Black Sun Descending (18 page)

“How do you want to play this?” Hayduke asked, flexing his hands with nervous energy.

“Easy. We're just going to ask if the Aldershots knew Penny, Jane, or Darcy. That's all.”

“And what if this Balin dude lies?”

Silas looked at him. “Look, Hayduke, we're not going to roll anybody today. We're just trying to figure out if these guys knew any of the deceased. If they did and we learn anything, we pass it on to the
FBI
.”

They pulled up outside the yard of Aldershot Transportation. There were a dozen Mack and Peterbuilt trucks in the yard, as well as graders and other highway maintenance equipment. Silas piloted the Outback through the gate and found what looked like the office of the operation. It was a double-wide
ATCO
trailer that was sand-blasted and dented.

“Remember, we're not accusing anybody of murder.”

“I'll let you do the talking.” Hayduke grinned.

They walked into the office. There was no receptionist, just a large open room with laminate desks and metal filing cabinets. Two men in checkered shirts sat at a table with a set of plans rolled out in front of them. One of the men looked up and asked, “Help you?”

“I'm looking for Balin Aldershot.”

“Found him.” The man was in his mid-fifties, with dark hair and a flushed expression. Silas walked over and extended his hand. The second man didn't rise.

“I'm Silas Pearson. This is Josh Charleston.”

“You boys looking for work?” The second man at the table turned and regarded Silas. He was older than Balin, with gray hair and a darkly tanned face crossed with lines that looked like the deep canyons of the landscape all around them. His face reminded Silas of an ax blade.

Silas smiled. “No, but we have a few questions.”

Balin looked at Hayduke, who was standing by the door, his massive arms folded across his chest, his eyes still obscured by his sunglasses. “We're in the middle of something. If you don't mind—”

“We mind,” said Hayduke, and Silas winced.

“Who are you two?”

“He told you—”

Silas cut Hayduke off. “I'm sorry to interrupt. I'm just in town for the day. I'm trying to find my wife. Her name is Penelope de Silva. She went missing four and a half years ago.”

“
I
know
who
you are,” said the second man. “You're that fella who found them bodies out by Moab.” The man's voice sounded like an out-of-tune fiddle.

“That's right.”

“You found that Vaughn bitch, the one with the Sierra Club.”

Silas felt like he'd been slapped. In his peripheral vision he saw Hayduke step forward.

“I found Jane Vaughn,” said Silas, putting a hand up to stop Hayduke. “And we haven't been properly introduced.”

“That's Jim Zahn,” growled Hayduke.

Silas turned to regard the two men, who were now fixing their gaze on Hayduke. He walked back to him and spoke quietly. “Wait outside.”

“No fucking way.”

“I'm not going to learn anything about Penelope if you're in here. Please.”

Hayduke seemed to relax. He smiled a wolfish grin. “Sure. Yeah, alright. If you need me—”

“I'll yell.”

Hayduke smiled at Zahn and Aldershot and stepped outside. He closed the door to the trailer behind him.

“You not leavin' too?” asked Zahn.

Aldershot stood up, smiling congenially. “Never mind Jim.” He looked at Silas. “I really don't think there's anything I can do to help you, Mr. Pearson.”

Addressing Aldershot, Silas walked back toward the table where the two men were working. “You never met my wife?”

“Not formally. She came around Page once or twice, some time ago. I recall her asking questions at a town council meeting once. My wife is on the council so I go to most of the meetings, though I don't really follow things too close. I'm just a trucker trying to make a decent living. Anyway, I remember your wife asking some questions about Page's businesses, such as the generating station and the like. She seemed to have a good head on her shoulders, though folks round here don't like outsiders meddling with their business, so she got a bit of a rough ride.”

Silas listened as Aldershot rambled. “Did she ever bring up the issue of Wilderness designation on the Colorado River?”

Jim Zahn snorted, shook his head, and mumbled under his breath.

“What was that, Mr. Zahn?”

“I don't think your wife was ever around for that discussion, but that other one sure was.”

“You mean Jane Vaughn?”

Aldershot interrupted before Zahn could answer. “Jane was certainly a proponent of Wilderness designation. No question about it. But that argument was settled a long time ago and neither of us had anything to do with it.”

“I've read a letter your wife sent to Jane, Mr. Aldershot. In this correspondence she tells Mrs. Vaughn that her ‘type' aren't welcome in Page, Arizona, and to mind her own business. She suggests, not all that subtly, that bad things happen when people come between someone and their business aspirations. What business aspirations do you think she was referring to?”

Zahn shook his head. “Balin, you want me to throw this pecker­head out?”

“It's alright, Jim.” Aldershot turned back to Silas. “Mr. Pearson, what my wife does on city council time isn't any of my business. I'm sure you of all people can appreciate that. Did you know every letter your wife wrote?” Silas said nothing. “I didn't think so. Terry is a passionate defender of this city's interests. I'm sure you can understand that sometimes people's language gets heated when they are protecting what they love.”

“Why would the town of Page care if the Colorado was designated Wilderness?” asked Silas.

“There are many businesses in Page that rely on motorized access to the Colorado River. You designate it Wilderness and that comes to an end.”

“It's elitist,” added Zahn, not looking at Silas. “Means that only rich folks who can afford a two-week raft trip can enjoy the park. Motorized means fast, and that way regular folk can see the Grand Canyon, not just a bunch of cry-baby environmentalists.”

Silas was inching closer to the table. Zahn, without looking at him, rolled up the maps he and Aldershot were considering.

Aldershot said, “There's a principle at stake, Mr. Pearson. People like Jane Vaughn, and yes, even your wife, want to lock up the parks and keep people out. They want to sterilize the national parks. Other folks feel different. My wife, for example, thinks parks are for people.”

“I'm not going to get into a philosophical debate with you gentlemen. I don't really care about what parks are for. I'm trying to find my wife. You're telling me she was here, as was Jane Vaughn. That's interesting. Do either of you know the names Kiel Pearce or Darcy McFarland?”

“Never heard of 'em,” said Zahn, finishing up with his maps and standing up. Hayduke was right. He stood at least six and a half feet tall and was as thin as a rake. His blade face seemed to hover in the air above the room. “Now, Pearson, if you don't mind getting out of here, we got actual work to do.”

“I don't mind. But tell me this: Jane Vaughn was found in the Atlas Mill tailings. That's uranium. I understand your business interests recently had a setback when the Department of the Interior banned uranium mining along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Must be cause for concern for you. I wonder if you didn't take that a little personally, Mr. Zahn?”

Zahn's dour face broke into a broad smile. “You got me, Mr. Pearson. I did it. I killed Jane Vaughn and throwed her in the back of my pickup and drove her seven hours to Moab and broke into the Atlas site and dumped her on the ground.” He held up his hands in mock surrender, his face returning to its dour countenance.

“Mr. Pearson, I assure you, Mr. Zahn's business interests weren't hurt by Interior's decision to ban future uranium mining on the Arizona Strip. Even someone as anti-business as our current president wouldn't shut down existing mining claims and kick legitimate business owners out on their derrières. Mr. Zahn's claims remain grandfathered into the agreement. So you see, there is simply no reason why anybody here would hold a grudge against Mrs. Vaughn. Now, if you'll excuse us, we
do
have business to attend to.” Aldershot held his arm out to suggest Silas should head to the door. Silas regarded the men a moment and then turned and left.

He stopped when he got to the door. “It's a good speech,” he said. “And I suppose you might pull the wool over someone's eyes with it if it wasn't so obvious that you were hiding something. But you are, and it's only a matter of time before I find out what.” He smiled and stepped out into the yard.

HAYDUKE WAS LEANING AGAINST SILAS'S
Outback when he stepped out of the trailer. Hayduke straightened up, belched, crushed a beer can in his heavy hand, and tossed it onto the ground. “You alright?” he asked.

“Yeah, fine.”

“Then let's go.”

Silas got into the car and watched as Balin Aldershot stepped out of the doorway and stood with his arms crossed, watching him. Hayduke got into the car and rolled down the window. “Nice rigs you got,” he said, his smile wide through his hairy face. He flipped Balin the finger and rolled up the window.

Out on the highway Silas checked the rearview mirror and saw nobody following them. “What did you do?”

“Nothing. Well, I talked with a few fellas who were working in the yard, but I didn't touch nothing. I just wanted to fuck with that son of a bitch's head, that's all.”

Silas glanced at him as they sped toward Page. “You didn't monkey-wrench anything?”

“Naw, there were too many people around. What happened in there?”

“Let's get some lunch. I'll tell you.”

THEY GRABBED BURGERS
at a takeout place and drove to where they had left Hayduke's Jeep. When they got there they sat on folding lawn chairs that Silas kept in the back of his vehicle and Hayduke offered Silas a beer. To the young man's surprise, Silas accepted.

Silas told Hayduke about the confrontation.

“You think they're lying?”

“Yes, but I'm not sure about what. Do you know much about the Department of the Interior's decision to ban uranium mining on the Arizona Strip?”

“A little,” said Hayduke, his mouth full of food. He sloshed it down with a gulp of beer and Silas had to look away. “This business about grandfathering in existing claims could be the problem. It's true, but there's more to it. The deal was that grandfathered claims would be bought out over the next ten years. Any claim that was producing or had a plan to produce ore over that period would be subject to an assessment of value and then a purchase offer.”

“So it sounds like there would be fair compensation if someone had a mine that was up and running, or maybe about to get off the ground.”

“That's right.” Hayduke took another bite.

“What was Slim Jim saying about not being affected?”

“Maybe he was just bluffing to get you off his back. You think those dudes did Jane Vaughn?”

“I don't know. It's possible. Maybe Jim. But I don't know what his angle is.”

“I talked with a couple of his drivers. Told them I was just hired and asked them what kinds of routes they drive. One of them told me that they mostly haul freight but that Aldershot does have a small fleet of industrial trucks that sometimes get hired out for road projects, and sometimes even things like mining operations.”

“That
is
interesting.”

“They wouldn't tell me much more, said I'd get the whole rundown from the boss, but I asked them if they ever do any work in Utah, and one of the guys said sure, he's been to Utah a number of times in the last year. Then he clammed up. I don't know if it's maybe a licensing thing and he didn't want to fuck things up for the company.”

“You get his name?”

“Ted. It was on his jacket.”

Silas finished eating and wiped his hands on a paper napkin. “We should have another chat with this Ted sometime. I want to look into this business with the grandfathered leases. There's something not right here. Those guys had a map of the Arizona Strip out when we walked in. Zahn rolled it up as we were talking. I don't think they were planning a backpacking trip.”

“You want to go back? I'm up for it!”

“No, let's not. I don't think we'll get anything more out of Balin Aldershot or Slim Jim. Maybe we need to talk with Terry Aldershot and see what she knows.”

“Let me try! Woman suspects are my specialty!”

Silas just looked at him as Hayduke seemed to levitate out of his chair. “Bad idea, Hayduke. I let you loose on Terry the Terror and you'll both be in jail before nightfall. I think we need to go about doing this differently. Don't forget, we have a hike to prepare for.”