Turning Secrets

by Brenda Chapman

  “You’ll have to get something solid that we can use in court,” said Rouleau. He glanced over at Kala before handing the rest of the meeting back to Gundersund. She knew that he’d let her off the hook for stepping into Woodhouse’s wheelhouse by giving Woodhouse another crack at Simmons. She was both thankful and contrite for putting Rouleau in that position and she stayed silent for the rest of the meeting.

  She met with Abby Green following the meeting and took her statement before retuning to her desk to input a report on their conversation into the team database. After she’d been working at her computer for about half an hour, Gundersund stopped by her desk to discuss her latest search for information and to ask her to meet him for lunch in the cafeteria at 1:30 after the noon-hour rush.

  Morrison waited until Woodhouse and Bennett had gone to pick up Murray Simmons before she rolled her chair over to Kala’s desk. “I thought Woodhouse was going to blow when he found out you’d interviewed that girl behind his back. Too bad Rouleau didn’t let it happen.”

  “It wouldn’t have been pretty. That was my second offence in Woodhouse’s books this week.”

  “Blowing up might have been reason to reprimand him. That, along with him being disruptive and misogynistic. Why does he get away with that behaviour?”

  “He knows which lines not to cross. He’s also helped to solve cases and he conducts a good interview.”

  “Did anything come of what I told you about seeing him with Marci Stokes?”

  “Not yet.”

  “That’s a shame.” Morrison was about to say something more but the door to Rouleau’s office opened and she rolled her chair back to her own desk.

  Kala resumed typing. When she raised her eyes from the screen sometime later, she was surprised to see it was going on two o’clock. Her stomach rumbled.

  Gundersund!

  She leapt up from her chair and grabbed her wallet before running down the hall. The cafeteria was empty except for Gundersund sitting by the window with a tray in front of him. She called to him that she was there before grabbing a roast beef sandwich and a coffee.

  “I thought you’d gotten a better offer,” said Gundersund as she sat down across from him.

  “I lost track of time.” She returned his smile before her eyes settled on the empty plate on his tray. “Guess you’ve been here a while.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” He waited until she’d taken a bite from her sandwich. “Vera’s leaving. She got a job at the university.”

  “No way.” Kala lowered the sandwich onto the plate. “Is it because of the new acting?”

  “Between you and me, yeah. You may not have noticed, but the force has a ways to go on the equality front. We’re evolving but we still have dinosaurs.”

  “You think? When is Vera’s last day?”

  “Friday. She managed to shave a week off her notice since the university asked for her to start immediately. She’ll be heading up support services for the medical department.”

  “How’s Rouleau taking it?”

  Gundersund met her eyes. “Not well. I don’t think he realized how much she meant to him until she said she was leaving.”

  “But he’s dating Marci Stokes. They seem well-suited.”

  “Rouleau is an enigma. Most men would have jumped at the chance to date someone like Vera, especially since she’s been so obviously interested.”

  “Are you saying looks are a man’s main criterion for a relationship?”

  A look of horror crossed Gundersund’s face as he realized he’d put his foot in it. It gave Kala a measure of satisfaction and she worked to keep the amusement off her face.

  “Not at all,” he said.

  “You could have dated her. Why didn’t you?”

  He opened his mouth and shut it again. Kala laughed. “Guess I wound you up a bit there, eh, Gundersund, exposing your male chauvinist side?”

  He gave her a slow, wide grin. “I was hoping to keep that under wraps. As for why I didn’t ask Vera out, I was married, as you recall. And since separating, I’ve had my eye on another fine specimen.”

  “Anyone I know?”

  “I believe you know her extremely well.”

  “Why, are you flirting with me, Officer Gundersund?”

  “I believe that I just might be, although not particularly well if you have to ask.”

  “I appreciate the effort.” She was quiet a moment, not sure if she should say something about their odd relationship or avoid wading into these uncertain waters. They both started speaking at the same time and both stopped. Kala motioned for Gundersund to continue. He leaned in closer.

  “Fiona’s back at work today. Hobbling around but able to do some paperwork. She was climbing the walls in my house all day with no company except the dog.”

  “How long is she staying with you?”

  “Her apartment is free this weekend so she’ll be able to move back then. I thought you and I could go on a date Saturday night, if work allows. How do you feel about supper downtown and a stroll along the waterfront?”

  “I’d like that very much.”

  “Then consider it a done deal. I’ll book somewhere swanky and pick you up around seven.” He stood and picked up his tray. “I have to head back but I’ll see you upstairs.”

  “See you later.”

  She watched him until he was out of sight. This would be their first outing without Dawn and a major step forward. Gundersund was finally ready to move on from Fiona. Kala wanted to give in to the happiness filling her and believe the worst was behind them. She tamped down her feelings of disquiet. Surely, she deserved to give this mutual attraction a chance to see where it could lead. She wouldn’t listen to the internal voice telling her that getting involved with her still-married partner was a bad idea.

  Just this once, she’d throw caution to the wind and see where the road took them.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Emily and Chelsea were waiting in the hall near Dawn’s locker when she entered the school. She was thinking about Fisher and didn’t see them at first. She’d wanted to get down to the beach to check on him that morning but couldn’t get out of the house without Kala getting suspicious. At least she’d gotten the bag of food and the bottle of water to him after school the day before. He’d been sleeping when she reached his hiding place, snoring softly until he rolled onto his side. He moaned in his sleep but didn’t wake up. She’d try to get home right after school to visit him.

  “Have you seen Vanessa?” asked Emily. “We were working on an assignment together and she has the final version. It’s due first class.”

  “No,” Dawn said without focusing, her mind still on Fisher. “She must be running late. She’s been late a lot lately.”

  Emily and Chelsea exchanged looks but didn’t say anything. They waited for Dawn to open her locker and take out her books and they all walked down the hall together, Chelsea a few steps behind them like a bodyguard. Kala wondered if Emily found this behaviour annoying. Chelsea seemed to enjoy playing the subservient role. She copied Emily’s clothes and her hairstyle, even down to the same golden shade of blond. Chelsea’s natural colour was closer to sandy brown as far as Dawn could tell. When Chelsea talked, it was to Emily, her voice often dropping to a whisper so that Dawn was excluded.

  They parted at the doorway to Dawn’s first class. Advanced math. She found her seat and cleared her head to take in the new concept being taught, knowing she’d fall behind if she didn’t. All her worries about Fisher gradually dropped away. After math came English. She didn’t meet up with Emily and Chelsea again until lunch. They’d saved a place for her at their table but Vanessa wasn’t with them. Dawn sat down next to Emily and opened the bag Kala had packed. A note rested on top of the plastic sandwich container. Hope you’re having a good day! Kala had drawn a happy face and a heart. Dawn tucked the note into her pocket and smiled before taking out the salmon sandwich and opening the bottle of iced tea. She left the apple and the banana in the bag fo
r later.

  Emily was talking to Chelsea on her other side, and Dawn started eating. She would have liked to sit alone in her usual seat at the nerd table so she could eat quickly and skip out to pick up more snacks for Fisher, but she was learning that friendship wasn’t always about what she wanted. It involved some give and take.

  Emily drank from her milk carton and said to Dawn, “Vanessa’s gone missing. Mrs. Jefferson phoned the police early this morning.”

  Dawn lowered her sandwich and set it in the container. “I thought Vanessa was grounded. How can she be missing?”

  “Vanessa’s mother picked her up after school and brought her home. Vanessa went up to her room to do homework while her mom went to buy groceries. Mrs. Jefferson didn’t check on Vanessa when she got home and when she called Vanessa for supper, she was gone. Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson spent the night driving around looking for her. If Vanessa wanted to shake them up, she’s succeeded. They phoned the police at around four a.m.”

  “How do you know all this?”

  “Mrs. Jefferson called me last night looking for Vanessa. I thought she might just come home later, like she did the last time. That’s why I was waiting for her to meet us at our lockers this morning. But I was wrong. Mrs. Jefferson called me after my first class to tell me Vanessa never came home and she’d notified the police. She was hoping I’d heard from Vanessa this morning, but I haven’t.”

  “Her mother called me last night too,” said Chelsea leaning across Emily’s arm resting on the table. “Vanessa never even texted me after school, which was weird. I was kind of mad at her.”

  “I hope she’s all right,” said Dawn.

  “I’ll bet she’s with Leo,” said Chelsea. “Her mother can’t ground her and not expect Vanessa to do something crazy.”

  “Didn’t she want to break up with him?”

  “I don’t know. She might have said that so we wouldn’t know she cared.”

  “The police told Mrs. Jefferson that Van’s probably acting out and with her boyfriend,” said Emily. “I have no idea where he lives. Do you know anything about him, Dawn?”

  “Not really. I think Vanessa said he has a friend named Shawn.” She remembered the sick feeling she’d had when she’d been in Leo’s car. She must have been overreacting. After all, Leo had let her out without doing anything terrible. It would be hard to tell Emily after so much time had passed that she’d met Leo and taken a ride with him. She rationalized her decision. What good would it do when she had no useful information? She knew what he looked like but how would that help?

  “Vanessa’s mom was livid when she found out how old Leo is. He’s almost ten years older than us!” said Emily. “I have to call her after my next class. I’m so looking forward to that.”

  “Vanessa never sent me any photos of him, like she promised,” said Chelsea. “I checked my phone just in case I missed the text or something.”

  “Not to me either,” said Emily. She took out her phone and scrolled through her messages. She looked up and shook her head. “Van acted like he was this big secret. I’ll text her again and see if she answers.”

  Dawn finished her lunch, even though she’d lost her appetite. She hadn’t liked Leo and didn’t want to think about Vanessa being off somewhere with him. Vanessa had seemed so unlike herself lately. Still, who was Dawn to judge? If Vanessa wanted to teach her parents a lesson, it was her life. Dawn had enough secrets of her own with Fisher sleeping outside the house and her having no idea when he’d be leaving. She didn’t like lying to Kala, but she’d kept her contact with her father hidden for so long that she didn’t know how to bring him into the open. Maybe Vanessa felt the same way about Leo. She and Vanessa might have more in common than she’d imagined.

  Teagan McPherson shifted a bag of groceries from one arm to the other while she fished in her coat pocket for her keys. She could see Jeff inside the lobby talking on his cell but knew from experience that he wouldn’t open the door for her. He was fearful of breaking whatever rules his brother had drilled into him. Finally her fingers landed on the keys and she fumbled to insert the correct one into the lock. She heard footsteps behind her and half turned as she pulled the door open.

  “Do you mind letting me in?” said a voice as deep and attractive as its owner. Well, she thought the man was attractive but she liked the dark, intense ones. She also liked a man in tight blue jeans and cowboy boots. He checked all the boxes.

  “I’m sorry …” she started to say, but he cut in.

  “I’m Nadia Armstrong’s brother-in-law, Peter. I’m here to pick up the baby’s things. The police gave permission. My wife and I have been granted temporary custody.”

  She liked how he assumed that she’d be in the know about Nadia’s death. The conversation felt intimate, as if they’d met before. “Of course,” she said. “I’m Teagan. I was the one looking after Hugo when … you know, when Nadia went missing. I could help you get his things together if you like.”

  “I think I can manage, but thank you.”

  His eyes were so dark … Teagan found herself staring. It had been a long time since animal attraction had caught her in its glare. Not since she’d been fifty pounds lighter without two children. She liked the feeling, happy to know that lust hadn’t deserted her altogether. “I’m so sorry about Nadia,” she said. “Will there be a service?”

  “Yes, but only for family, I’m afraid.”

  The bag of groceries was getting heavy and she felt it slipping from her grasp. Peter reached over and grabbed the bag before it hit the floor. “What’ve you got in here? Rocks?”

  She laughed. “My son likes Alphagetti and there was a sale. Three cans for four dollars. I stocked up.”

  “I’ll bring this to your apartment on my way to Nadia’s. What floor are you on?”

  “Second, but there’s no need.”

  “It’s no problem.”

  Jeff had disappeared from the lobby. Teagan asked, “How will you get into her apartment?”

  “I have a key. Nadia gave us a duplicate in case of emergency. I don’t have one for the front door though. She was able to buzz me into the building from her cellphone.”

  “I didn’t think she had family in Kingston.”

  “We’re an hour up the highway.”

  They rode the elevator to the second floor and he waited until she’d unlocked her apartment door before handing the grocery bag to her. His arm brushed against her chest — an accident, she knew, because of the way he jumped back. He hesitated before walking away. “This might sound forward, but would you like to get a coffee before I head back to Brockville? I could use the company.”

  She considered how wise it would be to accept. She had six loads of laundry to do and floors that needed scrubbing. Still, going through Nadia’s things couldn’t be easy for him. “I’ll be here when you’re ready,” she said.

  After he left, Teagan flew around the apartment tidying up before she changed out of her sweatshirt into her best blue sweater and put on mascara and lip gloss. Any more of an effort would make her look as if she was trying too hard. All she really wanted was to feel the bit of lust in her belly for a few more hours. It had been years since she’d been on a date or thought about a man in that way and she found the feeling invigorating. Not that this was even close to a date.

  She tried to remember what Nadia had said about her family. Parents in Ottawa and a married sister in Brockville. She hadn’t mentioned Peter by name. Teagan started in on the breakfast dishes. Should she have asked him into her apartment for coffee instead of going to a coffee shop? Normally she would have, but what with the way she was thinking about him, it seemed indecent. She finished washing and drying the dishes and still he hadn’t arrived. Just when she was despairing of ever seeing him again, he knocked on the door.

  “I took a few loads of stuff out to the car, and it took a while,” he explained as they waited for the elevator. “I had to wait for somebody to let me back in.”

  “I should
have come with you … or lent you my key. I wasn’t thinking.”

  “No worries. Everything worked out.”

  They walked to a coffee shop on Princess. Peter went to order two cappuccinos while she saved a table. There was a strange fluttering in her stomach whenever she looked at him standing in line and she wondered what it would be like to have a good-looking man like Peter actually interested in her. Clyde had been short and not particularly handsome, although he’d made her laugh at one time and she’d envisioned growing old with him. That all changed when he started drinking and hit her a few times. When he took a swing at Shelley, she threw him out and refused to take him back.

  Peter took the seat kitty corner to her rather than across the table. Their hands were almost touching and their heads were only a few feet apart. “I love your accent,” he said. “Irish, isn’t it?”

  “’Tis that. I’ve tried to shake it but can’t seem to get the Canadian twang.” She sipped her coffee and looked around, pretending that the awkward pause in conversation didn’t bother her. That his nearness didn’t bother her. He hunched over his own cup, both his hands wrapped around it. He had the longest eyelashes she’d ever seen on a man.

  “How close were you to Nadia?” he asked, holding her gaze.

  “We were friendly enough.” For some reason, Teagan wanted him to think she’d made a connection with his sister-in-law. It might make him feel more comfortable with her. Perhaps she’d rise in his estimation. He didn’t need to know how anti-social Nadia had been.

  “She lived with us before and a little while after Hugo was born. Did she talk to you about her life before Hugo came along?”

  “Not much.”

  His eyes now seemed to be evaluating her. “She never said who the father was?”

  “Not to me. I never asked.” She was already regretting letting him think she’d been closer to Nadia than she was. “Is it someone you know?”

  “Nadia kept him a secret. My wife, Lorraine, and I are hoping there are no surprises when we go to adopt Hugo.”