Bayless, red-eyed and reeking of alcohol, sat half-way out of the SUV and smiled at Niko.
“Are you drunk?” Niko asked.
“Probably. I’m definitely hungover. Is this your place?”
“You drive here drunk?”
“How else would I have gotten here? Is this your place? Can you hear?”
“Pretty irresponsible.”
“Good god, a damn cub scout. Talked myself out of a DUI just last night.”
“I don’t care what you talked yourself out of.” Niko’s voice raised.
“I can handle myself.”
“Recklessness is punished differently in a place like this. You drive off the road here — or, even worse, run someone else off — no one will find the vehicle for days.”
“Thanks for the lesson guy. Is this your damn shop or not?”
“It is.”
“Are you Niko Chamonix?”
“Maybe. Who’re you?”
“I’m Bradley Bayless, and I am looking to hire a guide named Niko Chamonix.”
“I’m Niko.”
“Perfect.” Bayless stood up and walked from the SUV.
“I’m all booked up for the next few weeks.”
Bayless nodded. “Thought that may be the case.”
“I’ll get you the numbers of some other guides who might be able to help you.” Niko walked back up the stairs to the shop and unlocked the front door. A brass bell rang as he swung the door open. “I’ll tell them that you showed up drunk, just so you know.”
“Congratulations.” Bayless was standing next to the SUV scanning the exterior of the shop. “No alarm system?”
Niko looked at the man for a moment, vexed at the odd question. Then he pointed across the street to the two bears who were now licking the fish cleaning table. “Guard bears. Better than any alarm.” Big Berry Dumpling looked up for a moment and grunted.
“Holy hell.” Bayless looked at the bears and then at Niko. “Is that safe?”
“If they like you.” Niko smiled, enjoying the joke he had told hundreds of times before.
“They’ve never attacked anyone?”
“Why are you so worried about my security system?”
“Just curious.” Bayless walked up the stairs. “You live over there?” He pointed to the house.
“Yea, I do. I’ve got a rifle there as well.”
“Take it easy fella.” Bayless laughed and patted Niko on the shoulder. Niko turned his head to look at his shoulder and then brought his eyes quickly back to Bayless.
Bayless withdrew his hand. “That rifle for guiding hunters?”
“I only guide fishing trips, but it is good to have some protection when you are out and the moose are horny.”
Bayless looked at him like he just claimed to have time traveled.
“When the moose are in the rut.” Niko said, but Bayless still appeared confused.
“When moose are looking to mate,” Niko paused for emphasis and Bayless nodded. “They’re mean as hell and territorial. Most dangerous thing out here — except humans and the weather.”
They were now in the shop, a well-lit rectangle. Wood floors, wood walls, wood ceiling, wood shelves, and wood counters. Niko had cut all of the boards and hammered all of the nails. He used a clear coat to seal everything, but refused to add any color or tint.
“I feel like I am in a tree,” Bayless said.
“They tell me my aesthetic is abandoned hunting cabin with a hint of rustic barn.”
“Well, you hit that.” Bayless looked around the room. It seemed that the only things not made of wood were the windows, the merchandise, and the stand-up coolers along the back wall. One for beer and snacks, one for ice, and one for bait.
The exterior walls held all sorts of gear ranging from stout trolling rods for big salmon to delicate bamboo fly rods for little brook trout. A wall of windows faced the stream, and anywhere that was not shelved with tackle had antique fish mounts or old black-and-white photos of local landmarks.
The interior of the store housed three long rows consisting of perhaps the largest collection of flies ever seen in one place. Most stores had cup-sized holders for each fly and each size. Niko used buckets, and they were always full.
Customers often asked, “why so many flies?”
Niko would smile and say, “Maine is full of bugs, just trying to keep up.”
A collage of Polaroids of Niko’s clients was assembled behind the counter. The pictures had many settings — small streams, open lakes, green trees, fall colors — but every client was smiling and holding a big fish.
The place smelled of cedar and wet leather-boots, and it made you want to listen to a story in a rocking chair just as much as it encouraged you to run out into the evergreen woods and find a quiet stream.
“You tie all of these things?” Bayless pointed at the rows of flies.
“Hell no. I can’t sit still for more than five minutes. I get them from a good friend of mine just up the road. He owns the brewery, and he ties flies while waiting for the beer to taste right.”
“Nice deal.” Bayless was still scanning the room, looking up at the ceiling and out the windows.
“If you’re casing the place, you’re doing a terrible job of it. I’ll show you the damn cash box. We don’t exactly turn over a ton of product here. This is more of a lifestyle type thing.”
Bayless, whose monthly credit card bill was more than Niko grossed in a year, laughed and straightened up his posture.
“I’m not casing the place. I just used to work in security — old habits I guess.” He walked to the counter where Niko was pulling a few business cards from a messy drawer.
“What do you do now?” Niko asked.
“I’m a lawyer.”
“Oh yea? What kind of law?”
“Mergers, asset management.”
“So, you’re still in security.” Niko smiled.
“You’re a lot smarter than you let on.”
“Usually people tell me I’m dumber than I look.”
“I don’t need those other cards.” Bayless pointed to the stack in Niko’s hand. “You’re my guy.”
Niko tossed the cards back into the drawer. “I already told you that I’m booked.”
“How much will it take to get on the schedule this week?”
“This week? I can’t just cancel on people.”
“Sure you can. Come on, I’ve put myself in a terrible bargaining position. How much for a few days?”
“A few days?”
“Three probably. But I’m not sure. That’s why I need you.”
“Where the hell do you want to fish anyway? Plenty of guides can get you wherever you need to go out here.”
“Ten grand work?”
Niko laughed aloud. “Get the hell out of here with that crap. Did Smitty send you over here to waste my time?”
Bayless grinned. “Don’t know anyone named Smitty, but I’ll be right back.”
He left the store for a moment and then returned with a thick envelope. He leaned over the counter and showed Niko the stack of bills.
“Twenty thousand.”
Niko stared at the money, and then at Bayless’s face to see if he was joking.
“I doubled it just to be sure.” Bayless said. “It’s yours if you put me on the schedule for a few days this week.”
Niko hesitated for a moment. “I really am booked.”
“Good god Niko. Let’s get smart here. I know how much you usually charge. This is a big pay day for you.”
“Why does it need to be me?”
“Cause you’re the best, and I am accustomed to the best. Just tell the other dumbasses that you are sick and need to reschedule.”
“Anyone ever tell you that you’re arrogant?”
“All the time.”
“That doesn’t bother you?”
“Arrogant people don’t give a shit what other people think of them.”
“I can’t just cancel on people. They’re counting on me. They want to go fishing.”
Bayless shook his head. While possessing very little of it himself, Bayless could detect integrity in others. He released his grin, and looked Niko in the eye.
“Alright, listen,” Bayless said. “My father passed away last month. He always talked about this perfect little spot up here where he and his father used to fish. My father always wanted to take me too, but I kept putting it off.” Bayless paused and looked down at the counter. “I never went with him, and now I’m taking his ashes up there, and I need you to help me.”
Niko gave a soft smile at the sentiment. “Where do you need to get to? Maybe we can speed this up for you. If you got all that money, you can just hire a bush plane. Be out and back in a day.”
“No planes. I want to do this the way they did, by boat. It is way the hell out there though — some point where two rivers converge.”
Niko sighed. “No promises, but maybe I could check to see what I can reschedule. Where exactly? I need to know how many days out and back.”
“It’s up near the headwaters of the Nagadan River.”
Niko’s smile disappeared. “I can’t help you with that.”
“What do you mean? You know that area.” Bayless said.
“That is a long trip, but I am sure someone else would be happy to take you for that amount of money.” Niko pushed the envelope back across the counter.
“I did my homework on you. You have more experience out there than anyone around. I read some article about how used to go out there all the time and how you got stuck — ”
“I know the story. You’ll have to find someone else.”
Bayless stepped backed and looked at Niko. He was not accustomed to hearing the word no. “I made a long trip up here to go out there with you, and I only have a few days.”
“I didn’t ask you to come here.”
“I know, I know. I don’t want special treatment, but this is important. I need the best guide. It’s my father’s ashes.” He shook his head and slapped the counter. “And I just finalized my divorce, and I got a shit ton of work pressure right now, and I need to get this done this week. I need to get out there and see this place and make it right with my dad.”
Niko waited, thinking.
“I’m sorry for laying that on you,” Bayless said.
“It’s fine. Fishing guides are often confused for therapists.” Niko gave a reassuring smile.
Bayless pulled himself together and regained his arrogant tone. “But, my offer is more than generous, which no one would argue with.”
“True.”
Bayless pushed the envelope across the counter and backed away towards the door.
“I’m not comfortable lugging all of that cash around, so if you could, please keep that envelope in your register for me, I would be obliged.”
Niko picked the envelope up and held it towards Bayless. “No way man. I’m not responsible for this money.”
Bayless was already at the door. “Just hold it for the night and sleep on it. If you still don’t want to go, just call me know tomorrow,” he placed a business card on the shelf by the door “and I’ll come get the cash. No hard feelings.” He left the shop before Niko could argue further.
Niko ran to the door, envelope in hand, and saw the Escalade speeding out of the parking lot. He also saw Tracey across the street watching. He walked back to the counter, put the money in the register and went about opening the shop for customers. His day off was ruined now anyway.