American Crow (17 page)

‘Up in the Cumberland Mountains. I
wouldn’t head up there if I was you though. You’ll only find trouble, as I say.
Big trouble...’

‘Well, I’ll be the judge of that,’ I said
recovering his keys and the knife from his jacket.

I bound Tony to the same tree I’d been
tied to, tossed the knife and gun deep into the undergrowth, then headed to
where his Dodge was parked up, much to his futile protestations.

Just as I was sliding his key into the
ignition, a phone started ringing loudly from somewhere inside. For a second I
ignored it, just wanting to escape the suffocating forest, until I realized
suddenly it was a calling tone I recognized...

Hurriedly, I searched for its source then
traced it to the glove compartment just as it cut off. I clicked open the door
and picked it up. It looked like the exact same Nokia I’d bought back in
Minnesota, along with the wallet I’d taken from the bounty hunter. Corrigan’s
henchmen must have left my belongings in the vehicle then Lutz  borrowed
the pick-up, to come out and interrogate me. My luck was in...

I checked the number of the caller. It
was Nancy Stringer. I redialled it quickly.

‘Hello?’ a soft, southern voice answered
instantly.

‘Hi, the name’s Blake. It’s good to
finally make contact with you.’

‘What can I do for you, Mr Blake?’

Her tone was wary.

‘Your friend, Martha Reynolds, gave me
your number, I hope you don’t mind. I’m a friend of a friend of hers, and as I
was passing through Lexington she said that you might be able to help me.’

‘Go on,’ she said sounding more relaxed.

‘I’m over here looking for a girl who’s
gone missing. Her name’s Olivia Deacon.’

The resulting silence spoke volumes.

‘And why do you think I can help?’ she
quizzed, sounding more defensive again.

‘Because she came down to Kentucky to
help out with the mountain protests. I got the impression from Martha that you
might be involved in them too?’

‘What’s the girl’s name again?’

‘Olivia Deacon.’

She stammered for a moment. I cut in.

‘Look, I know that she probably doesn’t
want to be found, Nancy, but she might actually be in some serious danger,
okay.’

‘Errr…’

‘I’m not here to drag her back kicking
and screaming to England. I’m just trying to find out if she’s safe or not, for
her father’s peace of mind.’

‘Look, Blake, I don’t want to get
involved in some on-going family dispute. I’ve got enough on my plate as it is.
She didn’t tell me her surname, but an English girl called Olivia helped me
take some water samples around a fortnight ago in the mountains. I haven’t seen
her since though, okay...’

‘Did she say where she was going?’

‘Back to Minnesota I think, to try and
get some more money together. Her and her boyfriend were running low on funds
she said.’

I placed my hand over the phone and swore
angrily.

‘How did she come over? Was she nervous?
Scared?’

‘A little anxious, but then there’s a lot
going on down here that she didn’t expect to find, so it’s understandable. And
she’s still young, you know…’

‘Concerning the protests?’

‘Yes.’

‘And have the mining people directed any
violence at
you
before?’ I said, wanting to bring up the situation with
the house.

She laughed.

‘I’ve had plenty of scrapes with those
assholes, sure. It’s part of life down here.’

‘Well, I think you may have just had
another, because I went around to your house the other night and your office
was trashed.’

‘You’ve been in my house?’ she said,
sounding shocked.

‘Yes, I asked the barman in McCluskey’s
on Martha’s recommendation, and he told me where you lived.’

‘God damn it.’

‘In his defence, I said I was a good
friend.’

‘Go on...’ Nancy said, sounding deeply annoyed.

‘So I headed over to your place and
knocked on the door. You didn’t answer, so I tried around the back. The door
was open. I went inside to check that you were okay…’

‘The sons of a bitches! Look, I’m on the
road heading back now. I’ve been up in the mountains where the signal’s poor,
which is why I’ve only just seen your calls.’

She sighed.

‘Did they wreck it bad?’

‘The office, yes…’

‘Did you see them?’

‘I felt them, put it like that. I woke up
bound to a tree in a forest way out of town.’

‘Oh my god, are you alright?’

‘Yes...when I finally managed to shake
them off. Things got a bit rough though...’

‘Did you find out who they were working
for?’

‘Some guy called Lyle Corrigan. Do you
know him?’

‘Everyone knows Lyle Corrigan, Blake.’
She paused as if uneasy about the latest revelation. ‘And if you’ve got any
sense, you’d stay well clear of him.’

‘They kind of found me really, Nancy. It
seems like Olivia may have ruffled a few feathers down here already, and it may
be why you’ve been burgled too.’

‘God damn it…’

‘Look, I think we need to talk properly,
face to face.’

‘Where are you?’

‘Somewhere near a place called Bear’s
Rock on the edge of the Daniel Boone Forest. I was heading over to the mountains
to try and find some protesters who might know something, when you rang. Where
abouts are you?’

‘I’ll be heading back that way in around
twenty, coming up through Letcher County. We could meet halfway in between near
a place called Hexville if you want. Do you think you can find it?’

I sucked some air through my teeth.

‘I haven’t got a map, but I’ll do my
best.’

‘Do you know what road you are on now?’

‘No.’

‘Look, if find your way to Bear Rock,
you’ll probably find highway Fifty-Two. Stay on that and keeping heading
south-east out of the forest, through a town called Greening until you pick up
the Fifteen to Hexville. I’ll be heading back on the One-Sixty. We can’t miss
each other.’

‘Right,’ I said, unsure of her optimism.

‘I’ll meet you at a truck-stop south side
of the town, okay? There’s a burger joint next to it called, Sizzlers, just as
you’re heading out. You can’t miss it.’

‘Sounds like a plan.’

‘You got gas?’

‘Half-full,’ I said staring at the dial.

‘Should be enough...I’ll ring in fifteen to
make sure you’re on the right track.’

Nancy clicked off and I pressed down hard
on the accelerator making the wheels spin in the dirt as they fought for
traction. Slowly, I weaved my way upwards through the dense forest as I mulled
over the case piece by piece, feeling relieved to be finally escaping the wilds
where I’d been held for far too long.

After a good ten minutes of hard driving
I pulled off the track onto a more substantial road, which then wound its way
down to Bear’s Rock, where I found the Fifty-Two, which gradually cut its way
through a majestic expanse of rolling foothills as it left the Daniel Boone in
the distance.

After another fifteen minutes of open
road I passed through Greening just as she said, then arrived on the outskirts
of Hexville a short while after that. I eased off the gas as I worked my way
along the main drag, looking for a truck-stop with a gaudy-looking burger joint
opposite.

As I came to the end of the street I
cursed under my breath. I couldn’t see anything even vaguely resembling what
she’d described. Was I even in the right bloody town? I looked straight ahead
and eyed the faint blur of snow-capped mountains beckoning me in the distance.
I needed to talk face to face with Stringer first, get some decent leads.    

‘Damn it...’

Sizzler’s was nowhere to be seen. Maybe
I’d entered the town on a different road? Or maybe the burger joint had been
closed down and Nancy didn’t know about it?

I left the town behind and worked my way
slowly up through a series of snaking bends, hemmed in by rocky escarpments,
feeling frustrated suddenly. Then, as I searched for somewhere safe to turn
around, a dark blue sedan swung around the next bend on the wrong side of the
road, heading straight for me.

‘Fuck!’

I grabbed the steering wheel tightly
trying to avoid its trajectory, then took the decision to go left and thundered
across the scalpings, bouncing off the cutting wall as I went, shooting across
the road again, narrowly missing another car travelling behind me, before
finally coming to a bone-crushing halt between a large road sign and a lump of
rock.

I sat there motionless for a moment
temporarily stunned, not believing what had just happened, then grabbed the
door handle and fell out onto the ground. I took a few deep breaths trying to
regain my senses, then looked over to see the sedan angled on its side in a
drainage ditch, its far-side wheels elevated a good metre in the air, still
spinning.

I stood up feeling groggy then ran over
to it and stared in through the windscreen. Inside was a young brunette with
her eyes closed, wearing a red puffer jacket and black woollen hat, a trickle
of blood running down her attractive face. I went to the driver’s side and
tried to open the door. Such was the tilt of the car it wouldn’t budge. Then I
smelt petrol.

‘Shit...’

I ran to the rear of the vehicle, picked
up a rock and smashed the back windscreen with one firm
hit.     

‘We’ll have you out in one minute,
darling,’ I shouted, without response.

I scrambled through the window and
clocked the smoke in the foot-well.

‘Mother of god...’

Working frantically, I located the seat
adjuster and worked it back as fast as I could, until the girl’s body was
leaning sufficiently back for me to grab her under the arms and pull her out
through the smashed window onto the small square trunk, then onto the ground.
When I saw the flames, I picked her up in my arms and ran back to the stolen
pick-up and took shelter.

As I lowered her down, the sedan went up
in a deafening explosion. I ducked my head instinctively. The girl moaned and
came around. I stared at her face, thinking how familiar it looked, before
realizing it was the same as the photo I’d seen in Lexington. It was the
biologist, Nancy Stringer.

‘Are you okay, Nancy? Are you hurt
anywhere?’ I said concerned.

She looked confused for a second at
hearing her name, then seemed to guess who I was from my accent.

‘Blake?’

I nodded.

She offered a hazy smile.

‘I think someone may have cut my
brakes...’

Chapter Sixteen

‘the sanctuary’

Devil’s Fork. Cumberland
Mountains.

I
watched intrigued as Martha pulled a variety of green and
brown bottles from the shelves, filled with an array of ointments and
tinctures, then sat in obedient silence as she dabbed their gloopy contents
onto our numerous cuts, the lump on Nancy’s forehead and the sizeable swelling
over my eye where I’d hit the windscreen.

‘Well, I’m glad ya came back, Nancy. I
just wasn’t expecting it to be so soon,’ the mid-wife said, breaking the numb
silence.

‘Yeah, right,’ Nancy replied, patting her
head gingerly with an ice pack.

‘I tell yer, it geeves a whole new
meaning to running into someone, don’t it?’

I smiled painfully, eyeing Martha
Reynolds with curiosity. She was wearing a pair of faded dungarees stretched
over a short, dumpy frame and a flowery bleached cotton shirt underneath them,
which complemented the ancient-looking sandals on her feet. She looked like the
sort who enjoyed living by simple means, and appreciated the simple pleasures
in life. Her solid, two-storey mountain lodge certainly seemed to radiate that.
It had the same welcoming glow as she did...

‘It was lucky that the brakes didn’t go a
few more miles down the road where the bends are fiercer,’ I said, feeling the
strange lotion bite as she applied it.

‘Do you know who deed it?’ she quizzed,
looking at us both.

‘I theenk we all know who did it,’ the
biologist replied softly.

Martha headed back to the ramshackle
kitchen and made some more noise.    

‘I just can’t understand how they deedn’t
snap right aways...’

‘They fit a small explosive device to the
brake lines, which is then activated when you reach a certain speed to cause
maximum damage,’ I explained, my face stinging from all the blows.

‘Are you serious?’ Martha said, returning
with some steaming mugs of coffee.

‘I’m afraid it is, yes...’

‘And how do you know about things like
that, Mr Blake, if you don’t mind me asking?’ she said eyeing me with suspicion
suddenly.

‘Hey, Corrigan’s men roughed him up good
and proper at my place, then tied him to a tree in the Daniel Boone. He doesn’t
work for them, okay?’

‘God damn…is there no lengths these
people won’t go to?’ Martha said, hands on hips, her face etched with defiance.

‘Nope,’ Nancy said, patting my thigh in
solidarity.

I turned to face her and tweaked a smile.
For a second our gazes locked onto each other and there was some sort of
unconscious exchange.

‘Gunna make some stew tonight, that orta
sort you two out,’ Martha said, severing the moment.

‘Thanks,’ we replied in tandem.

I laughed and felt a nerve twinge in my
face. I’d taken a real thump in the crash, and just hadn’t realized such was my
concern for Nancy. I was lucky I hadn’t busted anything serious, or gone
through the bloody windscreen.

‘There are a couple clean beds up in the
attic room for you guys later. I’ve got a some guests staying for B and B
tonight, so you can’t have the main rooms, but it’ll be comfortable and warm
enough,’ Martha announced, eyeing us like we were kids on a sleep over.

‘I’m really indebted to you...thanks,’ I
said genuinely.

‘Sure thing,’ she replied, readjusting
the clip in her thick auburn hair.

I shuffled forward to the edge of the
sofa, keen to ask the question that had been on my lips since our arrival.

‘I know when we chatted on the phone
before, Martha, you said that you hadn’t heard from Chrissie recently. Is that
still the case?’   

Martha pulled up a rocking chair next to
the log burner and stoked it a little as if deep in thought.

‘Can’t remember the last time we did chat
in truth, Blake. It’s been a while...’

I fumbled for a moment and pulled out my
cell.

‘The number I’ve got for her is this one.
She’s still not picking up.’

I held the phone up so she could see the
illuminated number.

‘Yeah, that looks about right.’

‘It would just be great to talk to her,
that’s all. She might be able to lead me directly to Ethan and Olivia and save
me one hell of a lot of time and stress.’

‘As I’ve said before, she’s got a lot of
changes happening in her life at the moment, son. I thought I’d let her come to
me when she’s good and ready. You know how it is...’

‘Yes of course,’ I replied, disappointed.

The conversation petered out and for a
good few minutes the job of finding Olivia Deacon was temporarily forgotten.
The mountain lodge would be a good place to rest up for the night too I
reflected. It seemed secluded enough to keep us out of trouble at the very
least. And a night of uninterrupted sleep and a decent stew would certainly
raise the energy levels, as well as give me some more time to quiz Nancy about
what was really going on in the mountains…

A good half-hour had elapsed before
Martha finally stood up, breaking my ruminations.

‘Well, I’m gunna head up the road to get
some provisions before the guests come later. You’ll be okay, won’t you?’ she
asked, staring solely at Nancy.

The biologist shot me a smile then nodded
back to her friend.

‘Sure.’

‘I’ll leave you to it then...’

I heard the door slam a few minutes
later. For a while Nancy and I just sat there in silence again, conversation alluding
us. Then I heard her shuffle in her seat restlessly as if some question were
welling up inside her, needing to be aired.

‘I think there’s more to you than meets
the eye, Blake, you know...’

‘Yeah?’

‘Well first things first…what sort of
name is Blake? Is that your first or second name? It kinda sounds pretty harsh
as it stands.’

‘It’s a name.’

She looked at me bemused.

‘And you’ve only ever had one name?’

‘My father only ever used the first.’

‘He’s dead?’

‘Disappeared in Panama fifteen years ago.
When I finally find him, I might start using it again...’

She looked down at my muddy boots then
into my eyes as if wanting to connect with something deeper, but was afraid to
do so.

‘I never knew my mother either before you
ask. She died giving birth to me.’

‘I’m sorry...’

‘It’s in the past now.’

‘Yeah, and it’s easy to get stuck there,
huh?’

I shrugged my shoulders, brushing off her
words.

‘I was stuck in the past for a long time
too, Blake. It was hard not to be. My husband died seven years ago of cancer.
He was only twenty-eight. In fact, I’ve only just moved from the house we had
up here back to Lexington, to try and escape the memories. I only come here to
do my work now.’

I heard her voice audibly tighten.

‘Things are tough up here, you
know...There are those of us who believe in keeping the mountains the way they
are, and those who want to remove them one by one. It’s a constant battle.’

She leaned over hands entwined, and
stared at the floor.

‘Was his death somehow connected to the
mining operations?’ I asked gently.

‘Damn right it was,’ she replied sharply,
her emotions pricked. ‘He was slowly poisoned by the water we were drinking
from the well on our property, just like my little girl was. If only we knew at
the time...’

‘Isn’t that the way,’ I said, thinking
about Olivia for a second.

‘It was why I went and studied
environmental biology after they both died. I wanted to try and help protect
other folks, so they wouldn’t have to go through the same devastation.’

‘You lost your daughter too?’

‘She died of Blue Baby Syndrome, aged
just six months...’

For a few painful seconds the
conversation faltered. I couldn’t find any words to respond, that seemed in
anyway good enough.

‘What in the hell is Blue…?’

‘Cyanosis. The polluted water she drank
affected the make-up of her haemoglobin so that it couldn’t transport enough
oxygen around her body. In the end, her skin went blue and she fell into a
coma. She never came out of it…’

‘God, I’m sorry...’ 

‘Many more people here have suffered far
worse though, Blake, and that’s the dark truth of it. Those who live near the
strip mines and cleaning facilities have to breathe the coal dust in and the
chemicals every-damned-day, have to face mud slides where they’ve cut all the
trees down, have to drink the toxic water from their own taps and wells...’

She dabbed a tear from her eye and
sighed.

‘You know, if you live near a surface
mine here, your life expectancy is only fifty-five, Blake. Fifty-five...’

There was a longer silence this time. For
a while we both just stared into the fire absorbing what had been shared before
Nancy spoke again.

‘A few years back, around fifty people
died when a damn in a slurry basin broke not far from here. Two hundred and
fifty million tons of toxic sludge swept down into one of the valleys, Blake.
Five times more than the Exxon Valdez oil spill. People were swept away in
their beds for Christ’s sake. People.’

‘Jesus…’

‘And when they’re not being swept away by
mud and black sludge, they’re dying slowly from silicosis, dying from the heavy
metals in the water their drinking. Their hair and teeth are falling out, their
lungs are collapsing. At least I had time to say goodbye to Tom. It took him
slowly...’

‘How come no one knows about this, that
there’s no one stopping it?’

‘Because Appalachia’s not the Sierra
Nevada, nor the Rockies, nor the Cascades, Blake. We’re damaged goods and
always will be. We’re the sweet mountain whore that big business just loves to
keep on fucking.’

I sat back in my chair cowed by the anger
powering her words. Here was a proud woman who’d spent most of her life
fighting for something she believed in, who was nearly, but not quite broken
and who was going to continue fighting until she was.

‘You’ve walked into one hell of a storm,
Blake, and it consumes everything in its path if you choose to stand in its
way. So you’re better off out of it, I’m telling ya. The girl will eventually
turn up if she has any sense. Leave while you can. Go back to England and wait
for her there. Just wait...’

‘Thing is, I made a promise to her father
that I’d find her...’

Nancy looked at me as though I were mad.

‘Look, from what I can make out, she’s
been attracting the wrong sort of attention since she arrived. Recently I told
a private detective that she’d helped me take some water samples. A few days
later I start getting tailed myself.’

‘By Corrigan’s men?’

‘Yes, I think so.’

‘This guy confronted me in a car park in
Frankfort, after a talk I gave a few weeks back on water pollution.’

‘Go on…’

‘He asked me where the English girl was
staying. I said that I didn’t know, that she only came to help me for a day,
like some of the protesters do sometimes to learn more about the science behind
it all…’

Nancy got up and headed to the kitchen.

‘I’m used to getting heckled at talks
from the mining people wanting to dissuade me from building a case against a
potential new mine site, or threatening letters in the Mountain Eagle, or crap
through my letterbox, but this was on a whole different level.’

‘They’re not usually that direct with
their intimidation?’

‘No. The guy said that if he found out I
was lying, that he was going to send me to meet my husband and daughter. His
hand was resting on a gun as he said it, Blake.’

‘Pleasant...’

‘So whatever this girl has stirred up,
it’s not worth getting killed for I can tell ya. These guys mean business...’

I got up and walked over to the fire to
poke a fallen log back into place, then looked over and saw the rage in her
exquisite brown eyes. She was a mother and a wife who had lost everything. I’d
only just lost a daughter...

‘I’ve been in worse situations,’ I said
trying to lighten the mood, and anyway, I like the company.’

She offered a flicker of a smile.

‘And you don’t know where Olivia was
staying?’ I said softly.

‘No, only that she came here to protest.
I met her at the Street-Level Café in Lexington three or four weeks ago after a
similar talk. We arranged it that she’d come out to help the following week.
Over the course of the day together she spoke about her life in London, the
gallery in Minneapolis, and Ethan of course.’