Alaskan Sweethearts (17 page)

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. I saw some pretty scarves in the window of that one shop we passed on the way here this morning.”

His grandfather grunted. “You have to do better than that if you’re going to win the heart of Maggie’s granddaughter.”

“Well, I don’t notice you doing anything to win the heart of the woman you love,” Hunter retorted as he stood and took one of the blankets over to the sofa bed and laid it out on top of the ones already there.

“I’m not saying we couldn’t both be doing better,” his grandfather replied as he pulled back the covers and climbed into bed. “I’m just saying you don’t know how much time you have left.”

Hunter watched his grandfather pull the blankets up to his chin.

“Are you saying something’s going to happen to make our case worse?” Hunter asked quietly. “Are we going to find out something tomorrow when we go to that mine? Both Murphy women said they haven’t been out to the mine for a year or so.”

The door to Joey’s bedroom opened then and Scarlett stepped out.

“Good night,” she said as she walked through to the kitchen. The bedroom she shared with her grandmother was off the kitchen. Hunter suspected it used to be a laundry room. Seconds later, the light in the kitchen went off, leaving only the lamp beside the sofa bed.

“Well?” Hunter prompted his grandfather again. “Is there something we’re going to find tomorrow that would make it impossible for Scarlett to ever trust me?”

Hunter’s grandfather turned over in bed and looked at him.

“I’m sorry for all that I put you through,” the old man finally said. “I meant well. I’d see someone who needed something and I’d want to help them. I guess I always wanted to be a hero to people. I just didn’t always use good judgment. I’d try to find things to help people, but it never worked out that way.”

“You were a hero to me and my brothers,” Hunter said softly. “Never doubt that. Without you, we would have been in the foster care system—split up and bouncing around from home to home most likely, given the Jacobson stubborn streak. We might not even know each other now if that had happened.”

“I love you boys,” his grandfather said with a smile. “I never feel I do enough, though. Not a one of you turned out to be a lawyer. And I used to point you all in that direction every chance I could find.”

“I think Kurt took a few online classes.” Hunter didn’t mention it was because his youngest brother was worried they would all be sued someday over his grandfather’s schemes.

“He did?” the old man’s face lit up in a smile. “Just knowing that will make me sleep easier.”

Hunter shook his head as he walked over to his suitcase.

“Good night, then,” Hunter said.

He’d get into his pajamas and lie down on that air mattress.

It wasn’t until he was drifting off to sleep that he realized his grandfather had never answered his question about whether or not they were going to find something tomorrow at the site of that old mine that would upset the Murphys and blacken the name of the Jacobsons. Hunter decided he wouldn’t wake the old man and make him talk, though. He’d like to have his dreams for one more night before anything interfered with them.

Chapter Nine

S
carlett woke up groggy the next morning, the sound of someone knocking on the front door intruding on her dreams. Sunlight streamed in the windows. She had been too jittery to go to sleep easily last night. She kept seeing Hunter’s face and wondering if her feelings for him were changing. He no longer seemed like the enemy, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to trust him, either. Maybe, she’d thought as the moon finally shone in the window, it was herself she shouldn’t trust right now. Everything she believed seemed to be askew. That ring was worthless. Her family’s arch enemy, the elder Jacobson, had been more hurt than vengeful when he’d stolen the gold and title to that mine. Her grandfather had lied to win her grandmother’s heart. None of it helped her know what to do with her growing feelings for Hunter.

And now it was later than she usually wakened. Enough noise was coming from the rest of the house to know that the Jacobson men were up and stirring around. One glance at the twin bed across the room from her and the smell of coffee coming from the kitchen confirmed that her grandmother was also up.

Scarlett listened for a bit until she recognized the voice of Jimmy the policeman. Alarmed, she got out of bed and grabbed a robe to put over her flannel pajamas. Then she tied her hair back in a ponytail and walked into the kitchen.

She saw a saucepan of oatmeal cooking on the stove and a plate of toast sitting on the table. No one was there, though, so she stepped into the living room.

By then, everything was silent. The blinds were still drawn so the light was cut. The two grandparents were standing close to each other, looking at the policeman with expressions of concern and dismay on their faces. Hunter had a protective hand on Joey’s shoulder. The blankets from the air mattress were folded and the sofa bed turned back to its original sofa shape. Everyone was dressed for the day although her son’s hair needed combing.

“What’s wrong?” she asked quietly.

All of the eyes in the room turned to focus on her.

“Nothing to worry about,” Hunter’s grandfather said.

At the same time Hunter offered, “They know who broke in.”

“You got a fingerprint?” Scarlett turned to Jimmy and asked in relief. “That’s wonderful.”

No one seemed to share her jubilation.

“It’s not those boys,” Hunter finally said.

It took a moment for dread to fill Scarlett’s stomach. “Don’t tell me it was Victor’s fingerprint?”

The policeman shook his head. “We took the prints from the kitchen window. We ran them through the FBI national database. We got a full fingerprint on Chuck Fallon, a low-level criminal who works with a national drug organization. And a partial on Michael Hernendez, a higher-up in that same organization.”

“Are they from Nome?” Scarlett asked. “I don’t recognize their names.”

Jimmy shook his head. “They’re from Seattle. And sometimes Chicago. They have a wide area.”

Only then did Scarlett realize this meant the letter she’d received earlier had probably not been a hoax sent by bullies. It had been real. Her first instinct was to look over at Joey again even though she’d just seen him.

“Were they looking for...?” Scarlett didn’t want to finish the sentence and alarm her son.

“We don’t know,” Jimmy said softly.

“But they waited for my grandmother to leave,” Scarlett protested. “Wouldn’t they come when people were here if they wanted to grab someone?”

“They may have thought your grandmother left someone here when she went out for groceries,” Jimmy said quietly.

“We’d never leave a child alone,” Scarlett said.

But, of course, she realized strange men would not know that.

“We’re setting up surveillance around the house,” Jimmy said. “Every fifteen minutes a patrol car will swing by and check that everything is all right.”

“I don’t want to be here,” Scarlett said, looking at her grandmother. “Maybe we should go to Fiona’s place and stay there.”

“She doesn’t have room for all of us,” her grandmother said. “Remember she rented out her extra bedroom for the summer.”

“Grandpa and I will go to a hotel, of course,” Hunter said then. “But we don’t want to leave you here. We could all go to a hotel for that matter.”

“The hotels are full,” Jimmy said. “I’d thought of that, too.”

Scarlett nodded. Nome only had a few hotels. The largest one was owned by a Native Alaskan corporation and was used to train Native youth for jobs elsewhere in Alaska in the tourist industry. Maybe, because of that distinction, it was always packed this time of year.

“You’re all welcome to come back to Montana,” Hunter’s grandfather said. “You’d be safest there. You can stay in our house until we get yours ready to live in. I’ll fly back later and get your things ready to ship.”

“Would they follow us?” Scarlett turned to Jimmy. “What do they want with us?”

The policeman looked uncomfortable for a moment. “We think they want Victor. Or at least the money he took.”

“He really did steal from them?” Scarlett asked. “I never saw any money—not before he left or after.”

“Maybe he’d already spent it,” Jimmy said. “We sure didn’t find it when he left and we looked through everything.”

“But if he spent it...” Scarlett felt her heart rate increase. “What does that mean for us? Are we in more danger? Will they try to get revenge?”

Scarlett could feel the panic increase in the room as her words penetrated everyone’s thoughts.

“Daddy would protect us,” Joey said, his voice showing his uncertainty.

Scarlett looked at her son. “He—you’re not to go to your father if you see him.”

Joey got a mulish look on his face. “He would protect us.”

Then her grandmother lifted her head and put her shoulders back. “We are not going to run around like frightened mice. We are God’s children and He will protect us if we ask Him. We need to think and pray about what we should do.”

Scarlett frantically turned her eyes back to where her son stood. His face was white, but he stood on his own, his arms no longer twined around Hunter’s leg. The man had his hand on Joey’s back and seemed to be patting him reassuringly, though.

She took a deep breath so she could speak without spreading more alarm.

“It’ll be okay, Joey,” she said. “Just do as we say and there’s no need to worry.”

Her son looked at her, his eyes large with defiance and fear. “I want my teddy bear.”

She nodded as she stepped over and squatted to his level. “I’m sure your bear is in on your bed. We’ll go get it in a minute. And it’s good you think your father would help you, but you need to do what Mommy says.”

Scarlett waited until Joey nodded.

Everyone was silent for a minute.

“Maybe it would be best if you didn’t stay in the house here,” Jimmy finally said. “I don’t know if these men know what you look like—” He glanced over at Scarlett’s grandmother. “Except for you, they haven’t seen anyone.”

“We’ll eat breakfast and then go,” the older woman said as she looked around. “But where?”

“I think we should stay off the main street where we saw Victor,” Hunter said. “It’s a warm day, though. Any place outside should be fine.”

“We can go down by Dry Creek to the gold mine,” Hunter’s grandfather suggested. “As I remember that land takes a bit of a dip there. Not quite a valley, but a good place to be out of sight and have a picnic.”

“That sounds lovely,” Scarlett’s grandmother replied, a smile on her lips. “We can look across at the old Russian cemetery. They have some lovely flowers blooming there this time of year.”

“I’ll stay here until you’re ready,” Jimmy said. “Then I’ll escort you there. We’ll keep the patrol on the house and hope to catch the guys. I’m guessing they’ll hit it again. I’ll also have the patrol car swing by the old mine to keep an eye on you, too.”

Scarlett felt the tension leave her body. They had a plan. She felt even better after Hunter said a prayer when they were sitting around the table with their bowls of oatmeal in front of them. He not only thanked God for providing food for them, he also asked Him to be with them that day.

“Thank you,” she said to Hunter when everyone looked up.

He smiled back at her, his eyes holding hers a bit longer than necessary.

A swirl of warm feelings settled in her stomach. It might be good to have the Jacobsons by their side in this. She did not need to trust the man to find him helpful.

A half hour later Hunter was at the wheel of the brown SUV as they all headed through Nome. When he learned that Scarlett had gotten the SUV only months ago, he’d suggested he drive so that Scarlett could duck down if they saw Victor or the teenagers. That way he wouldn’t know it was them. Hunter drove on back streets, hoping to avoid any sightings. He glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the police car a discreet distance behind the SUV. They’d have protection all the way to that old mine on Dry Creek.

Hunter was glad they weren’t staying inside. The sunshine seemed to cheer everyone up.

A few wildflowers spurted up here and there as he passed the scattered houses. He’d always liked land that wasn’t groomed. Things felt free up here. It reminded him of Montana.

“Turn here,” Scarlett leaned forward from the backseat to tell him.

He followed her directions onto a dirt road that ran along the top of a small dip in the land.

“There it is,” his grandfather finally said in triumph. “I never thought I’d see that mine again.”

“It’s changed some,” Scarlett’s grandmother answered him. “Don’t be disappointed if things are run-down.”

The old man looked at her. “I’d be surprised if anything was the same. It’s been sixty-some years.”

“My husband is buried over there in the cemetery,” she answered him with a nod in that direction. “I came out in May and put a plant on his grave. I do it every spring.”

“I always thought he would track me down in Montana and come face me,” the elder Jacobson replied. “I waited for him—planning what I was going to say and how I was going to tell him that I knew he’d stolen part of the gold before I’d even got to it.” The older man grimaced. “And here all the time, he was lying dead there.”

Everyone was silent as Hunter pulled the SUV to a halt.

“It all seems futile,” the old man finally said. “All of my guilty feelings and the protests I had about why I was entitled to take that final bit of gold.” He looked at Scarlett’s grandmother then. “I should have written much sooner than I did. We could have had a life together.”

“We aren’t dead yet,” Scarlett’s grandmother said, a twinkle in her eye that made Hunter chuckle.

“Let that be a lesson to you young’uns,” the old man said with a glance over at Hunter and Scarlett.

“We’re planning for a peaceful picnic,” Hunter said, hoping to end any pressure the older couple felt like applying. He and Scarlett needed to make their own way. It did no good for them to bear the weight of their grandparents’ various disappointments in life.

Hunter parked the SUV a little down the slope so it wasn’t visible from the road. They carried some quilts and a picnic basket the rest of the way to the creek at the bottom.

“There she is,” Hunter’s grandfather said when they reached the site of the old mine.

Several rusted crowbars poked up from the ground, green weeds clustered around them. A fair amount of water flowed down the creek. On the other side of the creek, a steep hill led up to the cemetery Scarlett’s grandmother had spoken of. A couple of large boulders sat along the creek and Hunter could see the gash the tombstone had made during the earthquake, although the stone seemed to have been removed and likely restored to its place up in the cemetery.

Hunter resisted the urge to look for gold in the hole the tombstone had left. He believed his grandfather sincerely wanted to give the Murphys the piece of property he’d bought all those years ago in Montana. He couldn’t help but notice, either, that the two older people put a quilt a little distance from the others so they could talk privately.

He knew Scarlett had noticed the same thing when she arched an eyebrow at him and gave a quick nod of her head in the direction of their respective grandparents.

“How much trouble can they come to sitting out here?” Hunter asked with a smile, noticing how the sun made Scarlett’s hair look like finely spun copper.

“Enough,” Scarlett said, but neither one of them seemed inclined to move the other quilt closer.

It was surprising to Hunter how quickly everyone forgot about the threat back at the house. Hopefully, he thought, the police would have found the two men they were seeking before the day ended. If they didn’t, Hunter thought they could all spread the quilts out on the floor at Fiona’s for the night. Nome wasn’t a big place; the police would find the men by tomorrow at least.

As the day progressed, Scarlett went to the SUV and returned with a portable CD player that she used to play some classical music. They all had some bread and cheese for a snack. Joey seemed engrossed in playing some kind of game with his teddy bear. Hunter lay back on the quilt once the sun had started to set. The police had checked in with them several times and Hunter was drowsy. Scarlett suggested he take a nap. He protested that he wouldn’t, but he apparently did because he woke up to a shrill scream.

Scarlett,
he thought before he even opened his eyes.

He was right.

Scarlett was pointing at the opposite side of the creek, toward the top of the other side of the coulee. Hunter followed her finger until he saw a man in a black hoodie holding Joey in his arms and wrestling the boy at the same time for his teddy bear.

“Victor, you let him go,” Scarlett screamed.

By this time Victor had Joey slung over one shoulder and the teddy bear in the opposite hand.

“I need him,” Victor shouted back. “Security.”

That’s when Hunter saw two men walking toward Victor from the other side of the cemetery.

“Morales,” they called out and Victor turned, “give us the money and we won’t harm your son.”

“No,” Scarlett gasped as she turned to Hunter, her eyes wild with panic.

“I must go,” she whispered as she started to take a step toward her ex-husband.