The Longest Winter

by Harrison Drake

  My phone rang just as Kat was finishing up. I looked at the display then looked at Chen before answering. “It’s Kara,” I said.

  I pressed the button to answer the call. “Hey.”

  “Link, hi. I’m really sorry to do this, but I need to ask for your help.”

  “What with? I saw the news, you got your man.”

  “We did, but I can’t crack him. There are two boys still in captivity somewhere and we have no idea where. It’s been almost three days. If they don’t have food and water…”

  “Do you want to run it by me? I can see if there’s anything that jumps out.”

  Kara took a deep breath.

  “I guess. I’d rather have you up here, see if you can get him to talk, but I know you can’t come.”

  “No, not right now. Kat’s just being released from hospital and we’re heading back to Warsaw.” I heard another phone ringing and looked over to see Chen answer his.

  “I understand. I’m just so worried we aren’t going to find the boys in time.”

  “You will. I know you will. What have you found out so far? Any triggers?”

  Kat walked over, ready to leave. She gave me an inquisitive glance and I covered the phone with my hand. “It’s Kara.”

  “Say ‘hi’ for me,” Kat said. I saw Chen motion Kat over and hand her the phone. It was probably Julie calling to see how her friend was doing.

  Kara filled me in on the interview. It didn’t take long to realize that she was having a very hard time.

  “He won’t budge,” she said. “Nothing seems to be working. I can piss him off, talking about how David isn’t Claude like he seems to believe, but it’s not enough.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Not really. He’s stuck on this idea that the boys have to die together, that it will help them if it happens. That way they can be together forever.”

  “Lovely. So did he admit to everything then?”

  “Yeah, he did.”

  I rubbed my hand across my forehead. “I don’t know, Kara. I really don’t. If you made him angry before, keep going with that. It might work.”

  “He won’t even say a word to us anymore. Just sits there staring until we give up.”

  “Shit. Nothing at all?”

  “Nothing,” Kara said.

  I watched as Kat handed the phone back to Chen. She walked over to me and gestured for me to cover the phone.

  “Hold on one second, Kara.” I put the phone down and covered it with my hand. “What’s up?”

  “She needs, needs your help, doesn’t she?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, but I’m not leaving you.”

  “No, you’re not. Which is why I’m going with you.”

  “Not happening. You just got released. I need to be with you and the kids right now, not running off to try to solve some case.”

  “I know,” Kat said, “but those boys need you. I can’t imagine if things had been reversed, Lincoln. If it had been the kids, the kids held captive and not me, I don’t think I could have survived it. We need to help them, and I think it will help me to know that we did.”

  “No,” I said. “We’re not going.”

  “Lincoln, I’m going. It’s up to you if you want to come with me. My parents will come as well and bring the kids along. How long do you figure it will take?”

  “If they don’t find the boys in the next day or two, it won’t matter.”

  “We need to do this. And if they need your help, then you need to go. Think about what those kids are going through, how their parents must feel. They need you.”

  “You aren’t going to let this go, are you?”

  Kat shook her head. “I need to help them, and if the only way I can do that is to force, force you to go, then so be it.”

  I looked into Kat’s eyes and knew she wouldn’t change her mind. Her stubbornness rivaled my own. I didn’t want to go. Dragging her to Luxembourg less than a week after finding her again went against everything I knew.

  “I’ve put work before family before, Kat. It has never gone well.”

  “You’re not this time. You’re doing this as a favour for me.”

  I felt like an unmovable object up against an unstoppable force, but I knew she was going to win. She always did. I just nodded to her then went back to the phone.

  “Sorry, Kara. I was just talking to Kat. We’re going to take the next flight out.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “No, but Kat is forcing my hand.”

  “Okay,” she said. I could hear the uncertainty in her voice. “Just stay where you are. We’re sending a chopper to the hospital to pick you up. It’ll be there in about an hour.”

  “You knew I’d be coming,” I said.

  Kara paused for a moment. “I had a feeling. Wanted to make sure I had everything in place in case you said you would.”

  “How big a chopper? The kids are coming as well, and so are Kat’s parents. I’m not separating everyone again, not this soon.”

  “One sec,” Kara said. I could hear her typing in the background. “It’ll do, you’ll all fit. Is Chen coming?”

  “Not sure, and he’s not with INTERPOL anymore anyway.”

  “True. On that topic, I had your leave rescinded… just in case. You’re back on active duty, but just for as long as this takes. After that, it’s up to you.”

  “You really did figure I’d be coming.”

  “I needed you to. We aren’t getting anywhere.”

  “Okay, we’ll be there soon. What’s the flight time?”

  “Should be around three hours. Puts you in here around eight or so.”

  “What’s the name of the hotel?”

  Kara laughed. “Place D’Armes. It’s not far from here, and apparently it’s really nice. You knew I’d have that booked, eh?”

  “You had everything else set up.”

  “I’ll call and request a second room for you.”

  “Thanks. Do you have a transcript of the interview?”

  “Yes. Think the hospital would let me fax it to them? Their system should be secure.”

  “I’ll ask and text you the number.”

  “Sounds good. See you in a few hours.”

  “You too,” I said. I hung up the phone and looked at Kat. “You’re sure about this?”

  Kat nodded. “I need to do this, Lincoln.”

  “Okay. I’m not going to argue it. We’ll need to call your parents and have them come here with the kids. Kara is sending a chopper.”

  “They’re already on their way,” Kat said.

  I shook my head in confusion. “Wait. How did you know to have them come here?”

  Kat stalled for a moment. “They have the rental car. We’d need them to get to the airport anyway.”

  “Right,” I said. “Makes sense.” And it did, but I knew there was something Kat wasn’t telling me.

  * * *

  The sun set as we flew over France and into Luxembourg. I watched it drop below the horizon, then watched as the remaining light faded into darkness. The kids stared out the windows the entire flight, marveling at the world passing by beneath them. I remembered my first helicopter ride; I was just a child, about Link’s age at the time, when my parents took me on a ride over Niagara Falls. It was brief, but it was exhilarating.

  That same feeling had come back almost every time I climbed into a chopper, but not this time. This time I was too focused on Kat and too busy reading and re-reading the transcript of Max’s interrogation to allow myself much excitement. Just the sunset; I had to watch that. There was something about seeing it from the air, seeing the colours spread across the clouds. With my sunglasses on I could almost stare at it; not for long, but it was eno
ugh to make out the circle of the sun as it turned from yellow to orange to pink before disappearing for another night.

  The lights of Luxembourg City came into view just as I had finished reading the transcript for the fifth time. I still wasn’t sure where to go with what I’d read. As usual, my interrogation would be an experiment in winging it.

  “Is that where we going, Daddy?”

  “Yeah, Link, that’s it. Luxembourg City.”

  “Why are we going again?” Kasia said.

  “I have to do a little bit of work, just for a day or so.”

  “And then what?”

  I looked at Kat and tried to show her that I had no clue how to answer the question.

  “There’s an aquarium nearby,” Kat said. “And an indoor waterpark. We can go to those before we head back to Poland.”

  The kids erupted in cheers and I looked at Kat to ask if she was sure.

  “I am. I’ll be fine.”

  I nodded. “I know you will. The doctor said crowded places might be tough though.” I knew she didn’t want to hear me worrying, but I couldn’t keep it to myself.

  “If things get to be too much, we can leave. He gave me some thought exercises, exercises I can use, and there’s always the medication he gave me.”

  I looked back to see that the kids were engaged in a hearty debate over which place they would go to first. They weren’t listening to our conversation at all. Chen wasn’t either; he’d been asleep in the back since just after takeoff.

  “I know, I just wish we could go back to Poland and take it easy for a bit.”

  “They need you here, Lincoln. And I think the kids deserve a couple of days off. My parents will be there to help as well.”

  I breathed out through pursed lips. “Okay. I just, I don’t like it.”

  “I know you don’t, but this is partly my decision as well.”

  “Entirely your decision.”

  “Don’t you want to help those boys?”

  “Of course I do,” I said. “But you and our kids come first. I’m not making the same mistakes again.”

  “Now isn’t the time for that. If you can help, can help these kids, you need to do that. And like I said, I need to be a part of it.”

  “What’s really going on?”

  Kat looked surprised for just a moment before she returned to a normal expression. “Nothing. I just, I know what they’re going through and hearing about them, it brings it all back up. I wish we could just go home and forget this all ever happened, but it’s impossible.”

  “Okay. I’ll let it go. I just worry.”

  Her lips widened, almost into a smile. “That’s always been my job.”

  We landed a few minutes later, and Kara was already waiting with a vehicle to take us to the detachment where Max was being kept. A second vehicle was there to take Kat, her parents and the kids to the hotel.

  I was surprised when Kat kissed the kids and told them she would see them in the morning, then walked over to the car and hopped in the back behind Yuri. It was easier not to question her anymore, so I said my goodbyes to the kids and the in-laws and squeezed in the back of a typical European car with Kat and Chen.

  “Little tight back there?”

  “Funny, Kara,” I said to her snickering. “Yuri, any chance we can pick up the pace?”

  Yuri nodded. “It is nice to meet you finally,” he said.

  “You too. This is my wife Kat, and best-friend-slash-partner-in-crime Chen.”

  Yuri didn’t turn around, but looked in the rearview mirror at us. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Munroe.”

  “Please, call me Kat.”

  Yuri nodded. “And Chen, I have heard of you as well. The ‘dream team’ is back together then?”

  I smiled. “I wish you could call us that.”

  “I have read the Crawford case, in full. And Kara has filled me in on some of your other exploits.”

  “We’ve had some interesting times, that’s for sure.”

  Kara spoke up. “Well, this one is definitely interesting. Did you read the transcript?”

  “A few times. It’s not going to be an easy one.”

  “No, it isn’t. You have your work cut out for you, Link.”

  “And no luck finding any evidence on him that might lead us there?”

  Kara shook her head. “He wasn’t even carrying a cell phone when we arrested him and no wallet, just some cash in his pocket and a set of keys.”

  “You got him at a homeless camp, right?”

  Kara nodded.

  “Did you search their fire for the phone or wallet?”

  “We did, nothing there though. He must have ditched them somewhere else.”

  “Analysis of his clothing? Any fibres, dirt, anything that could point us in the right direction?”

  “Forensics went over everything with a fine-toothed comb, but got nothing out of the ordinary.”

  “What about the vehicle he was driving?”

  “We’re pretty sure he ‘borrowed’ it from an apartment parking lot. No damage to the car and only a spare key in it. Probably one of those people who hides the spare in a magnetic case under the car. We’ve searched the area, knocked on doors and everything. Nothing.”

  “And his backstory?” I was asking the questions faster than she could answer them.

  “Nothing before around sixteen. Spent a lot of time in and out of mental institutions and has traveled through Europe extensively, mostly just doing odd jobs and that.”

  “And running from his urges.”

  “Yeah,” Kara said. “Until they caught up to him.”

  “So, um, I’m really not sure how much help I’m going to be,” Chen said from his squished place between Kat and I. “Last I checked, I quit INTERPOL a while ago.”

  “It’s fine. Consider yourself a ‘consulting detective’ or something,” Kara said.

  “So I’m Sherlock? Awesome.”

  Chen smiled from ear-to-ear as he relished his newfound, albeit arbitrary, title.

  “I’m glad you came, Chen,” I said. “It’s nice for us to all be back working on a case, even if you are on it unofficially.”

  “Just do me a favour?”

  I gestured for him to go on.

  “Don’t let me get shot again. Julie’s still pissed at you for that one.”

  “Hey,” I said, “how the hell is that my fault? You guys were the ones who stormed in there.”

  “To rescue your sorry ass.”

  I laughed. “Semantics.”

  “Should I be worried?” Yuri said, looking in the rearview mirror.

  “Nah. This one should be pretty straight-forward.”

  “I’ve heard that from you too many times, Link.”

  “Oh, come on, Kara. You wouldn’t trade any of this.”

  “Not now. A week ago…” she stopped, unsure if she should continue. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay,” Kat said. “As hard as it was for me, I was almost certain I’d see everyone again. I kind of believed what he said, about how long I would be there, but I never really believed his tales about the end of the world. I knew I would get out of there eventually and that everyone would be waiting, it was what kept me going. None of you had that.”

  She stopped and took a few breaths. I could tell she was holding back tears. I reached across Chen – good thing he and I have always been close – and put my hand on Kat’s leg.

  She shook her head, and I knew she wanted to continue. “You all kept working to find me, from wherever you were, even though I’m sure you all thought I was dead. If it wasn’t for hope and faith, I never would’ve made it through. But your hope… I’m surprised you could even hold onto any.”

&nb
sp; “We had to,” I said. “Even if we feared the worst, there was always that possibility that you were still alive. We had to cling to it.”

  “I know. Thank you.”

  I rubbed her leg to try to comfort her, but ended up rubbing Chen’s leg as well. It was an awkward seating arrangement in a car barely large enough for two in the back seat. It didn’t matter anyway. Two minutes later we turned into the detachment parking lot and waited for the gate to open. It took its time moving across the driveway, clunking along on what had to have been an ancient, rusted chain. The moment there was enough room, Yuri steered through the opening and found us a place to park. Time was of the essence, and waiting for a gate wasn’t in the schedule.

  We piled out of the car and made our way inside the detachment. Five minutes later Kara and I were in the interrogation room with Max while Chen watched from behind the glass, with another detective I had just met. Sophie Van-something. Yuri had felt that someone new might be better as an observer, someone who might catch something different or come up with a new avenue of interrogation, so he volunteered Chen and Sophie then went to the lounge to keep Kat company.

  I sat down in the seat across from Max. “My name is…”

  I didn’t get a chance to finish. “I know who you are. They’re calling in the hotshot now, are they?”

  “Something like that. We need to know where the boys are, and you’re going to tell me.”

  “No, I’m not. I’m not supposed to even be talking to you.”

  “Then don’t, no one is forcing your hand. Well, except your lawyer if you stay quiet.” I was risking a lot taking the strong approach right off the bat, but I had a feeling it would work.

  “I’ll do what I want, but I’m still not telling you where the boys are.”

  “Right,” I said, “because they need to die together. It’s your gift to them.”

  Max nodded but didn’t say anything.

  I looked into his eyes and tried to read him as best I could. I had a knack for it, but he had spent so many years in hiding he knew how to conceal himself. There was a lot shut away in that mind of his - that much I could tell.