Marie sat next to Carey, holding her hand. It hurt, she was holding on so tight, but Carey didn’t mind. She found it comforting. After a while, one of the men came over to where they were sitting. He’d been at the parties many times before. He signalled to Marie to follow him. She let go of Carey’s hand and followed him, walking on her tiptoes, how she walked most of the time. Like she was treading water. She’s trying not to drown, thought Carey. She wanted to grab her and run away with her. She watched them as they went upstairs.
Seth was in a chair across the room, reading. It looked like he was ignoring Ford, but when he signaled for Seth to follow him upstairs, he did, as though he’d been waiting. Ange left the men and came over to her.
“Carey, I want you to come with me now. Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.” But he always said that, like what he did was okay if he told her he wouldn’t hurt her. He held out his hand and she took it and followed him to a room on the main floor under the staircase. No one else used that room. After, she was going to ask him what happened to Georgina. Seth wouldn’t tell her.
Carey and Ange had returned to the living room and Carey was sitting on the couch. Ange was in the kitchen at the bar, getting them both a drink. She watched as Seth came slowly down the stairs and limped across the room. His lower lip was cut and one of his eyes was starting to purple. He made it to a doorway off the main entrance and retreated into the room there, closing the door behind him. Ange brought Carey a drink and joined her on the couch.
“He’ll be fine,” he said, offering her the drink he’d prepared for her.
Carey took the glass but said nothing.
Ford came down a few minutes later. He helped himself to a drink from a bar set up on the kitchen counter, before sitting down with the others. He brought out a baggie of cocaine, set up some lines on the polished tabletop and started snorting.
“Hey MacLeish, where’s Melanie?” someone asked.
“I don’t know,” said Ford.
“Who’s taking care of the kids,” another asked.
“What’s to take care of? They take care of themselves,” said Ford.
“Just making conversation,” the guy said, a little unnerved by Ford, who now stood, picked up the baggie and walked to the door of the room where Seth had retreated.
“Hey Seth,” Ford bellowed from his side of the door. “I got a present for you buddy.” There was no answer from the room.
“Come on, open up, you know you want it,” he cajoled, but he was answered by silence.
“Seth, open the fucking door now!”
“Ford, please, can’t you leave the boy alone.”
“Fuck off Ange! It’s none of your business.” But Ange wouldn’t be put off.
“You’re in my home and while you’re here,” but that’s as far as he got.
“He’s mine and I’ll treat him any way I want!!” Ford screamed as he rammed a beefy shoulder against the closed door. The wood splintered and with a small sigh, the door opened a few inches. Ford burst through the door and into Seth’s room.
Ange got up from the couch and moved quickly across the living room and through the wrecked door in time to hear Ford sneer, “Don’t play possum with me.” He was oblivious to the fact that Seth was unconscious. Not even an eyelid flickered.
“Leave him alone, Ford,” Ange said. “Can’t you see that he can’t hear you?”
Carey was the only child in the room. She watched as one of the men crossed from the kitchen and entered Seth’s room.
“Is he alive?” She heard him ask.
“Yes,” said Ange.
“He’s just stoned,” Ford said.
“He’s bleeding Ford,” Ange said. “What if he doesn’t make it this time?”
“He’ll be fine,” he said, dismissively. “He just needs to sleep it off.” Nothing more was said. No one argued with Ford. The three men left the room and returned to the kitchen. Carey tried to bury herself in a chair, praying that Ange would stay at least until Ford was gone. It scared her whenever Ford looked at her, but she knew as long as Ange was here, Ford wouldn’t touch her.
Ange could see that Carey was afraid. He walked her over to his house. He made them cocoa and they sat in his living room and he told her about his plans for the two of them. He wanted her to live with him and he was going to get her a tutor so she wouldn’t fall behind in her schoolwork.
Carey didn’t know what to say. She knew it was important to him that she want to come and live with him, so she told him she did. When he was finished, she told him about Christopher being hurt, then she told him about Georgina trying to escape and Seth carrying her into the house, unconscious.
He listened carefully to everything she said, even putting his arm around her when she started to cry. He told her the doctor had operated on Christopher and he would be fine, but he didn’t know where Georgina was and didn’t seem to know that she tried to run away. Carey could see he was upset by that. He told her he was going to make sure Seth was rewarded for taking such good care of the children. Carey was very tired now. Ange got her a blanket and she fell asleep on the couch.
Much later, Ange woke Carey up and brought her back to the gatehouse. All the men were gone. Ange took her upstairs and tucked her in with Marie. He told her he was going to be away for the day tomorrow but that he would see her in the evening. Tomorrow night, he told her, she was going to sleep over at his house.
She pretended to fall asleep and listened to his footsteps as he left the room, descended the stairs and a little later, heard the back door open and close again. Carey waited a few minutes, before she got out of bed and returned to the room where Seth lay. She sat on the bed beside him. He was still unconscious, and his breathing didn’t seem right. The bruise on his eye looked bigger and she could smell blood but was afraid to put on the light.
Carey had only been in the room a few minutes when she heard someone at the back door. Two men came in. One of them was Ange. When she realized they were walking toward Seth’s room, she got under the bed, just in time. The floor creaked softly as they entered Seth’s room. One of them turned on the light.
“Phineas, you have to do something. Ford beats Seth up every single week. Every time he sees him. He can’t take much more. Ford’s going to kill him one of these days, I just know it. I see him looking at Carey. I won’t have him touching her Phineas.” His voice was hoarse with fear.
“Oh, for the love of Christ, Ange. Carey isn’t yours. You can’t keep her! You know that.” Ange said nothing. Both men moved to the side of the bed.
“Where’s Ford now?”
“He’s at the club.”
“And the judge and his pals?”
“Everyone’s at the club; just the children and I are here. Why did it take you so long to get here? I told you I needed to see you. I really don’t think Seth’s going to make it, not this time.”
“Relax Ange,” said Phineas impatiently, “You worry too much. He’s breathing.”
“Look at him, Phineas,” Ange implored. “He’s barely breathing. His pants are soaked with blood. He’s been unconscious for nearly five hours.”
“I think soaked is overstating the case a bit, don’t you? I talked with Ford and he said he got him stoned and that’s why he passed out.”
“Ford’s lying! What if Seth dies here?”
“It’s not a dead body yet,” Phineas said. “I say we wait and see.”
“Phineas, I told you before, I didn’t sign on for murder!” said Ange, fear choking his voice. “You know this isn’t the first time Ford has ... has lost his temper and done something stupid. We’re the ones who have to cover for him. What if he dies here? In my home!”
“No. It isn’t the first time,” said Rhodes, a hint of resignation in his voice. He shook it off quickly. “But the money’s good, isn’t it? And I know you don’t mind the money. None of us do.”
“It’s not about the money for me
Phineas. You know that!”
“Ange, give me a break!”
“Are the children going to be here for the rest of the weekend? I want to spend more time with Carey,” said Ange, the young man on the bed temporarily forgotten.
“Only till Tuesday, then they all go down to the States and that’s final, Ange. We need to rethink this whole operation.”
“Who’s going to drive them to the airport?”
“If Seth’s not up to driving by Tuesday, Melanie will be back from Whistler by then. She can drive them.”
“I’d really like to talk to you about something,” but Phineas interrupted him.
“Did you get the judge what he wanted?” he asked, changing the subject.
“He took a lot of stock and we’re out of several of the videos. The log’s up-to-date.”
“Good. I’ll have more stock printed. Videos too. What about the photo shoot this Monday? Might as well take advantage while the kids are here. The sisters who just arrived are very pretty, don’t you think? Danlever is going to shoot this one. He’s really good with the kids.”
“It’d be easier for us if we got everyone to sign up for the web portal,” said Ange.
“That’s the first sensible thing you’ve said all night. And yes, it would be a lot easier for us. But some of these guys have been customers for years. Print, something they can hold in their hand; that’s what they want.” There was a brief silence.
“There is something else Phineas. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about Marie,” Ange said.
“What about her?”
“She’s not eating much and she’s wetting the bed every night. Melanie is furious with her most of the time, which doesn’t help.”
“I know, I know, she told me,” said Phineas. “It makes more work for her.”
“She doesn’t care about the children. Joy is much better with them. Melanie doesn’t even try to get Marie to eat. None of us speak her language. I’m ashamed to say I don’t know what it is.”
“She’s been a problem since we bought her. Probably why we got her for such a good price. I should have known there was a catch.” Phineas couldn’t keep the exasperation out of his voice. “Anyway, that’s a problem soon to be solved. I’ve made arrangements to sell her tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow! Phineas, she’s been with us for four months! Her and Carey are very close. There’s always room for kindness.”
“We’re not a family Ange! This is business.”
“Yes, Phineas, I know that. All I’m saying is,” but Phineas interrupted him again.
“We have other, far more important matters to consider, like that bitch, O’Meara. It was dumb luck that Fred Norse didn’t get himself arrested at Gustafsen Lake. He just barely managed to get away, from the report I read by the Sergeant up there. He blew the axle on his truck and ditched it. Told Ford he was trying to get back home by a back-road route. The stupid jerk, trying to dump the body in his own back yard. If he’d shown some sense and called right away, we could’ve got the truck out of there. Now we have a hell of a mess.”
“Why don’t you have the truck towed? Who would know?”
Phineas shook his head at Ange’s stupidity. “Are you kidding? Vancouver forensics has been up there. And if they can place O’Meara in Fred’s truck …” He didn’t bother to finish the sentence. “Apparently, she’s back at the university, and so is that nosy Latin boyfriend of hers.”
Ange was embarrassed by the turn the conversation had taken. “Maybe I was hasty in expressing a concern about the O’Meara woman. I felt I had to talk with Amelia Boudreau. I promised her father I would. It would have looked very suspicious if I hadn’t, surely you can understand that. How was I to know that O’Meara would be with her! Sure, she was asking questions, but not the right ones. I think it was a little premature to deal with her in that fashion. It was deReesen who jumped on it. Ford can’t think for himself, always so quick to act.” Phineas cut him off angrily.
“I was in complete agreement with them. I made it happen because it had to happen. Christ Ange! That bitch and her girlfriends made a visit to our Vancouver safe house ... our safe house! And Melanie said she was back the same night with another woman and again, early the next morning. She left a fucking note! I’d like to know who gave them that address? I had a chat with Hermes in MPU and the call to Carey’s mother came from a family friend in Vancouver who didn’t identify himself.”
“Do you think it was Seth? Ford thinks it was.”
“No, I don’t. Ford has complete control over him. I checked his phone log and the call definitely wasn’t made on his phone.”
“Maybe he used another phone.”
“Seth’s not bright enough to do something that clever. Besides, why would he. These kids mean nothing to him. It’s possible it was a chance encounter: someone connected with the family happened to see her going in or coming out of the house. A bad break for us, that’s all, just one of those things. Anyway, it’s taken care of. The Franklin house is history.”
“We can use the gatehouse for the children for as long as we need to.”
Phineas continued, as though Ange hadn’t spoken. “All Fred had to do was dispose of the body, the stupid fuck!”
“O’Meara must have been alive when Fred took her up to the lake,” said Ange.
“Do I have to remind you that it was you who brought this unwanted attention on us Ange? If you’d kept your big mouth shut with that uncle up north, none of this would have happened. Then arranging to see O’Meara and the cousin and not clearing it with me first—what the hell were you thinking!”
“Neither O’Meara nor Amelia were a threat. I think we should just leave O’Meara alone and wait for things to die down. They will. Children disappear all the time and no one pays that much attention,” said Ange.
Phineas relented a little, “Good point. Anyway, I think we’re okay. The smear campaign your boy Marvin started at the university has taken off like wildfire. Both O’Meara and her boyfriend have lost all credibility.”
“It has been effective.”
“Although Hermes said that Fernice isn’t buying it. She’s had the O’Meara case linked with Carey’s abduction. Fernice is tough. We might have trouble there.”
“I thought that the Terrace RCMP was refusing to do that?”
“They didn’t see the point, until she convinced them. They agreed to link the cases, but its more politics than anything. You know, native woman, native kid. Makes the police look like they’re doing something. Linking the cases won’t have any impact.
Revier is helping us out up in Terrace. Just to make sure the investigation goes nowhere, he put the word out that Rosaline Bolton is a troublemaker and has no control over her daughter. Carey is quite the wild child. Our Seth has been painted as the boyfriend that’s been around for a while. What’s important is Revier’s story has been given a lot of credence by the Terrace RCMP. I hear from Revier that the investigation is stalled up there, just as we hoped. It’s all good for us.”
“Revier’s not very bright,” said Ange.
“He’s the one who recommended we add your precious Carey,” Phineas reminded him. “And he’s the one that’s been helping us cover our tracks and your mistakes.”
At that, Ange fell silent. He didn’t like Paul Revier. Never had. He was a braggart and full of himself, but he had to admit that Revier had been helpful.
As crown council for Kitimat, Prince Rupert, and Terrace, Revier was privy to a lot of information of value to them. He’d suggested children that wouldn’t be missed too much. He had good connections in other provinces too.
Ange knew Phineas was right. He should be grateful for Revier’s hand in this. Carey was the most wonderful thing that had happened to him in a long time and he didn’t want Phineas to know that he was secretly scheming how he could keep her for himself. It would be just the two of them. A family. Admitting to the depth of his feelings for her both s
urprised and delighted him. He would hire a tutor to teach her—once he had won her over and had her complete trust. That would take time. He understood that and he would be patient and give her all the time she needed. In the meantime, she could continue to live with the other children and when the rest of the children went to the States, Carey would stay here with him. Joy could take care of her. It was perfect really.
All Carey needed was time to get used to the changes in her life. Time to grow to love him. Phineas didn’t have to know any of this—to hell with Phineas and to hell with the rest of them. They were like animals really. They didn’t understand how beautiful the children were. He was different. He was not like them.
“There’s one other thing, Phineas. I sent Seth to pick up stock the other night, and someone had broken into the boat yard.”
“What!”
“It’s okay Phineas. Relax.”
“Relax! For Chrissakes Ange!”
“Seth saw the broken glass. Called me immediately. Someone got in through a small side window. They broke into the inner office, but they didn’t get into the locked cupboards, he’s sure of that. All the stock was there. He brought what was left here.”
“How’d they get into the yard?”
“They cut an opening in the fence at the back of the property. Theo and I found it the next morning,” said Ange.
“You’re sure Seth got all of the stock?”
“It all adds up.”
“It’s possible Seth’s arrival surprised a thief, maybe an addict, looking for cash, or something to sell. It is near the Burrard Reserve. Why isn’t the place alarmed?”
“Penderman didn’t think an alarm was necessary. Obviously, he’s rethinking that,” said Ange.
“And Seth brought the remaining stock here?”
“Yes, all of it. There wasn’t that much at the yard and after tonight, there’s very little. I thought Gregori was coming this weekend?” Ange said, changing the subject abruptly.
“He’s flying in tomorrow,” said Phineas.
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