Homefront. Part 5

More to the point was the fact that he had to keep explaining to an eight-year-old that, as a family, they didn't need to draw extra attention to themselves right now. Explain it in a way to make it stick.

After a fast grilled cheese sandwich, tomato soup, and a gla.s.s of milk, they changed into long underwear and wind pants and laced on their ski boots. During the three months they'd been on the lake, the quarter Norwegian in Kit's blood had taken to the skinny skis with a single-minded intensity some people might find scary in a kid her age.

They'd hit the ski trail a lot. What Kit had this winter instead of friends.

Back outside, he watched her toe into her ski bindings, grab her long skating poles, and power off into the woods on the connecting route they'd blazed to the groomed trail. He stayed a few yards behind her in parallel tracks as she swept left and right in the athletic skating technique that he, the die-hard purist, rejected. She'd learned the rudiments last year, when she was living with her mom in Italy. And now her initial clumsiness had fallen away with the last of her baby fat.

Broker dug in his poles and pushed off. They met a family plodding in fat waxless skis and snowmobile suits. Pa.s.sed them.

A moment later two athletic high school boys powered around them, wearing orange camo hunting parkas. Locals by their dress. Out taking advantage of the new snow.

The confrontation with Jimmy Klumpe still replayed in Broker's muscles, a not unpleasant afterglow. Dumb to dwell on it. Put it behind you. Put it behind you. He tried to lose himself in the rhythms of the kick and glide. The crisp air bit into his lungs, and the sweat froze on the tips of his hair as they swept through the silent forest. He tried to lose himself in the rhythms of the kick and glide. The crisp air bit into his lungs, and the sweat froze on the tips of his hair as they swept through the silent forest.

Chapter Seven.

Gator closed the door to his shop and stood for a few moments looking across the empty fields and into the woods beyond. The eighty acres was fifteen miles north of Glacier Falls, at the edge of the Was.h.i.+chu State Forest. He'd signed it over to Ca.s.sie when they both turned twenty-one, when he was in the Navy. to his shop and stood for a few moments looking across the empty fields and into the woods beyond. The eighty acres was fifteen miles north of Glacier Falls, at the edge of the Was.h.i.+chu State Forest. He'd signed it over to Ca.s.sie when they both turned twenty-one, when he was in the Navy.

Spent three years at the Idaho National Engineering Lab by Idaho Falls. Nothing but razor-sharp black basalt fields, used nuclear fuel rods, unexploded ordnance, and a Navy facility that trained submariners on nuclear engines. Mechanic/machinist mate. Never did get to see the ocean.

Ca.s.sie had tried renting the place out. Didn't have much luck. People didn't like it up here in the big woods, said it was too spooky.

He'd moved in when he got out of prison two years ago. He liked it just fine. No people, and lots of machines that needed fixing. His parole officer had remarked how Gator had cleaned the place up considerably. People grudgingly admitted he was a local success story. No small accomplishment for a Bodine.

So he stood for a few minutes looking over his domain; uninhabited-now-for a ten-mile radius. The low clouds almost sc.r.a.ped the crowns of the pines, going off forever like the bottoms of a million gray egg cartons. He sniffed the crunchy air. March in Minnesota. It would snow again.

He c.o.c.ked an ear, listening. Earlier today he'd heard the pack. Nothing now.

He approved of the way the snow carpeted the fields and frosted the evergreens. Was up to him, he'd have winter all year. Liked the way it imposed a kind of order; compressed the colors into manageable whites and grays. Covered up all the crud.

Made the big woods even more inaccessible. Kept people away. The wolves coming back helped, too.

Going in the farmhouse, like now, sometimes he missed his dogs. The two big shepherd pups he bought had been poisoned last year by some uptight citizen who didn't like homeboy felons moving back into the neighborhood. He'd brought in some geese for lookouts but got rid of them because he couldn't abide the green c.r.a.p everywhere. Decided the isolation was security enough.

There were no animals on the farm now. The land was in the crop rotation. Just him and his tools and the quiet.

The farmhouse was pretty much the way it'd been; just a lot cleaner now. Same old furniture covered with blankets. He'd hung a few tractor posters on the wall. His ribbons from high school cross-country. A framed certificate that announced that Morgun Bodine had finished twelfth in the Bierkebinder Cross-Country Ski Marathon five years ago, in Hayward, Wisconsin. A souvenir German battle flag hung on the wall that his dad had brought back from Europe, when he was the best mechanic in four counties, before he went on the booze. A good sound system.

A 5,000-piece puzzle was half constructed on the kitchen table.

He heated some water and put on a Johnny Cash CD, the one recorded at Folsom Prison. When the water boiled, he made a cup of Folger's instant coffee, lit a Camel, and got out his maps and refamiliarized himself with the ski trail loop that followed the east sh.o.r.e of the lake, where the old Hamre place was located.

He picked up the phone, checked down the list of numbers taped on the wall, and called Glacier Lodge. The clerk told him, yeah, they'd run the tractor on the ski trails this morning-what the h.e.l.l, probably the last chance to ski this season.

Gator thanked the clerk, ended the call, and returned to his maps. One loop of the trail skirted the Griffins' rental. He thought about it. Go in fast, scout the place, mess with the guy's stuff. Get out. Just enough to keep Ca.s.sie happy so she didn't bounce weird.

The other thing toyed with him. Ca.s.sie said he didn't fit? Like a puzzle. Something to figure out.

Ca.s.sie had always expected him to attend to her dramas, large and small. Like he was on this open-ended retainer because she'd talked Jimmy into bankrolling the repair shop. When he got out of the joint. Back when she had her nose in the air, when they were flush, all full of plans.

That was almost two years ago, and he'd owed them. Gator grinned and knuckled the bristle of spiky growth on his chin. Yeah, well, now-the way it worked out-they owed him. Big-time. And now he had the plans.

But he had to keep them in line, on task. Especially Ca.s.sie, who had boundary issues when she got herself all worked up and got wired and got to talking too much. So she wanted to see her brother teach the guy a lesson, country style. Like he had learned last year, the accepted way around here to send a message was to kill an animal. Okay, if that was the price of keeping her quiet.

Kid's stuff. And messy. He put on a pair of old rubber gloves, went to the icebox, poked around, and found half a pound of hamburger starting to turn brown. Quickly he packed the meat into a squishy ball, eased it into a Ziploc bag, then stepped onto the mud porch and carefully lifted a liter of Prestone, took off the twist cap, and sloshed antifreeze into the plastic bag. Leaned it gingerly on a workbench against the vise. Let it stew. One green greasy meatball slurpy for Rover.

Gator made a face. So what if the guy doesn't have a dog? So what if the guy doesn't have a dog?

He went back in the kitchen and dug in the utensil drawer next to the sink until he found the skinny ice pick. I know he's got a vehicle. I know he's got a vehicle.

He placed the pick in the narrow side pocket of his backpack. He thought for a moment. Probably have to do some creeping. Probably have to do some creeping. He went to the shelf on the mud porch and selected a pair of old oversize felt boot liners. Then he selected his small bear-paw snow shoes. After he loaded the footwear in his pack, he nestled the meatball baggie in among the boot liners. He went to the shelf on the mud porch and selected a pair of old oversize felt boot liners. Then he selected his small bear-paw snow shoes. After he loaded the footwear in his pack, he nestled the meatball baggie in among the boot liners.

Okay.

Next he changed from his work clothes, pulled on long underwear and lightweight Gore-Tex winter camo. He yanked a ski mask over his head and down around his neck like a m.u.f.f, so he could pull it up if he needed to hide his face. He put a bottle of water, an energy bar, and his smokes in a small backpack. After he laced on his ski boots, he checked the thermometer on the porch.

Twenty-two degrees. Blue Kleister.

Carefully, liking the routine, he waxed his Peltonen racers.

He put his cell phone in his chest pocket, then loaded his skis and gear in the back of his battered red '92 Chevy truck and headed out. He slowed five minutes from the farm to check the intersection of County Z. The crossroad was all fresh undisturbed snow, no tire tracks. He continued on County 12 south through the deserted jack pine barrens, going slow, inspecting the deserted houses scattered along the road for signs of recent activity. Half an hour later, he arrived at the trail head at the north end of the lake.

Most mornings when there was good snow, he skied the north 20K. He unloaded his skis and stepped into his bindings, shouldered his pack, and poled through the woods to the trail. When he got there, he saw that the tractor from the lodge had been through, just like the clerk said. Fresh-groomed trails. He pushed off and fell into the powerful rhythm, heading south.

Twice he skied off the trail, letting other skiers pa.s.s. This time of year they'd be local people, and he didn't want to be spotted out here. Allowing for the detours, it took just fifteen leisurely minutes to come to the yellow No Hunting sign that posted the back end of Griffin's land. Could see the green cabin peeking through the trees, the lake beyond it. He saw they'd been skiing, probably last night just after it snowed. They had worked a connecting trail. He scouted in closer down the connecting trail and settled on a slight rise that overlooked the backyard. He got out of his skis, hid them in some thick spruce, strapped on the paws, and went to the knoll, where he made a place to sit against a tree. Then he tested the wind, which was gusting from the northeast, and figured he could get away with a smoke. So he lit a Camel and settled in to watch the house. First off, he spotted a snow-covered doghouse in back of the garage. Uh-huh. Okay. Keep an eye out for the dog. Then he saw a pile of kindling next to a chopping block. Oak, from the bark and grain. Must be three cords stacked up in the long shed along the garage. Then he remembered that Griffin trucked in oak, used it to heat sand and water to mix his mortar. On that winter job at the lodge.

Then he noticed two sets of skis and poles set out against the garage. One set shorter, for a kid. He finished his smoke and stuffed the b.u.t.t deep out of sight into a crevice of pine bark, wiggled his toes in his boots, drank some water, ate half an energy bar. A dedicated bow hunter, he was stoic about the cold. He figured he had about half an hour of cooldown before the sweat he'd worked up on the trail started to freeze.

Another half hour pa.s.sed. Still no sign of a dog. Then he heard voices and saw a man and a kid come out the back door in skiing duds. Where's Mom? Now that he'd come this far, he was getting curious; just who were they? What was it like inside that house? How come n.o.body had seen the woman? What did Ca.s.sie mean? He didn't fit. He didn't fit.

Now they were putting on their skis.

Okay. He was up fast, made his way back to his own skis. So which way are they going to go? a.s.sume they're good citizens and will follow the arrows posted on the trail. Go the direction he'd come in. He lashed the bear paws to his pack, got back into his skis, and worked hard, backtracking up the trail. When he'd poled up the approach to the first big downhill, he paused and peered back through the trees. He'd been right. Eagle Scouts, following the rules. Coming this way. The kid wore green and was on the skating path, the guy was in red and stayed in the Nordic tracks.

He pulled up his ski mask and adjusted it. Okay. Time it so you meet them at max speed when you rocket back down the hill. Get a feel for this guy. Time it so you meet them at max speed when you rocket back down the hill. Get a feel for this guy.

Chapter Eight.

Ten minutes into the trail Broker caught a blur of movement up ahead through the trees, shooting over the top of the first big hill. A skier coming down the tracks in a downhill tuck, poles back, hands braced on his bent knees. Some daredevil cowboy. Really pus.h.i.+ng it. Broker caught a blur of movement up ahead through the trees, shooting over the top of the first big hill. A skier coming down the tracks in a downhill tuck, poles back, hands braced on his bent knees. Some daredevil cowboy. Really pus.h.i.+ng it.

"Watch yourself, Kit. That guy up there. He's coming pretty fast," Broker called out. Kit slowed her stride, reacting to the alarm in Broker's voice. She swung her head, her eyes flas.h.i.+ng, uncertain.

"Don't look at me, Look at him him!" Broker yelled at her.

She glowered at the anger in his voice, wasting seconds she needed to react. And all he could do was watch. He was helpless because the guy was coming so fast, and he was hard to see in gray-and-white hunting camo and a black face mask. Onrus.h.i.+ng like a puzzle piece catapulted out of the winter pattern of the forest. Jesus. Too fast.

"Kit, G.o.ddammit! Get off the trail!" Broker shouted.

"You don't have to yell," she shouted back.

Time and distance. Broker did the quick gut math and realized he could not reach her, thirty yards ahead of him, before the oncoming skier...

"GET OFF THE TRAIL!" he shouted again, waving his poles.

The guy came out of his tuck nearing the bottom of the hill and executed a snappy sidestep, and now he was ripping down the skating path, straight at Kit.

Kit was stepping to the right as fast as she could, but the guy was on top of her.

"Watch it, a.s.shole!" Broker shouted as he struggled on the skis to gain the distance. Wasn't going to happen. He did his best to step out into the skating path, instinctively gripping one of his poles with both hands like a pugil stick and menacing it forward in an attempt to warn the guy away.

The guy came straight ahead, streaked past with a swish and clatter as one of his poles banged on Kit's poles. Not even seeing them, it seemed, his hooded eyes fixed ahead on the trail. Kit was flung in his wake and fell sideways into the parallel tracks ahead of Broker. In seconds he was bending over her. She sat up, removed her glove, and put her fingers to her cheek.

A thin red stripe started next to her nose and went across her cheek almost to her ear. Gingerly she touched it, and her finger came away with a tiny dot of blood.

"He must have raked you with his pole as he went by," Broker said, helping her to her feet and inspecting her face. "Just a scratch."

With an exaggerated indignant expression and in a very dramatic voice, Kit protested, "You didn't have to yell at me."

"Hey, he almost squashed you flat."

"Did not. He missed."

Broker stared, perplexed at the touchy coiled springs of mood sprouting out of her. "I'm sorry for yelling, but I was scared for you," he said.

She thought about it and said, "I was scared, too. Just a little." She furrowing her brow and stated, "He was going the wrong way, Dad,"

"I know, honey. Some people are like that. And they just don't see kids. You all right?"

"No problem," she said deadpan, delivering the line with a nonchalance she'd overheard hanging out with Nina's Army crowd in Italy. Seeing him a make a face at her language, she grinned. Perhaps encouraged by the encounter with the speed demon, she said, "Let's go. Race you down the first hill."

Broker looked off through the silent trees in the direction of the a.s.shole skier. The guy had vanished. The small crisis pa.s.sed. "You're on," he said.

Kit took the lead, and he made a production of staying just behind her, goading her faster, as they herringboned up the incline. He watched her breath surge in tight white bursts next to her green cap as she half ran the hill. Broker was reminded of something he'd learned long ago; how the Vietnamese wrote their prayers on slips of paper and burned them. Because the ghosts of their ancestors could only read smoke.

They reached the top, and a minute later the trail forked; beginners to the left, advanced to the right. Without hesitation Kit dug in her poles and plunged toward the steep downhill they'd nicknamed Suicide One. Broker double-poled to catch up, tucked into the slope, and heard Kit's exhilarated squeal echo in the trees. Her breath streamed over her shoulder, and in that exuberant white cloud Broker, giddy with the rush downhill, read a happy answer to a long prayer.

The journey that had brought them here was terrible, but finally the long separation had ended and they were together, living under one roof. Then Kit came down too fast on the steep bend at the bottom of the run and misjudged s.h.i.+fting into her step turn. Her left ski wobbled out of control, and she lurched in front of Broker, who was on her too fast. He tried an impossible hockey stop. No way. They tumbled together into a s...o...b..nk in a tangle of poles, skis, and laughter.

Chapter Nine.

Gator put a few hundred yards of twisting trail between him and the man and the kid and then slowed, stopped, and leaned on his poles. He panted, catching his breath after the near collision at the bottom of the hill. That was fun, but now he was more than a little intrigued. Not so much the way the guy called him an a.s.shole like that. He could let that pa.s.s under the circ.u.mstances. He'd gone by too fast and nearly creamed the kid. But he managed to get a good look at the guy. And there was something about the way his hard eyes peeped out from his gaunt face and thick Ernie Kovacs eyebrows. Suspicious, judgmental, a little too in charge. Cop's eyes, his gut told him. of twisting trail between him and the man and the kid and then slowed, stopped, and leaned on his poles. He panted, catching his breath after the near collision at the bottom of the hill. That was fun, but now he was more than a little intrigued. Not so much the way the guy called him an a.s.shole like that. He could let that pa.s.s under the circ.u.mstances. He'd gone by too fast and nearly creamed the kid. But he managed to get a good look at the guy. And there was something about the way his hard eyes peeped out from his gaunt face and thick Ernie Kovacs eyebrows. Suspicious, judgmental, a little too in charge. Cop's eyes, his gut told him.

Like Ca.s.sie said, something that didn't fit.

So maybe go in a little deeper, see what these folks are about. He figured he had about an hour, maybe more, if they skied the whole loop.

He skied back and turned in at the connecting trail, stepped into the parallel tracks, and skied up to the trees at the edge of the yard. He watched the house for five minutes. No shadows moved in the windows. His eyes went back and forth between the house and the new Toyota truck parked in front of the garage.

Go in, see if you can get a look at the wife.

But stay practical. Think. The house invaders he'd met in the joint always said, first, you look for the dog. Gator looked again. No piles of c.r.a.p in the yard, no evidence of tracks. Just the green Toyota Tundra in the drive. He stowed his skis and pack out of sight and pulled the roomy felt liners over his ski boots.

He walked in crooked on the tracks already in the yard up to the garage, peeked in the side window. No other car. Maybe the wife was out on errands? He crossed to the back deck, went up the steps, and knocked on the sliding patio door. Waited a minute. No one came. He tried the door. It slid open.

Okay, dude. This is what's called a threshold for a guy with a parole officer. And home invasions had never been his thing. So take some precautions. He knocked again and called out. "Anybody home?" If the wife appeared, he'd ask to use the phone. Say his cell phone battery went dead. Say he fell on the ski trail, hurt his knee, needed to arrange a ride.

No sound, no wife. Gator went in silently on his felt booties and-s.h.i.+t!-froze when he heard a tinkling bell. A black kitten appeared in the doorway at the end of the kitchen. Gator vibrated alert, straining his ears. All he heard was the bell move off into the next room. Then go silent.

He stopped, perplexed. He could see killing a dog if there was a reason. But a kitty? He'd have to think about that. He smiled. Starting to enjoy the thrill, he went deeper into the house. Past the kitchen there was a small room that held bookcases and a desk with a fax machine and stacks of envelopes, a checkbook, stamps. Paying the bills, it looked like. He studied a stack of cardboard boxes piled next to the desk. The top one held an old high school yearbook, some books, and a few frayed manila folders. Some kind of paperwork. Like they weren't really unpacked. Not really settled in.

He continued into the living room. Christ, more piles of boxes against the wall. Renters, Ca.s.sie said, so all this stuff was Griffin's. Futon couch and chairs. A quilt hanging on one wall was interesting; a pattern of black, red, and white st.i.tching that Gator found appealing.

But he wasn't a thief. And, besides, they'd miss it right off. He continued through the living room and paused at the foot of the stairs to the second floor.

"h.e.l.lo," he called again, looking up the stairs. "Your back door was open, and I wondered if I could use your phone..."

No response. Dead quiet here.

Come this far, might as well go up and have a look. Probably no one home. G.o.d, I love this s.h.i.+t. G.o.d, I love this s.h.i.+t. Stepping carefully, he climbed the stairs. A tiny hall, two doors. The door to the right was open. Where the kid slept. Yellow comforter on a twin-size bed, a gallery of stuffed animals arranged above the fold. Not much on the walls for a kid's room. More cardboard boxes spilling toys and clothes. Stepping carefully, he climbed the stairs. A tiny hall, two doors. The door to the right was open. Where the kid slept. Yellow comforter on a twin-size bed, a gallery of stuffed animals arranged above the fold. Not much on the walls for a kid's room. More cardboard boxes spilling toys and clothes.

Gator turned to the other bedroom on the left. The door was ajar.

And there she was, asleep at one in the afternoon, flung face down. A redhead. Hard to tell what she looked like, with her face flattened out on the tangled sheets, surrounded by a frizz of hair that needed a wash. Her a.s.s made a tidy swell in her purple pajama bottoms, but the effect was spoiled by the dark bath of sweat that pasted her gray T-s.h.i.+rt to her shoulder blades. He tiptoed into the room and stared down at her. He made a face when he heard her labored breathing and saw the sheets under her head soaked with sweat. Beads of it like a wet headband, starting at the roots of her hair. His eyes moved away, and he noticed a stack of books on the bedside table.

Darkness Visible by William Styron. by William Styron. A Memoir of Madness. A Memoir of Madness. And a fat red volume: And a fat red volume: DSM-IV. DSM-IV. He squinted, his lips moving as he read the subtext on the thick spine: He squinted, his lips moving as he read the subtext on the thick spine: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Fourth Edition. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Fourth Edition.

Hmmmm. Real fun folks Ca.s.sie had run into here.

Oh-oh! The woman s.h.i.+fted on the bed. Gator froze as he watched her twist at the waist, one arm flung above her head, turning, the other arm coming across and flopping on the edge of the bed, the limp fingers almost grazing the pant leg of his camos. Gator froze as he watched her twist at the waist, one arm flung above her head, turning, the other arm coming across and flopping on the edge of the bed, the limp fingers almost grazing the pant leg of his camos.