Tamarack County: A Novel Part 32

"What?"

"Everybody keeps an extra key. Where's yours?"

When Hanc.o.c.k didn't answer immediately, Cork tapped the back of his head lightly with the end of the bat.

"On a nail in the wall next to the refrigerator."

Cork found it. He returned to the living room and said, "I'll mail these to you tomorrow. You need something in the meantime, a walk to town'll do you good." With the toe of his boot, he nudged the fat around the man's middle.

"What about the tape on my wrists?" Hanc.o.c.k said.

"Once I'm gone, you'll figure a way to cut yourself free."

"Who are you?" Hanc.o.c.k asked as Cork turned to leave.

"The guy who won't be so nice the next time."

CHAPTER 43.

By the time the Land Rover was crawling along Becker Road back in Tamarack County, three inches of new snow had acc.u.mulated on the ground and more was falling heavily. There were no tire tracks to follow, and pushing through the storm in the dark, Cork had nothing except the mounds of old plowed snow at the edge of the road to guide him. He leaned forward, his attention focused intensely at the periphery of his headlights so that he wouldn't miss the mounted black rectangle with the fire number for Eustis Hanc.o.c.k's cabin. As it turned out, he needn't have worried. The only sign next to a recently plowed access bore the number Cork had been searching for.

The lane led off to the right, into a heavy stand of mixed evergreen. Cork knew the general area pretty well, and knew that the stand of timber was backed up against the White Iron River, not more than a hundred yards distant. He couldn't see any lights among the trees, but that could have been simply because of the heavy curtaining of the snowfall. There were no recent tire tracks, so Frogg was either still inside, or gone and had not yet returned. Cork couldn't take the chance that Frogg might come back and spot the tracks of the Land Rover, so he drove another quarter mile, until he came to a place where a section of the North Star, a snowmobile trail, crossed the road. He pulled the Land Rover onto the trail and into the cover of the trees. He took his Maglite from the glove box, got out, locked the doors, and started back toward Hanc.o.c.k's cabin.

He kept to the side of the road, hoping his boot tracks wouldn't be noticeable to anyone traveling in the storm. When he came to the access to Hanc.o.c.k's place, he leaped the mound of plowed snow at the side of the road and began to wade through the drifts to keep from leaving any sign of his presence on the access lane.

He came to a small clearing and knew the cabin had to be near. He still saw no lights, but he killed the beam of the Maglite and went forward slowly, blindly. In the dark, he almost ran headlong into the structure. He walked around it carefully, came to the front, risked the light, found a beaten trail to the door, which he followed with the beam away from the cabin twenty yards until the light illuminated the green pickup with the mounted plow blade in front and a snowmobile trailer on the hitch in back.

Frogg was there. In the cabin. Asleep, maybe, because there was no light on that Cork could see. He was tempted to burst in and take the man, but the cold voice of reason told him to be patient. He retraced his steps into the cover of the timber and called Dross on his cell phone.

She came with three deputies-Azevedo, Pender, and Bronson, all members of her Critical Incident Response Team. Cork had arranged to meet her on Becker Road, where the access to Hanc.o.c.k's cabin split off. Azevedo and Pender brought snowmobiles, just in case. They parked their vehicles at the side of the road, left the parking lights on to provide some illumination, got out, and gathered. They wore body armor. Pender and Bronson carried Mossbergs. Azevedo held a Stinger one-man battering ram. Dross gave instructions. She, Azevedo, and Bronson would take the front door. Pender would position himself in back, in case the man made a run for it that way.

"And I just stand by and watch?" Cork asked.

"We take it from here," Dross said.

"Mind if I follow at a reasonable distance?"

The wind had increased, and the snow now came at a sharp slant out of the west. Cork turned and put his back against the shove of the storm. Dross, when she looked at him, had to squeeze her eyes nearly shut against the wind and snow, and it made her look a little like a mole about to tunnel.

"I want you to stay here," she said. "When we have Frogg, you can come in then."

"You lose him-"

"We won't," she said.

That cold voice of reason in his head told Cork that he'd done his part. He'd located Frogg. Now it was time to let the hunters bring him down. It wasn't easy, but he nodded his a.s.sent.

They moved down the access toward Hanc.o.c.k's cabin, disappearing one by one as if eaten by the storm. Cork stayed where he'd promised he would, although everything inside him was taut with an urgency to act. If he'd still smoked and had a cigarette handy, he would have lit up. As it was, he paced.

He found himself thinking about Cecil LaPointe and how the man held no enmity toward Cork and the others who'd had a hand in putting him behind bars for all those years. LaPointe believed they'd simply played the parts they were always meant to play in shaping his life. Cork wondered about Walter Frogg. Was he always meant to play this part in Stephen's life and Evelyn Carter's? He envied LaPointe's certainty and his serenity, because at the moment, Cork was certain of nothing and what filled him was a rage that precluded any hope of peace.

Two minutes. Three. He heard nothing. After five minutes, he began to rethink his promise.

Then he heard a shot, a single shot, a crack that split the sound of the storm. And then it was only wind again, rushing past him with a liquid hush.

He waited, which took all the control he had. Several minutes later, a figure appeared before him, as if disgorged by the night.

"We broke in," Azevedo said. "He's been there, but he's not there now. The sheriff wants you."

"What was the shot?"

"Something moved when we were inside the cabin. A racc.o.o.n. Bronson nailed it."

Cork followed the deputy to the cabin, where fingers of flashlight beam were poking around inside. As he entered, he saw the splintering of the door that had been accomplished with the battering ram. It was a one-room cabin, rustic as h.e.l.l-an old, scarred table, two wooden chairs, a bunk, a sink and counter. No electricity, but there was a woodstove against one wall and a Coleman gas lantern sat on the table. Outside somewhere, Cork figured, there'd be an outhouse. The place smelled old, smelled ignored and rotting. It also smelled of cordite-Bronson's shot-and Cork saw a little mound of dark gray fur in one corner.

"Well, it's a roof over his head, I suppose," Dross said.

She stood at the center of the cabin, the beam of her light on a big canvas travel bag sitting on a sleeping bag that had been spread out on the bunk. The room was cold, though not so cold as the night outside.

"The stove's still warm," she added.

Cork said, "Where is he?"

"Pender found snowmobile tracks leading onto the river. Frogg is out, but he'll be back."

"Not if he sees all these flashlights," Cork said.

Dross said, "Bronson's down on the ice, watching for him. We'll be ready."

Cork went to the window that overlooked the White Iron River. It was too dark to see the ice. "I've been thinking about Evelyn Carter," he said.

"What about her?" Dross replied.

"We found her car on the Old Babbitt Road, not far from the Vermilion trailhead. That trail connects with the North Star Trail, which crosses Becker Road a quarter mile north of here. I'm thinking that the night Evelyn went missing, Frogg intercepted her on her way home, killed her, dumped her body somewhere. He drove her Buick out to the Old Babbitt Road, siphoned the gas, and walked to his snowmobile, which he'd left at the trailhead. Probably drove the sled back to wherever he intercepted her, which was also where he'd parked his pickup and the snowmobile trailer. Then he hightailed it here to wait and see if we bought his scheme."

Dross thought it over and gave a slight nod. "She knew him well. If he waved her down, she would have stopped." She thought some more. "And we didn't find any blood in her car, so he probably killed her and dumped her body wherever he stopped her."

"Had to be off the road where he wouldn't readily be seen by pa.s.sing motorists," Cork prodded. "All the roads out to her place are pretty well traveled."

Dross looked at him and understanding dawned in her eyes. "You think he stopped her in that long driveway that leads up to her house."

Cork said, "We've been looking in the wrong places. Exactly what Frogg wanted."

"We're in the right place now," Dross said.

"When he comes back, you ought to have your snowmobiles off their trailers and ready to roll, just in case," Cork said.

Dross said, "Pender, get the sleds."

"If you won't let me help apprehend him, I can at least help with that," Cork said.

Azevedo gave Cork the key to the snowmobile he'd hauled, and Cork followed Pender back to Becker Road. Pender had used a trailer to bring his sled, and he had it unloaded pretty quickly. Azevedo had brought the other snowmobile in the bed of his Tacoma pickup and had used a trifold aluminum ramp to get it there. Cork was still setting up the ramp when Pender sped down the access back toward Hanc.o.c.k's cabin. Cork finally got the ramp secured and tried to start the engine. It was an old Arctic Cat and reluctant, in that cold, to kick over. Eventually, he got it idling, gave it a couple of minutes, then backed it down the ramp. He decided to give it a few more minutes to warm up before revving it and joining the others.

He turned his back to the wind and thought about Frogg, worried about where the man had gone. He used his cell to call the house on Gooseberry Lane. Anne answered and told him everything was fine there. She asked when he'd be home and when they'd be going back to Duluth to be with Stephen.

He told her, "Soon, honey, real soon. Is Deputy Mercer there?"

She gave him over to the deputy.

Cork knew that Dross had let Ken Mercer in on the situation with Frogg, and had cautioned him to say nothing to Cork's family until they had the man in custody.

"Frogg isn't at the cabin," Cork told the deputy. "As nearly as we can tell, he's taken off on a snowmobile. G.o.d knows where. You keep a sharp eye out, understand?"

"Ten-four, Cork," Mercer said. "You'll keep me informed?"

"I will," he said. "And, Ken?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

He slid the phone back into its holster on his belt and was just about to mount the idling Arctic Cat when he heard something, a distant, familiar whine above the rush of the wind. It was a sound that in the North Country in winter was as ubiquitous as the buzz of mosquitoes in summer. A snowmobile was speeding toward him on Becker Road.

CHAPTER 44.

The little machine came from the west, from the place where the North Star Trail crossed Becker Road. The night and the heavily falling snow were like a wall, and Cork couldn't see the snowmobile yet. He stood beside the Arctic Cat, trying to will his eyes to pierce the veil, struggling to construct a plan if it was Frogg who materialized.

The snowmobile appeared, skimming over the powder that covered Becker Road, its headlights diffused by the snowfall. As soon as it came in sight of the vehicles parked at the access to Hanc.o.c.k's cabin, whoever was driving brought the sled to a halt. Cork hadn't turned on the lights of the Arctic Cat yet. He pressed himself against the Tacoma's rear b.u.mper, trying to keep from being seen, waiting for the other snowmobile to make its next move. For ten seconds, the driver sat considering the situation, then suddenly cut a sharp U-turn on the road and tunneled back into the storm like a badger into its hole. Cork leaped onto the Arctic Cat and shot off in pursuit.

At the North Star Trail crossing, the snowmobile cut to the right, toward the river. Cork stayed with it fifty yards back. He wasn't wearing goggles, and he crouched low behind the windshield to keep the bitter wind out of his eyes, so that he could see. The fugitive snowmobile slid onto the frozen surface of the White Iron River, shot east, and blew past the place where Hanc.o.c.k's cabin stood among the trees on the sh.o.r.eline. A few seconds later, Cork did the same. He didn't see any sign of Deputy Bronson, who was supposed to be watching for Frogg. He couldn't even guess what Azevedo and the others were thinking. If he'd had the time, he would have called on his cell to apprise them, but there wasn't a moment to spare.

The Arctic Cat's age was evident. The engine lacked the pickup of a younger, newer model. Cork figured he was able to stay with Frogg-he was certain it was Frogg on the other machine-only because the river was narrow and negotiating its twists and turns required a slower speed and demanded the man's full attention. Maybe Frogg didn't even realize that he was being followed. Two miles east, the river emptied into Iron Lake. Cork was trying to think of all the places where Frogg might leave the frozen riverway. There were cabins here and there, mostly seasonal, but the only major access was at the old bridge where County 7 crossed. Cork hoped Frogg would take that exit, because if he reached the wide-open expanse of Iron Lake, he could give his machine full throttle and Cork wouldn't have a prayer of keeping up.

At the bridge, Frogg kept to the river. Cork had fallen back a bit because the Arctic Cat had begun to sputter. He didn't want the engine to die completely, and he eased up on the gas. The lights of the other sled crept farther and farther ahead. Over the sound of his own machine and the wind whipping past, Cork heard the faint ring of his cell phone. He didn't answer, couldn't answer.

A couple of minutes away from Iron Lake he was still trying to come up with some plan that would keep Frogg within range. He wished that he carried a firearm but knew that it wouldn't have made a difference. Although he was almost certain it was Frogg he pursued, when a gun was involved, "almost" wasn't good enough. Then he considered what he'd do if he caught up with Frogg, who was probably armed. Cork didn't even have Anne's baseball bat with him. He decided he'd worry about that later.

As both machines approached the mouth of the White Iron River, Cork saw something ahead that gave him a moment of hope. Incredibly, from the ice in the middle of the opening onto Iron Lake came the flash of emergency lights atop an Interceptor Explorer, one of the Tamarack County Sheriff's Department vehicles. Marsha, G.o.d bless her, had called in the cavalry.

The snowmobile ahead slowed. Cork came up on him rapidly. He saw the driver twist on the seat and eye him out of the oval of the hood of his parka. Then the driver turned back toward the emergency lights and gave his machine all the gas he could. The Polaris-Cork could see that the make of the snowmobile was the same as the one Hanc.o.c.k claimed Frogg had borrowed-shot directly at the Explorer. Cork heard a barked "Halt!" Deputy Reese Weber, who must have been called back on duty, loomed in the headlights of the Polaris. He stood at the rear of the Explorer, weapon held with a two-handed grip and aimed at Frogg. The Polaris bore down relentlessly, and Weber fired a single shot, well over Frogg's head as a warning. The sled was on him before he had a chance to fire again. He leaped to the side and slammed his body against the rear b.u.mper of the SUV. The Polaris veered sharply to the right and shot through the small gap between the vehicle and the sh.o.r.eline. In the headlights of Cork's Arctic Cat, Weber rolled and tried to stand, but it was clear the man was injured. Cork stopped where Weber sat in the snow, back against his vehicle.

Weber furiously waved him off. "Go! Go! I'm okay!"

Cork sped on, but he'd lost precious moments. The storm had swallowed Frogg, and Cork could no longer see the headlights of the Polaris. He killed the Arctic Cat's engine and listened. He'd expected Frogg to flee into the great open of the lake. He was surprised when he heard the mosquito buzz of the engine heading south down the sh.o.r.eline toward Aurora. He fired up the Arctic Cat and turned again in pursuit.

Frogg had made what Cork hoped would prove to be a fatal error, the error of a man who didn't know Iron Lake as intimately as a native would. Even in the coldest of winters, Iron Lake didn't freeze over completely. There were a couple of places where open water remained. Half-Mile Creek near Crow Point was one. The other was a kidney-shaped area adjacent to the old BearPaw Brewery. In the years the brewery had operated, the runoff had kept the water near the sh.o.r.eline free from ice. The result was that waterfowl sometimes wintered there. When the brewery finally closed its doors, a vocal group of citizenry had succeeded in persuading the city of Aurora to aerate that small section of sh.o.r.eline to keep the water open for the benefit of the waterfowl. It was an area clearly marked with barricades, and anyone familiar with the lake in winter stayed clear of it. Frogg must not have known the lake, because he was heading straight for the open water. If the storm hampered his visibility enough, the man might just fly right off the ice into the grip of Iron Lake, and Cork would have him.

Cork shot past the North Arm peninsula, barely able to see the lights of the big houses there because of the thick snowfall. Although Aurora lay along the sh.o.r.eline ahead, all he could see were a million flakes blasting at him as he pursued Frogg. He couldn't tell distances well and had no clear idea of how far he was from the open water. Once again, he halted his Arctic Cat, turned off the engine, and listened. He heard the Polaris up ahead. Then suddenly the sound changed to a kind of gargle and ceased. Frogg, Cork knew, had hit the water.

He moved the Arctic Cat cautiously forward. In a minute, in the headlights, he spotted an orange barricade on which was mounted a warning sign that read "Caution-Open Water." He neared the edge where white ice met black water and where the tracks of Frogg's Polaris ended. He stopped his own machine well away from the open water and directed the headlights at the place where Frogg's trajectory and momentum would have taken the snowmobile. He knew the little machine would have skipped a bit, like a stone over the water's surface, but it couldn't have taken Frogg all the way across. He saw no sign of the snowmobile or Frogg. He thought that could have been simply from the cloaking of the heavy snowfall, so he slowly circled the big kidney of water. It was an area maybe fifty yards wide and seventy yards long. When he reached the far side, he spotted lights deep in the water, the headlights of the snowmobile still shining at the bottom of the lake. There was no sign of Frogg. Even if the man had managed to disentangle himself from the Polaris, in that ice-cold water, in heavy clothing that would have soaked up moisture like a thirsty sponge, his chances were pretty slim. Cork scanned the edge of the ice for any sign that Frogg had swum there and had tried to climb out. He found nothing.

He turned off the Arctic Cat's engine and pulled his cell phone from its belt holster. He punched in the number for Dross's cell.

"Cork, where are you?" she answered without preliminaries.

"I caught up with Frogg."

"Where?"

"The open water by the old brewery. He went in."

"Is he still in, or have you pulled him out?"

"I can't see him. His snowmobile's on the bottom of the lake. I think he's down there with it."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"We're already on our way."

"Weber is injured."

"We know. We'll take care of it. You just wait there."

Cork put his cell phone away and sat on the Arctic Cat while the snow went on falling in a storm that seemed oblivious to the human drama within it.