The Frailty of Flesh

by Sandra Ruttan

  The PoMo police officers, Parker in particular, had given Ashlyn attitude about her orders. She was right, but that wasn’t even what nagged at Tain now.

  Something Sims said, about why he sent men back out there, and something else about Christopher Reimer that wasn’t adding up.

  Before Ashlyn could ask what he was thinking he said, “Do you have an address for that witness?”

  She nodded. “I just hope he has something useful for us.”

  Even this early in the afternoon traffic was already starting to build. In British Columbia’s Lower Mainland, at this time of day rush-hour traffic flowed west to east, from Vancouver through the Greater Vancouver Area. The Tri-Cities of Port Moody, Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam were not just home to thousands of people. They were a traffic corridor to Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, even Mission.

  And like so many Canadian cities the GVA was hampered by its habitat. With the Burrard Inlet, along with the parks and mountains, to the north; the Fraser River to the south; and cities on every other side there was no real room for growth. Like Burnaby and New Westminster, the Tri-Cities were bursting at the seams and the only way to expand was up, which could explain why high-rise condominiums reached to the sky wherever developers could gain access to enough land to build on.

  The traffic would get much worse over the next few hours, but it was already enough to test Craig’s patience. That, and being forced to bring Luke Geller with him.

  As they crossed the bridge over the Coquitlam River Craig’s cell phone rang. He flipped it open and lifted it to his right ear as he shoulder-checked and switched lanes, preparing for a left turn.

  “Craig Nolan.”

  “Emma Fenton.”

  It took him a moment to unclench his jaw. “I have nothing to say to you.”

  “How can you be so sure? You haven’t even heard what I have to say.”

  The advance turning light flashed and Craig did a quick check to make sure the traffic from the other direction understood red meant stop before proceeding across the Lougheed Highway.

  He lowered his voice. Luke could still hear him, but that wasn’t the point. It made him sound less angry than he felt. “I don’t have time for this.”

  “I—”

  He snapped the phone shut without listening to more.

  From the corner of his eye Craig could see Luke glance at the phone in his hand and then his face, but Craig didn’t offer an explanation. He could feel the burn in his skin. Despite the fact that he was a younger officer he’d already dealt with his share of negative press and he had no desire for more.

  Especially not when it involved his dad. And not when it could keep him from getting back on regular rotation.

  Just before they reached Ulster Street he slowed down well below the speed limit and surveyed the area. He was approaching the south end of the road his parents lived on, and to his right was a wooded area with walking trails that led through Hyde Creek Nature Reserve.

  Nothing seemed unusual or out of place. When he turned on to Ulster Street he continued slowly. Steve and Alison Daly’s home was on a residential road, with a number of houses lining both sides. The south end was filled with newer homes in more modern, similar styles while the north end contained some of the older homes in the area that could not be classified as cookie-cutter houses. Each was distinctive enough in shape, siding or features to be easily identified. There were a few cars parked on the road, but not as many as usual, which Craig attributed to the fact that many people still hadn’t returned from work.

  When he reached the end of the street he turned on Apel Drive and drove a short distance. Luke frowned, looked about to speak, but in the end stayed silent. Craig turned the vehicle around.

  Steve and Alison Daly lived in a home near the north end of Ulster Street. Craig’s dad had a good eye for property and had bought a handful of houses over the years. After strategic repairs he’d been able to sell some and make a decent profit.

  This had been an untapped area for a long period of time, and the Dalys had moved when houses were still cheap by Lower Mainland standards. It meant they had an older home, one that was unique.

  It meant it wasn’t likely an intruder got the wrong house if they were targeting Steve and Alison Daly.

  Craig parked and got out of the vehicle.

  Luke followed. “How do—”

  “I have a key.”

  It only took a second for Craig to locate the right one. Once the door was unlocked he nudged it open. “Alison? It’s Craig.”

  No response. He stepped inside and reached for his gun.

  The ground level included a two-car garage, a laundry room, furnace room, two bedrooms, a full bathroom and rec room with a kitchenette. Similar homes utilized the rec room, bathroom and bedrooms as a rental suite, since there was a private entrance off a patio from the backyard. Steve and Alison had never rented out that section of the ground floor.

  Upstairs there were three bedrooms plus a den, two full bathrooms, a dining room, kitchen and living room. Alison had said she’d locked herself in the master bedroom.

  In the hallway leading from the entry there were drops of blood on the tile.

  “No sign of forced entry, though.”

  Craig turned. Luke was standing in the doorjamb.

  “There’s another entrance in the back. Watch yourself.” Craig pointed to the floor. The entry opened up to a staircase on the far left, against the outer wall, a hallway leading to the other rooms on the ground level, and to the right a wall bordered the garage, then the laundry room and furnace area. He moved to the wall that ran under the stairs, where a storage and coat closet were located. There wasn’t as much blood there, but he still moved cautiously, careful not to disturb anything.

  When he’d spoken to Alison he’d had the impression someone had broken in while she was out, that she’d returned to discover her home had been invaded. He’d allowed himself to be distracted by his annoyance that she hadn’t reported the incident properly and hadn’t pressed her for more details.

  Now it all made sense. Alison had locked herself in the bedroom because she was afraid the intruder was still in the house.

  Craig slowly made his way along the wall, careful to watch where he stepped while listening for the sound of movement from someone other than himself and Luke. The house was still. He opened the closet door and checked it. Clear.

  When he got to the end of the hallway he moved to the other side and gestured for Luke to follow. They took positions outside the laundry room door, guns drawn, and opened it. Empty. The furnace room was also empty. Craig paused at the next door. When Luke was in position Craig reached across for the handle, turned it slowly and nudged the door open.

  It led to another hallway on the other side. To the right the hallway passed two bedrooms. On the left side there was a full bathroom, followed by a kitchenette. The other end of the hallway opened up to the rec room. There were still drops of blood on the floor, scattered and uneven, but small enough to avoid easily.

  It was easy enough to scan the long, narrow bathroom. The length ran parallel to the hallway, but the door was open and the shower curtain had been pulled back all the way. There was no place to hide, and there was no blood on the floor, suggesting the room hadn’t been entered by the intruder.

  The first bedroom was a guest room. Craig entered and Luke followed. From the mirror above the dresser Craig could see that most of the room was empty before he stepped inside. It took half a second to confirm that if someone was hiding there, they were under the bed or in the closet.

  Luke looked at Craig, who nodded at the bed. There wasn’t any blood on the floor that he could see, but he wasn’t taking any chances. Craig waited while Luke drew closer and then pulled the bedspread back.

  Nothing but the balls of dust that had built up during his stepmother’s absence.

  Luke looked at Craig, who tipped his head in the direction of the closet, which was on the far side of the dresser.
>
  They took positions. Again, empty.

  The next bedroom was used as a storage room of sorts. There was a desk and chair along one wall, a sewing table along another, and Craig already knew the closet contained most items they had boxed up. The room didn’t have a large mirror, though, and that meant they took up positions outside the door and followed procedure.

  Again, the room was clear, other than the visible blood drops marking the floor. The only thing left to check was the closet. The boxes were there, and what Craig suspected was more evidence of the intruder, although the closet door had been shut. One box had been pulled out and opened, the papers inside rifled through. It only took a quick cursory glance to know they were his dad’s, and Craig knew Steve Daly would never leave his files stored in that condition.

  However, someone who didn’t know Steve Daly could be persuaded that the box had just been left there. It was inside a closed closet, and most people weren’t meticulous with their paperwork. Assuming the intruder had touched it, it looked like they’d been careful. He couldn’t see any evidence of blood.

  Craig turned to Luke and quietly said, “Clear.” He saw Luke look past him, to the box on the floor of the closet. Their gaze met and Craig nodded at the doorway. “One more room.”

  Luke glanced back at the box for half a second. Craig shut the closet door and although he hesitated, Luke followed without argument.

  The rec room was a large area that opened up off the kitchenette and hallway. There wasn’t much furniture in the room, and what was there was pushed up against the walls, so there was no place to hide. It only took a heartbeat to be sure the room was clear.

  And in that same split second they confirmed where the suspect had entered the house. The obvious choice would have been to break the glass patio doors, but instead a window along the far wall was smashed. The kind of window that was in such an odd place it served no practical purpose, because it looked out to the fence between the Daly property and their neighbor’s. It didn’t really let in light, but it had served as the point of entry for the intruder. Shards of glass covered the carpet.

  There was more blood on the floor where the glass was scattered, and there was also a smear on the windowsill.

  Craig quickly scanned the area beside the house that was visible from the window. A cement walkway, grass and then the trees that bordered the back of the property. No sign of a trespasser.

  He looked at his partner. “We need to check upstairs.”

  Luke didn’t argue. They cautiously made their way to the landing on the second floor.

  The house was remarkably still. Craig had been in and out so many times while his parents were away, and he’d barely noticed the quiet. It was expected. But knowing his stepmother was somewhere in the house made the silence seem threatening.

  Halfway to the second floor the stairs curved to the right, putting them at the juncture at the end of the hallway, the start of the living room and the entrance to the kitchen. The hallway led past the dining room, two bedrooms, a bathroom and the entrance to the den before it reached the master bedroom. Every room would have to be cleared.

  It didn’t take long, and once they’d established there was no further evidence of the intruder upstairs Craig told Luke to wait in the living room, went back down the hall and approached the door to the master bedroom.

  “Alison?”

  Silence.

  He knocked again. “Alison, it’s Craig. We’ve checked the house.”

  At last there was the sound of muffled footfalls on carpet, drawing closer, then the click as the door was unlocked.

  Alison Daly had only been part of Craig’s life for just over a decade, but he was startled by how much older she seemed since he’d last seen her, a few months earlier. Less color in her dark hair, which was cut shorter than he was used to. Crow’s-feet had spread out from the corners of her eyes, which were wide with worry.

  Craig kept his voice low. “We’re going to call for a team.”

  “No.” She shook her head. “I don’t want anyone else in the house.”

  Alison’s mouth twisted with anger, but before she could say anything else a voice from behind Craig interrupted. “Perhaps you could tell us what happened?”

  Craig felt the annoyance in the form of heat on the back of his neck. He hadn’t been aware of Luke approaching, and there was no way Alison would cause a scene unnecessarily in front of a stranger, but he’d told his partner to wait.

  Alison turned to look at Luke and folded her arms across her chest, then shifted her gaze back to Craig. Her eyes pinched just a touch, the way they always did when she was annoyed with him.

  He ignored the look. “Why don’t we go to the living room and you can tell us what happened?”

  Luke and Alison introduced themselves as Craig watched Alison sit down on the sofa and cross her legs. She was wearing a pair of dark slacks and a sweater. Craig wondered if she’d lost a bit of weight, but brushed the thought aside. She’d been startled by the intruder, which explained her pallor, and the dark clothes made her white face more noticeable. It was just an illusion of color and circumstance.

  Her story was simple. She’d come home early to get ready for the holidays. At first she thought she’d unpack and relax, but then she decided to go out and get some groceries.

  When she returned she put the groceries away and went to her room to finish unpacking. That was when she heard the sound of glass breaking, and someone in the rec room.

  “I locked my bedroom door, called Craig and waited for you to arrive.”

  Craig saw Luke glance at him, and he could see the questions in Luke’s eyes. When Craig didn’t comment Luke continued.

  “I wasn’t aware the intruder was in the house when you phoned.”

  Alison’s eyes widened as she looked from Luke to Craig and back. “I guess I didn’t say that. I just told Craig someone had broken in.”

  Luke looked at Craig again, and Craig gave one curt nod.

  “Can I ask why you didn’t call 911?”

  A dark look flickered across Alison’s features, gone in almost a heartbeat. “I’ve already had one intruder. I don’t want another group of strangers invading my home.”

  She got up and walked across the room and down the hall. Her bedroom door closed. No scene, no confrontation, but it was unusual for Craig’s stepmother to react that way. Still, someone had broken in, and Steve was in Regina. It was understandable that she was upset.

  Luke stood up. “I’ll call Zidani. Maybe we can be discreet.” He pulled out his cell phone and pressed a couple buttons as he walked to the kitchen.

  Craig wondered if Alison had called Steve.

  There was movement in the kitchen, the sound of the airtight fridge door being pulled open, then shut. Craig entered the room as Luke opened the pantry door.

  Without hesitation Luke said, “Zidani promised to send a couple guys, quietly. Just photos, prints, blood samples.” He closed the pantry. “I’m looking for the glasses. I need some water.”

  Craig turned toward the counter and opened one of the upper cupboards. He took out a glass and handed it to Luke instead of challenging the flimsy lie.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Daylight had been waning during the drive to the Daly home, and by the time Luke and Craig returned to the station it was dark. Some said in Vancouver in December there really wasn’t any such thing as day, only varying shades of gray and black. No matter what you called the hours that weren’t black you knew when night had come. Unlike the prairies, where light could linger in the sky hours after the sun had officially set, in the GVA any light that remained was artificial. The darkness was the kind that hung heavily, like a blanket over the sky.

  Craig cut the engine and got out of the vehicle. It wasn’t until he started to follow Luke inside that he saw the figure emerge from the shadows. She stopped him by the sidewalk, in a well-lit area not far from the entrance to the building.

  “You’re a hard man to track down,�
� she said.

  He didn’t need to ask who she was. The voice was enough.

  “I have a report to write, Ms. Fenton. I don’t have time for this.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll wait.” She smiled. “Once you’re finished your paperwork maybe you’ll be able to give me something on the break-in as well.”

  He stopped walking and looked at Luke. “Go ahead. I’ll just be a minute.”

  Luke glanced at the reporter for a split second, then turned and continued walking to the building without comment.

  Craig waited until Luke had put some distance between them but still lowered his voice. “How do you know about that?”

  “How does a reporter ever know about anything?” She smiled. From what he could tell the hair tucked under her beret was a lighter shade of strawberry blond and she had a few freckles on her cheeks, wide blue eyes, not a lot of makeup. He guessed she wasn’t much more than five feet tall, which added to the overall impression. She didn’t seem threatening.

  But she was still a reporter, and Craig had had his share of run-ins in the aftermath of Lori’s death and his own shooting. He heard another vehicle pull up, the engine stop, the doors open. The longer he stood there the more people who would see him talking to a reporter, and the more likely Zidani would hear about it…“What do you want, Ms. Fenton?”

  The smile slipped from her face, but she didn’t look angry. Instead, the corners of her eyes dropped just enough for her to look hurt. “Just let me talk. Hear what I have to say. If you still decide you don’t want to comment”—she held up her hands—“no problem. What have you got to lose? Let me buy you dinner.”