She ran. She tore through the woods behind the cabins, hoping no one would see her.
Then she was in the “guest” cabin, throwing things into her backpack. Praying that Kevin would come back so they could both get the hell out of there.
The zipper on the backpack stuck. She was tearing at it with her fingernails when the door opened and Red Bear was standing there and she let out a scream. It was probably the only time in her life she had actually screamed—a sudden, sharp outburst. It was the scream that had woken her up, not thunder. She was sitting upright in bed, soaked with sweat, the memory of Red Bear and his charnel house playing before her eyes.
She was remembering more, now.
“I didn’t see anything,” Terri had managed to say. “I swear.” She had never heard such fear in anybody’s voice, certainly not her own.
“You will not phone anyone, you won’t be talking to Kevin, there won’t be any goodbyes. You pack your things and you will be driven to the airport or the train station. The driver will wait with you for the train or plane. Consider yourself lucky I don’t kill you. You can rest assured it is not a matter of mercy.” He pointed to the sky. “It’s a matter of the moon.”
“I won’t tell anyone,” she had said. “I swear. I won’t tell a soul.”
“Of course you won’t. That would be very bad for Kevin.”
Now the rain and the wind off the lake were beginning to get to her. She had come to a decision. The best way to help Kevin was to tell Detective Cardinal everything she knew; she could describe the camp, the white cabins, the islands in the distance. He would be able to figure out where it was.
She left the brick path and turned back toward town. Three or four kids were hanging out across from the World Tavern, where they had been the other night. She crossed the street toward them.
“You find your brother yet?”
It was the big kid, the one who looked down on heroin users. Well, who didn’t? She didn’t recognize the other three people.
“I thought I’d try one more time.”
“Man, I wish my family was that loyal.”
“Your family’s totally dysfunctional,” a nerdy-looking boy said.
“Exactly,” the big one said. “That’s my point.”
There was an older guy with them. Quieter. He looked at her with mild interest.
“Who you looking for?” he said. “I know everybody.”
Terri told him.
“Where’d you see him last?”
“In town here.” She thought it might be dangerous to mention the camp.
The guy shrugged. “I know a couple of Kevins. What’s he look like?”
Terri looked at him. His bony face showed curiosity, no big deal. He didn’t look dangerous. She described Kevin to him.
“Sure, I know him. In fact, I saw him this morning.”
“Where!”
“You know where the Chinook Tavern is?”
Terri shook her head. “Is it far?”
“Yeah, it is. You’d have to get over to Front Street and then catch a bus out to Trout Lake. Take you an hour, hour and a half. It’s a little complicated, too. Why don’t I just drive you there?”
“No, that’s okay. I’ll find it.”
“It’s no big deal. I’m heading back that way now.” He checked his watch. “In fact, I’m running late. So if you want the ride, you gotta come now.”
He turned his back on her and headed across Oak Street toward a sleek, black car.
“Wait up,” Terri said. “I’m coming with you.”
She ran across the street and climbed in the passenger side. The car had one of those big engines that pushed you back into the seat with every acceleration. It smelled of leather and new carpet. As they drove through the downtown streets, the guy fired questions at her—where was she from, what did she do, had she been in town long? He seemed curious, but not pushy. A little nervous, maybe. Every once in a while, he reached up and rubbed at a small scar on his brow.
46
THEY WERE WAITING FOR the light to change. Normally, Cardinal was a patient driver, but now he was hunched in the driver’s seat, cursing under his breath.
“Maybe you should go home,” Delorme said. “You look exhausted.”
“I’m fine. I’m just a little tired.”
Delorme had seen Cardinal tired, but not like this. His face was pale and drawn, the circles under his eyes deep, and there was a bitter edge in his manner that she couldn’t place. She didn’t think it had anything to do with work.
“Is it Catherine?” she said.
Cardinal let out a deep sigh. All he said was, “Yeah.”
“She’s in hospital again?”
The light changed, and Cardinal gunned it. Not his style at all.
“You’ve been through these times before, John. She’ll be okay, don’t you think?”
“I never know how Catherine’s going to be. Nearly two years, now, she’s been okay. Somehow I managed to convince myself that this time it was for good.”
It was the most he had ever said about his wife’s illness. Lines of pain radiated across his face like stress fractures in a pane of glass. Delorme wanted to say something—she’ll get better, it won’t last long, try not to worry too much—but nothing was adequate, and so she went silent and that didn’t seem adequate, either.
At the Crisis Centre, Ned Fellowes left them in the office while he went to get Terri. Leaning against the disused fireplace, Cardinal looked like he was going to fall asleep standing up.
“Wonder what’s taking him so long,” Delorme said.
Cardinal just closed his eyes.
Fellowes came back a few moments later. “It appears our young friend has gone out,” he said. “She’s not answering her door, she’s not in the TV room, not in the dining room. And nobody’s seen her for the past half-hour. I told her explicitly she should not leave the building.”
“So did we,” Cardinal said. “And she knew we were coming.”
“Of course, she wouldn’t be the first person to avoid the police.”
“No, but she called us. She wanted us to come.”
Fellowes pulled a ring of keys out of his desk and led them upstairs. Delorme knew the Crisis Centre well. As the only female in Criminal Investigations, she always got to escort the bruised and frightened victims of domestic quarrels to this place. The familiar smells of the carpeting and the old wood made her stomach tense up.
“As I pointed out when Terri arrived,” he said, “we’re not a jail. I can’t keep people here against their will.”
He put a key in the lock and opened the door.
“Her jacket’s gone,” Fellowes said.
“I think something’s happened to her,” Cardinal said. “She was very definite about wanting to talk to us. She knew we were coming.”
Fellowes started to close the door. Cardinal held it open.
“Not without a warrant,” Fellowes said. “I can’t allow that.”
“Ned,” Delorme said, “this young woman is in danger. Somebody tried to kill her and we have every reason to think they’ll try again. We can go ask for a warrant, but that’s going to take half a day. That’s time she may not have.”
Fellowes looked at Delorme, then over at Cardinal. Delorme silently urged him to come through.
“Look,” he said to Cardinal. “Why don’t you and I go downstairs and discuss it. Say, for about five minutes?”
“Sounds reasonable to me,” Cardinal said.
He and Fellowes headed back toward the stairs, and Delorme shut the door after them.