The Alberta Connection Page 5

  John laughed, stood, and walked back to sit with Marge.

  Ramona caught up to Ryce and Tanya before they could leave the chow hall. “I will stop by your apartment at 1:00 PM and take you over to the Sanctuary. This is the anniversary of Jill’s death. John has a special memorial at her gravesite.”

  After Tanya and Ryce returned to their apartment, Ryce fought a valiant fight, and stayed away from his laptop for almost forty-five minutes. When Tanya reminded him that Doug said they didn’t have to work all weekend, Ryce just smiled.

  “I don’t think this is considered working. I am not playing with any of the cyber programming. I am writing an email to a friend of mine from the Army. I think I told you about Jason Marsh. He is a county Mountie in New Mexico. I would like to get him to move to the JBTF.”

  Ryce focused on his laptop again, typed for several moments, and then looked at Tanya.

  “OK, the email is on the way to Jason. What would you like to do now?”

  Tanya looked at her smart phone and then smiled. “If Ramona wasn’t supposed to be here in less than an hour, I think you know what I would like to do.”

  Tanya was only off by thirty minutes; Ramona arrived a half hour early. As they were walking to the parking lot, Ramona explained that she wanted to stop at a florist to pick up some flowers for Jill’s grave.

  Fabian was standing beside the Hummer when Ramona, Ryce, and Tanya walked up. After Tanya and Ryce climbed into the limo, Ramona started the introductions.

  “O2 is at work, but our twin sons, O3 and John2, are riding with me to the Sanctuary. I think you met AP and Danielle in Research 1. You met Annette at breakfast, so all that are left of that family are Lucy and Cory. You met Fabian’s wife, Hollie, in Coeur D’Alene. She is keeping another Cory, Anna, and Justin under control. The lady holding the flowers is John’s little sister, Mattie. Sitting beside Mattie is her husband, Dale Farnsworth. Dale is Doug’s younger brother. The boy on Mattie’s lap is Andrew, and the girl on Dale’s lap is Jill.”

  Ramona pushed the intercom button.

  “Fabian, what’s the capacity of this limo? We have eighteen in here right now.”

  Everyone heard a chuckle. “The license says we can carry twenty passengers, but I think we had twenty-six in here last winter. Please remain seated while the vehicle is in motion.”

  The drive to the Sanctuary took almost thirty minutes. A hay wagon was waiting to transport everyone to the Sanctuary Hotel. After they were all loaded on the wagon, the first stop was at a large hand-carved wooden sign.

  “This Sanctuary is dedicated to the memory of Jill Pendergast, the beloved wife of John Pendergast.”

  “Jill was a champion in the preservation of a simpler life. She was never able to see the Sanctuary, but those who knew her are confident she would have loved it.

  “Thank you, Jill, for being who you were, and enriching all of those who loved you. You are missed.”

  Ryce looked over at Ramona while the dedication was being read and saw that she had a few tears running down her cheeks.

  The ride to the hotel was over in fifteen minutes. After Ryce helped Tanya off the hay wagon, he looked around.

  He was standing in front of a magnificent three-story structure built of hand-felled and hand-sawn lumber. A placard near the main entrance stated it had taken more than fifty craftsmen three years to complete the hotel. That did not include a year required for the trees to dry sufficiently to be worked.

  Ryce heard John’s voice behind him.

  “I am really proud of this place. The hotel has ten three-bedroom suites on all three floors, five on each side of the grand staircase. On the third floor, the stairs end at the Jill Memorial Suite, which has four bedrooms and a sitting room. The kitchen, dining hall, and personal facilities are housed in their own building behind the hotel. We had to do some modifications to the back of the hotel. All the guests were running around in their bathrobes, so we added a private hallway from each floor to the showers. Some of the bathrobes were really interesting. Marge still has nightmares about one guest.

  “We have a three thousand gallon wooden water tank perched on the roof of the kitchen for showers and cleaning. That is sometimes a sore point around here. The tank has to be filled by hand from fifty-gallon barrels filled by hand at the lake, and then brought here on a horse-drawn wagon. The guests love it but the staff hates it. Two or three times a day, we put out a call for help. We often have thirty guests rushing to grab a wooden pail.

  “We salvaged an industrial water boiler from 1824 that heats all of our water. And all the water pipes are actually made of cast and fired clay from England. How AP found the plumbing, I have no idea. And he isn’t telling.”

  John paused and then continued. “I know that Jill would have loved this place.”

  John checked the time on his cell phone and then turned back to Ryce. “The memorial starts in thirty minutes in the Pavilion. That’s the really big covered structure behind me with all the artisan booths.”

  As Tanya and Ryce slowly walked hand-in-hand through the Sanctuary, he marveled at what John had created. On the right of the Pavilion were several Army-style wall tents set on wood floors. Ryce could see a sign hanging from the ridgepole of each tent. The people crafting the signs had a wonderful time. The permitted occupants for one tent included seven humans, six dogs, three cats, and one horse. Ryce wondered where the horse was going to sleep.

  On the opposite end of the Pavilion, Ryce could see more than a dozen wood-frame cottages. According to the map painted on the wall of the hotel, these were three and four bedroom family cottages. Ryce made a mental note to find out if they had any vacancies in any of the housing areas of the Sanctuary. Tanya had a birthday coming soon.

  Ryce grimaced. How soon? He flipped open his smart phone, and checked a file labeled “Things I’d Better Not Forget.” He was safe. Tanya’s birthday was in two months. A reservation for even a weekend at the Sanctuary would be an excellent birthday gift.

  Precisely at 2:16 PM, John led the group down a wandering path to the cemetery. Ramona walked next to Ryce and Tanya.

  “Jill was killed at 2:16 PM. Each year on the anniversary of her death, John celebrates her life.”

  Tanya started to ask how Jill had died, but they had arrived at the cemetery.

  Jill had been laid to rest in a small grove of trees overlooking the lake. She had a simple, hand-carved wooden marker with her name, the date she was born, and the time and date she died. The closing line on the marker read, “A loving wife and friend. You are missed.”

  After the Sanctuary was opened for business, someone had asked why a shrine had been built to Jill when she was still in Monroe, WA. A week later, John moved Jill’s coffin to what had soon become known as Jill’s Grove.

  Seventeen additional grave markers now dotted the clearing, and more than fifty urns were attached to trees nearby. Ryce smiled when he saw that most of the urns were the ashes of beloved pets. However, two urns contained a couple who wanted to be remembered together. Ryce scribbled a mental note. This was where he wanted to be remembered.

  The ceremony was simple. After several family members recalled what Jill had meant to them, John walked to the marker. He was holding the hand of a young girl who was carrying a bouquet of flowers almost as big as she was.

  “All of you who knew Jill also know that her best friend was Marge. When Jill died, I took a three-year vacation from reality. Marge was the one who brought me back. The beautiful young lady at my side is also named Jill. She is our daughter. She will allow the name to continue. Jill, you are missed.”

  When John completed his part of the ceremony, Jill stepped over to the marker. She gently placed the flowers in a wooden vase, blew a kiss at the marker, and rushed to her mother’s arms. Ryce looked around. There was not a dry eye in the group. Ryce poked Tanya and asked for a tissue.

  When the ceremony was complete, John announced that dinner would be served in ninety minutes on the portico of t
he Sanctuary Hotel. Ryce smiled. He liked the word “portico.” He was not really sure what it meant, but he liked it.

  John also mentioned that there would be a fishing tournament at the lake after dinner. The grand prize was a week for two in the Jill Memorial Suite at the Sanctuary Hotel. The second prize was a three-day weekend for a family of six in one of the cabins at the Sanctuary. The third prize was a coupon for a Big Mac. Fishing gear would be provided.

  As Tanya and Ryce waited for dinner to be served, Ryce checked the large sign near the front door of the hotel. He was looking for the Jill suite. It was the four-bedroom suite at the head of the grand staircase. He counted the stairs as he and Tanya walked to the top floor. He was extremely happy to see benches on every floor.

  As they waited for dinner, Ryce and Tanya strolled many of the paths and trails of the Sanctuary. Signs handcrafted by volunteers described flowers, trees, and even the road used to drag the logs out to the drying shed. After four years, the road was almost overgrown. Benches were installed along the trails and in the groves for meditation. At one bench, Ryce and Tanya sat in silence for several minutes, until Ryce looked at her.

  “Have I told you lately how happy I am that you agreed to marry me?”

  Over sixty people descended on the lake after dinner. The rules were simple: The angler who caught the first fish was awarded one point, the entrant who caught the largest fish was awarded one point, And the entrant who caught the most fish was awarded one point. There was, however, a three fish limit on the lake. The first to catch three fish would be awarded the point for most fish. If there were three winners, each would be awarded a four-day weekend in one of the cabins.

  John put Jill on the official’s table and asked her to count to three as loud as she could. When she got to three, the crowd all shouted “GO!” and began running toward the lake.

  When Tanya and Ryce found a place on the lakeshore, Ryce pulled a slightly greasy napkin from his pocket. Tanya was horrified to see the napkin covered the strip of bacon from his bacon-wrapped steak. Ryce carefully trimmed a sliver from the bacon slice, threaded it on his hook, and cast the hook and bobber into the lake.

  There was a collective “awe” heard from the anglers near Ryce when a large fish hit the bacon and jumped. Ryce quickly brought the fish to shore and hurried to the officials’ stand. John and Marge were standing near the table when Ryce placed his fish on the tray. John turned to Marge.

  “That is certainly the first fish of the contest, and I don’t think I have seen anything bigger pulled out of the lake since we have lived here. Ryce just may have won two points.”

  Ryce did win two points. And Tanya, after removing the bacon slice from Ryce’s pocket, was the first angler to hook three fish. John asked the participants to donate their catch to the Sunday morning fish fry. Each donated fish would receive a two-dollar coupon good at Barracks 5, the Ranch’s answer to an upscale Wal-Mart.

  Ryce was the first place winner, Tanya was the second place winner, and Marge came in third with the second largest fish. Since he and Tanya would be sharing the first prize, Ryce suggested that the second prize be auctioned off. The money would be donated to the Jill Pendergast Memorial Fund.

  As they lay in bed, Tanya pulled Ryce close.

  “That was sure nice of you to donate the $300.00 from those tickets to Jill’s memorial fund.”

  Ryce laughed. “They were your tickets.”

  Tanya gave him a long kiss. “But you did the right thing with them. And someone got a deal. A three-day weekend in a three-bedroom cabin is $750.00.”

  After a long shower, Ryce and Tanya decided that Sunday should be a day of rest. However, by noon, both had become bored with sitting around the apartment. Ryce located a tourist map that included ten pages of local attractions. They decided to explore.

  Dinner at the Pendergast table in the chow hall was missed once more. Tanya and Ryce ate in the rotating restaurant halfway up the main run at the ski resort.

  Chapter 8

  Ryce awoke more than an hour before his alarm clock was scheduled to go off. He thought about sleeping in, but today was just too important to chance arriving late at the office. And he remembered John had promised to send him into the cavern of lost hope. He just hoped he wasn’t going to lose too much hope.

  He looked across the bed. Tanya was looking at him like an owl focused on a mouse. Ryce smiled. He might be breakfast, but he was not going to surrender without a fight.

  Mark was waiting in the conference room when Ryce and Tanya arrived.

  “Well, it looks like it will be just us three spending some time together for a few days. Doug is doing some crisis management. Three of his top customer service techs went on maternity leave yesterday.”

  Mark chuckled. “More than half of the people who work for John do it from home, but not customer service. I have seen some service calls with six people sitting around a monitor. Doug’s customer service is the best in the industry.”

  Mark turned to his computer, typed for a few moments, and then turned to Ryce.

  “Doug mentioned you witnessed the murder of four men at a cabin in Montana. If you got a good look at all of the killers, we have the best forensic artist in the state working here. Do you think you could sit down with her and get a good artist’s rendering of the men at the cabin?”

  Ryce reached in his pocket and pulled out a flash drive. “I can do better than that. My spotter scope had a digital camera attached. You should be able to get some good portrait shots from this.”

  He passed the flash drive to Mark who slid it into one of the USB ports on the laptop. A few moments later, Mark chuckled.

  “Great pictures. These will work wonderfully with the search program I am going to show you next.”

  During the following two days, Mark showed Ryce and Tanya all of the things his search program could do. By the end of day three, Ryce had compiled significant biographies on the four men who had been killed at the cabin. However, the three shooters remained a blank page.

  As they walked to the elevator to leave the building on Wednesday, Mark turned to Ryce.

  “We will get in to some software tomorrow that is a little more specific in its access, more along the lines of law enforcement stuff.”

  During the family dinner, Ryce was asked what he planned to call the JBTF Internet research group he was forming on Monday. He thought for a minute.

  “Maybe we’ll have a contest to name the group.”

  Ramona started laughing. “I have always been partial to Internet Insanity.”

  John snorted. “That is not a good name to print on a business card.”

  Ryce and Tanya walked into the conference room on Thursday to find both Doug and Mark waiting. Mark looked up.

  “Doug got his crisis solved, so I asked him to come over and help with the three unknowns at the cabin. Even with all his expertise, they are still unknowns.”

  Doug finished typing on his laptop and looked at Ryce.

  “I have used every program at my disposal to try to find the three in the cabin. They do not show up anywhere. Mark and I developed a program to search driver’s license databases, but those searches will take forever. Each individual state is a separate protocol. And you have three pictures, so each state must be searched three times.”

  Doug turned back to his laptop, which had alerted him a search had completed.

  “Well, that was the third killer who doesn’t have a driver’s license in Arizona.”

  Mark looked over at Ryce.

  “I still have one more program we can try. It is one John helped develop with the military. They have an immense service record database of present and former service members. Our biggest hurdle is the service branches do not talk with each other, so we have to go through each branch individually. Also, before we can use the program, John has to talk with the Secretary of Defense. When he gets finished jumping through that hoop, he must talk with each of the service secretaries.”

&
nbsp; Mark began typing on his laptop. After several minutes, he looked back at Ryce.

  “It could take several days before we get an OK. Depending on how tight they pulled their underwear on this morning, we may never get permission.”

  Ryce, Tanya, Doug, and Mark worked all morning trying to find the three men in the cabin. Suddenly, Doug looked around the room.

  “The best lunch for today is the cafeteria in this building, and we are almost late.”

  He clicked several keys and then flipped his laptop closed.

  As they departed the conference room, Mark pointed at Doug and chuckled.

  “About half the time I work with him, he forgets to eat lunch. Karen called me one afternoon to ask why he was wearing a belt all the time. I asked her if it was because he wants to hold his pants up. She said it was not a trick question.”

  Doug laughed and then said, “That’s way too much information.”

  During lunch, John asked how everyone was doing. Doug asked if John had gotten Mark’s email. When John responded he had, Doug smiled.

  “I am sure Ryce will be doing much better when he has learned the identity of the three men in the cabin.”

  Doug was recalled halfway through lunch to the main Pendergast Holdings office building on Sanctuary Boulevard. He had another customer service technician become a mother. Ryce casually asked if the customer service department was totally comprised of mothers-to-be. Mark laughed so loud, almost half the cafeteria looked his way.

  “Doug is convinced that the best customer service reps are ladies. He does have a few guys working in customer service, but they are only tokens.”After lunch Mark, Ryce, and Tanya focused on the four men killed at the cabin. The four were all former FBI agents who had been assigned to the New York bureau office. They had all resigned on the same day four years earlier.

  The agents had all been under investigation for suspected corruption. They had been put on administrative leave thirty days prior to resigning, but were never connected with any criminal activity. And, nothing had shown up in their financial records.