Secrets

By Wm. J. Martin

Matti McEwen's drilling business is teetering on a knife-edge, and bankruptcy is not very far away. A split-second decision may save his firm, but what kind of trouble can it bring him? Dawn Winters, a local TV reporter, shows up to interview Matti, but does she have hidden motives? Why is she estranged from her family? Maybe Dawn's friend Yvonne can fill in the blanks for Matti. How do tattoos, a crashed plane, and dead bodies fit in with everything else? And what does fishing have to do with it all?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wm. J. Martin
• Release date: Dec 8, 2012
• ISBN: 9780987743732

Wm. J. Martin

When I was younger I always had an interest in trying to do some writing, but it never came to much at all. About five years after I was forced to give up working due to disability I was finally able to take the step that had eluded me for years. My first experiment with writing was to try to write a 50,000 word novel in one month, using the parameters of the website National Novel Writing Month. It was a challenge I was fortunately able to complete, and I guess that got me over my initial hesitation. It's a website I would recommend to anyone who would like to try their hand at writing. I don't spend all of my time with this hobby as I still have my primary hobby of pursuing my family genealogy. The limitations placed on me with my MS also keeps me from spending as much time writing as I would like to sometimes. Add to that my normal bad habit of procrastination, and sometimes I wonder how I ever managed to get anything done.

Book preview

Secrets

By

William J. Martin

Published by William J. Martin at Smashwords

Copyright William J. Martin 2012

All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-0-9877437-3-2

Secrets

By

William J. Martin

Smashwords Edition, License Notes:

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, incidents, and some places are products of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

Other Smashwords Titles by William J. Martin

A Circumstantial Case

Lip and Annie

Lost Found Remembered

This ebook was written as a nanorimo.org 2012 project

Dedicated to Carolyn, Lois and Shelley

The Secrets Recipe

One male main character, 28

One female main character, 29

Assorted male and female supporting characters of various ages

1 cup suspense

1 cup romance

1/2 cup mystery

1/2 cup good fishing

Five violent deaths

A variety of tattoos

A large sum of money

Blend suspense, romance, mystery, and good fishing together. Add two main characters. Fold in the supporting cast as necessary. Place in a deep p(l)ot and let everything simmer together slowly. Garnish with violent deaths, tattoos and money.

Chapter 1

The ax blade flashed in the sun as it swung in a long arc. It was an arc that ended only after the blade had split the block of birch into two virtually identical halves, and the two semi-finished pieces of firewood had bounced away from the top of the chopping block where the ax was now embedded. Before levering the ax handle up and down to free the blade from the chopping block, the hands that had held the ax retrieved the two new semicircular pieces. One hand mounted one of the pieces on top of the chopping block, as the other hand withdrew the ax. In just a few seconds the ax flashed again, and two newly minted pieces of firewood, each one approximating a quarter of the original block, were retrieved and then tossed on the slowly growing pile of firewood. They would now stay there at rest for a while, drying and waiting for their turn to be taken on the short journey to the woodshed where they would be stacked neatly waiting for future use.

The cycle of mounting unsplit blocks, flashing ax, retrieval, and adding to the woodpile was repeated over and over. Roughly every 20 minutes the man wielding the ax, Matti McEwen, would take a break so that he could cool down from his labours, and take a few sips from his bottle of water. Matti is tall, weighs about 180 pounds, and is clean-shaven, with dark brown hair and grey eyes. Those who don't know him sometimes find him to be a bit quiet, but amongst friends he's known as an outgoing, and happy man. He's still single, but is quick to volunteer that he's looking for the right woman. It sometimes seems that he's not serious when he says that, as any matchmaking that his sister, or one of his friends, has tried has never produced any results.

Matti had been very active mentally while he split the firewood, his mind trying desperately to figure a way out of his nearly insurmountable financial problems. As he rested he sat on the chopping block and continued his financial deliberations. His thoughts didn't just cover his concerns about his failing business, a small diamond drilling company that he inherited from his father. If it failed, his personal finances would probably follow the same path within a rather short time. If they did, he would likely lose the summer cottage, or camp as such places were known in Northern Ontario. It had been left to Matti and his sister Anna, and he had borrowed to buy out her share. Payments on that loan, when combined with his modest rental apartment in Thunder Bay, took almost all of the cash he was able to take each month from the profits of the drilling company.

He knew that he was probably just one major breakdown away from big trouble. The three diamond drilling rigs were getting very old and were almost worn out, and it was only because he employed a foreman with a very good mechanical aptitude that they continued to operate at all. It was a foregone conclusion that Matti's luck, and Ernie Stewart's know-how, would eventually not be enough to keep things going.

Retiring one of the three rigs would cure his problems in one way, as he could lay off one crew, and use that rig and equipment to supply parts to keep the other two running. It was not a decision he felt he could make, though. The three crews that ran the equipment, and did the tough work, were all long-term employees, and he considered them all to be his friends. He just couldn't see how he could push good friends into unemployment. The even bigger problem was which crew to choose. Even worse, he had a signed contract with the junior mining company doing the exploration, and he couldn't fulfill the contract with only two crews. If McEwen Drilling failed to keep its end of the bargain, its reputation would be damaged, and the information would soon be out that their word couldn't be trusted. That would be the kiss of death for the business, as the mining and exploration community was known for both its secrecy and its penchant for the swift trading of industry gossip. It was likely that if McEwen Drilling announced that it couldn't live up to its contract almost the entire industry would know about it within just a few days.

There was one other option open to Matti. He could lay off one of the men, and fly north to take his place. The catch to that idea was that he would need to hire someone part time, to order and ship parts, food, and anything else that was needed, up to the work camp. Filling that job would not be easy, as it required some knowledge of the business. At the moment it was the job that Matti performed, and while it would save a few dollars, he just didn't think it was a feasible solution. It wasn't that he minded doing the work, as he had grown up working on the drilling machines for his father, and he was sure he could still do any of the jobs handily. It was probably the choice he would have to make, even though it would mean giving up living at the camp, as he now did for at least a few days every week. He just had to make the final decision on who to lay off.

Matti got up and walked down to his dock, trying to get his mind off the impossible problem he was dealing with. He stood and looked around the familiar surroundings. The camp was 1500 sq. ft. in size, with 3 bedrooms; it was much like a bungalow in the city, but built on posts hidden by skirting. It was built about 150 feet back from the lake, and was surrounded by a stand of old growth Jack Pine trees. In front of the camp was a teardrop shaped bay on Lake Watchanabi, a very irregularly shaped lake known for good fishing. The lake was almost 12 miles long from east to west, and the camp was at the extreme west end of the lake. The bay on which it was located was about a third of a mile long and accessed the main body of the lake through a narrow, 75 foot wide channel. Directly across from the channel was a large island, densely forested with tall pines, and to the right, or south, was another large bay. To the left there were several smaller islands, strung across the lake to the north. As he stood there, Matti could picture almost every inch of the western half of the lake. He had practically grown up here, and he couldn't remember a time when the camp didn't exist. The camp was 25 years old, and he had only been three the year his parents, with help from a few friends, had built it.

Some of the outbuildings, the woodshed, boathouse, and sauna, were newer, and Matti had been able to help in their construction. His parents and sister had been there with him during those days, and only the dock, which he had replaced two years earlier, dated from the time that Matti alone had owned the camp. If he ever lost it to the bank he knew he'd feel like he had really let his parents down. It had been their favourite place.

Matti had just returned back to the woodpile when he thought he heard something and looked around. There was a slight breeze from the east, and it was audible as it passed by, whispering through the pine needles, and causing small creaks and groans as the limbs rubbed together. The other sound reminded Matti of an outboard motor, and he hesitated as he looked down the bay, half expecting a boat to be coming his way. But there was nothing to see. He heard the sound again as he turned back to the job at hand, and he realized now that it was the sound of a small plane. When he looked back this time he caught a flash of white, as one of the wings lifted when the plane banked to the south. As he watched, it was obvious that the small float plane was descending, and was going to land in the next bay to the south.

The plane was too far away for Matti to tell for sure, but it looked like a Cessna, or maybe even a Piper. It definitely looked like a two-seater to Matti. He'd flown in the odd one over the years, usually to access a remote lake with one of his friends, Peter Arnold, who had his own small Cessna. For a second Matti had thought that perhaps it could be Peter, but he quickly remembered that Peter's plane had red wingtips, and this plane had appeared to be completely white. Just a few seconds after the plane descended below the tree line Matti turned back to his ax, and began working on the large pile of round blocks of firewood that were waiting for him. Maybe he'd be able to come up with an idea for a different solution to his weighty financial problems.

* * * *

Matti had forgotten all about the little white plane, but as he sat down on the chopping block for another short break and a chance for a cool drink of water, he heard the sound of the plane again. He was already facing east towards the narrow channel at the end of the bay, so he had a ringside seat for the events that followed. He would sometimes wonder later if it might have been better if he hadn't been sitting there watching.

He could hear the plane for quite a while before he caught his first glimpse of it taking off. From the sound of it, the engine was at maximum power, and until he saw it Matti thought that it was taking off to the east, down the lake. When he did finally see it, rising above the trees, it was obvious that the pilot was taking off to the north, and Matti got the sense right away that the plane was unlikely to have enough altitude to clear the trees on the big island. Because of the distance, it was hard for him to tell whether the pilot was taking off over the channel between the island and Matti's bay, or whether he intended to clear the island. When Matti concluded the pilot was indeed trying to take off over the big island he stood up, and was watching intently when the plane clipped the trees. A dark shower, obviously branches and portions of the trees, followed the wake of the plane. At the same time the sound of the straining engine of the plane stopped, completely and abruptly, and the plane began to arc down towards the lake. As it disappeared from sight behind the trees, Matti bolted into action.

Chapter 2

Matti took off running towards the camp, stopping momentarily on the steps to the front door so that he could grab his satellite phone. It was his link to the drilling crews, and he always kept it with him, or very close by. He delayed only long enough to clip it to his belt and engage the catch that would keep it there. From there he ran inside to grab his well-stocked first aid kit and his Carhartt jacket. It was only early June, and while he had been able to work up a sweat with his ax, he knew that the spray from the boat, combined with the cool air, would soon have him chilled.

It was fortunate that he had been out fishing at first light that fateful Saturday morning, or he would have had to lug a fuel tank, and a life jacket, down to the boat. As it was, all he had to do was start the outboard motor and head for the mouth of the bay. He was tempted to call the Ontario Provincial Police, as the OPP had jurisdiction outside of the Thunder Bay city limits. His camp was almost two hours drive from the city, about half of it on gravel roads. Until he knew what the situation was he felt there was not much point in contacting them. Instead, he would find out what had happened to the plane before he decided on what to do. Maybe the pilot had been able to pull it up before he hit the water.

As soon as he cleared the mouth of the bay and turned north Matti could see that there hadn't been a miracle. He could easily see the white tail of the plane sticking up from a small stand of spruce and birch trees on the first of the small islands in front of him. At least it hadn't caught fire when it crashed into the trees, and that meant there was some hope the pilot, and any possible passenger, could still be alive. Matti pushed his dark hair back out of his eyes and brought up a pair of binoculars to take a quick look at the island in hopes of seeing more, but he wasn't rewarded with any better view than he already had.

It was only a quarter of a mile to the island, and it seemed like it took him no time at all to get there. Matti was quite familiar with the little island, as when he had been young he would often canoe around the islands, and had explored all of them more than once. He knew there was glacier smoothed, gently sloping granite he could land his boat on, right in front of him. He killed the motor and let his momentum bring him close to the rock before he used one of his oars as a paddle to bring him to a bumpy stop against the shore. As he quickly tied his boat to a small tree he was calling loudly, hoping to get an answer back from the pilot. There was no answer, and a couple of small spruce trees prevented him from seeing the plane very clearly at all. It was with some trepidation that he scrambled towards the plane, his first aid kit in his hand.

When Matti came around the second of the small trees, he could see a man lying on the mossy ground about 6 feet from the plane. The man never moved when Matti called to him, and as he got closer he could see that the man's chest was covered with blood. A careful check of the man's carotid artery confirmed that he was dead. As Matti looked closer, he could see that there was a large wound in the center of the man's chest. The cause wasn't immediately obvious, so Matti got up to check out the plane, and to see if there was a passenger that needed his attention.

The door closest to the dead man on the ground was hanging open, held on by one hinge. The man was quite obviously the pilot, and almost for sure the only occupant, as the passenger seat was empty and the door on the opposite side of the plane seemed to be firmly latched. The windshield in front of both seats was smashed out, and a bloody, broken, trunk of a small tree was hanging over the instrument panel of the small plane. It was obvious now what had killed the pilot. Matti couldn't see into the storage area behind the two seats, but didn't think there would be any way a passenger could have ended up there. He decided to go around the plane to check the other side.

The float on the left side of