The first constable gets through to the back hallway, stops, and exclaims, “fuck!”
“What?”
“Don’t think we have to worry about this guy, Dave.”
Dave comes to stand beside his partner. “Holy shit!”
The partially-eaten body of a man in combat fatigues is lying in a massive spill of blood and entrails.
“Won’t be easy to I.D. him,” Dave says, looking down on the man’s head. Most of the face has been eaten. His legs have been gnawed and his torso is torn open from the neck to the groin, spilling intestines onto the floor. “I think it ate his liver,” he says quietly.
They stand, shocked, trying not to gag at the stench of the butchery. In a moment, Dave says, “Well, if there’s an upside, he won’t be very heavy to carry. Let’s make sure there’s no one else in the house, take a bunch of photos, then get a blanket and bundle him up. We need to get the fuck outta here. Whatever did this will be coming back for more. If the fire doesn’t get here first.”
“I’ll call it in,” his partner offers. “Tell ‘em we’re coming in and someone else needs to get out to the rest of the places on our evac list.”
♦ ♦ ♦
DENVER, ASTRID, RICK, Kathy and Wilson sit idly around the dinner table, picking at the remains of the salad and roast. “Well, Rick did his bit and I think his statement was perfect, but I doubt it’ll matter much,” Kathy says. “The judge didn’t seem to be paying much attention. I think his mind’s already made up.”
“He wasn’t even there so we couldn’t get a look at the sick fucker,” Rick tells them. “We got put off all day and finally they announce that his lawyer had an emergency. Don’t you love how they can jerk everyone around? I think they only let me go ahead with my statement because I had to travel to get here.”
“Will you have to come back?” Astrid asks. “Like for the sentencing?”
“I don’t think I’ll bother. I doubt I’m gonna think it’s fair. You know, justice served.”
“When is the sentencing, do you know?” Denver asks.
“Nope, they haven’t said. Could be a month or even longer.”
“Really? Why so long? How can it take a month? It’s not like this is some frickin’ rare crime, sadly,” Astrid says.
“I think they just want a psych evaluation so they can come up with the idea he’s not criminally responsible.”
“I think they would’ve done that before the trial,” Denver opines.
“Yeah. He’s said all along it was an accident, like he only meant to grab her but she fell. Wasn’t his fault she hit her head! What a fuckin’ joke!” Rick draws a quick breath and shakes his head.
“On a brighter note,” Astrid says, “anyone want coffee? I have decaf.”
“I’m sticking with wine,” Kathy says. She takes the wine bottle and at a nod from Astrid, shares it between Astrid’s glass and her own.
“I’m with you,” Astrid agrees. “Wine that comes in a bottle is a rare treat. Not gonna let it go bad!”
“Never any chance of that around here,” Denver says. “You want that last Yorkshire, Rick?”
“I sure do! I gotta tell you, Astrid,” Rick says as he spears the Yorkshire and smothers it in gravy, “these are great!”
“My, er, Bridey’s recipe. They turn out perfect every time.”
“I’ll have to get the recipe,” Kathy says. “I’ve tried lots of times and it’s hit and miss. Rick doesn’t care, though. His family’s German. Yorkshires are more of an English thing.”
“Yup. Bridey’s mother was an English war bride. You know, as awful as she turned out to be, she was good to me. Well, except for that one time. And I don’t know if she even knew what was going on by then. She went to Nechako Manor shortly after, and hasn’t been out since.”
“Speaking of Bridey,” Kathy says, “do you ever go to visit her?”
“No. Why?”
“It’s just that, well, you’ve said you liked her. I was wondering if she might agree to an exhumation order, just to get some DNA, if you asked her? If Hank Senior wasn’t cremated?”
“I don’t think we have to go that far,” Astrid says.
Kathy wonders at the look that passes between Astrid and Denver. It’s brief, and Astrid quickly turns back to Kathy and says, “we have all their things, boxed up, in the basement at Heather’s House. I think they should be able to get DNA off something in there. After, well, after everything, I couldn’t face it myself. I had packers come in and just throw everything into boxes. Didn’t toss out anything. Not even the toothbrushes.”
“That’s right,” Wilson says. “Canada Livestock Records uses twelve mane hairs for DNA testing horses. Doubt they need that many, think they just wanna be sure they got one or two pulled out by the root instead of broke off. You’d think there’d be hairs on something, at least.”
“Would she, Bridey I mean, have to give permission for that?” Kathy asks.
“I don’t know. Why don’t you call Penny and ask? Meantime, I don’t think we should wait until we find out. Since you’re leaving tomorrow, we should go and see what we can find tonight. If it turns out it’s illegal, we don’t have to tell anyone.”
“You think you’ll be okay with that, babe?” Denver asks.
“Of course she will! I’ll be with her,” Kathy assures him. “And it’s nothing compared to fighting off kidnappers! Remember, she’s the girl who nearly knocked that bastard on his ass!”
“How about you wait until after the news?” Denver suggests. “I’m gonna go with you. Just to help, because there’s a lot of stuff to go through. But I’d like to find out what’s happenin’ with that fire first. It was headin’ for one of our leases last I heard.”
“They said on the noon news it was ninety percent under control thanks to the rain,” Wilson tells them. He checks his watch and gets to his feet. “Think it mostly stayed on the other side of the mountain. Couple of houses burned. One up on Bear Mountain Haul Road. News’ll be comin’ on now.” He heads into the living room and turns the TV on.
“Oh yeah?” Denver exclaims. “Bear Mountain Haul Road? Only one house I know of up there!” He calls after Wilson, “Did they say if anyone was inside? Wonder if Bear Man made it out.”
“Denver!” Astrid says sharply.
Denver grins and says, “I know. He’s too deaf to hear my question.”
“No I ain’t!” Wilson calls back. “They ain’t said nuthin’ ‘bout no one kilt in the fire but someone got kilt by a bear, likely fleein’ the fire. And look here now! Somethin’ went down at the Lodge.”
Denver gets up and heads for the living room, with Rick right behind.
“Bring your wine,” Astrid tells Kathy, and the two women join the men, watching the reporter with the yellow “do not cross” plastic tape across the Bear Mountain Lodge gates behind her. She’s describing the rescue of seven girls and women from cells deep inside the sprawling log building in the distance.
“One man believed to be from Dark River is in custody,” the reporter says, “and that’s all we’re being told at the moment. They promise an update at a press conference tomorrow morning. Back to you, Sophie.”
“You were right, babe,” Denver admits, and blows out a long breath. “I think we now know why that guy was tryin’ to grab you.”
There’s stunned silence, then Denver says, “but when I called it in, Jacques said he didn’t think the pendant was enough to get a search warrant for the Lodge, no proof the guy wearing it lived there, after all. You were going to give him your statements about the assault today, if Kathy hadn’t been in the courthouse in Prince George all day. If nothing else, he was going to go up and ask some questions in hopes he’d see the guy wearing the pendant. He couldn’t just stumble across this when he went to do that. There must be more to this.”
The story of the bear mauling comes on next. The news anchor says the victim hasn’t been identified, pending notification of next of kin.
“I wonde
r if it could be that bear we ran afoul of,” Astrid muses.
“Maybe he got that crazy guy,” Kathy suggests. “It would be a fitting end for him. Unpleasant, but fitting.”
Lisey comes into the living room from the back hall and stands in front of the TV, staring at the news anchor.
“Lisey, we can’t see through you,” Astrid says.
“IT’S BEAR MAN,” Lisey declares. She nods her head vigorously, spins and trots back out to the hall.
“Denver,” Astrid says quietly, “what do you think she means?”
“I think it means that kid has a big imagination along with her big ears.”
Astrid sighs. “Well, it’s kinda creepy, but if she thinks he’s gone and she doesn’t have to build a fort around her bed to be able to sleep, I’m glad.”
The news hour over, everyone gets up to go either to Heather’s House or the barn for night chores. Astrid and Kathy clear the table and load the dishwasher. As Astrid passes the kitchen window, she looks out to see an RCMP cruiser pull up to the garage. Sergeant Villeneuve gets out from behind the wheel. and a woman gets out the driver’s side.
“Den! It’s Sergeant Villeneuve!” Astrid calls out. “And there’s someone with him. In a long skirt? Oh, it’s Kiersten!”
They both come up to the door, arriving there just as Astrid opens it.
Astrid says, “Kiersten! And Sergeant Villeneuve, hello.”
“I hope it’s not too late to drop in on you,” Sergeant Villeneuve says. “We had to go by here anyhow.”
“No, come on in! What’s going on?”
“I let her tell you.”
“Well, come in, don’t mind the mess, we haven’t cleared up from supper yet. Have you guys eaten? There’s left overs.”
“Not for me, tanks, but maybe Kiersten?”
“I, er…no thank you.”
Everyone comes into the kitchen and hellos go all around. Sergeant Villeneuve and the other men take seats at the table, while the women slide onto stools at the island.
“I know you’re a red wine drinker. Kiersten. I don’t have red,” Astrid says, “but you look like you might not mind a glass of white.”
“That would be fine,” Kiersten nods.
Kathy gets a glass and fills it from the box in the fridge. She passes it to Kiersten and climbs onto the stool next to her. “We went up to the Lodge to look for you yesterday, Kiersten, like you suggested, but when we got there, instead of you meeting us, a man came out and he was wearing my pendant and I... and then he grabbed my arm and… well anyway, we figured you weren’t there even though you said you were and we didn’t know why you would do that!”
“I was there. My phone was taken away.”
Sergeant Villeneuve says, “she was one who was rescued. You see about the human trafficking on duh news, maybe?”
“Yeah. Just now,” Astrid replies.
“But you didn’t find the girls when you went to ask about Kathy’s pendant, did you Jacques?” Denver asks.
“No. Dere’s an informant. And before I forget, you will get your necklace back, Katy.”
“Oh my god, Kiersten! They were selling people! But for a handy bouquet of flowers, we might’ve been with you,” Kathy tells her.
“Flowers?”
“A story for another time,” Astrid says. “But how did you end up there?”
“My boyfriend, Clint…” Kiersten lets out a sob and can’t continue.
“Your boyfriend’s name is Clint?” Kathy gasps. “That’s the guy who accosted me that morning at Dot’s!”
“It’s okay, Kiersten,” Astrid says as she hands her a box of Kleenex. “You’re safe, and you’re with friends who know what you’ve been through. You don’t have to talk about it now.”
“Duh reason I bring ‘er ‘ere,” Sergeant Villeneuve tells everyone, “for a few days she need a place to stay. She ‘ave only what she’s wearing, so till she gets ‘er banking and so on, I wondered about Heather’s House.”
“No, no, she doesn’t have to go to Heather’s. She can stay here,” Astrid says. “But what happened to your, er, banking?”
“Everything’s gone,” Kiersten says quietly after blowing her nose. “All my i.d., credit cards, bank cards. Clothes. Everything burned up.”
“At Clint’s? Clint’s house burned?” Astrid asks.
“No. He… he’s the one who…” she begins crying softly and pulls another Kleenex out of the box.
“Mr. Reardon, looks like ‘e is involved. ‘E is in jail till ‘e post bail,” Sergeant Villeneuve explains. “Dere’s no one so far who post it for ‘im.”
“Not even his boss?”
“He’s dead,” Kiersten says. “The bear got him.”
“Oh, my god!” Kathy exclaims. “That’s who the unidentified victim is! But you know who he is, don’t you, Kiersten? The Vampire?”
“I only know him as Bearon.”
“Look like dis Bearon, ‘e don’t exist,” Sergeant Villeneuve says.
“He has tattoos, though,” Kiersten contributes. “A really beautiful one of a bear on his shoulder. And some that look like jailhouse tats.”
“If he was in jail, his fingerprints would be on record,” Denver says.
“Dey would be. ‘Ave you seen a body predators ‘ave been at it?”
“Oh.”
“We might get some partials. Might be able to I.D. ‘im trew ‘is tattoos, too. Dere’s one on ‘is arm wit a woman’s name.”
“Yeah. I asked him who she was,” Kiersten says. “He said she was nobody. But you don’t tattoo a nobody’s name on your arm.”
“You saw him sometime when it wasn’t dark?” Astrid asks.
“I, er, I was living with him.”
“Oh, Kiersten! I thought you didn’t like him! You broke up with Clint to go and live with him?”
“Not by choice,” Kiersten murmurs. She makes eye contact with Astrid, then drops her head and studies the countertop.
“Oh.”
Quiet settles over the group as the implications sink in. Finally, Kathy asks, “so the Vampire’s, Bearon’s, house burned?”
“Yeah, in duh forest fire out on Bear Mountain Haul Road,” Sergeant Villeneuve explains. “Dat’s why she lose everyting.”
“Oh! Bear Mountain Haul Road! I bet it’s the guy Astrid and I, er, met if you call that run-in we had, meeting him,” Kathy says. “He scared the shit outta us.”
“Me too. And pretty much everyone else,” Kiersten says. “But he’s…he was the boss. He owned the Lodge. That’s why I went to work there.”
Kathy draws a deep breath and thinks about what it was like for Kiersten, having to live with that awful man. Having no choice.
“So,” Astrid says, breaking into Kathy’s thoughts, “do you remember the woman’s name? In his tattoo?”
“Yes. Jeanie,” Kiersten responds.
“Oh my god!” Kathy exclaims. “I know who he is!”
Thirty-four
One Year Later
A VERY PREGNANT Sarah comes waddling up the steps onto the deck and taps on the patio door.
“Come in,” Kathy calls as she comes through the kitchen and gives the young woman a wave.
Sarah slides the door open and comes in.
“Everything okay?” Kathy asks.
“Yeah, sure, I just came to raid your herb patch.”
“You know you can come and cut whatever you want, whenever you want. You don’t have to ask,” Kathy tells her. “But since you’re here, how about some iced tea? I have a pitcher in the fridge.”
“That would be perfect.”
“Go sit on the deck. I’ll bring you some. You don’t mind if I drink a glass of wine in front of you, do you?”
“No, that’s fine. I was never much of a wine drinker.”
“At your age, I wasn’t either,” Kathy says. “I guess it takes time to develop a taste for it. Don’t worry. You’ll get there!”
They share a chuckle, and then Sarah turns and goes back o
utside. She’s in a chair at the table under the pergola when Kathy comes out with the tray.
Before Kathy has a chance to sit, Sarah blurts out, “I’m going to miss you so much!”
“I know. I’ll miss you, too. Think of it this way: you’ve got an awesome place to go for a holiday any time you want, and you can stay for as long as you want.”
“That’ll be nice. Not the same, though.”
“Maybe better, Sarah! You’ll have Jeanie and her kids right here. She’ll be more help to you with the baby than I would be, with all her experience. And with Skype and Facetime, your Dad and I are just a call away. And of course, we’re staying until after your little boy is born.”
“I know,” Sarah sniffs. After a moment, she says, “Jeanie’s looking forward to moving into the big house. I don’t know if I could live there, like permanently. I keep thinking about Mutti, you know, being murdered there. It creeps me out.”
“Ghosts?”
“No, not really. It’s just, the thought haunts me.”
“Really? I’m sorry, I didn’t know. You’ve been bothered about that all these months?”
“I try not to think about it. Jeanie says it doesn’t bother her but I think it could be part of the reason she’s going to have the kitchen renovated before she moves in.”
“You could be right.”
“Anyway, I’ll be glad to move into this nice new house. And no rent? We just have to look after the farm? It’s a real good start for us. I can’t thank you enough.”
“You’re welcome. And you have thanked me enough.”
They sit in companionable silence for a few moments, then Sarah asks, “but you really don’t mind moving again? Being uprooted again?”
“You know, I moved so much I guess I’m kind of used to it.” Kathy absent-mindedly strokes her mutilated ear. “Bad memories for me here, you know. I guess I never really put down roots. If not for your Dad, I don’t think I would have stayed in Pillerton in the first place.” She takes another sip of wine, and continues, “when I think that all those years growing up, when I wanted so badly to have a brother or sister like all the other kids, I had a brother right here and never knew it. A full brother, the sibling I went searching for, was right here all those years. He was such a cute little kid, too. Adored Jeanie. Those two were almost joined at the hip.”
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