“We’ve already been criticized for failure to act. When the press finds out what we’re holding back—”
He pointed at her. “You disagree with me, Hart, you feel free to take it up with the sergeant, but until then you keep your damn mouth shut. You’ve been on this case less than a day. Of all the people involved with this investigation, you should be the last to question what’s being done or what isn’t being done. What do you think the press will do to you when they find out an inexperienced officer was put on her first plainclothes assignment to work on this task force? Have you even worked a murder before?”
A branch snapped a few feet down the trail they’d come up on. Ashlyn turned to see Tain approaching. He didn’t say anything but continued walking until he stood close to Ashlyn, his gaze fixed on Nolan.
She decided not to point out the technicality, that she had done some work in plainclothes before. Asserting that her previous work was a legitimate claim would convince him she wasn’t just green, she was an idiot. Deep down, she knew she’d been assigned over her head, but that wasn’t her fault. She wanted to work the case and to learn, but in a moment of frustration, her partner’s attitude had come shining through, and she knew she’d have to work twice as hard as anyone else assigned to the team just to hold her own.
Tain glanced at her before looking back at Nolan, his face was unreadable.
“Coroner’s on the way?” he asked.
Nolan nodded. “Sullivan called.” He looked at his watch. “About an hour ago now.”
“Right. You two can head back to the station.”
“We’ll handle it. If you think we don’t need all three of us here, you go back to the station.”
“I have my reasons for staying. You two can go.”
“So you can screw this up and make a mess of the scene?” Nolan said.
“How could I screw this up any more than you already have, Nolan? What happened to holding the witnesses here, taking the statements and getting the physical evidence? You sent them back. Getz had Rick and the dog, but those park rangers had to take their own vehicle. Plenty of time to get their stories straight, make a call on their cell phone, maybe even change their shoes. What the hell were you thinking?”
“Oh, yeah, you’re going to lecture me about following procedure. You be glad you didn’t do worse to Kurdy or you’d be facing charges for assault right now.”
“So that makes your laziness okay?”
“It’s not me who’s lazy, Tain. I’m doing the best I can with a rookie for a partner, and every time I turn around you’re AWOL or up to some bullshit like this morning.”
Confirmation of what Ashlyn had suspected. Nolan had ditched her to keep an eye on Tain.
“You’re fighting the good fight against affirmative action,” Nolan said. “Deadweight in a uniform.”
Tain’s hands balled up into fists as he took a step forward. “You better watch your mouth, Nolan. You have no idea what you’re dealing with here.”
“And you do? Enlighten me. This ought to be good. You can’t be bothered reading the files, following up on leads, attending meetings or filing reports, but you’ve got some keen insight into the case.” It was Nolan’s turn to take a step toward Tain. “You’re useless.”
“Back off, Nolan. I’m warning you.”
“Or what?” Nolan’s mouth curled into a snarl. “You’re going to pin me up against a wall and give me a good talking to?”
“For once you have a good idea.”
“Stop it!” Ashlyn stepped between the two men. “This is a crime scene. What the hell is wrong with you two?”
For a moment the only sound she could hear was her heart hammering in her ears. Then the low whistle of soft wind cutting through the trees. Nolan’s jaw unclenched, and some of the color in his face faded.
Tain still bristled with anger, but he took a step back and turned away. That was when he took his first look at the grave and what was inside. The hostile posture gave way to a stoic stance.
Nolan was staring at Ashlyn with a look she couldn’t quite read, and as she glanced away from him she thought about what she’d seen in the grave and everything that had happened since she’d arrived at the station that morning and felt her stomach twist into a knot and pull tight.
She wasn’t sure she was ready for this.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Eighteen months ago
Sullivan stood not far from where Ashlyn had been when she’d stopped beside Nolan. He remained silent as he looked down at the grave.
When he turned to look at them, there was a weight in his face coupled with a wide-eyed stare. The horror of what they’d all seen was going to haunt them, and if Ashlyn had thought otherwise even for a second, the look on her sergeant’s face erased any doubt.
“The coroner’s on the way,” Sullivan said in a hushed tone, and glanced at Tain, then Nolan. “Where are we on this?”
“Getz is taking statements from Rick, Gordy and Henry. I also told him to get shoe prints and to photograph their clothes and take samples from Rick’s dog because there was contact with the victims.”
Sullivan frowned. “You trust him to handle that?”
“I—” Nolan began.
Tain cut him off. “I think he should go back to the station and handle it himself. This should be looked after by the task force.”
“She hasn’t been identified yet,” Nolan said.
“Hardly the fucking point. Once the press hears about bodies in the woods—”
Nolan took a step toward Tain. “They aren’t going to hear about bodies. At least, not from me. I already warned those men to keep their mouths shut, and I told them if they said anything, anything at all, I’d have them charged with jeopardizing a criminal investigation.”
“Shame we can’t do the same to you.” Tain turned to Sullivan. “He sent them from the scene. Three men and a dog, with one uniformed officer. Nolan didn’t follow procedure—”
Sullivan stopped him. “Sometimes we have to make the best out of the situation, Tain. These are hardly normal circumstances.”
“And not every constable is the son of a sergeant. Some of us have to do our jobs, not just show up.”
Nolan’s face reddened. “You’ve got some nerve, especially considering—”
Sullivan held up his hands. “If you’ve got a legitimate complaint, I’ll hear it, but it better be good.”
“Fresh reactions. No time to overthink the story or the details or start drawing conclusions. Procedure’s there for a reason. They should have been questioned by a member of the team, and considering the distance from the station, they should have been questioned here.”
Ashlyn looked away for a moment as she tapped her notebook against her hand. When she turned back, Nolan was looking at her.
She thought back and replayed what had happened before the witnesses left.
“They were.”
Sullivan looked up, and Tain spun around to face her.
“Nolan questioned them all, individually.”
Tain scowled. “And what did you do, take notes?”
Her chin jutted out. “Don’t make me the issue. The point is, they were questioned before they were sent back. Nolan also took a sample from the dog.”
Sullivan turned to look at Nolan. “Is that true?”
Nolan reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag and a small digital camera. “I also took photos.” He put the camera and plastic bag back. “Gordy didn’t see the bodies. Rick keeps to himself, has no love for the press, and Henry knows the job. He won’t talk.”
“Well, gee, I feel so much better now that you’ve vouched for him.”
Nolan stiffened. “It’s no secret we have a leak in the department—”
“Which is exactly why someone from the task force should have handled formal statements and collecting physical evidence. Every person outside the team who’s involved makes it harder to figure out who’s leaking what.”
“We know some
one’s been feeding information to the Native leaders, Tain.”
“You better have some evidence to back that up before you make that kind of an accusation, Nolan.”
“Nobody can cover their tracks forever.”
“You sonofa—”
“Enough.” Sullivan’s voice carried the weight of authority, and both men fell silent.
The copied documents, the way Tain had reacted that morning…
Ashlyn hadn’t known someone was leaking information.
She glanced at Nolan, who was turning away, but as he did he saw her looking at him and stopped. For a few seconds they stared at each other until a shadow flickered across his face. His eyes hardened as he turned to look at Tain, but he said nothing.
If Nolan was thinking about the papers and her silence, it looked like he was going to keep it to himself.
“We have enough problems to deal with. What we don’t need is reckless accusations.” Sullivan glanced at Nolan. “Or renegade cops.” He glanced at Tain. “Put your personal differences aside, stop the bickering and bullshit, and get to work. Both of you. Understood?”
There was silence, neither man wanting to be the first to speak. Ashlyn hated pissing contests.
She stepped forward. “Yes, sir.”
Sullivan’s head snapped as he turned to look at her. His expression changed subtly, just for a second, but she was certain she’d seen a softening around the eyes.
He nodded at her. “Good. We’re going to have to do a search of the woods—”
“I’ll organize that,” she said, aware Tain and Nolan were still staring at her.
Sullivan shook his head. “No. Tain will. I want you and Nolan to start working on identifying the girl.”
“We may have to wait for more information from the coroner,” Nolan said.
Ashlyn walked right up to the grave and crouched down. She took a deep breath as she thought back to the photographs she’d seen in the files, and she studied the girl in front of her.
She was wearing an old-fashioned white nightgown that appeared to go down to her ankles. Her legs had been wrapped in plastic, but her arms were lying out from her sides so that her body formed the shape of a cross.
Why wrap the lower part of the body and then stop? Inside the wrappings, Ashlyn could see a dark stain. Had her killer or killers put plastic underneath her to help dispose of the evidence? Ashlyn looked at the girl’s chest. The wound that had apparently caused her death was partially concealed, but that part of the body hadn’t been wrapped, and as far as Ashlyn could tell, there wasn’t plastic underneath the rest of the body either.
Just under the legs.
There was a gap between the nightgown and the plastic where the body of the baby lay across the girl. Ashlyn tilted her head and leaned down.
Blood was running along the side of the plastic.
“Is it possible she was kept frozen and dumped here recently?”
Tain said nothing as he walked over to her.
Ashlyn moved out of his way so he could get a better look.
When Tain stood and turned around all he said was, “You may not be completely useless.”
Ashlyn thought she saw Nolan smirk before he lowered his gaze and stepped around Tain so that he could get a closer look at the body as well.
She wasn’t sure if it was her discomfort or the comment that had amused him.
Sullivan frowned as he looked from the victim to Tain, who offered one curt nod, and then Ashlyn. “We’ll have to wait for the coroner to be sure about that. You think of anything else that might be useful?”
“It’s Mary Donard.”
“You’re sure?” Sullivan asked as Tain turned around again and looked at the girl.
Ashlyn nodded. “Pretty sure. I was looking at file photos just before we came out here. She’s got a small scar on her chin and a tattoo on the right side of her neck, and looks to be the right height.”
“Okay. Then we get the evidence we need to confirm her identity, and we say nothing about the second victim.”
“Will you brief the other team, or should I?” Nolan asked the sergeant.
Sullivan paused. “I haven’t decided yet.”
“Aiken opened the file on Donard,” Ashlyn said.
Sullivan turned to her partner. “Nolan, you’ve done an excellent job bringing Hart up to speed.”
Tain’s turn to smirk, but he was standing behind the sergeant, so only Ashlyn saw him.
“I’ll go speak to Aiken myself, just in case.” Sullivan glanced at Nolan. “Any questions?”
“Why would you keep them frozen only to dump them in the woods later?” Ashlyn asked, almost without thinking. It was what had been going through her mind since she’d stepped away from the body.
“That’s easy,” Nolan said. “You’ve run out of room and have more victims to store.”
An awkward silence followed. Ashlyn could only guess that each one of them, like she, was thinking about the very real possibility that all their missing girls might be dead.
Only a matter of hours ago they’d just been missing.
What Nolan’s response didn’t explain was the one thing none of them seemed ready to talk about yet.
The second body.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Eighteen months ago
Nolan drove with a void face and appeared solely focused on the road. The night was as black as molasses with a heaviness in the air that made it feel almost as thick. There was tension in the atmosphere, as though a storm was coming, but other than the blanket of nightfall, the sky didn’t look threatening. There wasn’t even a breeze.
On the walk back through the woods, Ashlyn had felt so tired she could barely hold her head up, but once she’d shut the car door and they’d begun the drive back to town, a nervous energy had prickled at her, some inexplicable sixth sense kicking in, insisting something wasn’t right. She scanned the road ahead of them and the ditches. The movement of a rabbit doing a one-eighty made her heart leap into her throat, and no sooner had she caught her breath than she’d been forced to brace herself against the door as Nolan slammed the brakes and swerved to avoid a deer darting across the road.
Behind them she could see the headlights from Tain’s truck.
The tension in her body began to ebb as more of the trip passed uneventfully, and once the mountainside and forest gave way to sporadic buildings and paved streets with dim lights pushing back the darkness, she breathed deeper.
She straightened up a bit. The streetlights were dim, but the town had a bright glow to it, the shimmering haze of light over buildings that you expected when house after house was adorned with Christmas lights.
“What the—”
Nolan had turned a corner and slowed the vehicle. Ahead of them, a bonfire had been set in a vacant lot, right across from the RCMP station, and the crowd of people that had gathered spilled out onto the road.
The air was blanketed by stillness, and not even the crackle of the fire completely disrupted the uneasy quiet. Ashlyn scanned the crowd as she tried to guess how many people were gathered around the fire.
Nolan turned the vehicle toward the station.
She looked at him. “Aren’t we going to respond?”
“Take a look, Constable. What do you see?”
Ashlyn indulged him with a quick glance out the window. “A group of people gathered around a bonfire.”
“Look again.”
She did, this time not skimming the crowd to gauge its size but looking at the individuals, the solemn faces that had turned to watch their vehicles as they approached.
“I thought things had calmed down with the creation of the task force.”
Nolan glanced at her. “They only heated up. Our bosses have done the bare minimum to win the public-relations war elsewhere in the province, where people don’t have to walk the streets in fear or worry about their daughters disappearing. The tribes, they never really have figured out how to win the PR game.”
&
nbsp; “So that makes it okay?” she asked as he parked the Rodeo in front of the station. Uniformed officers were making their way across the street now, addressing the crowd with a bullhorn.
Ordering them to leave the area immediately.
They got out of the vehicle, and for a moment she wasn’t sure what Nolan intended to do, but he walked around the Rodeo toward the group on the street. Ashlyn glanced to her right, confirming that Tain had already parked his truck and was walking out toward the officers as well. Nolan was on an intercept course.
She followed.
From the bullhorn: “You are trespassing on private property. You must leave the premises immediately, in an orderly fashion, or face prosecution.”
“Yeah, because a trespassing charge is a real threat to these people.” Nolan muttered the words under his breath, but she still heard them.
The man standing at the front of the group facing the officers was almost a stereotype. Long hair, a weathered face with deep lines, dark eyes that carried the pain of sins borne by generation after generation of his people. He crossed his arms and turned around.
So much for meaningful negotiations.
The crowd followed his cue and one by one they all turned, arms folded, standing still as stone, staring at the fire.
“What do they want?” she asked Nolan.
Before he could answer, Tain interjected. “Answers.”
The officers conferred with Sullivan, but she couldn’t hear what they were saying. As she surveyed the group, she noticed a woman to her right. The woman pulled her coat tight around her body and wrapped her arms around herself as she looked down at the ground, her long, dark hair falling down to cover the side of her face. When she raised her head, it wasn’t to look at the fire. She turned toward the officers, watching Nolan, then Tain.
Lullaby for the Nameless (Nolan, Hart & Tain Thrillers) Page 41