When Mitch’s head dropped forward again, James leaned over to gently shake him awake. Mitch sat up straight again and stared around groggily. His face was pale and he had two developing black eyes.
“Stay awake, bud. You might have a concussion,” James said.
“I don’t have one…” Mitch said.
“Well you still better get an x-ray.”
Mitch leaned over the boat and spat more blood. “And how much will that cost?”
They passed close to some derelict barges and a tugboat covered with flaking patches of paint. A rusted crane loomed above them from one of the barges with a giant hook suspended on the end of a frayed cable. There was no sign of life here on the widest part of the river, which carried enough fresh water to keep the barnacles killed off. James told them he knew of a barn up stream where they could drop off Tammy and Mitch. By land it was hard to get to unless you were familiar with the local roads. The barn was owned by his uncle Lefty, who always kept it stocked in case he needed to pull all nighters during calving season.
Tammy leaned her head against Ann’s shoulder. “I’m worried about what’s going to happen to the baby. Those bastards knocked me around hard.”
“Nothing’s going to happen,” Ann said. And we’re going to get you and Mitch to a safe place.”
“And what about you?”
“Something tells me those guys are going to keep looking for us no matter what. You two are in no condition to keep running but we are. If we split up our chances are going to be a lot better that we come out of this.”
“Right, and then what happens after help comes? I’ll get my ass busted for assaulting a cop… Not that it didn’t feel good at the time.” When Tammy smiled Ann saw the dark gap left by the missing tooth and looked away.
“That bad?” Tammy asked.
“Don’t get mad, but you remind of that year when we dressed up as hillbillies for Halloween.”
Tammy laughed. “That’s just great. Mitch and I must make quite a pair.”
“What you did to the sheriff isn’t going to matter, Tam. After they find out what he’s been up to, he’ll no longer even be a cop.”
“I hope you’re right. I don’t want to have this baby in jail. Are you sure we shouldn’t all stay put somewhere and wait this out together?”
“I think that’s what they’re hoping we’ll do. It would make it a lot easier for them to clean their slate that way.”
“Coming up on our right side,” James announced. The others leaned over to see a wooden dock floating on the river, its wooden railing half twisted off from last year’s storms. Uncle Lefty didn’t do a lot of fishing anymore, the cold was just too much on his arthritis.
Ann took out her cell phone and handed it to Tammy. “Try and call for help. If you reach somebody, make sure they come and get you guys first.”
“And where should I tell them you’re going to be?”
“Don’t worry about us. We’re going to be on the move. And be sure you turn off the phone when you’re not using it. It loses its juice fast.”
James helped Mitch and Tammy out of the boat and onto a small dock. Behind it was a bank of tall yellow grass and the smell of cow manure coming from the field above. Mitch got down on his knees and cupped some water onto his face. Its coldness seemed to revive him. He stood up and wrapped his arm around Tammy’s waist and together they watched as James turned the boat around to head back downstream toward the bay.
“Just follow the path and go through the gate to the left,” James said. “My uncle keeps a key under the plastic dwarf standing guard next to the front door.”
“Thanks,” Mitch said. “You guys be careful now.”
Chapter 24
Worried about how much gas they had left, James cut the motor and let the boat drift for a while. They listened to the water slurp and gurgle, felt the current draw them back as if the river were a retreating appendage of the sea. A raccoon trotted excitedly along the shore, stopping to dip its paws into pools in search of stranded salmon fry. It lifted its head as they glided past, then began to follow them until the cut bank got lost under a tangled shelf of dense tree limbs draped with neon yellow moss. River mud bubbled and belched, filled the predawn air with exhalations of wet clay and old death. Bats darted over the boat-black leathery shapes squiggled traces against the patches of starlit sky.
Ann sat facing the monochrome image of James and the river trailing behind them. He seemed to be absorbed by the river, but she knew he was only brooding over something and not really looking at anything at all. He seemed like more of a stranger now, the person he’d become after leaving Traitor Bay and joining the navy. She could see now that things hadn’t changed for him much. He’d left behind everything to take a different path and was just as unlucky with it as any other he’d tried. Everyone said going away would help him grow into a fuller person, but he’d just been led around in another circle. It seems like he can’t ever catch a break, Ann thought.
“How far do you think we should go?” she asked.
James turned from the river and looked into her eyes. She could see that he was simmering inside, not ready yet to open up. It always took him longer than most people. He’d grown up fearing he’d somehow light his father’s short fuse, until he met Ann and began to stand up for himself. Ann had always thought it was the true reason his mother didn’t like her anymore.
“I was thinking we’d pull off just before the jetty and take the beach back to get help.”
“It will be light before we get into town. They’re going to see us.”
“Look at the fog rolling in, Ann. It’s supposed to stick around all day, thick and soupy.”
“And then what do we do?” Ann said. “If we still can’t call the cops?”
“We find a place to hide for a day or two. I was thinking we could look up Coach, since he’s got a place right on the beach.”
“I didn’t think you liked coach,” Ann said.
“I don’t. But I have to admit he’s honest. Maybe we weren’t on the best of terms when I was in school, but I think he was just worrying about what I was going through with my mom and dad fighting all the time. I was stupid because I couldn’t see until later how much it tore him up inside.”
“Are you planning to see your folks?”
“Not sure if I will yet. Have you seen them around much?”
“Your mom stops in once in a while. She acts like she’s in a hurry to get somewhere. Mostly just pays, nods and leaves. With her it’s like we’re not much more familiar strangers.”
“And my dad?”
“I saw him at the 101 one night last fall and he stopped by my table to say hello. He’d just been elk hunting with some of his buddies and wanted to brag about a ten pointer he’d bagged. He was feeling pretty good and wanted to tease me, knowing how I’d feel about it. When I asked him if he’d heard from you he kind of switched gears and went back to join his friends. I guess it must have been around the time you up and went to Mexico.”
“Did he sell the boat?”
“Not sure.”
James lit another cigarette and stared up at the bridge they’d passed under before. He noticed swallows nests beading the concrete belly-small, upside down jugs of dried mud where black specks darted to and from. The swallows’ pre-dawn chirping was still frenzied despite having driven off the chick-stealing crows. Maybe they were celebrating their victory, he thought. But the crows would be back. He was sure of it.
A dense mountain of fog had begun to devour the bridge a piece at a time. Just great, James thought, we’re heading right into it. Pretty soon we’ll be in the soup too, and I won’t be able to see a damn thing. When he glanced up to watch the last fragment of bridge disappear, he thought he saw three figures peering down at them from the steel railing, their outlines limned by headlights of a vehicle left idling.