Colin left the empty urn and the canoe stranded on the raft as he threw himself into the water and swam hard back toward the house.
He was halfway there when he heard the second shot.
The sound was close and behind him. He tried to calculate where the shots were coming from. He had no idea. He dived under and kept swimming.
He made it back to the shore and looked frantically around. Should he stay in the water? He could see no one. There had been two shots. He told himself it was hunting season for something. He had no idea for what. But it was always hunting season for something.
He emerged from the water and ran for the back door. It was locked. Angie must have locked it. Good. But what could he do? He pounded. He waited. He pounded a second time. The door opened.
For a moment Colin was confused. Did it open by itself? Then he looked toward the floor. Angie was on her hands and knees backing away from the door.
She hissed at him, “Get down and crawl.”
He did as he was told.
They both crouched behind the sofa on their knees. Colin was soaking the floor around him.
He asked her, “Are you alright?”
Her response was tense and short. “I’m alright.”
They waited for ten slow minutes. Colin could see the clock on the kitchen wall. He was starting to chill. Angie sat with her legs pulled up to her face and her eyes tightly closed. He assumed she was furiously calculating something.
“Get up,” she told him. “We’re leaving.”
“Can I ask?”
“Camping trip.”
They stood up together and began moving slowly. They were both scared. They were both suspicious.
His question was a single word. “Hunting?”
She shook her head emphatically. “What do you think?”
He also shook his head.
“Another warning?” he suggested.
“That would be my guess.”
It took them both no time to pack.
Colin was quicker, which left him time to explore. One bullet was embedded in the passenger door of his car. The second took longer to find.
When he rowed his other canoe out to the raft, he discovered that the urn was safe and unharmed. His abandoned canoe had sprung a bullet-size leak. He tied the canoes together and paddled back to the cabin.
Angie was ready to go.
As usual, Colin drove. Angie typed.
“Where am I going?” he asked.
“Duluth.” There’s an auto-detailing shop. There’s a car rental. There’s a coffee shop near both.”
“Anything else?” he asked, although he knew the answer.
“There’s a post office box for the Natural Boundary Foundation.”
“How will that help us?”
Her response was what he expected. “It won’t,” she admitted. “Not remotely.”
He checked his rearview mirror repeatedly, and Angie smiled for the first time in a while.
“I don’t think you have to keep doing that,” she told him.
“You don’t think—”
“You’ve been looking the whole time.”
“I know,” he said. “I’ve not seen anyone yet.”
Angie sighed. “I don’t think you will. We got our warning. Now they’re hoping we go away.”
Colin drove for three minutes without checking the mirror.
Angie stopped typing.
“Have you heard of Alfred Fisher?”
Colin admitted that he hadn’t.
Angie took a deep breath. “He’s the best link to anything that I have so far. The NBF doesn’t divulge who works for them. But they do host the occasional fundraiser. Guess where these take place?”
“Duluth.”
“Who goes to the most NBF fundraisers?”
“Elliot Devine.”
“Good try,” Angie conceded. “He did a few over the years, not so many recently. On account of being dead. But you’re wrong, anyway.”
Colin waited. He used his free time to once again check the rearview mirror.
“Mr. Alfred Fisher. He’s often there. Mostly looking very uncomfortable. In a cheap tuxedo that looks rented but probably isn’t. In the pictures, he’s usually in the center. He’s usually shaking the hand of someone very rich. Fisher smiles a lot without looking happy. His teeth are horrible.”
“What does he look like? Colin asked.
Angie tilted the computer screen briefly toward him.
“Is he rich?”
“He is decidedly not rich.”
“What does he do?”
“He’s the owner of Lauder Lake Outfitters. Guess where his business is located?”
“In the Frontier Waters?”
“Can you be more specific?”
“In the Frontier Waters on land owned by the foundation.”
It was starting to rain by the time they arrived in downtown Duluth. Ted’s Custom Detailing was one of three businesses sharing an empty parking lot. His shop was a two-car garage. There was a car under a huge sheet and an empty space where Colin was encouraged to park his injured vehicle.
Ted was looking at pickup trucks online. He had been expecting Colin. Angie had thoughtfully texted ahead.
His inspection of the car was cursory. “Your door will look just fine. It’ll take a couple of days. I need to match the paint. You want the bullet back?”
Colin declined.
“Can I find you a loaner?”
The other two business on the lot were a U-Haul and a car rental, and they both belonged to Ted.
He checked his inventory as he spoke. “I won’t charge for a beater. If you want something fancy, it will be a little extra.”
Colin asked. “Will a beater get me to the Frontier Waters and back?”
Ted didn’t look offended. “Sure will. All my vehicles run fine.”
Angie was in the coffee shop when Colin pulled up outside and entered.
“Did you want a red one?” she asked as she looked out the window.
“Ted says it’s his fastest beater.”
“Very impressive. Can he fix your door?”
“He seemed confident.”
She changed the subject. “If you ever need to hide something, get yourself a post office box.”
“You’re having no success.”
She shook her head, then said, “Lauder Lake Outfitters expects us tomorrow.”
“What about today?”
“Too late. Tomorrow is their changeover day. It’s easier to get a rental then. They’re providing everything we need. I used your credit card.”
“I thought we were using cash.”
“That’s worked so well for us so far,” she sneered.
“They don’t know we have a different car.”
“Did you reserve it with a credit card?”
“No,” he stormed back. “It’s thrown in as part of the repair.”
“So, we might have a mystery ride for now.”
“You’ve been pretty free with my money.”
“You’re dying soon, and I didn’t have much choice.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“My credit has been temporarily frozen,” she said.
“Why?” he asked her.
She answered, “I presume for the same reason my credit was checked. It’s another warning. Don’t worry. I still have lots of cash. And I have other accounts they don’t know about.”
“Which you’re not going to access.”
She nodded, “Which I’m not going to access. So, the rest of the trip is on your dime. Speaking of which. We have a hotel room for tonight.”
That night, Angela Rennie’s added herself to the short list of women Colin Tugdale had slept with. Angie was only the second. Colin had been shy as a youth, to the point where his parents were resigned to his bachelorhood. Thankfully, Ruby had been certain she wanted him and was willing to do all the legwork to secure her reticent Romeo. Colin’s parents breathed a collective sigh of relief; they were hoping for grandchildren.
Colin’s postcoital good humor evaporated at the sight of his loaner car in the hotel parking lot. It was still dark, but the lot was brightly lit, and he could see the car clearly. On the plus side, he was returning it to a man with recent experience repairing bullet holes. He noted that this one was located on the driver’s side door.
On the negative side, Colin was now facing a repair charge well in excess of the car’s value, retail or wholesale.
He was standing and stewing when his latest conquest arrived, carrying both of their bags and her computer.
“We’re clearly not hard to find,” was all she said.
“What will they do when we get to the waters?” he asked.
“Maybe they’ll kill us.”
“It’s a good place to do it,” he observed.
She looked thoughtful. “But they haven’t done it yet.”
“Too messy?”
“We’re still being warned.”
“We must be out of warnings by now,” Colin said.
“Maybe we are,” Angie said softly. “Maybe we are.”
They said nothing else as they got in the car.
They drove most of the way in silence. The big lake was at their side, lurking on the right, invisible in the predawn gloom for most of the journey north. They stopped once and bought coffee. The road was quiet as the sun finally came up, and they made good time.
At Lauder Lake they were shepherded efficiently through orientation. Their Kevlar canoe was made ready. Their two Duluth packs were filled. They had answered all the important questions: Were they decaf drinkers? Did they have any dietary requirements? Would they like bacon to fry with their eggs as part of their first morning’s breakfast?
Todd worked for the outfitters. He wore an olive polo shirt. He continued to probe.
“Have you canoed the waters before?
They answered that one in the negative.
“But you’ve canoed before?”
They answered that one in the positive.
“How far are you planning to go?”
At this point Angie chose to deviate. “We’re here to see Alfred.”
Todd looked slightly amused. “Then you know he’s not here.” His tone indicated that these were words he had spoken many times.
“Of course.” Angie looked a little offended. “We know that. We know where to find him.”
Todd looked concerned. “It just seems like you might need more time to get up there and back.”
Angie answered with confidence, “We can do it.”
Todd pulled out a map and a pen. When he spread it out on a table Angie and Colin said nothing.
“No,” he said softly to himself. “You’re doing three days. In and out. You should make it. You both look pretty fit. This portage here is drowned.” He pointed more than once with his pen. “And this one here. And that one there.” Angie and Colin were studying his hands and the pen and the marks on the map as closely as they could. “So, you’ll go there. You’ll go that way. That will make it faster going.” He drew a last line. “Wind is set to blow north for most of the way out. Hope it changes for you on the way back. You’ll have to go through Gregory Lake at the end.”
“Gregory Lake?” For a moment, Colin must have sounded less than confident. Did Todd look surprised? Angie smiled fiercely, and Todd was reassured.
“There,” Todd pointed. “A long, wet portage runs out of it and there are no sites on the whole lake. But it’s got to be faster going that way.” Todd put his pen down. He looked satisfied with his conclusion. Then he asked, “Who did you say you guys are with?”
Angie was ready. “The Continuum Consortium.”
Todd stared at Angie for a long second, his expression unreadable. “Huh,” was all he said, before recovering. “Well, that’s cool. I’m sure Alfred will be glad to see you.”