She walked back down the dock toward shore and started up the path that wound upward through bushes and pine trees to the cottage. She was out of milk and fresh fruit and had taken the last loaf of bread from the small freezer. She’d have peanut butter toast and tea with powdered milk for lunch. Leah had to come soon. She’d know how little food was left and wouldn’t let it go on too long. She must be having trouble getting away.
The sound of tires on gravel greeted Nadirah as she reached the deck jutting out over the cliff at the top of the hill. Her heart jumped happily at the thought of Leah’s arrival, and she ran lightly across the deck and through the sliding glass door into the cottage to meet her at the front door. The front door looked out toward the parking area and the rutted track that passed by the property. She pictured the purple coneflower, Queen Anne’s lace, and buttercups that grew in profusion amidst the raspberry bushes and cedar just outside the door. Leah had been right about the cottage being secluded and free from passersby. It was a safe haven, but Nadirah had never quite gotten used to being so alone. She could now admit that she’d been worried about Leah leaving her there much longer.
She flung open the door and raised a hand in greeting. Horror filled her like a douse of ice water. She barely had time to realize her mistake before Ghazi had shut off the engine and stepped outside the car. Her mother’s face turned to glare at her through the front passenger window.
“Hello, Nadirah,” he said. “We’ve come to put you out of your misery.”
Kala kept her speed just above the limit, the two girls wedged between her and Wolf. The sisters barely spoke in the back seat the entire time. Wolf sat stone-faced, watching out the passenger window.
Kala looked across at him. “You been to this cottage?”
“Leah had parties at her cottage in high school and I went to a couple. Her parents moved to Montreal after she left home for university and only kept the cottage because Leah planned to use it more when school was finished. She loved the place.” He pointed to a sign. “Take that exit. The road to the cottage is five minutes from here.”
She’d ignored her ringing phone, concentrating on her driving. When she got the chance, she’d check in with work before the last leg of the trip. Very likely it was Vera or Rouleau trying to reach her. She took the exit and spotted a gas station and country diner.
She looked at the girls. “Anyone need to use the washroom?” she asked.
“Yes,” Dalal said.
“I’ll take them in and will get them a drink,” Wolf said.
“Great. I’ll get some gas and will check in at work,” Kala said. “See you back here in ten minutes.”
She watched the three of them cross the parking lot and enter the restaurant while she filled the tank. When she finished, she pulled into a parking spot next to the main entrance.
Gundersund had called a couple of times. Rouleau’s number popped up last. She returned his call first. “Hello, sir. How’s your dad?”
“Out of surgery and doing well. Where are you?”
“At the truck stop at the 659 exit west of Brockville and about to take the back roads to the Sampson cottage on Charleston Lake. Wolf is with me and knows the way. I should also tell you that I have Nadirah Shahan’s two younger sisters with me. They ran away from home and it seemed safer to keep them with me.”
She was relieved when Rouleau didn’t get upset with her. She knew bringing them along wasn’t the best move. After a brief silence, he asked, “How old?”
“Dalal looks to be about thirteen and Meeza’s around eleven. The parents were giving Meeza away to some man this weekend. That’s why they ran away as far as I can tell.”
“We’ve had a slight hiccup at our end. Mr. Shahan is at the station but his wife and son Ghazi are nowhere to be found.”
“Is there any way they could have found Nadirah? I’m making the assumption that Wolf is right about Leah bringing her to this cottage. It makes sense though. Leah was secretive and leaving the office for meetings, which Nadirah’s sister now says were with Nadirah at the Sunshine Bakery. Leah disappeared for a day and everybody thought she was having it off with a married man. It could have been the day she brought Nadirah to the cottage. I still haven’t figured out how Ghazi made the connection between Leah and Nadirah though.”
“He might have followed his sister to the bakery. He would have recognized Leah from the psychology class. Dalal tells me that he was forever following them around and spying on them.”
“Makes sense.”
“We have no way of knowing what else Ghazi has figured out. Gail Pankhurst kept details about everyone on her laptop. She might have known about Leah’s hometown and cottage. You have to be extremely cautious since he could be headed the same place you are. I’d prefer you wait for Gundersund. He’s on his way.”
“How far back?”
“About half an hour.”
“If Ghazi has figured out that Nadirah is at this cottage, she could be in real danger. I’m convinced that he killed Leah and put Gail into a coma trying to find out where she was hiding out. I can’t wait around here for Gundersund.”
“Do you have your firearm?”
“No. There wasn’t time.”
“I don’t want you taking the civilians to the cottage. Can you get there without Wolf?”
“It would be quicker with him, but I’ll get Wolf to draw a map. He says we’re about fifteen minutes away.”
“Good. I’ll have Gundersund stop at the gas station to get directions from Wolf as well. I’ll also put a call in to the local police, but I doubt they’ll get there in time even if they take this seriously. We don’t even know if she’s at this cottage. Be careful, Kala. You have no idea what you’re walking in on.”
“I will be, sir.”
“I’d like to see you back here in one piece.”
“That’s my plan.”
Wolf wasn’t kidding about the cottage being hard to find. Kala passed the track twice before she spotted a carved board with the word “Sampsons” nailed to a tree stump set in an overgrown thicket of raspberry bushes. She wondered if Ghazi could really have found this location on his own. She doubted it and for the moment felt optimistic that Nadirah was safe if she was holed up here.
She would have enjoyed this drive into the woods if she hadn’t been so worried about Nadirah. Oak and cedar trees were interspersed with pine and balsam trees. Sunlight streamed through openings in the green canopy with glimpses of a satin blue sky. The smell of vegetation and rich earth assailed her through the open window. This would be a lovely spot as the leaves changed colour over the next few weeks. Maybe she’d make a return trip to the lake when life calmed down.
The truck jostled along the track and Kala bounced up and down like a bed spring for about a kilometre before a grassy opening appeared on her right. The opening disappeared around a bend and up a hill. Just past the cedar trees, gravel covered the ground, giving traction for cars as they drove up the hill. Wolf had said that she could park at the top of the hill in front of the cottage, but the stones would make a crunchy entrance if she kept going in her truck. Instead, she pulled over and parked in full view of the road. Gundersund would see her truck as he searched for the turn-off and he’d know she was here.
As she climbed the hill, she saw evidence of a vehicle having disturbed the gravel recently. The driver had taken the hill at a high speed, spinning gravel and dirt.
Kala began to have a very bad feeling.
Keeping to the trees along the north side, she walked up the hill and slowed as she reached the crest. The cottage was directly ahead: a rustic one-storey with stained white siding out of the seventies. In Northern Ontario it would have fit in nicely as a camp, not one of the pretentious summer getaways people owned in the south. At the same time as she took in the details of the structure, she processed the four-door black Sentra parked near the front door and facing downhill. Any hope that Nadirah was here alone vanished.
Kala checked
for signs of life before walking over and resting her hand on the hood. The engine was hot. They hadn’t arrived long before her.
She scooted around to the side of the cottage and circled down the incline until she was beneath the large deck that jutted out over the cliff. Standing still amongst the beams, she strained for sounds of people above. All was silent except for a bumblebee busily extracting nectar from a bed of clover off to her left and a cardinal holding court from one of the pines further down the hill. His call was a low whistle repeated over and over, haunting and melodic.
Where could they be?
She moved silently to the steps and stood in their shadow under the deck. All of her senses were on high alert as she scanned the woods and listened for voices in the cottage. Hearing nothing, she climbed the steps and quickly crossed the deck to stand near the wall. The windows were open and she checked the living room and kitchen, but the rooms were empty. Easing open the sliding glass door, she slipped inside.
The interior matched the exterior. In the living room, wood panelling lined the walls. Reading lamps were spaced strategically next to an old plaid couch and well-worn chairs. Bookcases filled with paperbacks, tasselled throw rugs, and an old television with a VCR. A book on local birds lay open and face down on the coffee table. The cottage smelled musty and damp with the peaty aftertaste of a portable toilet. She ducked into the kitchen and saw a coffee cup resting on the drain board. The fridge and stove were ancient. An old yellow table filled most of the room with mismatched wooden chairs. Wide windows looked out over the woods and lake. It was a rustic getaway perched high above the water with a stunning view. She bet the sunsets were spectacular.
She kept going down the short hall and counted three bedrooms, with bunks in two. The last room had a double bed. The sheets and blanket were pulled back. A woman’s toiletries filled the bedside table. Kala checked the chest of drawers and found her clothes neatly folded. Her wallet on the dresser confirmed her identity. Nadirah hadn’t brought much.
Kala walked back to the sliding door and looked down toward the water. She took one step onto the deck when a scream pierced the silence like a gunshot. One scream and then nothing, but it had been enough for Kala to locate Nadirah and her brother somewhere down at the lake.
She raced across the deck and down the stairs, not caring that the wood creaked under her feet and her steps pounded like hammers. She picked up speed as she ran down the steep path leading to the dock, her arms stretched in front in case she fell. At the bottom of the hill the lake spread out like a gigantic glittering jewel. The land tapered into a rocky flat stretch with the dock at its tip. This bit of the lake was a bay cradled by stretches of thick forest on either side.
Kala stopped and lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the sun. She searched for Nadirah and Ghazi the length of the dock and land in both directions, but they were nowhere to be seen.
Frustration filled her. Nadirah was running out of time, and Kala felt helpless. She started back up the trail, head down, eyes frantically looking for signs in the earth. Steps from the rock landing, she spotted a foot path through the underbrush that she’d missed on her flight down. She squatted and traced an index finger above scuffled footprints. A handful of torn leaves lay scattered on the path. She glanced up. Branches on leafy bushes were bent as if someone had grabbed onto them to stop from being pulled forward.
Kala straightened and thought for a second. She broke a branch on one of the younger trees at the entrance and took out her earring, dangling it from the end that pointed down the path. It wasn’t much, but all she had that would mark the way for her partner.
She took off down the narrow trail, avoiding tree roots and branches that stretched across the opening. The air was pea green and lush with foliage and composting vegetation. She felt like she was running through a tunnel of trees and brush with the sun blotted out overhead. A few minutes in, she reached an opening with the blue sky and lake spread before her. She slowed to stay hidden in the trees while she checked out the beach.
Directly ahead, a woman dressed head to toe in a black burka stood framed against the blue horizon. Her back was toward Kala and she was looking out at the lake, her arms flapping up and down as she yelled into the wind. Kala moved a step to look past her and for a split second could not believe what she was seeing. A young man who had to be Ghazi was holding a woman’s head under the thigh-high water while her arms flailed and pounded at him, trying to break his hold. Ghazi was laughing, wide-mouthed, toward his mother sitting on the shore. He let Nadirah’s head out of the water for half a second and she sputtered water and tried to inhale before he thrust her back under.
It was a sight so grotesque and unthinkable that Kala stood stunned, but only for a moment. Her horror was followed by a rage so intense that it burned through her like wildfire. She kicked out of her shoes and dropped her cellphone as she ran full tilt toward the lake.
The woman in black provided Kala some cover until she got closer. Kala lunged past her before the woman could react and barrelled into the water directly at Ghazi. The woman’s screams increased in volume as she warned her son. As Kala rushed into the lake, part of her registered that Nadirah had stopped struggling, but she couldn’t stop to think what that meant.
Ghazi’s face transformed from gleeful to shocked as he realized what was happening. Kala was on him before he released his hold on Nadirah. She punched him hard between the eyes, hearing the bone in his nose crack. Blood streamed down his face and he grabbed his nose with both hands and screamed in pain. He punched blindly toward Kala’s face. One punch made contact with the side of her head and Kala momentarily saw stars. She regained her balance and attacked again, this time thrusting her knee as hard as she could between his legs and punching him in the stomach with her balled up fist. The impact sent him backwards with another shriek of pain. He hit the water with a splash, incapacitated for the time being. The screaming from shore intensified.
Kala turned to search for Nadirah. Fear surged through her at the sight of the girl lying on her stomach, her body bobbing gently in the waves that lapped against her. Kala reached her quickly through the knee-deep water and flipped her onto her back, pulling her under her armpits toward shore. They reached the edge of the water and Kala turned Nadirah onto her side, checking her mouth for obstructions. She rolled her over and onto her back and began performing CPR.
The mother waded out to Ghazi, screeching venom while Kala breathed air in and out of Nadirah’s mouth, praying that she wasn’t too late. She was aware of the frenetic movements of Ghazi and his mother nearby, but she kept up the CPR. Ghazi had almost reached her when a stream of water spurted out of Nadirah’s mouth. She coughed and gasped in air. Kala rolled the girl onto her side, then stood ready to defend herself from the two bearing down on her. They were a frightening sight. The woman was screeching through the veil that covered her face and pounding the air with a fist. Ghazi was covered in scarlet blood streaming from his broken nose. His hands were raised in fists and his eyes were already turning black and blue and bulging with anger.
Kala spread her feet wider. She raised her arms and squeezed her hands into fists. She mentally prepared to withstand a blow. Ghazi came at her like a charging bull, thrusting himself at her and catching her around the waist in a head butt. She was flung backwards into the water, winded by the impact and struggling to breathe. She kicked at him as he scrambled to leap on her and caught him under the chin. His head snapped back but he only took a second to come at her again. Kala got into a sitting position and pushed herself back but not in time. Ghazi flung himself at her and weighted her down, pushing her face under the water.
Kala flailed like Nadirah had done before her but Ghazi was too strong. She tried to gain traction to shove him off balance. Nothing worked and she let herself go limp, willing him to loosen his grip. Darkness and shooting lights filled her brain as she began to black out.
Chapter Forty-Three
Gundersund took exit 659 towa
rd Charleston Lake and searched ahead for the gas station and family restaurant that Rouleau had assured him were in plain sight. He’d made record time down Highway 417 once he left the city limits, sticking to the fast lane and managing to avoid being pulled over. Stonechild couldn’t be that far ahead unless she’d broken the sound barrier.
He spotted Wolf alone in the parking lot, pacing back and forth like a man waiting on his wife to deliver a baby. Gundersund drew alongside and Wolf jumped into the passenger seat without waiting for an invitation.
“Let’s go,” Wolf said, slamming the door. His hair was wild and his beard scraggy. Not a look that brokered confidence. He shifted sideways and looked hard at Gundersund as if sensing his reluctance. “I didn’t like letting your partner go to the cottage alone and have had a bad feeling.”
“Where are the girls?”
“I called a friend, who arrived five minutes ago. Claire will take Dalal and Meeza to her place and we can pick them up when this is over.”
Gundersund wasn’t liking this change in plans. “I can’t take you with me, Wolf. I can’t bring you into a potentially dangerous situation.”
“I know the risks. We can make better time if I’m along to direct you to the cottage.”
The door of the restaurant opened and Gundersund looked over, the ringing of the bell on a chain catching his attention. A pleasant-looking woman in her fifties dressed in pink Lulu Lemon workout gear exited with Meeza and Dalal right behind. Both girls were eating ice cream cones and the younger one was smiling. He watched them cross the parking lot to her SUV and noticed the vanity plate: 4CURLERS. She wouldn’t be hard to track down.
Butterfly Kills Page 24
