Part 23 (1/2)

”I don't think any of us did.” Tank turned with his arm still around Haley. ”Let's go home.”

The group walked back to the planes. Chet had his daughter in custody, and Tank knew it wasn't easy for him. Marley's face was set in a sullen scowl. She didn't seem to care that she'd nearly gotten them all killed. They all piled into planes and took off for Stalwart. Chet let a trooper from Anchorage take Marley on to the bigger city. He could barely look at her before returning to pilot the plane Tank and Haley rode in. Libby sat in the front with Chet, and Brooke sat on Tank's lap. Joy rode with Augusta in another plane.

Tank could see the side of Chet's face. It looked set and pale. Poor guy. It had to be hard to discover his daughter had nearly killed his granddaughter. The next few months wouldn't be pleasant for Chet.

Tank scooted over beside Haley, and she leaned her head against him and sighed. ”I've never been so tired in my life.” She pulled her backpack out of the way, then unzipped it. ”Want your canteen back?” she asked, raising her voice above the roar of the plane's engines.

”Sure.” She pulled it out and handed it to Tank. She frowned, then pulled out the plastic bag of pictures and showed them to him. ”I forgot about these.” Oscar jumped onto her lap, and she adjusted him so she could see.

”Let's have a look,” he murmured in her ear. He settled Brooke against his right shoulder, then took a pack of photos and began to flip through them.

He stopped at the final picture. Two men stood in the moonlight. The fast film had caught both faces. ”That's Joe Wooten,” he whispered, showing Haley the picture.

Haley's eyes widened. ”And Chet's holding a gun on him.”

”When did you take this?”

”The night we arrived,” she murmured in his ear.

Tank laid the pictures on his leg. ”Any more?”

She shook her head.

”This was just two days before we found Joe,” Tank said. ”This makes no sense. Why would he arrest Joe and not say anything about it?”

”Is it my imagination, or are we losing alt.i.tude?” she whispered in his ear.

His head swiveled. ”You're right.” He leaned over the front seat. ”Hey, Chet, what's wrong? It feels like were going down.”

”Something's wrong with the engine. I'm going to have to land her.”

There was something in his voice Tank didn't like. A hint of grim determination. He exchanged glances with Haley.

”I think we're in trouble,” she whispered. ”He saw me take that picture of him. He must be the one trying to get it back. He knows we're back here looking at them.”

”My rifle is behind the seat,” Tank said in her ear. ”I'll try to get to it when we stop.”

The plane dipped lower, then settled on top of a lake. Chet cut the engines, then pulled his gun. ”Don't go for your rifle, Tank. I'm sorry it's come to this. Everybody out.” He opened his door, then yanked open Haley's door and motioned for her to get down. He grabbed a plastic bag by his feet.

Libby was sleeping, but she jerked awake. ”What's going on?” she asked, rubbing her eyes. Her gaze went to the gun in Chet's hand.

”Get out of the plane, Libby,” Chet snapped. ”Tank, put Brooke on the seat.”

”She's your own flesh and blood, Chet. You can't want to hurt her.” He'd jump Chet if he had to, gun or no gun. He wasn't going to meekly let him kill them all.

”I'm not going to. Let her sleep on the seat. This won't take long.” He gestured with the gun again. ”Don't make me shoot you in front of her.”

Tank laid her down on the seat and pressed a kiss on her forehead. She murmured but didn't awaken. He climbed down from the plane to join the women. The cold water took his breath away and came nearly to his thighs. Haley and Libby were on sh.o.r.e, but Chet stood close by to make sure Tank did as he was told. Tank slogged through the water. He heard a splash behind him and looked back to see Oscar swimming toward them.

”You tried to get the pictures before we found them, didn't you?” Haley asked. She picked up her wet dog.

”I never wanted to hurt anyone.” Chet pulled out handcuffs and cuffed Tank. ”I don't think the women will give me too much trouble.”

Tank's mind raced, trying to make sense of it. Nothing clicked into place. He couldn't get his mind around the fact that his own father-in-law would want to kill him. And Libby and Haley. Why?

”Joe Wooten was helping my mother smuggle artifacts from the dig, wasn't he?” Haley asked, her voice neutral. ”And you looked the other way. Or were you on the take too?” She stopped.

”Move,” Chet ordered. He gestured with the gun, and the small troop walked toward the woods.

It clicked into place for Tank. ”Did Leigh see you and Joe hauling out artifacts? You killed your own daughter?”

”I loved my daughter!” Chet said, raising his voice. ”I wouldn't hurt a hair on her head. But Joe . . .” he broke off.

Tank's mind raced. ”She came to you, didn't she? Leigh told you what she'd seen Joe doing.” He stopped. ”She saw Joe set fire to the Walsh house, didn't she? She was so upset the night after the fire. She changed then too, grew quieter and more discontented. I thought it was the fire. She didn't know how to handle it. You told Joe, and he killed her, didn't he? Did he drug her so she couldn't swim?” He wasn't sure if any of this was right, but when Chet's face changed, he knew he'd hit paydirt.

”He killed my baby girl. He had to die for that. I didn't know it, not at first. When you asked me about the pills you found at the house, I knew then that he'd drugged her. She would have had no reason to have her mother's sleeping pills.” Chet shrugged. ”When I confronted him that night, he admitted it. He wrote a fake prescription for you, Tank, to cover himself. He was afraid she was going to turn us in. I told him I'd handle her, but he took it into his own hands. She saw me set fire to the cabin, but she would never have turned me in. I hated that she had to see that. It hurt me to see her cry.” He wiped his eyes on his sleeve, but his gun never wavered.

”You killed my parents?” Haley asked, her voice quiet and strained. ”Wait, you're the man my father was blackmailing, right? What did he have on you?”

”I think I know,” Tank said slowly. ”You killed Queenie, didn't you? It always seemed odd she would have a heart attack and drown in the bathtub. She'd never had any heart trouble.”

Chet scowled. ”You think you're clever, don't you?

Queenie was going to leave me. I couldn't let that happen.”

”My father saw you?”

Chet's nod was reluctant. ”He stopped by the house to talk about the next s.h.i.+pment of artifacts. He saw us through the bathroom window. It was fine at first, but then he got greedy. He wanted more and more of the take. Joe said he'd take care of it.”

”There's no need to kill us. It's going to come out, Chet.”

”How?” He grinned, a humorless grimace. ”I'm the law in these parts. I'm not going down.” Chet sighed and rubbed his forehead. ”You were like a son to me, Tank. Why did you have to get involved in this?” He held out his hand. ”I'll take those pictures now, Haley.

The negatives too.”

She handed them over. ”What are you going to do to us?”

”Why, nothing.” Chet glanced around. ”The predatory bear should be around here somewhere. This is near where Kipp was killed. He should take care of all of you.” He opened the plastic bag and upended the contents on the ground. Reeking garbage: old hamburger and french fries, a half-eaten bag of potato chips, and donuts.

Libby stared at him. ”I don't know you, Chet,” she said in a stunned voice.

”Sorry, Libby. I hate this more than you know.”

”I hope there's a lot of money in those artifacts that makes it worth this,” Tank said.

”Oh there is,” Chet a.s.sured him. ”I have a collector who will buy the whole lot for two million dollars. I don't have to share it now either. I'll go back to Stalwart with the story of how the plane went down, and how we were attacked by the bear. We camped out, and the bear ravaged the camp. Only Brooke and I escaped alive. If I'm lucky, there won't be much found of your bodies.”