Brian Freeman - The Cold Nowhere

‘Okay, so what about Cat?’

He held up the evidence bag with the knife. ‘I found this down below.’

‘So you think this is legit? Someone really came after her last night?’

‘I don’t see any reason to think she’s lying.’

‘It could be a random assault. If someone saw a bunch of girls boarding the ship, this guy might have waited to see who came outside. It doesn’t mean anyone was targeting her specifically.’

‘That’s true,’ Stride said, ‘except for the other incidents she told me about. What did you find out about Cat’s background?’

Maggie didn’t need notes. It was all in her brain. ‘Nothing much that you don’t already know. Catalina Mateo, sixteen years old, daughter of Michaela Mateo and Marty Gamble, both deceased. Her mother had no living relatives other than her sister Dory, who was deemed unfit to care for the girl. Her father’s parents were alive, but were elderly. Custody went to a cousin of Marty’s, William Green, and his wife Sophie. They were named Cat’s legal guardians and still are. They have a house in West Duluth near the Oneota Cemetery.’

‘What’s the story on the Greens?’

‘Sophie Green is a secretary in a real estate office in Superior. William Green does highway construction labor. We’ve had reports on him for minor stuff, fights, drunk and disorderly, the usual busts for someone who hangs out at Curly’s Bar. I also found a couple arrests for him in Minneapolis in the last three years.’

‘For what?’

‘Solicitation,’ Maggie said. ‘The most recent was a month ago.’

‘What about Cat?’

‘It’s what you would expect, boss. The girl is vulnerable. I talked to the principal at Denfeld, who says Cat is absent from school as much as she’s there. Too bad, because the principal thinks she’s smart as hell.’

‘Arrests?’

‘Nothing yet, but don’t kid yourself — she’s spending a lot of time on the street. I described her to Guppo and he remembers seeing a girl like that in Lake Place Park where the homeless hang out. I also called Brooke at the shelter on First, and she says Cat is a regular. Guppo and Brooke both said the same thing. Sooner or later, something bad’s going to happen to this girl.’

‘That’s what I’m trying to stop,’ Stride said.

Maggie said nothing, but he watched her face turn sour.

‘What’s going on with you, Mags?’ he asked. ‘You obviously don’t like this girl. Why?’

‘I don’t know anything about her. Neither do you.’

‘She’s the daughter of an old friend. She’s a good kid in trouble. Do I need something more than that?’

Maggie shrugged. ‘Do whatever you want. You said it’s personal, right? So it’s none of my business.’

‘Except you’re giving me the cold shoulder all of a sudden. It feels to me like this is about something else.’

Her golden face swung toward him. ‘Meaning what?’

‘You know what I’m talking about. Is this about Cat, or is it about you and me?’

‘There’s no you and me,’ she retorted. ‘We tried, we failed. End of story. We said we weren’t going to talk about it anymore.’

‘Yeah, that’s what we said.’

Stride stared at his partner, whose fists were clenched around the steering wheel of the Avalanche. They’d been friends for years, as close as two people could be without being lovers. The trouble was, that had all changed. He knew things about her now that he was never meant to know. He knew about the birth mark on her upper thigh. He knew that she slept face down in her pillow and somehow didn’t suffocate. He knew that her ears got bright pink as she reached orgasm. Those were things he couldn’t put back in a box. He couldn’t will the knowledge out of his head.

Years earlier, his wife Cindy had warned him how easy it would be to break Maggie’s heart like the porcelain pieces of a Chinese doll. He’d treated her with kid gloves for years, but now he’d done what he always swore he never would. He’d gotten involved. He’d let it end badly. He’d wounded her in a way that no other man could.

She read his face and knew what he was thinking. ‘Spare me the sympathy. I’m a big girl.’

‘I know that.’

‘We fucked for, what, six weeks?’

He didn’t answer her. She was trying to make their brief affair sound unimportant by swearing about it. She wanted to pretend there had never been an emotional bond between them, which wasn’t true at all.

‘We were good at the fucking part,’ she went on. ‘I liked it. Did you like it? Or was this all in my head?’

‘Sure I did, but it’s not about that.’

‘I know. Look, it happened by accident. We both blew it. We knew this was never going to work out, and it didn’t. I don’t regret giving it a try, but I know you do. I’m sorry I screwed up your life.’

‘I never said I regretted it.’

‘You didn’t have to. Your poker face isn’t as good as you think, not with me. Whenever we were in bed, Serena was there with us, and not in a fun way.’

It wasn’t really funny. They didn’t laugh. He knew Maggie was right.

‘So what now?’ he asked.

‘Now we move on. We go back to the way things were.’

‘Just like that?’

‘I can if you can,’ she said.

‘Okay.’

‘Okay. Done. Let’s forget about it.’

He didn’t think anything was that easy.

‘Are you seeing someone?’ he asked.

‘Does it matter?’

‘I’m curious.’

‘Okay, yes, I’m seeing someone.’

‘Anybody I know?’

She sighed. ‘Fine. Remember Ken McCarty?’

‘Sure. Is he back in town?’

‘No, but we hooked up a couple weeks ago when he was here to get some evidence from the property room on a larceny case in Minneapolis. For now, it’s just sex. Nobody knows about it, and whatever you do, do not tell Guppo. I’ll never hear the end of it.’

‘Ken’s pretty young, Mags,’ he said. It was a joke, but it was the wrong thing to say.

‘Six years. He’s six years younger. I tried older men and that didn’t work out so well for me.’

He acknowledged the jab but didn’t poke back. He checked his watch and opened the door of the Avalanche. ‘I’ve got to pick up Cat at the clinic.’

‘Say hi to Steve.’

‘I will.’ Stride stepped down onto the street and looked back inside. He stared into the eyes of his best friend. ‘Can we really get past this? Are we good?’

Maggie shrugged. ‘Yeah, we’re good.’

But they weren’t. He wasn’t a fool.

‘Well, well, if it isn’t Jonathan Stride,’ Steve Garske announced, glancing up from the computer monitor in his examining room. He stripped his half-glasses off his face and eased his lanky frame backward on the rolling chair. ‘Usually, I need a crowbar to get you into my office. As long as you’re here, how about you turn your head and cough?’

Stride chuckled. ‘You put on those gloves and I’m heading for the door.’

‘Uh huh. You’re overdue for your physical, buddy. Again. One of these times, you could save me the trouble of calling your assistant and scheduling an appointment for you.’

‘I can hardly wait.’

‘No, you can’t, and you won’t. We’re both turning fifty soon. You know what that means. The big poke. Or as the joke goes in the medical biz, “I told my doctor I didn’t need a colonoscopy, and he told me to shove it up my ass.”’

‘Funny.’

Steve crossed his arms over his chest and gave Stride his best I’m-the-doctor frown. ‘I will see you here before summer, end of discussion. Got it?’

‘Okay, boss.’

Stride knew better than to argue with his friend.