Murder in the Devil's Cauldron (37 page)

"Heard from Rick."

"Oh?" Karen held her breath.

"Out in Colorado sounds like. Working for one
of the ski places."

"What did he say?"

"Asked about you. Where you were. That kind
of thing. Said he was glad you got a good job now."

Karen wanted to snarl, but held the impulse
in check. Of course he was happy she had a good job now. It meant
he could relax and not have to feel as if he had any responsibility
any longer. Her trouble keeping a job had been pricks of guilt he
could now blithely banish.

"Maybe Stella could stay with him for
awhile," Karen said. "She'd love that."

"Well, he didn't say anything about her, but
I can mention it the next time he calls."

"Do you have his number?"

"Said he was moving around a lot, but he'd
call when he got more settled."

I'll bet, Karen thought. Bastard.

Instead of saying what she was thinking, she
simply said, "Starr would love to hear from him."

"I'll give him your number and tell him to
call."

"I'd appreciate that," Karen said, knowing
damn well he wouldn't.

"Here's Walter with the truck."

"All right, then. Thanks, Alma."

Her mother-in-law hung up, leaving Karen with
the dial tone droning at her like a trapped wasp.

Karen hung up slowly. She stared at their
phone number in the spiky black script and felt like ripping it up
or crushing it into a ball and throwing it at something.

But she didn't.

Instead, she put it back in the Rolodex tray
and flipped the cards back in place.

Maybe she'd get lucky and Starr would settle
down.

Karen snorted. That was like wishing for Rick
to suddenly remember he was a father, show up, and take Starr to
live with him for awhile. Which was about as possible as her flying
to the space station for a three week vacation.

Karen stared out the window where heat waves
were coming off the asphalt in the parking lot. The forecast said a
storm was coming. It couldn't come soon enough for Karen. A good
thunderstorm would clear the air and cool things off.

As Fowler reached the outskirts of Grand
Marais, he slowed down and looked at the digital clock on his
dashboard. It wasn't even three yet. Much too soon to pick up Viv.
Frankly, he'd be lucky if she was back and ready by four. When he'd
spoken to her earlier, he'd forgotten it was Friday, so his best
guess was that it'd be closer to five by the time she got back and
they were ready to go.

He considered going back to the Lodge. The
sheriff was gone, but after the weirdness at Naniboujou, Fowler had
the feeling that it would be extremely stupid to show up at the
Lodge without his backup plan. It was unlikely the two were
related, but no point taking chances. He hadn't gotten this far by
assuming the best. Whatever that had been about, something was
clearly going on and he decided it was time to tie up the last
details as fast as possible and hit the road. Even so, that still
left him with a couple of hours to kill and he wasn't about to do
that at the Lodge.

He found a parking space in Grand Marais and
checked out a couple of restaurants until he found the perfect
combination of bar and food in the marina. He could indulge in the
dessert he'd had to pass on at Naniboujou, as well as have a well
deserved drink. He'd also have time to think before picking up
Viv.

Fowler found a table with a good view of both
the harbor and the door and leaned his back against the wall. This
time, though, he stayed alert for anything out of the ordinary. He
wasn't about to get surprised again. Or, he amended as he sipped
the Glenfiddich, he planned on being long gone at the first sign of
anything that even hinted at trouble.

What concerned him most, though, was what had
just happened. He was pretty sure it had nothing to do with Diana.
The only other thing he could think of was that someone had
recognized him from a previous con and had sicced the locals on
him.

Except the car that had raced up the highway
and turned into Naniboujou hadn't even been a close cousin of a
police car.

A private investigator maybe?
That
was
certainly possible.

It could also be the BCA, but they would
certainly use a much more official looking vehicle.

As he started on his second drink, Fowler
decided it was probably a private investigator. Whatever it was, it
was time to make a little change to his plans until he could get
that damned camera and get out of here.

Feeling a little more in control, he downed
the last of his drink.

And then choked as he saw Diana enter the
bar. The drink went down wrong and he went into a paroxysm of
coughing.

Then she was coming over and only then did he
realize who it was.

"Jesus Christ, Viv," he said as he tried to
catch his breath.

She grinned as she sat down. "I'd say I got
it right this time."

"I guess," was all he could manage. "But how
in the hell did you know I'd be here?"

"I didn't. I discovered this place last night
and thought that since I had time, I might as well get something
before I go on."

"How the hell did you get back here so
fast?"

She gave him an enigmatic little smile. "I'm
speedy."

"You didn't go to Duluth."

She shrugged. "Why go there when what I
needed was right here." She saw the waitress on the other side of
the room and was about to raise her hand when Fowler grabbed it.
"Hey…."

"Don't order," he said. "We're leaving in a
few minutes. You can get a drink later."

"I need one now."

"You just drove back from Duluth," he said.
"I'm going to introduce you to someone who's going to wonder if you
had that drink before you drove back."

"Look, David. I needed time to get showered
and changed because I was hot and sticky. So why not have a nice
drink now that I'm not driving any more tonight."

He let go of her arm. "OK. That works."

She smiled. "And while I'm enjoying that
well-deserved drink, you can fill me in on the plan."

He knew he should chew her out for ignoring
his instructions, but in this instance, it was just as well. With
even a little bit of luck, they could get the hell away from the
North Shore and be back in the Cities tonight.

After awhile, Starr and Charlie realized Fae
was probably not going to return any time soon.

"Maybe she'll be here tomorrow morning,"
Charlie said. "We could try again after breakfast."

"I guess. Right now what I'd really like is
to jump in the pool."

"Or go jump in the lake," Charlie
grinned.

Starr giggled. "For real. Too bad there isn't
a beach here."

Fae's house was practically on the edge of
Lake Superior. But, like the Lodge, it was on the cliff. Even so,
Starr could hear the lake whispering against the rocks far
below.

"Yeah. You have to go up to that cove on the
way to the park if you want to go wading," Charlie said.

"Well, not today," Starr said. If it hadn't
been such a long walk, she might've considered it. "Next time let's
bring our suits and then we could if it's hot."

"You can't swim in the lake."

"Why not?"

"It's too cold. Sometime when it's really hot
like this, I'll wade a little bit, but even that's too cold for
more than a minute."

"Oh. Bummer."

Starr stroked the head of the calico cat who
had been keeping them company one last time and then slipped her
backpack on. Now that they had eaten most of the goodies they had
liberated from the buffet, it was a lot lighter.

Starr took the right side of the bike while
Charlie took the left and they started back to the Lodge.

Lilies grew in unorganized profusion all over
the clearing. As they crossed to the woods, Starr could smell their
perfume mixed in with the scent of pine. It reminded her of the
movie The Wizard of Oz when everyone had fallen asleep in the
poppies. It seemed as if just about everything on the North Shore
was magical.

As they got to the edge of the clearing,
Charlie pointed out an old pine tree. "That's where we pick up the
path to go back. See how scraggly it is? And there's that really
old birch tree next to it. You can tell it's old 'cause it's so
big."

Even though it was late afternoon, the
humidity was still high, making her clothes stick to her skin
uncomfortably. As they started into the woods, the mosquitoes
swarmed about them like kamikaze pilots.

The girls followed the path through the woods
silently, both too tired and hot to talk. Starr was even too tired
to look around for photo subjects. She slapped at the mosquitoes
constantly, wishing she had brought more bug spray. Just as she was
thinking that maybe they should have taken the road back, they came
into another clearing.

"This is where the employee housing starts,"
Charlie said.

"I thought we were a lot further away." Starr
looked back and then around in surprise.

"It's the way the Hiking Trail curves,"
Charlie explained. "I'll show you on the map later. "It's nice,
though, if you just want to go over and visit 'cause it's real
close."

"Are you sure she doesn't mind?" She didn't
want to get in trouble for bothering the neighbors either.

"No. She's really cool," Charlie reassured
her. "You'll see." Then she pointed at a cabin just off to the
left. It was surrounded by several tall fir trees, making it look
like something out of a fairy tale book. "That's our cabin," she
said. "We have a red dreamcatcher on the porch. See?"

Starr nodded. It was bigger than the one on
her cabin and much more elaborate.

"My dad made that one," Charlie said
proudly.

"Really? Wow. It's beautiful." And it was.
Beads, feathers and bits of glass were woven all the way through,
making it sparkle even in the shade.

"He's really good. He makes them for the
babies on the reservation all the time."

"That's really nice."

"My dad's cool," Charlie said. Then her grin
faded. "Sorry."

"Why?"

"'Cause you don't have one any more."

"I think it's neat that you like your dad so
much. I think he's kind of nice, too, and I've only met him a
couple of times. I wish my dad was like him."

"Do you ever hear from your dad?"

Starr shook her head. "Naw. I used to. But it
always made me sad. And then I realized I couldn't do anything
about it. So I stopped thinking about it. I figure it'd be nice if
he called some day. But he probably won't. And I'm not going to sit
by the phone and wait. If he cared about me, he'd call."

"Hmmm. I'd hate it if my dad did that."

"Yeah, but your dad wouldn't do that," Starr
said. "I can tell."

"Yeah." Charlie was silent for awhile. "Do
you want to come in for awhile?"

Starr checked her watch to make sure there
was time. "Okay."

Fowler's first stop was the Visitor Center at
the Enchantment River State Park. Viv parked her SUV in the parking
area next to the highway at the base of the trail and then got in
Fowler's car.

"Any questions?" he asked as he drove to the
Visitor Center.

"Nope. Oh, do you have her driver's
license?"

He grunted and pulled his wallet out of the
glove box and handed it to her. "It's in there."

She found it and examined it critically.
"God, that's a terrible picture."

"Good thing," he said. "It makes everything a
lot easier."

"I probably won't need it, but it's nice to
have just in case." Viv tucked it in her purse.

Fowler parked and looked at Viv critically.
"You sure you know what to do?"

She signed. "Yes. All right? Geez,
David."

"Sorry. Nerves."

"This guy should be easy," she said, patting
him on his hand. "It's the sheriff I'm worried about."

"You'll be fine. But I'm glad you have the
ranger to practice on. By the time you get to the sheriff, it'll go
like silk."

She took a deep breath and got out of the
car. "Show time!" She waited for him to come around the car, then
tucked her arm through his and they walked into the Visitor
Center.

Fortunately, there were few people inside and
Fowler was able to get the ranger's attention quickly.

"I'd like you to meet my wife, Diana
Marshall," he said.

The ranger looked at Viv, his expression
critical. "Do you have some kind of ID?"

"Sure." Viv pulled Diana's driver's license
out of her purse and handed it to him. "It's a ghastly
picture."

Donovan looked at it and then at David. "I
thought your name was Fowler?"

"It is," he said with exaggerated patience.
"Her name is Marshall. She didn't change it when we got
married."

"Oh." Donovan looked at the license again,
back at Viv, and then handed the license back. "Well, it looks just
fine. Thanks for stopping by."

"No problem," Fowler said. "Come on, honey.
You must be starving."

Viv flashed the ranger a polite smile and
followed Fowler out of the Visitor Center.

Back at the car, she gave Fowler a triumphant
grin before getting in. "Piece of cake."

"Good job, kid." Fowler said.

"Thank you, sir." She pretended to bow as if
taking a curtain call. "What say you we do the sheriff now."

"Works for me." He drove her back to her car
so she could follow him to the Lodge.