Cold Flood (Kea Wright Mysteries Book 1)

by RJ Corgan

  “It’s a platypus,” she said sadly. “I found it in Bruce’s tent after the police went through his stuff. I had a toy like this one when I was younger. I loved them so much, it earned me my nickname.”

  “Platy?” Julie ventured cautiously.

  “I wish.” Kea shook her head. “Try the other end. It was a cute name when I was six, but not so nice in high school. Bruce must have brought it for me.” She stared at the glossy, black button eyes of the creature. It was adorable.

  Speaking of toys… she thought. “Remind me to apologize to Zoë,” Kea said, referring to Remus, the drone that didn’t make it back from the search. “We’ll have to find some grant money somewhere to cover the cost of her drones.” The batteries had given out, Zoë said, or else the winds had been too strong. Another body on the sandur.

  The body.

  Kea couldn’t believe that she was using that term to describe a volunteer. To describe her friend. Bruce.

  Everything since they’d found him floating in the water had seemed so surreal. Help had arrived in the form of Slysavarnarfélagið Lindsborg, which was quite a mouthful, even for Kea. ICE-SAR, or Icelandic Association for Search and Rescue, was much easier to get her tongue around. Kea and her team were still in their raft when the ICE-SAR chopper roared overhead. The sandur was a busy place the rest of the evening as the rescue teams flitted across the sands with their little all-terrain vehicles.

  All that fuss, she thought, far, far too late.

  Kea heard an alarming splash in the lagoon. She watched as an iceberg the size of a house overturned, exposing a belly of clear blue ice to the sun. The ripples spread outward, each ring slowly kissing the shore at her feet. The berg displayed a new face, a new personality exposed to the cruelty of the sun.

  Another victim.

  ICE-SAR retrieved the body from the water and, after she and Marcus identified Bruce, his body was whisked back to Reykjavík. Rosmannsson, the chief inspector, spent several hours interviewing all of them. As she re-played the messages on her phone to him, she saw the sadness in the inspector’s eyes, and her own shame reflected in them.

  I didn’t know, Kea kept repeating, both out loud and in her head. I didn’t know. I was on the last raft. I should have radioed for a head count, but I was so focused on Gary.

  Technically, part of her rationalized, Bruce was on Marcus and Tony’s team. Marcus held the responsibility for his team members, but at the end of the day, she was the team lead. She knew in her heart that she had failed Bruce.

  “Do you know,” Kea began slowly, “that this isn’t the first time?”

  “How do you mean?” Julie perched her elbows on her knees.

  “I don’t think it’s common,” Kea said, “but I got the impression when I called EO HQ that it has happened at least a couple of times. Different projects. Different parts of the world. Every once in a while, people use these trips to... die.”

  “Hold that thought.” Julie stood up, walked over to the jeep, and opened the back door. She fumbled for something under the rear seat, before returning with a pack of cigarettes. She lit it up and took a deep breath before letting out a long, billowing stream of smoke through her nostrils. “That’s disgusting.”

  “Yes,” Kea agreed softly. She pictured Bruce sitting at her tent having hot cocoa and trying to match it with the person described in Joanna’s voicemail. To the figure floating in the water. “Yes, it is.”

  “What did the messages say? I mean,” Julie corrected herself, “what did his wife say?”

  Kea forgot that Julie had not been present during the interactions with the police. She lifted her cup and stared at the ice chip that floated on the surface, fascinated by the tiny flecks of sand that peppered its frozen translucent heart.

  Alcohol seemed suddenly so mundane, so every day, so useless.

  Kea put the cup back down on the ground. “Usual suicide note stuff. You’re better off without me...” She found couldn’t finish, the effort of having to form words was too exhausting. Besides, the note had been read to her via Joanna. The police, after listening to the messages, thanked Kea politely, then reached out directly to Joanna and Bruce’s ex-wife themselves.

  “If you could choose where you were going to die,” Julie said eventually, “where would it be?”

  Anger stirred within Kea once more. She found her voice rising, her emotions causing her syllables to tremble like ice in a glass. “He put the team at risk, he-”

  “I know, I know.” Julie raised a hand to placate her. “I just mean, I kinda get it. Unhappy job, unhappy life. Where was he living again? New Jersey? Just wanting to end it all somewhere, beautiful, somewhere amazing.”

  “That’s no excuse,” Kea insisted.

  “I get it, I do.” Julie raised her hands in surrender. “I’m not making excuses for him, I’m just trying to, you know, put myself in his place, trying to think about what was going on... inside.” She tapped the side of her head.

  Kea placed her palms against her cheeks and sighed. She’d spent the last fourteen hours trying to figure out what had been troubling her friend. As well as attempting to salvage her now-ruined career. Bruce had died on her watch, the team was a bust, as was her leadership.

  “I’m such an ass,” Kea announced.

  “Probably,” Julie agreed. Then asked, “In what way, specifically?”

  “Never mind. What are the other volunteers saying?” Kea asked. “Do they want to stay or go?”

  “They’re fine, I think,” Julie said. “Marcus spent the last hour trying to get a feel for their mood. At least, they appear to be fine. It sounds like Bruce didn’t earn himself any friends in his job…”

  Kea frowned. She had spent most of the evening placing calls to EO and the university. She hadn’t spent much time with the volunteers, but they had seemed shocked, somber. No one, she reflected, had cried or anything. It didn’t surprise her that the Corvis team didn’t seem rattled as they had only met him yesterday, but she assumed his own team members would be a little more disturbed.

  Flashes of the rest of the night popped into her head. She had met with Julie, Marcus, and Tony in the main tent following the questioning by the police. It was the first time they had all been together since they had shouted at each other at the jeeps. The ‘How could you’s?’ and ‘Who was responsible?’ had been hurled back and forth ad nauseam. In the scramble following Gary’s incident, the hike off the ice had passed in a panicked haze for everyone, something no one wanted to admit. It was Julie who pointed out that if Bruce had planned this all along there was nothing that any of them could have done.

  During the shouting, Kea had found herself staring at a map of the expedition taped to a whiteboard. The locations of the ablation stakes that Marcus’ team had installed were marked out in little red dots. The final site was more than a kilometer away from her team and at least twice that from any other team.

  Bruce had been alone out there, she thought grimly. With no one to talk him out of it, no one to save him.

  “A few of the T3 team members said they didn’t really know Bruce outside of some monthly video teleconference calls,” Julie continued. “The folks from Corvis never even met him ‘til yesterday, let alone knew that he was planning to commit...” She didn’t seem to want to say the word suicide.

  Julie took another drag. “They came here to work on the ice, and they want to keep doing it. So far everyone has said they wanted to stay.” She tapped some ash onto the beach. “I think they feel bad but they just got here and want to stay for the rest of the expedition.”

  “That’s it?” Kea was astounded.

  “To be honest, the only one asking any questions was Lexie,” Julie frowned in distaste. “But I imagine she’s only after a story. I think a few of them worked directly with Bruce, but to be honest... they just want to keep busy.”

  “I thought they’d be a little shaken up.” Kea shook her head, part of her mind working out future logistics. They had learned that, if
the investigation wrapped up quickly, there wouldn’t be a funeral for at least a week. She was frantically thinking of how they could get all their equipment shipped back to the university early without getting charged a fortune.

  Not to mention the fact that a news crew could descend on the camp shortly. Eco Observers HQ had given her the standard ‘nothing to say at this time, please contact this number for an official response regarding the incident’ to parrot to the media, but she tried not to think about it. The last thing she wanted was more people tramping around the campground.

  “Did he seem depressed to you?” Julie asked.

  Kea paused. “He certainly seemed off the night before, although yesterday morning... he seemed to be a bundle of energy.” She watched the icebergs drift past, wishing that she could just sail away on one of them.

  “To be honest,” Kea said after a moment, “I guess I don’t really know him. I mean, it’s been a couple of decades, but it still feels… I’m still…”

  “Furious?” Julie offered, her tone laced with her own anger.

  “That as well...” Kea trailed off, not certain she wanted to put her emotions into words.

  “But?” Julie stubbed out her cigarette and tidily tucked the bud into the pack’s wrapper.

  “As horrible as this sounds,” Kea found that she hated herself all the more because it was true, “I can feel my career slipping through my grasp.”

  Silence.

  “I don’t seriously think anyone will blame you. But yes,” Julie added, “that is pretty awful.”

  “Yes,” Kea agreed, repulsed by her own priorities. “Either way, research is done for the season. Not to mention the bloody MRS is still up there.”

  “Weren’t you listening to anything I’ve been saying?” Julie waved her hands in frustration, splashing vodka out of her cup. “The volunteers want to stay. Hell, they’re chomping at the bit to get back on the glacier. Tony and I are taking a team up to Skaftafellsjökull in the morning, just to get them out of their own heads, if you want to come. There’s not much trouble they can get into up there.”

  Kea closed her eyes and mulled the idea over. Skaftafellsjökull was a tiny glacier in comparison to Skeiðarárjökull and only a ten-minute walk from the visitor center. The path to the glacier was paved, and even once on the glacier itself, it was so small it would be easy to keep track of everyone. There were no hazardous areas, no large crevasses, no moulins. In short, there was no reason not to go.

  If she were honest with herself, she just wanted to stay here alone and watch the world drift past.

  Forever.

  “We’re just going up a few hundred meters,” Julie continued. “Should keep them out of trouble. No crevasses, no moulins, no drama. More of a stroll. I need to test out my equipment anyway. I broke one of the sensors yesterday.”

  “I just...” Words continued to evade Kea’s tongue. “It doesn’t feel right.”

  Julie stood up and offered out a hand. “It might do you a lot of good.”

  Kea stared out across the water, feeling just as lost as the blocks of ice that slid across the lagoon and out to sea.

  Leave me alone. Let me have my space, let me have my time.

  All the things she wanted to say. To scream. To shout.

  Mr. Platypus stared up at her from her hand.

  As a lead, she didn’t have a choice.

  Patting Mr. Platypus on the head, she tucked it into her jacket pocket and sighed. “Okay,” she said, pouring the vodka onto the beach. “But can I have some coffee first?”

  ***

  Returning to the campsite, they found the volunteers were already milling around the trailers, anxious to gear up and go out onto Skaftafellsjökull. Or at least to get out of their tents and away from camp.

  Tony was handing out bright orange reflective vests, and Marcus was busy inspecting the volunteer’s packs, cramming in batteries and other equipment where he found space and someone willing to share it.

  Marcus looked haggard and pale, his hair in complete disarray. He hadn’t slept either.

  He still had Dr. Carlyle’s puffin staff though, Kea observed, tucked tightly into the crook of his arm. She had to restrain herself from yanking it away and beating his head in with it.

  “Here,” Julie’s voice distracted Kea from a pleasingly violent train of thought. She handed Kea a vest, radio, and clipboard.

  “Thanks,” Kea started checking off names as she saw team members. Most of them gave her nothing more than a cursory glance before going back to their selfies or group photos with the bright peaks of Öræfajökull as a backdrop.

  In some ways, it was as if nothing had ever happened.

  Kea wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

  “Crap,” Julie groped around the bottom of the trailer. Max and Bonnie stood waiting patiently while she fished for safety vests. “We’re short.”

  Of course, we’re short, Kea nearly snapped. It’s probably lying at the bottom of the lake or washed out to sea. Instead, she said, “There are spares in the back, I’ll grab them.” She made her way around the main tent to the supply area and picked up a box that held extra vests, stopping along the way for a quick couple of finger dips of hazelnut spread. Feeling slightly more together, or at least well-sugared, she handed the box to Julie to distribute.

  When she was certain everyone was present and accounted, Kea called them to gather round. For once Marcus hung back, letting her talk. “We’re going to head out to the visitor center, then follow the trail round to Skaftafellsjökull. Once we get on the ice, we’re going to stick together. No one is to let anyone out of their sight. It’s a quick hike, and we’ll only be a couple of hours. Right, let’s go.” She motioned for Marcus to take the lead. He held his walking stick aloft in one hand, using the other to keep a tight hold of his hat that was in danger of being yanked off his head by a morning breeze. The volunteers streamed behind him as they wove their way through the tents. Cole appeared to be chatting up Nadia right in front of her father. Zoë followed a short distance behind, watching her son anxiously.

  Despite the circumstances, Kea found herself smirking. Watching the juvenile boy flirt with the elegant, if pouty, Russian teen was like watching a penguin try to fly.

  Are we really doing this? Kea asked herself. The normalcy of it all struck her as absurd. The calmness, the eagerness of the other volunteers to step out onto another glacier, it was just… she sighed.

  Focus on the now. Focus on the work, Julie had said. The funeral will happen soon enough. There will be time to grieve later.

  Kea shook her head and followed the others.

  As they marched, she watched as Marcus fielded questions from Lexie, Derek, and Bonnie, who clustered around him. Fernando and Amirah followed behind. Jon and Erik were attempting to entertain Lexie, fighting for her attention like pups eager for a bone. Behind them marched Reynard and Tiko, the odd ones out. Gary, grounded, had been tasked with washing the jeeps.

  Even before the incident, Kea felt like an outsider on every team. Being a lead scientist meant she was treated as an entertainer, a guide, or even a surrogate parent. Over the years, she had only caught glimpses of what really went on between the volunteers: the friendships, the drama, the love stories. As the days passed, she knew, conversations would drop to whispers when she approached. On the last night when liquor was deployed, defenses would be lowered, and she would gain some insight into what was going on, but rarely before.

  Today she felt more alone than ever.

  She turned her attention back to the landscape. The trail that led from the visitor center was paved and flat, snaking through the short grass and scrub that stretched out in all directions. To their left, green slopes rose steeply to the mountain cliffs. Even the dark gray cliffs were shot through with a vibrant green, as lichen and other small plants clung to the vertical surfaces.

  Kea caught up with the volunteers as the path curved around the base of the mountain to reveal the snout of Skaftafellsj
ökull. The little glacier lay at the end of a wide, rocky plain filled with numerous small streams and stagnant pools. The front of the glacier itself was blackened and sooty, its low tongue gradually rising northward up to the ice cap. Looking at the sagging muddy front of the glacier, she couldn’t help but feel as if it looked like an old man contemplating his glory days.

  Bonnie came to stand next to her. “It’s... not quite what I was expecting. I mean, it’s so... dirty. Even more so than the other one.”

  “Not enough blue?” Kea asked.

  “Too much... yuck.” Bonnie caught herself and added, “I mean wow... and yuck. Yuck-wow.”

  “It does get cleaner as you go up the glacier,” Kea assured her. “And a lot whiter.”

  “Is that all dirt?” Lexie asked, snapping away with her camera.

  “Glaciers are known as dirt moving machines.” Kea found comfort in the familiar words of past lectures. “Do you see those bands there?” She pointed to the black-striped whorls and loops that shot across the glacier surface. “Those are made of ash, tephra. The tephra falls onto the ice during volcanic eruptions and is transported down the glacier over the years toward the snout. The ice itself moves at different rates, which is why those bands curve and twist like that. You’ll see it as we get closer.” She rattled off some science-speak, barely registering what she was saying. The coffee had given her the energy for the hike, but her brain was still numb, switched off.

  Kea noticed Tiko lagging behind the group, her breath shallow, her face pale.

  Just out of shape? Or in shock?

  Fernando appeared to notice too, hovering on the periphery. He exchanged a concerned glance with Kea but seemed reluctant to engage.

  Kea matched Tiko’s pace and forced her best impression of a smile. “How’s it going?”

  Tiko nodded but didn’t reply. Her eyes were swollen, her cheeks flushed red. Perhaps she had been crying, although for all Kea knew it could simply be from lack of sleep. Or anger.

  “If you’re not feeling up for it,” Kea said kindly, “I can head back with you.”