On Thin Ice (9 page)

“Thanks. I’m glad you did,” said Alec. “Earl, you’re here a lot. Have you seen anyone that you don’t know hanging around, anyone unfamiliar?”

Megan fought the urge to say,
Anyone with black hair?

“You mean maybe the someone who drove the truck out onto the island?”

“Yeah,” Alec said. “You see anyone around here who might have left it there?”

“Did see one guy. Big guy. Mid-sixties, maybe. Had a lady with him, who had long hair with this white stripe in it. Like a skunk. Both looked like hippy refugees, if you ask me.”

Megan said, “I know who they are. My neighbors at Trail’s End. They’ve rented cabins. Brad and Vicky.”

“He wore sunglasses. Dark as Hades out here and he’s wearing sunglasses.”

Megan nodded. “That would be him.”

“What did they want?” Alec asked.

“They come around wanting to rent a snowmobile.
Come asking everyone. After the man come around here that’s when I noticed the truck over there. The next day, in fact.”

Megan wondered how a person could see all the way to the island. And then seeming to answer her question, Earl pointed to a pair of binoculars on a small folding table. Alec was right. Earl did appear to make it his business to know everyone else’s business.

They chatted for a few more minutes before they left. Alec said thoughtfully to Megan as they made their way back to the snowmobile, “Maybe it’s about time I met those neighbors of yours.”

“Do you think they’re involved in this? How could they be? I don’t even know them.”

“Maybe I do,” Alec said. “It hasn’t escaped my attention that every time I come around, your big gray-haired neighbor makes himself scarce.”

Megan thought about that. The day they were walking down from the trail, Brad and Vicky had been heading right toward them. They had veered away at the last moment. In fact, Brad had taken Vicky’s arm and moved her to a quick right turn. Also, they never seemed to be around when Alec was.

Megan and Alec climbed back on the snowmobile. When they reached the island, Alec parked the snowmobile and they got off. The only sound was their boots crunching across the ice. It looked to Megan as if the driver of the truck had driven around the
entire island looking for the perfect hidey-hole to drive into. He had found the perfect place. She imagined that in the summer this was a natural inlet between trees, a wonderful place for a canoe, maybe even a picnic. The casual snowmobiler wouldn’t even see this truck the way it was parked behind a huge fallen tree.

Alec bent down and examined the snow-covered ground at the opening of the inlet.

“What are you looking for?” Megan asked.

“Any kind of track marks.” Alec knelt and with a gloved hand touched a piece of ice. He snapped a picture of it with his cell phone.

Megan knelt. “Is that a track?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. My guess is that whoever left the truck here drove away on a snowmobile. If we’re lucky we can get the make and model of snowmobile by the tracks.”

She looked ahead at the back end of the truck. A fine skiff of snow covered it all around. Alec snapped more pictures. He said, “If I compare the amount of snow on the truck with how much snow fell recently, I can get a pretty good indication of when this truck was left here. And yes,” he said moving closer, “I think this is the truck I saw someone with a gun get into that day.

“Also, the fact that Earl doesn’t know this truck says a lot. Earl knows the make and model and year of every vehicle in town. He knows when anybody gets
a new car. That’s why I take it seriously when he calls and tells me he’s seen a suspicious truck.”

Before they went up to the truck itself, Alec took more pictures. He walked carefully around it. To Megan, all it was was an abandoned old rusty pickup. The back hatch was down, and there didn’t seem to be anything inside of it. Alec took pictures from every angle.

“I thought cops used digital cameras,” she said.

“This new phone of mine takes better pictures than my old digital camera.”

Alec got a small shovel out of the back of the snowmobile and started shoveling out the bed of the truck. The license plate had been removed. “Surprise. Surprise,” he said. He turned to Megan, “Can you go over by the snowmobile for a moment?”

She looked at him. “Why?”

“I’ll tell you later. Just do it, okay?” His eyes looked tired. She complied. She had reached the snowmobile when he called her. “It’s okay. You can come back now.”

“What was all that about?”

“No one’s in the cab. I just wanted to make sure.”

“Oh.” She thought about that. Alec was obviously looking for bodies and there were none.

He tried the driver’s side door. It creaked open all the way. “Unlocked,” he said. “It looks cleaned out.”

Megan leaned around him for a look. The truck had an old-fashioned bench seat covered in cracked green Naugahyde, badly ripped and split.

Alec took out a small pen flashlight and aimed it into the various crevices of the truck. They went around to the passenger side. He tried the glove compartment. It appeared to be empty. No ID. He felt around inside.

“Why would someone just leave a truck like this?” Megan asked.

“When someone feels that someone else has seen said vehicle, that might be a good reason to abandon it. Or if said vehicle has been used in the commission of a crime, it might be abandoned. The other reason is that the owner just didn’t want it anymore. That happens a lot around here.”

He was still feeling around the inside of the glove box when he brought something out and said, “Bingo.”

“What is it?”

He brought out a little plastic battery case with snaps.

“What’s that for?” she asked.

“Batteries,” he said. “Rechargeable batteries. Good ones. In a battery pack.” He turned it over. “We’re in luck. The bar code’s still here and looks fairly decipherable.”

“What are batteries like that used for?”

“Lots of things. Cameras. Cell phones. GPSs. PDAs.” He placed it in a clear plastic bag and put it in his pocket. “We’ll soon find out.”

“Doesn’t Bryan use batteries like that?” she asked.

His head spun around. “What did you say?”

“Bryan used to use battery packs, didn’t he?”

“Bryan?”

“For his radio-controlled stuff. Don’t you remember? Remember Bryan was always into flying those planes? I remember he had packages of batteries done up like that.”

“I don’t think he’s into that anymore. He left all his airplanes and all that stuff in a box in my parents’ basement. When he got out of prison and moved away, he didn’t take it with him. But thanks for reminding me. Perhaps Bryan can give me some advice and help on this. I’ll photograph it and send it to him in an e-mail. See if he has any ideas.”

“Yeah,” Megan said. “You do that.” She didn’t mean for her words to come across as acerbic, but he looked at her for several seconds before he frowned.

Neither Brad nor Vicky were around when they got back to Trail’s End. Nori said the couple had rented a snowmobile and had gone for the day. Alec decided not to wait for them. He would come back.

It wasn’t until long after he left for home that Megan remembered she hadn’t told Alec about the picture of Lorena. She wondered if it was important.

D
espite what his mother wanted, Alec could find no information on Bryan’s girlfriend Lorena. He was currently putting a check through on the police database, but nothing had shown up yet. He sent the e-mail address on to his friend Adam, hoping the fifteen-year-old computer whiz from church would be able to uncover something.

He looked at the time readout on his computer. He decided to call his brother. He would ask Bryan about battery packs for radio-controlled models. His mother would like it that he was asking Bryan for advice. And then he would ask about his girlfriend. Maybe he could even get an address for the elusive Lorena.

It was eight here. Which meant it was six in New Mexico. He tried Bryan’s cell phone. After four rings it went to his voice mail.

“Hey, Bryan, give me a call when you get this.”

He opened up his cell phone and looked for Bryan’s
other phone numbers. Bryan would just be getting home from work now if he wasn’t working evenings. He knew that Bryan had a landline to his apartment.

Bryan’s home phone rang and rang. It didn’t appear to have voice mail attached to it. After six rings Alec was about to hang out when somebody answered in a brusque voice, “Hal-lo?”

“Bryan?” It didn’t sound like his brother.

“Who? Who you tryin’ to get?”

“Bryan Black.”

“This is a pay phone.”

“Okay then, sorry.” Bryan must have canceled his landline or Alec had misdialed it. He tried again and got the same irritated guy.

“Sorry,” Alec said. “I must have written down the wrong phone number.”

“Who did you say you were looking for?”

“Bryan Black.”

“Bryan? You mean the Bryan who lives at one forty-two? That’s his name, right?”

“Yes.” That was his brother’s apartment number. “What phone am I calling?”

“This is a pay phone at the end of the hall.”

“But you know Bryan Black?”

“You talking about that weird guy? Guy never talks to nobody. Never even takes a shower far as the rest of us can tell. If that’s the guy you’re talking about.”

Alec blinked. This was not good. Part of Bryan’s
problem was that he suffered severe depression at times. He had never understood why Bryan wanted to move so far away from his home and support system after he was released from prison. However, he told their parents that he had found the Lord and wanted to make a fresh start somewhere else. “Do you live in the same apartment building as Bryan Black?” Alec asked.

“I’m two doors down across the hall from that slob.”

“Do you know him at all?”

“Nobody knows that guy well. Keeps to himself, mostly. No one comes in. Hardly no one goes out.”

“He has a Bible study in his apartment, I understand.”

There was a laugh at the other end of the phone. “Him? A
Bible
study? You got to be kidding.”

Alec ran his hand over his face. None of this sounded very good. “Have you seen his fiancée? Has she been around? She’s tall and has long blond hair.”

Another laugh, then the laugh quieted. “Oh yeah, wait a minute. Somebody was saying that he was bragging about some girl he met online on one of them dating services. Forget her name though.”

“Lorena.” Alec frowned. Bryan had said that he met Lorena at church.

“Yeah. I think that’s the name I heard. But if you ask me, I don’t think he’s ever even laid eyes on her in real life.”

Alec shut his eyes briefly and prayed for wisdom. He sincerely hoped that Bryan was still seeing the coun
selor he was assigned to. He said, “Listen, man, I’m his brother. And we’re concerned about him out here…”

“Brother! Oh hey. Sorry for saying the things I did. Didn’t know a guy like that even would have a family.”

“Everyone has a family.”

There was mumbling on the other end of the line.

Alec said, “I wonder if you could give me the name and number of your apartment superintendent.”

Alec wrote the information down on a piece of paper. Maybe he needed to finally visit his little brother. Had it been four years since he’d made the trip out there? Maybe he needed to go again, and maybe it should be sooner rather than later. He even wondered about today. He could leave this case in the capable hands of Stu and Steve.

He thanked the man who’d answered the pay phone and hung up.

Alec looked through the address list on his phone and realized he didn’t have a phone number for Bryan’s pastor. He couldn’t even remember what church Bryan went to. Would his mother know? He didn’t want to phone her about this. He didn’t want to worry her.

Instead, he dialed the number for Bryan’s apartment superintendent.

“Yeah?”

Alec introduced himself and asked about Bryan Black.

“You’re the cop brother?”

“That’s right. Listen, I’m worried about him.”

“You should be. He’s about ready to be evicted. Hasn’t paid rent in two months.”

Alec sighed. This was worse than he thought. “Tell me how much he owes and I’ll send you a check. Better yet, when I come out I’ll pay you in full. But there is something I’d like you to do. I assume you have master keys to all the apartments? I’d like you to go into his apartment and then let me know if there’s anything that strikes you as wrong. I’ll wait.”

“Hey, man, it’s supper time here, you want me to do that now?”

“His family is worried about him. I’ll wait.”

“Okay then.” He heard retreating footsteps. Twelve minutes later the super came back on the line. “Can’t get into his apartment.”

“What do you mean you can’t get into his room? I thought you had a master key to all the rooms.”

“I don’t know, man. It’s like he’s got some sort of dead bolt lock on the inside. Our tenants aren’t allowed to do that, but a lot of them do it anyway.”

Alec breathed out a long breath. Tenants with something to hide. “Okay, here’s what I want you to do. I want you to see if you can get into his room by any means possible. I’ll be flying out there tomorrow. As soon as I can get a flight.”

“Okay, man.”

After the phone call he went online and looked at
airline ticket prices. The soonest he could get out was the day after tomorrow. February 14, Valentine’s Day. He was leaving to see his brother on what would be his twentieth wedding anniversary, which was the day the weatherman said a storm was coming. He could fly out of Boston. The storm was mostly tracking north. He needed to get out there. What was happening to Bryan weighed heavily on his mind.

When they were boys, Alec and Bryan had been the best of friends, but there was a dark side to Bryan’s childhood. The times that Bryan bullied the neighbor’s pet, Alec took the blame. When Bryan played with fire and matches, Alec hid the matches, hid the evidence. Why had he done that? It all had to do with his mother. Even as a child, he sensed her emotional fragility, and so Alec continually covered up to protect his mother. He had lied on the stand not to protect Bryan, but to protect his mother. She wanted two happy, healthy sons. He would hear her crying at night. He would see her worried frown. He knew she suffered headaches brought on by the challenges of Bryan.

He remembered his parents taking Bryan from psychologist to psychologist when Bryan was younger. Alec knew his mother would never admit it, but that she felt a kind of relief when her youngest son was put behind bars.

Even though it was late, Alec picked up his phone again and called Steve.

“Do you feel like listening to the blatherings of a good friend?” he asked.

“Why not? You’ve certainly listened to my blatherings over the years.”

When Steve had arrived in Whisper Lake Crossing, he was a beaten down, ex-military Special Forces operative going through a rather bitter divorce. It was Alec who had prayed with Steve and brought him around to God. Now it was Alec with the problem. He had told Steve already about his wedding and Megan’s grandmother, but now, maybe it was time to share the whole story with his friend. Even the lie.

“Talk to me,” Steve said quietly.

Alec did. When he finished his story, Steve said, “You need to tell Megan this. You need to tell Megan everything you just told me.”

“But what do I do about Bryan? Do I go and see what’s happening out there?”

“I can’t make that decision for you. I think you need to pray about it. I think you need to pray that God will help you come to the right decision.”

“I already bought my ticket.”

“Tickets can be canceled.”

“I haven’t been out to visit him in four years. He needs my help. I think he’s on a downward slope. He’ll end up on the street if I don’t intervene.”

“And what about Megan?”

“As you can see, Steve, my life is pretty much in the toilet.”

“Only you can decide whether you want to go out to New Mexico now, but I will say that I think you need to tell Megan about the perjury.”

“She’ll never forgive me that.”

“How do you know that? She may surprise you.”

“You don’t understand. I chose my family—my brother—over the woman who was carrying my child. I let her go. I lied for my brother on the stand. I’m an officer of the law, of the courts. And I lied.”

“You weren’t a police officer, then.”

“She won’t forgive me.”

“Still, you need to tell her. I can’t advise you on whether to stay here or go to your brother but I can advise you on this—you can’t keep holding on to this lie. It’ll kill you, man.”

“It already is.”

Later, he checked his e-mail. His plane ticket had been delivered to his e-mail address. He printed it off.
God, what do I do?

Could he live with his secret any longer?

But by booking and printing off the plane ticket, he knew he had already made his choice. It was his family again. It was always his family.

God, what should I do?

Should he follow Steve’s advice and tell Megan about his lie? But what if she didn’t forgive him?