Hawk Moon (15 page)

She let out a sigh, relieved, as Will directed her into an alleyway behind the shop. "I'll go in the back door. Maybe you better go home now."

"No. I'll wait for you."

"Suit yourself." He started to open the door but changed his mind. He reached out, took her hand, and squeezed it. "Thanks, Corey."

Then he was gone and she barely heard him leave.

W
ill entered through the back door of the clothing shop and stopped next to a rack of ski parkas as his mother waited on a customer. Marion Connors looked over at him and smiled as she folded a sweatshirt that shouted ASPEN across the front. She slipped it into a bag and handed it to the woman.

"Will, glad you came by. I've got some good news for you," she said in a soft voice as she waited for the customer to leave.

"You do?" He walked up to the counter.

"I got a call from the lab. Your second urine test was negative for drugs."

"I bet someone tampered with the first one."

His mother frowned. "It could've just been a bad reading."

"Yeah, maybe. Mom, I've got to talk to you about Tom. I don't think you know everything about him."

"What do you mean?" Her voice tightened as she continued. "If this is about that silly computer message—"

"No, it's something else." He laid the plastic bag of the blue powder on the counter. "I found this in his desk drawer. I think it's the Chill. There was another bag, a big one, that was full of it—a couple of pounds at least." Marion frowned as she looked at the bag. "What were you doing in his apartment?"

"I had to go and look. I got another E-mail message about him."

"What did it say?" Frowning, Marion picked up the plastic bag.

"That he's got something to do with this drug. I think I know who—"

"Will, there's something I've got to tell you. I've been putting it off and I—I didn't know why."

"What is it?" But he already knew, at least suspected what she was going to tell him.

"Tom wants me to marry him. But I told him I wanted to talk to you first."

Will didn't say anything. He couldn't say anything, didn't know what to say.

"If what you're telling me is true . . . all those trips to the West Coast. He must be doing more, a lot more than just trying out for roles."

"I'm sorry, Mom." He felt bad, but he was also relieved. Even if he were arrested, his mother now knew about Burke. But he still had plenty of unanswered questions.

The phone rang and Marion answered it on the first ring. "Aspen Apparel."

Her eyes narrowed as she listened. "That's right, Tom. Someone did break into your house and something was stolen. Your little bag of blue powder. I think you've got some explaining to do."

She slammed the phone down.

"I don't know if that was such a good idea, Mom. I'm getting kind of scared."

"Don't worry. I'm calling the police, too," she said, reaching for the phone.

Before he could say anything, the phone rang again. She snapped it up.

"What is it, Tom?" Her expression shifted, her features relaxing. "Oh, Dad. Yes, he's right here. Do you want to talk to him?"

She handed Will the phone and whispered, "Make it quick."

"Grandpa?"

"Will, listen. Do you remember that dream you had about John Wayne and that cave?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, that's been bothering me ever since you mentioned it the other night. I finally figured out why. The John Wayne Tunnel."

"What?"

"Up on the backside of the mountain is an old mine that I worked years ago. When John Wayne died, I dedicated it to his memory. I put up a plaque above the entrance with his name on it. It's a memorial to the Duke."

"I don't think I've ever seen it."

"Oh, yes you have, but you probably don't remember. I took you up there once when you were seven or eight."

A vague memory. Mining tunnels. John Wayne. His grandfather. It was all blurred together. "Do you think that's what I dreamed about?"

"Maybe. Dreams are funny things, Will. As your dad said, sometimes they show us things we don't realize we know. Anyhow, I think it's worth checking out. So does your dad. We were out for a drive and almost went up there, but decided to see if you wanted to come along. How about going up there right now? We've got a good three hours before dark."

There was so much to say and he didn't know where to begin, and he definitely wanted to talk to his father. "That's fine. I'll be waiting."

"What's going on?" Marion asked after Will hung up.

"Grandpa's got an idea about where Myra's body might be. We're going to take a look. Dad's going, too. They'll pick me up out front."

She nodded. "Maybe it's better that you're not around for a while. Things could get a little messy after I call Detective Olsen."

"Don't call Olsen, Mom. Not yet," Will said, heading toward the back door.

"Why not?"

"I think she might be involved. I'll explain later. I've got a friend waiting for me."

"Wait a minute. 'What friend?"

"She's a sysop from the computer lab."

"A sysop, what's that?"

"Later, Mom."

"Be careful, Will."

"You too."

He hurried out the door, before his mother could ask what she was doing in the alley.

"Sorry it took so long," he said as he slid into the seat next to Corey.

She smiled and looked relieved. "I was getting worried that something happened."

"My father and grandfather are going to take me up the mountain to an old mine shaft. They think it might be where Myra was taken."

"I want to go with you."

"I don't know. It could be dangerous."

"Will, if I didn't help you get out of the lab, you'd be in jail right now."

He was surprised at how adamant she sounded. "Okay. Go around the front and find a parking spot."

As they waited for his grandfather's Land Rover to arrive, Will took out the address book from his back pocket and paged through it. There were a few full names, like Bill Wharton, Jerry's father, but most were first names and initials for the last name or just initials. Among them were G. T. and Henry D. He wondered if G. T. was George Thomas, Aaron's father, and Henry D. was Paige Davis's father. Both were among Burke's movie industry pals. G. T.'s phone number wasn't the same as Aaron's, but that wasn't surprising. Most of his friends had their own phone lines.

"That's interesting," he said as his finger stopped on an unusual name.

"What is it?" Corey asked.

"P-R-0 period T-E-C. PRO.TEC, that's the name, and I know this phone number. It's the
Kirkpatricks
'."

"PRO.TEC. Could that be short for 'protection'?" Corey wondered.

"Or protector," Will said. "I guess that must be Claude."

"Unless it's the sheriff himself. Maybe he's protecting Burke in his drug dealings."

"If the sheriff is involved, this thing is really big." Will closed the address book and looked around. "Hurry up, Grandpa."

Sheriff's deputies were bound to arrive at his mother's shop anytime looking for him. They would spot two kids sitting in a car and they'd nab him.

But it wasn't the police or his grandfather who showed up first. Aaron Thomas was walking down the sidewalk, headed in their direction. Will was about to slide down in the seat when Thomas made eye contact. He grinned, played an air guitar, then made a passing motion with his hand.

"Oh, no," Will moaned.

Thomas's square jaw, blue eyes, and blond hair filled the window. He tapped on the glass, motioning Will to roll it down.

"Hi, Aaron."

"Hey, you're hot, man. You are hot. The sheriff's department has a
friggin
' posse out lookin' for you."

He peered past Will at Corey, snapped his fingers and pointed at her. "I know you." He shook his head. "You're full of surprises, Will. Who're you guys, Bonnie and Clyde? What's going on?"

"It's kind of hard to explain right now."

"Will!" Corey tapped him on the shoulder. The Land Rover had pulled up next to the Mustang.

Without another word, Will and Corey jumped out and dashed around the Mustang. Will opened the back door of his grandfather's car for Corey, then slid in after her.

"Let's go, Grandpa. Hi, Dad."

He glanced back at Aaron, who looked baffled but managed to recover in time to make a quick passing motion with his hand. His way of saying "Go for it."

"Who do we have with us, Will?" Ed Connors asked, peering into the rearview mirror as he drove away.

"This is Corey
Ridder
. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here right now," Will said and began explaining everything that had happened this afternoon.

As soon as Pete
Lansa
heard that Will was wanted, he told Connors to stop. He turned in his seat as the Land Rover eased off the road. His face was expressionless, his dark eyes staring at Will from above his high cheekbones.

"Will, I believe you if you say that someone planted that drug in your locker. Even if you were involved with drugs, you're too smart to leave any in your locker."

"So why are we stopping, Dad?"

"Because I don't believe in running from the police. We've got to take you to the station."

"Wait," Corey said. "You don't know everything yet."

She quickly told
Lansa
about their visit to Tom Burke's apartment, about the drugs, the notebook, and the possible identification of PRO.TEC.

Connors cursed under his breath when she mentioned Burke. "I should've known he wasn't any good. He's too slick, but Marion kept saying I didn't like him because he is an actor."

"You're certain that's Kirkpatrick's home phone number?"
Lansa
asked, looking at the page in the address book.

Will nodded. "It's the old number I used to call before Claude got his own line last year."

"I want to try calling it, anyhow,"
Lansa
said. "Can you find a phone booth, Ed?"

"Who needs a phone booth?" Connors pulled out his cellular phone from a compartment in his car door and turned it on. "What's the number?" He punched it and held the phone far enough from his ear so that Will could hear the ringing. A recorded voice answered and identified the Kirkpatrick residence.

Connors pushed the "end" button on the back of the cell phone.

"That's it, all right," Connors said. "But we don't know if the protector is the sheriff or his son.,'

"It could be both of them," Corey said. "The sheriff could be protecting his son."

Lansa
nodded. "I don't want you in Kirkpatrick's jail, Will. We'll drive to Denver. I've got an old friend there, who's now the assistant chief of police. We'll give him the notebook."

"What about the mine?" Will asked.

Lansa
hesitated.

"We've got to make a run up there first," Connors said. "It just dawned on me."

"What did?"
Lansa
asked.

"Burke owns the claim on the John Wayne Tunnel."

"He's a miner?"
Lansa
asked, doubtfully.

"Last winter Burke started talking about how he wanted to try his hand at mining for silver. He said he had a couple of friends who were interested in working with him. I thought it was just talk, but he kept on about it. So this past spring I made a deal with him on one of my claims that hasn't been worked for twenty years."

Will remembered Burke and his grandfather talking about mining. At the time, Will thought it was just an effort by Burke to get on his grandfather's good side. But he also knew his grandfather had sold a couple other mining claims and that was probably how Burke had gotten the idea.