Back of Beyond

out to her, “Sorry, darlin’, I didn’t mean to laugh at you. Come on back and join us.”

And her dad followed her, saying, “Gracie, what’s going on? Are you all right, Gracie?”

She kept going until she approached the collection of tents. She wasn’t sure at first which was hers-they all looked alike. Nine lightweight dome tents, looking in the soft moonlight like plump pillows.

“Gracie,” her dad said, finally grasping her hand.

She pulled away. The third one, she thought. Her stuff was in the third one from the top.

He grabbed her again, said, “Honey…”

She wheeled on him. “When were you going to tell us?” she asked, her voice catching like ratchets on sobs. “Is this why you brought us with you? So you could be with your secret girlfriend?”

Her dad just stood there. She could see his stupid face in the moonlight. His mouth was moving but nothing was coming out. He finally said, “Gracie… really…”

But what she heard was his lack of denial.

“Stay away from me!” she said, and she dove into the opening of her tent. It was small inside but the sleeping bags cushioned her dive. She spun and zipped the opening closed. As she did, her last glimpse of her dad was of him standing there like an idiot with a swarm of stars around his head, trying to come up with the right words-as if there were any. She said, “Go away. This is the worst fucking trip of my life.”

Inside, she could hear him. For five minutes, he stood there, breathing shallow breaths. Then he moaned and said, “I was waiting for the right time to talk with you girls. Really, honey.”

She didn’t respond.

Finally, he turned and trudged away back toward the fire.

* * *

An hour later, Gracie heard footfalls approaching the tent and she opened her eyes. She hoped it wasn’t her dad coming back, and if so she planned to feign sleep.

The door zipper hummed and she sat up, alert.

Danielle said, “Oh my God, I love him.”

Gracie flopped back down.

“He’s so damned cute I want to eat him up,” Danielle said. “He tried to help me cast to the fish but I couldn’t get past how he put his arms around me. Damn, he’s hot and I love him.”

Gracie said, “Did you think for a second I might be asleep?”

Danielle hesitated, said, “No.” Then went on, “Before I came back here he gave me just a little kiss-nothing major-and said, ‘To be continued.’ Is that classy and cool, or what? Is that awesome, or what?”

Gracie rolled away from her.

“What’s your problem?” Danielle asked.

Gracie told her sister about their dad and Rachel Mina.

“You’re kidding,” Danielle said, finally.

“I’m not.”

Danielle shook her head back and forth. “That just doesn’t seem right,” she said.

Before Gracie could agree, Danielle said, “She’s much too awesome for him. What does she see in the guy?”

In the dark, Gracie covered her face with her hands and moaned.

“They’re all still out there,” Danielle said, regaining her stride, pushing the news aside. “Except for Justin, I mean. He went to his tent, too. Gee, I wonder what he’s doing in there all alone?” she giggled.

Gracie said nothing.

“I saw one of the Wall Streeters open a bottle,” she said. “I think they’re all going to pass it around and tell stories or something. I hope they don’t stay up too late or get too loud, ’cause we need to get some sleep.”

“You think?” Gracie said.

“Yeah, there’s a big day tomorrow,” Danielle said, slipping out of her clothing to her sports bra and wriggling into a pair of light sweatpants. “At least it’ll be a big day for me.”

“That’s what’s important,” Gracie mumbled.

“Are you being sarcastic?”

“Never.”

“Well, don’t,” Danielle said, sliding into her sleeping bag and pulling the zipper up. “It’s boring.”

“Justin is too good to be true,” Gracie said.

“He is, isn’t he?”

Gracie thought any more conversation would lead to an argument. “Good night.”

“Good night, Gracie.”

* * *

She lay brooding in the dark for hours. Occasionally, she could hear a whoop or laugh from the direction of the campfire. Danielle’s breathing got deeper and she slept the sleep of the dead and Gracie wished she’d gotten that snake from Dakota.

She’d never hated her father before.

17

Larry said to Cody, “A pattern is emerging in these cases.”

Cody felt his scalp tighten. He stood. “You mean besides the method of death, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Where are you now?”

“At the office. Unauthorized overtime, as usual.”

“Good,” Cody said, standing and gathering his files under an arm while holding the phone with the other. He snuffed out his cigarette, pocketed the keycard, and pushed his way out into the hallway. “I’m at a hotel and I saw a business center downstairs. I’ll go down there and fire up one of the computers so we can both be online.”

“Want me to call you back?”

“No way,” Cody said. “I’ve been waiting all night to hear from you. Don’t worry, I can walk and talk at the same time.”

The hallway was shadowed and cavernous and he padded down the carpeting toward a curving staircase at the end. As he approached he could hear a swell of conversation and laughter from the lounge on the first floor.

Cody descended the stairs. Across the lobby the receptionist saw him and nodded. He nodded back, gestured toward the closed door of the business center, and the receptionist indicated it was open for use. He sat at a PC beneath a window that looked out into the lobby. The doorway to the lounge was straight ahead, and he could make out bodies inside lining a bar. The men and women were well dressed with the women in dresses and men in suit jackets with no ties, about as formal as Montanans were likely to get. The crowd looked young and elite; professionals out after a concert or fundraiser. The kind he usually made a point to avoid.

“So what’s the connection?” Cody asked Larry as he placed the files on the counter next to the computer.

Larry said, “Before I spill it, let me say this is pure speculation at this point.”

Cody sighed. “Of course.”

“And it’s just me right now. I don’t have anyone else on the case to confirm what I’m saying or poke holes in it.”

“Yes, Larry,” Cody said impatiently.

“Let me walk you through it,” Larry said. “Got a pen?”

“Sure,” Cody said, firing up the PC and waiting for it to boot. He opened one of the files to take notes on the front inside cover.

“First,” Larry said, “we’ve got nothing new on our end. The arson tech is still sifting through the burned-out