Polar (Book 1): Polar Night

by Julie Flanders

“Good. We’re on the same page.” Danny paused. “You say you and Maria weren’t fighting all the time. But you knew your relationship wasn’t going anywhere.”

  “Right.”

  “Was there anything specific that made you feel that way? Anything strange going on with Maria, or something she did you didn’t approve of?”

  Nate shook his head. “No, nothing like that. Really we hadn’t been spending that much time together since we went on a trip at Thanksgiving. We got on each other’s nerves that weekend so since then we’ve just drifted apart somewhat.”

  “Where’d you go on this trip?”

  “Prudhoe Bay.”

  Danny raised his eyebrows. “Prudhoe Bay?”

  “Yeah. I know it’s nuts, but Maria loves all that frozen tundra shit. She wanted to go to Deadhorse and the Arctic Circle. He paused and shook his head. “Look, I grew up in Fairbanks so I don’t give a rat’s ass about the tourist stuff. But Maria’s from California, she didn’t come to Alaska until she went to college. She’s never gotten all the Wild Alaska bullshit out of her system, and she’d never been to the far north. So we went up there for the weekend and did the tourist crap.”

  “I take it you didn’t enjoy the trip.”

  “Not really. I froze my ass off and looked at the Arctic Ocean. Went to some supposedly haunted psychiatric hospital and stayed in a crappy hotel. Not my idea of fun. But Maria loved it. She was fairly pissed at me on the way home.”

  Danny nodded. “Have to say I think I’d be in agreement with you. Sounds like hell to me.”

  “It was.”

  “Other than that, you haven’t had any squabbles?”

  “No, nothing. She stayed at my place the night before she disappeared.”

  “Right. And she told you about the photography job?”

  “Yeah. She was excited about it. She loves the Solstice crap, too.”

  “Sounds like she’s an enthusiastic person.”

  “She is. She loves just about everything. It doesn’t take much to get her excited.”

  “I’m getting the feeling you’re not that way.”

  Nate laughed. “I’m not, I admit it. At least not in the winter.”

  Danny leaned back in his chair. “So Maria’s an adventurous type. You think she could have just decided to go off on a trip on her own, something that seemed fun to her?”

  “No. Not without telling people. And she wouldn’t have stood the Solstice people up. I’m telling you, she was thrilled to have that job. Plus, it’s Christmas. Maria loves Christmas and she has a party planned for tomorrow night. She wouldn’t just walk away from that.”

  Danny nodded. “I understand. Tell me, have you ever met a woman named Anna Alexander?”

  Nate looked puzzled at the change in subject. “Anna Alexander?”

  “Yeah. You know her?”

  “I don’t think so. Should I?”

  “There’s no should or shouldn’t. I’m just asking if you do. Does that name ring any bells for you?”

  Nate shook his head. “No. Why?”

  Danny watched him, looking for the obvious signs of deception. There was nothing in Nate’s body language to suggest he was anything but confused.

  “No reason,” Danny said. “Just trying to put some puzzle pieces together.” Danny sat up straight and put his hands on his knees. “You’ve been very helpful. I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me when you’d already been so cooperative with Detective Washington.”

  “I don’t have any reason not to be cooperative. I want to find Maria, too.”

  “I believe you do.” Danny stood up and put his card on the table. “You’ll call us if you think of anything more that might help?”

  Nate stood up and walked Danny and Tessa to the door. “Of course I will.”

  Danny and Tessa headed for the lobby, zipping up their parkas and putting on their gloves as they walked.

  “Will you let me know when you learn anything?” Nate asked. “I’m really worried.”

  “I know you are, Mr. Clancy,” Tessa said. “We hope we’ll have good news for you soon.”

  Chapter 4

  Danny leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on his desk. He drummed his fingers on the metal surface as he turned the cases of Anna Alexander and Maria Treibel over in his mind. He was certain they were connected, but he hadn’t found a damn thing in Anna’s case file to tie her to Maria Treibel. And he and Tessa hadn’t learned anything that gave them a single clue to Maria’s disappearance.

  He glanced around the now empty office. He was the only detective who remained, as everyone else was either out on a case, or gone for the Christmas holiday. He had volunteered to cover the Christmas shifts, figuring it was the least he could do. It wasn’t like he had anyone to spend the holiday with anyway.

  He put his feet back on the floor and ran his hand over the stubble that was well on the way to becoming a beard. He really needed to shave tomorrow. Right now though, he had other things on his mind.

  He had already searched every file he could find on Anna Alexander, but he knew he was still missing something. He wanted to go back to the day or week she disappeared. Back to 2009.

  Danny loved online newspapers, but there was no question their archives were severely lacking. If he wanted to see all that was going on in Fairbanks in December, 2009, he needed the print copies. He looked up at the clock on the wall. 5:00. There was still time to make it to the library.

  A few minutes later, Danny was driving down Cushman Avenue, away from the police department, and towards Cowles Street and the public library. He didn’t have to worry about his eyes adjusting to the sun now, as the sun had set more than two hours ago. Fairbanks was lucky to see four hours of daylight in December.

  Danny pulled into the library parking lot, unsurprised to find it nearly empty. This was hardly a busy time for the library, as most people were busy preparing for Christmas. And most people weren’t digging up ghosts.

  Danny walked inside and headed for the reference desk, where he asked the librarian for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner from December, 2009.

  The librarian was a tall and slender woman with wavy golden hair that fell in a curtain to her shoulders. She had fair, almost translucent skin, and large blue eyes. Danny couldn’t help but think that her eyes looked as tired as he felt. He noticed a nametag on her berry-colored sweater. Amanda Fiske.

  “Did you need specific dates?” Amanda asked.

  “I’d like to get the whole month if I can. But I especially want the 21st. Or whatever day was the winter solstice that year. Isn’t it always the 21st or 22nd?”

  Amanda nodded. “I can get you the whole month, just give me a minute.”

  “Thanks.”

  Danny watched as Amanda disappeared into the seemingly limitless back room that all libraries had. He sat down at one of the reading tables near her desk, and picked up a Time magazine someone had left on the table. Browsing through it, he tried to keep his mind from thinking about his own life in December, 2009. He didn’t want to remember the warm living room decorated with red and green bows and garlands. He didn’t want to remember the smells of cinnamon and chocolate and apple cider. He didn’t want to remember the sound of Caroline’s laughter as she tripped over the pile of gifts on the floor and almost knocked over their Christmas tree. He didn’t want to remember anything at all.

  Chapter 5

  Amanda walked into the newspaper storage room and quickly found the 2009 editions. She pulled out the December papers, noticing her hand shaking as she did so. She stepped back from the shelf of papers, and took a deep breath. She had to calm down.

  She told herself that she was probably making something out of nothing. There could be any number of reasons why a police detective would want to go through newspapers from three years earlier. She wished she hadn’t even noticed the badge on his belt. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have thought twice about his request. People looked at old newspapers all the time. But she had s
een the news coverage about another woman who had gone missing…

  Amanda ran her fingers over the cross around her neck and admonished herself. She was acting ridiculous. When was she going to let this go? At some point, she had to put the incident in the past, and leave it there.

  She clutched the cross again for good measure, picked up the stack of papers, and carried them out to Danny.

  “Here you go,” she said as she put the stack on the table Danny now occupied. “It’s the whole month of December, but I put the week of the Solstice on top.”

  “Thanks,” Danny said. “I appreciate it. How late are you open?”

  “Until 7.”

  “Great. Gives me plenty of time.”

  Amanda nodded. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

  Danny watched as she returned to her desk and couldn’t help but think that she seemed nervous and twitchy. Probably just his imagination. Or maybe she had noticed his badge. He knew by now that cops made a lot of people nervous.

  He sighed and pushed a clump of hair out of his eyes. Damned if he didn’t need a hair cut again. Hadn’t he just been to the barber shop? He wondered why some men were so paranoid about going bald. He had enough hair for ten men and it drove him nuts.

  Because this wasn’t the time to bitch about his hair, he forced himself to focus on the newspapers in front of him. He started with Sunday’s paper and skimmed through each day of the week. There were lots of stories about the winter solstice event and listings of holiday closings. In addition, there were several articles about a fight over the display of a Nativity scene outside of the county administration office and Danny was fairly certain he had read about this fight in the current week’s news too. Apparently it was ongoing.

  He continued through the pages, not finding anything he was looking for. But then, he didn’t exactly know what he was looking for. Just…something. He was sure he’d know it when he saw it.

  He stopped when he came to an article about the disappearance of a young woman named Anna Alexander. He recognized the photo of the smiling Anna very well. But except for the day of her disappearance, he didn’t see anything that connected her to Maria Treibel. As he stared at the photo, he noticed someone standing over his shoulder. Startled, he jumped in his chair.

  “Oh, I’m sorry!” Amanda said. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  Danny rubbed his eyes. “It’s okay. I guess I’m a little jumpy.”

  “I’m sorry,” Amanda said again.

  Danny turned to face her. Talk about jumpy. Amanda’s eyes darted back and forth, and she had the demeanor of a frightened rabbit. Her hands twitched as she clutched the silver cross on her necklace. Danny resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He didn’t have much patience for religious nuts.

  “It’s really okay,” he said again.

  “Did you find what you were looking for?”

  “Not really. But then I don’t actually know what I’m looking for, anyway.”

  “Can I help?”

  Danny shook his head. “No, I need to figure this out on my own. But thank you.”

  “If you need any other papers…”

  Danny stood up from his chair before she could complete her sentence. “No, really, I’ve looked at everything I wanted to here. I’ll get out of your hair. Maybe you can close early and go get ready for Christmas.”

  Amanda smiled. “I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

  “I guess not. But at least you don’t have too much longer to work.” Danny smiled. “Have a Merry Christmas.”

  “Thanks, you too.”

  Danny nodded and walked towards the exit. “Thanks for your help.”

  Amanda sat down in the chair he had just vacated, her hand still clutching her cross necklace. She looked down at the papers on the table, and stared at the photo of Anna Alexander smiling up at her.

  She hadn’t been making something out of nothing. She had been right. Now, she just had to decide what to do.

  Chapter 6

  Maria opened her eyes, groaned, and immediately shut them again. Unfortunately, closed eyes did nothing to stop the throbbing in her head. She wished she could return to unconsciousness.

  She waited a few moments, or maybe it was hours. Her sense of time had disappeared along with her freedom. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious, or for that matter, how long it had been since the psychopath upstairs had captured her.

  Her muscles tensed at the mere thought of him. Maria wondered what kind of drug he had given her to knock her out, and make her so disoriented she hadn’t even been able to put up a fight against him. She had felt frozen in place as he dashed around the room at speeds that couldn’t possibly have been real. She began to wonder if her encounter with him had been real at all. Had she been given some kind of hallucinogen?

  Maria suddenly realized that something about the room was different than it had been the first time she had woken up on this dirt floor. It wasn’t dark.

  Ignoring her pounding head, she pushed herself into a sitting position, her arms barely holding her weight. She leaned back against the wall, and forced her eyes to focus. She wasn’t imagining the light.

  It was clear that the blond man had returned while Maria was unconscious. He had left a lantern on the floor, next to a plate of bread and a glass of water. Maria’s memories of her earlier encounter with him came flooding back. She knew it had been real, and that certainty chilled her to the core.

  The lantern in the room now was tiny and its light paled in comparison to the huge lantern the blond had carried with him. The lantern lit only its own small area, causing shadows to dance on the wall behind it. The rest of the room was still pitch dark.

  It dawned on Maria that she had no way of knowing what, or who, else was now in the room with her. For all she knew, she wasn’t alone.

  Maria steadied herself and slid along the wall to the lantern. She picked it up in her shaking hand, and shone the light across the room. She jumped when she saw something there.

  Forcing herself to hold the lantern steady, Maria tried to make out what that something was. It looked like a ceramic vase, or a jar. Puzzled, Maria shifted the light closer to the vase. A wave of humiliation washed over her as she realized what the jar was. It was an old-fashioned chamber pot.

  She put the lantern down as tears seeped from the corner of her eyes. Just how long did this psycho plan to keep her in this room? She glanced over at the water and bread, wondering if he had put more drugs into either of them. She knew she shouldn’t touch anything he provided for her.

  But she also knew that she couldn’t deny the hunger pangs in her stomach. Or the pain of her parched, aching throat. And, she knew she was probably close to being dehydrated. If she ever wanted to be able to fight this son of a bitch, she had to get some nourishment.

  Intent on making sure she didn’t spill a drop of the water, she picked up the glass with both hands, and brought it to her cracked lips. She took a sip and immediately cringed at the increased pain in her throat. She wouldn’t have believed that the simple act of swallowing could be so painful. The tears returned to her eyes, but she forced herself to take another sip. Eventually, the swallowing got easier.

  When she was fairly sure she could manage it, Maria grabbed a slice of the bread. She took a small bite and felt immediate relief when she could swallow it. It was just plain white bread, but it was thick and it had substance. She finished the first piece, took a few more drinks of water, and grabbed the second slice of bread.

  Maria took a deep breath when she finished eating and slid down the wall again, away from the water and the lantern. She was dying to finish the glass of water, but because she had no idea when she would get more, she wanted to save some for later. She needed to pace herself.

  Ignoring the humiliating chamber pot across the room, she focused her attention on what her next move could be. Obviously, she couldn’t do much of anything until the psycho came back. But when he did, she wanted to be ready.
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  While her head still throbbed and her face ached from the pain of being thrown on the unforgiving dirt floor, she felt more human now that she had been able to drink and eat. She felt more alive. She had every intention of staying that way.

  Maria tried to motivate herself by thinking of difficult situations she had faced in the past. But nothing seemed to come to mind. At least, nothing that could possibly compare to this. What had she faced? A difficult course in college? Unemployment? It all seemed remote and silly now that she found herself alone in this dark, cold hole in the ground.

  Regardless, this was what she had to face, and she would. She wrapped her arms around her knees and hugged her legs to her chest. Whenever that psycho outside returned, she told herself, she would be ready for him. She wished she could make herself believe it.

  Chapter 7

  Aleksei lay in the center of his king-sized bed and dreamed of blood. He clutched at the thick black bedspread and recoiled from the sounds of gunfire in the distance. The gunfire came closer now, and was accompanied by screaming.

  Men screaming for their mothers, for their wives, for God. Ear-piercing screams of unrelenting agony. He tried to block out the yelling, but it was impossible. The screams were so shrill they echoed through his skull, causing him to cover his ears with his frozen hands and beg for silence.

  The hunger was even worse. Pangs of hunger threatened to take over his whole being. And the cold. Icy, bitter cold covered his body and left him shaking from head to toe. He longed for a real coat and gloves that were more than tatters on his fingers.

  He couldn’t have that, but he had her. She was there, next to him, her hand brushing his blond hair from his forehead. He was sure she was an angel.

  Aleksei opened his eyes with a start and sat straight in bed. He cursed at the bedspread crumpled in his hands. He had never intended to rest now. He had work to do.

  He got out of bed and quickly re-arranged his bedding and pillows. He hated an unkempt bed. He ran a brush through his hair, and straightened his black sweater and pants. He didn’t need a mirror to know that he looked perfect. He always did. Satisfied that his bedroom was back to being presentable, he left the room and headed for his kitchen.