Page 48 of At Midnight Comes the Cry
“Yeah, but it does seem to fit you.” He grinned at Knox. “You could call himrakhso’tha. That’s a polite name for older gentlemen.”
The coffee was strong, and bless her heart, Knox had remembered he liked his sweet. He felt the will to live reasserting itself. “What’s it mean?”
“My grandfather.” The youngsters both cracked up.
Russ pointed at them. “Either of you call me Grandpa and I will personally see you never work in law enforcement in New York again.”
Knox unfolded from her seat by the stove and gestured toward Terrance. “C’mon, Paul, I’ll help you pack up your stuff. We’ll give thechiefsome time to wake up and start moving.”
They saw the ranger off before Russ let Knox know they were going to break down their camp as well. “You’re kidding me, right?” She stared at the tent, stove, rocks, and clothing items they had hung up to air. “Is this another wilderness survival thing?”
Russ hauled his sleeping bag out of the tent and began rolling it into a tight cylinder. “We can leave our packs, but if the militia guys move, we need to be able to follow fast. If they stay put, we’ll put the tent up again at dusk.”
She glanced up at the gray-on-gray sky. “And what if it snows?”
“Snow’s a good insulator. We’ll be fine.”
She had an expression of stoic suffering he suspected she’d perfected with her kids. He pointed out each step as they struck the tent, in the hopes it would make it easier for her to erect later.
When they’d repacked everything—the coffee and the mugs were the last in—she asked, “So what’s the plan for the day?”
“You’re going to stash yourself behind the two lean-tos we made. I’m going to get close to their encampment and work my way around to the side I couldn’t see yesterday.”
“What are the chances you might catch Flynn out for a stroll and just be able to nab him?”
“Slim. And we can’t get him out of there until Paul arrives with reinforcements. We don’t want to give the game away.”
“I just realized something.” Her mouth twisted like she’d eaten something sour. “Once the DEC and the staties get here, we’re not the ones calling the shots. If they decide to storm the castle, Flynn’s in real danger of getting hurt by the good guys.”
“Yeah.” That thought had already been weighing on him. “I’m hoping observing them today will tell me their routine. If we know who goes where, and when, we’ll have a better chance of figuring out how to get Kevin out of harm’s way.”
“Chief. I should go, too. You can show me where you hid yourself yesterday, and I can keep an eye on what’s going on there while you check out the rest of the camp.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “We only have one pair of binoculars.”
“I have good eyesight, you said so yourself. And I know I’m not exactly Arctic explorer material, but I can sit quietly in one place and take notes.”
“Yeah. You’re right. Okay, get what you need and I’ll show you where to stash yourself.”
12.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13
“You really didn’t need to drive up here.” Clare opened the door to let Yíxin Zhào in. The young woman was dressed in the sort of clothing Clare wore when she first moved to Millers Kill—cute and seasonal without at all being appropriate for the actual winter weather they faced in the North Country. “We might be getting snow.”
Yíxin dropped an overnight case on the kitchen floor. “Thanks, but there’s no substitute for seeing evidence and interviewing witnesses with my own eyes.” She looked around. “Is your baby coming, too?”
“Absolutely not. My mother-in-law has him. He got me in the door the first time, but this isn’t a play date.”
The route to the Marches’ house took them through the center of the village, decked out in its Christmas finery. Yíxin stared out the window at the fuzzy trees and candy canes hanging from the light posts and the evergreen and tinsel garlands swagged across the brick facades of the storefronts. “It looks like that town fromIt’s a Wonderful Life.”
“Yes, it does.” Clare crossed Veterans Bridge and headed up Route 117. “It’s a little bit more complicated place than in the movie, though.”
“That’s it?” Yíxin twisted in her seat to see where the village was disappearing in Clare’s rearview mirror. “Doesn’t it get claustrophobic?”
Clare laughed. “There’s definitely a tendency for people to know your business. But I’ve come to love it.”
As they drove up-country, the sky thickened into a soft gray blanket and the first snowflakes began to fall. Clare switched on her lights. When they turned into the narrow lane leading to Tiny’s house, Yíxin frowned. “Are we going to be able to get back out of here?”
