They would do the same. They were better equipped, less fatigued, and much warmer. They would find her. She would have to stop more often. She had been in the water much longer than they had.
◆◆◆
Dina had only to allow the current to carry her, swimming when necessary to avoid the larger submerged boulders. She was cold, so cold. She’d begun to shiver as her body tried to retain heat. Her hands were becoming numb, her limbs harder to move. She would have to swim to shore, find something to eat, and warm herself. She set out for the bank, watching for somewhere to pull herself out. She saw drift logs caught at the beginning of a small island in the shallows of the broad river and made for them. As she neared the island’s shore, the water slowed and became less cold. She pulled herself into the calm pool created by a broad, curving indentation in the island’s tip. The pool felt to her as warm as bathwater. Dina pulled herself out, found a flat rocky spur inland a few feet, and lay on its surface. The rock was warm from the sun and she soon fell into a profound sleep.
Dina awoke slowly as the rock cooled. She lay for a while listening to the river, then drew her aching body under her and stood. She looked upstream, saw nothing, watched both sides of the shore, and again saw nothing. Then she worked her way down the island to the rock-strewn far end. She had only a couple of hours before the sun left the wide valley, she knew, and then she would be vulnerable. She would have to stop for the night. For now, though, it would be the river once again.
She left the island’s warm rock beach, feeling the cold grab her again as the current carried her downstream. The river was still swift and deep and getting wider. It ran straight now, down the broad valley, the firs and cedars pushing down the sides of the basin to the water line. Every minute or two, Dina turned completely around in the water and looked behind her as well as she could. Even this low in the river she could see some distance, but it was hard to distinguish anything from the occasional floating debris and the humps and troughs caused by underwater boulders and shifts in the bedrock. She simply kept herself afloat, wasting as little energy as she could, letting the river carry her east.
She was so cold she no longer shivered, and she was tired. On occasion, her head dipped beneath the water and she came up coughing. She knew she would have to leave the river soon or she would simply sink below the surface and drown. She would not have enough left to pull herself to the surface again. Once again, she turned around in the water, and when she straightened this time, she was sure she saw movement on the waterline behind her—a blue-green swirling motion above the water. She gasped, kicking hard. She turned downriver again, frozen in terror now, and saw the deep green mass of an island, large enough to split the river, forcing it to each side like the prow of a great ship.
She studied the way the water flowed as well as she could and chose the side that seemed narrower. It would flow less strongly, she knew, but it would be easier for her to try for the shore and not be carried past. She began to angle her way toward that side of the river, swimming slowly, her arms and feet without much feeling.
She made the channel she sought, barely, and was therefore close to shore. The water remained deep. The island’s shore was lined with low cliffs. She could not beach herself anywhere she could see, so she continued to float downstream. She moved on, the low cliffs unrelenting. She felt disheartened. She could not remember ever being this tired. Her body needed rest. It felt too sore from the battering it had taken, along with the cold and the river. She had to rest and feed herself.
Suddenly, the island shelved back, a sandy rock-strewn beach appearing in front of the retreating cliffs. A small stream tumbled down and pooled as it met the river. In that pool, Dina saw two strips of colour, one yellow, the other bright red. She swam toward them. They were kayaks! Two kayaks! She swam harder. As she neared the pool, she saw the thin stream of smoke rising and began to cry with relief. She spluttered and sobbed as she struggled the last few meters to the rear of the kayaks. Two figures appeared in front of her and grabbed her under the arms.
◆◆◆
Dina sat next to the small fire, a bedroll draped over her shoulders, her body shaking with cold and relief. She suppressed sobs as tears still pooled in her eyes and ran down her cheeks. The man and woman who had found her made hot tea laced with sugar. She knew the hunters would not involve themselves now. She was the quarry and she would have to be taken on their terms. A second cup of hot tea appeared in her hands and she drank. The woman brought her a pair of boots, too large for her small feet, but with the heavy socks, a good way to protect them. The two asked nothing, just tended to her. When she had warmed sufficiently to stop the shaking, they would ask about her, she knew.
An hour later, they knew her story. The woman called emergency services, gave their location, and told Dina that a recue craft was on its way with medics on board. She was tall and willowy, dark-haired, and as young as Dina herself. Her name was Elizabeth, and her husband, who was stirring some stew in a small pot so that it wouldn’t burn, was David.
“I know you’ve had a miserable time of it and you’re pretty battered, but can you tell us again how you happened to be in the river? You weren’t very coherent before, naturally. We could help explain things when the medics get here.” She looked concerned and curious.
David handed a mug of stew to Dina. “Be careful, it’s hot.”
Between mouthfuls, she began again, this time careful to give them the history in a kind of logical sequence, as well as she could.
“Then you can’t identify who took you?” Elizabeth asked.
“I never saw them. I know there were two, but I can’t explain how I know. They left me in that pit. I have no idea where it is or how I got there, but I can’t have been there very long. I’m sorry, I just don’t know who they were.”
“No need for that, no need for anything now, just eat and rest. We’ll find you some clothes when you finish and get you ready for the trip out. You’ve been through enough for any ten people.”
◆◆◆
While Dina recovered by the small cook fire, Elizabeth watched near the shore for the rescue boat. Another day and they’d have missed her, she thought. It’s only a day’s paddle from the coast and the camper, and they’d only stopped on this island because they didn’t want the trip to end. They’d had a grand time with this river, and the portages had been something else, especially the long one down the rapids. Would have been fun to shoot those, but not with the gear on this trip. She looked again downriver as she heard the faint buzz of a motor.
She was curious about the rescue craft and the crew. They were all from a coast guard rescue station a couple of kilometers up island, and she knew the estuary was shallow and labyrinthine, tough to get up. They’d made good time. Suddenly the buzz turned to a roar as the big inflatable cleared the end of the island and ran up towards her. She waved her flashlight and the craft slowed and turned in.
A couple of the crew jumped into the shallows and hauled the big boat up as far as they could, anchoring the painter around a fir. The medics unloaded their bags and followed her to the campsite. While they ministered to Dina, Elizabeth and David told the crew what they knew. The questions were thorough and pointed, especially about the girl’s pursuers, and once they’d given the men all they knew, one walked away and made some calls. They were short.
The medics loaded Dina on a gurney, strapped her down for the trip back, and were working their way down the stony beach to the inflatable when the one with the phone came back.
“We’ll have an ambulance waiting at the station for her, and we’ll need you two to come in as soon as you can. There are some detectives on the way up from Harbour City, and they’ll have questions for you. I apologize for the inconvenience, but we need you to follow us downriver and meet with them. How soon can you be ready?”
David looked back at the camp and considered for a moment. “A half hour to pack, and we’ll be on the river. If we have clear passage down, we’ll be
fast enough, but the estuary will take some time. There’s a couple of clicks or so up to the station. I don’t know, before dark anyway, if we’re lucky.”
“There’s nothing downriver to worry about. It’s broad and deep all the way. Current’s good and fast until the estuary. I’m going to send a man up in another boat to meet you where the river starts to divide. He’ll bring you and your kayaks in to the station. Save you some time and keep the detectives happy. I’ll get your gear and boats to wherever you’re based.”
He shook hands with them and turned toward the rescue craft already floating, the motor burbling gently, one man holding the painter. Then the two men jumped in and the craft turned on a dime, worked its way into the center of the river.
◆◆◆
The two men swam hard downstream. They were fit, well rested, and more able to stand the cold water. They made good time. They passed the small island that Dina had rested on, checked carefully for signs as they floated by, saw none, and continued downstream.
They saw the big island up ahead splitting the river. The older brother considered what the girl would do. He thought she’d probably take the narrower channel and wait out the night. But then she was clever, determined, and strong, so maybe she’d take the main channel and beach later. He swam into calmer water near the shore and continued to tread water, drifting slowly downstream, his brother beside him.
They heard the power boat plowing upstream before they saw it and watched it curve toward the narrow channel at the bottom of the island. The older cursed. If only he’d followed his original instinct and taken the narrow channel himself, he would have had her. He realized he’d outthought himself and cursed again. He began to swim upstream along the large island’s outer shore, his brother following. They rounded the tip together, drifted down until the inflatable was in sight, and slid to shore.
They saw the brightly coloured kayaks and watched as the medics carried the girl on a stretcher through the shallows and loaded her into the inflatable. The older brother swam upstream using the island as a shield against the current, then swam hard against the river’s pull toward the shore. His brother followed.
They heard the inflatable’s engine as it hit the main stream of the river just as they beached. They rested on the river’s flood plain before climbing the ridge and descending to face the river once more on the other side of the oxbow. They swam upstream again against the current, coming to rest above the gorge but lower than they had been. From that point, they both knew it was only about an hour home cross country, since they weren’t tracking anyone. And that was good, the older one thought, because they had to fix the pit, extend the top so that what had happened could not happen again, and reach town in time to hunt that night.
They knew the woods around them intimately and moved quickly toward the cabin. This was their natural habitat, their home. They could travel here with certainty and speed.
There were already cut logs behind the cabin in the bush, trimmed to length, and they had enough rope to enlarge the top covering the pit. They carried the short logs together when they could, pulled them by rope when they couldn’t. They laid them out and bound them tight to the existing logs. They replaced the branches that camouflaged the pit and returned to the cabin to prepare for the night. It was imperative that they replace their lost soul.
By ten, they were on their way. They threaded through the troughs in the tortuous track, the grey SUV in four-wheel drive, until they reached the logging road.
◆◆◆
Alan called Harry, who relayed the message to Sabina and Isabella. “We’re getting picked up in five. Somebody found Dina alive up a bloody river, and we’re all going up to the coast guard station to get the scoop.”
Isabella slammed a drawer in her desk and yelled though the door, “Send what you get, I’ll wait here. Knowing you two, you’ll need something.”
Sabina closed her programs, and the two of them were waiting downstairs when the cruiser, lights flashing, pulled up. Alan threw open the back door and they piled in. Spence peeled rubber, made a turn on Albert, hit the siren, and was up Jinglepot to the bypass in no time. Once on the expressway, she floored it.
Alan tensed as he always did, and Harry sank a little lower in his seat. Sabina was as excited as Spence and spent the drive up-island watching over Spence’s shoulder. They blew the stoplights, barely slowing. Once she made the north cloverleaf into Parksville, she slowed only enough to avoid leaving the road on the turn. Traffic parted as they barrelled along the two-lane into town.
Once on Highway 19, the original highway north, Spence floored it again, blowing through the lights and scaring motorists. A little farther north in the town of French Creek, the sign to the coast guard station flashed by. Spence hit the brakes, throwing everyone forward, reversed, and turned in toward the coast and the Salish Sea. It was a short run and minutes later, they were piling out of the cruiser and making for the doors.
Inside, they met the chief of station, Rob Rowe, who took them straight to the two kayakers and the rest of the crew. They were all drinking coffee and eating sandwiches in the cafeteria. The detectives got the same and sat. Rob introduced Elizabeth and David, and Alan taped the interview. They asked their questions, got all they could, and waited for word on the girl, Dina Onetree.
The kayakers knew a little about Dina’s escape and nothing about her pursuers. For the four detectives, it was a disappointing interview. They learned nothing beyond the rescue and that the two kayakers had fished Dina out of the river. She’d come downriver a long way, they told them, and she was being hunted. They learned she’d escaped from some place in the ground. The rest, they said, was incoherent. Something about being in town, then naked in the bush, and she’d told them she was naked all the way. Elizabeth added that she looked battered and her feet were a mess. She had cuts and bruises from the bush and debilitated from the water. The river was very cold. She didn’t look as if she’d been beaten, just really banged up.
That was as much as they got in the hour they talked to the couple, so they left them there in the cafeteria and went with the chief to his office. They all squeezed into a space far too small for them and stood around the walls.
“I brought you in here because I don’t want leaks, and this station leaks like a sieve what with all the support staff. If that girl was hunted, we need to keep it under wraps. This has something to do with that serial psycho you guys are hunting, doesn’t it?”
Alan looked steadily at him. “Yes, Chief, it does, but that’s all you get. The investigation is ongoing and classified. Whatever you picked up, we need to know.”
“Four of you here, this girl must be important, I mean for your investigation. I can’t give you much more than you heard already from that pair, but maybe the paramedics can, at least on her injuries if nothing else.” He picked up the phone and asked for them.
While they were waiting, the chief explained that the medics were in a separate facility just down the road and would take a few minutes to get there. They waited in the cramped office and he filled them in on what he knew. It wasn’t much as far as the girl was concerned, but it was a lot when it came to where she’d been.
He knew the river and the surrounding bush well. “There’s a junction of the two rivers here. She must have come downriver a long distance, from about here to here, beyond the huge oxbow farther upstream. The junction, especially the larger one, is difficult. Given her condition, couldn’t have come down the large river. She must have come around the oxbow somehow.”
Rowe showed them the rivers on the large map on the wall and how they flowed and where they went. “The girl’s condition, she must have used the one river for quite a distance upstream as an escape route. She had no shoes and the kayakers said the girl told them she’d been naked since her escape.” He pointed to a large swath of green on the map that could be their best bet.
Alan studied it carefully, made some notes, and asked for a copy. They turned as a knock s
ounded on the door.
The two paramedics, Rick and Don, talked mostly about injuries. They were both boaters and fished the river. They pretty much agreed with the chief’s version of things, given the various injuries and their likely causes.
The four detectives and the others waited once again in the cafeteria for news of Dina. The two kayakers, David and Elizabeth had been taken to their camper van along with their kayaks. He had their itinerary and gave a copy to Alan. They’d be in a local motel until they were told they could leave.
The medics excused themselves, and Rowe sent his men back to work. Alan asked more about the river, and the chief talked until his cell buzzed.
When he finished, he turned to his visitors. “She’s been sedated and airlifted to Harbour City Regional. My guys stayed with her until the docs sent them away, but the girl didn’t talk. They got nothing we don’t already know. Sorry guys, but that’s all as far as we’re concerned. Keep in touch. I’d like to know how this turns out.”
He shook hands with all four and went back to run his station. Spence, Harry, and Sabina sat with more coffee while Alan called the hospital. Finally, Spence stood. “When we get this prick, I’d like a few minutes alone with him.”
Alan entered the room and Spence said, “We need to get to the hospital. Talk to the girl.”
Alan shook his head. “That’s not going to happen for a while. We’ll drop you two back at your office.”
Alan stopped a couple of times on their way back to the cruiser, looking out at the Salish and the islands scattered around offshore. Then he caught up with the others. “She has a lot of courage, that girl. Naked and no shoes and she still got out.”
NIGHT MOVES: The Stroll Murders Page 30