Keoman opted to ride with Hjak as he headed toward Neris Lake, siren silent but the light bar flashing. New snow fell lazily and reflected the blue and red lights, an eerily beautiful sight in the dark night. Although the forecast only called for a few inches, black ice made the road hazardous. Hjak pushed the limits of safety, but skidded twice within the first mile of leaving the resort. As he drove, he also questioned the office dispatcher. The Bluetooth connection allowed Keoman to monitor the conversation.
"What the hell were Annalise and her sister-in-law doing at the funeral home that time of night?" Hjak demanded.
"Yancy's sister just arrived in town," the dispatcher explained. "She was upset that Annalise was going to have Yancy cremated without her being allowed to see him first. When they couldn't get Harris, the funeral home director, to answer his phone, she made Annalise go with her to see if they could wake him up. Harris lives there at the funeral home."
"She had a child with her that time of night?" Hjak snarled.
"They left him in the car while they went up to ring the doorbell," the dispatcher said. "Kept the car running. But they heard a noise when this … this thing broke a window. It reached in and took the little boy and disappeared before they could run back to the car."
"They're lucky they didn't make it back to where Nenegean could reach them," Keoman muttered. "We'd have more ripped apart bodies."
Hjak grunted an agreement before he asked the dispatcher, "The two women are back at Annalise's house now?"
"Yeah. Annalise said she didn't bring her cell phone, and the one her sister-in-law had was dead, the charger not working. Since they couldn't get anyone up at the funeral home, they came back there to call us."
"Damn!" Hjak pounded the steering wheel. "Have you called Jed yet?"
"I didn't have to call him. He was still here, going over what we have on Yancy's death. He headed out to the funeral home as soon as we got the call. I also called Harris's sister and found out he was gambling at the Eagle's Wing Casino. Someone located him and told him what happened. He was supposed to go meet Jed. Probably there by now."
"Jed can handle that end of it," Hjak said as they entered the first residential street of town. "I'll head to the B&B."
"Ten four," the dispatcher said.
Hjak disconnected the call as the car slid to a stop in front of Annalise's home. Instead of getting out immediately, he stared through the windshield at the falling snow, then at Keoman.
"At first I thought this thing was just targeting Native Americans."
"Annalise is Native American," Keoman told him.
"I wasn't aware of that. Or if I was, I'd forgotten. I always think of her just as Yancy's wife."
"Annalise distanced herself from the tribe as soon as she could. She even changed a lot of her mannerisms and the way she dressed when she set her sights on Yancy."
Hjak jerked his head at the cell phone on the console. "You probably need to update Gagewin. Bring the phone with you when you come in."
Keoman didn't immediately reach for the phone after Hjak got out of the car and strode up the snow-covered walkway. Instead, he looked at the house at the end of the sidewalk.
Rumor said Yancy had been having some money worries lately. It was a small enough town that people sometimes knew other people's business. But everyone had tightened their belts the past few years; even the casino laid off employees due to the unstable economy and weak tourism. Still, Yancy hadn't seemed despondent. They had all weathered other years of less than adequate income.
What he couldn't figure out was why Annalise hadn't complained about the hardships. Although she was younger than Keoman, he had been aware of her. As a teenager, she refused any tribal member's attempt to date her. She was always seen at off-reservations parties with white male teens.
He had heard she married Yancy due to a pregnancy, but lost the baby soon after the wedding. They had never had any other children.
But … that wasn't any of his business. He needed to update Nodinens and Gagewin.
By the time he was done with those calls and carried the phone with him into the house, voices told him the others were in the library. He found Annalise and Hjak trying to comfort an hysterical woman who, Keoman could tell at a glance, was Yancy's sister. She had a Scandinavian appearance and was beautiful, despite her ravaged face.
"What are you telling me?" she screamed at Hjak. "Some sort of supernatural monster took my little boy? Is going to take Kirby somewhere and … and … oh, god!" She covered her face with her hands and bent over her knees, sobbing uncontrollably.
Beside her, Annalise wrapped an arm around the woman's shoulders. "Ilka," she said, "they'll find Kirby. They have to." She shot Hjak a fierce look, then noticed Keoman.
"Why aren't you out searching for Kirby?" Annalise demanded. "There's ceremonies you can perform to find out where it's hiding him!"
"We've already tried," Keoman said. "Nenegean came out, but escaped. We're not dealing with some benign entity. This one is as dangerous as the windigo was."
"Then go after it, damn it!" Annalise tightened her arm on Ilka. "Why are you just standing here?"
The front door opened, and two more men entered. Keoman recognized Harris Dunderson, who owned the funeral home, and Hjak's detective, Jed Myers. As soon as they got rid of Nenegean, he needed to sit down with Jed and Hjak and clear up the undercover work he'd been doing for them. But as much as that had been his number one priority recently, now it was low on his list.
Harris went straight to Annalise. "Yancy's already been cremated. I wasn't aware of any relatives coming in."
Ilka moaned, but didn't lift her head. Keoman thought he heard her murmur something about just another heartbreak.
Annalise stood and motioned for Harris to follow her out of the room. Hjak started after them, but Ilka lifted her head and fixed her ravaged face on him as she said, "I'm trying to hold on here, Sheriff. But you can't imagine what it's like, losing my brother to what sounds like murder. And now my son being taken by some sort of monster. My husband was killed in Iraq a month before Kirby was born. Kirby's all I have left of him."
"We're going to do everything we can," Hjak assured her.
"That's not enough!" Ilka spat. "I know you'll do that much. That's your job. But this is my son. You have to find him!"
"I'll do everything I can," Hjak promised again, then motioned with his head for Keoman to follow out of the room.
As they walked toward the patrol car, Keoman interrupted Hjak when the sheriff started to speak. "What's this about Yancy being murdered? I thought you were convinced that he took cyanide to kill himself."
"Annalise asked me to call her sister-in-law to notify her," Hjak said. "And Ilka didn't believe that, even though I read her the note we found. Family members hardly ever believe suicide at first. We have to investigate those types of deaths in depth, also, so I had Jed looking into things. Until this damned monster showed up."
"Who's looking at what happened to Nodinens' niece?"
"I've already told you far too much."
Keoman waited until they were both in the patrol car before he said, "Nodinens' niece was one of our tribe. A branch that lived in Ely, but still part of us. The governing members, which I'm one of, are people you need to keep informed." He frowned, debating whether what he had to say would send Ned down a nonproductive path or not, then went on, "Do you suspect that maybe Yancy's the one who molested Nodinens' niece and that's why he committed suicide?"
Hjak closed his eyes and sighed. "Looking into Yancy's death is part of Jed's duties these days."
~~~~
Channing paced her cabin from one room to another. It hadn't seemed that small when she moved in. Now the walls restricted her … or perhaps they were more like a solid barrier that confined both her movements and thoughts.
Leaving the lights off, she halted in front of the sliding glass doors and stared over the backyard into the woods. Two security lights illuminated the area, and new snow already hid the traces of footprints from when Keoman and the tribal chairman had circled the cabin as they performed their protection ceremony.
For the first time since their divorce, she found herself wanting Grant near. Her cell phone rang, and she hurried over to pick it up from the charger on the kitchen counter. As though her thoughts had conjured him, she recognized Grant's number on the display.
"Grant?" she answered.
"Yeah," he replied. "Look, Channing, I was able to catch a hop with a buddy into Duluth. Right now, I'm on my way to Neris Lake in a small charter plane. We just took off, but the pilot tells me we'll be there within an hour. He said there's a —"
She lost the conversation to a series of static bursts, and when she realized she had continued to stare at the woods behind her house, she could have sworn she saw a flash of tan in the underbrush. Nenegean wore tan buckskin garments, but surely the monster couldn't disrupt a cell signal. She checked the display and found the call still connected.
"…so will that work?" Grant was saying when she returned the phone to her ear.
"I'm sorry, Grant," she said. "I didn't get the part after you said you'd be here in an hour."
Grant remained silent for a few seconds, long enough for Channing to look at the display again to assure they were still connected. "Grant?"
"Sorry," he said. "You don't have any way to know if that thing that's roaming around up there was near when couldn't hear me, do you?"
"How did you know I thought I saw a flash of what she's wearing behind my cabin?"
"Channing, you aren't there alone, are you?"
"Not really," she denied. "There's a resort full of other people. But yes, I am in my own cabin alone." When he started to interrupt, she spoke over him. "The tribal Midé and the chairman performed a strong protection ceremony here, Grant. I've been assured Nenegean can't break through it."
"Assured beyond a doubt?" Grant demanded.
"They didn't mention that part," Channing admitted. "But I've also got a small leather bag filled with things to shield me. And before you ask, yes, I'm wearing it."
"All right," Grant conceded. "But back to my arrival. The pilot says there's an airstrip that belongs to the tribe near the casino. He's already received permission to drop me off there. Can you pick me up? And is there anywhere I can rent a car? Or somewhere I can stay?"
Channing chewed her bottom lip for a moment. That wasn't like Grant. Meticulous, he always pre-planned his trips down to how many shirts he would need, plus one extra in case he accidentally spilled something. Whatever he had discovered about Nenegean had sent him racing here without his normal prearrangements.
"Channing?" Grant asked. "Can you still hear me?"
"No on the rental," she said at last. "We'll have to share mine. And I'll check with Nodinens about somewhere for you to stay. Otherwise, the couch here in my cabin makes into a bed. I'll have to find out where the air strip is to pick you up."
"Not alone," Grant ordered. "Is there someone who can come with you? It's too dangerous there for you to be out alone right now."
"What have you found out about this thing?"
"I'll tell you all that when I get there." She heard some murmuring, then Grant went on, "The pilot says we've got a tail wind, so we should be putting down in about half an hour, earlier than he thought. Can you be there?"
"I will," she agreed.
"With someone," he reiterated. "Promise me."
"I promise," she said, then disconnected the call. That was an easy promise to make. She had absolutely no desire to confront this entity alone. Not after seeing what it did to the man out in the woods.
She glanced at the clock. It was well into the morning hours. Dead Time, she recalled Grant calling the hours from one to four a.m.
At the front door, she took down her heavy coat, then thought better of it. Instead, she used her phone again to call the resort office.
"Bear Bay Resort," Nodinens answered. Despite the woman's advanced age, she sounded as alert as if she'd had a full night's sleep.
"Nodinens, it's Channing. Seems I need someone to go with me into town. Well, to the casino airstrip just outside town. Do you know where it is?"
"I do," Nodinens said. "And I will go with you. I assume your ex-husband is arriving?"
"Yes, and I was also wondering if you had another cabin empty."
"I will have in the morning," she replied. "But not now."
"He can sleep on the couch here," Channing told her. "Do you want me to drive?"
"You probably should," she admitted. "But wait until I come over there. I will have someone walk with me."
Recalling one of the features the rental clerk had explained to her when she picked up the car, she found her keys and went to the window beside the cabin door. There, she pushed the button for the remote start. Her car lights flashed, and smoke billowed from the exhaust pipe. The car would be well on the way to being warm by the time she and Nodinens got inside.
Channing gathered her purse and made sure her gloves were in her coat while she waited. She also changed into the snow boots, even though they were somewhat awkward to drive in. She could have just taken them with her, but her recent uneasiness made her want to be prepared in case she needed to get somewhere on foot in a hurry. Or, she admitted soundlessly, in case I have to try to run away from something.
She stifled a wry laugh at the thought of outdistancing the entity.
When she answered the knock a few minutes later, Channing found four men with Nodinens. They only introduced themselves with nods, although one stepped forward and helped her into her coat. She glanced past them to see yet another man sweeping snow from her rental. The extension cord she had plugged the engine heater in with when she arrived was already looped on the storage hook beside the door.
The five men remained until Channing drove down the driveway. She glanced in the rear view mirror to see them walking along her tire tracks, but dropping off one-by-one at various cabins. Two of the cabins were dark, but lights remained burning in the rest.
"It looks like no one's going to get much sleep tonight," she murmured.
"Hardly anyone will sleep until we find where Nenegean is taking our children."
Channing stopped when she reached the roadway. "Which way?"
"Right," Nodinens told her. "Go on through town, and I'll tell you whenever we need to make a turn."
"Is it far? Grant won't arrive for another twenty minutes, and I don't really want the two of us sitting out there alone."
"There is a service station on the edge of town. Stop there for some coffee. Maybe the bakery truck has come in with its delivery already."
Channing accompanied Nodinens into the service station. They each returned with steaming cups of coffee and bags stuffed with fresh pastries to take back to the resort. Channing also had a cup of coffee for Grant. He preferred his black, but hers was a half-and-half mixture of creamer and coffee.
Nodinens directed her to the landing strip a mile outside town. Someone maintained it, since the long narrow area, outlined by lights on top of steel fence posts, had been plowed. The maintenance crew had to have carted the snow away, because it wasn't piled on the edges of the runway.
They barely had time to finish their coffees and a pastry each before Nodinens nodded toward the end of the airstrip. "Plane lights are coming in."
When the tiny plane drew near, Channing saw skis on it rather than landing gear wheels. They worked extremely well when the pilot smoothly set down. The small craft went nearly to the end of the runway, then turned and taxied to where they waited. Channing had left her lights on, but she flicked them from dim to bright and back, mostly to assure herself that Grant would see where they waited.
He emerged from the plane with a large duffle bag she recognized. In it, he would have carefully stowed everything he thought he could possibly need for this expedition, including not only clothing but books, herbs and other assorted implements. One room in their former home had been dedicated to things he used in his ventures into an area many people did not believe existed. They had kept the door locked to keep Rose out, although Channing had her own key. Once or twice Grand had called and asked her to Fed Ex something.
She stepped out of the car as he approached.
"Channing." Grant dropped the duffle bag and pulled her into a hug, which she returned without evasion. Then he kissed her forehead and cupped her face to stare into her eyes. "What have you gotten into up here?"
"Something nasty," she replied. "Nasty and evil and … I don't know a word ghastly enough to call this thing. I saw it rip a man apart."
"Crap," Grant said. "How are you holding up?"
She stiffened her spine and stepped back from his embrace. "I want this thing caught and destroyed, Grant. I can't even begin to tell you how much I want it dead. It's taking children, Grant!"
His mouth quirked into the wry grin that had drawn her to him when they first met. "I won't bother to explain why this thing is already dead and what that means. Just be sure you stay far away from it."
He picked up his duffle bag as Channing answered. "That may not be possible. It hurts people, and I'm the only doctor in the area right now. Well, the only one who's able to take care of people when they get hurt or ill."
"Then we'll have to work with that." She'd left her coat unbuttoned in the warm car, and he glanced down at her neck, then touched the pouch hanging there. Jerking his finger back quickly, he frowned. "Whatever's in that is powerful."
"That's what I've been told."
"Good. I'm glad I'll be working with men who take this stuff seriously."
As the plane revved its engines and began its takeoff, Channing leaned into the car and pushed the trunk release button. With the noise escalating and conversation difficult, Grant stored his bag.
When they could hear each other again, Grant said, "I did some thinking about this situation on the trip here, and I agree with you that this thing is evil. There are always ways to eradicate entities such as this, though. We just have to figure out what it will take for this one."
Evidently Grant had already seen Nodinens riding in the front seat, since he climbed into the back and held his hand through the console opening. "Grant Stoneman," he introduced himself.
Nodinens accepted his handshake. "My name is Nodinens, but you will hear many call me Grandmother."
"That name indicates an important tribal elder," Grant said. "I'm very pleased to meet you."
"As I am you," Nodinens said as Channing handed Grant his coffee and turned the car around. "Our friend Caleb speaks highly of you. We are all glad to have someone with your experience join us in our efforts to destroy the terror plaguing us."