Closing Time

by Brenda Chapman

  He parked in the lot and took the stairs to the second floor. Gundersund followed him into his office and took a seat in the visitor chair while Rouleau turned on the desk lamp. “Any word from Stonechild?” he asked as he sat down. She’d been gone three days but it felt longer.

  “I thought they’d call yesterday once they settled in, but no word yet.” Gundersund’s foot tapped on the floor while his fingers played a drumbeat on his leg. “Minny keeps searching the house looking for Taiku. It’s amazing how quickly the two dogs became attached.”

  Rouleau knew he wasn’t speaking only about the dogs. “They’ll be back. It’s only for a few weeks.”

  “I know we’d like to believe that.”

  The phone rang and Rouleau reached for it, holding up a finger to Gundersund. “Caller ID says North Bay OPP. I’d better take this.”

  “Should I wait?”

  “I’ll signal if it’s going to be a long call.” He picked up and identified himself. He watched Gundersund while he listened to the North Bay sergeant ask to have Kala Stonechild work a murder case out of the Sault detachment. “She’s agreed to this?” he asked when there was an opening in the conversation.

  “She’s already been helping out unofficially. She has a unique perspective from staying at the lodge where the victim worked. She’s been developing relationships that could lead us to the killer. This is a highly unusual request I know, but she and the investigating officer Clark Harrison worked together previously. He’s sung her praises and wants her on the file.”

  Gundersund had stopped fidgeting and was staring at him. Rouleau knew what Stonechild would want him to say. “You have my okay as long as it’s what she’s agreed to do. I expect there’ll be paperwork?”

  “I’ll have it sent after we hang up.”

  Rouleau recited his email address before ending the call.

  “Stonechild?” asked Gundersund.

  “She’s gotten herself involved in a murder case that happened up the road from where she and Dawn are staying. A high-school girl who worked at the lodge.”

  “This was supposed to be her time to unwind and reconnect with Dawn.” Gundersund shook his head and was silent for a moment. He stood. “We both know that she won’t be able to pass up the chance to work on a murder case. Everyone in her life takes second place once she’s on the trail.” He shot Rouleau a half smile. “At least now I know why she didn’t call yesterday.” He started toward the door and said over his shoulder, “See you later. I have some documents to review before I testify in court this afternoon.”

  Rouleau stood after Gundersund was gone and crossed to the window, his favourite thinking spot. He watched frothy cumulus clouds scudding into view. He’d felt a change in the wind walking from the restaurant to his car and predicted a rainstorm on the horizon. They were due, he supposed. The good weather they’d had the last two weeks had to come to an end. The August heat was inching down into cooler temperatures overnight. Ontario meteorologists were calling for an early winter across the province with higher snowfall than usual. Climate change, he supposed. More bad weather to dominate the news.

  Rouleau’s mind circled back to the idea of moving with Marci to Paris. He enjoyed being with her and didn’t want to think about her being gone from Kingston. Yet he also couldn’t envision leaving his father at this stage in his life or ending his policing career. He liked where he was in the department. He had a good team and satisfying work. He felt at home in this city. Yet Paris could be the kickstart his life needed — to take chances and to embrace being alive.

  Loud voices in the outer office made him turn. Woodhouse and Bennett were having a heated discussion, but Woodhouse shut it down quickly by crossing the room and stepping into the hall. Everyone on the Major Crimes team seemed out of sorts since Stonechild’s departure. They’d be even less settled when they found out that she’d taken an assignment with the OPP. He didn’t know what Gundersund would do if she didn’t come back. Would he follow her north?

  The times they are a-changin’, Rouleau thought. The trick will be making sure that nobody gets left behind.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Kala looked in on Dawn, still sound asleep, and called softly for Taiku to come. He rose stiffly from the carpet next to Dawn’s bed and stretched each of his legs on his way across the floor to her. She stooped to rub his ears. She’d dressed in leggings, a T-shirt, and a windbreaker, and bent to lace up her running shoes at the door. Five thirty, and the sun wouldn’t fully rise for another hour, but twilight had brightened the sky enough so that they could safely make their way through the woods.

  She walked the shadowy path to the road with Taiku darting in and out of the underbrush ahead of her, constantly stopping and turning his head to make sure she was following. They reached the main road and Kala broke into a jog. Taiku fell in beside her and kept pace for twenty minutes until she slowed to a walk and reversed direction. The sky had brightened above the treeline as they ran and had transposed into the muted pastel colours of an Impressionist painting by the time they returned to sit on the rock down the incline from their cabin. Kala hugged her knees with one arm and pulled Taiku close with the other. She rested her head on his. Bands of orange and pink bled into a cover of indigo cloud with the lake a mirror image of colour. The trees on the distant shore were stark black shapes reflected in the still, pink water. “I could stay right here with you forever,” she whispered into Taiku’s ear and his tail thumped hard against the rock.

  They returned to the cabin and she filled his food bowl after checking that Dawn was still asleep. Satisfied that Dawn wouldn’t be up anytime soon, she left the cabin and walked the path to the dining room in the main lodge. It was nearing seven o’clock. The lights were on and the door was unlocked. Blaine was sitting alone at the same table as the evening before, eating a plate of bacon and eggs. He looked up at her in the entrance and back down at his plate. He hadn’t shaven and stubble roughened his face.

  “Guess we’re the only ones up. Mind if I join you?” she asked.

  “Sure. Pull up a seat.” His words belied the uneasy look he’d given her when he saw her in the doorway.

  Shane came out of the kitchen with a pot of herbal tea that he set down in front of her. He’d already figured out that she preferred herbal tea to coffee. Not that she honestly preferred herbal tea but she knew the drink was healthier. “How would you like your eggs?” he asked.

  “Scrambled, with bacon and brown toast if you have it,” she said.

  “Coming right up.”

  When he’d returned to the kitchen, Kala turned her attention back to Blaine. She remembered that Ian, the much handsomer of the two, was the one getting married in Thunder Bay when the summer ended. “Is your partner sleeping in?” she asked.

  “Ian already ate. I’m the slow one today. Sorry if I’m wolfing this down. We meant to be on the road by now, but I caught an extra hour of shuteye trying to get rid of a headache. I had a migraine last night.”

  “That’s rough. How’re you feeling now?”

  “Well enough to climb up and down Hydro poles.”

  His skin did have a greyish pallor and black circles rimmed his eyes. “Do you get these headaches often?” she asked, sipping her tea. She had to admit that the chamomile brew was refreshing after the morning run.

  “First one this summer.”

  “I guess Rachel’s death is stressful for everybody,” she said, leaning back in the chair and keeping her eyes on him.

  “I’m gutted. She was just a kid.” Blaine took a bite of toast. He chewed and swallowed it with a sip of coffee. He set the cup down and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “You’re a cop … has the OPP shared anything about who hit her?”

  “I’m a Kingston cop on vacation.” She ignored his question. “I imagine you’ll be happy to get home after the summer away. Where is home?”

  “I’ve got an apartment in Thunder Bay across from the marina.”

  “Did you sublet
for the summer?”

  “No.”

  She waited a beat. “When’s the last time you saw Rachel?”

  “Ian and I left the restaurant together and she was serving you pie, as I recall. I didn’t see her after that.”

  “Did she ever confide in you about her life?” Kala gave a self-deprecating smile. “I guess I can’t seem to shake sounding like a cop even on vacation.”

  “No worries. We talked, sure, but she never got too personal. It’s not like we had anything in common. She was just a high-school kid, after all.”

  “Did you and Ian go straight back to your cabin after supper last night?”

  “Yeah.” He gave her a sideways glance. “Look, I gotta go.” He pushed back his chair and stood. He turned his face toward the kitchen and raised his voice. “Thanks, Shane.” He grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair and nodded at her. “Catch you later.”

  Kala sipped from her mug and stared out the window at the lake after he’d gone. The sun was fully up, the sky a pale blue with no rainclouds in sight. A good day to be out on the water. The need to be away from the lodge was like a fever making her slightly nauseous. The disquiet that swirled around the restaurant the night before was getting stronger with every conversation. These people had secrets, she had no doubt. She closed her eyes, a sudden wave of fatigue washing over her so that she wanted to weep. What kind of person would kill that young girl and steal her life so cruelly? What possible reason could they have to justify her murder in their own mind? Rachel had been only a year older than Dawn.

  The times she had faced a truly evil person were few. Most killers had a reason — perhaps a crazy reason understandable only to themselves — but a reason all the same for what they did. The nature of Rachel’s murder, beaten with an object on a country road in the middle of nowhere under the cover of darkness and left to die in the culvert, pointed to a crime of passion or opportunity or both. For all intents and purposes, this was a small, closed community, the road travelled mainly by locals as the summer season wound down.

  Kala opened her eyes. This was not a random killing. Rachel’s murderer had targeted her. Rachel had angered or threatened someone desperate to keep her quiet, and this knowledge led to a second truth: Rachel’s death would haunt Kala forever if she turned her back and walked away.

  Dawn helped to carry the canoe to the water and took her place in the front with the ease of an experienced paddler. Kala held the canoe steady while Taiku got in and settled in the middle. He’d been her companion over numerous canoe trips since he was a pup and knew to lie quietly at her feet. Kala steered the boat in the opposite direction from the day before. They passed Pine Hollow tucked in on the rocky shore and settled into a comfortable rhythm, Kala matching her strokes to Dawn’s. The cabins set back from the water’s edge tapered away into jagged unbroken forest. A thick line of black spruce, Jack pine, and balsam guarded the deeper wilderness inhabited by northern wildlife: moose, deer, bear, beaver, fox, and wolf. Clumps of white pine topped rocky outcroppings with hemlock and cedar filling lower-lying boggy valleys. Sunlight glinted off the layers of rock — granite laced through with pinkish quartz and glinting black silica. In the distance, as far as the eye could see, were steep, rounded hills dark with thick stands of conifer trees. Away from shore the mosquitoes and deer flies were bothersome, but manageable since Kala had thought to spray them both with insect repellant before setting out.

  After three hours of steady paddling, when she could see that Dawn was tiring, they pulled the canoe onto a sandy curve of shoreline nestled in a wide bay. Driftwood, bleached bone-white by the sun, lay scattered across the sand. They separated and collected enough wood to build a fire that would keep away the flies while Taiku inspected the shoreline and darted in and out of the woods. Fire built, Kala and Dawn sat side by side on a log smoothed by time and tides. They ate the sandwiches Dawn had made before setting out, washing them down with bottles of water and topping them off with apples and the molasses cookies that Kala had packed in Kingston. Worn out, Taiku snoozed after eating his bowl of dog food.

  “It’s so quiet out here,” Dawn said. “We could be the only two people left in the world.”

  Kala slid into the sand, her legs stretched out in front of her and her back resting against the log. A dragonfly landed next to her but darted away when Taiku lifted his head. She poked at the fire with a stick, and orange sparks crackled into the air. The lake was grey-blue, and a soft wind ruffled the surface. “Are you glad we came?” she asked. Dawn hadn’t said more than a couple of words since she’d lit the fire.

  Dawn was quiet a moment longer. “I didn’t think I would be, but I am.” She pulled her sketch pad and pencils from her bag and the urn that held her father’s ashes. “I want to capture this place. Fisher will be at peace here.”

  Kala looked up at her adopted niece. “You’re sure? We have lots of time to look further.”

  Dawn nodded her face lifted to the sun, eyes closed. “I’m sure. Before we leave.”

  “Then this is the place.”

  Kala drowsed in the sun’s warmth along with Taiku while Dawn sketched. When the sun was still at its peak Dawn took the urn containing Fisher’s ashes and they waded into the lake together. She looked at Kala. “Would it be wrong to say something?”

  “Say whatever you feel in your heart.”

  “Okay.” Dawn opened the lid of the urn. “I didn’t know you for long, Dad, but I always knew you … inside. Your heart was good and your spirit will journey with me. I’ll love you forever.” She tipped the urn and let Fisher’s ashes float on the wind and fall into the water. “You’re home now.”

  Kala said a silent prayer and put an arm around Dawn’s shoulders. “This is a good place,” she said. “Your father’s returned to the wilderness, where he was happiest.”

  “He’s been coming to me in dreams. Now his soul can rest.”

  They returned to shore hand in hand and Kala tamped out the fire, burying the ashes under the sand. They collected their belongings and walked to the water’s edge where they’d turned the canoe on its side. They righted it and Taiku took his place in the centre. Dawn got in next and Kala pushed the boat into deeper water before climbing in. They started back the way they’d come. When they rounded the bend, Dawn lifted her paddle and rested it across her lap. She turned half sideways to look at Kala. Kala let her paddle rest in the water and the canoe bobbed in the swell. She waited, not sure what Dawn was going to say.

  “You have to help find who killed Rachel. You’re the only one who can.” Dawn’s eyes were dark and earnest.

  “There are others.”

  “But I know you’ll be the one. I’d want you to find my killer if … if that ever happened to me.” Dawn smiled and squared back around. She picked up the paddle and resumed pulling it through the water in long, even strokes without looking back.

  A shiver travelled up Kala’s spine despite the warmth of the day. Was this a premonition or leftover worry from Dawn’s recent ordeal in the spring when she’d come close to being killed? Should Kala pack up their things and take Dawn back to the safety of Kingston? But even home hadn’t proven safe in the end.

  She’d fought so hard against the fears of her childhood, to face the world head-on. She wouldn’t let fear determine her actions now. Dawn was strong, too. Stronger than she’d been at the same age. Kala drew her paddle through the water and stilled the worry in her mind. Dawn had given her blessing to proceed with the investigation and that is what she would do. Track Rachel’s killer and make them pay for what they’d done. Stop whoever was responsible before they killed again.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Clark was once again standing on Stonechild’s dock when her canoe rounded the point. He watched its steady progress toward shore and thought about how best to approach her. They’d worked together three years out of the Nipigon–Red Rock detachment and most of that time on solo shifts. She liked working alone; he knew that much. Didn’t look back
once she moved on. Jordan was still pining after her even though he hadn’t heard from her in three years. Last time they got together, Clark had told Jordan he was an idiot and to get on with his life, but he’d replied that there was something about Kala Stonechild he couldn’t shake.

  Clark crouched on the dock and guided the canoe alongside, holding the boat while the girl and the dog climbed out. Dawn gave him a quick smile before she and the dog started toward the cabin. Stonechild manoeuvred the canoe onto the sand and stepped into the water. Her feet were bare and her torn jeans rolled up to the knees. With her long black hair loose and brown face glowing from the sun, she looked more rested than the day before. He could admit that he’d been attracted to her once, before she got tangled up with his brother, and before Valerie. He still might be if things were different, but that was a thought best left alone. She tossed a bag onto the ground and grabbed the bow of the canoe.

  “I’ve come to plead my case,” he said, grabbing the other end. They lifted the canoe and started walking up the hill toward the trees.

  “I’ve decided to help you,” she said, without breaking stride.

  He’d been preparing to counter her refusal and was momentarily at a loss for words. They reached the pines and rolled the canoe over. He straightened. “Do you mind if I ask what changed your mind?”

  “You can ask, but I don’t have to tell you.” She shot him a quick grin and picked up the paddles. “Coffee?”

  “Yeah. That’d be good.”

  He followed her into the cabin and took a stool at the kitchen counter. Stonechild filled him in on her meetings with the other lodgers while she waited for the coffee to brew. She filled one mug and slid it across the counter in his direction as she took a seat across from him. She’d poured a glass of water for herself. “So what’s our plan?” she asked. “By the way, you might need my staff sergeant to approve this.”