Brian Freeman - The Cold Nowhere

Cat stared at him, and her sad, beautiful eyes suddenly looked older. ‘I’m sorry for running away. I didn’t hurt anyone. I swear.’

He studied her face, and all he could do was rely on what it told him. ‘I know you didn’t,’ he said.

‘Is Kim dead?’ Cat asked.

They sat on a green bench at the end of the Point. Calm waters from Superior Bay lapped at a strip of sand at their feet. It was finally light outside, but the morning was grim. This place on the harbor was like sacred ground for Stride. He had stopped and sat on this same bench at every crossroad in his life. It was the first place he had gone after Cindy died, in order to cry in private, away from the memories in their home. It was the first place he’d gone after Serena left.

‘Yes, she’s dead.’

Cat’s eyes closed. ‘I should have stayed.’

‘Then you’d be dead, too.’

‘Was she — stabbed? Is that what he did?’

‘Yes.’

‘I saw that a knife was missing.’ Cat hugged herself and shivered.

‘Did you take another one?’

‘Yes, but I lost it at the DECC.’

Stride nodded. ‘Do you have any idea who did this?’

‘No. I’m really sorry. Why is this happening to me?’

‘That’s what we need to find out,’ Stride said. ‘Tell me about last night.’

Cat took a deep breath. Her fists clenched. ‘Kim heard something upstairs and she went to check it out. The next thing I knew, she was screaming. It was just like — it was just like with my mother, you know? When I was a kid. Kim yelled at me to run, so I did. I grabbed a knife and I ran. I didn’t get far before I saw him coming after me.’

‘You saw him?’

‘No, I only saw a flashlight on the beach. I made it to the bridge and he followed me into the city. When I got inside the DECC, I thought I could hide there, but I heard someone coming. I figured it was him, but it was Brandy.’

‘What did she want?’

‘Money. Food. Whatever I had. I told her I didn’t have anything, and she went crazy and started punching me. I think she was high. I dropped the knife, and I got out of there. I found my way to the skywalk and headed for downtown. From there, I walked all the way to the Seaway. That’s it.’

‘Did you see or hear anyone else inside the DECC?’

‘Just Brandy.’

‘Brandy’s dead,’ he told her.

‘ What? ’

‘Someone hit her with a wrench.’

Cat leaped to her feet. ‘It wasn’t me!’

‘If it was self-defense, you can tell me the truth,’ Stride said. ‘Or if you thought it was the man chasing you, I need to know that. Even if you’re scared, you can’t lie to me about this, Cat.’

‘I’m not lying! I didn’t do it!’

Stride took her hand and made her sit down again. ‘Okay, I’m sorry. I needed to ask.’

‘Brandy came after me , not the other way around,’ she insisted, kicking the sand.

‘Okay.’

‘There’s somebody out there who wants me dead. That’s all I know.’

‘We’ll find him, but I need your help.’

‘Anything. I just want to make this stop.’

‘I need to ask you about Vincent Roslak,’ he said.

Cat flinched. ‘Vincent doesn’t have anything to do with this.’

‘You know who he is, right? You saw him for counseling?’

‘A few times. What difference does that make?’

‘Vincent Roslak was stabbed to death eight months ago. Last night, Kim Dehne was stabbed to death, too.’

‘There’s no connection,’ Cat said.

‘There is a connection. You. Somehow, this may be the link that explains why someone is coming after you.’

‘No, no, no, it can’t be. Vincent moved away. I never saw him again. You’re wrong.’

‘Did you sleep with him?’

Cat wiped her eyes, which were moist. ‘Don’t make it dirty. He cared about me.’ Her voice hardened. ‘Then he went away and that was the end of it.’

Stride put an arm around her shoulders, but she tensed at his touch. ‘Listen to me, Cat. Roslak abused the trust that his patients put in him. We don’t know how far it went. If you told him things about other people, he may not have kept it confidential. Or maybe someone was afraid about what you might tell him, and that’s what got him killed. Maybe that’s why you’re in danger.’

Cat sniffled. ‘I told him stuff from my past. That’s all. Years ago. My parents.’

‘What else? You were on the street, Cat. You saw things, you did things, that people like to keep in the shadows.’

‘I know, but I can’t think of anything like that.’

‘What about men you slept with?’ Stride asked.

‘It’s not like I know their names. They come, they go, you know what I mean?’

She laced her fingers with his and held on tight. He could almost feel her wishing and praying that the past was behind her. She was young. It would be a while before she learned that the past never went away.

‘I don’t want to talk about Vincent anymore,’ she said. ‘Please.’

‘Okay, but there’s someone else I need to ask you about.’

‘Who?’ Her voice was soft and fragile.

‘Margot Huizenfelt.’

‘I don’t know who that is,’ Cat said.

‘She’s a reporter. Dory says she sent Margot to you. She’s missing.’

‘Oh, her,’ Cat said. ‘Yeah, a few months ago, a woman found me under the overpass. She said she was a reporter. She mentioned Dory. She offered to buy me lunch. It was winter, so a hot lunch sounded good.’

‘What did she look like?’ he asked.

‘Heavy. Butch.’

‘That sounds like Margot.’

‘You say she’s missing? Is it because of me?’

‘I don’t know yet, but she may have been the person who was looking for you in the graffiti graveyard. What did the two of you talk about?’

‘She asked me lots of questions. How I got there. The life I led. My parents. Eventually, she said she wanted to write a story about me. She gave me a hundred bucks, so I said sure.’

‘Did you ever see the article?’

Cat shook her head.

‘What else did you tell her?’

‘Oh, you know, why I was on the street, what my days were like. She asked where I slept, how I got money and food, what I thought about men and life and all sorts of crazy things. I felt like I was on a reality show or something.’

‘Did you give her your name?’

‘Yeah, but she promised she wouldn’t use it.’

‘Did Vincent Roslak come up?’

Cat shook her head. ‘No. I didn’t talk about him.’

‘Anyone else? Any names?’

‘I didn’t mention anybody. She wanted to know how I got hooked up with people. You know, did I have a pimp or something. I just said there was a guy in Canal Park who was connected.’

Stride didn’t think it would have taken Margot long to home in on Curt Dickes.

‘She said I was pretty and that guys must really like me,’ Cat went on. ‘She wanted to know if I ever did guys who paid better than others. Rich guys. High roller types, you know?’

‘Did you?’

‘Yeah, a couple times Curt got me dates for twice what I usually make. One time, like a year ago, I even got a fancy dress and a limo ride out of the thing. That was cool.’

‘Where did the limo take you?’ Stride asked.

‘Some resort on the north shore. There was a guy waiting in one of the rooms. He had bucks.’

‘Do you know who it was? Did you recognize him? Or did you get a name?’

‘No, we just did it. Ten minutes, like most guys, and I was out of there. Nice tip, too, like I was a waitress or something.’

‘What did he look like?’

Cat shrugged. ‘I don’t look at their faces.’

‘Do you remember the resort?’