“What happened to you? A bear?”
“Man’s best friend.”
“A dog did that? Gosh, Sam. Let’s sit you down and get you cleaned up. The Mounties are looking for you-if you’re the captain of the ship that sank at Devil’s Gate.”
“That’s me. And this is Anna.”
“I’ll call Rex.” She picked up the microphone.
“This is Anna,” Sam said again.
“Oh, my God.”
“Yeah, it’s that Anna. Listen, don’t be too impressed-she passes wind even when she doesn’t eat.”
“I think you got your history ass-backwards,” Anna said.
Betty rolled her eyes and Anna rolled hers back.
“A trivial stretching of history designed to make a valid point,” Sam said as Anna knocked his hat down over his eyes.
“Northpoint, Northpoint, this is Echo Bay,” Betty said into the radio.
“Switch and answer, Twenty-two Alpha.”
“Rex, your captain showed up, a little the worse for wear, but fine. Apparently he had a passenger. They’re gonna eat and clean up.”
“I have my paperwork. And I’ve got to hear about Devil’s Gate.”
“How about after some lunch and cleanup?”
“Roger that.”
“Echo Bay clear.” Then she turned to Sam. “You heard. He wants to talk with you when you’re done here.”
“Are you and Rex still sweet on each other?”
“Now don’t start on that.”
Sam chuckled with the question still written on his face.
“Well, come on in. We’ll start with the wounds and move to food. I don’t know what you been doin’, but these Mountie people and others are here looking for you. Said you might have disappeared off in the woods. They said a woman. They didn’t say Anna Wade.”
“Yeah, well, let’s just relax about that,” Sam said.
“Mum’s the word.” She sat Sam down at the table and in twenty minutes the wounds were covered with antibiotics and Sam had two dollar-sized bandages on his right arm and three on his left. After saying thank you and exchanging a few more pleasantries, Sam and Anna excused themselves to the washroom.
They tried acting as if they were strolling Fifth Avenue in jeans and Armani. They weren’t completely successful, drawing wide-eyed stares from a pair of bird-watchers. The washroom was also the laundry room and was on a large float behind the docks. They made their way out the gangplank.
“I’m taking a shower. Despite the hunger pangs,” she said. Then she leaned close. “When are they going to show up?”
“When they feel like it. You figure maybe they’ll use a rocket launcher on the shower?”
“It’s not funny. When are we going to make this plan?”
“It’ll come. Relax. I need you to be on vacation.”
“With a rocket up my you know what?”
“The Mounties are all over this place. It’ll be fine. And if they use a rocket on you, you won’t know what hit you.”
“Well, that makes me feel better.”
She went into the stall, stripped off her dirty clothes, and got under the hot water.
He came back with towels.
She interrupted the warm comfort of the shower, picked up her filthy shirt, and held it in front of her. Unlatching the door, she stuck out an arm. At that moment a shower of icy-cold water came over the door. She screamed. “How could you do that?” Then in came Sam’s hand around the door with two fluffy dry towels, one of them with a big picture of a smiley face. The hand returned with a pair of wool trousers and a fresh shirt. Even a bra and underpants along with a blow-dryer.
“I borrowed them from Betty,” he said.
“Sam?”
“Yeah?”
“Can’t you pretend to like me just a little?”
He sighed. “Sorry, it’s a tribal custom. We had a victory. You do this with people you like. Especially when you’re on vacation.”
The shower stall slammed shut.
Nine
Chellis waited impatiently for the phone to ring. Finally it did.
“They got to Echo Bay,” Roberto said.
Chellis listened to the story for as long as he could, then cut Roberto off. “I want you out of this. You will do nothing more. Absolutely nothing. It’s screwed up. If they’re smart and we’re lucky, they’ll say nothing because the rocket launch would be pinned on Jason. I’m sending someone to handle this. You get a picture of the man with Anna, but do nothing else. Do you understand?”
“Tell me exactly what happened,” Anna said, knowing that whatever Sam had said or done could make the press.
“While you were in the shower and on the phone, I went and talked to the Mounties. I’ll tell you over lunch.” When they went back inside, Betty gave them a bit of a funny look.
“Come on.” Betty nodded toward the back. On a small table there were fried potatoes, a small steak, scrambled eggs, tofu, two apples, two oranges, two apricots, a large pile of lox, bagels, and cream cheese.
“My God,” Anna said. “It looks good.”
They sat down and Anna filled her plate with half the eggs and a pile of potatoes.
Betty came in, closed the door, and waited as if she had an announcement.
“There is a man named Roberto out here that wants to see Anna.”
“Tell him we’ll be right out,” Sam said.
Betty nodded. “Take your time. I’m sure they can wait a minute while you eat.”
“What did you tell the Mounties and what happened with Roberto?” Anna asked Sam.
“Roberto’s buddy tried to take my picture. Seems the guy with the Minolta fell in the water and ruined his camera.”
“You got in a fight?”
“I don’t think I would call throwing a guy off a dock a fight. I told the Mounties our boat sank and we hiked.”
“All this while I was drying my hair?”
They took a few more bites, concentrating on their food.
“Let’s go see what the slug wants. For once you can be an asshole and I won’t mind,” Anna said.
“You bring your broom and I won’t have to be.”
“I need some shades,” Sam said to Betty. She produced a pair still with tags, along with a new hat. “Now, that is service.”
Before they could step outside, Roberto opened the door. “Anna, we were so worried about you. I need to talk to you about Jason.”
Coolly, Anna said, “I’d like you to meet Sam. It was Sam’s boat. And I think you’re responsible.”
Sam stared at Roberto. Nervously she put a hand on Sam’s arm.
“We already met,” Sam said. “And his buddy Ansel Adams.”
