“Why didn’t you just put your foot down and forbid me from climbing?”
“Wouldn’t have done any good. You always had your own mind. And you only got stuck that once. The rest of the time, you were like a monkey. You were fun to watch. I always admired your fearlessness. Same when you left for Guatemala.”
She wanted to tell him. She wanted to tell him everything. But despite what he said about her fearlessness, she was afraid. She didn’t know how to tell her father all the things that needed saying.
After a while, Cork said, “Guess we scared them away for tonight. What say we turn in?”
They stood, but before Annie could go inside, her father took her in his arms and held her in a long embrace and whispered in her ear, “I love you. It’s wonderful to have you back.”
Annie choked up. All she could do was put her own heart against his, hoping he could feel the fullness of the love she could not speak.
CHAPTER 19
At first light the next morning, Cork descended the stairs and headed to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. As soon as he turned on the kitchen light, the phone rang. A call that early was never a good sign. Caller ID told him it was John O’Loughlin, his longtime neighbor across the street.
“Have you looked outside?” O’Loughlin asked.
“No, why?”
“A van from one of the Duluth television stations has been parked in front of your house for an hour, probably waiting for a light to come on in your place.”
Cork returned to the living room and drew aside the front window curtain just enough to peek outside. As O’Loughlin had said, a van with a news station logo was parked at the curb. In the early light, he could see two men sitting inside. They appeared to be drinking coffee from disposable cups. As he watched, a man got out of a car on the other side of the street, walked to the van, and began conversing with its occupants. They seemed to be laughing. Although he couldn’t hear the discussion, he could imagine the brunt of their joking. Waaboo. Then another van drew up.
“Oh, Christ,” Cork said.
“You want me to run them off with my garden hose, I’m happy to oblige,” O’Loughlin offered.
“I’ll take care of them, John,” Cork said. “My best to Sue.”
“She’s right here, waiting for the fireworks to begin. Anything we can do to help, just let us know.”
By then, Rainy had come downstairs. She stood next to Cork, eyeing the vans through the gap in the curtains. “What are we going to do?”
Cork pulled the curtains closed. “I’ll wake Daniel, then we’ll have some coffee and figure things out.”
It began, however, before they could enjoy that coffee and make plans. At 6:20, the doorbell rang.
“Oscar Benson, Saint Paul Pioneer Press,” the man who stood on the other side of the screen door said. “Sorry to disturb you so early, but I saw the kitchen light go on. I’d like to speak with you, Mr. O’Connor. You are Cork O’Connor? Aaron O’Connor’s grandfather?”
“I’m talking to no one at the moment. No one in this house is talking to anyone before we’ve had our breakfast.”
Quick as a cobra strike, the man reached out and opened the screen door so that nothing stood between him and Cork. “I understand your grandson helped locate Olivia Hamilton’s body and that it was as a result of some kind of vision he had. That, in fact, he spoke to her ghost.”
“Let me ask you a question,” Cork said. “Do you believe in ghosts?”
“This isn’t about me.”
“Just answer the question.”
“Not personally.”
“Well, there you go. You want to report something that’s complete nonsense?”
“I have a source that says it’s not nonsense.”
“Then your source is full of shit. There’s no such thing as ghosts.”
“Could I have just a few words with the boy?”
“Here’s a few words for you,” Cork said. “Get the hell off my porch. If you come back again, I’ll have you arrested for trespassing.” He yanked the man’s hand off the screen door and pulled it closed. Then he slammed and locked the front door.
The whole house had been awakened by then. They gathered in the kitchen for a conference, just as they had the night before. The phone rang. Someone checked Caller ID. A local news outlet.
“That could go on all day,” Cork said. “Maybe I should just unplug the phone.”
While they talked, Daniel and Stephen set about making scrambled eggs and toast. Rainy poured orange juice. Annie, Maria, and Belle stayed out of the way.
Daniel had called Jenny the night before and got her permission to let Theresa Lee speak with Waaboo. “I can’t take her out to Crow Point,” Daniel said as he stood at the stove that morning. “Monte and I are headed over to Deer County to talk with Fawn Blacksmith’s grandmother. We’d like to speak to her before the BCA or Feds get to her.”
“I’d take her,” Rainy said. “But I’d rather go with Stephen and Belle to Spirit Crossing. If things turn ugly, I might be able to help.”
“I can take her,” Cork said. He stood at the kitchen window, a mug of coffee in his hand, eyeing the vans on the street. “The Feds and BCA will be all over the Olivia Hamilton investigation. Not much more I can do there.”
Maria said, “I’d like to go to Spirit Crossing with Belle and Stephen, if you’ll have me. I might be able to help, too.”
“If you go, I want to be with you,” Annie said. “Would that be okay?”
“Of course,” Belle said.
