Girl Under the Ice by Georgia Wagner

Author:Georgia Wagner [Wagner, Georgia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-11-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Ella glanced around the cramped office space. Blueprints were stacked on a desk scattered with papers. Maps were pinned to a corkboard against the wall. Dilahunty hastened towards this board and began wheeling it away, turning it to the wall so she couldn't see. One of the small wheels squeaked as he rotated the board to face the opposite direction.

The whole area smelled of mud and earth. The vinyl flooring was streaked with combinations of day-old dust and muddy footprints. As Dilahunty secured the maps on the wall, pointing them away, he finally hastened over to a chair and snatched a pair of pants. As he pulled these on with one hand, he faced her, still wielding his shotgun.

Now, though, he was using it as a bit of a crutch, helping to keep him upright. Brenner had appeared in the doorway behind Ella, and his hand gripped his weapon which angled off towards Dilahunty. Ella quickly held out a palm, making a patting motion on the air.

She was pleased to see Brenner lower his weapon, but he was still scowling. The red rings around his eyes had faded. Enough time had passed now since he'd been drinking back on the ice, but instead of calming him, sobriety only seemed to agitate Brenner.

He was shifting uncomfortably back and forth, glancing between her and Dilahunty.

She glanced at him, gave a quick, encouraging nod, her eyes communicating confidence, an air of I've got this. She said, “It's fine. We can be friendly here.” She held Brenner's gaze a second longer, meeting those sad, forlorn eyes.

She felt another jolt in her chest at the look there but hastily redirected her attention towards Dilahunty again.

“You're Eleanor?” he said, his voice hoarse. He still hadn't buttoned his pants, and his hairy belly drooped over the waistband.

She forced a quick smile, though, bobbing her head once. “That's right.”

“I've heard of you,” he said.

“You only came to Nome seven years ago, yes?”

“About eight, but yeah. So what's this about your mom?”

Ella watched him. He was shifting uncomfortably, finally having buttoned his trousers, and occasionally glancing out the window and frowning.

“Is something wrong?” Brenner asked from across the room.

Dilahunty shook his head. “You're a marshal, right?”

“That's right. You got some guys on site you're worried about me meeting?”

“Nah. Most the guys went home. Just one fellow, actually—sticking to the quarters. Marriage troubles.” He shrugged, looking away from the window now. “So about the Queen of Nome?”

Ella didn't wince, but she wanted to. Instead, though, she simply replied. “My mother went missing earlier tonight.”

A low whistle. “Dead folks on my property. The queen goes missing? You really did bring a storm in with you, didn't you, Eleanor?”

“Call her Ella,” said Brenner, and at the same time, Ella said, “Please, feel free to call me Ella.”

They glanced at each other, and Dilahunty was now smirking. “Some history here?” he waved a dirty digit back and forth between the two.

Ella dodged the question. “I wanted to know who had access to the Revcot claim, sir.

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