“Ryker, no!” Cali shouted.
Ryker stepped forward and hit King in the forehead about as hard as King had ever been hit. It had been near impossible to resist blocking the attack and countering like he was capable of doing, but he was just hoping for the police officer to hurry over. Ryker moved down to King and picked him up by his shirt. Cali grabbed at Ryker, but he used his free hand to pound King in the stomach. The air left him as he slumped back onto the floor.
“Sheriff, do something!” Cali shouted.
“You aren’t so tough now, are you?” Ryker stood over him.
Thankfully the sheriff wrapped his arms around Ryker’s chest and pulled him backward. “All right, that’s enough!” he shouted. The sheriff moved Ryker aside and pulled King up. King was still trying to catch his breath. “You in here causing trouble, newcomer?”
“Ryker is the only one causing trouble, Josiah,” Cali said to the sheriff.
Ryker stepped back up, but the sheriff held him back.
“You always let a woman fight for you?” Ryker was high on booze and adrenaline, and he wanted more.
“Get the hell out of here, Ryker,” the sheriff said. “In fact, everyone get out!”
The jeers from the patrons were loud. They weren’t happy about having their night ruined. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the Russians begin taking their frustrations out on guys who were clearly with Ryker.
The sheriff pulled his gun and turned to the angered men. “No more fights tonight, you hear me? Go home, or go to jail!” Then he turned back to Cali and King. “Damn Russians. You one of them, blue eyes?” he said to King.
“He’s not Russian. He just got hired on for security at Volkov. He’s from the States.”
“Yeah?” The sheriff walked over. “You stir things up like this where you’re from? ’Cause I won’t have it here.”
King wiped the blood from his mouth. “I told him I didn’t want any trouble.”
“Really? What I saw, you put him on his back. That’s not easy. He’s dumb, but he’s strong.”
“He was just trying to protect me,” Cali said. “Ryker pushed me.”
“He pushed you?” The sheriff’s focus shifted. He was upset.
It was clear to King that Cali was a very popular woman in Barrow.
“It’s fine, Josiah,” Cali said. “He’s drunk.” Then to King. “I’m really sorry. Let me get you some ice.”
“I’m fine.”
“He hit you pretty hard,” the sheriff said. “You sure you’re all right?”
“I’ve had worse,” King said.
If they only knew.
“I doubt it, Ryker’s a boxer. Always did hit like a truck.”
The sheriff tried to help King over to the bar stool, but King shrugged him off. “I’m fine. Thank you.”
“Listen, I’m sorry I came at you like that.” The sheriff adjusted the holster jutting out from his hip. “We don’t get a lot of newcomers except these damn Russian guys. Didn’t mean to lump you in. Welcome to Barrow. Name’s Josiah.
“Xavier,” King said. “Friends call me X.” The name that his handler and longtime friend Sam Harrison had given him was one that felt familiar. People had been calling him Xander for years, X for short. The name Xavier made it more natural for him as a cover.
“Nice to meet you, X. Piece of advice?”
“Of course,” King said.
“Keep your head down for a while till people get used to you. You’re not off to a great start. You don’t want to get on the bad side of guys like Ryker. All it is, is more trouble for you. Then that will be more trouble for me.”
Cali handed King a bar towel full of ice. He pointed at Cali. “She always getting guys in trouble?”
Josiah laughed. “You bet. Ever since she moved here from Los Angeles, Cali’s been constantly stirring the pot.”
“I can’t help that you all don’t get many new women here. How you boys handle it is your fault, not mine.”
Josiah clapped King on the shoulder. “Don’t get any ideas. I’ve been trying for six years.”
Josiah’s shoulder radio squawked. Josiah, we’ve got some trouble a street over from the bar. MORE fighting.
“Shit, I’ll see you all later.” The sheriff walked away as he answered, “I’m right here, I’ll handle it.”
The bar was empty. Neil Young was singing about a harvest moon on the jukebox, but the rest of the room was quiet.
“Sorry about all this,” Cali said as she wiped down the counter. “Not much of a welcome. These idiots are going to get this place shut down.”
“I gather this establishment isn’t popular in some circles here?”
“Barely got it open. I convinced people in a town hall meeting that it would cut down on the horrible bootlegging problem we have here.”
“Is it working?”
“I think they are just recruiting customers here. The entire thing might have been a bad idea. I just wanted a little piece of home here. Guess I didn’t think it through. Never wanted to make things worse.”
King set down the ice and finished his drink. “Thanks for the ice. And the drink.” He pulled out some cash.
Cali rushed over. “Oh no. Put your money away.” She nodded to the cut on his forehead. “You already more than paid for it.”
“Thank you.”
“And don’t feel bad. Ryker has worked over some of the toughest guys in Alaska. It wasn’t a fair fight.”
King almost laughed, but he kept it to himself and just gave her a smile as he wrapped his scarf around his neck.
“Okay then. Off to work. Have a nice night, Cali.”
Cali gave him that smile that helped his decision to come back to the bar tomorrow. “Night, X. See you tomorrow.”
4
King swiped his badge to clock in and walked over to the security desk. It had been a long time since he’d been in uniform and the first time wearing a cop-like security getup. Volkov Mining was a massive place. The wall of thirty camera monitors in front of him would have told him that, even if he’d never actually seen the rest of the site. The area consisted of a large building, which he was in, and then ten smaller wooden buildings constructed around it in a circle. If the site were a body, he was in the brain. Each of the small buildings had one security camera on the outside of them. The rest were scattered around the large building he was sitting in, watching hallways, as well as around parts of the outside.
During his training, he’d seen the inside of every building, except for one at the far end, the only one of the wooden buildings that was attached via a hallway to the building King was sitting in. It had its own security door that would only open for certain management. It was the reason King knew it was important. Clearly a very important building because it also had three extra cameras on the outside, and Arnie, the other guard on site, made a face when he said the word restricted. When King asked why, Arnie gave the standard, “above my pay grade,” and moved on.
There were four other guards employed at Volkov, but they always worked together in pairs. So King would only see them at shift change. Arnie was his “partner,” as Arnie called it. King got the short version of how Arnie had always wanted to be a cop, but because he wasn’t one of the “good ole boys” in Barrow, they didn’t let him on the force. Therefore, he was relegated to security. A job he takes “very seriously.” King smiled thinking about it. Arnie was a good guy, but quirky. As King set on to investigating the Volkov facility as he was sent there to do, he felt he could manipulate Arnie to keep him from interfering. Arnie reminded King of a chubby Barney Fife. His heart was in the right place; it was the rest of him that wasn’t.