“All right,” I said. “I guess I see the logic there. If it’s forty miles to the next turn, they can seal you right off. So what changed their mind?”
“The off-roads. There’s hundreds of them, all over the place. Hell, we got more off-roads up here than regular roads. I even got this map out and showed them. Right there at the airport, you can jump right on a trail and go to another trail, and pretty much go wherever you want to go, all over the UP. You practically never have to hit a main road once.”
“I’m sure they appreciated your creative thinking,” I said, “and that would explain that truck I saw at the airport. I’m sure it was four-wheel drive, big tires, perfect for getting down those trails, right?”
He nodded.
“So let’s get to the part of the story where Buck gets involved.”
He didn’t say anything for a moment. He didn’t have to. I was already racing to the answer, picturing that all-terrain vehicle parked on the grass next to Buck’s driveway.
“Oh, don’t even tell me,” I said. “I don’t even want to hear this.”
“What?” Lou said. “What happened with Buck?”
“He’s the guy who knows the trails,” I said. “Am I right?”
Dukes nodded again.
“And you actually hooked him up with those people? Is that what you’re gonna tell me?”
“Buck was always riding out there,” Dukes said. “He talked about it a few times. So I just introduced him.”
“You just introduced him,” I said. “To a gang of drug dealers from downstate.”
“It’s not like that. You don’t know these people.”
“Oh, am I misrepresenting them? Are they not a gang of drug dealers who fly in massive amounts of pot from Canada and sell it to people all over the state? Is that not an accurate description?”
“They’re not a gang, for one thing. There’s just two of them, and they’re old. Like in their fifties.”
As if I didn’t already have enough reason to smack him in the face.
“Two old pot dealers,” I said, trying hard to maintain my composure. “So those were two of the dead bodies at the airport? Is that what you’re saying?”
“No, they don’t take the deliveries themselves. They don’t do that kind of stuff anymore.”
“On account of being in their fifties and therefore so old and decrepit,” I said. “Is that it?”
“They just don’t. They always have these guys hanging around them all the time, working on the farm or whatever. Which kinda explains why they took such a shine to Buck.”
I looked over at Lou. He didn’t seem to be understanding this any better than I was.
“What in holy hell are you talking about?” I finally said. “Who are these people?”
He kept quiet then. Maybe he was thinking he had already said too much. Not that I cared at that point.
Eddie raised his hand like an elementary-school student. “Can I go now?” he said.
“Shut up and don’t move,” I said to him. Then I turned my attention back to Dukes. “Tell me who these people are.”
“I can’t.”
“I’m pretty sure you can.”
“No. Really.”
“Really, you can. Lou, shoot him in the hand. Either hand will do.”
“I really need to use the bathroom,” Eddie said.
“If Eddie says one more word, shoot him in the hand, too.”
Lou took one step forward and that was all it took. I didn’t like having to threaten these men, but I was getting sick of everything and I just wanted to get the hell out of there as soon as possible. With some answers.
“Okay,” Dukes said, “just take it easy. Let’s not get crazy here.”
“Their names. Now.”
“Harry and Josephine!”
“I swear to God, Lou-”
“That’s their names! Harry and Josephine Kaiser!”
“These are the major drug dealers we’re talking about. Harry and Josephine Kaiser.”
“Yeah, they’re like old hippies or something. They have this farm downstate. They used to grow themselves, but they don’t do that anymore. Now they just import.”
“Old ‘hippies’ don’t run major drug rings, I’m thinking.”
“That’s what they look like. I’m not saying they’re really hippies. They just wear hippie clothes and they have hippie hair. That kind of thing.”
I dropped my head and rubbed my forehead for a while.
“Okay, you’ve already proven that you’re a terrible liar,” I finally said, “and coming up with those names and the dress-like-a-hippie angle would be absolute genius if it wasn’t true. So I’m gonna have to believe you. So tell me about how Buck got hooked up with these people.”
“I told you, as soon as they took one look at Buck, they just ate him up, man. A real Indian, you know? Oppressed by the white man, driven off his land…”
“I’m pretty sure Buck never got driven off his land. In fact, he recently bought a hot tub.”
“I know, but it’s just the idea. That’s the way these people are. Everything’s about freedom and not having the government telling you what you can do or what you can smoke. That whole trip they’re on. So having a real Indian guide on this deal…”
“All right, I get the picture,” I said. “These people, the Kaisers, you say? These Kaisers fall in love with Buck and that’s how he ends up doing this little favor for them at the airport. The regular couriers probably picked him up in their truck. They drive out there in the middle of the night, expecting not to have any company this time. But surprise, the hijackers show up. What can you tell me about them?”
“Nothing,” Dukes said. “They’re just people who are trying to take over.”
“Come on, you gotta know more than that.”
“I’m telling you, I don’t. I don’t know anything. In fact, I thought you guys were probably hooked up with them. That’s why I was carrying the gun around.”
“So you’re expecting them to find you?”
“I don’t know what to expect. It’s just all getting turned upside down right now. I didn’t sign up for this.”
“Yeah, nobody did. But surprise, the hijackers show up, and this time everybody starts shooting. Buck’s the only one left standing, apparently. But instead of driving the truck away, he calls his cousin Vinnie.”
“That part makes sense,” Lou said. “I wouldn’t drive the truck, either.”
“Or maybe he just runs for a while,” I said. “He runs and maybe he ends up in town. Or wherever. He calls Vinnie and says you gotta come pick me up. Vinnie gets out there, he hears the story. Hell, maybe Buck’s got blood all over him. Who knows? The one thing we do know is that he takes Buck away somewhere. To hide out, to figure out what to do next, whatever they think they have to do.”
“They went to another reservation,” Lou said. “We already know that.”
“We thought we knew that,” I said. “But now I’ve got another idea.”
“What’s that?”
“If these old so-called hippies downstate, the Kaisers, if they took such a shine to Buck and they’re the ones who got him into this mess…”
“Then maybe Vinnie and Buck went down there,” Lou said. “That’s what you’re saying.”
“It’s the best idea we’ve got right now.”
I pulled my chair up closer to Dukes. I leaned over so that I was just a few inches from his face.
“We just need a couple more things from you,” I said to him. “And then we’ll be gone. I promise.”
Ten minutes later, we were back in the car. Lou was driving. He had kept the gun and it was tucked under the driver’s seat. I was keying in a number on my cell phone. It went right to voice mail, and, oddly enough, there was no recorded message telling me I’d reached a full-service wholesale marijuana distributorship. Just a beep.