The Alpine Menace Part 15

"Guests still there, huh?" Adam remarked dryly. "Man, you are really turning into saintly material. Have I inspired you, Mom?"

"Stick it," I muttered. "You just never noticed before what a wonderful person I am."

"In a way," Adam said, "that's true. It's not just studying for the priesthood, though. I guess I'm getting to be a grownup."

"About time," I noted. Then, unable to keep the maternal pride out of my voice, I added, "You're turning into a top-notch person. I'd like to brag, but I don't. Much."

As Amber removed Danny from the room, Adam and I turned to the subject of my proposed trip to the Twin Cities. I had to admit I hadn't yet contacted Janet Drig-gers at Sky Travel to make the arrangements, but I'd try to see her on my lunch break Monday. Then we got caught up with more mundane matters. Before signing off, Adam mentioned that he'd spoken with his father earlier in the day.

"I called to give him Easter greetings," Adam said. "He sounded good." Pause. "Have you talked to him lately?"

"No," I said. "I owe him a call." It shouldn't work that way. Tom and I weren't teenagers. "I'll call him sometime this coming week."

"I think he's going out of town," Adam said. "Business, as usual."

"Business, babies, blah-blah," I said, trying to sound humorous and failing. "That's your dear old dad. Meanwhile, dear old mom waits. And waits."

"No comment."

"None needed," I responded. After more than a quarter of a century, there wasn't much left to say about Tom Cavanaugh.

Ben wasn't in at the rectory on the Navajo reservation, so I left a message. I was unpacking my suitcase when I heard the sirens. As ever, I went on the alert. Anytime an emergency vehicle takes off in Alpine, it's news. An auto accident, a domestic violence call, even a heart attack usually makes it into The Advocate.

I'd just put the suitcase in the closet when I heard more sirens. A decade of experience enabled me to distinguish between the wails of the various emergency vehicles. The first had belonged to one of the sheriff's squad cars. The second had been the medics. Both had headed west.

A third siren sounded, fainter and farther away. It was Milo's personal siren, the one in his Grand Cherokee. He had special-ordered it from Harvey's Hardware, and Harvey Adc.o.c.k had made a mistake and ended up with a British police siren that sounds to me like a dying duck. Milo, however, professed to like it. Maybe it made him feel as if he were working for Scotland Yard.

The siren grew somewhat louder, apparently coming from the sheriff's house in the Icicle Creek development. He was also heading west. Whatever had happened must be important enough to draw Milo from his Sunday rest.

I put my shoes back on and grabbed my jacket. There was no time to phone Scott Chamoud, who might not be back from Oregon anyway. Calling to Amber that I was off on a story, I raced out to the car. Yet another siren sounded as I reached Alpine Way. The fire truck was ahead of me, rushing south, then turning left on Railroad Avenue past Old Mill Park.

It was going on eight o'clock, but not quite dark. It was easy to follow the number one engine past the community college, the ski-lodge turnoff, and onto the Burl Creek Road. A minute later the fire truck stopped, joining the squad car, the medics van, and Milo's Grand Cherokee.

We'd arrived at Cap Harquist's place, with its aging two-story house all but hidden behind a pair of huge cedars that must have prevented the sunlight from getting inside. I'd always wondered why the Harquists had let those trees block not only the sun, but their view of Burl Creek and the mountains beyond. Perhaps the cedars were like the ramparts of a castle: not arboreal decorations, but strategic fortifications.

Cautiously, I approached the tight little knot of emergency personnel. I didn't see Milo, but Deputy Jack Mullins was talking to one of the volunteer firefighters whose face I couldn't recognize under all the official gear.

"Emma," Jack said, turning to face me. "How'd you hear about the commotion?"

"How could I not?" I replied as the red, blue, and white lights flashed eerily in the dusk. "I followed the sirens' call. What's going on?"

Jack gestured toward the house. "Milo let Ozzie and Rudy out this morning so they could go to church for Easter. Which they did. Lutheran church, that is." Jack gave me his roguish grin. He's a fellow Catholic, the type who's not above making cracks about our Protestant brethren. "Then they came home and started drinking. The next thing we know, they're prowling around outside the hospital. Stubby O'Neill is still there, you know."

I nodded. "Milo kept me informed while I was out of town."

"Oh. I didn't know you'd left," Jack said. "Our family went to the vigil Ma.s.s last night. I figured you were going this morning. Father Den's sermon sucked scissors, but everything else was great."

Dennis Kelly, our pastor, isn't famous for his homilies. A serious, middle-aged black man in an almost exclusively white parish, he's an excellent administrator and no one can criticize his handling of the liturgy itself. These days, we're lucky to have a priest at all, and downright blessed that our pastor isn't drinking himself stupid or playing games with little boys. Father Den can be dry as dust from the pulpit and elicit no carping from me.

"So what happened at the hospital?" I inquired, hearing some shouts from closer to the house.

Jack turned somber. "Stubby's daughter, Meara, came to see him this evening. The Harquist boys kidnapped her. They've got her inside and G.o.d only knows what's going on. Doc Dewey called us. He was leaving the hospital when he saw Ozzie and Rudy drive off with her about half an hour ago."

My eyes were riveted on what little I could see of the Harquist house. "That's bad. Who else is in there?"

"Ozzie, Rudy, Cap," Jack counted. "Old Lady Har-quist's been dead for years. I don't know about Ozzie and Rudy's wives. The last I heard, Rudy's walked out on him and moved to Everett."

"So no women on hand to provide a softening influence," I murmured. "Why don't you and Milo and whoever else is here go in?"

"Because they're holding Meara hostage," Jack replied. "She's only fifteen. The poor kid must be scared out of her wits."

"Hostage for what? Do they want ransom money?"

Jack shook his head. "Who knows what those dingbats want? They're probably still drunk. Milo's trying to get to Cap. He figures he may have more sense than the sons." Hearing the screech of tires, Jack whirled around. "Oh, s.h.i.t! Here come the O'Neills."

A beat-up SUV revealed Stubby O'Neill's two younger brothers, known as Rusty and Dusty. They flew out of the vehicle and started yelling, mostly obscenities directed at the Harquists.

Jack hurried over in an attempt to get Rusty and Dusty to simmer down. I could see why his manner was urgent. Rusty held a double-barreled shotgun and Dusty had what looked like a Smith & Wesson .38 Special revolver. I backpedaled a few steps, seeking safety behind a Douglas fir.

"Mullins!" Rusty yelled. "Move it! We don't want no trouble with you."

"h.e.l.l, no," Dusty agreed. "You're a mick, too. We want them Scandahoovians."

"Sorry, me lads," Jack responded, his right hand drifting toward his gun. "You're going to have to stay put. The sheriff has this thing under control."

I glanced toward the house. Even without his regulation Smokey the Bear hat, at six-foot-five, Milo loomed at least a couple of inches above everybody else. He was standing at the foot of the stairs that lead up to the front porch. I could hear him shouting, but couldn't make out the words. Jack's a.s.sertion that the sheriff had things under control struck me as fanciful. Especially when I saw flames at the near-side windows on the second floor.

A piercing scream tore across the night air. Everyone seemed to freeze, then Milo took off around the other side of the house. I lost sight of him, but heard him yell something to the firemen, who sprang into action. A moment later they were carrying a round blue safety net in Milo's direction. Two other firefighters were hauling hoses to the part of the house where the fire had broken out. The medics followed the safety net.

I could smell the smoke and hear the crackling as the flames licked at dry old wood. The sky, which had finally grown dark, now took on an ominous ocherous glow. Cursing myself for not remembering to bring a camera, I fumbled for the notebook in my purse and began scribbling furiously. My nerves were becoming unraveled. I doubted that I'd ever be able to decipher my disjointed handwriting.

Nearby, Rusty and Dusty were arguing with Jack, who was trying to keep the two men from charging into the house.

"Meara's in there," Dusty shouted. "Do something!"

"We're doing it," Jack replied, giving some sort of signal to Dwight Gould, another deputy, who had a.s.sumed Milo's vacated position by the front porch.

Another scream pierced the air. It was female, I was sure of that. Thus it was probably Meara O'Neill. Pray, I commanded myself. Help her, G.o.d. Help all these idiots who've made such an unG.o.dly mess.

The medics had rushed back to get their gurney. Jack shouted a warning as Rusty and Dusty hurtled past him. Dwight Gould whirled around, his own weapon raised. A figure came running through the front door, knocking Dwight to the ground. In the light of the fire, I recognized one of the Harquists. I could never tell Ozzie from Rudy, who were both six-footers, well over two hundred pounds, with no necks.

Milo reappeared at a run from around the corner of the house. "Halt!" he ordered, both hands on his King Cobra magnum. "Drop your weapons, everybody!"

Another figure came tearing out of the house. It was the other Harquist son, and he was also armed. As his brother and the two O'Neills hesitated, he turned, stumbled on the top step, and fired.

Milo went down.

The next female scream was mine.

"Jesus, you dumbs.h.i.t!" the other Harquist shouted. "You shot the freaking sheriff!"

Despite the fact that guns were everywhere, I rushed to Milo. He was writhing on the ground, clutching at his ankle. A flood of relief swept over me. n.o.body died from a leg wound.

"Are you okay?" I asked in my stupidest voice.

"No," Milo replied, exhibiting more brains than I had done. "It hurts like h.e.l.l. It's my foot."

I was vaguely aware of the activity swirling around me. All of the weapons had been surrendered when Milo got hit. An argument was raging between the Harquists and the O'Neills. Smoke filled the air and I could feel water spraying out from the fire hoses. The gurney returned from the side of the house with a small, huddled figure who was sobbing softly. I heard someone yell, "Where's Cap?"

From far off came more sirens, at least two separate vehicles. Backup for the sheriff, and an ambulance, I guessed, smoothing the graying sandy hair from Milo's forehead and holding his hand. He seemed more angry than pained.

The medic van took off, with the two O'Neills hovering over their niece. Meara was about to join her father in the hospital. Doc Dewey would be called back to tend to her, and then to treat Milo. The new physician hadn't arrived in Alpine, and Doc rarely got a day of rest. Easter Sunday was no different.

Jack and Dwight were in the process of rearresting the Harquist who had shot Milo. It was, I heard someone say, Rudy.

"It was a d.a.m.ned accident," Rudy shouted as Sam cuffed him. "Why would I shoot Dodge?"

"Because you're an idiot," Milo yelled from his place on the ground.

Two of the firefighters who had a.s.sisted Meara in what I guessed was her jump from a second-story window were going inside, presumably to rescue Cap Harquist. The smoke was turning white, which indicated that the fire was being put out. Deputies Dustin Fong and Bill Blatt, both dressed in their civvies, came bounding out of the squad car that had pulled up across from my Lexus. The ambulance drivers had driven up just in front of them, and were already bringing a gurney for Milo.

Ozzie Harquist was yelling something after the firefighters who had gone inside. I heard several obscenities before he calmed down and walked somewhat unsteadily to the gurney where Milo was now lying under protest.

"Jeez, Sheriff, Rudy didn't mean to wing you. He fell off the porch. This whole thing wouldn't have happened if that little b.i.t.c.h hadn't set fire to the place."

"Meara?" I said in surprise. "She started the fire?"

With a nervous glance at the house, Rudy nodded. "She had a cigarette lighter, and she threw it into a bunch of old newspapers. It took off like that." He tried to snap his fingers, but missed. "They better get Pa out of there. He was in the can downstairs when it started."

Milo was being wheeled away. "I'll see you at the hospital," I called after him, then turned just as Cap Harquist, struggling mightily with the firefighters, was dragged down from the front porch. His pants were around his ankles and the trapdoor of his union suit was flapping in the evening breeze.

"You haul me out of my own house? Just because of a little smoke? You sons of b.i.t.c.hes, I'll sue you for that!"

A final glance at the Harquist homestead told me that it was probably destroyed. I should have felt sad, but instead, I figured it served them right. As I went to my car, I glimpsed Bill Blatt, using his cell phone. Bill was Vida's nephew, and her source of all things that pertained to the law. I took in the stretch of road until it curved alongside of the creek. There was no sign of Vida's big white Buick. It wasn't like her not to follow such a full symphony of sirens.

I expanded my worries to include Vida.

MILO WENT DIRECTLY into surgery. He'd given me a feeble wave as they wheeled him down the corridor. He was so tall and the gurney so short that his head sort of lolled off the top in order to make room at the other end for his injured foot. His Smokey the Bear hat had sat on his stomach, and I hadn't known whether to laugh or cry. So I laughed, but not until he was out of sight.

I telephoned Vida from the hospital lobby, but she didn't answer. Then I remembered that she was going to Startup to have dinner at Buck Bardeen's house. It was now past ten o'clock, and while Vida didn't retire early, she usually tried to get home by nine-thirty on work nights.

I considered calling Edith Holmgren to tell her I'd retrieve the cats, but thought better of it. I preferred not leaving them with Amber while I went back to Seattle. Edith might as well enjoy the company of Rheims and Rouen for a couple of extra days.

One of the nurses informed me that Meara didn't seem to be seriously harmed, though she had a few b.u.mps and bruises. Delicately, I asked if she'd been s.e.xually a.s.saulted.

"I don't think so," Debbie Murchison, RN, replied dryly. "She may have put them off."

I was mystified. "How do you mean?"

Debbie, who was young and a newcomer to Alpine, leaned close to my ear. "She's four months pregnant.Some men don't find that a turn-on, even when they're drunk as skunks."

"But she's only fifteen," I said in astonishment.

"So? Meara O'Neill's fifteen going on thirty-five. Besides," Debbie added, "she'll be sixteen next month."

I was reminded of Carol Stokes, and wondered if Debbie's impregnator was any more gallant than Darryl Lindholm had been almost twenty years earlier. But who was I to criticize? I'd also been an unwed mother.

The surgery was supposed to last less than an hour. The bullet had gone right through Milo's foot. It didn't sound serious, though he'd be hobbled for a couple of weeks. I had started back to the waiting room when a breathless Jeannie Clay caught up with me.

"Is he all right? Will he lose his foot?" Jeannie asked, her round, pretty face looking distressed.

"He'll be fine," I rea.s.sured her. "I gather he can't walk on it for a while. That won't make him easy to live with." I winced. I didn't know if Jeannie was living with Milo or not. I preferred not to know. We had never lived together, nor did I ever want to. That had been one of the reasons for our breakup.

"Gosh," she said, her face falling even further, "that's awful. For him, I mean. We were supposed to go skiing at Sun Valley this coming weekend. I've taken Friday and Monday off, because we planned to drive to Idaho. I don't think Dr. Starr will let me change it. He and Mrs. Starr have their own plans."

"That's a shame," I lied. "I imagine this is getting to be the tail end of the ski season over there."

"Pretty much," Jeannie said, now thoughtful. "I'll have to see if Heather Bardeen can go instead."

Heather is the niece of Buck Bardeen and the daughter of Henry, who runs the ski lodge. The two young women had been best friends forever. But that didn't prevent me from thinking that Jeannie's att.i.tude was rather callous and self-serving.

"Milo will probably need some help at home for the next few days," I said as we continued on our way to the waiting room.

"Probably," Jeannie agreed. "I'll bet his aunt Thelma will be glad to stay with him. She must get tired of that grumpy husband of hers."

It seemed incredible that Jeannie didn't consider it her duty to nurse Milo back to health. But I was a creature of another generation. The Young-in this case, anybody under thirty-five-were different. They were self-serving. And sometimes callous. It's not all their fault. They've been raised in an era of disintegrating families, which makes their sense of self-preservation much keener.

I took one look at the waiting room, saw Rusty and Dusty O'Neill, and decided I didn't want to be there. If Jeannie had come to see Milo, he didn't need me. I made a flimsy excuse and left.

I called Vida again from home. She still didn't answer.

I'd barely gotten in the door of The Advocate Monday morning when Ginny Erlandson handed me a phone message from Detective Tony Rojas of the Seattle Police Department. The primary on the Carol Stokes homicide case wanted to let me know that he was taking the day after Easter off, but would be in the office Tuesday.

That worked out better for me, since I wouldn't return to Seattle until that afternoon. I was hanging up my coat when Vida entered, wearing a three-tiered straw hat I'd never seen before. It was covered with fruit, and I couldn't help but think of Carmen Miranda.

"Emma!" she cried. "What are you doing here?"

I explained why I'd come back to Alpine. "At lunch we can go over what I learned in your absence," I said. "By the way, your luggage is still in my car."

"I'm all ears," she declared, sitting down behind her desk.

"I'm sure you are," I replied with a smile. "Vida, where'd you get that hat?"

"I've had it for ages," she replied, touching a couple of mangoes. "I found it when I was packing for our trip."

"It's amazing," I said, and waited.

"I think so. Very springlike." She sounded defensive, and it made me curious.