Read Online A deeper sleep by Dana Stabenow - Free Book Online
Authors: Dana Stabenow
Tags: Fiction, General, detective, thriller, Suspense, adventure, Mystery & Detective, Women Sleuths, Mystery, Mystery Fiction, Political, Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths, Fiction - Mystery, Mystery And Suspense Fiction, alaska, Crime thriller, Shugak; Kate (Fictitious character), Women private investigators - Alaska, Suspense & Thriller, 19th century fiction, Indians of North America - Alaska
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her an even better private detective now. Other skills were called for when shepherding the lives and fortunes of 173 shareholders who tended to be fiercely independent, suspicious of authority, and united as one in their determination to retain their cultural identity. They were also to a man, woman, and child completely divided in opinion as to how to go about it. He'd seen an article in Alaska magazine a while back that had reminded him forcibly of life in the Park, something about putting four Alaskans in a room and getting five marriages, six divorces, and seven political parties. Tip O'Neill had it wrong: All politics was personal. All Niniltna shareholders were related by birth or marriage, and nobody fought harder or meaner than family. Jim had had a front-row seat at a few NNA examples of the internecine warfare that rose periodically among the shareholders, and every time he'd come away thankful to be white.
And then there was the almighty dividend, a sum representing a percentage of the association's previous year's annual earnings, which amount was set by the board of directors to be paid out quarterly to shareholders and which was always subject to being second-guessed by even the best-natured among them. If the fishing had been bad, if gas prices started rising, if the state's annual permanent fund dividend dropped, the nastier the fight over the dividends was. There was currently a controversy brewing over quarterly payments versus one annual payment, with a critical minority in favor of liquidating all the association's assets and making one lump sum payment and walking away. Billy Mike, the Association's chairman, had been looking more than usually strained this winter. Jim put that down to Billy losing his son, Dandy, the year before, but the Association's internal conflicts couldn't be helping.
And Jim had a shrewd suspicion that Auntie Vi had addressed this very topic in her conversation with Kate following Louis Deem's acquittal. Clearly it had been gnawing at Kate ever since. She hadn't said anything, but Jim had been an eyewitness to her running Billy Mike off the property twice now in the interim, and Johnny had told him that the four aunties had spent an hour at Kate's table one morning the week before, sipping coffee and tearing into fresh-baked bread with nothing other than "please" and "thank you" being spoken out loud. "Enough to freeze the blood in your veins," was the way Johnny had put it, not without relish.
Jim noticed that Kate had been baking a lot of bread, too, her preferred method for expiating rage, sin, sorrow, and pretty much any emotion that might be alleviated by beating the hell out of flour and water.
Like maybe guilt.
Kate's eyes opened, and Jim promptly forgot about the trials and tribulations of the Niniltna Native Association.
As always she opened her eyes completely awake, aware of who and where she was. And who she was with. She smiled, the shared memory of the night warm between them.
"I was just getting up," he said.
The smile widened into a grin as he got out of bed. On the way into the bathroom he noticed that he smelled like her and that it didn't bother him as much as he thought it ought to. It was hard to force himself into the shower.
Breakfast was coffee and the killer date-nut bread that Kate had baked the night before. "What have you got going on today?" he asked her around a mouthful. It was sweet and rich and heavy and nutty. Seemed appropriate.
"Bobby sent word by Johnny yesterday that Brendan wants to talk to me about a case, so I'm headed over to his house after I drop the kid at school."
"Can we pick up Vanessa on the way?" Johnny said. "And then pick us both up at Bernie's house after school?"
Jim refused to meet Kate's eye. "Sure."
Johnny read something unintended into Jim's neutral assent and decided an explanation was called for. "We're working on a project together for science."
"Urn,"
And then there was the almighty dividend, a sum representing a percentage of the association's previous year's annual earnings, which amount was set by the board of directors to be paid out quarterly to shareholders and which was always subject to being second-guessed by even the best-natured among them. If the fishing had been bad, if gas prices started rising, if the state's annual permanent fund dividend dropped, the nastier the fight over the dividends was. There was currently a controversy brewing over quarterly payments versus one annual payment, with a critical minority in favor of liquidating all the association's assets and making one lump sum payment and walking away. Billy Mike, the Association's chairman, had been looking more than usually strained this winter. Jim put that down to Billy losing his son, Dandy, the year before, but the Association's internal conflicts couldn't be helping.
And Jim had a shrewd suspicion that Auntie Vi had addressed this very topic in her conversation with Kate following Louis Deem's acquittal. Clearly it had been gnawing at Kate ever since. She hadn't said anything, but Jim had been an eyewitness to her running Billy Mike off the property twice now in the interim, and Johnny had told him that the four aunties had spent an hour at Kate's table one morning the week before, sipping coffee and tearing into fresh-baked bread with nothing other than "please" and "thank you" being spoken out loud. "Enough to freeze the blood in your veins," was the way Johnny had put it, not without relish.
Jim noticed that Kate had been baking a lot of bread, too, her preferred method for expiating rage, sin, sorrow, and pretty much any emotion that might be alleviated by beating the hell out of flour and water.
Like maybe guilt.
Kate's eyes opened, and Jim promptly forgot about the trials and tribulations of the Niniltna Native Association.
As always she opened her eyes completely awake, aware of who and where she was. And who she was with. She smiled, the shared memory of the night warm between them.
"I was just getting up," he said.
The smile widened into a grin as he got out of bed. On the way into the bathroom he noticed that he smelled like her and that it didn't bother him as much as he thought it ought to. It was hard to force himself into the shower.
Breakfast was coffee and the killer date-nut bread that Kate had baked the night before. "What have you got going on today?" he asked her around a mouthful. It was sweet and rich and heavy and nutty. Seemed appropriate.
"Bobby sent word by Johnny yesterday that Brendan wants to talk to me about a case, so I'm headed over to his house after I drop the kid at school."
"Can we pick up Vanessa on the way?" Johnny said. "And then pick us both up at Bernie's house after school?"
Jim refused to meet Kate's eye. "Sure."
Johnny read something unintended into Jim's neutral assent and decided an explanation was called for. "We're working on a project together for science."
"Urn,"
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