“Hey, how are you feeling?”
Skye approached from the kitchen, carrying two mugs. She was wearing old sweatpants, a ratty shirt, and her beanie.
“Better. A million times better,” Edie said, accepting the coffee mug with a faded pineapple and the words “Produce King” on the side. She took a sip and sighed. “God, thank you.”
Skye smiled an easy, happy smile.
“So, where are we exactly?” Edie said. She had a vague memory of driving, of Skye waking her up into complete rural darkness, of a stiff neck and the incredibly loud croaks and chirps of frogs as Skye helped her into the cabin.
“Near Seeley’s Bay. Not quite two hours south of Ottawa.”
Edie looked around. The risen sun had lost its orange pinkness in the short time they’d been talking. Pale yellow light now reached the dark interior of the cabin. It consisted of a small living room, an open kitchen and dining room, and the hallway Edie had traveled earlier with two bedrooms and a small bathroom.
“Your place?”
“A friend’s. It would be difficult, but not impossible, to trace me here.”
Edie searched Skye’s face. Skye took a sip of coffee and seemed to allow Edie to seek out whatever she was trying to find.
“What did I miss while I was out?” Edie said.
Skye hesitated. She sipped her coffee and regarded Edie silently over the brim. Then she indicated with her head that they should sit at the table, which was half covered with a laptop and wires and phones and blinking boxes. Edie pulled back the old-fashioned high-backed chair at the other end and sat.
“Before you answer, I have something I want to say,” Edie said.
“Okay.”
“I know I said I would follow your orders, and I swear I’m going to do my damnest. But I need to be involved in this. I need to know what’s going on. I’m going to lose it if you keep me in the dark.”
Skye sighed and took another sip of coffee. “I know. JC basically told me the same thing. You have to understand this is strange for me.”
“The hanging out in pyjamas together part?” Edie said, wanting Skye to smile. She did, hiding behind her coffee mug as she took another sip. Then she lowered her mug and regarded Edie with serious eyes.
“You’re not a soldier under my command, but I’m going to give you commands. You’re not a client paying for my protection, but I’m here to provide protection. You’re not a colleague or an employee or a…” Skye seemed to reconsider her last words. She stared at Edie, as if daring her to complete the sentence.
“Or a friend,” Edie said softly.
Skye said nothing. She didn’t even move. Discomfort filled the space even as the sun filled the room with brilliant light. Edie’s heart hurt a little.
“JC thinks you are the most likely person to figure out who is after you. I agree. So I promise to do my best to keep you in the loop. I’m just asking…” Skye fidgeted with her coffee mug and looked out over the water for a moment. “I’m not good at this. Undefined roles. I’ll do my best. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“So, we’ve got both Bart and JC looking into Faina Kassis. The OPP are also looking into Russian connections and recent Russian activity, both provincial and federal. I’ve requested satellite images of the park we ran through yesterday, but JC is pretty sure that will be a no-go unless they find something pretty heavy. She’ll be here after lunch to give us an update, so I’d like you and me to spend some time trying to find out who might possibly be after you and why.”
“Yes,” Edie said slowly, picking up every thread Skye was weaving. So many pieces and dead ends and tangles. Too many questions. “I need some paper. I need to write this down.”
“I can start a Google doc,” Skye said, pulling her laptop closer.
“Uh, sure,” Edie said. “Do that. But I need some paper. And a pen. Please.”
Skye stood and left the room, returning moments later with a large pad of paper yellowing at the edges. It seemed to be a pad of paper menus with instructions on how to break down and eat a lobster. Skye ripped off the top piece of paper and flipped it over to the blank side. She also laid down a handful of pens and markers.
“Will this do?”
“Perfect.”
Edie started to write. The first paper was Faina. The second was SunNews. The third was Weird Shit. Skye barked out a short laugh at that title, reading it upside down from her spot across the table.
“Okay, I’m going to start with Faina and write down everything I know or remember. Mind if I talk this out loud?”
“Not at all. Mind if I take notes?”
Edie waved her assent and picked up a pen. This felt like her investigative journalism days. They were short-lived, the field too small and too competitive. Edie wrote and spoke in tandem, only peripherally aware Skye was listening and typing.
“Okay, I met Faina six months ago, about mid-November. It’s probably in my calendar, or I could get an exact date from my physiotherapist if we needed one.”
“I’ll make a note.”
“I bumped into her twice more at the physiotherapist’s office before we made a date to go out for coffee. That would be early December, there were Christmas carols.”
Skye was looking at her.
“What?”
“I just wondered…” Skye swallowed. What had made her so uncomfortable? “I have to ask…JC will ask…”
Edie finally clued in. “No. Not like that. We’ve only ever been friends. I think Faina’s straight.”
Skye nodded and ducked her head as she kept typing. Edie still found her nervousness adorable. She shook her head. No time for that.
“Content. What did we talk about? In the beginning, we talked about our commonalities. Pain and injury. Treatment. What worked and what didn’t.”
“How did Faina get hurt?”
“She was trampled at a religious service when she was four. She still has some spine and shoulder issues since she was never treated properly.” Edie considered what she’d said and what she’d written down. “Allegedly. All of this is completely unverified. It never occurred to me to question it.”
“Don’t worry about that now. Keep going. This is good.”
Edie took the encouragement. “Okay. Background. Faina said she was born in Damascus, lived there with her mother until she was five, then her father moved them to the UK. She lived there until she was nineteen, when she moved to Canada. I don’t know why.”
“Father live with them?”
“Unknown. Faina didn’t like to talk about him. Or her brother and sister. All I know is her father is the reason she speaks Russian.”
“It’s a common theme,” Skye said as she typed.
Edie nodded. “Other connections. We both love music, movie adaptations of Shakespeare plays, and chocolate.”
Skye smiled, almost unconsciously, Edie thought.
“Where did you guys go? How did you communicate?”
“I wasn’t very mobile back then. We communicated a lot by text, some by email. If I was up for it, she would come to my place for coffee. Never hers. She said her apartment had a lot of stairs, and I wasn’t in the best shape yet. So that was our habit. When I was up for it, we’d go to the bakery, the one I was at the other day. And I’d see her at physio and at the massage place she recommended…” Edie’s pulse spiked and her synapses fired. “Jesus.”
“Edie?”
Edie pulled the paper titled Weird Shit closer to her. She scribbled as she spoke. “The sound, that music that was coming from Faina’s phone. Yesterday. At our run. The music that made me pass out or sleep or whatever. It’s the same music my massage therapist plays. I recognized it but I didn’t know from where.” She looked at Skye, searching for answers. “That can’t be a coincidence, can it?”
“Doubtful,” Skye said, her eyes hard. “Tell me about that place, whatever you know.”
“It’s not very interesting. Just a tiny place in a small strip mall. I paid cash for
the sessions, I got a receipt. There were diplomas on the wall but it’s not like I ever followed up.” She shrugged, embarrassed.
“Don’t worry about it. Give me the details.”
Edie gave her the address and her massage therapist’s name.
“Keep going, I’m going to give this to JC. It’s another piece of this puzzle.”
While Skye texted JC, Edie stared at the Weird Shit paper in front of her. She wrote down the info they already had on the incident at the bar and on the street outside the bakery, as well as her bugged apartment and phone. She circled the drumbeat at the bar and the music from the massage clinic. Two auditory cues that had prompted an unconscious reaction. Edie stared at the words but couldn’t make a connection. She had spent the last year being disappointed by her own mind, not trusting it to capture and retain what might turn out to be critical pieces of information.
Edie let out a frustrated sigh, put down her pen, and leaned back. She took a sip from her now cold coffee and closed her eyes as the glare of the sun off the water filled her vision. It didn’t hurt, but Edie could hardly feel grateful for that right now. She’d felt so energized a moment ago, like they were moving forward. And once again, she’d come to a complete and sudden stop.
“How about breakfast?” Skye said.
Edie opened her eyes. Skye was obviously trying hard not to look worried. Maybe she wasn’t quite a client or a friend. Maybe they were riding a strange line. But Skye cared enough about her to feed her breakfast. That was good for now.
“I’d like to go outside first. If that’s okay.”
“Sure. I should show you the perimeter I’ve got set up.”
The lawn down to the water was scrubby and rocky and seemed to mostly be a series of rock gardens and wildflower beds. Skye pointed out the boxes she’d affixed to trees around three sides of the house and even out into the lake between the dock posts, a buoy ten meters out from shore and an overhanging branch.
“It will alert any time the line is broken for anything over a certain height and weight. I had two false alarms early this morning with deer. I can’t figure out how to code it differently, so I’ll just have to deal with it.” Skye looked around, seeming completely content.
Edie turned in a circle, a little overwhelmed with the scope of the security. And with Skye’s ability to set it up so efficiently. “Jesus Christ, Skye. When did you have time to do this?”
Edie hadn’t intended it as a criticism, but Skye seemed to shrink from Edie’s words.
“Last night,” she said shortly, still peering up into the trees.
“In the dark? By yourself?” Edie was incredulous.
Skye took a step back and shoved her hands into the pockets of her grey sweatpants. She wouldn’t look at Edie. “It needed to be done.”
Moments ago Skye had seemed proud to show Edie what she’d set up. Now she was almost embarrassed, like she wanted to take it all back. Edie could not figure out why she was retreating.
“Don’t you sleep?”
Skye turned to Edie for a brief glance before looking out over the water. A confusing shadow of pain crossed Skye’s face before she shuttered her emotions completely.
“I’m going to make us some breakfast. Then I think we should start looking through your journalism connections to see if anything comes up. JC will want to talk to you about that this afternoon.”
Skye turned and walked back up into the cabin, not waiting for a response. Edie followed slowly, trying to figure out what she’d said that had hurt Skye. She wished she understood. The thought of inflicting pain on Skye made Edie ache.
When she got back to the cabin, the kitchen was filled with the smell of bacon, and Skye was pouring some frozen potato cubes into a skillet. She looked up briefly when Edie leaned against the counter.
“I hope you like bacon and hash browns,” Skye said. “JC’s bringing us some groceries this afternoon.”
“I love bacon and hash browns.” Edie wondered if she should mention Skye’s sudden distance, if she was allowed to acknowledge that something had happened. Her mentor would tell her to put it on the table if she thought there would be returns from the interviewee in the end. If not, keep it close to your chest. Breakfast was ready before Edie had come to any conclusion.
They sat together at the dining room table. As Skye handed Edie her plate, Edie couldn’t help but feel the intimacy of the moment. When she looked up, she knew Skye felt it, too.
“Thank you.”
“It’s not much, but…”
“Not just for breakfast. For every single thing you’ve done to make sure I’m okay from the moment we met. Thank you.”
Skye blushed. Edie knew she was crossing the line Skye had so clearly drawn, but it needed to be said. Maybe it would clear the awkwardness out of the air. Maybe it would make up for whatever hurt she’d accidentally inflicted on Skye.
Skye looked up. “You’re welcome.”
The silence was easier as they ate in the sunlight. Edie did the dishes while Skye worked on her laptop. When she was finished with the dishes, Edie went over to see what Skye was working on. It was a simple chart with the dates of Edie’s freelance assignments, contacts she made, and possible connections.
“I’ve Googled some of your work, but obviously you’ll have a better memory for the work you’ve done in the past few years.”
Edie snorted. “Don’t count on it,” she said bitterly. “Can I have access to my laptop at my apartment? A lot of it is on there.”
“Yes, but not until it gets cleared by Bart’s guys. I don’t trust that it won’t be bugged.”
Edie closed her eyes. Right. Because she’d been monitored in her own home. Eyes and ears. Tracked and followed. Manipulated and manhandled. Fuck.
“Come on,” Skye said gently and stood up. “I’ll get you set up on the couch and bring you some coffee. I’d bake you something to go with it, but…” Skye smiled and shrugged.
“But they didn’t teach you to make scones in Basic Training?”
Skye laughed. “I’m afraid not.”
Skye set Edie up with a laptop and connection to WiFi with decent signal strength. Once she’d refilled both their coffees, Skye joined her with her own laptop. Edie settled into her surroundings and her task.
“How far back am I going?”
“I’d start with the year before your accident and keep going a year from there. Just see how far you get until JC arrives.”
“Is there any reason not to access my Google Drive? I started using a cloud platform about two years ago to store my notes and drafts.”
“Yeah, that’s fine. That’s great, actually. Go for it.”
Edie logged into her account. She felt a little calmer, like she’d just walked into her own slightly chaotic but comfortable office. These were all her words, some of her very best successes. She was proud of a lot of this work. She did not like to think one of these articles could have linked her to this mess that was following her right now.
The morning passed easily, Skye and Edie working in silence until Edie felt the muscles in her hip tighten. She stood and stretched, just catching Skye as she tracked the rise of Edie’s T-shirt over her abdomen.
“How long until JC gets here?”
“About an hour.”
“I’m going to go shower, then.”
Skye kept her eyes on her laptop. “Water pressure is crap.”
“Can’t be any worse than my apartment in Kandahar. My roommates and I used to joke that it only had two settings: gentle mist and East Coast fog.”
Skye looked up and smiled. “We only had one setting at Basic. We called it the spine severer.”
Edie laughed. She hadn’t moved, didn’t want to break this moment. “Must have been hell to rinse your hair.”
Skye grinned. “One of the reasons I didn’t have any.”
“Really? I want to see pictures.”
Skye looked down at her laptop, still smiling. “I should have some on here…” S
kye trailed off and her fingers went still. She gave Edie a cautious look. Hesitant.
“Ah, we’re breaking the rules. Right.” Edie tried to sound like she was joking. But she was hurt by the reminder of their limits. “I’m going to go take that shower.”
The shower pressure was shit, Edie discovered. But it was hot and good enough for her to soap and rinse and feel clean. Back in her room, she gratefully pulled on her own comfortable jeans and a hooded sweater. She felt more confident and more prepared to take on whatever updates JC had on this investigation.
Edie heard voices outside and crossed to the window to look out. JC was in the driveway, and as Skye approached, she pulled her into a kind of headlock hug. They wrestled briefly, both laughing and strong-arming the other. She could hear the timbre of voices but not the distinct words as the two tall, muscular women talked and JC pulled a laptop bag and groceries out of the car. They both stopped before the door, though, and looked toward the house. Edie shrank back, though they likely couldn’t see her. JC asked a question, and Skye shook her head emphatically. JC said something, then punched her on the shoulder, and they entered the cabin.
Edie walked out to meet them, running her fingers through her dark hair. Her muscles felt better from the heat of the shower. JC greeted her warmly and deposited the groceries in the kitchen.
“How are you, Ms. Black? I hear yesterday was another difficult day.”
“It’s Edie, remember? And if by ‘difficult’ you mean it kicked my ass, then yes. But I’m better today.”
“Good,” JC said, seeming to make her own silent assessment of Edie’s readiness. “I’ve got some updates, and it’s going to be an info dump.”
“I’m ready.”
The three women collected coffee and sat back in the living room. JC sat beside Edie on the couch and Skye took the chair by the window where she’d spent most of the morning. It was strategic more than preference, Edie decided. Skye scanned the sightline every few minutes, seeming to need to satisfy herself nothing other than birds and squirrels was out there.
“The first thing you should know is that OPP has opened a file, so everything we’re doing from here on out is officially sanctioned.”
Repercussions Page 9
