Always Ready (8 page)

He hated adding that the
Milroy
’s propeller was damaged in the pursuit. That wouldn’t look well for Greer. Overeager. Aven hoped the skipper wouldn’t get into trouble over it. And it meant their deployment would be cut short. No telling how long repairs would take. If Caddie had been within a thousand miles, he’d have looked forward to docking in Kodiak, but she was probably still in Washington with her family.

❧

Chicken noodle soup and a sandwich. Caddie decided to save money and eat in her apartment Thursday evening. Maybe tomorrow she’d ask around to see how much it would cost to fly to one of the best bear-watching spots on the island. She’d probably never have a better chance. She’d regret it if she left Alaska without at least trying to get some good Kodiak bear pictures.

The doorbell rang.

She turned off the burner, hurried to the door, and looked through the peephole. For a moment she doubted her eyesight. Quickly, she threw the deadbolt. “Aven! You’re not supposed to get in until Saturday.”

He clenched his teeth as he smiled. “We’re back early. The
Milroy
needs repairs.”

Caddie arched her eyebrows and held the door wider. “What happened? Nothing serious, I hope.”

“Not really, but it will take a few days to fix.” He stepped inside. “We got a little close to shore, and the propeller hung up on a rock.”

“That’s too bad.”

“Yeah. So anyway, Mark called me a few minutes ago and said Jo-Lynn told him you were back. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not a bit.”

Aven took off his hat and looked around. “I’d say, ‘Nice place you’ve got here,’ but it looks just like my place.”

She laughed. “Thanks. I think the one-bedroom units are all alike.”

“That’s a nice picture, though.” He stepped closer to the framed photograph she’d hung between the two living room windows when she moved in.

“Thanks. That’s my brother, Jordan, and his dog. I took it a couple of years ago when I went home on leave. They’re both a lot bigger now.”

“You took that? It’s great.”

Caddie looked at it critically. She liked it, too. Jordan at twelve, hugging the half-grown border collie pup. She’d caught both their expressions just right.

Aven swung around, his dark eyes gleaming. “It’s terrific. Hey, I wondered if you’d like to go get something to eat.”

Caddie thought fleetingly of the soup she’d started to fix. She couldn’t ask him to share that and a peanut butter sandwich. The flush that zipped into her cheeks told her she wasn’t ready to offer to cook for him in her apartment anyway.

“Well, sure. But. . .” She hesitated. Aven lived frugally to help his family. “If you’ll let me pay my share.”

He shuddered, his eyes twinkling. “Let’s not do that I’ll-pay-no-I’ll-pay thing.”

“Exactly. We’ll both pay.”

He held out a moment longer, making a comical face.

“Burgers.” She tried to put enticement into the one word, and he fell for it.

“Okay, let’s go.”

She laughed and grabbed her purse and a sweater.

When they reached the restaurant, the tables were jammed with tourists.

“We could eat in the truck.” Aven’s plaintive tone caught at her heartstrings.

“Okay. That way, we’ll be able to hear each other without yelling.”

His face cleared and he smiled at her as they waited in line to order their food. The buzz of conversation around them made talking pointless, so she waited silently, but standing beside him sheared away the tedium. Ten minutes later they climbed back into his truck. He pulled out a cup holder rack, and Caddie fumbled with her good hand to situate the drinks.

Aven asked a brief blessing and handed her a wrapped sandwich. “Need help getting that open?”

“I think I can do it.” Over the past three weeks, she’d developed an amazing one-handed agility, using the cast as a prop. “Do I dare ask how your ship came to grief?”

He gave a short laugh and shook his head. “It wasn’t my fault, for which I’m extremely thankful.”

“Oh, yeah. I know the exact feeling.”

“We got a tip that a boat carrying drugs would be heading into a certain harbor this morning. It was a long shot that we’d find the right boat, since it was a small one, and you know what it’s like looking for a little boat in the Gulf of Alaska, but we found her. Trouble was she was already pretty close to shore when we spotted her and hugging the coast. When we hailed her, she scooted for a channel we couldn’t navigate.”

“Terrific.”

“Yeah.” Aven took a bite of his cheeseburger and chewed thoughtfully. A moment later he reached for his cup and looked over at her. “There’s something about that boat that bothers me a lot.”

“Oh?”

“We traced the registration number. It belongs to a fellow who lives in Larsen Bay. I was assigned to call the state police when we docked, so they can check it out. And guess what?”

“No idea.” She waited, knowing he would give her the rest of the story when he was ready.

Aven shifted in his seat and inhaled deeply. “The guy who owns the boat has the same last name as the fisherman who tried to deck me a month ago on the
Molly K.
”

“Same man?”

“His brother.”

Caddie gave a soft whistle. “Is the fisherman in jail?”

“No. He should be. Most of them were fined. The big guy—his name’s Spruce Waller—did ten whole days in the slammer. The guy who roughed up Seaman Kusiak is still in there—he’ll serve 45 days and then a year’s probation. The captain lost his boat and got a stiff fine.”

“Sounds like he’s suffering more than the rest, and you told me he didn’t take part in the fight.”

“That’s right. The laws we have do that sometimes. It’s too bad in a way. But this Waller character didn’t have a record—which I find incredible, given his temper—and they let him off easy.”

Caddie sighed. “And now his brother shows up in your sights.”

“Right. It’s got me wondering if Spruce, being out of work in the fishing biz, has started something new with his brother. I didn’t see him on the boat we were after, but that doesn’t mean anything. I didn’t know when we were chasing them that his brother owned the boat, so I wasn’t looking for him. He’s a big guy, though. Six-two or so, and he must weigh around two-fifty.”

“His brother may be hefty, too. Maybe they’d look similar from a distance.”

“True. And there’s another thing. I was thinking that when I went to his indictment, they said Spruce Waller had a cabin in Larsen Bay. But it turns out his place is in
Anton
Larsen Bay, which isn’t far from here.”

“But his brother lives in Larsen Bay, on the other end of the island?”

“Yeah, pretty much. You can’t drive there from here.”

“Still, it would be easy to go back and forth in a boat.”

“No, too difficult. But it makes it less likely that the brothers are working together. Spruce’s main residence is here in Kodiak, and his cabin is fifteen miles away.” Aven popped the last bite of his burger into his mouth and crumpled the wrapper. After swallowing, he said, “That was good. Now how about dessert?”

Caddie chuckled. “Not for me, but go ahead. I’ll wait here while you get it.”

Aven left, and she settled back in the seat, looking out at the ocean view. The sun was still high in the sky. Most of the fishing boats were out, but pleasure craft dotted the harbor. A gull landed on the trash bin a few yards away, and once again she wished she’d brought her camera.

Aven returned a few minutes later, and the bird flew off with a scrap of a bun in its mouth. He held out a steaming cup to her. “Here. I remembered you like hot tea from that time at the restaurant.”

“Thank you! That’s very thoughtful.”

He settled in beside her and put his own coffee in the rack while he opened a pastry package. “Sure you don’t want some?”

“No, but thanks.”

“You know, this whole thing with the Waller brothers is working on me. I’m trying not to obsess over it.”

“Taking it personally?”

“Maybe.” Aven frowned. “I shouldn’t have let things get out of control on the fishing boat. I wasn’t alert enough, and I let him get too close.”

“It happens.”

“Yeah. I was trying to radio in, and he took advantage of that second’s distraction. Kusiak got cut up because of that.”

“Is he okay now?”

“Yeah. He’ll have an intriguing scar. The rest of us got bruised up a little, but. . .”

“But you’re still mad about it?”

“Not mad exactly.” He gazed at her then shrugged in defeat. “I’ve been praying about it. I don’t want to go out there having it in for someone. Anger leads to mistakes. But I admit it bothers me that it happened on my watch.”

“You could be right about what Waller’s doing now, though. His brother may have talked him into running drugs with him. Maybe he can’t get another job fishing because of his arrest.”

“Naw, I doubt that. There are so many fishing outfits around. And we don’t have proof they were carrying drugs. Just an anonymous tip.”

“That boat ran from you, and it was definitely the brother’s boat, right?” She watched his pensive eyes. He’d already considered that, she could see, and he didn’t like the implications.

“Yeah, there was something going on that they didn’t want us to know about, that’s for sure. If I have anything to say about it, we’ll catch up with them one of these days.” He looked up and smiled. “Hey, let’s forget about them for now. There’s still hours of daylight left. It’ll hardly even get dark tonight. What do you say we drive over to Fort Abercrombie?”

“I’d love to! I haven’t seen it yet.”

“Great. The stuff that’s left from the World War II era is interesting.” He stuffed his trash into the empty bag.

“I’m game, as long as you don’t want to go kayaking or anything like that.”

“When does the cast come off?” He glanced at her arm as he reached for the ignition.

“Maybe Monday. Maybe not. The doctor sounded like it was iffy. Pray for me. I don’t want to be sidelined longer than necessary.”

“No, but you don’t want to go back to work too soon, either.” As he threw the transmission into gear, his phone rang. He shoved the gearshift back into park and answered it. “Yeah? Okay.” His dark eyes flitted to meet her gaze and he frowned. “Yeah, I’ll be there as quick as I can.” He clicked the phone off.

“Emergency?” Caddie asked.

“Afraid so. A charter boat needs help off Raspberry Island. I’m supposed to report to our sister ship, the
Shatney
. Half her crew’s on leave, so any of the
Milroy
’s men who can get there fast will go out on the
Shatney
. I’m sorry.”

Caddie lifted her right hand and raised her brows. “You can’t help it.”

“They’ve sent out a smaller boat already, but they may need us. I’ll drop you at your apartment. It’s almost on my way.” Aven’s shoulders drooped as he backed out of the parking space.

“We can go to the old fort some other day,” she said.

“I’ll take you up on that. Tomorrow, if we’re back in time.”

“Sure. Or the next day. Whatever works.”

“I’ll call you as soon as we’re in, if it’s not too late.”

When he pulled up before her housing unit, Caddie reached for the door latch. “Don’t get out. I can fend for myself.”

“You sure? Your arm. . .”

On impulse, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m sure. I’ll be praying for you and the people on the charter boat.”

“Thanks.”

His reaction was a little slow, but the last thing she saw as she slid down from the truck cab was his smile.

Six

Aven arrived back at his apartment early the next morning.
Too early to call Caddie,
he reflected after consulting his watch. Robyn and Mom were probably up, fixing the dogs’ rations, but he wouldn’t hazard a guess as to whether Caddie would be awake at 0530 when she didn’t have to report for duty. And if she was sleeping, he didn’t want to wake her. She needed rest to help that arm heal.

After a quick snack, he called his sister instead.

Robyn answered and assured him that the family was getting along all right. “Grandpa’s losing steam physically, but you knew that.”

“Is his arthritis worse?”

“No, about the same as when you were here last. But he isn’t able to do much of anything outside now. Mom’s taken over all the chores he used to do and is taking care of him. I’ve had to pretty much run the business by myself the last few weeks.”

“I’m sorry.” Aven leaned on the card table he used as a kitchen table. He ought to be home, helping Mom and Robyn.

“It’s not your fault. And, hey, I hitched my team up in the new harness yesterday. It was the first chance I’d had. I wanted to make sure it fit them right, and we did a ten-mile training run.”