Montana Summer Ch. 10

Milt closed his eyes as Angus started his bone saw. The sound and the smell of the saw cutting through the bone made Milt feel weak at the knees.

The result of the autopsy was homicide by person, or persons unknown, each of the arrows had pierced Sal's heart and any one of them would have been enough to cause instant death.

Angus signed his report and looked up at Milt. "I'll send this over to Cliff's office and I'll send a copy over to your office also."

"Thanks, Angus. I appreciate it," Milt answered.

Milt's stomach still hadn't quit churning by the time he reached his office. He thought about getting a cup of coffee on the way in but decided against it.

Deputy Travis Parks poked his head into Milt's office. "Call Ray down at the garage, he's dying to tell you what they found in the SUV."

Milt looked up. "What did they find?"

Travis grinned. "Oh, about one hundred and twenty thousand dollars in cash and a hi-powered military sniper's rifle."

Milt's jaw dropped. This whole case was getting stranger and stranger as time went on. "Where was the money?"

"Well, according to Ray, the money was divided up among all of the door panels. The rifle was in a panel in the cargo area."

Milt picked up his phone and called over the garage. "Let me talk to Ray, this is Milt," he replied after someone answered the phone.

---

The days all seemed to blur together. Someone was with Ryan constantly day and night. They all took turns sitting with him. Each day the news was the same, very little change, no better, and no worse. After five full days which felt like an eternity the doctor had some good news for a change.

"We are going to discontinue the drugs that are keeping him in the semi-comatose state. As the medication wears off, he should begin to wake up. But," the doctor cautioned. "It may take him a day or two to regain consciousness. He may drift in and out for the first little while. It is completely normal, since he is also on some strong IV pain medication."

As the day wore on, each became concerned at the lack of progress in Ryan waking up. Each time, the nurses would remind them of what the doctor had said, that it would just take time.

Late in the afternoon, there were signs of Ryan coming back to life. He seemed more restless. His eyes would open momentarily, and then close again. It was a rollercoaster of emotions. Each time his eyes would open, they would hope they would stay open, and then a sinking feeling overcame them as his eyes closed and he drifted back off.

Everyone except for Jessi went down to the cafeteria for some supper. Jessi elected to stay with Ryan. She asked her mother to just bring her back a sandwich. She didn't have much of an appetite. Jessi sat next to Ryan's bed and held on to his hand. She was watching the television when she felt Ryan squeeze her hand tightly.

Jessi turned and saw Ryan's eyes half opened and focused on her. Tears started flowing like a summer storm down her cheeks.

"Don't cry, Jessi." Ryan's voice was slurred and weak.

"Oh, cowboy! These are tears of joy. How do you feel?" Jessi took her other hand and caressed his cheek.

"I dunno, I..." Ryan drifted back off to sleep again.

Jessi ran out of the room to the nurse's station. "He talked, he talked!"

Ryan's nurse was sitting at the desk filling information in chart, she looked up at Jessi. "Did he know who you were?"

Jessi felt giddy, she didn't know what to say but her head nodded up and down rapidly.

The nurse got up from the desk and headed towards Ryan's room. Jessi caught up with her in a couple steps. "He talked! I can't believe it."

The nurse checked Ryan's vital signs, and then took a small penlight and shone it into Ryan's eyes. She looked at Jessi. "He might do this all night. Part of it is the medication he was on, and part of it is the pain medication he is on right now. It's a positive step though. He woke up and recognized you."

The nurse was right. Ryan would wake up briefly for a few minutes, say a few words, and then drift back off to sleep.

The next morning, the doctor came in early and evaluated Ryan's progress. "He is coming along," he told the group huddled around Ryan's bed. "We are going to cut back on his pain medication until he is conscious, or if there are obvious signs of pain, we will increase the dosage to the next level."

---

Hank picked up the cell phone on the first ring. He looked at the display. It was a Denver number. "Yeah, Hank here."

"It's Vincenzo. Tony would like to meet you this afternoon, if that is convenient with you."

"Yeah, that's fine. What time?" Hank looked at his watch.

"Three o'clock," Vincenzo replied. "Tony has a man he would like you to meet. He hopes he will meet with your approval."

Hank felt his heart race momentarily. He had just about given up hope on Tony coming through with someone.

"That will work for me. Are you going to pick me up again?"

"Of course," Vincenzo replied. "I will pick you up at 2:15."

Hank pressed the end button on his cell phone. He looked at the woman sleeping in the bed. He sat down on the bed and roused her. "Wake up, good looking."

"Hey, what time is it?" she asked.

"Early," Hank answered. "About 10:30. I have to get you back home. I have some business I have to take care of this afternoon."

She shook her head. "Let me sleep. I can take a shower here and take a cab to the club."

Hank smiled. It had been another wild night with her. Tonight, he was going to try to get her to bring one of her friends back to the motel. He loved watching two women getting it on. That was the one of the things he could never get Stella to do, get sexual with another woman while he watched.

"Okay, baby, you sleep, I'm going to have a shower, and then I will get us some coffee." Hank looked at the time. He reached for his cell phone and went into the bathroom.

He started the water running and then called Kenny. He waited as the phone rang.

"Hello?" Kenny sounded groggy as he answered the phone.

'He must have been up all night fucking Stella.' Hank decided. "I heard from one of Tony's little bitches a few minutes ago. Tony wants to meet me about 3:00, they say that they have a guy for us."

"Good! Be as evasive as you can while you are at Tony's place. Set something up with this guy for the weekend. I will fly in and interview him with you."

"Okay, I will call you back after the meeting," Hank replied.

---

Norm Campbell had received a phone call from Vincenzo shortly after Hank had talked to him. The only difference in the phone calls was that Norm would be at Tony's an hour before Hank. Tony wanted another opportunity to speak with Norm.

He was ready and waiting outside on his doorstep when Vincenzo pulled up with the limo. Vicenzo got out of the car and opened the back door for Norm. "Good afternoon, Mr. Campbell. Good to see you again."

Norm nodded at Vincenzo. "Nice to see you , too." Norm didn't really mean it. He couldn't think of anyone he wanted to see any less than Vincenzo. Norm was afraid of Vincenzo—his dress, his manners, everything was impeccable. There was an aura of strength and power about him. Norm had no doubt that Vincenzo could be as cold and as ruthless as they came should the situation demand it.

As they left, Vincenzo looked back through the open window that separated the front seat from the passenger area of the limo. "We are going to Tony's house for today's meeting."

"Who says crime doesn't pay?" Norm thought to himself as the car pulled up to Tony's house. It was a large, sprawling, two-story red brick mansion. The front of the house was lined with white fluted columns. After Vincenzo opened the door and let Norm out of the car, Norm just stood there and admired the house.

"Follow me," Vincenzo motioned. They rang the doorbell and waited for an answer. The door opened and they were ushered into a large open area.

The man who answered the door looked at Norm. "Do you have any weapons?"

Norm shook his head. "No."

The man smiled. "Well, I still have to search you. Boss' orders for everyone."

"Okay. Go ahead." Norm stood still as the man frisked him.

"Open your briefcase." He ordered after he had finished searching Norm.

Norm set the thumbwheels to the correct code and opened his briefcase.

After searching the case, the man nodded to Vincenzo. "He's clean."

Vincenzo nodded. "Follow me."

Norm was led into the library and Vincenzo pointed to a chair. "Sit down. Tony will be in shortly to see you."

The room was warm. The fire was burning in the fireplace, and not a gas fire either, a real wood fire. Norm could imagine himself in this room at night, the fire going, sitting in a large comfortable leather chair reading a good book. Rows and rows of leather bound books lined the shelves. Paintings of ships sailing under full sail adorned the walls tastefully.

He heard the door to the library open and he stood as he saw Tony walk in.

"Sit, sit." Tony gestured. He sat down in a chair opposite from Norm. "Can I get you anything? A drink perhaps?"

"No, thanks," Norm replied. He was still a little nervous.

"I have asked you here today because in about an hour you are going to meet with a representative of the group that was looking for a man like yourself. I also wanted to assure you that you have nothing to worry about with these people. You will not be in any danger."

"Well, thanks." Norm did feel a little better.

Tony continued, "And I wanted to make sure that you knew where your priorities lay."

"With you." Norm replied.

"Good." Tony nodded his head. "I will be paying you. As will they. I am paying you for information. They will be paying you for the actual work that you will be doing. Do you understand?"

Norm perked up. "Yeah, it sounds like it could be a sweet deal for me as long as I don't screw it up."

"Precisely," Tony replied. "There is to be no gambling while you are in my employ. No playing the horses, no betting on games. Is that understood?"

Norm hung his head. His gambling is what got him into this situation to begin with. He looked up at Tony. "Yes, I understand."

"Good." Tony was nodding his head, his hands were under his chin, fingertip to fingertip. "Otherwise, you will be having a visit from Vincenzo. It would not be a pleasant visit."

That sent chills up Norm's back. "No, I understand."

Tony reached into his blazer and produced an envelope. "I know you are in some financial difficulty at the moment. This should help you get your affairs in order."

Norm took the envelope from Tony. There was a bundle of one hundred dollar bills with a paper band around them. Five-thousand was marked in pen on the band. Five-thousand dollars. That would certainly help get things back in order. He slipped the money into his briefcase.

"I will give you same amount on the first of every month while you are in my employ, and as I said before, if you serve me faithfully, your debt to me will be forgiven. If you do not serve me faithfully, you will owe me the gambling debt, plus all of the monies that I have paid you, and as some financial institutions advertise, certain penalties will be assessed. And these are not financial penalties."

Norm understood the veiled threat implicitly. "I understand. I will do whatever you ask of me."

"I thought you might. Now that we have that behind us let us proceed with our business." Tony smiled, and this smile seemed to be genuine. "A man by the name of Hank will be here shortly. I seriously doubt he will reveal much here. I fully expect him to contact you within the next day or so to set up a meeting. Another man by the name of Kenny will probably be in attendance. Kenny is the man you will be working for. I want you to let me know where the meeting will be and when. I will want to know what is discussed at the meeting. I am eager to hear what they want with a man such as yourself."

"You don't know?" Norm asked.

"No." Tony shook his head. "Both Kenny and Hank have been very evasive, much as I would be if the roles were reversed. Don't expect them to trust you completely from the start. They will suspect that you are working for me. Just do as they ask. Only ask questions that you think are pertinent. Don't try to go fishing for information. Patience is the trick here."

A knock was heard on the library door. Tony looked at the Rolex on his wrist. He smiled at Norm. "Right on time. Any questions before we let our guest in?"

"Yes, only one," Norm responded. "Who do I call? You, or, Vincenzo?"

"Ah, yes." Tony reached into his pocket and handed Norm a business card. "You will contact me. I would prefer it if you called me in the evenings at home. If, for some reason, you feel that it cannot wait, call the cell number on the card. I would advise you to commit both of those numbers to memory and to get rid of the card."

Norm nodded. "Okay. That's all I had."

Tony stood up. "Good! Now we will meet our other guest."

---

Stan checked the time and then dialed Lindsey's cell. She should be at lunch now.

"Hello?" Lindsey answered the phone on the first ring.

"Hi, Lindsey." Stan waited to see what her tone of voice would be today. It had ranged from almost icy to barely lukewarm the past week.

"Hi, Stan." She was actually happy to hear from him, but she tried to keep her voice aloof.

Stan was a little disappointed, There was still no real emotion in her voice. "Becky called. She said that Ryan is beginning to wake up. He has opened his eyes a few times and has talked a little."

A flood of relief passed through Lindsey. She liked Ryan, she liked him a lot. There was just something about him that she found almost irresistible. "Thank god, that is the best news I have heard all week. Any idea how long he will be up there?"

"No," Stan answered. "They have no idea. The doctors won't even give them a guess at this point."

"Well, at least he is beginning to come out of it." Lindsey's voice sounded a little more chipper.

"Yeah, Becky said he recognizes everyone, and she said the doctors said that was great sign."

"I'm glad," Lindsey responded. "I just hope there is no brain damage."

"Yeah, me too. Well, I guess I should get back to work here." Stan felt like he wasn't getting anywhere with her.

Lindsey could sense the despair in Stan's voice and relented a bit. Her voice softened. "Stan."

"Yes?"

"If you want to, you can come over tonight. Mom will be out, so we will have some time. We really need to talk."

Stan felt like a condemned man who got a last minute reprieve. "I'll call you later and let you know what time I will get out of here. Any movies you want to see?"

Lindsey felt her face flush. She had enjoyed the dirty movies that Stan had brought from the store. She wasn't quite sure what he had meant by the comment and decided to be non-committal. "I don't care, Stan."

"Okay, I'll see you later." Stan felt better than he had in days.

---

Ryan opened his eyes. There was dull, throbbing ache in the back of his head. It hurt to move. He could see all of the IV's running into both of his arms and he knew he was in the hospital.

He looked around the dim room and he had no idea what the time was. Ryan didn't know what day it was, he didn't even know if it was day or night. He heard a snoring sound on his right. He moved his head slightly to the right and smiled. It was Charlie.

"Hey! Charlie!" It was an effort for him to talk.

Charlie opened his eyes and looked at Ryan. A smile grew over the old man's face. "I thought I was dreaming when I heard you."

"Will you be my tunkansila?" Ryan's voice was raspy.

Charlie gave Ryan a puzzled look.

"For the Sun Dance, will you be my tunkansila?" Ryan repeated the question.

Charlie felt a lump in his throat. "I would be honored."

"I have spent much time with Mato. It felt like I would never return to this world. He has shown me much. We have much to talk about." Ryan reached for Charlie's hand and held it. "Mato says I am wašicun wakan. Do you think I am?"

Charlie nodded his head slowly. "Yes, I think you are."

As Ryan drifted back off to sleep, Charlie kept watch over him. Charlie's voice was just above a whisper. "Yes, Ryan, you are wašicun wakan, just as Micaksica Skayakel was. You will be a man who will live in two worlds. I saw this in my vision, but I just didn't believe it possible."

Jessi walked into the room and looked at Charlie. "What did that mean?"

Charlie looked at Jessi and then pointed at Ryan. "He is wašicun wakan, a white man who is—blessed. He is much like your great-great grandfather. It was said he lived in two worlds. The world of the Whites, and the world of the Lakota, and he was equally respected by both. Ryan is like that. He is special." Charlie looked at Ryan with tears of joy in his eyes. He squeezed Ryan's hand tightly. "Very special."

Jessi put her arms around Charlie and hugged him. "Well, Ryan has told me that he thinks you are special, too."

Charlie nodded. "I know that now. He asked me to be his tunkansila, his teacher, for the Sun Dance. That is a great honor."

Jessi looked at Ryan and then back at Charlie. "He is very special to me, too."

"I know. Although I am an old man, I can still tell when two people are in love." A smile crossed Charlie's face.

"Well, I didn't know it was that obvious." Jessi blushed.

"One would have to be blind and deaf to miss the love that you two share." Charlie's voice was quiet.

---

As soon as Hank was back in his hotel room, he called Kenny from his cell phone.

Kenny had been on pins and needles waiting for Hank's call. When his phone rang, he grabbed and answered it. "Yeah?"

"Well, I met him." Hank was looking out the window of his hotel room. He wanted to make sure that the limo had left the parking lot.

"Does it seem like that he could be our man?" Kenny asked.

"Yes." Hank replied. "He is everything we were hoping for. He is a geologist. Most of his experience has been with gold and copper. He does have a mining background."

"Fantastic!" Kenny was feeling exuberant. "Have you set up a meeting with him?"

"I wanted to talk to you first. I thought you would want to be in on it, too." Hank replied. "I told him that I would be calling him back tonight and let him know when we would be meeting."

"I will be there Saturday. Let's set up a meeting for, say, around 7:00. I'll call you later and tell you where I'll be staying." Kenny winked at Stella.

Kenny set the phone down and rubbed his hands together. "Looks like we may have found our man."

Stella had an anxious look on her face. "Will I be going with you?"

"Of course you will be going with me." Kenny smiled at her. "Unless you don't want to have to see Hank, then you can stay here."

"No." Stella put her arms around Kenny's waist and smiled into his eyes. "I want to go with you. And Hank be damned."

---

Stan rang the doorbell and waited for Lindsey to answer the door. He held a bouquet of a dozen red roses in his hand.

The door opened and Lindsey's face lit up when she saw the flowers. "Are those for me?"

"Yes, they sure are." Stan felt the apprehension melt away. That look of joy on Lindsey's face was all that it took.

Lindsey took the flowers from Stan. "Sit down, I'm just going to put these in some water. They're absolutely beautiful, Stan."

Stan sat and waited for Lindsey to reappear. He wasn't sure what he should say first. This might be his only chance to get their relationship back on track and he didn't want to blow it. Thoughts raced through his mind of things to say and with each one there was a pitfall. In the end, Stan decided the best thing to do was to say nothing and to let Lindsey lead the conversation.