Part 25 (1/2)
”I hate stupidity. I hate incompetence. I hate ignorance, and inept.i.tude, and all those other words that begin with I that denote idiocy. For crissake, Wy. The mans seventy-five years old, hes lived a mostly blameless life, he was a good husband, a good father, a G.o.dd.a.m.n pillar of his community. Now he gets to spend whats left of his life locked up with a bunch of drug dealers and child molesters and, of course, his fellow murderers. I mean, Jesus! Can you see him in a cell with Gheen?
She tucked herself more securely into the curve of his body. ”I dont think theyre going to put anybody in with a serial killer, Liam. Although she had liked Lydia a lot and it wouldnt have hurt her feelings if the Alaska Department of Corrections in their infinite wisdom had decided that Gheen and Eric Mollberg were destined as cellmates.
”And Lydia. G.o.dd.a.m.n it. I liked her. h.e.l.l, I think I was halfway in love with her. I told you about her beaning Harvey with the jar of tomatoes, didnt I?
”About five times. And they were sun-dried tomatoes.
”She was a great old gal. She flirted with me. Seventy-four and the juices were still running. And come to find out shes who she is because shes a grave robber.
Wy had known Lydia some, enough that Lydia had offered her a place in the Literary Ladies book club, but Wys job kept her in the air so much she would have missed meetings the entire summer. She had declined, but every now and then shed run into Lydia at the post office and theyd trade t.i.tles. ”I liked her.
”Everybody liked her. A lot of people loved her. Some downright l.u.s.ted after her, even after she was a grandmother, too. Doesnt mean what she did was right.
Wy had spent more time in the Bush than Liam had. ”Someone would have come along and taken it.
”Human nature, I know, I ”No, Liam. Wy squinched around until she was facing him, her b.u.t.t hanging precariously over the edge of the bed. ”Nothing ever goes to waste in the Bush. She had a good use for it; she bought her husband a boat. That gold was like the Blazo cans they beat flat into s.h.i.+ngles, and the fifty-five-gallon drums they turn into stoves. It was like when a SeaLand cargo s.h.i.+p hits a storm and washes everything overboard and it all floats up on sh.o.r.e. Finders keepers. Its the law of the land.
”She was saying they should tell at the end. She must have known it was thieving when she did it if it came home to roost sixty years later.
”You think shed been agonizing over it all these years, wallowing in her own guilt?
Liam thought of some of the interviews he and Diana Prince had done. ”No.
”She lived her life, right through up until the end. I think, Wy said, propping herself up on an elbow, ”I think when she heard about the plane being found and the arm and the coin, that maybe she thought it was time, that was all. It wasnt an attack of conscience. She tapped his chest. ”But Eric Mollberg heard it that way because he was feeling guilty. He was happy to shuffle off the burden of the coins to her in the first place, happy to join the army and go off to war. She was sixteen, Liam. She wasnt a criminal mastermind; she was just an opportunist, like everyone else who lives in the Alaskan Bush, like everyone needs to be to survive.
She smiled down at him, and in a lightning move he reversed their positions. ”Ill make you a deal.
”State your terms.
”I wont take the job in Anchorage if you get us a bigger bed.
She flushed a faint, rosy pink. ”Do you mean it, Liam?
”I emphasize the one word in that sentence that means the most: bigger.
”I dont want you to stay in Newenham for me, Liam, or for Tim. I want you to stay here because you want to stay here.
”Not king-size, thatd be too big, Id never find you.
”I mean it, Liam. I dont want to live my life having to be grateful to you because you stayed with me the second time around.
”A double isnt big enough. My feet would be bound to stick out over the edge, and I hate that.
”I dont want you to turn down a job you really wanted just because I dont want to leave Newenham.
”A queen, he said, kneeing her legs apart and coming into her. ”Now that would be juuuust right. He kissed her thoroughly.
She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. ”Are you sure? Are you very, very sure?
”I am very, very sure.
Her nose ran when she cried. It was very, very unattractive, and he waited while she fumbled a Kleenex off the nightstand and blew. It was very, very unromantic.
”Liam?
”What?
”Will you marry me?
His eyes widened. He smiled, a long, slow, sweet smile.
”I thought youd never ask.
She called Gary the next day before her first flight. ”Gary? Its Wy.
His voice warmed. ”Hey, girl.
”Jo sent you home, huh?
”Yeah, she said it would be best. He paused. ”And it was. Wasnt it?
”It was. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ”Youre part of my college days, Gary. Youre part of my youth. Ill always care. Ill see you at ”Dont, he said, and hung up.
”Thanksgiving at your folks house, she said to a dial tone. She replaced the phone gently in its cradle. Shed hurt him, and she knew it, but her future was here.
With Liam, and Tim, and Bill, and Moses. She smiled.
Moses was sitting on a stool at Bills. Bill was nowhere to be found. ”Arraigning Eric, Moses said.
”Im sorry, uncle, she said. ”I know he was a friend of yours.
”This one I never saw coming, he said, and tossed off the rest of his beer. ”Who says theres no G.o.d?
”Come to dinner tonight. Bring Bill.
”Im sorry, he said suddenly.