Dan Sharp Mysteries 4-Book Bundle (89 page)

She took off down the narrow trail, avoiding tree roots and branches that stretched across the opening. The air was pea green and lush with foliage and composting vegetation. She felt like she was running through a tunnel of trees and brush with the sun blotted out overhead. A few minutes in, she reached an opening with the blue sky and lake spread before her. She slowed to stay hidden in the trees while she checked out the beach.

Directly ahead, a woman dressed head to toe in a black burka stood framed against the blue horizon. Her back was toward Kala and she was looking out at the lake, her arms flapping up and down as she yelled into the wind. Kala moved a step to look past her and for a split second could not believe what she was seeing. A young man who had to be Ghazi was holding a woman's head under the thigh-high water while her arms flailed and pounded at him, trying to break his hold. Ghazi was laughing, wide-mouthed, toward his mother sitting on the shore. He let Nadirah's head out of the water for half a second and she sputtered water and tried to inhale before he thrust her back under.

It was a sight so grotesque and unthinkable that Kala stood stunned, but only for a moment. Her horror was followed by a rage so intense that it burned through her like wildfire. She kicked out of her shoes and dropped her cellphone as she ran full tilt toward the lake.

The woman in black provided Kala some cover until she got closer. Kala lunged past her before the woman could react and barrelled into the water directly at Ghazi. The woman's screams increased in volume as she warned her son. As Kala rushed into the lake, part of her registered that Nadirah had stopped struggling, but she couldn't stop to think what that meant.

Ghazi's face transformed from gleeful to shocked as he realized what was happening. Kala was on him before he released his hold on Nadirah. She punched him hard between the eyes, hearing the bone in his nose crack. Blood streamed down his face and he grabbed his nose with both hands and screamed in pain. He punched blindly toward Kala's face. One punch made contact with the side of her head and Kala momentarily saw stars. She regained her balance and attacked again, this time thrusting her knee as hard as she could between his legs and punching him in the stomach with her balled up fist. The impact sent him backwards with another shriek of pain. He hit the water with a splash, incapacitated for the time being. The screaming from shore intensified.

Kala turned to search for Nadirah. Fear surged through her at the sight of the girl lying on her stomach, her body bobbing gently in the waves that lapped against her. Kala reached her quickly through the knee-deep water and flipped her onto her back, pulling her under her armpits toward shore. They reached the edge of the water and Kala turned Nadirah onto her side, checking her mouth for obstructions. She rolled her over and onto her back and began performing CPR.

The mother waded out to Ghazi, screeching venom while Kala breathed air in and out of Nadirah's mouth, praying that she wasn't too late. She was aware of the frenetic movements of Ghazi and his mother nearby, but she kept up the CPR. Ghazi had almost reached her when a stream of water spurted out of Nadirah's mouth. She coughed and gasped in air. Kala rolled the girl onto her side, then stood ready to defend herself from the two bearing down on her. They were a frightening sight. The woman was screeching through the veil that covered her face and pounding the air with a fist. Ghazi was covered in scarlet blood streaming from his broken nose. His hands were raised in fists and his eyes were already turning black and blue and bulging with anger.

Kala spread her feet wider. She raised her arms and squeezed her hands into fists. She mentally prepared to withstand a blow. Ghazi came at her like a charging bull, thrusting himself at her and catching her around the waist in a head butt. She was flung backwards into the water, winded by the impact and struggling to breathe. She kicked at him as he scrambled to leap on her and caught him under the chin. His head snapped back but he only took a second to come at her again. Kala got into a sitting position and pushed herself back but not in time. Ghazi flung himself at her and weighted her down, pushing her face under the water.

Kala flailed like Nadirah had done before her but Ghazi was too strong. She tried to gain traction to shove him off balance. Nothing worked and she let herself go limp, willing him to loosen his grip. Darkness and shooting lights filled her brain as she began to black out.

G
undersund
took exit 659 toward Charleston Lake and searched ahead for the gas station and family restaurant that Rouleau had assured him were in plain sight. He'd made record time down Highway 417 once he left the city limits, sticking to the fast lane and managing to avoid being pulled over. Stonechild couldn't be that far ahead unless she'd broken the sound barrier.

He spotted Wolf alone in the parking lot, pacing back and forth like a man waiting on his wife to deliver a baby. Gundersund drew alongside and Wolf jumped into the passenger seat without waiting for an invitation.

“Let's go,” Wolf said, slamming the door. His hair was wild and his beard scraggy. Not a look that brokered confidence. He shifted sideways and looked hard at Gundersund as if sensing his reluctance. “I didn't like letting your partner go to the cottage alone and have had a bad feeling.”

“Where are the girls?”

“I called a friend, who arrived five minutes ago. Claire will take Dalal and Meeza to her place and we can pick them up when this is over.”

Gundersund wasn't liking this change in plans. “I can't take you with me, Wolf. I can't bring you into a potentially dangerous situation.”

“I know the risks. We can make better time if I'm along to direct you to the cottage.”

The door of the restaurant opened and Gundersund looked over, the ringing of the bell on a chain catching his attention. A pleasant-looking woman in her fifties dressed in pink Lulu Lemon workout gear exited with Meeza and Dalal right behind. Both girls were eating ice cream cones and the younger one was smiling. He watched them cross the parking lot to her SUV and noticed the vanity plate: 4CURLERS. She wouldn't be hard to track down.

“Okay,” Gundersund said, “looks like I haven't really got much of a choice if we're going to find them before nightfall. Buckle up.” He pulled onto the road heading north. “So what makes you believe Leah hid Nadirah away at this cottage?”

“It's isolated and the first place she would think of. Leah also went away overnight a few weeks back ‘to clear her head,' she told me. I thought she was having a night away with her married boyfriend.” Wolf stared straight ahead. “I should have trusted her. A Ph.D. in psychology and I couldn't even read my own girlfriend.”

“You're only human, buddy. She didn't want you to know and she was acting secretive. I understand a co-worker also stirred the pot.”

“Jucinda.” He groaned. “I should never have listened to her. Take this turn off.”

“Left here?”

“Yeah. It'll take us to the side road that leads to Sand Bay.” He slumped back against the seat and folded his arms across his chest.

They travelled in silence past stretches of woods and marshland. The side road to the Sand Bay turnoff came ten minutes in.

Wolf started speaking as if there hadn't been any break in their conversation. “Leah was always helping people. She was soft-hearted and never knew when to say no. She also had this conscience that wouldn't let her do the wrong thing. I know she was trying to protect me from getting involved in helping a caller because we'd both get fired if Mark or Tadesco found out I'd known and said nothing or helped her. The irony was that I quit the night Leah was murdered so it wouldn't have mattered.”

Gundersund shot him a glance. “Leah must have known that if Nadirah was in danger, helping her to escape her family would put both of them in danger. Perhaps Leah was keeping you out of it to keep you safe.”

“Then we have to protect this person that Leah died trying to help. It's the only thing that makes sense anymore. Helping Nadirah might make up for me doubting Leah, you know?”

“Yeah. I get it.” Find meaning out of chaos. Assuage one's own guilt whether real or imagined. When somebody close died violently, family and friends would go searching for answers and try to set things right. Gundersund had seen it play out before.

Wolf suddenly pointed toward the right side of the road. “Is that your partner's truck?”

Gundersund felt the adrenaline start to kick in. “Yeah. She's here.”

He cranked the steering wheel sharply to the right and slid in next to her. They both jumped out. Wolf waited for Gundersund to walk around the front of his car. He said, “The cottage isn't far. It's up on a bluff of land overlooking the lake.”

They ran up the gravel hill through the trees, Wolf leading the way. He stopped at the top of the incline and pointed at the black Nissan. “Company,” he said quietly.

Gundersund's worry meter spiked but he tried not to let it show. “Looks like the Shahans made it here ahead of us.” He reached inside his jacket and pulled out his handgun. “Stay behind me, just in case.”

They circled the cottage with Gundersund taking the lead. He was relieved not to come across any scenes of carnage but each passing moment began to seem more critical.

“Looks like the cottage is empty,” Wolf said, scanning the deck and windows from where he stood near the path down to the water.

“Maybe, but we should go carefully.”

They silently climbed the steps to the deck and Gundersund eased his way through the sliding door just as Kala had done earlier. He completed a quick search and returned a minute later to where Wolf stood guard on the deck.

“The good news is that nobody's inside with any injuries. The bad news is that they have to be out there somewhere. You were right about Nadirah staying here. She's set up in the back bedroom. I found her wallet with ID.”

Wolf nodded. “It had to be this place. I don't see anybody on the dock from here, but we could go check it out.”

Gundersund would have missed Stonechild's clue, pointing them down the path to the beach, if he hadn't had his head down. Smart girl. She'd left one of her turquoise earrings hanging from a broken branch that pointed down an overgrown track between the trees. His admiration for her resourcefulness kept growing.

“Wolf,” he said and reached up to take down the earring. He tucked it into his pocket. “This way.”

“The path leads to the beach about half a kilometer around the point,” Wolf said.

Three minutes running full tilt through the woods felt like a lifetime. When they broke through the green cave of trees into the blinding sunshine, Gundersund's heart was near to bursting in his chest. He struggled to catch his breath, vain enough to try to keep his discomfort from Wolf, who looked unfazed by the run. Gundersund promised himself that he'd get back in the gym when this case was over. No two ways. It took him a second to adjust to the brightness bouncing off the water. He squinted.

“
Merde
,” he exclaimed when he'd finally absorbed the horror in front of him. The sight was surreal.

Wolf's voice held equal disbelief. “There's a woman's body lying near shore. He's holding somebody else under water.” Wolf began running and so did Gundersund. He remembered his handgun.

“Police!” Gundersund yelled. He stopped and raised the angle of the gun into the air and fired one shot skyward.

The man in the water looked up and raised his hands. Even from this distance, Gundersund could see that Ghazi's face and shirt were smeared with bright-red congealing blood. It was difficult to make out his features under the pulpy gore. He froze for only a moment before turning his back on them and belting it across the beach toward the wood. The woman in black trailed behind him, wailing and screaming at the top of her lungs in a foreign language.

Gundersund and Wolf ignored their flight as they raced toward the two bodies lying on the beach. Gundersund waded into the deeper water and grabbed onto Stonechild by her waist. He flipped her over and dragged her from the water onto the edge of the beach. Laying her down, desperation made his movements feel clumsy and rough. His initial assessment of her condition had him fear the worst. Her normally glowing skin had a bluish tinge and the pulse in her neck beat faintly under his fingers.

Please, please.

He rolled her onto her back and tilted her head, lifting her chin, putting his ear next to her open mouth. He couldn't see her chest rising and falling; there was no feeling of air on his cheek.
Don't die on me.
He pinched her nose and sealed her mouth with his, giving her a breath big enough to make her chest rise.

Come on. Come on.
He repeated several times.
Come on, Stonechild,
breathe.
The clock was ticking. He lifted his face to get more air. A sudden movement of her neck where he held her and then she bucked upwards. A frantic struggle for breath and a choking cough. Water began to spew from her open mouth. He managed to lift his face and roll her onto her side before she vomited a stream of water. Her eyes fluttered open, fighting, scared. She rolled back and saw him. The fear in her eyes died away before she closed them and moaned.

Thank Christ.
“You're okay, Stonechild,” he said, taking hold of her hand. “I've got you.” He glanced over at Wolf.

Wolf had found Nadirah lying unconscious on her side in inches of water near shore. He'd hauled her farther onto the beach and had been trying to bring her around. He'd taken off his shirt and wrapped her in it. Wolf met his eyes. “She's alive,” he said. “Breathing okay, but unconscious. I want to kill the bastard.”

“Join the line.”

Gundersund felt the surge of adrenaline that had brought him this far begin to fade. He suddenly felt overwhelmingly tired. He could have stretched out next to Stonechild and slept, but the day was just beginning. He pulled the phone out of his pocket and dialled 911 as he leaned down and said, “Hang on Kala. Nadirah's doing fine. You're both doing fine. They won't get away with this.”