Why do I keep noticing her lips? Leo mentally kicked himself and began to pray. Now is not the time. Lord, please help me to stay focused. I know Ellen thinks she’s fine, but she has lived through so much trauma, and I’m not sure how to help her. As a friend. Only a friend.
Jamie would never forgive him if he even entertained a thought of anything more.
Suddenly, Ellen gasped and pulled the horse to a halt. She snapped her attention toward him, hair twisting around her face at the force of the movement. “Leo! Do you still have that list of homes that reported break-ins? Or could you convince my brother to send it to you?”
“I do have it. I was reading through all the reports last night. Why?”
She raised one of her hands skyward. “I know you said the reports of the break-ins were inconclusive and that no one has made a connection yet, but some of these happened last season, right? So we can presume that some of the owners eventually came back to their cottages, depending on the timing of each robbery.”
He nodded, not entirely certain where she was going with this.
“Some of those cottage owners had to have discovered what was missing, even if it was months and months later. And they probably wouldn’t have bothered to report anything, because they’d already had their insurance payout, or it seemed like a hassle, or who knows. It could be any other reason. But I can’t believe that no one has figured out what the thieves took. That literally makes no sense.”
“Okay, but what can we do about that? If they didn’t report it, how does that help us?”
Ellen smiled, suddenly beaming, and Leo felt the reins slip from between his fingers in surprise. He hadn’t seen a proper smile on her since...he couldn’t remember since when. He scrambled to re-grip the reins and keep himself upright on the horse as she laughed softly.
“I’ll ask them. I’ll phone the cottage owners and ask them up front. If they don’t want to tell me, that’s fine, but why wouldn’t they? I’m sure they’ll understand when we explain the reason for asking.”
“That is a good idea.” He thought for a moment about the logistics. “But I’m not sure we can do that at the station unless the staff sergeant and Jamie have worked things out. And I’m going to be honest, I’m not sure Clyne will be thrilled with us making those calls from the station even if Jamie is back on the case. We’ll need to go somewhere secure since we don’t know who’s behind the thefts. Being in a public place could work to our disadvantage. We don’t want the wrong people overhearing the kinds of questions we’re asking. That said, I also don’t want to take you anywhere too isolated, just in case.”
Her smile began to slip, and Leo felt his own hopes deflate at the same time. Why did this woman’s moods have such an impact on him? But as he watched her, an idea began to form.
He had the perfect safe place to take her where she’d be surrounded by RCMP officers—protected but given the space needed to make the phone calls. And it wasn’t far from their present location and, as far as he knew, on the trail route, so they wouldn’t have to wander into potentially dangerous territory.
He reached across the gap between them and touched her arm. She looked at his hand and then up at him, lips parted.
For a moment, he forgot what he was going to say.
“What?” she asked, and it came back to him.
“I have an idea.” He grinned at her. “How do you feel about attending a bachelor party?”
* * *
For the second time that day, Ellen followed Leo along the back trails around Schroeder Lake. He took the journey at a decent clip, careful not to exhaust the horses but also clearly aware of the time they’d already spent traveling that day. As they rode, he phoned ahead to the community center that his brothers had rented out for Sam’s bachelor party and let them know that he and Ellen were on their way.
Ellen tried to focus on coming up with a clear and concise script for the phone calls to the cottage owners, but she found it difficult to stay on task. The reality of the past eighteen hours or so had begun to sink in, and her brain kept trying to dredge up the memory of Rod’s final moments, intermingling them with sensory details of her mother’s passing. The farther they rode, the more shallow her breathing became, and her head started to pound with a rhythm that brought dark edges to the corners of her vision.
She tried to shove it aside, to lock the memories back in place, but the assault just kept coming, fast and furious and merciless—until suddenly she felt Leo’s fingers wrap around her forearm, strong pressure squeezing to remind her of the present.
“Ellen. Ellen.”
She looked at him. His features were marked with worry.
“Are you all right? We’re here. I’ve been trying to talk to you for the past minute or so. Where did you go? Do we need to head back to town or call a doctor?”
She shook her head, feeling the tickle of her hair on her neck. The tightness of Leo’s grip. The blood pounding inside her chest. The darkness around her vision backed off, and she inhaled through her nose, filling her lungs with air. “I’m fine. Let’s go inside.”
Leo pressed his lips together and regarded her with mild disbelief. “You don’t have to pretend with me, you know. We’ve known each other for a long time. If you need help, just say the word and I’ll make it happen.”
She nodded, knowing he spoke the truth, that he meant well—but the memories were her own battle to fight. He couldn’t help her with that. No one could. Jamie had suggested several times that she talk to someone about her “moments,” as he called them, but what good would that do? She’d just end up reliving her teenage years even more vividly by speaking details about her parents’ deaths aloud. How could that possibly be a good thing?
“Let’s go inside,” she said with a little more force. “We need to start making these calls.”
Leo released her arm, and to her surprise, it was as though a tiny void inside of her had opened up that she hadn’t even known existed—and hadn’t known could be filled—until he’d broken the connection. She thought she saw disappointment register in his eyes, too, but there was no time to dwell on that and no reason to do so. She didn’t need a second big brother trying to check up on her at every turn; she had enough anxiety trying to manage Jamie’s worries and occasionally obsessive concerns for her well-being.
They tied the horses up at the edge of the property inside a shed that had been transformed into a temporary stay for horses, bicycles, boats or whatever mode of transportation each group using the community center needed to house. Ellen was glad to see that Leo’s brothers had pulled any potentially dangerous items out of the shed and left water and a few apples and carrots inside for the horses.
Once they were certain the animals would be all right on their own for a little while, they headed into the community center. A man Ellen didn’t recognize opened the door and invited them inside. There were six men seated on couches and lounge chairs in a large meeting room, with food and drinks arranged around the periphery. A giant projector screen hung against the wall, and most of the men had game controllers in their hands.
“Leo! Ellen! Come on in.” Sam bounced up from a couch and hurried over. “Have something to eat, help yourselves to soda or tea or whatever you want, please. There’s a landline phone in the next room if you want to use that, or maybe you were going to use a cell? But if you want some peace and quiet while you make calls, you’d better go in there. We’re playing NHL 95, the best hockey video game ever made. Wish you were here to play with us.”
As Sam spoke, Ellen watched a sadness creep into the edges of Leo’s expression, though he was trying very hard not to show it. A wave of guilt threatened to send her to her knees. This man was missing his brother’s pre-wedding celebrations to play babysitter to her.
Why hadn’t she just gone back to the police station? Why hadn’t she left the entire investigation in the hands of the
local RCMP? Yes, it had been a good idea to look around the Fosters’ house, since that immediate examination of the crime scene by someone who’d just been there hadn’t been an option after the other thefts, and Jamie had admitted it was helpful but...after hitting a dead end, maybe she should have let it be.
“Thanks,” Leo said, clapping his brother on the back, “but the best was actually NHL 94, though since this is your bachelor party, I’ll let it slide. And I wish I was here playing, too, but hey, it’s the job.”
Sam glanced at Ellen and back at Leo. “Yeah, I get it.” He winked at his older brother, who looked startled at the gesture.
“It’s not like that,” Leo muttered, but Sam had already punched Leo in the shoulder and walked away.
Ellen’s insides squeezed like a wrung-out sponge. “What does he mean? Not like what?”
Leo’s sideways glance contained a hint of shyness that she couldn’t recall seeing in him before. It was oddly heartwarming. “Don’t worry about it. Let’s get you situated and start making those calls.”
The guilt pushed back to the surface. “Leo, about everything you’re doing—”
“If you’re going to apologize for my volunteering to become a part of this, don’t. It was my decision, and if you want to discuss it further, we can do so after we’ve phoned around and learned something. You get started on the list, and I’m going to call Jamie and update him on where we are and what we’re doing, since he’s probably wondering why my GPS veered off course—oh, yep, two missed calls in the last five minutes. Hopefully the staff sergeant has cooled off a bit more and they’ve been able to have a reasonable discussion.”
Ellen entered the side room, a small office space with a desk, several metal chairs and a phone. The room felt dark due to the cloud cover outside moving in and blocking much of the natural lighting, but she didn’t mind. She’d never been a fan of turning on lights during the daytime—it had always seemed like a waste of electricity. After getting off the phone with Jamie, Leo brought the list up on his screen and set it down in front of her.
“Want me to take notes?” He opened several of the desk drawers and pulled out a stack of old event flyers for a bonfire that had been held at the community center three years prior. “Just so you’re aware, Jamie is on board with having help from Fort Mason RCMP officers on this case—yours truly, and any of the other guys in here for that matter—so that’s not going to get him into trouble. I’m sure you’re well aware of how my town and yours share police resources on occasion, anyway. And it sounds like he and the staff sergeant are patching things up. Trucco, on the other hand, is still pretty furious, but that’s not our problem right now. You focus on speaking to the cottage owners, and I’ll write the information down. We can use speakerphone if that’s easier.”
Once he’d located a pen, they sat, and Ellen dialed the first number—but her fingers trembled as she hit each button. She fought to hold her hand steady and hoped Leo didn’t notice. For some reason, her nerves had begun to flare and she was having a hard time deciding whether it had to do with the possibility of finding a lead in the next few minutes, or if it was caused by Leo’s knee bumping against hers as they sat close together in front of the desk. Maybe it was both. Maybe it was neither.
She took a deep, grounding breath and made the first call. No one was home. During the second call, she spoke to the owner’s daughter, who suggested Ellen call back after five o’clock. The third number, however, resulted in useful information. When the owners had returned to the area for their vacation last year, they’d discovered that a piece of artwork—which they’d purchased from a local charity auction—had gone missing. The piece was valued at around twelve thousand dollars.
Local artwork, really? As Ellen replaced the phone on the cradle, she couldn’t help wondering if making the calls was an exercise in futility. The staff sergeant would do all of this sooner or later, so why waste energy on it? She punched the buttons on the phone for the fourth number with extra, and unnecessary, force.
“Ellen?”
She felt Leo’s eyes bore into her.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m not sure,” she muttered. Someone picked up at the other end of the line as a heavy cloud passed over the community center, shrouding them in even deeper darkness. “Hello, may I speak to—”
The phone went dead. She pulled back and stared at it.
“What’s wrong?” Leo sat upright. They heard shouts of disappointment coming from the large room where the men were enjoying their party. He opened the door to a dark room, since the men had pulled the shades across the windows in order to see the projector screen better—but the screen had gone blank. Leo’s older brother, Aaron, was standing up, trying the light switches.
“Power’s out. We probably blew a fuse,” Aaron said. “I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner. This is kind of an old building.”
Ellen hung up the phone. “I thought we got cut off, but maybe it’s the outage. I’ll—”
The window shattered as a bang echoed through the room. A thud against the far wall caught Ellen’s attention and she gasped.
A bullet sat embedded in the drywall.
The thieves had found her, and they were out for blood.
SEVEN
Ellen dove to the floor. She felt Leo’s arms wrap around her back, propel her to her knees and lead her out of the small room as shouts came from the main hall. More bangs sounded in rapid succession, and the crackle of breaking glass filled the air.
Everyone dropped to the floor.
“Is someone shooting at us?” one of the men shouted, but the space had become so frenetic with people pushing furniture against the doors and windows that she couldn’t tell who.
“It’s got to be the men who went after Ellen,” Leo called into the room. His grip on her tightened, keeping her from falling flat on her face. Her legs had grown wobbly, and the trembling in her hands had increased to a full shake. “They don’t want you guys—they want us.”
Ellen felt the zip of hot lead past her arm and shrieked in surprise. Were these people shooting blindly into the building? Did they really want her out of the picture that badly?
“Is there a back entrance?” Leo shouted, pulling her closer to him and behind an overturned couch. It only provided cover from a few windows, though—even with the blinds pulled down, someone shooting blindly through any of the numerous windows around the common area could hit a bystander with a stray bullet.
“You can’t leave!” Sam shouted back. “Are you crazy?”
“I’m the most levelheaded person in our family,” Leo growled. “Trust me. I have a plan.”
“Get to the basement!” Aaron called. He flipped one of the tables on its side and ducked behind it. “I’ve already called the police and they’re on the way.”
“What are you guys going to do? Shouldn’t we all go down there?”
Aaron pointed at Sam and directed him with gestures to make his way to one of the windows. “Fine. Anyone who wants to get to the basement, go. Sam and I will stay here in case a perp tries to enter the building so we can meet them hand-to-hand.” None of the other men moved, so Aaron began directing traffic. The men grabbed whatever they could—unbroken lamps, the mugs they’d been drinking out of, food trays—to use as weapons, each crouching next to a window in preparation for an assault.
Ellen felt like she might vomit.
Then Leo’s face entered Ellen’s full field of vision, stern intent written all over it. “Ellen. We need to cross the room and get down into the basement. We’ll stay there until the cops arrive. Are you with me?”
She stared at him, uncomprehending. He wanted them to hide while his brothers and friends risked their lives?
“We’re going on three,” he said when she didn’t respond. “See that door with the exit sign overhead? There’s going to be a stairwell
on the other side, and we’re going down it.”
His words hardly registered before he began to count down.
“Three...two...one...let’s go!” He gripped her hand and pulled her across the room as another round of gunfire blasted through the facility. Leo slammed his fist into the door’s crossbar and pulled them through, then down a short flight of stairs to a landing that led to a second flight, which curved back into the basement. But on that landing was something else: a back door.
Leo paused in front of the door. “The windows are on all the other sides of the building. We might be able to get out this way.”
Ellen stared at him, incredulous. “Are you serious? You want to go out there? What happened to hiding in the basement?”
They both flinched at the sound of another window shattering.
“There are still windows in the basement, just those really small rectangular ones. And I don’t know what we’ll find—there might be tons of cover, or it might be open season on us for anyone who peers inside.” Leo placed his hand on the crash bar of the exit. “I’m thinking we book it to the trees.”
“What about the horses?” Ellen bit her lip, thinking. “It’d take time to untie them.”
“Exactly. But behind this door—”
“Is the lake.” Ellen gasped. “Leo, I have an idea. But we’ll have to be fast, and it might be dangerous.”
“More dangerous than getting shot to pieces inside a community center?” He searched her face, and warmth flooded her cheeks. “I’m out of ideas, Biers. If you’ve got one, lead the way.”
She pressed hesitantly against the crash bar, but as soon as Leo saw what she was doing, he stepped up and took over. He opened the door a crack and peered out. When no bullets slammed into the door, he widened the crack. Ellen heard men shouting nearby, calling for the people inside the community center to just give up “the lady” and they’d go away.
“I don’t see anyone,” Leo said. “We’re about fifteen meters from the dock, and about forty from a second dock where I see a boat. What’s the next step in your plan?”
Accidental Eyewitness Page 7
