Chapter 21

(December 26, 1120 a.m., the remains of Walker Lake Lodge)

Grif gathered what they had in the hangar and loaded it into their two planes. He then topped the fuel tanks on both the Maule and Cessna urging Tara to fly with him, and they would come for the Maule later. Tara said that she never wanted to come back again.

"I'll be okay, Grif," Tara sighed, "I just don't want to have to see that Ranger Station again. Let's get this over with. We are supposed to pick up Lula in Koyuk at one."

Tara took off in her Maule, and Grif, despite the troopers' request, wrapped Barney in the blanket, and then in a plastic drop cloth, and laid him in the back of the plane on the floor. "You'll go with us, boy," Grif told the lifeless remains of the loyal pet. Then he restarted the engine and took off for the Arctic Fox.

Grif monitored the radio frequency they used for inter plane communication, and heard Tara call for him by tail number. He acknowledged, and he admitted that he went back for Barney. That made her feel better, and by the time they neared the Arctic Fox, Rudy was taking off to return to Fairbanks. Tara insisted she was better knowing what he did, and amended her flight plan to Koyuk to pick up Lula.

After landing, Chris came to unload the plane with his uncle, and removed the dog to behind the main lodge. After bringing in the rest of the supplies, they made sure that the plastic drop cloth that Barney was wrapped in didn't leak, and went to bury him under a snow bank until spring. Tommy made a cross from two sticks and some duct tape to mark the grave. Grif and Chris then pushed the Cessna inside the hangar so that Tara could get her Maule in when she returned.

Donna had made the call to Sheila already about the morning's events and she to Langford to tell him about what one of his stooges did. Langford of course denied any contact with Bruce. That contradicted his earlier statements of his source within the Park Service. Now he wanted to renegotiate the sale, reminding her that the concession agreement stated that if any structures were removed or destroyed, the agreement with the Parks Service prohibited rebuilding without the application of a new permit, which the powers that be were not about to allow to happen. Basically, they were in for a long drawn out legal battle that amounted to whose clout was the biggest.

In a nutshell they were trying to take over all of the facilities for nothing. The insurance company would only reimburse Sheila for the main lodge and the two damaged cabins. Sheila basically said, "I bought it, I built it, it's mine and you can't have it." Sheila researched the insurance policy, and it stated that they would pay to rebuild the lodge and two cabins once the adjuster and inspector verified that it wasn't a self inflicted arson. The process could take several days.

(December 27, Gates of the Arctic NP)

On Monday a full-scale search was launched for the missing helicopter, as it was correctly presumed to have gone down. Grif and Chris returned to the burned out Walker Lake Lodge to retrieve as much of the frozen food as he could, and brought it to the Arctic Fox Lodge. The freezer was stainless steel and had a foot of insulation. The fire hadn't burned long enough to thaw anything, and the -10 degree temperatures kept it frozen.

They used the last of the fuel to fill the T-206H and wrapped the pump in heavy plastic to bring back. As they were leaving, the ASP helicopter came by to tell them they found the Ranger's helicopter with everyone burned beyond recognition. Grif said that he still wanted to press charges, only now against the AFF and ELF for inciting the eco-terrorism by hiring the arson in order to leverage the takeover of Walker Lake Lodge. The captain said that it happened on Federal Property, and thus was a Federal Terrorism Offense, but Bruce couldn't be punished anymore. Bruce had experienced more than the state would do to him.

When Langford began calling builders to rebuild the lodge after he took it over, the estimates he was getting were quadruple what Sheila had agreed to sell for. The AVWCC told him that they had all of their crews busy on other projects until 2006.

This was also what the other builders were telling Langford. Gary was privy to the arson and why it occurred, or appeared to have occurred. If Langford was not guilty, he stood to profit the most from it.

Since it would be spring before another Ranger was assigned to the Bettles Park Headquarters, Tracy and Sheila decided not to rebuild the main lodge or replace the damaged cabins. Once the insurance adjuster had been on-site, they issued the check and Sheila contacted Langford to tell him that she would dismantle everything.

(Tuesday Dec 28, Arctic Fox Lodge)

Grif and Tara felt only small satisfaction that Bruce had been burned up in the crash. He moved the frozen food into the freezer at the Arctic Fox main lodge, and took an inventory of the overall food supply. Sheila called that afternoon to say that the money to pay for the Arctic Fox and the profit was not going to materialize. She and Tracy decided to split the payment to the Shaktoolik Native Corporation, since Tara and Grif were to be part of the family. That much was done and would not be yanked out from under them as the Walker Lake project was.

Grif sighed, and said, "If it is ours, I want to see it in writing. Does the Corporation Council have a copy of the contract?"

Sheila answered, "The sale to me, they do. I will bring the title transfer to you Friday evening. If you want, we can remove the lights from the Walker Lake Airstrip."

"Sheila, we need to know that we have some stability here," stated Grif. "Before I put another dime of what money I actually have left into something, I want to know that I have something that is ours to build on. If something happened to you or Tracy, God forbid, are we going to find ourselves being a two-person air taxi service out of Talkeetna or somewhere?"

"Grif I didn't cause this," Sheila pleaded, "please don't treat me like I did. I didn't make the kid start the fire. I am losing out on $2.3 million here, although I probably would have lost out dealing with him anyway. Look at the bright side, if you and Tara had sank everything you had into Walker Lake, I dare say you would have lost it to the AFF by next year anyway. True, we washed our hands of it, except for a mole we have on the inside, and at this point I am glad we did. The things we have found out, we didn't want to know. Our husbands were in bed with corrupt people in Hollywood true, but that led to Las Vegas, and you know who runs Las Vegas? The mob does. We aren't just dealing with corrupt politicians here we are playing with the Mafia. I lived in New York, and I for one don't want to play. Did you know that the AFF is just a front to launder drug money?"

"I am sorry, Sheila," Grif apologized. "I didn't know just how screwed up it was."

"I have talked to Tracy about this," Sheila said. "This week, all of our assets are going into the corporation names. We are making two corporations. One will be the Chena River Corporation and will cover the two restaurants and the lodge. The other will be the Griffin Corporation and cover all things to do with the Arctic Fox Lodge, Walker Lake if it isn't sold, the Caravan, the Honda Jet, and the King Air 350. Dennis and I want to name you and Tara as co-executors of our estate if something were to happen to both of us.

"Your nephew Marty would be the executor of Tracy and Sam's estate. The catch is that all of my kids have asked me to make you their legal guardian with the option to adopt them. Carol has too. We have talked about this for the last month, and when the lodge burned the other morning they all pleaded with me on the phone to do something soon. They are scared. I almost cancelled our trip to Mazatlan over it, but Dennis said if those people want to get to us, they could do it, even here. Just look at what that kid did, and we don't know for sure if they put him up to it."

"That is an awfully big step, Sheila," Grif replied. "Are you sure?"

"I was mostly," Sheila answered, "but when you insisted on being on solid ground financially, I knew that you would fight anyone for what is right, and that means for my kids if need be. I don't expect anything to happen, but who ever does?"

"I'm sure that you will be okay," Grif reassured her. "Alaska is more dangerous than flying to Mexico. Dennis is a safe pilot, and so is my brother."

"Yeah but Mexico itself can be dangerous for tourists," Sheila noted. "Then again, so can Central Park."

"Or Gates of the Arctic for that matter," Grif added. "I guess when it is your time, it is. Until then I guess you just enjoy what life gives you. Are Tara and I the officers of the Griffin Corporation?"

"You will be once you sign the papers and the Articles of Incorporation," Sheila agreed. "It should all be approved. It just takes a bit. We will have the papers Friday when we come. I promise you that you aren't getting screwed here, but if you want to have a lawyer look at it..."

"I don't trust lawyers very much," said Grif, "and neither does Tara. Then again, I'll trust you more when I see the Arctic Fox in our name. Otherwise Tara and I have agreed to just fly for Aurora View Air and tell you to play your games with Rudy!"

"I am sorry Grif," Sheila apologized, "I guess I have just used people all of my life just like my husband. People always jumped at my bidding for a crumb from my table. I think you agreed to fly for us to help us out as much as anything else. I took advantage of you and Tara, and I am sorry. You deserved better than we treated you. I guess when you have a few million, it is just zeros like they say. At least I am not mobbed up like my husband was. That way my kids don't need to worry about it too."

"I hope for your sake it works out," replied Grif. "We all answer for our actions and motives one day. I need to go, we have a plane coming in with something."

"Thank you Griffin, I will see you Friday," said Sheila.

The L-100 from the AVWCC landed and taxied to the parking ramp. When the rear door came down, Grif saw the two SUV's and the small pickup truck from Walker Lake with the plow. That was just in time, because the promised snowstorm had arrived, and whatever they plowed the strip with the week before did not reside on the premises. The small pickup would do the job but it would take longer. The loader told Grif he also brought the dozen runway lights, since it didn't appear to the boss that they were keeping the Walker Lake property.

Grif replied, "To be honest with you, I don't yet know what control I have of this."

Pete, the loader, assured him, "The boss man said you are the final word on this one. If he said so, then you can believe it!"

The ramp closed and the big plane taxied to the end of the runway and roared off turning back to land in Shaktoolik. Grif made sure the engine warmers were on the Maule and Cessna, turned the thermostat in the hangar up a few degrees, locked the door, and went inside to get out of the weather. Donna brought him a cup of coffee and said, "We need to have a family chat, according to your wife."

Grif sat down and Tara told him that the kids had something to say. Donna began, "Mom thinks she is going to be killed for backing out of the AFF. There have been some guys in the restaurant that she refused to talk to about Dad's business dealings. Then they wanted her to pay protection or something. We aren't here just so she can get ready for the wedding. We are here because you will keep us safe."

"After Sunday," Grif admitted, "I don't know how safe I can keep Tara and I."

"Believe me, we are safer here, than in Anchorage," Donna assured them. "Mrs. Jackson has offered to help us all home school. Uncle Grif, we aren't just here for the week. Even if nothing happens to Mom, she feels we are safer here. We are used to being sent off to boarding school anyway, so we will be okay with this, as long as you will. At least here, you will act like parents are supposed to, and be better role models for Tommy and Bonnie than I had."

Tara added, "Like Grif said this is a big step. We have to learn to be parents you know."

Donna replied, "You will do fine. I'll even help when the baby comes. Oops, sorry."

"Baby?" asked Grif.

Tara looked down, "You haven't noticed how my mind isn't always on what I am doing? All this weight I have gained is not the result of the great meals we are having. I am surprised you haven't asked. Grif I haven't seen Mother Nature since August. I feel guilty, because I knew deep inside that I was with child, yet I refused to accept that was what it could be. I was afraid to go to the doctor for fear it was something serious. Friday night, when I confided in Alice, she had one of her friends from the village feel of my tummy and she laughed, and said it was only a baby. I know we shouldn't have kids at our age, but I can't abort it. I just didn't know how to tell you. I have wanted to all weekend. I know that you said you didn't want to be a 74 year old man with a kid graduating high school."