“Where does your boyfriend—what’s his name? Clint?—where does he work?”
“I don’t know the name of the company, but he’s a scout, like a talent scout. I think he’s a freelancer, actually. Like I said, he’s on the road a lot. When he’s home, he doesn’t talk about work. He doesn’t have, like, a nine-to-five or anything. I guess it’s commission. All I know is the pay must be good. You saw his house.”
“It looks nice,” Astrid says.
“Yeah. And he’s also got an expensive sports car and a watch, a Rolex he says set him back over ten thousand dollars. Imagine!”
“Man, really? That’s kinda crazy! How many people even wear watches anymore?”
“I know! Mostly Baby Boomers. I look at my phone when I want to know what time it is. Or did, before I got this.” She reaches her arm out to show Astrid her watch.
“Oh, is it a FitBit?”
“It’s an Apple Watch, actually, but it counts steps and so on like a FitBit. I don’t know half the things it does, I just use it like a watch. Clint gave it to me.”
“So, lookit that, it’s got a heart rate monitor. Does it help with your, er, you know…”
“Help with what?”
“Your panic attacks. So you know when…”
“I, um,” Kiersten cocks her head and looks away for a second and studies the menu card for a moment before continuing. “I, er, that is, that’s why Clint gave it to me.”
Astrid watches Kiersten’s face, notes her squirming, and says, “well, those things are expensive.”
“Yeah, it’s an expensive gift,” Kiersten says, and brightens. “He’s the best thing that ever happened to me. I’m not so crazy about his religion. He’s mostly away on week-ends and services are Sunday so we don’t have to go very often. I’m an atheist, so we don’t talk about it.”
“That’s probably wise,” Astrid opines, thinking how difficult it must be to sit through church services when you don’t believe any of it. She decides against suggesting Kiersten tell the guy he can go alone, and instead changes the subject. “So, have you heard about the big fancy dinner they’re putting on for the grand opening of the Bear Mountain Lodge?”
“Sure. I think everyone has.”
“Maybe you and Clint could come with my husband and me.”
“Oh, thanks, but we can’t. Clint’s out of town.”
“That’s too bad. It would be nice to have company. You could come with us, though.”
“I, er, thanks, but I’m working too.”
The server arrives with their drinks and asks if they’re ready to order.
“Yes,” Astrid tells her, “we’ll have the share size nachos.”
When the server has moved on, Kiersten asks, “what about you? I know you’re married, and that you own the mill. Do you have kids?”
“Yup! Two kids, a dog and horses too. I guess that’s why I don’t socialize more.”
“Hey, your mill is right across the road from Heather’s House, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, and we live next door.”
“Oh, wow! Do you think it’s true that they kidnap girls?”
“No, it’s not true!” Astrid snaps, then takes a deep breath, shakes her head and sits back. “That’s our foundation, you know.”
“Oh! I’m sorry! I didn’t know.”
“All it takes is one crazy person to start a vicious rumour. Fact is, women that end up in Heather’s House are often transient to start with. It’s true they sometimes just disappear without letting us know they’re leaving, but we sure as hell don’t kidnap them!”
“I didn’t mean to suggest…it’s just that I know…”
“You know what, exactly?”
“Nothing. Forget I said anything.”
“No, really. I want to know.”
Kiersten shrinks into the back of her chair, her face twisted in anguish.
Astrid sighs and says, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to jump on you like that, but it’s a sore point. We’ve had government people all over us and it even looked for a while like we might be shut down. We don’t get anything out of it, I mean, financially, and it’s a pain in the ass to be involved at the best of times without being treated like criminals. Sometimes I think we should shut it down. It seemed to be such a good idea at the beginning and now, honestly, I’d be glad to be out of it. But the need is so great! To think we might be shut down because of what one crazy person…” She sits back and is relieved when the server provides a break in the conversation by bringing Kiersten’s wine. They order the share-size nachos.
“But Astrid,” Kiersten says when the server has moved on, “I think there might be something to it. I mean, not you guys, but that someone is taking girls.”
“Are you talking about the new Bear Mountain Lodge being just like the old Spirit Bear Lodge?”
“Is that what it was called? But yeah, that’s it. Some of the girls at work were talking about it in the break room. One of them said she thinks the girls from Heather’s House are scooped up and taken to the Lodge so it can just keep on like before. A gentleman’s club, they call it. You wouldn’t believe how many tourists ask about it.”
“Great thing for the town to be famous for, eh? But I, uh, I’ve thought about it, too. Not about Heather’s supplying the girls, but there’s other places they can get them from. My husband tells me it’s a crazy thought, as if there could be a rape-murder club continuing on from before. He reminds me that all the guys were killed in the explosion.”
“They were all killed? Who was all killed?”
“The previous owners, or the members too, I guess, of the old lodge. It was right about the time I moved here, so a few years before you came. There was a prominent businessman, the mill owner, and even the pastor of one of the churches here in Dark River.”
“No! Really? A pastor?”
“Yeah. And the businessman in question owned a bunch of restaurants including Dot’s, which my friend Franny bought through a court ordered sale after he was killed. After they were all killed.”
“Wow.” Kiersten sits quietly for a moment as if trying to make sense of it. Then she says, “I think there might be something to it, though.”
“Why? I mean, why do you think that?”
Kiersten leans forward and whispers, “I can’t tell you. Just believe me when I say that it’s possible. And I have, er, that I know… That is, I have reason to—oh! You can’t tell anyone! Please don’t tell anyone I said anything!” She looks anxiously around, her forehead creased and lower lip trembling.
“I won’t,” Astrid agrees, “don’t worry.” But her mind races. She was right, Kiersten knows more than she told the cops. Should she press her on it? But she looks so anxious. Maybe it’s best to change the subject in hopes she might confide more over time.
“Well, we all have secrets. There’s lots I wouldn’t want anyone to know about, either.” When she sees Kiersten nod and her expression brighten, she continues, “so, do you have any kids? Pets? Hobbies?”
As Kiersten babbles about the cat she adopted from a rescue after moving in with Clint, Astrid thinks ahead to the video call she’ll have later with Kathy. She feels uneasy, pretending to befriend Kiersten to get information from her. But there’s more to the story. If the break-in to Kathy’s room wasn’t to steal her belongings but to grab her, like if the bastard only got scared off when she didn’t come in alone, and if Kiersten is part of that, then other girls are at risk.
The cops have already lost interest in what they say was a random break and enter. She can’t go to Jacques and ask him to look into it again on the basis of an ambiguous remark and because Astrid thinks Kiersten is nervous about something. The end, as they say, justifies the means.
♦ ♦ ♦
LATER THAT NIGHT, at the end of the second period of the Canuck’s game, Wilson announces he’s going to go do night check at the barn.
“Why?” Astrid asks. “Jake not here tonight?”
“Ay-yuh, he’s
here.”
“So…?”
Wilson says, “somethin’ ‘bout that guy bothers me. Prob’ly nuthin’.”
“I’ll go with you,” Denver says.
“No need. I’ll be back before puck drop.” Wilson heads out the back door; in minutes, they hear an engine start and the ATV roars away.
With Wilson gone, Astrid tells Denver about lunch, and her fears Kiersten knows something about the Lodge and the kidnapping of girls.
“She heard Heather’s House was where they got the girls from.”
“I hope you straightened her out about that.”
“Yeah, well, about Heather’s House, anyway.”
“You’re still suspicious of the Lodge?”
“I am. Not just the Lodge, but that there’s still some of the old club members around, up to no good again,” Astrid admits. “And I’m sure Kiersten knows more than she lets on. She said she knows, not thinks, and that she has good reason, but she wouldn’t say more and got really worried, looking around like someone might be watching. Made me promise not to tell anyone she said anything. And not only that, her boyfriend is a talent scout, for Pete’s sake. What’s a talent scout doing out here? And that his boss is a creepy guy. A vampire. Says he can’t go out in sunlight or at least he only goes out after dark.”
“Well, it’s starting sound like she belongs in a padded room at Nechako Manor.”
“What if she’s not crazy, though. What if there’s something to it?”
“Hmmm.” Denver thinks for a moment, then says, “well then, you and Kathy better quit nosin’ around.”
“But what if we’re the only ones who can stop it? You know Jacques has taken it as far as he can. What would it take for the RCMP to re-open the case as an attempted abduction instead of a B and E?”
“Hmm. I don’t know.”
“Do they have to wait until someone, another woman, is abducted?”
“There really haven’t been any missing girls or women from around here, though.”
“That we know of, you mean. What if the women who left Heather’s suddenly actually were abducted? And what if they’re getting women from all over, not just Dark River? Do the cops have any way of finding out?”
“You mean a special unit, like in the Lower Mainland? I don’t know if they have the resources. For sure the Dark River Detachment is stretched too thin.”
“And Kathy really wants answers. You heard what she said about wanting a family connection. Think how you’d feel if all your life you thought you had no family?”
“Babe,” he says gently, “why don’t you just tell her?”
Astrid bites her lower lip, studies her folded hands, and finally says, “I can’t.”
“She’d be overjoyed—”
“I just can’t!” Astrid shakes her head and looks off. “I just can’t. We talked about this. You know why I can’t tell her. Imagine growing up knowing your father was a serial killer.”
“Okay. Well, we’ll carry on, then. And just be careful. Maybe we should join the gun club. Dust off some of those guns you inherited, and learn how to use ‘em.”
Astrid jerks to attention at this suggestion and gives Denver a sharp look.
“Don’t look at me like that! It’s no crazier than thinkin’ the murder club is still carrying on. In fact, if you’re right and it is, it’s downright sensible.”
“I guess.”
“And if I can think of a way to convince Jacques that you haven’t gone off the deep end, I’ll talk to him about it, too.”
“Oh, that would be great!”
Denver gets up out of his recliner, goes into the kitchen and comes back with a fresh beer and a glass of wine for Astrid. He sets them on the coffee table and slides in next to her on the couch, pulling her into his arms. “Don’t worry, babe. When I told you I’d take care of you, I meant it.”
♦ ♦ ♦
Halfway into third period, the Canucks, down by two, have just scored. There’s a commercial break, and Denver looks at his watch. “Thought Wilson would’ve been back by now,” he says.
At that moment, the text alert on Denver’s phone chimes. He pulls away from Astrid to read it, then turns to her and says, “I have to go. There’s a problem at the barn.”
“What? Is someone…one of the horses…hurt?”
“Nope. Not a horse. Can’t be sure about Jake, though. Looks like Wilson interrupted a drug buy.” Denver gets up and hurries to the back door. “I’ll keep you posted.”
Twenty-one
Pillerton
KATHY IS AT her desk working through a backlog of email. Back at work for weeks, she still isn’t caught up. She blames it on all the time she’s had to spend dealing with the drama of Godzilla firing Pat while she was away, but in fairness, she didn’t actually fire her, just shit on her enough that she walked out. That’s only the most recent and most extreme episode of the Godzilla Show.
More and more often, Kathy wonders if buying into the agency was a mistake. It seemed like a great opportunity at first, but being a minority shareholder in a private company means even if you’re the managing partner you have no control over the bookkeeping. The controlling partner can run all sorts of expenses through the company to make sure there’s never any profit, ergo, no bonus cheque either, and if you resign, forget about getting a realistic valuation on your shares.
Just hang on, she tells herself. Godzilla’s going to retire. But she keeps pushing her retirement date back and the price she wants for her share, up.
Kathy runs the place, doesn’t get paid for the hours of overtime she works, and on top of it, has to put up with Godzilla. Now instead of being happy, Godzilla is mad because Kathy smoothed Pat’s ruffled feathers and got her to come back. It’s not easy finding licenced agents anywhere, and virtually impossible in a town as small as Pillerton. And training a new agent takes months, years even, for someone to take the courses and pass the licencing test. Meanwhile, a licenced agent, in this case Kathy, has to pick up the slack.
I put in enough unpaid hours as it is, Kathy thinks. She sighs and leans against the back of the chair, working her shoulders back and forth to ease the stiffness. When she reaches for her coffee on its little electric warmer, she glances through her office door to see Millie at the counter, serving a bald customer. Millie’s head is down as she explains something, probably how many claims-free years he’d have to have to qualify for the various levels of discounts. But the man isn’t looking at the paperwork; instead, he’s staring at Kathy. When their eyes meet, his brows draw together and his eyes narrow.
Kathy draws a sharp breath and a shudder passes through her. In a heartbeat, the man turns and strides out of the office, leaving Millie to watch his retreating back before clicking her tongue, gathering up the paperwork and returning to her desk.
Kathy gets up and goes to stand in the doorway to the outer office. “What was that all about, Millie?” she asks.
“I don’t know,” Millie says. “It was odd. He said he wanted car insurance but he didn’t have any papers with him. Just moved here, doesn’t have an address yet. So he wastes my time and then just walks out? Not even a thank you.” She tosses the paperwork in the recycling bin and goes back to her chair.
“Jerk!” Pat pipes up from behind her monitor. “I hope he doesn’t come back. Something about him gave me the creeps. Maybe all those tattoos.”
“Lots of guys look like that these days,” Kathy says. “Shave their heads and get those bulging muscles at the gym rather than working, like throwing bales. I think it’s because they all want to look like MMA fighters.”
“Oh, yeah,” Millie agrees, “Mixed Martial Arts. I’ve seen it advertised on TV.”
“I’ll take our Pillerton farm boys any day! Oh, for the days when guys shaved their faces instead of their heads,” Pat says. “And wore jeans that weren’t a fart away from falling off.”
A car pulls into the angle parking stall right outside the door. A small woman with short grey curl
s gets out from behind the wheel and stands with her phone to her ear, looking toward the office as if trying to see through the solar film on the windows. She’s waving her free hand around as she yells into the phone loud enough to be heard inside the office.
“Looks like Godzilla’s off her meds again,” Pat says, and turns her attention to her monitor.
The woman puts the phone in her purse and comes toward the door, pushing her oversized sunglasses back up on her head as she steps into the shade and reaches for the door handle.
“Thought she wasn’t coming in again this week,” Millie says. “She does know we can see her even if she can’t see us, doesn’t she?”
“If she doesn’t, I’m not going to tell her. In fact, I’m not going to talk to her at all.” Pat opens a file and starts flipping papers, then picks up the telephone to make a call.
Kathy draws a deep breath and goes back into her office. Godzilla coming in today is a surprise. “What now?” she mutters under her breath as she takes her seat behind her desk.
She’s really going to flip out when she learns I’m leaving early today. Maybe she’s just come to raid the petty cash for the second time this week and will be gone again before Rick gets here to pick me up.
Godzilla storms through the front office without so much as acknowledging Pat or Millie. She doesn’t pause at the door to Kathy’s office to wait for an invitation, either, just strides to her desk, looms over it and slams a paper down.
“I just got this renewal notice in the mail. The premium on my Elm Street property has gone up again! Didn’t I tell you to take care of that? I was on the phone with Madeline at the company just now. I told her it’s your screw-up and that you will get in touch to straighten it out. She’s expecting a call from you. Now!”
The Bear Mountain Secret Page 21
