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also pretty sure Dreyer wasn’t murdered recently, which lessens not only my chances of finding who killed him but—and that’s another thing. Why didn’t anyone notice he was missing? Why didn’t any flags go up?”
     
    Kate shook her head. “That’s not unusual. Len probably holed up in the winter, like most of us do. You don’t see a lot of the Park rats from September to March, if you don’t count the regulars at Bernie’s. Even if someone went looking for him and didn’t find him home, they would figure he was out on a trap line or hunting caribou for the cache, or hell, even Outside on vacation. I hear Hawaii’s big with the crowd that has money.”
     
    She added, “Or in Len’s case, doing a job for somebody. MIA isn’t a red flag offense in the Park. It doesn’t set off any alarms.” She gave him a hard look. “Usually.”
     
    Jim had been primarily responsible for finding Kate when she had deliberately gone missing the previous year. “So?”
     
    “So what?”
     
    She bristled, and he repressed a grin. Betraying amusement would only irritate her further, and he needed her on the job. “So will you check out Len’s background for me? I’m going to be in the air most of next week, between Gulkana, Spirit Mountain, and Cordova.”
     
    She wanted to say no, and he knew it. He watched her look over at Johnny, oblivious beneath his headphones, and he could almost hear the ka-ching of the cash register between her ears. Raising a kid was an expensive proposition, especially if you were anticipating a custody battle with his birth mother, and his birth mother hated your guts enough to be willing to spend every dime she could beg, borrow, or steal on getting her son back. Which reminded him of something else Jim had to talk to Kate about.
     
    She looked back at him. “Usual rates?”
     
    He only just stopped a satisfied smile from spreading across his face. “Of course. Keep track of your hours and expenses. I’ve got your Social Security number on file, and we’ll cut you a check when you submit your bill.”
     
    The words were brisk and businesslike, but she examined them suspiciously for hidden meaning anyway. This time he did allow himself a full grin, a wide expanse of perfect teeth in a face tanned from exposure to sun and wind, crinkles at the corners of his eyes from staring through a windshield five thousand feet above sea level at an endless horizon, laugh lines fighting for space with the dimples on both sides of his mouth.
     
    She caught herself staring at the dimples, bolted the rest of her coffee, and got to her feet in the same motion. “If that’s all, I’ve got some work to finish before dark.”
     
    He rose with her. “Walk me out.” He jerked his head at Johnny.
     
    Outside and far enough up the trail for Kate to feel that they were safely out of earshot, she said, “What?”
     
    “Jane’s contacted a lawyer in Anchorage. He called me.”
     
    She folded her arms across her chest, pushed out that Athabascan chin, and waited, her mouth a grim line.
     
    “She hasn’t filed suit yet, but they are what he called ‘exploring the possibilities.” He says he thinks they can go before a judge and get an order remanding Johnny into Jane’s custody.“
     
    She snorted. “Get Johnny to tell his story before that same judge and he’ll be thinking something else.”
     
    “Kate, there was no abuse.”
     
    “Depends on what you define as abuse,” she shot back.
     
    “Kate.”
     
    She shook her head angrily. “I promised him, Jim. I promised him.”
     
    He didn’t make the mistake of thinking she was referring to Johnny. “I know you did.”
     
    “Will they make you enforce the order?”
     
    “They haven’t got it yet.”
     
    “Will they?”
     
    “They’ll try.” He pulled his cap on, settling it firmly down over thick dark blond hair cut neat and short. “But I believe my footwork is a little fancier than theirs.”
     
    She looked up quickly.