Nowhere to Run

“That’s all,” Camish echoed. “We thought you’d leave us alone back in Michigan if we just paid our taxes and kept our mouths shut. Didn’t we, Caleb?”

Caleb nodded and grunted.

Said Camish, “When they tried to take our property the first time, we fought ’em off pretty good. We thought it was over, that there was just no damned chance in the United States of America that the government could take a man’s land and give it to somebody just because they’d pay more taxes. They backed off at first, and we thought we won. But they was like you, like all governments, I guess. They just kept coming. Those three things that are supposed to be our rights—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Hell, the government’s supposed to protect those things. Instead, they took the last two of them away from us, just like that. Finally, they took our place from us and we lost our dad, our mom, and our brother in the process. They took all three of those rights away from them, didn’t they?”

He spoke in a flat, unsentimental way. Joe nodded for him to go on.

“When a thief comes into your home in the night and tries to take your property, it’s okay to shoot him. But when the government comes and wants the same thing, you go to jail if you resist. At least the thief puts his own ass on the line.”

Camish said, “We just wanted to find somewhere we could be left alone. Is that so damned much to ask?”

Nate said, “No, it isn’t.”

Joe sighed. “Problem is, no one can just walk away. Everyone has obligations.”

Camish said, “You mean like paying taxes?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Joe said, grateful it was dark so no one could see him flush. “Folks can’t expect services and programs without paying for them somehow.”

Camish said, “Why the hell should we pay for things we don’t want and don’t get? Why should the government take our money and our property and give it to other people? What the hell kind of place has this become?”

Joe said, “It’s not that bad or that simple. This whole mountain range, for example. It’s managed by the U.S. Forest Service, a government agency. Taxes pay for that.”

“We do our part,” Camish said. “We keep the riffraff out.”

Caleb snorted a laugh.

Joe said, “You boys vandalized some vehicles and scared the hell out of some campers. Not to mention that elk you took.”

Joe saw a flash of anger in Camish’s eyes. He didn’t even look at Caleb, hoping Nate had him covered. Camish said, “We did that to keep people away. To spook ’em. We didn’t want to have to hurt somebody or take things too far, so we laid down a marker: Leave us alone. It’s our way of managing the place. We didn’t disturb or hurt anything that was perfect. Fish, deer, elk—whatever. If anything, we helped cull the herd. That’s management, too. It just ain’t done by bureaucrats sitting on their asses. Like the Forest Service, you know? Or you guys.”

Joe could feel Nate’s eyes on the side of his face, but he didn’t look over.

Instead, Joe said, “Diane Shober. Tell me about her.”

“Yeah,” Camish said. “I was expecting you might have recognized her that night. She thought so, too.”

Joe waited. He looked up and realized Caleb was trying to tell Camish something with his eyes. Caleb looked distressed.

Camish said, “I won’t get too far into it, but Diane felt like she needed a refuge, too. So we offered her one.”

Joe said, “I find that hard to believe.”

Camish said, “Believe whatever the hell you want. But sometimes it’s hard to see how much pressure is being put on a person. And how it’s pretty damned nice to find a place where no one expects you to live up to a certain standard.”

“Her fiance?” Joe said.

“Yeah, him. But especially Daddy,” Camish said. “That man expected one whole hell of a lot. He lived his life through her, but she can’t stand him. He’s one of those parasites. He got rich taking other people’s property and money. We’d tangled before. She knew we didn’t like or respect the man. She knew we’d help her out.”

Joe nodded his head. “You had a common enemy,” he said, echoing Marybeth’s words.

“’Course we did,” Camish said. “He’s the developer who got our family property. Friend of a damned crooked Senator McKinty from Michigan and his no-good son.”

Joe sighed. He had no reason to disbelieve Camish, though he looked hard for one.

Camish turned to Farkus. “He’s the one sent them Michigan boys after us, right Dave?”

Farkus nodded, his eyes moving from Joe to Camish as if watching a tennis match.

Joe said, “You mean the senator? Are you saying a U.S. senator sent a private hit squad after you?”

“Naw,” Camish said. “Diane’s old man did that. They were supposed to take us out and take her back. And the way things work, I’d bet the senator and his son knew all about it, but nobody would ever be able to prove that. That’s how those folks are. We don’t want no part of those politicians anymore. That’s why we’re here.”

Joe thought: And when Shober heard about me, he tried to put me on the hunt for Diane, too, just for insurance.

“She stayed with you to rub her father’s nose in it?” Joe said.

Caleb shrugged as if to say, Why not?