Page 71 of Radar

“Something recent? I haven’t opened a paper since I got to Lumberjack.”

“There were bomb threats at Vancouver and Ottawa airports last night that are impacting some northern flights in the United States,” Hiro said. “The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have the dogs in there searching every square inch. And since Elyssa is flying out of Alaska, I was looking up to see the impact on her flight. That plane was delayed in Vancouver. She may be in Fairbanks for a while. You might just get your wish and beat her to D.C.”

Xander didn’t respond.

Following Xander’s long pause, Hiro asked, “What was that thought?”

“Bomb threat.” Xander let that information trickle through his gray matter. “Far-fetched but ringing true.”

“Keep going.”

“Remember when you told me about Orest’s flight time?” Xander watched Radar trotting around in a circle, trying to find the perfect spot to take a dump. “Why would he take a car at zero four twenty for a late morning flight to California? In my mind, he was up to something in Fairbanks. But what if it wasn’t Fairbanks that was Orest’s push out the door?”

“He had those plans in place the day before,” Hiro said. “He mentioned it on his phone call.”

“Do you have that readout on the whole conversation from the FBI?” Xander asked.

“No, I’ll let you know when I do.”

“Okay,” Xander said, “Let’s go through this. There were four people in their party, and three were impacted. Orest arranged for the three to be there and paid their way. He was very conveniently gone just as the attacks happened.”

“We don’t know what time the scientists went missing,” Hiro said.

“But we do know what time they’d be discovered as gone,” Xander grew more sure that his timeline was correct. “I told you that someone was at Elyssa’s door right after Orest left, and Radar scared them off.”

“Yes. Then a snowmobiler tries to drag her into the woods,” Hiro said. “Let’s move through that theory. Let’s say Orest runs to stay out of the hands of the enemy or whatever, and that the group—and it would have to be several men—grab the two companions, Eddie and Paca. Then they go for Elyssa and miss. She wasn’t in her room. They don’t know where she is. They wait and go for Elyssa as soon as she pops her head out the door, and they’ve located her again.”

“And they miss.”Thank you, Radar. I never would have gotten to her in time. I had no way to go after someone on a snowmobile. She’d be gone. Swept into someone’s evil shitty plan.He sent his thoughts in waves of gratitude toward Radar.

And Radar turned to catch his eye, giving him a single high-pitched bark.

Xander hadn’t seen the full extent of the damage that Radar had done to the snowmobile guy as Xander grabbed his gear and ran to catch up with Elyssa, but he was bloodied, and the man was hitch-sobbing as the lodge men took him into custody. That picture gave Xander a sense of satisfaction.

“With a plane delay,” Xander said, “they have one more shot at getting to Elyssa before she leaves Alaska.

“We don’t have a why,” Hiro said. “I mean, Elyssa is Orest’s great-niece, which should be protective, unless, as you suggested, Orest was the target. And then there’s a meat printer and a squirrel guy. How in the world do these things go together?”

“That’s the million-dollar question,” Xander said. “So, here’s the theory: Orest believed someone was on his trail, and he thought he was in danger. He got out of Lumberjack at the absolute earliest point he could. He left the other three in his party because he thought they were safe. Or he might have thought they would be safer without him there.”

“A benevolent Orest Kalinsky. That’s an angle I hadn’t considered. For a theory, it has potential. I mean, someone who was going after Orest might have missed their mark and decided to use the three people traveling with him as some kind of leverage. Do I think Orest is a caring person, and the leverage would work? I do not. But we can consider this scenario. I’m stuck on the part where you said, ‘Bomb threat, far-fetched but rings true.’”

“The bomb threat isn’t affecting Orest’s flight. It is affecting Elyssa’s. What better way to keep Elyssa in Alaska than to keep her grounded? They may make another attempt to take her.”

“And you think Alaska is important?” Hiro asked.

“Yeah, I do. If they tried to take Elyssa from Lumberjack, then they have some structure in place here to deal with next steps. Would it be harder in D.C.? It would have to be.”

“Following the timeline of your theory, someone figures out—which is easy enough to do—where Elyssa’s plane is coming in from. And it’s Canada? Give me a second.”

Radar was wandering from tree to tree sniffing. And Xander was staring at the airport, wishing he could run inside and grab Elyssa into his arms.

Hiro was back in his ear. “Her Alaskan plane was coming in from Vancouver. And the Chicago plane is delayed out of Ottawa. Well, that’s a hell of a lot of coincidences. The bomb threats were issued exactly ten minutes before loading time on the Alaskan-bound plane. Seems like a nice even number. It all lines up. But, like your crossing over the hundred-yard mark at the Newark airport—"

“A hundred yards?” Xander asked. “I thought you said a hundred meters.”

“The computer measured it in meters,” Hiro said. “It’s easier to visualize in yards.”

“Not the same distance, though. Someone setting a precise distance marker would use the metric system if they weren’t from the U.S. The Zorics work in metric. It’s just a detail that has no bearing in this moment. You were saying, ‘like the hundred-yard mark.’” Xander put Hiro back to the thought he’d interrupted.

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