The Last Storm Read online

  She nodded and glanced out the window at Solomon. “Is there anything to eat?”

  “There’s a granola bar in my bag if you want it,” Jess said.

  “I meant breakfast.”

  Jess looked over to Alex. He was about to say something when the front door opened and a huge gust of cold wind blew in. Solomon banged his boots on the bristled mat and shook off snow. “Whoa, it’s getting crazy out there. Thinking we are in for one hell of a storm.” He rubbed his hands together and looked at them. An awkward silence dominated. He hadn’t said much the night before. All of them were tired and by the time they got the keys from the owner, they’d simply retreated to their respective beds. Solomon had opted for the futon, which Alex felt bad about. Here was his boss, and not only had his first time meeting him been an embarrassment, but now he felt indebted to the guy, even if they were splitting the cost of lodging.

  “I’m really hungry,” Jess said

  “Me too,” Solomon replied. “You know, there is a restaurant in town that does some mean pancakes but if you’re really eager to get to Whittier, there’s the Anchor Inn. It’s good but it doesn’t come close to the Girdwood Picnic Club. It’s up to you?”

  Alex said, “Don’t you need to get back? I mean…”

  He smiled. “There are six officers. We rarely get any trouble in Whittier, other than in the summer months when the odd tourist has had a little too much to drink. They’ll be fine.”

  Alex nodded, then grimaced. “I dunno, I say we hit the road before the weather gets worse and we get locked out again.”

  “But that’s another thirty minutes,” Hayley added.

  “Actually, probably longer if we don’t time it right. Traffic flows into Whittier every half hour,” Solomon said walking past them and washing out his cup in the sink. “Then of course we have to take into account the weather.”

  Jess cocked her head. She didn’t need to say anything, after eighteen years of being married he just knew the look.

  He threw his hands up. “Okay. Pancakes it is.”

  Solomon winked at Hayley and she smiled back. In all honesty the thought of sitting around a breakfast table with his boss shooting the breeze and answering twenty questions wasn’t how he saw his arrival in Whittier playing out. He was used to feeling his way out, observing from afar and getting a feel for what made each person tick. There was also the fact that he didn’t want to be treated any different than the rest of the guys.

  Surprisingly, Solomon didn’t bombard him with questions when they arrived; he seemed too distracted by the waitress behind the counter. They soon came to learn that she was his ex-wife, Natalie, they’d been divorced for over two years but there was still some unfinished business between them. The restaurant was vibrant that morning with the sound of cutlery clinking, and the dinging of a bell when an order was ready. A guy and a girl in their late teens moved around the tables at a leisurely pace serving food and refilling cups with coffee.

  As Solomon shoveled away a forkful of egg and bacon, he said, “Word of advice, if things ever get too much, leave Whittier. I should have twenty years ago but I was a fool.” He washed his food down with a swig of coffee. “Lost a good woman because of it.”

  Alex glanced over at Natalie who was taking cash from a customer, then looked at Jess. He already knew what she was thinking because they’d had the conversation multiple times before he took the job. She didn’t want to be there but after the loss of their second child two years ago, he didn’t have much choice. It was the reason he’d left the military. Their youngest was only eight when he came down with influenza. The sudden onset was unexpected and aggressive. Alex was away from home at the time and Jess had to deal with it alone. She did all the right things but it was out of her hands. The loss of their son almost destroyed their marriage, and sent Jess into a downward spiral. She quit her job as a nurse and he’d been trying to balance work and personal life since then, and, if he was honest, it had all started to become a little too much. Even though the military had been accommodating there was only so much they could do. Eventually he had to reevaluate his work so he could be closer to home. Within a matter of months of being discharged he went through the process to become a cop. While some might have said that was the worst career move he could have taken, it was the only one that allowed him to use the skills he’d gained. Landing a position in Anchorage was another thing entirely. It was a lengthy and competitive process and one that didn’t pan out. That’s when he spotted the posting for a full-time officer in Whittier. It seemed almost too good to be true, the timing, the speed of hiring and an apartment in Begich Towers.

  “Mr. Solomon, you mind me asking why your wife left?” Jess asked.

  Alex was quick to jump in, “Jess. I don’t think he…”

  “Ah, it’s okay. It’s a valid question.” Solomon took another swig of his drink, then picked out some food between his teeth before answering, “A lot of people come to Whittier for different reasons. Some enjoy being social, others want to be left alone. Not everyone stays. Not everyone can deal with the isolation. If you’re not very stable it can send a person over the edge.”

  Jess tossed Alex a look and he tried to act like he wasn’t paying attention by tucking into his pancakes.

  “So why did you stay?” she asked.

  He shrugged, glancing over to Natalie. “She’d say I was stubborn and she’d be right but Whittier has a way of getting into your blood. You either love it or hate it but there is no denying it’s a beautiful place. You’ll see.”

  “Is it true the town is all under one roof?” Hayley asked.

  He smiled. “Somewhat. In fact it’s one of the most common questions we get asked. There are a lot of rumors swirling around but the truth is about ninety percent of the town live in Begich Towers, the rest commute or live in a small condo on Blackstone Road. Interestingly enough and you may not have known about this but for the longest time the police department, city hall, the town school, the general store, the post office, the pharmacy, and medical clinic were all inside the towers until recently.”

  “All?” Hayley asked sounding surprised.

  “Yep but recently the clinic, police department, and city hall moved to a brand-new building about a minute away. It’s probably for the best as months could go by and some residents wouldn’t venture out at all. Then you had people coming in at all hours of the day asking the dumbest questions.”

  “Why?” Hayley asked.

  “People are dumb?”

  “No I mean, why didn’t they venture out?”

  “There was no need to. Everything you needed was there. Of course some folks chose to travel to Anchorage once a month to stock up on groceries but beyond that unless your job calls for you to head out, people stay inside.”

  “But all the rest is still there. The school?” Jess asked.

  “Yep. There’s a tunnel in the basement that heads over to the school. It’s cool. It’s what makes Whittier unique. You’ll see. I think you’ll like it.”

  “What if I don’t?” Hayley asked.

  Alex nearly choked on his bacon. He reached for some orange juice to wash it down. Hayley was so downright honest.

  “You okay there?” Solomon asked before chuckling.

  He gasped as he caught his breath. “Yeah, food just went down the wrong way.” Alex glanced at Hayley and narrowed his eyes hoping she would understand his non-verbal communication.

  “So you got any kids yourself, chief?” Alex tried to change the subject.

  “Call me Ed,” Solomon replied. “And yeah, one boy, he’s twenty-two, works in Anchorage. Fortunately he had the good sense to stay clear of policing and land himself a job in the tech industry. I see him from time to time but for the most part we talk by phone.”

  “So you on speaking terms?” Alex asked.

  Solomon cut a glance towards Natalie.

  “I am, she’s not,” he replied tossing a napkin on his plate. “You could say things didn’t exac
tly end well. I can’t fault her. In fact I’m surprised she stuck around as long as she did.”

  “She fall in love with someone else?” Hayley blurted out.

  “Hayley,” Jess said in a reprimanding way.

  Her eyebrows shot up. “Just a question. Geesh.”

  Solomon chuckled. “I wish it was that easy, but no,” he replied looking over at her with longing in his eyes. “Sometimes people just drift apart.”

  Alex followed his gaze and Natalie looked their way.

  “But you still love her?” Hayley asked.

  Alex scowled as Solomon replied, “Yes. Very much.” He got a pained expression on his face. “Anyway, we should head out. Looks like it’s getting bad out there.”

  The flakes were falling even heavier than before. It was getting hard to see because of the wind. A loud snowplow rolled past curling up snow to one side of the road.

  “Yeah, right. Look, I’ll cover this,” Alex said sliding out.

  Solomon threw up a hand. “No, I’ll pay.”

  “After what you did last night, it’s the least I can do.”

  “All right, thanks.”

  As Alex lined up behind two other people who were paying their bills, a flat-screen behind the counter played out a news broadcast. A red ticker along the bottom was alerting them to winter storm warnings all along the coast of Alaska. He couldn’t hear what was being said as the volume was low but it didn’t look good. It wasn’t like anything was new, over the past three years the weather had been doing all manner of unusual things, all of which seemed to be ramping up for what some were calling a superstorm. In front of him two guys were muttering about how damn cold it was, and they were sure the government was behind it. Alex chuckled. Conspiracy theorists looked for any reason to blame it on anyone else. Of course it didn’t matter whether it was hot or cold, people just loved to complain. A waitress behind the counter started surfing through the channels trying to find something less depressing. Several of the national stations were reporting on global weather at the top of the hour, replaying some of the unusual events that had occurred over the past year. On the screen, catastrophic weather played out before their eyes with Istanbul being hit by golf ball-sized hail and ferocious winds that spun a hotel lobby’s rotating door wildy on its own. It then switched to wildfires, which had broken out across Australia, and California in the summer from a heat wave, through to five hurricanes hitting the East Coast and causing significant casualties. Then there were the devastating floods in India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh causing over a thousand deaths. Home videos sent in by viewers showed vehicles veering out of control on the highways in Europe after what they were calling the heaviest and deadliest snowstorm in decades. It quickly shifted back to America, and reports of snow, freezing rain and ice covering much of the state of Texas, before it switched to incredibly dark twisting tornadoes tearing across California wreaking havoc and destroying everything in their path. The waitress shook her head and switched again to what looked like an interview with a climatologist. He was answering questions on the unusual weather events over the past few years, how climate change could affect the weather, and what was being done to support contingency planning.

  “Well Tracey, let me start by making clear the difference between weather and climate change. It all comes down to timing. The weather is the conditions we are seeing in the atmosphere over a short period of time, while climate is how the atmosphere behaves over a longer period of time. So when I’m talking about climate change, I’m speaking about the changes in average temperatures, rainfall, etc. Basically, once you understand the role climate change has played in heat waves, wildfires, droughts, extreme flooding, snowstorms, and what causes these, such as the ocean and atmospheric patterns of warming and cooling, we can better prepare ourselves for a big weather event.”

  Tracey nodded. “Interesting. So with all the rough weather the country has been having lately, do you foresee a big event? I mean folks are talking about a superstorm on the horizon. It that possible?” she asked.

  “It’s very possible and we are carefully monitoring changes.”

  Tracey jumped back in. “Which brings up the question, what causes these? How much does global warming play a role in driving these deadly events? And could we be looking at a new mini ice age?”

  “Good question. Well, temperatures certainly play a big role in the weather we experience. It’s no mystery that industry and burning fossil fuels are related to the extreme events we’ve been seeing around the world. The fact is despite the climate policies we have in place, solar advances, use of wind farms, hybrid cars, and campaigns to cut down on global warming… greenhouse gas emissions are still moving us in the wrong direction.”

  Tracey’s brow furrowed. “I’m confused. I thought we were doing a good job?”

  “We are. Well some of us are. Look, I don’t want to point fingers but in the last year we have seen an estimated two percent rise driven by pollution in China and India, offsetting the good work being done in the United States and other countries.”

  “So one step forward, and two back.”

  “Exactly,” he replied. “Unless our global climate efforts are on the same page we don’t stand a chance of slowing down the inevitable.”

  “Which is?” Tracey asked.

  “A superstorm climate shift that would affect the world on a devastating scale — essentially taking us beyond a point of no return. My concern is that we are at that tipping point already.”

  Tracey nodded. “So as the planet warms we would see rising sea levels, a disintegration of polar ice sheets and coastal flooding, right?” she asked.

  “Exactly. Except it would make Superstorm Sandy, which narrowed New Jersey’s beaches by more than thirty feet, look like child’s play. Hell, back then some folks lost electricity for a few days, and heat and hot water for more than two months. That’s nothing to what is coming.”

  The interviewer looked worried. “So mass evacuations?”

  He scoffed. “If there’s time. The problem is, Tracey, humanity is not prepared.”

  “Why?”

  “Because we’re not aware of the gravity of the situation before us. Let’s face it, we live in a bubble of ignorance at what is happening around us. TV shows, celebrity news and social media all play a role in dumbing us down. And with busy lives, and misinformation being spouted, we can barely see past our own noses. Unfortunately we assume if all is well in our backyard, our town and our state — we don’t need to worry about what is happening beyond that. Heck, the government will come in and save the day, right? Wrong. We need to be concerned and mindful and take the necessary steps before it’s too late.” He shook his head and continued. “Need? The fact is the damage has already been done. We have dramatically altered this planet by choosing to be a fossil fuel-driven civilization. The flooding, the droughts, the wildfires, the cyclone bombing, these were just the beginning. Like an achy tooth before it breaks.”

  “You make it sound like we are already over the tipping point.”

  The climatologist paused and put a finger up to his ear as if he was hearing someone speak to him through his earpiece. He grimaced, nodded and answered the news anchor. “What I’m saying is unless a joint effort is made across the globe we aren’t looking at centuries, or even decades before the next devastating climate shift occurs, it will be sooner.”

  “How soon?” she asked.

  The TV screen started going fuzzy, white noise took over and the image of the two people was barely visible. The waitress reached up and hit the screen a few times but it didn’t seem to do anything. She flipped through channels then gave up.

  “Damn storm!” she said switching it off.

  By now those in front of Alex had finished and he stepped forward to pay.

  Chapter 4

  In a dusty warehouse in the city of Anchorage, Cayden Jones, otherwise known as “Bullet” on the streets, sat behind a mahogany desk snorting a line of coke. He rubbed
his nose with two fingers and inhaled deeply as he rocked his head back. It had become a habit way back in the day when he was a small-time dealer. Everything had to be checked, no one trusted anyone and testing the goods was critical.

  A lot had changed in twenty years. At the age of thirty-nine he had finally established himself as the go-to man for high-end drugs on the streets. He’d clawed his way to the top using violence to instill fear and establish his territory. Anyone who caused problems was dealt with immediately. There could be no room for error. One slight oversight and his whole world could come crashing down. He hadn’t worked this many years to see it crumble.

  Compared to the way things were ten years ago, business had been good. He rarely showed his face unless it was required. In his profession, he counted the money, gave orders and oversaw the day-to-day operations. He let those that worked for him take the risks. It was easier that way. Then again he wasn’t one to shy away from taking matters into his own hands if required. But those days were far and few between now.

  The sound of an industrial sander cut through the silence.

  When he wasn’t cutting deals and distributing, he ran an auto body shop in the downtown, as well as a series of online gambling sites. Of course it was all smoke and mirrors for where the real money was being made but it gave him a way to launder money, and stay under the radar. He looked up at the opaque glass that wrapped his second-floor office. Through the window he could just make out Vic standing outside the door waiting for him. He was one of four he trusted, a close inner circle of friends that had stuck close since the early days.

  “Vic,” he called out.

  Vic entered. He was a large guy with a bald head. He wore a leather jacket, dark jeans and combat boots. Cayden couldn’t begin to count the number of people’s faces that had his boot print embedded in their skin. “Yeah?”