They walked into Rollie’s Large Animal Clinic, and Louise looked at them curiously. “Where’d you get the mutt?”
“His name’s Ember,” Jenny said. “He belongs to Manny, but don’t hold that against him. He’s a sweet pooch.”
The old Irish setter trotted forward as if Louise were very familiar. He nuzzled the hand she held out to him. He went to Rollie Downfeather, who was keeping Louise company, and did the same.
“Where’s Henry?” Cork asked.
“Him and Lenora are sitting with Raven,” Louise said. “She wanted Henry there.”
At that moment, Meloux came from the exam room where Raven lay. When Ember spotted him, it was as if the dog had found someone lost to him long ago. He bounded to the Mide and, if he’d been smaller or Meloux larger, would have leaped into the old man’s arms.
Meloux was clearly taken with him. “Who’s this?”
“His name’s Ember,” Jenny said.
“Ember, eh? Good name.” Meloux worked his hands lovingly across the dog’s coat. “You’re old like me, but I can tell that you, too, have a lot of fire in your heart.”
“What about the man?” Louise said. “Maiingan?”
“Under a blanket in Daniel’s pickup,” Cork said. “We’ve got him trussed up like a mummy with duct tape so he can’t move or talk. We’re taking him back to Tamarack County.”
“Why so far?” Louise said.
“I want to question him in my own way. Best I do it there.”
“But what if Windigo is here, in Duluth?”
“According to Raven and the girl who was with Manny tonight, Windigo’s been gone awhile.”
“Another girl?” Louise said. “Where is she?”
“We put her in the hands of Bea Abbiss,” Jenny said.
Louise seemed satisfied. “So, we’re going to Tamarack County?”
“Not all of us,” Cork told her. “You and Daniel are heading back to Bad Bluff. I told Raven we’d protect her family. I can’t do that if they’re in Wisconsin. Lindy Duvall doesn’t know Daniel, but she knows you, Louise. You have to convince her to come to Tamarack County with her children until we’ve taken care of Windigo.”
Louise said, “I can do that.”
“Good. It’s settled. Let’s get Raven into the Explorer. The sooner we start the better.”
Lenora Downfeather brought them a wheelchair, and Jenny and Daniel helped Raven into it. Daniel wheeled her out to Cork’s Explorer. He lifted her from the chair as gently as if she were his own sister and laid her on the mattress they’d put in the back at Nishiime House.
“My family?” she asked.
Jenny watched Daniel lean over the girl, big and gentle and protective, and when he spoke, it was with such tenderness that Jenny’s heart seemed to crack. “I’m going to get them, Raven. I’ll keep them safe, I swear to you. Just rest. You’ll see them soon.”
He drew back and stood up. To Jenny, in the moonlight, he looked armored in silver.
They transferred the man who called himself Maiingan to the Explorer. He sat in the backseat, his mouth and feet taped, his hands in cuffs. Ember jumped into the vehicle, too, and made himself comfortable at Manny’s side on the broad seat. They said good-byes and thank-yous to Lenora and Rollie Downfeather.
Cork said to Louise, “You make sure you bring Raven’s family back.”
“What about my family?” she asked.
“Let your brother know what’s up. You have lots of relatives in Bad Bluff. It’s time they started looking out for one another. Once we have a fix on Mariah, we’ll make sure they’re all well protected.”
Jenny touched Daniel’s arm. “Before you go, I owe you something.” She lifted her face to his, intending to give him that kiss on the cheek she believed she’d owed him since the incident on Superior Street the night before. Instead, her kiss landed full on his lips. She stepped back, surprised—though not completely—by what she’d just done. “I’ll see you in Tamarack County.”
The big Shinnob, whose face had so often been a desert of expression, looked absolutely stunned. He said, “Okay.” He got into the truck with Louise and drove away.
Cork handed Jenny the keys. “You drive. And Henry, you can sit up front.”
“I’d rather sit beside the old dog,” Meloux said. “It will put me closer to the girl, if she needs me.”
“Your choice, Henry,” Cork said.
“You’re sure you want me to drive, Dad?”
Her father gave a curt nod. “I’ve got calls to make. A lot of wheels to set in motion. The clock’s ticking, and we don’t have much time.”
With that, they took their places in the Explorer and headed north.
• • •
It was nearing one in the morning when they pulled into the garage on Gooseberry Lane. Rose was expecting them. Rainy was there, too, something Cork had arranged. Jenny’s little Waaboo was in his bed, sound asleep. Cork carried Raven into the house. He took her to his own room and laid her down on his bed. Meloux had followed them inside the house, accompanied by the old Irish setter.
“Who’s this?” Rose asked, when the dog padded into the kitchen.
“His name’s Ember. He’ll be staying with us for a while,” Jenny said.
Trixie came from the living room, and the two dogs spent a moment nose to nose, then noses to other places. In the end, they seemed just fine with each other.
Meloux and Jenny went upstairs, where her father had taken Raven. The girl on the bed looked up at the old Mide, pleading in her eyes.
“Don’t leave me,” she said.
“Granddaughter,” Meloux replied, “that is not even a possibility.”
Cork pulled an armchair to the side of the bed, and the old man made himself comfortable in it.
“Grandfather,” Raven said, addressing Meloux for the first time in this way.
“What is it, child?”
“This is my fault,” Raven said. “It’s all my fault. Carrie’s dead. Mariah? I don’t know. I’m to blame. I lied to them.”
Behind Meloux, Cork spoke. “How did you lie to them?”
Tears ran from the corners of her bruised, swollen eye sockets. “Carrie was already messed up. Her son of a bitch stepfather was already using her. Mariah was going to be part of that, sooner or later. That asshole Verga was working on her. I told them it would be different with me. They could model. They’d have nice clothes, cars, bling. And no one like Demetrius Verga to worry about. They’d be free of all that crap, that’s what I told them. I’m a liar, grandfather. A liar and worse. So much worse.”
“What you did is done,” Meloux said gently. “What you were is not what you are and not what you will be. Rest, child. You are safe now.”
Cork said, “I have to go, Henry.”
The old man nodded. “Maiingan.”
“And after him, Windigo.”
Because he sat, Meloux had to look up at Jenny’s father, who was standing. The old Mide studied him a very long time. “You will take me on that hunt.”
“If that’s possible, Henry, I will.”
“Do not hunt this windigo without me, Corcoran O’Connor.”
Meloux’s voice was sharper than Jenny had ever heard it. This was no request. This was an imperative. If it had been said to her, Jenny would have knuckled under in a flash and done whatever it was Meloux wanted. But her father gave the old man—his friend, his mentor of a lifetime—a long, steely-eyed look.
“I began this hunt without you, Henry. If I need to, I’ll finish it that way.”
“What does it take to kill a windigo?” the ancient Mide asked.
“The balls of a windigo,” Cork replied. Without another word, he turned and left the room.
The only light came from a small bedside lamp. Meloux sat in the dim glow, staring at the empty doorway Jenny’s father had just passed through. He said, very quietly, “No, Corcoran O’Connor. The heart.”
Jenny followed her father downstairs and into the kitchen, where Rainy intercepted him.
“Cork?”
“What is it?” Not harsh words, but impatient.
The door was open at Rainy’s back, the black of night impenetrable beyond the screen. Moths and night insects buzzed against the mesh, trying to get inside, get to the light.
Rainy spoke carefully. “I know you made me a promise in the beginning of all this, and I love you for that, but I won’t hold you to it, Cork. What you’re about to do, you don’t have to. You know that.”
“I keep my promises, Rainy. But this isn’t about a promise anymore. These men need to be taken down.”
“And you’re the only one who can do that? It won’t bring her back, Cork. It won’t change what already is.”
Jenny knew what she was saying, knew that Rainy wasn’t talking about Mariah Arceneaux or what had happened to her.
Her father didn’t answer. He stared at Rainy a long time, then turned, shoved the screen door open, scattered the flying insects, and was eaten by the night.
Rainy watched him go. “Did you see?”
“See what?” Rose asked.
But Jenny had seen it. She said, “Murder in his eyes.”