The Inside Passage (Ted Higuera Series Book 1) (5 page)

Seattle
 

The Pike Place
Market was only a few blocks from Nordstrom’s headquarters at Fifth and Pine.
Meagan’s interview at Nordstrom had gone well. They’d call back with an offer,
she just knew it. She could go on the trip with Chris, then return home to a
new job.

She soaked in the
sun and watched the crowds of cheerful people throng through the Market. The
sound of her three-inch stilettos tapped out a rhythm in her brain as they
clicked on the pavement. The swish of her skirt as she walked kept time with
the beat. She couldn’t be happier.

There was
something mysterious and glamorous about the Market. East meets west? Wall
Street meets Marin County? Whatever it was, the Market was quintessentially Seattle.

She stopped at a
jewelry stall and eyed their wares, handling almost every earring and necklace.
How they feel is as important as how they look
. The next stall exploded
with color. In late June all of the flowers were in bloom.

I wonder how
the boys are doing.
Chris ought to have the boat ready by now.

She hoped they
were having fun getting the boat fixed up. Girls weren’t very good at that sort
of thing. Besides, it’s guy’s work. They liked dinking around with mechanical
things and painting and scraping and stuff. They’d have a few beers, do some
belching and scratching and have a grand time. When they were done, she’d
provide a woman’s touch with fresh cut flowers, dainty hand towels and music.

 How would she
deal with living with Chris and Ted for the whole summer?

Chris shouldn’t be
any problem. She could handle him. He was a pussy cat. Ted was another matter.
She could feel his seething resentment under the surface. She didn’t know why
he didn’t like her, but he was a threat.

She didn’t look
forward to spending two months cooped up in a boat with Ted, but it would be
worth it to get the time with Chris. This would be different from the hellish family
vacations she’d spent on her father’s pathetic little sail boat.

Meagan hated
living on a small boat for a week or two at a time with her bratty little
brother. She had no privacy, no place to go to get away from Frankenparents.
The porta-potty, “the head” as her father insisted she call it, was under her
parent’s bed. There was only a flimsy curtain to separate it from the main
cabin.

Her father insisted
that she learn the names of every rope on the boat. “Lines,” he used to tell
her, “There is no rope on a boat.” He’d tell her to do something, then when she
didn’t understand him, he’d yell at her. She begrudged every minute he spent
tutoring her. Like she would ever need to know that crap.

Chris’ boat was
different. It was nearly twice the size of her Dad’s. It had a separate forward
cabin with a real wooden door and an enclosed bathroom with a shower. Instead
of being encased in cheap fiberglass, the cabin was paneled in rich teak; there
was a furnace to keep them warm and plenty of room to move around. Besides,
she’d have Chris to take care of her.

Chris was her
ticket out. She loved him, of course, but he was going to be somebody. He
didn’t know it yet, but he
would
go to law school, she’d see to that.
He’d join his father’s firm, something else he didn’t know yet, and they’d live
happily ever after. She’d have to gently nudge him to overcome his disdain for
money, but she could change him. She’d nurture a sense of ambition in him. Who
knows? Maybe he’d become a judge or a senator or governor someday. 

He hadn’t asked
her yet, but if she played her cards right, by the end of the summer they’d be
engaged.

Her mind drifted
off to their wedding. After seeing Chris’ graduation party, she thought she
could name her own ticket for a wedding.
How about Hawaii?
She’d always
dreamed of a wedding in Hawaii, maybe in that little church on the beach at
Wailuku on Maui.

At the corner of Pine Street she noticed a street performer. A delicate looking young man dressed in a red
and white striped T-shirt and a red and white striped Cat in the Hat top hat
had set up a wooden stand on the sidewalk. At chest level there was a shelf
with a red velvet pillow on which sat the largest cat she’d ever seen.

Oh, a kitty
.
No one loved cats more than Meagan, as attested to by Oscar, the Burmese who
ruled her apartment with an iron paw. She strolled over to watch the performer.

The sign above the
stand said “The Cat Whisperer.” For a modest donation, the cat was telling the
tourist their fortunes. They’d pet the cat, who purred and rubbed against them,
then the young man translated the cat’s predictions for his customers.

“I don’t have any
skills to see into the future,” the young man said solemnly. “I was only
blessed with the ability to talk to cats. Ichi, Ichiro, is the descendent of
the mystical cats of Egypt. He can see the future and he tells me what he
sees.”

“What would you
like to ask about?” the young man asked one of the trio of Asian girls crowding
around Ichi.

“Will my boyfriend
ask me to marry him?” she asked.

“Wait,” the young
man said as he bent over and dug in a duffle bag at his feet. He produced a
little tuxedo coat and top hat in which he dressed the cat. The girl giggled
and petted the cat again. The cat meowed at her.

“Ichi says ‘yes’.
He says you have to be patient, but what you want will come,” the young man
said in a serious voice.

An older couple
tried.

“Will our son come
home from Iraq safely?” the woman asked.

The young man
changed Ichi’s outfit from tuxedo to desert camouflage. The lady stroked Ichi’s
head and he let out a long, satisfied meow.

“You have nothing
to worry about,” the young man interpreted for the couple.

The cat man doffed
his top hat as the couple handed him a five-dollar bill and went on their way.

“I’m going on a
trip with my boyfriend,” Meagan handed him a fiver. “Will it turn out okay?
Will we have a good time?”

She reached to pet
Ichi. He arched his back and hissed. His tail swelled up like a bottle brush. Meagan
stood frozen for a second, her hand in mid-air, then Ichi lashed out with his
claws.

“Ow!” she screamed
as she pulled back. There were three little cuts on the back of her hand.
“What’s wrong with your cat? Cats always love me.”

“I don’t know
miss, he’s never done that before. I’m really sorry.”

Ichi let out a
long low growl. The young man went white.

“Here, take this
back. I can’t help you,” he said as he stuffed Meagan’s five dollar bill back
in her hand.

“What’s wrong?
What did he say?”

“I can’t tell
you.” With that the young man, visibly shaken, scooped Ichi off of his perch,
folded the little display and hurried off down the street. The whole episode
had only taken seconds. Meagan stood, watching him go in dumb silence.

On the Iranian border,
Afghanistan

Ahmad told his
family the trip to Iran was to visit his grandparents. Being a native citizen
of Canada didn’t absolve him of his responsibility to, and love for, his
parents’ native country. This was his first chance to see the homeland.

However, it wasn’t
just a trip to see his family. Instead of two weeks of rigorous religious
instruction in Tehran, Ahmad and Mohammed snuck across the Afghani border to
visit a Taliban training camp.

“Please excuse our
poor Farsi,” Ahmad told his instructor.

“It is not a
problem,” Jamal replied. “You were given to me because I speak English. You
will strike a blow for Allah regardless of what language you pray to him in.”
The six trainees in Ahmad’s group were all from English speaking countries.

First came weapons
training. They drilled night and day until they could dismantle and reassemble
the Russian-made AK-47s in the dark. The feel of the weapon in his hand, the
smooth cold steel of the barrel, gave Ahmad a sense of power.
Soon they’ll
be sorry. Soon they’ll pay for every slight, every insult.

“You will learn to
rely upon your weapons,” Jamal told them. “Keep them as close to you as your
Qur’an. When you return home, you will be contacted and told how to obtain
them.”

It was all new and
exciting for Ahmad. He experienced a sense of fellowship and belonging that he
had never felt before. These were
his
people. He was accepted
unconditionally. They were all working together for a great cause.

After the weapons
training, there was a short course on explosive devices.

“We don’t know
what your mission will be. You must be prepared for anything.”

They learned to
make improvised bombs and use C-4 plastic explosives.
Will we have to bomb
something?
He was prepared to fight men, soldiers; but he would not stoop
to the levels of the suicide bombers attacking women and children.

Their brief
indoctrination included physical training, even though both he and Mohammed
were in prime shape. They had made it their mission to run five miles daily and
regularly hiked and rock climbed in the wilds of Canada in preparation for this
mission.

On their return
trip to Canada, there was nothing on their passports to indicate that they had
ever left Iran.

****

Seattle

Man, what’s got
his underwear in a knot?
Ted stared open-mouthed as Chris stormed below. In
the four years they had lived together, Ted could count the number of arguments
they had had on one hand.

He knew he had to
do something. He didn’t like the way Meagan controlled Chris’ life. He couldn’t
understand why Chris couldn’t see that she was just after his dad’s money.
Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all, her coming on the trip. This would
give Chris a chance to see what she was really made of.

“Food’s here,”
Candace called from the dock.

Ted looked up to
see Candace take a deep breath, paste a smile on her face and climb aboard. The
way she moved was mesmerizing, he couldn’t take his eyes off of her.
 

 “Here’s a bacon
cheeseburger.” Candace handed a burger and a wax bag full of French fries to
Ted. She handled them as if they were toxic waste.

“
Gracias,
senorita
.” Ted wiped his hands on the seat of his jeans.

“And I got one for
you too,” she said to Chris who came back up from the cabin.

Chris unfolded the
teak cockpit table and Candace unwrapped her greasy vegetarian burger as if it
might bite her. She didn’t have any fries.

They sat at the
table. Candace leaned back, shook her head and let the unusually warm June
sunshine flood her face. Ted couldn’t help but stare as she thrust out her
chest. She quickly sat back up and crossed her arms.

As soon as the
food hit the table, a flock of seagulls circled the boat, calling for handouts.
Ted tossed a fry in the sky and half-dozen birds fought to grab it in mid-air.

“Shit, man,” Chris
scolded. “Don’t give them food. They’ll never leave us alone.”

“Let it go, dude.”
Ted dug into his burger.

Chris sullenly
picked the pickles off his. “I hate dill pickles.”

“If you’d told me,
I’d have told them to hold ‘em.” Candace glanced at her fingernails.

 “Whatever.” Chris
finally nibbled at his burger.

Candace stared at
Chris for a minute.

Ted could feel the
tension. He looked at Chris, sending him a silent message.
You’re gonna
havta make nice with Candace, dude.

Candace finally
spoke. “Your father and I are thinking about taking a cruise.” She neatly
folded the wax paper around half of her Boca burger. “We’re talking about
having the wedding on a cruise ship, on the way up to Alaska.”

“That’s kinda
unusual, isn’t it?” Ted asked.

“Not really. The
captain’s authorized to perform weddings. We’ll have a small ceremony in the
chapel on the ship. Sarah’s thinking about going. She’ll be my maid of honor.
My parents are coming over from Idaho to go with us. You boys are going to be
gone, so you’ll miss it, but maybe we could meet with you somewhere along the
way.”

 “That can’t be
Dad’s idea.” Chris stood up from the table and turned to leave. “He never
wanted to go on a cruise.”

“It was my idea.
But he liked it.” Candace picked up the remaining wrappers from lunch and
carefully wiped the table with a paper napkin. “He thinks it’ll be romantic. It
was the only way I could get him away from work for long enough to get
married.”

“Don’t worry about
us. We wouldn’t be there anyway.” Chris stepped onto the first rung of the companionway
ladder. “It’s sure convenient that Dad’s sending us on a cruise right when
you’re going to get married.”

Ted stared into
Chris’ eyes and thought as hard as he could.
Lighten up dude, this is your
future step-mom.
He had always thought that Chris could read his mind. He
sure needed to now.

“Well, your father
has ulterior motives.” Candace folded up the cockpit table.

“Yeah, what’s
that?” Chris asked, frozen on the stairs.

“This is the first
cruise of a new kind of cruise ship. The
Star of the Northwest
. It was
built specifically for the Alaska cruise by Scandinavian Cruise Lines. This
cruise is going to be a big deal, Hollywood stars, politicians, big business
leaders. Your Dad thinks it’ll be good for his business to spend a week with
these people.”

Without another
word, Chris descended to the cabin.

Candace sat for a
minute in silence. Ted watched her seethe.

“You have a good
afternoon, Ted. I think I’m done for today.” She climbed off the boat walked up
the dock without a backwards look.

****

Seattle, Washington

Chris and Ted
spent the rest of the week getting
Defiant
ready for the trip. Ted
wasn’t surprised that Candace didn’t show up for the remainder of the
preparations. It also didn’t surprise him that Meagan didn’t show up to help.

Their last task
was to get the rubber dinghy ready. Chris spliced a new painter while Ted
changed the oil on its nine horsepower Honda outboard motor. They were almost
ready for their journey.

“What do you think
about your Dad’s wedding, dude?” Ted asked as he lowered the outboard to Chris
in the dinghy. “You haven’t said a word about it since the last time we saw
Candace.”

“The bitch is a
gold-digger. She doesn’t love him. How can she? She’s a hot chick and he’s an
old guy.”

“I don’t know,
dude. She’s always acting all lovey with him every time I see ‘em.”  

“Yeah, she loves
his money and power.” Chris clamped the outboard onto the dinghy.

“So you’re sure
about this? You’re really not going to your own Dad’s wedding? We could
postpone the trip, or maybe meet them somewhere before the wedding.”

Chris didn’t
reply.

“I’ve been
thinking about it, you know. You really ought to consider that. You don’t want
to piss him off, dude. All that he’s got is going to be yours some day.”

“You don’t really
think that there’s going to be anything left once that bitch sinks her claws
into him, do you?”

“Your Dad’s
smarter than that. He’s a lawyer, dude. He’ll protect you and Sarah, just
watch.”

“Yeah? Well fuck
‘em. Let’s blow this burg.”