Dan Sharp Mysteries 4-Book Bundle (110 page)

She forced a dazzling smile.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you. I thought we’d agreed to cool it until my … predicament concluded.”

“I thought you might want to come with me on another adventure. I know how much you enjoyed hearing about my last one.”

“Who?”

“My whoring sister Nadirah. I want to get to her before she influences my other sisters any further. I think they’re on their way to find her. Luckily, I’ve figured out where she is.”

“How did you do that? Leah never told you anything as I recall, even with your ample … persuasion.” Della shivered as she remembered his lurid description of what he’d done to her. She still didn’t understand the lengths he’d gone to over his so-called family honour. It was as twisted an obsession as she’d ever seen.

“I got her co-worker’s laptop, which surprised me with intimate details of Leah’s life. For instance, Leah grew up in Brockville near to where her family still owns a cottage on the St. Lawrence River. I’ve got a map of the area and found the location on Google Earth, or close enough that I can get there. It’s secluded and the perfect place for Nadirah to hole up.”

“Your sister could be anywhere. She might have left the country even.”

“Not without her sisters. I know Nadirah. She’ll want to stay close by until she thinks it’s safe to make contact. Then she’ll try to get my other sisters to join her. Dalal anyway. Now the two of them have gone missing.”

“Why haven’t you gone to get Nadirah already?”

“My father wanted me to hold back and overrode my mother, but now she’s decided that Nadirah’s behaviour must be punished. We can’t wait any longer.”

“What do you intend to do when you find her?”

Ghazi straightened and puffed out his chest as if he was a warrior on a holy crusade. “Save my family’s honour. She’s better off dead than carrying on like a common slut.”

“Surely your parents wouldn’t be pleased if you kill her.”

“Who do you think sent me to avenge our honour and bring back Dalal and Meeza before they also bring shame on the family name?”

He stood and paced from one end of the room to the other, stopping a foot from where she stood. He reached up and grabbed the back of her neck, pulling her to him. His mouth was on hers like a sledgehammer and his tongue forced its way between her lips. She gave in to his deep kiss but broke away as his hand reached up under her blouse and fumbled with the clasp on the front of her bra.

“Not here,” she gasped. “Tommy’s in the other room and could come to find me any minute.” She pushed him back and stepped away.

“Fine time for you to act like the good mother.” His eyes blazed but he didn’t move toward her. “I just wanted to see you one more time, Della, before … I wanted you to come with me.”

She kept her eyes on him, acutely aware of how unstable he was. The look in his eyes was crazy with the fervent passion of the demented. Why hadn’t she seen it before? She needed time to figure out how to neutralize him without being linked to him. They’d been very careful not to be seen together; if she could just get rid of him now, she’d buy some time to come up with a plan.

She traced her hand down his chest. “Baby, I can’t just leave Tommy here alone. You go take care of your sisters and we’ll meet up to celebrate, I promise. I’ll post a message on the board at the entrance of the University Centre next week like I did before. It’ll give a time and place to meet up in that code we set up. I’ll want a full account of how it goes down today. The wait will be just so sooo exciting.” She slowly circled her tongue around her lips before leaning in to kiss him one more time. She bit his bottom lip before lifting her mouth to whisper into his ear, “Now be my good boy. You go do what you need to do and don’t let anyone see you leave. We have to be careful.”

The tension left his body as her hands moved their way down his back. He stepped away from her and smiled a cheeky, little-boy smile. “Okay. One more week. But don’t keep me waiting any longer. I can’t live without you. You and me belong together, even if we have to keep our love a secret.”

He didn’t say from his mother, but she knew that was the fear still barely keeping him in line. She cringed at the veiled threat implicit in his words and their pact that would keep her under his thumb. Letting him pretend to rape her might have been a mistake. The thought of spending her life as the object of his latest obsession was chilling. She ran her fingers across his cheek.

“I want you bad too, Ghazi. Just be a wee bit patient and I’ll make the wait well worth your while. We’re going to party like there’s no tomorrow, and nobody is going to get in our way. I promise you that.”

Woodhouse might have missed seeing the East Indian kid come out of Della Munroe’s driveway if he hadn’t looked up from the sports section at just that moment. His blood quickened when he realized the boy had come from the back of her house as cool as you please, dark sunglasses hiding his eyes. He turned his head to look up and down the street again before sidling across the road and passing just in front of Woodhouse’s car. Woodhouse was worried the kid had spotted him, but relaxed when he hustled on by without anything more than a glance at his car.

Woodhouse tried to ingrain a description of the kid in his memory. He was good-looking enough if you liked that sort: brown-skinned, stylish short haircut, masculine features, and physically fit. He wasn’t carrying any merchandise so probably hadn’t been on a robbery mission. He’d only been in the Munroe yard for all of fifteen minutes so likely hadn’t gotten into too much mischief. The question was, had he been inside the house visiting? If so, why had he come out the back way and why did he keep looking around as if trying to see if anyone had followed him?

Woodhouse heard the Nissan start up, and a few seconds later the kid sped by, one hand holding a cellphone to his ear. He would have liked to stop the kid on principle, but figured he’d better not blow his cover. He looked down at the licence plate number scrawled on the newspaper lying next to him on the passenger seat. Might not hurt to phone the number in and get someone to check on the owner. At the very least, he’d look like he was being thorough, and that wouldn’t be a bad thing with Rouleau in charge and a new partner soon. Odds were that he wasn’t going to be lucky enough to get another Chalmers in this lifetime.

Woodhouse turned the key in the ignition and eased his car away from the curb. First things first. He’d make the call as soon as he got back from the community centre, otherwise his bladder would be exploding all over the front seat. He winced at the image and at the never-ending hazing that would follow as sure as the sun was going to rise tomorrow. He tried to think of anything but the pressure in his bladder as he sped up the street to a community toilet and some blessed relief.

Chapter Forty-One

 I
’ll hang back until the girls make contact. When you’ve explained that I’m also here to help, give me a thumbs up. I’ll come over and will take it from there.” Kala checked to make sure Wolf understood she was in charge. They were climbing the stairs to the second floor where the food court was located. He nodded but remained silent. She sensed uncoiled energy and hoped he wouldn’t blow this chance to get close to the girls. Even more, she hoped this encounter was going to lead somewhere.

At the head of the stairs, she held back and let Wolf walk ahead toward the Harvey’s. He bought a coffee, took a seat at one of the tables, and put his elbows on the armrests, leaning slightly forward, his eyes scanning the other tables without staring at anyone for long. The usual senior citizens sat in groups of two and four, cups of coffee on the tables in front of them. A table of six teenage girls was raising the noise level as everyone spoke that much louder to be heard over their laughter and shrieks. Canned music filled what there were of the empty spaces.

Kala skirted around to a spot closer to an exit where Wolf could see her when he turned around. She’d surveyed the people sitting at the tables and walking by but hadn’t seen anyone who fit the description of East Indian pre-teens. The greasy smell of French fries and burgers made her mouth water. Breakfast had been a blueberry yoghurt cup gobbled down on her way out the door.

After ten minutes, Wolf was getting restless. Kala noticed him changing position, crossing and uncrossing his arms, angling his body toward different parts of the room. He’d spotted her early on but managed to avoid glancing her way more than a few times. She thought about buying some fries and taking a seat at the other end of the room at one of the tables. She felt conspicuous lurking around the fringes.

She’d taken two steps toward the Harvey’s cashier when she spotted them at the far end of the food court: two girls wearing headscarves, black T-shirts, and long skirts, one blue and the other a green zigzag pattern. The taller one looked about thirteen. Very pretty face with high cheekbones and almond-shaped eyes. The other was a few years younger with a plumper face and mouth drooping slightly open as if she didn’t understand what was going on around her.

They held hands as they approached and passed a few feet from her. They’d spotted Wolf and changed course to walk toward him. He stood and smiled as they reached his table. He motioned with his hand for them to sit across from him. They appeared tentative, but sat in the seats after the older girl took a careful look around.

Kala waited for Wolf’s signal. He finally lifted his hand in her direction and she walked over after she also took a look around to see if anyone was watching. Satisfied that the girls hadn’t been followed, Kala took the empty seat next to Wolf.

“I’m glad you’ve agreed to meet us,” she said to the taller girl, smiling to ease her fear.

“Wolf told me that Leah couldn’t come but you’re her friend.” The girl’s eyes darted between Kala and Wolf. She was still holding her sister’s hand, which rested on the table.

Kala nodded. “That’s right. We both want to help you. I work for the police but I’m here as Leah’s friend. Can you tell me your names?”

“I’m Dalal Shahan and this is my sister Meeza. We need to find my sister Nadirah. Did Leah tell you where she is?”

“No, but maybe we can sort it out. Did Nadirah run away?”

Meeza’s head lifted and she focussed her eyes on Kala. “She’s as good as dead to us,” she said, her voice robotic and shrill.

Dalal shushed her before explaining. “She’s just repeating.… My mother wasn’t happy that Nadirah ran away. She’s not going to be happy with us either. We can’t go back.”

“How did Nadirah know Leah?” Wolf interjected. “Where does Leah fit into this?”

“They talked through the help line but Nadirah was too scared to do anything like call the police. She got lucky though. Ghazi was taking the same class as Leah at the university, but he skipped it a few times and had Nadirah go in his place. Nadirah recognized Leah’s voice from the help line and approached her. Leah agreed to help her leave home because Nadirah was so desperate. My sister wrote everything in her diary.”

Ghazi.
Kala remembered the name from Tadesco’s class list. She placed her hand on Wolf’s forearm to stop him from talking. “Why did Nadirah have to leave home?” she asked.

“My family believed that she was becoming wild and needed to be controlled. They arranged for her to marry a man, Mr. Khan. Nadirah refused and my parents locked her in her room for a month. When Nadirah got out, she pretended to go along with the idea of marrying Mr. Khan, but she was making plans with Leah to disappear. My parents and my brother Ghazi were very angry when Nadirah left. They’ve been trying to find her.”

All eyes turned to Meeza, who’d let out a sob. She’d begun shaking uncontrollably. Dalal wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer. “It’s okay, Meeza. I won’t let anything happen. You will not have to see Mr. Khan ever again.”

Kala met Wolf’s eyes while Dalal continued to murmur into her sister’s ear.

“Has something happened to make Meeza afraid?” Kala asked.

Dalal scowled. “They decided that Meeza would take Nadirah’s place so they locked Meeza in her room all week. She’s … not handling it very well. Mr. Khan was coming for her today but we ran away. We won’t go back.” Her jaw jutted out in defiance. “You can’t make us go back.”

What kind of family would give their daughters away? It was beyond comprehension. Kala felt a rage inside that she would have liked to let out. “You’re very brave girls, Dalal. We won’t make you go back. We’re going to help you,” she said. “Where are your parents and Ghazi now?”

Dalal’s eyes widened and she looked around the food court as if she suddenly remembered where they were. Panic crossed her face. “They’re probably looking for us. We need to find Nadirah. We’re going to live with her. She promised.”

A memory of Lily and her ten-year-old self caught in Kala’s throat. Lily had made the same promise to her so many years before. A promise that never came true. She coughed to clear the image and to return to the frightened young girls in front of her. “You have no idea where she might have gone?”

Both girls shook their heads.

“I think I might,” Wolf said, his face animated. “Leah would have brought your sister somewhere safe where your family would never find her.” He smiled at Dalal. “Leah would want me to reunite you. I know that for certain. There’s only one place she would have brought your sister and I can take us there in an hour or less if we get on the road now.”

“The three of you will have to wait here in Kingston. Tell me where she is and I’ll go get her,” Kala said.

“You won’t find it on your own,” Wolf said stubbornly. “You’ll waste time trying to find the side road and the laneway to Leah’s family cottage. You still need me.”

“I have a map. It can’t be that hard.”

“It’s not marked on maps.”

“We have to come with you,” Dalal said. “We have to find Nadirah.”

“I want Nadirah,” Meeza wailed. “I want Nadirah now!”

Kala looked at Dalal’s and Wolf’s determined faces and Meeza’s mouth widening into a howl. She wasn’t going to be able to leave them without a scene. If this place was so hard to find, Ghazi and his parents would have the same difficulty, even if they’d figured out where Leah could have hidden Nadirah. It might be safer to keep these girls with her rather than let their family track them down.