Die a Stranger by Steve Hamilton Page A

go.”
    “She indicated that you and Vinnie were drinking the other night. Is that true?”
    It had been a long day and I had already gotten raked over these same coals twice. I was in no mood to make a third trip.
    “Chief, please listen to me,” I said. “This isn’t about Vinnie getting drunk, all right? He lost his mother, he wanted to have a drink. And yes, I joined him. I was just keeping him company and looking after him. The only reason I mentioned it to his sisters is because I thought they should know. Obviously a big mistake on my part, because that’s all they seem to care about right now.”
    “No, that’s not true. They’re very concerned about their brother missing his shift at work. Apparently this is the first time in several years. Their worst fear is that Vinnie suffered some kind of alcohol poisoning, and that perhaps he left his house and lost consciousness somewhere.”
    “Oh, for God’s sake. When Vinnie gets back, I’m gonna have him come see every one of you guys, tell you the whole story. I really can’t wait for that to happen.”
    “Well, I hope that happens, too,” the chief said. “I really do. In the meantime, I’ve got all of my men keeping their eyes open. Unless you’ve got any other ideas about where he might be.”
    “If I did, I’d tell you.”
    “Okay, then. You’ll let me know if something else occurs to you?”
    He kept sitting there, just looking at me. I knew the drill, having done it myself a time or two. I looked right back at him.
    “I understand you were a police officer yourself,” he finally said. “Back in the day.”
    “I was.”
    “Chief Maven over in Sault Ste. Marie, he’s got some interesting things to say about you.”
    “I’m sure he does.”
    “He started out by telling me you were the biggest pain in the ass he’s ever had the misfortune of knowing.”
    “I can’t imagine why,” I said, even though I could have spent the rest of the night counting the reasons.
    “He also told me you were a big help to him, not that long ago. He says he owes you a favor.”
    “Chief Maven said that? Seriously?”
    “He did,” Benally said, “which makes me inclined to give you the benefit of the doubt. You’ll let me know if you hear from Vinnie LeBlanc, okay?”
    “I will, Chief.”
    He stood up and put his hat on, squaring it up just so. He wished me a good night and then he was gone.
    *   *   *
     
    The next morning, I rolled by Vinnie’s empty cabin and went down to the Glasgow for breakfast. Jackie had the Soo Evening News from the night before. I sat there and read all about the dead bodies in Newberry. The police still weren’t giving them many details, but drug-related executions don’t happen every day up here. I could only imagine what people would be saying about it all over the county.
    “What’s next?” Jackie said to me. “What’s the plan for today?”
    “I don’t know,” I said. “If you got any ideas, I’m all ears.”
    “Get back out there and look for him.”
    “He’s not on the rez. Where else do I start looking?”
    “We can’t just sit here.”
    “The Bay Mills police are all on alert,” I said. “If he’s around, they’ll find him.”
    “Yeah, Indians are good at that sort of thing.”
    I looked up to see if he was kidding, but he had already walked away. That’s when I remembered the one loose end from the day before. I got up, went out to the truck, and drove straight to the rez.
    I went back to Buck’s house, with the beat-up old car out front and the carefully made sweat lodge in back. I knocked on the front door.
    Nobody was answering, but I heard music from somewhere inside. I knocked again. Still no answer.
    I walked around to the back of the house, wondering if maybe somebody was getting ready to use the sweat lodge. Kind of early in the day for it, I would have thought, but what the hell. I didn’t see any steam coming from the lodge, but I opened up the flap anyway.
    “What’s