Dan Sharp Mysteries 4-Book Bundle (105 page)

“Not yet.”

“Laney is good. She’ll find you something soon, I imagine. Chalmers’s party is set for next Friday night. Vera has made all the arrangements. You’ll put your cases on hold for a few hours of team-building.”

“If nothing else breaks open.”

“Granted. Is Stonechild planning to stay on the team?”

“She’s considering it. We haven’t any potential replacements for Chalmers yet.”

“Vera’s on the case. She has some new resumes for you.” The phone on Heath’s desk rang. “Anything else before I take this?”

“Not a thing.”

“Good. Be sure to keep me in the loop.”

“So what was that Chalmers dig about?” Kala asked Woodhouse when she met him in the hallway.

“You don’t know?”

“Would I ask if I did?”

“Touché. Gundersund’s wife left him to live with another guy. A doctor rolling in dough.”

“I saw her at Gundersund’s house the other night. They both seemed okay.”

“Word is the doctor wised up and dumped her. I’m not surprised she’s worming her way back in with Gundersund. He’s got this blind spot when it comes to Fiona. She’s good looking and all that but none of us can figure it out. The woman’s a barracuda in a lab coat. Well, see you later.”

“Yeah. Later.”

Kala waited in the hall for Gundersund to finish in the washroom. They fell into step on their way outside. She felt uncomfortable walking next to him across the parking lot, knowing that she’d betrayed his privacy. He didn’t appear to notice her discomfort since he barely acknowledged her presence. His jaw was set and he wasn’t talking. They reached her truck.

“I’ll spend the morning at the help line and we can meet at the Merchant for lunch if you like. My turn to buy.” She knew it was guilt behind her offer. Maybe a bit of pity thrown in too.

Gundersund looked at her and saw something in her eyes that made him flinch. “Let’s leave it open. I’ll call when we get done talking to Della’s classmates.” He’d been given a uniformed sidekick for the morning who’d already started the car.

“Great. Let me know if you find out anything interesting.”

The only one answering the phones when Kala arrived at the centre twenty minutes later was Mark Withers. She took a seat at the empty desk next to him and waited for him to finish a call. She couldn’t help but tune in to his end of the conversation. He was talking a student into going to the hospital to get his depression meds adjusted. After a great deal of coaxing on Mark’s part, he hung up the phone and turned to face her. His surfer boy good looks were fraying. She threw him a smile. He looked like he could use it.

“Hard morning?”

“My staff have all been killed, assaulted, or harassed by police. I’m forced to man the line until Nate, the only one left, I might add, shows up at noon. The university is threatening to cut our funding … and, oh yeah, my wife is getting pissed because I’m never home anymore. It’s been a bloody hard morning, and month for that matter.” He managed a bleak smile. “So what do you need from me today?”

“You seem close to Dino Tadesco.”

Mark shifted away from her, a subtle body movement but one that Kala read as resistance to her probing. He wouldn’t be telling her the entire truth.

“We hang now and then.”

“Did he also
hang
with others on staff? Wolf or Leah?” She hated the word hang. It was so imprecise, it could have meant anything.

“Not so much. He wasn’t sleeping with either of them if that’s what you’re asking.” Mark laughed.

“Was he sleeping around on his wife with someone else? A student?”

“I have no idea.”

“But you must have insight into his fidelity, or lack thereof, since you spend a lot of time together in bars after work.”

Anger flashed across his boyish face, but only for a second. “You people really do check under every rock, don’t you? All I know is that we didn’t fool around on our wives when we were together and we never discussed doing it. Not every man screws around, Detective.”

“So you say.”

The phone rang, interrupting what he was about to reply. “Hello?” He turned away from her, but immediately turned back around, his expression puzzled. “Leah Sampson? May I ask how you got her name?”

Kala moved her chair closer. “Man or woman?” she whispered.

Mark covered the receiver with his hand. “Girl, young,” he mouthed. He uncovered the receiver. “So, this was how long ago?”

Kala put out her hand. “I’ll take it.”

Mark covered the receiver again with his hand. “Goes against our rules …”

Kala wriggled her fingers. “I’m overruling your rules. Give it here. Tell her you’re handing her over to Leah as requested.”

Mark tried to outstare her. He lost. After a few beats he said into the phone, “I’ll just pass you over. One moment.” He gave Kala the receiver without another word but his angry face spoke volumes.

“How can I help you?” Kala asked, Mark quickly forgotten. As hoped, the girl assumed she was speaking with Leah Sampson. Kala listened closely to the timbre of the speaker’s voice. She placed her at about twelve but she could have been older.

“I was told to call you if I needed to reach my sister.”

“Can you tell me your name?”

Kala listened to the in and out of the girl’s breathing. Finally, a deep inhale of air and, “My sister’s name is Nadirah. I need to speak with her.”

Nadirah
. The name sounded Middle Eastern or Indian. Kala spoke carefully. She couldn’t let on that she had no idea who Nadirah was or what her connection had been with Leah Sampson. “I wonder if you and I should meet … so that I can fill in Nadirah about why you need to reach her. It will help when I arrange for her to contact you.”

Another pause.

“Can you tell me your name?” Kala asked softly. “I’d like to help.”

“I can’t … not now.”

“Are you in school? I could come to you.”

“No, not here. Maybe I can meet you someplace. I’ll call you back after I check.”

“When will you call back?” Kala didn’t want to let her go. She felt in her gut that this child was the link to what had happened to Leah.

“I’ll know tomorrow. I’ll call around this time.”

“I’ll be waiting for your call tomorrow at this same time,” Kala repeated.

Mark jotted something down and turned the paper toward her. She read the words:
Is she in danger?
Kala nodded in his direction.

“Are you safe?” she asked.

The breathing quickened on the other end of the line. “No,” the girl’s voice was just above a whisper. “We are not safe.”

Before Kala could respond, the dial tone hummed in her ear. She hung up the phone and tried to put together what had just happened.

“So?” Mark asked. “Did you get her name?”

Kala pulled herself back from the minefields and focused on his face. She felt the urgency to act, but felt completely helpless. Could she have done something to keep the girl talking? Had she let the opportunity slip away?

“No, she didn’t give her name, but Leah must have gotten involved in a situation that got out of control. You said that your staff don’t give out their names or make personal contact with callers, correct?”

“You got that right. If they did, they’d be fired. Anonymity on both ends is the foundation of the help line.”

“I think Leah might have broken your number one rule. This girl mentioned that her sister’s name is Nadirah. Does that ring any bells?”

“Never heard that name before. It’s unusual enough that I would have remembered if Leah had mentioned it.”

“Leah must have kept whatever she was doing to help this person a secret.”

They were both silent. Kala didn’t have to spell it out. Whatever Leah had done in secret had probably led to her death.

“Let’s hope the kid calls back tomorrow,” Mark said. “Hopefully she won’t find out in the meantime that Leah Sampson doesn’t exist anymore.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

 N
adirah is a Muslim name,” Kala said to Gundersund. She scrolled through the list of girls’ names on the site. “From India,” she added.

Gundersund looked up from his computer. “There can be serious family issues in their communities. Girls aren’t regarded the same as boys in some immigrant families from that neck of the world. We had some cultural sensitivity training last year. Bit of an eye opener.”

“Do we have any database that would help us to find this family if we did a search of the name Nadirah?”

“Depends on whether Nadirah had a driver’s licence or police record. It’s still tough without a surname. She might have been a prostitute. That might explain why the little sister doesn’t know where she is. I’ll run a check.”

“Thanks.”

“Sure,” Gundersund said. “The family could be abusive and the little sister’s in trouble now that her sister has taken to the streets.”

Kala rubbed her forehead. She smiled as a thought broke through her fatigue. “Nadirah must have been a student at Queen’s if she called the help line. I could call records to check.”

“I’ll get someone on that too,” Gundersund said. “You look like you need some lunch.” He checked his watch. “It’s going on three.”

“Maybe that’s why I’m feeling light-headed.” Kala stood. “Can I get you anything?”

“I ate at one so I’m good, thanks.”

“I’ll be back in twenty minutes.”

She took the stairs to the cafeteria and ordered a roast beef sandwich and a coffee. On second thought, she asked the girl to add a salad. It had been a while since she’d eaten anything green and leafy.

She found a spot out of the way of traffic and sat down to eat. She wanted to take a break from work but the kid’s voice on the help line phone that morning was still playing in her brain. It raised disturbing images of Dawn on the run with Lily and her con boyfriend. Two innocent young girls in trouble and all Kala could do was search through databases and spin her wheels. The inaction was driving her crazy. She was chomping to do something to somebody. The feeling that time was slipping away while trouble brewed like a gathering storm was getting tough to shake.

Gundersund found Stonechild staring out the window, sipping on the last of her coffee. He stood for a moment just inside the doorway to the cafeteria and watched her unseen. She was deep in thought in the middle of a room filled with chatting officers and clinking dishes, the only one sitting alone. She didn’t appear bothered by her solitary lunch. The stillness of her features was Zen-like.

He heard his name and glanced to his left. Fiona was waving to him from the far corner of the room where she sat with some of the forensics team. She wore a blue dress that he’d bought for her the summer before she moved out. It was silky, the top tight and flattering while the skirt fell away from her waist just enough to hint at her curves as she moved. He hadn’t seen her wear it all year. Her hair was loose and her lips painted a creamy red. She motioned for him to join them, but he pointed to Stonechild and mouthed the word “working.” Fiona’s gaze shifted toward Stonechild and her smile evaporated.

He crossed the floor and squeezed past two tables to where Stonechild sat oblivious to his approach. He waited for her to focus in on him.

She blinked. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Sorry to interrupt your lunch but we’ve got to move. Call from the hospital just came in. They’ve brought Gail Pankhurst back to the land of the living and the doctor says we can speak with her for a few minutes.” The relief on Stonechild’s face made him smile.

She jumped up. “Let’s go. I’ll drive.”

He glanced over his shoulder at Fiona as he followed Stonechild toward the door. The unguarded look on her face could have turned water into ice. One part of him didn’t like to think where her jealousy, no matter how misplaced, could lead. The other part was secretly pleased that she even cared.

Dr. Blais warned them that they’d only have a few minutes, if that. “Gail started waking up in the night but we waited until now to call you.”

“Has she suffered any brain damage?” Stonechild asked.

“Not that we can tell. The swelling has gone down and she’s stable. Barring any setbacks, I expect her to fully recover. She could have headaches and dizziness for some time, but we’ll have to wait and see. The recuperative powers of the young are amazing.”

“Has she said anything about the attack?” Gundersund asked.

Dr. Blais shifted her tired eyes to his. “No. She might not remember any of the trauma.”

He nodded. “That’s my fear. I’ve had other people who survived horrific events blank out chunks of time.”

They took places around the bed. Gail was a large mound under the white sheet. Her arm was hooked to an intravenous drip and a machine monitored her vitals. Gundersund thought her Mickey Mouse and Betty Boop tattoos made her look young and vulnerable. Colourful cartoons with her as canvas. She was a girl crying out for attention if he’d ever seen one. “Have any family members been to visit her?” he asked Dr. Blais.

“No. Her mother calls twice a day.”

Stonechild shook her head and met his eyes. He could see that they were on the same wavelength.

They’d agreed that Stonechild should ask the questions since Gail had already met her. Gundersund had suggested that his size and gender might frighten the girl after what she’d been through. Dr. Blais picked up one of Gail’s hands and rubbed it gently between both of her own. “Gail, you have visitors. Officer Stonechild would like to ask you a few questions if you’re up for it.” She waited until Gail started coming around before stepping back.

Gail’s eyes blinked open. They were faded blue but vivid against the paleness of her skin. She turned her cheek into the pillow where Stonechild stood squarely in her line of vision. “’Kay,” she said.

“Gail, do you remember what happened to you?”

“Someone at the door. Wolf. I opened it and then … I can’t remember.” Her face contorted as if she was about to cry.

Stonechild touched her shoulder. “It’s okay. Nobody can hurt you anymore. We’re here to keep you safe. Was it Wolf who was at the door?”

“Waiting for him. Don’t know.”

“The person who knocked you on the head took your laptop. I understand that you were keeping notes on people. Did you keep any notes on Leah Sampson?”