Twenty-One
Thor meets Wonder Woman
"All in favor of releasing Duke Stetson from his contract?” James Madison, great-great-great grandson of the first mayor of Trails End, asked the city council.
Max looked around the table and all hands were raised, so he stood, nodded at Mayor Madison, then turned to Chester Tallchief.
“Chester, we're offering you the job. We should have done it a year ago and that’s on us. Do you accept?”
Chester, who’d been expecting this, had his answer ready when Max asked.
“Would be my privilege to serve our town, so my answer is yes.”
“Good, your first official duty as Chief of Police is to escort your predecessor out of his office.”
“You comin’ along?” Chester asked.
Max smiled like a man with a plan and then nodded once.
“Oh, yeah, I have a few things to discuss with the former chief.”
Moving out from behind his chair, Max grabbed his papers and headed towards his friend. When they exited the mayor’s office, they turned left and headed towards the back of the building where the police department was located. When they arrived just outside the entrance, Max caught sight of his mother and paused as she approached.
“What are you doin’ here?” Max asked.
“I wanted to watch you fire that sonofabitch,” she replied. Then she looked around Max to Chester and told him, “If the council didn’t offer you the job they’re all fools, by the way.”
Max barked out a laugh and turned to Chester as he answered his crazy mother.
“They did and I accepted.”
“Good. Now that we have a real lawman runnin’ things I need to talk to you about my investigation into Curly’s murder.”
“Jesus, I told you two days ago no more runnin’ around half-cocked lookin’ into people and to leave this to the police,” Max bit out.
“Two days ago we didn’t have a man in that desk we could trust, now we do,” Maxine snapped back.
Why Max was surprised by his mother’s constant meddling, he’ll never know, but at least this time she seemed done with her hair-brained scheme to find the killer.
“Are we done? Can we fire Stetson now or do you need Chester’s ear some more?”
“Be my guest, I’ll just stand in the background and watch like the sweet old lady that I am.”
“Sweet, my ass,” Max grumbled as he pushed past her and into the outer office of the police station.
Eyes set on the door at the end of the hall, Max clenched and unclenched his hands the closer he got to Stetson. He’d held back coming after Stetson, knew Jack was digging so he bided his time to see what his cousin found. Now the time had come, and Max didn’t give a shit if he spent a week in jail. When he was done with Stetson, the man would know exactly how he felt about him touching his woman. Five feet from his intended target, they were stopped in their tracks when Tim Rogers, one of the newest officers on the force, called out, “He isn’t in his office.” Stopping, Max turned and looked back at the kid.
Tim, twenty-five and fresh out of the academy in Fairbanks had a promising career in front of him. Tall, dark, and good-looking, with an eye for the ladies and a nose for crime, he figured out real quick something was up when his Chief of Police bolted.
“If you’re looking for Chief Stetson he hightailed it out of here about an hour ago. He got a call from a friend in Fairbanks and then locked himself in his office. When he came out, he was carrying boxes filled with his personal belongs and didn’t say a word when he left.”
“Someone tipped him off, he knew shit was hittin’ the fan,” Chester told Max.
“Word must have gotten out Jack unearthed his file,” Max growled.
Chester looked back at Stetson’s office, then back at his friend.
“Shame you didn’t get to have a word,” Chester smiled.
Nodding, Max looked at his watch.
“We could head out to his place to see if he’s still around.”
“Might be a good idea, make sure he’s leavin’ town peaceful like.”
“All right, give me a minute to call Mia and let her know what’s goin’ on and we can head out.”
Max moved to the outer office and over to his mother to give her the news that no blood would be shed, yet.
“Stetson’s gone, he got a tip from a friend and then packed his shit and left,” Max told her.
“And?”
“And what?”
“Are you gonna stand there and let that man leave town without teachin’ him a lesson?” Maxine hissed. Max’s lip twitched then his mouth grew into a sadistic smile.
“Did you raise me?”
Maxine’s own mouth twitched, as she smiled a matching smile.
“Make me proud, Maximilian.”
“Christ, you’re nuts,” Max laughed, then leaned down, hooked his mother around the neck, and put his lips to her forehead. When she wrapped her arms around his waist, and gave him a squeeze, Max whispered, “I need you around for those ten grandkids, so I’m askin you to stop puttin’ yourself in danger. No more lookin’ for a killer, if anything happened to you, it would kill me.”
Maxine tightened her hold on her son replying “Okay. For you, I’d do anything.”
“I’ve been askin’ for two weeks,” Max growled.
“No, you’ve been ordering me around. All you had to do was ask nicely, for Christ sake.”
“Pain in my ass,” Max sighed as he kissed her forehead.
Pulling out his phone, Max called Mia so he could update her on Stetson. The call went to voicemail so he left a message, but a nagging feeling coiled in his gut so he dialed Buddy, who’d been searching for Nala as well.
“Max,” Buddy answered.
“You done searchin’?”
“Yeah, we caught sight of that cub and its mother a little while ago and headed in.”
“Does Mia know?’’
“Haven’t seen her, is she out searchin’?”
That nagging feeling turned sour and he looked at his watch. The sun would be down soon.
As they moved deeper into October the hours of daylight dwindled each day, it was almost six in the evening and by six-thirty, it would be dark.
“Are you still at my house?”
“Yeah, we were gettin’ ready to pull out when you called. You want me to go look for her?”
“Yeah, I’m headin’ that way now. Find Jake and have him call Lucy’s phone and see if he can locate them,” Max ordered then watched as his mother pulled out her phone and started calling.
“You got Lucy’s number?” he asked her.
“Yeah, but it’s goin’ to voice mail, too. I’ll try Frank.”
Max waited as she dialed Frank. His stomach went from sour to a tight knot when she shook her head indicating Frank didn’t answer. Night was falling and Mia was out there with a beast of a bear who could see them, before they could see him. He needed her found, needed her found right fuckin’ now.
“Buddy,” Max barked, “round up all the flashlights you can find and any flares we have. Mia and her friends aren’t answerin’ so they must be out of cell range.”
“Right, on it, call when you’re close,” he answered and then hung up.
“Max, I’ll call in some of my men,” Chester told him as he pulled out his phone.
Nodding, Max turned back to his mother, saw the concern on her face, and when she didn’t speak, didn’t have some smart-ass comment he knew she was upset. Seventeen days Mia had been in their lives, he knew this because he’d kept count. Seventeen days of headaches that he wouldn’t trade for one day of peace, Max thought. If this was going to be his life, always trying to second guess how she’d get herself into trouble, then so be it. If he could keep up with Maxine and her antics, he figured he could keep up with Mia, assuming she didn’t get herself killed by a bear while lost in the fucking forest first.
“I’ll find her, don’t you worry,” he assured his mother.
“When you do, tan her hide for worryin’ me will ya? This is gonna take several years off my life, I just know it. You tell her that when you find her,” Maxine told him as Max drew her into his arms for a brief hug.
“I’ll tell her right after I get done yelling, does that work for you?”
“Use your Mad Max voice, whatever that is. Jess says it shuts her up and turns her into “Submissive Mia,” Maxine advised.
Even though Max was worried, and needed to get his ass up the mountain, he couldn’t help himself, he threw his head back and laughed at how ridiculous the women in his life were. When he was done, he kissed her cheek, gave her a squeeze for support, then turned to Chester, who was stuffing a pack with flashlights, rope and bear repellent.
“You ready?” Max asked his friend.
“Got all my off duty men headed up to your place. Then I called Buzz, Shane, and Jeff and told them to head up from town in case they made their way this far down.”
“Since we’ve got the top and bottom covered I’ll stop half way up and go in from there. Call me if you find her and I’ll do the same,” Max ordered and then turned on his heel without another word.
Seventeen days, that’s all it took to bring a man like him to his knees. When he found her, he was gonna tell her just that, right after Mad Max had a word and turned her into Submissive Mia.
“Still no service?” Frank asked Lucy as she held her phone in the air looking for a signal.
“Nope, and my battery’s at nine percent.”
“Then I guess we keep climbing until we see the lights of Max’s house,” I sighed.
“I’m not sure that’s the wisest course of action, Mia. We can’t see more than a few feet in front of us with these flashlights so we’re liable to walk right off the ridge,” Frank argued.
The moon had risen, but it was a cloud-covered night, visibility was nil without the moon's light. I’d hoped the Northern Lights would help, but it wasn’t late enough for them to be visible and the clouds would mask their glow even if they were dancing across the sky. So, basically, we were wandering around, probably in circles, with no definite direction but up. That is until we made it to the top of a hill for the first time since it was nightfall and lookout across the horizon.
“Is that—”
“No way—”
“Holy, shit.”
“Trails End,” we all said in unison.
Somehow, we managed to climb down Max’s mountain in our quest to find Nala and found ourselves staring at the distant lights of Trails End.
“Told you we weren’t lost,” Frank muttered.
The sound of movement behind us, a sound we’d been evading it for the last hour, had us descending the hill as quick as possible in the direction of those far off lights.
“If we keep heading towards the lights, whatever is following us will give up once we get close enough to civilization,” Frank mumbled.
“There's a barbed wire fence about a half mile from the city limits that keeps the wildlife on this side of Max’s property. We just need to get to it and cross underneath. Then we’ll be safe,” I explained.
“We should have cell reception soon, the tower in town should reach this far out.”
“NO! Don’t call anyone until we are in town,” I shouted.
“Why?” Frank asked.
“I’d rather call Max when we’re safe. If he thinks we’re still in danger—”
“He’ll go all Thor on your ass?” Lucy laughed.
“Right, but mainly because I want to prove to him I can get myself out of a pickle.”
“Then pick up the pace, if you want to avoid the thunder god’s wrath, we need to hit town in the next half hour,” Lucy replied.
“Agreed, Frank you lead, I’ll hang on to your jacket, and Lucy can hang on to mine. Let’s double time it and head to Last Call for a much-needed beer,” I ordered.
“Ladies, assume your positions,” Frank chuckled.
With his back to me, I grabbed hold of his jacket, and Lucy did the same with mine. When the sound of grunting came from the top of the hill, we started moving. Once at the bottom we picked up our pace as we hiked over loose rock, then wet grass until we heard the sound of the river. At the river's edge, we shined our lights looking for a way across or shallow water. When none could be seen, Frank went first battling the rapids in waist-deep water. When he made it to the other side, I looked at Lucy and stuck out my hand. I figured wet was wet and if the two of us held onto to one and other for support, we'd stand a better chance of making it across without falling.
The water was frigid as all rivers this close to the mountains can be. The snow melted at the top bringing the frozen water downhill towards the ocean and the more snow there was, the higher the river rose with the runoff. My breath caught as we made our way into the deeper water, and caught again, when Frank shouted, “Move your ass, we’ve got company.”
Lucy and I turned, following the flashlight’s beam to see two glowing eyes in the distance. I knew it was Cowboy, felt it deep in my bones. He had a grudge against us and seemed to be waiting for the right time to exact his revenge. Two of his captors, battling to cross the river would be the perfect time to attack, so I let go of Lucy’s hand and shouted, “Swim for it.”
Lucy didn’t have to think twice, she leaned down, and dove in, kicking hard for the other side. When she made it, I followed her lead and dove in, kicking hard against the current. Frank was waiting for me when I reached the edge and pulled my waterlogged body from the river. Once on dry land we looked back, saw Cowboy was at the river’s edge, and took off across the flat meadow that separated us from civilization.
Waterlogged and stiff, it seemed like we were moving in slow motion as the lights of the town grew closer. Just as the field ended and buildings became visible, a barbed wire fence shot up in front of us, stopping our escape. Six lines of wire kept us from the safety of the town, and the only way around it, was over. Frank went first, cussing, barking out “Fuck,” as he snagged clothes and flesh on the thorny barbs. When he made it to the top, he dropped his pack, jumped to the ground, and turned, reaching out his arms and hollering, “Don’t look back just fucking climb, now!”
I, of course, looked back while Lucy was climbing and saw the dark shape of a bear running straight at us. Dropping my pack, I tossed it over the fence and then grabbed hold of the top wire and started climbing the wobbling fence. Lucy made it to the top, Frank pulled her over, and then turned to me and reached out his arms. As I took hold of his hands, I heard the roar of Cowboy as he made his way up behind me. I screamed, “Pull me over, pull me over, pull me over,” as the giant bear reared back on his hind legs.
Frank pulled, I began to fall, but my jeans caught on a barb. Not caring if I ripped my leg open, a few stitches were better than being the beast’s dinner, I yanked hard, heard my jeans rip, and then fell to the other side landing on Frank. Then my foot felt like a vice clamp had wrapped around it. I screamed as I flipped to my back and saw Cowboy had hold of my boot, trying to pull me back under the fence. I started kicking the giant bear as Lucy tried to pull me backwards. Finally, I got one good kick in and Cowboy let go long enough for me to crawl back and out of his reach.
“Move it before he tears the fence down,” Frank shouted. So, I rolled to my knees, grabbed my pack, and the three of us hit the ground running towards the lights Trails End, leaving Cowboy in the dust.
Ten minutes later, soaked, muddy, and probably covered in bugs, we stumbled through the doors of Last Call. Every head turned, and the place went quiet. Too exhausted at this point to say a word, we limped to the bar, crawled up on a stool, and I hollered, “Ralph, bring a bottle of Tequila and three shot glasses . . . and a phone if you have one, we seemed to have gotten ours wet.” Then I laid my head on the bar to catch my breath.
“Holy, shit that was close,” Lucy, mumbled.
“Not a word about how close, you hear me?”
“He won’t hear it from me, I like my head just the way it is,” Frank whispered as Ralph placed a bottle, three glasses, and one cell phone in front of me.
I stared at the phone, then looked at Lucy and Frank. When I started to push it towards Frank, he threw his hands up in an unequivocal “No way in hell.” Right, I’m on my own I guess.
Ralph didn’t move away when I picked up the phone, in fact, the whole bar seemed to have moved closer to our group. Shrugging, I turned the phone on, dialed Max’s number, and then held my breath as I waited for him to answer.
“Tell me you found her,” he bit out and I melted a little at how worried he was.
“She found herself so you can call off the National Guard.”
“Jesus, Mia . . . where the fuck are you?”
“Currently, I’m at Last call having shots with Lucy and Frank.”
Dead silence.
“Max?”
“Give me a second,” he growled, so I gave him five, then ten.
“Are you mad?” I whispered when I made it to fifteen.
“Mad doesn’t cover what I’m feeling right now,” he mumbled back.
“If it makes you feel any better we were lost for a short time (tiny lie) but we found our way back on our own. Oh, and we found Nala and helped her out of a trapping pit.”
“There's a lot of things that would make me feel better, you in my bed bein’ one of them. That bein’ said, for the sake of our relationship I’m gonna hang up now before I say somethin’ that’ll piss you off and send you packin’ back to Seattle.”
“Shit, you are mad. I’m sorry, Max. I didn’t mean to get lost.”
“You never mean for shit to happen, it’s just you, my adorable pain in the ass,” he mumbled. “I need to call off half the state of Alaska then I’m gonna go home and take a shower. Hopefully, by the time I do all that, I won’t feel the need to wring your gorgeous neck.”
“You know the sooner you learn that I’m just me, and shit happens, the better off you’ll be,” I advised.
“Right, and the sooner you learn that I’m just me and won’t ever stop tryin’ to keep you safe the better off you’ll be.”
“So we agree we both need to ease up?”
“Nope, I agree you’ll never change and you agree that I won’t either.”
“Works for me,” I smiled.
“It doesn’t work for me,” he groused, “but I’ll come up with a way to rein you in eventually,” he threatened and then gave me dead air. (Note to self: Give Max a wide berth for a day or two.)
“Sounds like Thor doesn’t know how to handle being lassoed by Wonder Woman,” Frank chuckled.
“I’m hardly Wonder Woman,” I answered as I handed Ralph, his phone.
“Oh, I don’t know, the way you manage to get out of scraps that would kill most people makes me think you have a super power of some sort.”
“I think it’s more likely she has nine lives,” Lucy scoffed.
“Whatever it is that keeps me from falling victim to my bad luck, I’m not complaining,” I yawned.
Grabbing the bottle of Tequila, I filled each glass to the rim. Raising them, we toasted each other for surviving yet another encounter with Cowboy.
“Guys, how are we supposed to get home?” Lucy asked
“Do they have taxis in this town?” Frank inquired.
“I’ll call Maxine maybe she—”
Just then, the bar door slammed open and Shane walked in with two other men. When he caught sight of us, he headed our direction, smiling.
“Figures half the state would be out lookin’ for you three troublemakers and here you sit takin’ shots.” Leaning against the bar, Shane looked us over and his brows shot up as he asked, “You fall off the ridge again and take these two with you, Roberts?”
“NO! We had another . . . you know what, never mind, Max is mad enough. I don’t need him hearing about our escapades.”
Shane pulled a piece of grass from my hair and then felt the sleeve of my shirt.
“You’re soaking wet, are you tryin’ to catch a cold?”
“We don’t have a way home to change,” Lucy broke in.
“Some doctor you are, everyone knows you can’t catch a cold from being cold. Hypothermia yes, but not an actual virus,” I chided.
“I’m not a doctor I’m a vet.”
“Even a veterinarian knows how the body works.”
“Not a veterinarian a vet, as in served my country. I was a medic in the army and got the nickname doc while overseas.”
“Wait, how did you know what dose to use on the bears?”
“Google.”
“But you said you’d done it before.”
“I have, just not on an animal.”
“So you knew how to use our tranquillizer gun because you’re a vet?”
“First in my class in marksmanship,” Shane smiled.
Frank and Lucy both shrugged at his explanation, obviously not caring that he could have overdosed the bears. Ethically, I should care, but I was too tired to fight about it so I grabbed my glass and filled it again.
“When you three are done gettin’ wasted, let me know and I’ll drive you home, or is Max comin’ down the mountain to get you?”
Throwing back my drink, I let the alcohol warm me from the inside out before I answered.
“Max is taking a shower in an attempt to keep from strangling me right now, so I doubt he’s headed back down.”
“Excellent, you, me and Lucy make three,” Shane replied, rubbing his hands together and wiggling his brows.
“No, that would be you, them, and Frank makes for an awkward fourth wheel,” Frank reminded him.
“Not to mention, eww,” Lucy laughed.
Shane sighed in mock disappointment and then leaned fully back against the bar, both elbows resting on the scarred wood.
“I’ll have to pass too, lover boy. I have all I can handle with the mountain god. Besides, something tells me I’m not enough woman for you,” I laughed.
“Story of my life, too much time not enough women,” He answered dramatically.
“She’s out there,” I told him as I patted his shoulder, “or I should say they’re out there.”
Ralph was kind enough to feed us before calling it a night and then we loaded into Shane’s truck and headed for home. He dropped Lucy and Frank at Maxine’s first and then dropped me off outside my cabin on the lake.
After waving goodbye, I entered and turned on the light, that’s when a large hand covered my mouth. Screaming in earnest, since no one could hear, I tried to break free as a strong arm pulled me back against a hard chest. Adrenaline pumped through my veins as the taste of fear dried my mouth. Then I panicked and clawed at the hand that silenced my screams. In a last ditch effort, I brought my right arm up, slammed it hard into his gut, and then bit down on his palm. He growled “Fuckin’ bitch” when my sharp teeth tore through his thick flesh. Ripping his hand from my mouth, he raised his other hand and cracked my temple with the butt of a gun, sending me tumbling to the floor.
In my daze, I didn’t have time to brace as a boot connected soundly with my ribs. Sharp pain, the likes I’d never felt, shot up my ribs as stars burst brilliantly behind my eyes. Rolling to my back, gasping great gulps of air, I turned my head and caught sight of my worst nightmare. Reaching out my hand, I choked out “Max,” as I stared at his blood-covered body. When he didn’t move, my breath stole from my lungs and then from the depths of hell I screamed “MAX,” right before stars exploded behind my eyes again. Stunned senseless from the blow to my temple, my head lolled to the side as darkness seeped in, clawing at my consciousness. Blinking twice, trying to keep my eyes focused on Max, I lost my fight and slipped defenseless into unwanted slumber.