Woodhouse turned the key in the ignition and eased his car away from the curb. First things first. He’d make the call as soon as he got back from the community centre, otherwise his bladder would be exploding all over the front seat. He winced at the image and at the never-ending hazing that would follow as sure as the sun was going to rise tomorrow. He tried to think of anything but the pressure in his bladder as he sped up the street to a community toilet and some blessed relief.
Chapter Forty-One
I’ll hang back until the girls make contact. When you’ve explained that I’m also here to help, give me a thumbs up. I’ll come over and will take it from there.” Kala checked to make sure Wolf understood she was in charge. They were climbing the stairs to the second floor where the food court was located. He nodded but remained silent. She sensed uncoiled energy and hoped he wouldn’t blow this chance to get close to the girls. Even more, she hoped this encounter was going to lead somewhere.
At the head of the stairs, she held back and let Wolf walk ahead toward the Harvey’s. He bought a coffee, took a seat at one of the tables, and put his elbows on the armrests, leaning slightly forward, his eyes scanning the other tables without staring at anyone for long. The usual senior citizens sat in groups of two and four, cups of coffee on the tables in front of them. A table of six teenage girls was raising the noise level as everyone spoke that much louder to be heard over their laughter and shrieks. Canned music filled what there were of the empty spaces.
Kala skirted around to a spot closer to an exit where Wolf could see her when he turned around. She’d surveyed the people sitting at the tables and walking by but hadn’t seen anyone who fit the description of East Indian pre-teens. The greasy smell of French fries and burgers made her mouth water. Breakfast had been a blueberry yoghurt cup gobbled down on her way out the door.
After ten minutes, Wolf was getting restless. Kala noticed him changing position, crossing and uncrossing his arms, angling his body toward different parts of the room. He’d spotted her early on but managed to avoid glancing her way more than a few times. She thought about buying some fries and taking a seat at the other end of the room at one of the tables. She felt conspicuous lurking around the fringes.
She’d taken two steps toward the Harvey’s cashier when she spotted them at the far end of the food court: two girls wearing headscarves, black Tshirts, and long skirts, one blue and the other a green zigzag pattern. The taller one looked about thirteen. Very pretty face with high cheekbones and almond-shaped eyes. The other was a few years younger with a plumper face and mouth drooping slightly open as if she didn’t understand what was going on around her.
They held hands as they approached and passed a few feet from her. They’d spotted Wolf and changed course to walk toward him. He stood and smiled as they reached his table. He motioned with his hand for them to sit across from him. They appeared tentative, but sat in the seats after the older girl took a careful look around.
Kala waited for Wolf’s signal. He finally lifted his hand in her direction and she walked over after she also took a look around to see if anyone was watching. Satisfied that the girls hadn’t been followed, Kala took the empty seat next to Wolf.
“I’m glad you’ve agreed to meet us,” she said to the taller girl, smiling to ease her fear.
“Wolf told me that Leah couldn’t come but you’re her friend.” The girl’s eyes darted between Kala and Wolf. She was still holding her sister’s hand, which rested on the table.
Kala nodded. “That’s right. We both want to help you. I work for the police but I’m here as Leah’s friend. Can you tell me your names?”
“I’m Dalal Shahan and this is my sister Meeza. We need to find my sister Nadirah. Did Leah tell you where she is?”
“No, but maybe we can sort it out. Did Nadirah run away?”
Meeza’s head lifted and she focussed her eyes on Kala. “She’s as good as dead to us,” she said, her voice robotic and shrill.
Dalal shushed her before explaining. “She’s just repeating.… My mother wasn’t happy that Nadirah ran away. She’s not going to be happy with us either. We can’t go back.”
“How did Nadirah know Leah?” Wolf interjected. “Where does Leah fit into this?”
“They talked through the help line but Nadirah was too scared to do anything like call the police. She got lucky though. Ghazi was taking the same class as Leah at the university, but he skipped it a few times and had Nadirah go in his place. Nadirah recognized Leah’s voice from the help line and approached her. Leah agreed to help her leave home because Nadirah was so desperate. My sister wrote everything in her diary.”
Ghazi. Kala remembered the name from Tadesco’s class list. She placed her hand on Wolf’s forearm to stop him from talking. “Why did Nadirah have to leave home?” she asked.
“My family believed that she was becoming wild and needed to be controlled. They arranged for her to marry a man, Mr. Khan. Nadirah refused and my parents locked her in her room for a month. When Nadirah got out, she pretended to go along with the idea of marrying Mr. Khan, but she was making plans with Leah to disappear. My parents and my brother Ghazi were very angry when Nadirah left. They’ve been trying to find her.”
All eyes turned to Meeza, who’d let out a sob. She’d begun shaking uncontrollably. Dalal wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer. “It’s okay, Meeza. I won’t let anything happen. You will not have to see Mr. Khan ever again.”
Kala met Wolf’s eyes while Dalal continued to murmur into her sister’s ear.
“Has something happened to make Meeza afraid?” Kala asked.
Dalal scowled. “They decided that Meeza would take Nadirah’s place so they locked Meeza in her room all week. She’s … not handling it very well. Mr. Khan was coming for her today but we ran away. We won’t go back.” Her jaw jutted out in defiance. “You can’t make us go back.”
What kind of family would give their daughters away? It was beyond comprehension. Kala felt a rage inside that she would have liked to let out. “You’re very brave girls, Dalal. We won’t make you go back. We’re going to help you,” she said. “Where are your parents and Ghazi now?”
Dalal’s eyes widened and she looked around the food court as if she suddenly remembered where they were. Panic crossed her face. “They’re probably looking for us. We need to find Nadirah. We’re going to live with her. She promised.”
A memory of Lily and her ten-year-old self caught in Kala’s throat. Lily had made the same promise to her so many years before. A promise that never came true. She coughed to clear the image and to return to the frightened young girls in front of her. “You have no idea where she might have gone?”
Both girls shook their heads.
“I think I might,” Wolf said, his face animated. “Leah would have brought your sister somewhere safe where your family would never find her.” He smiled at Dalal. “Leah would want me to reunite you. I know that for certain. There’s only one place she would have brought your sister and I can take us there in an hour or less if we get on the road now.”
“The three of you will have to wait here in Kingston. Tell me where she is and I’ll go get her,” Kala said.
“You won’t find it on your own,” Wolf said stubbornly. “You’ll waste time trying to find the side road and the laneway to Leah’s family cottage. You still need me.”
“I have a map. It can’t be that hard.”
“It’s not marked on maps.”
“We have to come with you,” Dalal said. “We have to find Nadirah.”
“I want Nadirah,” Meeza wailed. “I want Nadirah now!”
Kala looked at Dalal’s and Wolf’s determined faces and Meeza’s mouth widening into a howl. She wasn’t going to be able to leave them without a scene. If this place was so hard to find, Ghazi and his parents would have the same difficulty, even if they’d figured out where Leah could have hidden Nadirah. It might be safer to keep these girls with her rather than let their fami
ly track them down.
“Well, let’s get going then,” she said. “I’ll put a call in to my boss so he knows what we’re up to.”
She didn’t add that she’d wait until they were on their way out of Kingston before calling. Rouleau likely would veto the plan if she called any earlier.
Rouleau woke up to find his father’s doctor leaning over him, shaking his shoulder. The fog lifted quickly. “Is my father okay?” he asked, pushing himself upright. “Has something happened?”
“He’s awake,” she said, “and asking for you. All of his vitals are stable so he’s come through the surgery with flying colours.”
“Good. He had me worried.”
Rouleau followed her through to the semi-private room where they’d moved his dad. He was hooked up to beeping machines and an intravenous drip. Rouleau sat near the head of the bed and covered his father’s hand with his own.
“How are you feeling, Dad?”
“Been better.” His dad said the words slowly, but managed a shaky smile afterwards.
“Doc says you’ll be home soon. They’ll keep you overnight to keep an eye. It was a blocked artery, but all clear now. No lasting damage.”
His father’s eyes closed and his breathing deepened. The doctor finished checking the heart monitor and smiled at Rouleau.
“He’ll be sleeping the day away if you want to go home and get some sleep. We’ll call you if there’s any change.”
“I’d like to stay a few more minutes if that’s okay.”
“Certainly.”
She left after writing on his father’s chart and giving a word to the nurse.
Rouleau held his father’s hand and watched the shallow in and out of his father’s chest. He tried not to think of what could have been. A few more hours and he wouldn’t have made it. The enormity of what Rouleau nearly lost made him want to gather his father into his arms and flee to somewhere safe, where time stood still and they both had their youth and health. A time when his father was the strong one and he was still a child. That time was long past and was now but a bittersweet memory. It was a sad truth that the passage of time left no prisoners. Yet, they had been blessed with a reprieve.
Rouleau kissed his father on the cheek and brushed a lock of white hair back from his forehead. He stood and watched him sleep a while longer, until the fear constricting his own breathing loosened enough for him to walk away and leave his father in the capable hands of Hotel Dieu’s medical staff.
Vera reached him as he was driving north on Division toward the station. He put the phone on speaker.
“How’s your father?”
“Doing well. I’m on my way in.”
“Stonechild’s been trying to reach you.”
“I had to turn my phone off in the cardiac unit. Is everything alright?”
“She has a lead that she’s following up on and wanted to let you know. She’s on her way to Brockville.”
“Brockville?” Rouleau racked his tired mind. “Leah Sampson grew up there.”
“A girl called the university help line looking for her sister, Nadirah. Stonechild believes that Leah has her holed up near Brockville.”
“Why?”
“Nadirah’s family is after her. They aren’t happy that she ran away.”
“An honour killing?”
“That’s Stonechild’s fear. She asked us to pick up Nadirah’s brother Ghazi and the parents. She’s convinced they had a hand in Leah’s murder. Heath agreed there was enough evidence to question them. I sent a unit over about five minutes ago.”
“Good. Where’s Gundersund?”
“He called in sick. Should I try to reach him?”
“I don’t see the need at this point. I’ll be in the office in ten minutes. I’ll interview Nadirah’s family when they arrive.”
Vera disconnected and Rouleau increased pressure on the gas pedal, the overwhelming fatigue replaced by a surge of adrenaline.
The noise of the shower woke Gundersund for the second time that morning. He moaned and rolled onto his side to check the clock. Five after eleven. Damn.
He rolled out of bed and tried to ignore the pounding in his head as he stood up. His clothes were scattered across the floor. He searched around for his jeans and found them under the bed. Grabbing a clean sweatshirt from the pile on the dresser, he dressed quickly. The effort cost him and he sat back on the bed, pressing his temples between his hands while he concentrated on not puking.
The shower stopped and a moment later Fiona strolled out of the ensuite vigorously drying her hair with a towel. She wore a smile on her face and not much else.
“How are you feeling, lover?” she asked.
“Fiona, I’m not sure how …”
She lifted a hand to stop him talking while her mouth settled into a straight line. “You don’t have to say anything, Paul. I know that tone of voice.”
She walked over to the chair where her clothes were neatly folded and began dressing with her back to him. “Last night was fun but you’re questioning it this morning.” She hooked her bra in the back before turning. “You didn’t have any questions last night.” She attempted a cheeky smile but her bottom lip trembled and the words came out more desperate than teasing.
He looked at his beautiful wife and felt so empty he could have cried. He couldn’t forget what she’d done to their marriage; he knew that now. He’d known it even as he’d drunkenly lowered himself onto her the night before in the darkness of his bedroom while she called out his name. He’d made love to her, but the feeling of being close to her never came. Just a hollow sadness. His last thought had been of Stonechild as he drifted off to sleep.
Fiona met his eyes and her face paled. The towel dropped to the floor. She crossed the short distance to him and knelt at his feet, her cheek resting against his leg. He rested his hand lightly on her damp hair.
“It’s not going to work, Fiona,” he said. “You must know it too. I thought maybe, but I can’t get past you leaving me last year. I can’t go back there, to what we were. I wish I could.”
She looked up at him. Her eyes shimmered with tears. “I wish I could take back what I did. It doesn’t feel over for me. Can’t you just give us some more time? I’ll prove to you that I’ve changed.”
“It’s not that easy. I honestly wish it was.”
After she left, he put on a pot of coffee and retrieved his cellphone from his jacket hanging on the back of a kitchen chair. He scrolled through the missed calls and recognized Stonechild’s cell number. She’d tried to reach him twice but hadn’t left a message. Her last call had been half an hour ago.
He hit her number and poured himself a cup of coffee while he waited for her to pick up. His headache was becoming manageable after two pain killers but he still felt rough. Now add guilt to the mix. He had let Fiona convince him to call in sick and in doing so had left his partner in the lurch.
No answer.
Worried, he dialed Vera’s number. She picked up after one ring.
“Gundersund.”
“I’ve tried to reach Stonechild. Is something going on?”
“She’s on her way to Brockville, chasing down a lead. Rouleau’s on his way in.”
“She’s not picking up. What happened?”
“The girl called back to the help line. Stonechild thinks Leah Sampson was killed because she hid the girl’s sister Nadirah at the family cottage near Brockville. We’ve got some officers picking up the brother and parents now.”
“The girl’s family killed Leah?”
“That’s Stonechild’s premise. Can you hang on a minute?”
“Sure.”
He heard muffled talking and then Vera was back. “They brought in the father but the mother and brother are missing.”
“Do you have the location of the cottage?”
“No. Wolf is with Stonechild and he’s taking her there.”
“Listen. I’m going to start heading to Brockville in my car. If she calls in, get her exact
location and phone me on my cell. Do you have any info on the brother’s vehicle?”
“Not yet. I’ll call as soon as we know anything.”
“And I’ll be on my way to find Stonechild.”
Chapter Forty-Two
Nadirah Shahan sat on the dock and dangled her feet into the lake. She’d made friends with a flock of ducks who paddled nearby but just out of reach. Ducks she’d been bribing with crumbs so that they’d stick around and not leave her all alone.
“No more bread for you,” she said aloud. They looked in her direction but didn’t come any closer. It was almost startling to hear her own voice. She’d been here for nearly a month and hadn’t spoken to anyone. That would change soon. Leah was overdue for a visit and had promised to bring a bus ticket and money for a fresh start in Halifax. Nadirah frowned and tried not to worry about Leah’s long silence. They’d agreed to make as little contact as possible through September, but she’d been expecting Leah’s arrival for over a week. Leah had promised to check up on Dalal and Meeza and would try to get word to Dalal about her sister’s whereabouts. Nadirah worried about them too. Still, the best thing would be for her to relocate and send for them once she was settled and had a job.
It was a lovely morning: sunny and warm, although not with the heat of a few weeks before. “You ducks should be thinking about trekking south,” she said. “You don’t want to get trapped here for the winter.” A twinge of guilt struck her at the thought that she was responsible for their lingering so long as the weather began to turn the corner into autumn.
She stood and looked at the sparkles of sunshine shimmering across the water. The water reminded her of Kingston and homesickness welled up. No matter how awful her family could be, she still loved her sisters and father, even her mother if it came down to it. She’d tried to be a good daughter but her mother wouldn’t bend an iota. She’d tried to understand the old ways that her mother clung to so desperately from her own childhood in India, but could not. Perhaps it was her own failings keeping her from doing as her mother asked. She’d been told often enough that she was the bad seed, bringing dishonour on a respectable family. Her mother thought Mr. Khan was the answer to mending her oldest daughter’s rebellious ways and had refused to see Ghazi for what he was. Nadirah trembled at the thought of what her life had become at home and what it would be if she hadn’t found Leah.
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