Skye’s voice was interrupted by the beeping of the machine and the tech’s voice came over the intercom.
“You’re done. Bringing you out now.”
Edie opened her eyes as she re-emerged into the scan room. She was slightly disoriented, having spent the last fifteen minutes living in Skye’s story. Edie got up when she was instructed and led back to the change area. Moments later she was dressed and Skye was waiting in the hallway.
“So, how does it end? Pissed-off princess or grateful princess?”
Skye blushed and Edie laughed. “Grateful princess. Which was fine until she tried to seduce me when we took her back to the hotel. I’m pretty sure she thought I was a man. I still hadn’t grown my hair back, but she didn’t seem concerned either way. Bart had to send in another team leader so I could escape without causing a different kind of international scene.”
Edie laughed. “That was a great story.” She touched Skye’s arm lightly. “Thanks.”
Skye made no movement away or toward. “You’re welcome.”
They stood in the hallway as the world moved around them. It was Skye, on task Skye, focus on the mission Skye, eye on the prize Skye, who broke the silence.
“We need to go check in with JC and see where the investigation stands. While we’re waiting for your test results.”
Soldier Skye may have spoken, but gentle Skye gazed back at her. As they made their way silently down the hallway together, that was enough for Edie.
Chapter Eleven
JC looked harried, talking on the phone outside a private room on the fourth-floor medical unit. She had a light bandage around her right wrist. A uniformed cop stood on the opposite corner. As they approached, Edie could almost feel Skye pulling herself in, drawing on whatever vast amount of energy reserves she had to readjust to her singular focus. Edie didn’t hate the feeling of Skye drawing away from her. She merely accepted it for what it was.
“Good, you’re here,” JC said as she caught sight of them and hung up. “We’ve got a debrief back at headquarters in an hour. I’ve just had three heads of department literally screaming at me for the last hour. Like I’m the one slowing down Ms. Kassis’s medical discharge.”
“How is Faina?” Edie said. She’d had no update beyond the assurance that everyone was fine. “Can I see her?”
“First, she’s okay. Given her recent history, she’s being monitored for signs of shock or trauma.” JC’s eyes went cold. “She’s obviously been used as a punching bag in the last week or so, but Ms. Kassis is insisting this wasn’t true of her entire two-year captivity. She’s also insisting she’s well enough to be discharged and questioned.”
“She wants to be questioned?” Skye said.
JC shrugged. “She wants to help.”
“Even knowing she might be implicated? Charged, even?”
“Even then.”
One some level, Faina’s insistence on doing the right thing, regardless of the cost to herself, relieved Edie. She recognized this concerned and supportive Faina. Not secretive and disloyal.
“Can I see her?”
“Yes, but I and a uniform will have to be present. She’s a person of interest, and her connection to what happened to you has not yet been established. Everything will be monitored. Okay?”
“Yes, okay.”
JC seemed to hesitate, and then she pushed the door open into the private room. Edie had expected Faina to be gowned and in bed, but she was standing by the window, looking out over the parking lot in the same jeans and hoodie she’d been wearing in the alley. The light through the window cast her in dark relief, and even though she turned at the sound of their entry, Edie could not make out her expression.
“Faina?”
JC and Skye both hung back by the door. Edie stepped in closer to Faina before she registered a woman in uniform standing in the corner of the room.
Faina’s expression tore at Edie’s heart. The bruises were just as awful as they’d been this morning, now accentuated by three red lines on the side of her neck. Finger marks. Edie felt a surge of anger and guilt. Edie’s undoing was the expression in Faina’s eyes. Not meek or cowed, but fierce.
“God, Faina. I’m so sorry.” Edie’s guilt spoke first.
Faina took a nearly shocked step back and raised a trembling hand to her mouth. She shook her head.
“Don’t say that.” Faina’s voice trembled. “Don’t say that to me.”
Edie took a step toward her, and Faina’s tears spilled over.
“I didn’t know what was happening to you. All this time and I didn’t know.” Edie needed to say it as much as she wanted Faina to hear it. She put her arms around Faina.
At first Faina was stiff, refusing to give in, but she finally let out a choked, strangled sob, her hands pressed to her mouth. Too much had been done to them. Both of them. And as she held her friend, one person who had seen her at her worst and still believed in her core strength, Edie felt a new kind of resolve. They would fight this, all of them. She turned to look over her shoulder, never letting go. JC and Skye stood like the silent, protective soldiers they were, and Edie sensed their support. Maybe they didn’t know Faina yet the same way Edie did, but they were no happier with the way Faina had been treated.
It took a few minutes for Faina’s sobs to gentle. She turned away, obviously embarrassed, and walked into the bathroom. She emerged moments later with puffy eyes that seemed clearer for the recent storm.
“I’d like to know what’s next, Constable Caldwell. I understand people want to speak to me.”
JC approached before answering the question. “Once you get medical clearance, then yes, we’ll take you down to—”
“I am ready to go right now. I don’t need to wait for medical clearance, unless there are questionable test results that have not yet been shared.” Her bearing was almost regal, Edie decided. Even with the bruises, strength looked good on Faina.
“No,” JC admitted. “But the doctors wanted to wait and see—”
Once again, Faina cut her off. “The doctors are waiting for me to fall apart,” she said calmly. “I just did. You witnessed it. It did not precipitate a medical emergency. So I’m ready to leave.”
JC seemed to be at a loss for words, a fact both Skye and Edie clearly found amusing. Edie covered her smile as Skye shot her a half grin, her eyes dancing. JC caught the look and narrowed her eyes.
“Both of you can just stuff it. Honestly,” JC muttered. She turned back to Faina. “Ms. Kassis, I’ll let the doctor know you’re ready to leave. I’ll ask that you wait for any last minute instruction regarding any of the injuries you received today. Then I’ll take you down to headquarters myself.”
Faina glanced at Edie.
“I’ll be there,” Edie said. “They won’t let me in the room with you, but I’ll be there.”
“As will I,” Skye said quietly.
“Me, too,” JC said.
Faina looked between the women forming a barrier between her and the rest of the world.
“Thank you.”
* * *
It was late at night and pouring rain by the time every department in the building questioned Faina, deemed her a continued person of interest, and finally released her into JC’s custody. Though she was no longer a suspect, her familial connection and her own unwilling connection to Edie’s situation meant she couldn’t leave under her own recognizance. The RCMP had given her the choice of house arrest with an officer or a detention centre. Faina had chosen house arrest, and the powers that be had chosen JC.
After a mad scramble to call in her ex-wife to take her kids, JC signed the paperwork delivering Faina into her care, and the four of them left the police department where they’d spent the last eleven hours. Skye suggested they all crash at her place. The cabin was too far, they were all too tired, and Faina’s protective custody meant she had to have at least two other officers with her at all times. They needed to be somewhere secure. Somewhere inaccessible. Skye’s formida
ble and comfortable loft was perfect.
As Edie entered, she thought about the first night she’d been here, sitting with Skye on the couch and sharing her thoughts, her space, and her work. Skye had held her hand so sweetly.
“Mind if I make some tea?” she said to Skye, who was conversing quietly with JC while Faina looked tentatively around the loft space.
“No, go ahead. I don’t have much, but you’re welcome to whatever is in the kitchen.”
Edie walked to the kitchen and filled the kettle with water, opening cupboards until she found tins of loose tea and some mugs. One navy blue mug had a faded Star Wars logo and the faint etchings of Storm Troopers. Edie smiled and left it in the cupboard. She heard a sound behind her as Faina walked in.
“I thought you’d like some tea,” Edie said. “Have a seat.”
Faina sat on a stool at the kitchen island while Edie twisted the knob on the gas stove until the blue flame caught. Edie noticed Faina flinch. While she waited for the kettle to boil, she leaned against the counter and looked into Faina’s tired, bruised eyes.
“You’re safe here, you know,” Edie said, reaching over and taking her hand. “You’re safe with JC and Skye. With me.”
Faina glanced at JC and Skye, who were bent over their phones. Edie guessed Skye was giving JC full access to the extensive security system for her loft. Faina sighed. Edie realized she couldn’t say anything to make it all okay. She finished making the tea, put a steaming mug in front of Faina, and sat down beside her.
“What did they tell you about my interrogation today?” Faina said, no bitterness in her tone.
“Only that JC’s superiors are satisfied you are not complicit in what has happened. I heard the word ‘duress.’ I know your immigration status is in question. I know JC has taken you into protective custody. That’s pretty much it.”
Faina nodded thoughtfully and stared down into her tea. Edie had so many questions, but she didn’t want to batter Faina with them right now.
“I think I will spend a long time apologizing to you,” Faina said quietly, without looking up. Before Edie could respond she added, “Please allow it, Edie. I know it is a lot to ask. Please allow it.”
“Can you tell me what you think you’re apologizing for?”
“I was willingly misled by my brother and sister. When my mother died and Alex and Yana sought me out in London, I thought they were coming to me as family. I was young, I was lost, and I had no one. Still…” Faina took a moment before she continued. “They brought me to Canada and told me I would be able to study here, but they had to wait for certain visa approval. I believed them. In the meantime, I needed to do my part to pay for the rent of the flat I shared with several of Alex’s colleagues. It didn’t take me long to figure out they were employees, not colleagues, and whatever business Alex was conducting wasn’t legitimate.
“I was allowed out for the first year or so, although Alex made it clear I shouldn’t get to know anyone until my visa papers were sorted. But I could go to the library and a coffee shop. I spent a lot of time reading on my own. I thought about what I would study when my visa came through. I imagined living on my own. I would watch the baristas very carefully and think maybe I could get a part-time job. Or I could be an interpreter. When Alex approached me and said he had an easy job for me, I worried. He showed me a picture of you and said you were a journalist who likely had information about the death of our father.”
Edie leaned back, completely startled with this revelation.
“I know now that you didn’t,” Faina said quickly. “That you don’t. But I had no reason to doubt Alex. And he told me you weren’t aware of knowing it. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He asked me to simply get to know you. Become friends. And that eventually, months and months later, I could maybe ask some questions. That was all.”
Faina took a sip of her tea, and Edie did the same.
“You are the first friend I’ve had since I was a child in Syria,” Faina said quietly. “When Alex told me you were recovering from an accident, I felt a kinship with you. The day I met you, I could see how hard you were fighting to be independent. To be okay. It made me feel strong to help you. And then after that, we had so many things to talk about. Endless things to talk about. I could make you laugh. You treated me like my own person capable of interesting thoughts and ideas. I knew Alex had set up our friendship, and he was monitoring our texts and emails. But I thought we were becoming proper friends. I could ignore the part where Alex was targeting you, stalking you. He knew which physiotherapist you were seeing and sent me there. I ignored all of it.
“And then when Alex asked me to get you to go to a certain massage therapist, I ignored the uncomfortable feeling in my stomach. That maybe Alex wanted more than information about our father. I encouraged you to go. But I didn’t know what they were doing to you. I didn’t know, Edie. And I’m so sorry.”
Faina’s grief and guilt was heavy and uncomfortable, a soaked wool sweater against her skin. Edie wanted it off.
“What were they doing to me, Faina?”
Faina looked up, and her eyes were pure misery. “They’ve hidden information inside your head. Implanted it there. My sister Yana is a neuroscientist in Kiev. She has developed a way of embedding encrypted information into the human brain. I don’t know how. I’d tell you if I did. They targeted you because of your head injury. Your accident was all over the news. They knew you had one, and they exploited it. And I helped. In this I am complicit. And I am so sorry.”
Faina seemed to lose any vestige of control over her emotions at this point. She put her head in her hands and her shoulders shook. Edie moved closer and put her arm around Faina’s shoulders. But Faina was too close to a physical collapse. Edie looked up as Skye and JC approached.
“She needs to rest. She’s completely spent,” Edie said.
“I’ll clear out the apartment above the garage,” Skye said. “Faina and JC can stay up there.”
“Yeah, okay.” Edie looked up at JC. “You’ll take care of her?”
“I will. I promise,” JC said.
Skye and Edie stood in the kitchen as JC and Faina made their way upstairs. Edie glanced at Skye.
“Did you hear all that?”
“Yeah. JC filled me in on some as well.”
It was hard to think. She was so tired. But one thing was perfectly clear.
“We were right. There’s information in there. We need to get it out.”
Edie knew she should have been upset. Scared or angry. Violated. But right now, she just felt tired. Safe but tired.
“I thought the upstairs apartment was just storage,” Edie said. “Why did you let me take your bed the night I stayed here?”
“Because I wanted you near me,” Skye said. Her eyes snapped back into focus, like she’d just heard what she’d said and couldn’t believe she’d spoken the words aloud. Her eyes were vulnerable, and she looked helplessly at Edie. Edie was grateful she did not take back the words.
“I should go help them get set up,” Skye said.
“And I’m going to have a shower and crash.”
“Yeah, okay. Good idea. You know where to find everything.”
Skye left Edie alone in the kitchen. She sipped her rapidly cooling tea and listened to the echoes of commotion above her. She would sleep, and Skye and JC and Faina would be nearby tonight. And tomorrow, no matter what Skye said, Edie planned to talk to Dr. Diana Crask. She needed answers.
* * *
Edie woke in the middle of the night to pain in the back of her head. She turned quickly on her side and took the pressure off her bump. She took a moment to be grateful for the absence of headache and a clear CT scan before stretching in the soft, satiny grey sheets of Skye’s bed. Skye’s bedroom was simple greys and blues, understated but just a little luxurious with the feel of the sheets and the thickness of the blanket.
Edie listened for any sounds of movement from the living room. The loft seemed utter
ly still, just the thrum of the slow-moving overhead fans high up in the ceiling. The glow of at least one light from the living room shone around the edges of the privacy barrier to the bedroom. Knowing she would take some time to get back to sleep, Edie decided to get up.
Skye was sitting in one of the chairs opposite the couch, her beanie slouched on the back of her head, laptop open in her lap. Her eyes were closed, her fingers resting lightly against the keyboard. It was the first time Edie had seen her sleep, or even look the slightest bit tired.
Before Edie could decide if she should wake her up, Skye opened her eyes. Edie felt caught, pulled in by her naked expression, the sense of having been captured and drawn in. The sense of having been seen. Skye blinked, refocused, and sat up.
“Hey,” Skye said, clearing her throat. She checked her watch. “Why are you up?”
Edie sat down on the couch. She was ever so slightly dizzy but didn’t want to admit it. She didn’t want Skye to worry that it had to do with her earlier blow to the head.
“Couldn’t sleep?” Skye said, obviously concerned with Edie’s lack of response. “Is it your head?”
“No, it’s fine,” Edie said, trying desperately to focus on Skye and calm her body at the same time. “I just woke up and wanted to see you.”
Skye surprised her and smiled. “I’m right here.”
The last time she’d flippantly made a remark about Skye’s seemingly endless reserves, Skye had completely shut down like she’d been criticized. Edie wanted to proceed with caution.
“You don’t seem to have to sleep very much.”
As she had predicted, Skye stiffened. But she also answered. “No, I don’t.”
“How much?” Edie said, keeping her voice soft, willing herself to not give whatever reaction Skye so obviously feared.
“Two or three hours a night.”
“Will you tell me about it?”
“My parents say I slept normally until I was about eighteen months,” Skye said. “Or what they thought was normal since I was their only child. And then I just stopped. Apparently I didn’t cry, I just lay in my crib and talked and sang to myself. They would bring me puzzles and books, and I’d just keep myself occupied until they got up.”
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