Murder Knows No Season

by Cathy Ace

  He tried to snuggle Zack into the blankets, and Becky along with him, but it was difficult because Zack had to keep his leg straight out – it hurt less that way. If Dave had thought that the last four hours had taken their own sweet time to pass they were nothing compared with the next four. He didn’t sleep; he was exhausted, yet wide awake. He had to protect his children – from murderers, from bears, and from whatever else might smell blood on the air and decide to check it out.

  Dave had never felt so alone, so small, or so pathetically useless in his whole life. He wished Debbie was with them; nothing ever went wrong when Debbie was around – she made everything alright. He missed her. Now more than ever, but he admitted to himself that night, high above the trees, with the moon crossing the sky and the nocturnal creatures stirring all around him, that he missed her every day, in every way. She’d never have let them get into this mess; she’d have made it right. Somehow.

  With the first light, Dave felt some relief. The kids had slept, even if he hadn’t. Becky was curled into a ball, cuddling her dog and looking just like she had done when she was three years old, while Zack lay flat on his back, snoring fitfully. The dawn chorus was almost deafening, and it woke Zack, who claimed not to have slept a wink. He pulled himself up to a seated position, and assured his dad that his leg was fine, but Dave could tell he wasn’t right – he was quiet and withdrawn, but not in the usual way.

  When Becky woke it was almost fully daylight; she yawned and stretched, and even asked after her brother.

  ‘Any more bears, Dad?’ she asked, smiling nervously.

  ‘No, but I think we should give it a little longer before we venture down,’ said Dave, remembering from somewhere that bears don’t go to sleep until later in the day, but not sure if it were true or not.

  ‘I need to pee, Dad,’ said Becky, quietly.

  ‘Can you wait?’ asked Dave, hoping she could. ‘Maybe half an hour?’

  ‘I don’t know that I can,’ she replied.

  ‘Me neither,’ said Zack.

  ‘Okay, but I don’t think you’re ready for going up and down the ladder a lot, Zack, so I’ll go down with Becky, like last night, then when you come down, we’ll make our way back to the cabin. We’ll take our time, so your leg will be okay. Right?’

  Both children nodded and they all set about gathering everything and packing it away. Dave finally let down the ladder and, when he was on the ground, Becky followed him. She scampered off into the bush, this time a little further than the night before. She returned and Zack made his way, carefully, down the ladder. Becky held her breath as she watched her brother descend.

  ‘We should check your dressing before we leave,’ she said, sounding like Debbie.

  ‘Yeah – okay, but let me pee first,’ said Zack impatiently, then he hobbled off to relieve himself.

  As Becky stood waiting for her brother, she looked up at the tree trunk and pointed to the scars made by the bear’s claws the night before. Dave shuddered; the bear had gotten a long way up the tree, or maybe it was just that big – the marks were way above Becky’s head.

  ‘Where are you, Zack?’ called Dave, wondering what on earth had happened to his son.

  ‘I’m over here,’ shouted Zack, from some way off in the bush. ‘I’ve done my business, now I’m going to mark where they buried the body.’

  Dave shouted, ‘Get back here now, Zack. That leg of yours isn’t right, and I don’t want you getting lost. Come back – right now!’

  ‘Okay,’ shouted Zack, obviously not happy that his father wouldn’t let him be more adventurous.

  They headed back to the cabin, with their kit; it might only have been a shack, but it would seem like a palace after the night they’d had. The hike back took longer than it had done the day before, due to Zack’s leg. But, finally, they got to the cabin; it was a wonderful sight – they’d all had quite enough of the forest.

  Dave checked his watch; it was eight thirty a.m., not too long before Mike’s scheduled arrival.

  Dave opened up the cabin; whoever those guys had been last night, they hadn’t been interested in it. Dave was glad they’d cleared up so well the evening before, but now he encouraged Becky to collect together all the sticks he’d kicked about – he thought a campfire and something hot for breakfast would lift all their spirits.

  While Becky gathered the wood and built a pyramid for the fire, he examined Zack’s leg, despite Zack’s protests. He could see the wound was pretty clean – at least, it looked that way to Dave – but, nonetheless, he applied more antibacterial spray and re-dressed the wound with fresh gauze. Then he gave Becky a hand, and, within the hour, they were sitting around a fire, toasting the last of the wieners and singing songs Dave knew he had no ability to play on his guitar, but he gave it a go anyway.

  They were all tired and grubby, and might never be quite the same again, but it was a happy threesome who greeted Mike when he tied up the boat just before one o’clock.

  Dave was so pleased to see his work colleague that he cantered along the pier to give him a hug. Mike tried to push him off, and hurriedly offered to help load the kit – then he spotted the bandage on Zack’s leg.

  ‘What happened there?’ he asked, concerned.

  Zack beamed. ‘I got a huge piece of wood stuck in there when I fell off the tree-house ladder last night, in the dark,’ he said, sounding quite proud.

  ‘What were you doing on the tree-house ladder after dark? You weren’t out there alone, were you?’ Mike gave Dave a strange look.

  ‘A bear was coming for us – we had to climb up real fast,’ replied Zack, excitedly. ‘We’d all gone down for a quick pee after the killers left, but then we had to spend the night up there ’cos of the bear.’ Zack seemed quite content with his explanation.

  Mike was anything but. ‘The killers? What are you talking about?’ he snapped.

  ‘The guys who killed the dead guy we found on the shore; they cut off his hands and feet, but we found one of his hands, and his ball-cap,’ shouted Becky.

  Mike looked aghast. ‘You found a body? A dead body? Dave, what are they talking about?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Dave tried to sound casual. ‘We found a corpse, collected what evidence we could, but we had to get out of here when the murderers came back to bury the body last night. I thought it best we spent the night in the tree house, then we came down to the cabin this morning for breakfast.’

  Dave thoroughly enjoyed the look on Mike’s face. This story could work out quite well for him at the construction site, after all. With him as the hero, of course.

  Mike scratched his head in disbelief, but let the subject drop as they filled his boat with everything that needed to be shipped back to Pitt Meadows. Content that everything was secured, Mike looked back at the cabin suspiciously.

  ‘Got everything?’ he checked.

  ‘Don’t forget the hand, Dad,’ called Becky as she ran along the pier to fetch the last cooler box. Dave helped her into the boat.

  ‘The hand?’ scoffed Mike.

  ‘Yeah, the hand,’ replied Dave, opening the cooler box for Mike to see.

  ‘Jesus H Christ! That really is a hand. Where the hell did you find that?’ Mike looked horrified.

  ‘I picked it up with the fishing net, when we were out in the frog-boat,’ said Becky, quite calmly.

  Dave nodded in silent reply to Mike’s enquiring looks; he was so proud of his kids.

  ‘We’d better get it to the cops, as soon as we get back,’ said Mike, trying to take charge.

  Becky said, ‘We tried to call them, but we couldn’t get a signal.’

  Mike nodded. ‘Yeah, there isn’t one up here – but we’ll be able to call them when we get down the lake-aways,’ he said, still looking shaky. ‘We’d better get going,’ he added, and they all agreed.

  Mike steered the boat away from the pier, and Dave looked back at the cabin, the shore and the trees on the mountainside with memories he could never have imagined would be his; he wasn�
��t sorry to be heading back to civilization – but he was trying to work out what to tell Debbie. Even so, he managed to pay some attention to their surroundings.

  ‘Look, eagles,’ shouted Becky above the engine’s noise – they were taking it slow through the shallows, but the engine was thumping loudly.

  ‘We’ll see a lot more when we go up to Squamish to help with the count,’ replied Dave, hugging his daughter. She was quite happily standing up in the boat, not sitting and clinging to the seat the way she had the day before.

  What a difference a day makes, thought Dave, relieved that at least his daughter seemed pleased at the idea of spending time with him again . . . one day.

  ‘I wonder who that is,’ shouted Mike, nodding toward an approaching boat. It was just slowing to begin to negotiate the shallows that led from the main body of the lake. ‘They’re supposed to give way to us,’ shouted Mike, ‘but it looks like they’re coming ahead. Idiots.’

  He gesticulated toward the other boat, signaling that they should stop where they were and let him get out of the narrow channel.

  ‘Dad,’ Zack called to his father, ‘that’s the same sort of boat that was here last night.’

  Dave’s stomach flipped. He didn’t even bother asking Zack if he was sure – he knew his son was right. It might not be the same guys, but if his son said it was the same type of boat, then it was the same type of boat.

  ‘Mike,’ called Dave, ‘get us out of here as fast as you can – now.’

  Mike looked at his work colleague in surprise. ‘I can’t go any faster. It’s too dangerous just here,’ he replied sharply.

  Dave moved closer to Mike, instructed the children to sit down and hold on tight, then shouted into Mike’s ear.

  ‘That’s the type of boat that brought the guys here last night who buried the body we found. This is serious Mike – they might be the killers, coming back for some reason. After all, who else would be coming up to this part of the lake? You’re the only one with a cabin there. My gut’s telling me it’s them. Maybe they left something behind – something that could tie them to the murder, or the burial – I don’t know, but I have no intention of finding out. Just get us out of here – they’re dangerous, Mike.’

  Mike shook his head, his brow furrowed. ‘I’ve got to take it easy here, Dave,’ he replied, sounding worried, ‘but if we can get past them before they get to this really narrow part, they won’t be able to turn for quite a distance, and we can get into the lake and get going. After that – well, my boat hasn’t got the speed theirs has, but I’ll do my best.’

  ‘Thanks, Mike,’ said Dave quietly, and patted his colleague on the back.

  ‘You been up to the cabin there?’ called a voice from the approaching boat. It was the passenger calling out, over the high-pitched rhythms of the engines.

  ‘Just looking around,’ shouted Mike, waving. Dave was glad he’d thought through the implications of his words.

  ‘Nice cabin, eh?’

  ‘Bit small if you ask me,’ replied Mike.

  The boats were drawing closer together; they were no more than twenty meters apart. Dave could see two men on the boat. There’d definitely been three the night before – maybe these were just two completely different guys out for a jaunt. That’s what he told himself. He looked toward the rear of Mike’s boat at his children – they were both as rigid as boards, looking terrified.

  ‘You guys just out for a wander about?’ asked Dave, waving cheerily.

  ‘Yeah, that’s right, just wandering,’ replied the guy controlling the other boat. Dave was in no doubt he’d heard that voice before; it was the ‘Boss’ from the previous night. He felt his insides tighten.

  ‘Lots of eagles about,’ Dave called, still trying to sound cheery, and pointing to the sky. The passenger in the other boat looked up.

  ‘Yeah, for sure, eh?’ he said. Maritimes accent. No doubt it was them.

  The boats were almost level.

  ‘You come through,’ called Mike.

  ‘Your right of way, surely,’ shouted the Boss.

  ‘Hey – I’m not the cops,’ replied Mike, nervously, ‘it’s easier if you come forward, then I’ll push around you; it’s wider here than there.’

  The Boss was tall, with long blonde hair tied back beneath a bandana, wore sunglasses and a red tee shirt; Dave could see that his arms and neck were entirely covered in tattoos. His passenger was also standing; he was shorter, bald, but also covered in tattoos.

  Dave could see that Becky stared hard at them, and Zack showed more than a passing interest, turning his head to look at them as they were mere feet away.

  ‘Looks like the little guy’s taken a knock,’ said the Boss as they passed right by Mike’s boat. He was looking at Zack’s leg.

  ‘Stupid kid fell out of a tree being chased by a bear last night,’ replied Dave, laughing.

  ‘I thought you’d just been up here for a look-see,’ said the Boss, a different tone coloring his voice.

  Why did I mention bears? Stupid! So stupid! thought Dave to himself.

  The boats were moving further apart, but Dave had caught the inflection in the Boss’s voice. He had to do something.

  ‘Yeah, just a look-see,’ he added. ‘He can’t lay around at home all day just ’cos he’s got a little cut on his leg. I don’t want him to think he can’t get out and about with any little old injury. And we do get bears in Pitt Meadows, you know.’ Dave thought that should take care of it.

  The Boss had cut his speed to almost a standstill, and had turned around to study Mike’s boat. He seemed to be deep in thought.

  ‘You’re right,’ he replied, ‘get all sorts there, you do.’

  ‘We’re off, hang onto something,’ shouted Mike, and Dave did as he was told, which was just as well, because Mike’s boat shot forward, the front gradually rising out of the water. Dave staggered back and sat down with a thump.

  ‘You okay, kids?’ he shouted above the roar of the engines. They were both staring back toward the other boat.

  ‘They’re watching us, Dad,’ screamed Becky.

  ‘I can see that, baby, but we’ll be fine – Mike’s a great boatman, and they’ll have to go all the way to the far end of the shallows before they can turn around, and even then they’ll have to come back slowly, like we did. So don’t worry, it’ll all be alright – we’ll get to the shore long before they do.’

  He smiled and winked at his daughter, and she smiled weakly back at him. He wondered when it would all end; they couldn’t take much more of this tension. He certainly couldn’t take much more of it himself.

  ‘Shall I watch the phones for a signal?’ asked Zack. Dave was impressed by his son’s cool head.

  ‘You do that – pass one to me and I’ll look too,’ shouted Dave.

  Zack managed to pass a telephone to his father without dropping it, despite the ferocious bobbing of the boat. Both he and his father watched for a signal.

  ‘Dad, I’ve got bars on my phone,’ shouted Zack after about five minutes.

  ‘Pass it to me, son,’ shouted Dave, and Zack did so. Dave knew exactly what to do. He called the RCMP, then he called Debbie.

  ‘Hello, Zack – is everything okay?’ Debbie’s voice sounded worried.

  ‘It’s me, Debbie, I’m using Zack’s phone – he’s fine – listen to me, I need you to do something,’ shouted Dave.

  ‘Where are you? What’s that noise?’ asked Debbie, sounding concerned.

  ‘We’re on Mike’s boat, heading for the boat launch at the south end of Pitt Lake – don’t ask questions, just meet us there. I’m not going to lie to you, Debs, the kids need to see you and have you with them. We’ve been through a bit of an ordeal overnight.’

  ‘Oh my God, Dave – what’s happened?’ Dave was beginning to think that maybe talking to Debbie this way wasn’t such a good idea after all, but he’d wanted Debbie there when the kids got to shore, for their sakes.

  ‘Debbie – calm down. We’re all fine
, and we’re all safe. Now just hang up the phone and come meet us.’ He punched the ‘end call’ button. He knew she’d act, and swiftly.

  ‘Dad – Dad! They’re coming!’ screamed Becky.

  As Dave turned around he could just about see the boat driven by the Boss exiting the shallows and beginning to enter the deeper waters of the lake. He could see the shore ahead of them, but they were still a fair distance from safety. Even when they reached the shore he wondered what sort of real safety it would offer without a police presence. After all, he reasoned, they couldn’t just leap out of the boat and jump into their truck and drive away; they’d have to get off, tie it up, do all sorts of things. Or what if those guys caught up with them on the water, before they even reached the shore? What if they could overtake them? What if they had guns with them? They had done the night before.

  Dave decided he didn’t like ‘What-if’s’ at all, but also decided to pull Mike’s gun case toward himself with his foot, just to be on the safe side.

  ‘They’re just about getting up to full speed, Mike – do you think we can stay ahead of them?’ shouted Dave.

  Mike didn’t look around, he called back over his shoulder, ‘This is as fast as she goes, and I’m not sure how fast their top speed is, but I’ll keep her flat out till I have to pull up – I’ll do my best, Dave.’

  ‘Okay, I’m going to get the gun out, just in case we need it,’ Dave shouted back, sounding much more confident than he felt.

  ‘What the hell will you need the gun for, Dave? It’s for cougars and bears. You can’t go shooting at people!’ Mike sounded panicked.

  ‘Mike, they killed someone up at that cabin, and they wouldn’t be chasing us if they didn’t think we knew something about it. They had guns last night, we could hear them shooting; if they’ve got a gun today, I’m gonna be ready for them.’

  Mike screamed, ‘I cannot believe the mess you’ve got us into. Those guys in that boat – they’ve seen my boat’s name, they know I’ve seen their faces. I’m in this up to my neck, now, too. They look tough, and rough, those guys; we’re in trouble, and they’re chasing me. Cheers, Dave.’