Brian Freeman - The Cold Nowhere

He looked up. Serena was staring at him.

‘So do you want to bring me up to date?’ she said.

She kept their reunion on safe ground. Talk about work. Talk about the case. Don’t talk about each other. He gave her a summary of the events of the weekend. Cat’s story, his suspicions about Vincent Roslak and William Green, the clue from Brandy that led to Margot, the vicious murders overnight. He also mentioned Steve’s speculation about hookers with wealthy clients.

‘Did you find any hints in your investigation that Margot could have been looking into upscale prostitution?’ he asked.

‘I can’t be sure, but it’s definitely possible. Based on her phone records and credit card info, she met with a lot of one-percenters around the northland in the weeks before she disappeared. Nobody volunteered anything about escorts, but it’s not like they would. I can get a list of names and photos of the people Margot saw. Maybe Cat will recognize one of them.’

‘Margot may have been thinking the same thing,’ Stride suggested. ‘That would explain why she was trying to find Cat again.’

‘And why someone would be desperate to get rid of both of them,’ Serena said. ‘I want to find out exactly who Margot talked to that last weekend. We know she was in Duluth trying to find Cat, but nobody breathed a word about it to the police after she disappeared. That sounds like somebody didn’t want us to connect the dots.’

‘I know where I would have started if I were Margot,’ Stride said. ‘Cat’s guardians. William and Sophie Green.’

‘Yeah, me too.’

They both turned toward the kitchen as a young voice shouted from the porch.

‘I finished the puzzle!’ Cat announced.

She slid into the great space in her socks with a girlish excitement that made her seem younger than she was. ‘That was a really easy one-’ she began, but she skidded to a stop as she saw Serena standing by the stairs to the attic. ‘Oh!’

‘Hi, Cat,’ Serena said.

Cat’s eyes flicked between the two of them. ‘Who are you?’

‘My name’s Serena.’

Cat studied her with curious interest, as if she were a model on a runway. ‘Wow, you’re like really gorgeous.’

Serena laughed. He’d missed her laughter. ‘I was about to tell you the same thing.’

Cat blushed in embarrassment, but Stride could tell she was pleased by the compliment.

‘You used to live here, right?’ Cat said. ‘Mr. Stride let me wear one of your shirts.’

‘ Mr. Stride,’ Serena said, with amused eyes. ‘I bet he’d be okay if you called him Stride. Most people do. And yes, you’re right, I used to live here.’

‘But you don’t anymore?’ Cat asked.

‘No, I don’t.’

‘Serena works for the sheriff’s department in Itasca County,’ Stride interjected quickly. ‘She’s investigating the disappearance of that reporter you met. Margot Huizenfelt.’

‘Oh, okay.’ Cat’s mouth twitched with concern. ‘Is she dead?’

‘I hope not,’ Serena said.

‘Do you know why she was looking for me?’

‘No, but Jonny and I are going to find out.’

The name slipped easily from her lips. Jonny . She’d always called him that. Just like Cindy did. Cat didn’t miss the familiarity in her voice or the fact that they stood on opposite sides of the room, like nervous boxers. For a young girl, she didn’t miss much.

‘People are dying, and it’s my fault,’ Cat said.

‘It’s not,’ Stride told her.

‘He’s right, Cat,’ Serena added. ‘Don’t blame yourself.’

‘I ran away. If I’d stayed home with the Greens, none of this would have happened.’

Serena sat down on the attic steps. She leaned forward with her elbows on her knees. ‘We don’t know if that’s true, and from what Jonny tells me, you didn’t have much of a choice about running away. You were being hurt, right? It’s okay to say so.’

‘Yeah, Mr. Green would hit me sometimes. A lot of times, I guess. I probably deserved it.’

‘You didn’t. No child deserves it.’

‘I could have done something. I could have said something.’

‘That’s not always how it works,’ Serena said. ‘It’s nice if you can, but sometimes you can’t. I get it.’

Cat shrugged. ‘You’re strong. Someone like you would have just kicked him in the balls.’

Stride watched Serena and saw the hardness in her face come and go. The memory. The pain. He wondered what she would say, if she would say anything at all. Back then, she would have kept her past hidden; she would never have shared it with a stranger.

‘I wish I had,’ Serena told Cat softly, ‘but I ran away, too.’

Cat’s head cocked in confusion. ‘What do you mean?’

Serena said nothing, but she held Cat’s stare across the room, girl to girl, woman to woman. Eventually, Cat understood. ‘You?’ she asked.

‘Me,’ Serena said. ‘Not just physical abuse. There was more. Bad stuff.’

‘How old?’

‘Your age. Sixteen.’

Cat’s brown eyes welled with tears. She stuck a finger in her mouth and chewed a nail.

‘I don’t talk about it a lot,’ Serena went on, ‘but I live with it now. You will, too.’

Cat swallowed hard. Her hair fell across her face. She danced on her feet, and without saying a word, she turned and ran through the kitchen. Serena winced, as if she’d breathed on a house of cards and made it fall. He heard her swear at herself under her breath.

Stride followed Cat and found her on the musty sofa on the rear porch. He sat down next to her. The young girl stared at the completed puzzle of the lift bridge, its pieces knitted together. She continued to chew a nail. One tear made a glossy line on her cheek.

‘You okay?’ he asked.

Cat shrugged her shoulders.

‘You don’t have to deal with any of this alone,’ he said. ‘Serena knows what it’s like. She can help. So can I.’

Cat still said nothing. Her stare was blank. He felt her pushing him away.

‘Serena and I have to go out for a while,’ he told her. ‘I have a police officer coming to stay with you while we’re gone. We won’t leave until he gets here.’

Stride stood up, and Cat turned and threw her arms around his waist. He didn’t move. She clung to him silently, and when she finally let go, she wiped her face and ducked her chin into her neck. He reached out and stroked her hair.

‘Hey, Stride?’ Cat murmured, as he turned to leave.

He stared down at her. ‘What is it?’

‘I like her.’

They drove in Stride’s Expedition. Neither one of them spoke.

As he came out of the S-curve on the Point near the canal, he spotted an ore boat in the harbor heading toward the lake. The lift bridge was already closed. Five cars waited in line, and he pulled in behind them and shut off the engine. The radio, which had been playing a Patty Loveless bluegrass song, went quiet.

He opened the driver’s door and cold air blew inside. There was no rain, but the streets and sidewalks were wet.

‘I’m not sure what to say to you,’ he admitted.

‘You don’t have to say anything, Jonny.’

Across the short space of the truck, he could smell her perfume. Her fragrance hadn’t changed. She wore the emerald earrings he’d given her.

‘That was sweet of Valerie and Callie to send me that jigsaw puzzle for Christmas,’ he said. ‘Are you still living with them?’

‘I am.’

‘I’m glad you stayed close by.’

Serena looked out the window. ‘I went back to Las Vegas for a week in January. I wanted to see if there was anything still there for me.’

‘Was there?’

‘My old partner, Cordy, he said they wanted me back on Metro. All I had to do was say yes.’