Ben put the car back in gear and headed toward Elmendorf.
THIRTY THREE
SATURDAY, DAY 6 ABOARD WIDGEON N8771B 1:20 A.M.
April pressed the satellite phone to her right ear and glanced at Scott McDermott, who was trying to look disinterested as he sat in the Widgeon’s left seat and nursed a cup of coffee in the dim light.
“Gracie, can you hear me?”
“Who’s asking? April? Is that you?”
“Of course it’s me.”
“Your voice sounds weird.”
“And you sound like you’re next door. I’m on a satellite phone.”
“Gad! I was about to launch the Coast Guard again, this time to find you.” Gracie’s voice was tense, April noted, her words coming rapidly.
“I called that guy Jim, in Valdez, and he said you and that jerk of a pilot who abandoned you flew off in late afternoon and he hadn’t seen you since.”
“It’s a long story,” April said, glancing at Scott as she tried to reduce the volume on the phone’s earpiece, “but we’re okay.”
“Yeah? We? But where are you, Rosencrantz?”
“We’re in Scott McDermott’s airplane right now, floating in a half-frozen lake and waiting for daylight.”
There was a short chuckle from Seattle. “Only my buddy April Rosen would get herself into a frozen lake at midnight and be telling me about it on a satellite phone. What lake, exactly? And what’s been going on? Were you able to replace the video of the Albatross?”
April filled in a brief chronicle of the flight, leaving out the harrowing parts over and through the glacier. “We’re going to fly out of here at daylight and try once more to get to the crash site.”
“How, April? You said the crash site was a secured, patrolled area.”
“Scott’s friend Jim, the one you talked to, is gearing up to help us. We’ll meet him… at a location I don’t want to mention… and give it another try. What’s up there?”
“Well, nothing amorous, I can assure you. I’m in my cloistered bedroom on the boat.” There was a long pause and April could hear her sigh. “Your dad called me last night and wanted me to put everything on hold.”
“WHAT?”
“That was roughly my reaction, April. I do not understand what’s gotten into him. I’ve never known the captain to be afraid of anything, but he sounded almost panicked. I must have asked him why a dozen times, but all he’d tell me is that he feared for my career and wanted me to stand down.”
“Have you talked to Mom?”
“Yes. He came in yesterday afternoon agitated about something, but won’t tell her what.”
“Gracie, we can’t quit now… can we? Is mere any reason to?”
“No! And I forgot to tell you that I got the TRO, the temporary restraining order, and we served it almost immediately on the Coast Guard in their offices in the same building. They were very surprised.”
“I’ll bet, but does that mean we’ll get the tapes back now?”
“Well, it only means they’re ordered not to destroy them or lose them. We’ve got a show-cause hearing Monday. I tried for Saturday but the judge laughed at me.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah, I know. Trust me, it’s not fun to have a federal district judge laugh at you from the bench.”
“What are our chances of getting the tapes on Monday?”
“I don’t know, but we’d better try everything else possible, and I’ve got other things working, but since you’re worried about this line, maybe I’d better not say.”
“Okay. Is it good?”
“If it works, yes. I called our client back and kind of asked another favor.”
“Thank you, Gracie. Will it cost much?”
“Not in dollars, but maybe you can visit me on the Arabian Peninsula, ’cause he said I’ll have to be his mistress for at least a decade.”
“Gracie, just like Dad said, I don’t want you endangering your position with the firm.”
“Oh, it’s okay. So far, all I’ve promised the man is dinner.”
“Good.”
“In Kuwait.”
“What?”
“Just kidding.”
“You worry me, O’Brien,” April said, smiling to herself in spite of the intense worry over her father’s sudden change of heart. She wished there was time to relate the details of the wild flight and roller-coaster emotions of the previous day.
“April, the captain wants you to come home and give up as well.”
“Not only no, but hell no.”
“You should call him. You have a number on that satellite phone I can call until you return to civilization?” Gracie asked.
She asked Scott for the number and then relayed it.
“April, you’re sure you two are okay out there? Floating around on an Alaskan lake in the middle of the night sounds a bit dangerous, not to mention cold.”
“We’ve got a heater. It’s actually toasty in here.”
“And food?”
“Yep. Even Starbucks coffee.”
“Okay. Call me as soon as you can from a safe phone, okay? And be careful. And if you get any more insight into what’s spooking your dad…”
“Yeah, I’ll call,” April said. “In the morning. I know he’ll ask where I am and I don’t want him worrying.”
“He’s already worried, but I’ll relay to Rachel that you’re okay. Be careful, please, getting out of there. I don’t want to have to break in a new best friend. The darn process takes decades, you know, having to go back through kindergarten and high school, and double-dating, training bras, guys…”
“Say good night, Gracie.”
There was an uncharacteristic moment of silence from the other end, followed by a sigh. “April, I swear, if I hear that line one more time from you…”
“Sorry. I’m just trying to find some humor in things, you know? But seriously, thanks for… well, what I’m trying to say, Gracie, is thank you for keeping tabs on my folks. I really appreciate…” Her voice trailed off as she found herself suddenly choking back tears that had come from nowhere.
“It’s okay, April. That’s a given. I love them, too.”
“Thanks.”
April punched off the phone and shifted her gaze to the front windscreen, aware that Scott had heard almost all of the exchange.
“As you’ve no doubt figured out, Gracie and I have been best friends since we were knee high to a duck.”
He nodded, his eyes on the ghostly shapes of ice barely visible in the darkness of the lake. “Not a problem. I like her sense of humor. And yours.”
The flickering light from a kerosene lantern he’d set up in the aft cabin of the Widgeon reflected off the nearest iceberg, creating dancing images of shadows and silvery white reflecting off the water. The gentle slosh and slap of small wind-driven waves could be heard against the aluminum hull of the Widgeon, but aside from the hiss of the lantern, the quiet was all but overwhelming, and April felt the silence demanding to be broken.
“Have you ever overnighted in here before?” April asked, pulling her jacket tighter around her, glad Gracie couldn’t see how chilly it really was with the only heat coming from the puny catalytic heater he’d set up under the open nose hatch.
Scott nodded, the movement almost synchronizing with the flickering light from behind him.
“Yeah. Many times. Sometimes to save hotel money. Sometimes just to hear the quiet.”
“Nice oxymoron.”
“Hmm?”
“‘Hear the quiet.’ Beautiful image. In fact, if I wasn’t so wrought up over my dad, as well as completely unable to see how we’ll get out of here without killing ourselves, this would be one of the most beautiful nights I’ve ever spent.”
“I take that as a compliment.”