went to the young girl once the man they called the professor left the tent. Judy was sobbing throughout the experience. At least Pam had been able to warn the young girl that this was coming. They always came in order, from the bearded man to the skinny man they called Doc, and then the fat guy and finally the leader. It had taken her a couple of days to figure out that the pack had a pecking order—not just of power within the pack, but also in their size. They got increasingly larger from first to last. Luckily, none of them was massive. She had experienced a monster in college, and that had been uncomfortable. Painful.
“I’m sorry,” Pam said, her hands stroking the young girl’s hair.
“I didn’t fight enough,” the girl complained between sobs.
“I tried that at first,” Pam said. “But in the end, it doesn’t matter. We have no power here. They have physical restraints, drugs to knock us out, and guns to kill us if we fight too hard.”
“Is that why they keep shooting? To scare us?”
“Truthfully?” Pam said. “I think they are afraid of the forest.” If they could only escape, Pam knew that she could even the odds. She knew this wilderness area better than most, and surely better than these cidiots.
“I’m afraid,” Judy said.
Pam hugged the young girl. “I know. I am too. But I also know that they won’t stop looking for us.”
She shook her head. “Nobody will look for me.”
“Of course they will.”
“No. My mother is in jail. I’m in foster care.”
“What about your father?”
“I don’t know who he is. My mom said he was nobody I wanted to know.”
Pam hugged the girl tighter and whispered in her ear. “We will get out of here. I promise.”
What Pam wasn’t telling her new young friend is that these men had gone from being masked at all times to freely showing their faces. That was never good. That meant they didn’t plan on letting them go. They would either end up at the bottom of the lake, or in a shallow grave in the nearby bog.
13
Morning broke with another misty fog hanging over the lake. Max had been the first out of his tent, where Robin still slumbered. Donny and Kim were also sleeping in the larger of the two tents.
He just finished brewing a pot of coffee on a small backpacker’s gas stove. He took his cup of coffee and wandered down to the lake, which looked like a dark blue sheet of glass.
Glancing back at the campsite, he decided he needed to make a phone call. He pulled out his small SAT phone from his pocket and turned it on. He kept the phone off most of the time to save the battery. Once it powered up and acquired satellites, he punched in a number for his friend with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. NCIS Special Agent Martina Lopez had worked with Max on a case not too long ago in Corpus Christi, Texas. Since then, they had met a couple of times to renew their relationship. She was a feisty Porto Rican from South Florida.
“What do you need now?” Martina asked.
He had called her earlier, before departing Ely, to have her look into something for him, so he thought she would have expected this call. “Same favor,” Max said softly, knowing his voice would carry across the water.
“You’re really trying to get me into trouble,” she said.
“Not at all,” he said.
Silence on the other end as Max turned when he heard a zipper open on a tent. Coming out of the larger tent was Kim, who didn’t seem to notice him yet. She simply headed off toward the latrine back in the woods.
Martina said, “The guy in question is originally from the Twin Cities.”
“Is someone there?” he asked.
“I’m at the office.”
“Anything else?”
“It’s not easy to dig dirt on people like this,” she said.
“I know. Could you maybe go farther back?”
“Why are you whispering?”
“It’s early. I’m in the wilderness. Do the math.”
She laughed. “Alright. But you’ll owe me bigtime. When are we gonna meet again? I need some Max time.”
“Maybe once I’m done up here. I can drive to Florida.”
“I’m counting on it. Remember, I’m armed and dangerous.”
“So am I,” he assured her. Then they both hung up.
Kim came down to the shore with a cup of coffee keeping both of her hands warm. “Morning.”
“Good morning. Did you sleep alright?”
“Like a baby. Luckily, Donny doesn’t snore. What’s it like sleeping with your sister?”
He frowned at her.
“I didn’t mean it that way,” she assured him.
“Well,” he said. “We shared a womb for nine months, and a room while growing up. We had a small house.”
“Robin said your parents are gone. I understand how that is.”
“It’s been a long time for me. In some ways it’s freeing for some people.”
“How’s that?”
“Some people live to please their parents,” he explained. “When they’re no longer there, you can only disappoint yourself.”
“I can’t imagine you ever being a disappointment to anyone.”
He smiled and shook his head. “That’s why I’ve never married and have no kids.”
“I’m guessing your military service had something to do with that.”
“That’s my excuse, I guess.”
She turned back toward the camp and then to him again. “What about Robin?”
“She was married for a while. When she couldn’t have kids, her husband filed for divorce.”
Kim sipped her coffee and then let out a heavy sigh, which came out like the fog on the water. “That’s harsh. She seems like she’d be a good mother.”
“So do you.”
“I’m not sure about that. It’s hard to bring a child into this world. Would you consider it some day?”
“At my age, I’d have to find a woman at least ten years younger than me.”
She smiled at him. “You’re a handsome man. I’m sure tha
t wouldn’t be too hard.”
“I’m a broken dysfunctional veteran,” he said. “Like most of us, we have demons of our youth. I’m not sure most women could understand that.”
She put her hand on his forearm and said, “A good woman would understand. You served your country honorably. We owe you everything.”
Max was embarrassed when civilian folks talked like this. If she knew the things he had done for God and Country, she might reel in horror. War was never pretty.
She moved her hand from his arm to his shoulder, picking something from his clothes. “A tick,” she said. “You need to check yourself often up here. They can carry Lime Disease.”
His mind shifted to her running her hands over his body checking him for ticks.
“More coffee,” he said, and headed back to the campsite.
Soon, Robin and Donny emerged from the tents and they all started working on breakfast. By now the other camp full of girls was active as well.
“What’s the plan?” Donny asked.
Max lifted his chin at the other campsite and said, “We could make sure they break camp and get moving.”
“And then?” Robin asked.
“We’ll pack up and check on the three small lakes.”
Kim said, “You know there are dozens of lakes like that around here.”
“Maybe so,” Max said. “But we know for sure that someone is camped out on one of these. And they aren’t shy about shooting off their guns. Besides, it’s the only lead we have.”
Robin smiled at Max. She had a tendency to convey so much with a simple facial expression. At least to him. He imagined he could do the same with her.
While Donny and Robin packed up their camp, Max and Kim helped with the girls and the counselors. Soon, all of them were packed into their canoes and ready to head out.
The counselors thanked the two of them for their help.
“Make sure you go to the Forest Service office in Ely on your way out,” Kim said. “They could have information on your missing girl. Someone would have seen her and helped her between here and the entry point. You should talk with District Ranger Chris Johansen.”