Fault Line In The Sand

by Linda Mackay

  “What if that pressure had exploded before the president’s visit?” Liz asked.

  “Now that’s a good question,” Todd said.

  “And why they hired Ben Loren,” I said.

  “Whatever secret government project he thought he was working on would’ve involved testing the buildup of pressure without causing an actual explosion.” Todd shook his head and tossed a wadded up piece of paper at the trash with enough force to knock the small can over. “Even Miss Cranky-Pants would’ve known it stank worse than the sulfur coming out of a fumarole.”

  “He had to believe the tests would be aborted if they reached critical pressure,” I said.

  “A fat paycheck probably erased his ability to ask questions,” Todd said.

  “Stop worrying about people’s motives, it’ll take years off your life,” Liz said.

  “I don’t have years to waste. The last few months have already turned me into an old man.” Todd hobbled around the couch holding his hip.

  “Be careful making fun of old people,” Liz flashed what I hoped was a teasing murderous glare at Todd.

  “Yes, your highness. I bow to your prodigious wisdom and experience.”

  Liz tossed her empty beer can and hit Todd dead center on his retreating behind.

  “Ever played darts,” I asked her.

  “Numerous times.”

  “How’d you like to be my partner in a cutthroat game against the trouble twins when we return home?”

  “Love to.”

  Todd looked up from his search of the bags of groceries Stu brought. “We’ll smoke you.”

  “What are we smoking?” Mac asked walking in the door.

  “That was speedy work,” Todd said.

  “Stu’s something special.”

  “I don’t know about special, but I’d take one of those beers before I haul it back to West.” Stu plopped on the couch rattling the entire cabin.

  “What do I owe you?” I asked praying my bank account could cover the check.

  “Nothing. Mac already took very good care of me. Might start slashing your tires myself for this kind of payday.” I think I saw Stu wink at me from under all the hair hanging over his eyes.

  Mac handed Stu a beer. “Prefer you slash the tires on that weasel’s vehicle and I’ll pay you triple.”

  Stu high-fived Mac. “I’ll be on the lookout driving home and around West Yellowstone. I could be persuaded to drag the varmint into the backcountry and drop his sorry butt.”

  I was confused. Mac would never tell an outsider what was going on.

  Liz looked at Mac. “Description.”

  “Black, Ford Expedition, Montana plate.”

  “You let him get away?” Liz said through clenched teeth and a click of her tongue.

  “When we spotted him, the fool sped off, swerved around some bison, ran off the road, almost flipped the SUV and then disappeared in the distance.” Stu obviously wasn’t intimidated by Liz. “We weren’t in the mood to be killed in a high speed chase where we were already way behind, and bison were killer obstacles in the road.”

  “Now?” Liz asked making me wonder how Mac knew what her one-word questions meant, because I was definitely confused.

  “We drove back as far as the junction with the Grand Loop road. He hadn’t pulled off anywhere and was long gone,” Mac said.

  “Next?” Liz asked.

  “Ed and I are going to make the rounds of all the park facilities from Old Faithful back to Lake and around to Canyon,” Mac answered, while tying his boots. “Stu is going to search Madison campground and the hotel parking lots in West for his vehicle.”

  “Do you think that’s a good idea?” I asked.

  “Don’t much like a dude who retaliates for getting a DUI and being jailed till he sobers up,” Stu said.

  Now the gears were engaging in my head. I could see by Todd’s grin he had locked into the story also.

  “Where is Ed?” I asked.

  “On the porch with Amanda.” Ed yelled in the door. “I can’t have a beer since I’m on duty, so I hung out here with her.”

  “It’s also quieter, with a better view,” Amanda said.

  Todd gave me a, when did she get back look. I shrugged and shook my head. Amanda could be temperamental as a cat in heat, but having her on my team was worth every fit. The pink stripe floating across her hair and polka dot socks on her feet misdirected people to believe she was flighty. That mistake had caused me endless conversations defending her scientific conclusions. Rolling around on the floor wrestling with Todd like they were tween siblings didn’t help her cause, since Todd always managed to exit their encounters as the victim and leave the fault in Amanda’s lap.

  Stu chugged the rest of his beer and stood up. “Time to get on the road before it’s dark and I have to dodge animals.” We all followed Stu outside. “I’ll call Ed after I check around West for the dude.”

  “Don’t make contact with him,” Ed shook Stu’s hand, “he’s a mean SOB.”

  “Will do, or should I say will not. Nice to meet ya’all.”

  I waved goodbye, “Thanks, Stu.”

  “We should’ve brought him in on our team,” Amanda said, “he’d be like adding the WWE to our arsenal.”

  “A WrestleMania exclusive; Sasquatch vs. The Chihuahua,” Todd said. “The match would last five-seconds. Hard to make money off that.”

  “There’s not going to be a SmackDown, focus!”

  “You a wrestling fan?” Mac pursed his lips.

  “Go ahead and laugh, buster,” I said, “it’s fun entertainment.”

  “Not laughing; but you continue to surprise me, sugar.”

  “Don’t call me, sugar.”

  Ed stood, breaking the tension, and offered his chair to Liz. She waved him off asking, “How do you know Stu?”

  “Met him several years ago when a group of us were hunting. We were miles in the backcountry when a Forest Service ranger walked into camp. Seems two hunters had come into his office ranting about seeing a Sasquatch. Even showed him pictures. When we saw the grainy pictures we realized it was Stu, naked, taking a bath in the stream. Hairiest dude I ever saw, and never wanna see naked again.”

  “Ed says we can use a park service boat to retrieve the body,” Mac said.

  Todd turned 180 degrees, and then back 180 degrees. “From hairy, naked guy to decomposed dead guy in 1.4 seconds. I’m getting a head rush.”

  “Sorry bud,” Mac said. “But after Bull’s crew was killed, and we learned the president’s aide is still here causing trouble, I…”

  “Conversation over.” Liz interrupted faster than Todd’s head rush. “Get ‘em and get out time.”

  Todd saluted, “Lock and load.”

  “Shut down that POS and tell the world,” Amanda said, posing like The Hulk.

  “I need a beer and ibuprofen.” I put my head between my knees

  “Enjoy your beer,” Mac said as he and Ed walked to the vehicles. “We’re headed out.”

  “Plan on a late dinner of the steak and potatoes Stu brought, they’re in my frig.” Ed said. “We’ll be back between seven and eight.”

  “You were holding out,” Todd yelled. “No dessert for you.”

  “Medium-rare steak,” Amanda said. “My mouth is salivating thinking about it.”

  “Let’s go see what else Ed didn’t tell us about.”

  Liz sat in one of the vacated chairs on the porch. “Are you sure those two don’t suffer from some form of multiple personalities?”

  “Can’t say for sure, but Frank tells me they’re like hyper-competitive siblings. I wouldn’t know since I’m an only child.”

  “Me too.”

  “That’s one explanation for your extreme independence and privacy issues,” I said.

  “I drove my mother crazy. Without brothers or sisters I took over every room in the house. She’d try to corral me and my stuff to my room, but I never ceased taking over our basement as my playroom and her dining room table
to work on puzzles,” Liz said.

  “With my mom away most of time, I was pretty much the center of attention.”

  “That where you get your inability to take criticism and your demanding attitude?”

  “I’m neither of those.”

  “Shall we take a poll when the others return?” Liz was grinning at me.

  “Maybe we’re both a little like that.”

  We sat quietly and enjoyed the lake. The view wasn’t expansive from the porch, but the lake was still visible through the trees. I hadn’t seen a weather report in 24 hours but the dark clouds tumbling over the distant Absaroka Mountains were definitely signaling snow. Only time, or a weather report from my phone that was refusing to work at the moment, would tell how much.

  Liz sighed and ran her fingers through her freshly washed hair. “Being an only child did prepare me for being comfortable with being alone.”

  “I assume that’s important in your job?”

  “It’s also part of what makes it easy for you to stay at the ranch year round, and why Todd and Amanda can’t.” She wasn’t answering my question, but she was partially right about the rest. I wasn’t about to tell her which part.

  Chapter 20

  Everyone feeling okay?” Amanda asked staring at the computer screen.

  “No signs of catching your cold here,” Todd said cutting up potatoes.

  Liz and I said we were fine.

  “How about nausea, headache, dizziness, eye irritation?”

  “I’m not happy with what you’re insinuating.” I walked over to the computer.

  Todd joined us, looking at the screen. “These extreme levels are caused by outgassing from the vents.”

  “With 1 x 10-4 probability of an aggregate of any volcanic eruption in the magma system, I’d like to say this was caused by the last two disruptions at the bay.” I continued analyzing the numbers on the screen.

  “We’re in the every 10,000 year probability zone, we’ve had a major quake and we’re also at a seasonal low water table mark, which would favor the possibility of hydrothermal activity.” Amanda pointed to the screen. “Look where Bull’s crew took these measurements.”

  Todd laughed, “From the beach vents across from Amanda Geyser.”

  Liz walked over and closed the lid on the computer.

  “What was that for?” I asked.

  “I’ve been trying to ask questions and you’re ignoring me. So, I found a way to get your attention.”

  Todd opened the computer, pushing me out of the way. “Come around here, Liz. The last file you hacked included measurements of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide that Bull’s team had been taking since they arrived on the scene the first week of August. And I’d also like to point out since they arrived a month after the explosion that their so-called grant had to come from one of your branches since no academic grant has ever been written and accepted that quickly.”

  “Feeling snarky, Todd?” Liz rubbed his nose.

  “Mostly, I just want some of that easy money after all we’ve been through.”

  I interrupted them. “Let’s get back on track with CO2 and H2S.”

  “I wasn’t surprised to see high concentrations,” Amanda said, “especially in cracks and holes in the ground. But, I became concerned when I saw the ground measurements they took over the last two weeks.”

  “These levels,” Todd pointed to the chart, “are high enough to cause concern if that air was inhaled by someone, let’s say someone sleeping on the ground in their tent.”

  “How concerned are we talking?” Liz asked scratching her neck.

  “We were lucky to be near miles of open water. If we’d camped in a draw, a cave, or been closed up in our tents for a couple days during a storm we might not be here,” I said.

  “But we were stuck in our tents,” Liz said.

  Todd put his arm around her. “Lucky for us that confinement was before we camped next to the bay.”

  “These gases are localized?”

  “Exactly.”

  Liz looked at me. “I understand why Bull and the government watchdog didn’t call in this information, but why aren’t you on the phone alerting the park service?”

  “Because the park and the USGS already negate the danger of these gases to humans in the park; and since we’re all standing here healthy, I guarantee they aren’t interested.” I returned to the couch and looked out the window watching a doe and her twins munching grass.

  “Explain.”

  Todd was back in the kitchen making lettuce salad and chose to answer Liz for me. “The park and USGS operates on the assumption since human death or serious illness is exceedingly rare, it means there isn’t a problem.”

  “They will acknowledge on windless days gas can build up in caves and valleys,” Amanda added.

  I turned back to the computer and Liz. “Notice Todd said humans. You can find dead birds and mammals that autopsies prove died from gas vapors. In 2004 five bison died near the Gibbon River from high concentrations of CO2 and H2S.”

  Amanda pulled on Liz’s sleeve. “There’s a cave at Mammoth that has been closed to humans for years because of gases.”

  “That’s an interesting risk management strategy,” Liz said.

  “It’s like the show Mission Impossible, disavow any knowledge,” Todd said.

  “It’s not that sinister,” I said. “Millions of people safely visit every year. Part of our job is to be sure it is safe. And since the bay is closed it’s…” No one was listening. “I give up. The locals joke that if this wasn’t a national park, it would be an EPA Superfund site.”

  Liz laughed. “Now that sounds more likely; and I understand the objective is to keep people from wandering into dangerous areas, while still enjoying the rest of the park.”

  “It’s like riptides in the ocean don’t keep people from swimming in safe areas,” Amanda said.

  “Or why ski resorts bomb the slopes releasing controlled avalanches before skiers hit the powder,” Todd added.

  “I hear vehicles,” Amanda said.

  “I’ll start the steaks.”

  Mac and Ed wasted no time making their way inside. “It’s stinking cold out there,” Mac said.

  “Wimp,” Ed tossed his coat over a chair and rubbed his arms. “Heard on the radio there’s another storm brewing. This one will be slower to arrive and hang around a couple days.”

  “Snow amounts?” I asked.

  “Just a couple inches in West,” Ed grinned at Liz who was sighing with relief at the small amount predicted. “Here at Lake, a foot or more.”

  “Ah, bloody hell,” Liz said. “Someone make me a cocktail.”

  “That was an incredible gut-warming meal,” Mac rubbed his stomach.

  “Thanks man,” Todd said.

  “I’m not sure I can move after eating all that, but do we need to take care of the horses?”

  “Liz and I put them to bed,” I said.

  “Dare I ask where since I haven’t seen them?” Mac asked.

  “We put them in the ranger’s horse corral. If we don’t need them for a few days I thought they, and the trailer, were safer there,” I said.

  Mac sat up on the edge of his chair. “I’m trying to process Liz helping with the horses.”

  “I’m learning.”

  “Learning! I heard her idea of learning was to sit in the truck with a shotgun and play guard dog,” Todd said.

  “I helped when we got to the corral,” Liz said.

  “If helping means picking out the best spot to hide the trailer in case the president’s aide did a cursory drive by, then I guess she helped,” I said.

  “Like any of that will do any good.” Amanda picked lint off her fleece and flicked it on the floor.

  “I hoped moving the horses away from us, would be safer for them.” I had no idea what this guy was capable of. Hurting our horses seemed like a lot of work with little reward. Hopefully, he’d stick to damaging the vehicles, especially if the horses were
out of sight. It was also self-preservation. If he touched the horses, I didn’t trust the violence I’d unleash on his sorry ass, and I didn’t want to end up in park jail.

  “Good idea,” Mac said, “it gives us one less thing to keep eyes on tonight.”

  “We didn’t see any sign of the black SUV.” Ed took the last bite of his piece of chocolate cake. “And Stu called to report no sightings.”

  Liz moved back to the computer to work on hacking another file. “Could he be camped out and hiding?”

  “Not likely. You know how cold it’s been, and this dude doesn’t appear to have any wilderness skills. My guess is he’s using a constituent’s house somewhere in West Yellowstone. Politicians and celebrities use local’s homes regularly,” Ed said.

  “That’s a long drive to keep tabs on us,” Mac said. “Because of that, Ed and I are reasonably comfortable that he will be too lazy to show up here in the middle of the night. However, on our way in we rigged a noisy calling card just in case.”

  “Is it a James Bond spy toy, like a tree with a gun inside that shoots him if he crosses the laser?” Todd asked.

  “Like they could pack that into the middle of Yellowstone,” Amanda said. “And since I searched everyone’s packs I know the spies aren’t carrying anything dangerous, except firearms and knives.”

  “You searched our packs?” Liz asked.

  “Jorie told me too!” Amanda threw me under the bus without taking a breath.

  “Well, Dr. Clark,” Mac walked over, wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me to his side so tight I could hardly breathe. “You’ve been a very bad girl.”

  “Last time you dragged us up here, I had a gun put to my temple, two guys tried to shoot us off our horses, and a freaking helicopter almost fell on my head when you shot it down.”

  “You can’t fool us twice.” Amanda flashed me an apologetic look. “We take care of our own.”

  “I’ll assume this search happened while the perpetrator was sick in her tent and we were out chasing a wolf and a dead body?” Mac said.