Free Heaven's Keep by William Kent Krueger Page A

climbing involved. Even if he can set down, it will be a while before we know anything. Sorry I don’t have something more solid for you.”
    “You’re a big help, Dewey. Thanks.”
    Cork passed the news along to the others, then called Sarah LeDuc and did the same.
    The next call came at one thirty.
    “Cork, it’s Dewey. Look, I have some bad news. Or maybe it’s not bad, I don’t know. They’ve reached the wreckage. It’s not the plane your wife was on. It’s a small Cessna that went missing five years ago, flown by a real estate broker from Rawlins. We spent a good long time looking for it then, but the search was centered much farther south. The team’s found human remains, which they’ll be bringing down. We’ve notified the pilots who’ve been helping with the current search, and they’re going back into the air just as soon as they can. I’m sorry, Cork.”
    “Thanks, Dewey. I appreciate the call.”
    They all watched him expectantly. Cork braced himself and forced a smile. “Good news,” he said. “It wasn’t Jo’s plane.” He explained, trying to give the news the best possible spin. But after they’d heard, they seemed to sit a little lower, more heavily weighted than before. Hope was like that, Cork knew. It could be crueler than despair.
    “I’m going to get a little fresh air,” he said.
    He went out onto the porch. The branches of the elm in the front yard had long ago been stripped bare, and the shadow they cast on the lawn made the ground look fractured. The air was cool and full of the scent of woodsmoke from the blaze in someone’s fireplace. It would have been a beautiful day if not for the worry that dragged on all Cork’s thinking.
    Mal came out. “I haven’t wanted a cigarette in years,” he said.“Right now I’d kill for one.” He leaned against the porch railing. “You’re leaving for the airport in a couple of hours and you still haven’t said a thing to the kids about going to Wyoming.”
    “You think I don’t know that?” When Cork heard the venom in his own voice, he apologized to Mal. Then he confessed, “I can’t bring myself to tell Stephen.”
    “Take him with you.”
    “That’s not a good idea, Mal.”
    “Why? Look, Cork, you can leave Rose and the girls. They have each other. For Stephen, you’re it. And he’s dying to be out there helping. You go and leave him behind, well, that’d be one big mistake, in my opinion.”
    The sun had dropped low enough to shoot fire at their feet, and they stood in a puddle that burned bright yellow on the porch boards.
    Cork said, “It would be easier to operate if I were on my own.”
    “Maybe. But listen. One of the things you’ve told me about your father’s death is that you’ve always felt there was something more you could have done. If Jo is lost to us for good, if ultimately that’s what we all have to face, wouldn’t you rather that Stephen faces it believing he did everything he could? Wouldn’t you want to believe it of yourself?”
    For a few long moments, Cork stared at the fire around his feet, then he decided. “Thanks, Mal. Let’s go in and give them the word.”
    They didn’t respond immediately when Cork told them he was going. He didn’t know exactly what that meant.
    “I think it’s important to be there,” he said.
    “Are you going alone?” Jenny asked.
    “No. I’d like to take Stephen with me. Is that okay with you, buddy?”
    Stephen looked surprised, then he looked brighter than he had in days. “Heck, yes.”
    Cork said to his daughters, “Are you two okay with that?”
    The girls looked at each other.
    Jenny said, “I’m totally cool with it.”
    “It’s a terrific idea,” Annie said.
    “It’s settled then.”
    Stephen jumped up and headed for the stairs. “I’ve gotta pack.”
    It wasn’t as simple as Cork had hoped. Nothing was simple anymore. There were no seats left on the flight he was taking. He got off the phone ready to put his fist through the