Chapter 36
After half an hour of driving back roads, I considered myself free of any physical surveillance. Pulling over, I checked my bug detector one more time before using a secured phone to dial Spider’s number.
His ‘Good morning’ didn’t sound quite as energetic as usual.
“Hi, Spider, it’s Aydan,” I said. “Sorry for the late night last night.”
“Oh! Hi, Aydan! It’s okay. Are you, um…?”
“I’m out of Harchmans and calling from a secured phone,” I assured him. “Did your team get back to you with that information I requested?”
“Yes, I’ve got a list of those properties.”
“Great, could you please send them to me with a copy to Holt?”
“Sure. And everything’s still working fine with the program.”
I let out a breath. “Good. At least one thing’s going according to plan. What about that Remembrance Day service? Have Brock and Tammy found the evidence yet? Has Battalion Park been searched?”
“Yes, we need to talk about that. Will you be coming in soon?”
“I’ll be there this afternoon around…” I considered for a moment. “Three? Maybe three-thirty? I need to talk to Holt first.”
“Okay, great. See you soon.”
My conversation with Riel in the hot tub echoed faintly in my brain, and I added hurriedly, “Hang on! Are you still there?”
“Yes, what is it?”
“Did Riel own any of the properties on the list you’re sending?”
“No, none.”
“How about… sorry, Spider, I know how busy you are right now, but could you please check to see if Riel is currently renting any property in Calgary?”
“I can, but it’ll take a while. Scraping data from private servers is slow; and if we have to search for lease records from all the landlords in the city, individuals as well as management companies…”
My heart sank as I realized what a huge task that would be.
Spider went on, “…it would take a lot of resources. What’s the priority level?”
My conscience jabbed me. I couldn’t risk slowing the terrorist investigation, potentially sacrificing hundreds of lives just to save Dante.
“Um… Low.” The word choked out sounding as defeated and helpless as I felt.
“Okay.” Spider hesitated, then added, “I can set up a quick automated scan that will check the major property management companies and hotels, if that would help. It wouldn’t consume any of the analysts’ time and we have processing power to spare.”
Gratitude warmed me. “Thanks, Spider, that would be great. I’ll let you get back to work now.”
I disconnected and sat staring through the windshield for a few moments, guts twisting. What if Dante was found dead, but he could have been saved if I’d acted sooner?
Blowing out a breath, I jerked my mind back from that thought. I had done what I could, for now. Concentrate on the next problem.
When I got back to Sirius Dynamics Stemp would undoubtedly quiz me about Kane’s activities. I had half an hour to spare before my meeting with Holt. Maybe I could appease Stemp by dropping by Alicia’s place, so I could say I’d searched for Kane and tried to find out what he was doing.
Hell, Kane might actually be there. He wouldn’t leave Alicia and Daniel unguarded…
My heart rose in sudden hope. Kane wouldn’t have left them yesterday unless he was sure they’d be safe. Hellhound would be his first and most trusted choice to protect them.
Of course. That made perfect sense. Kane or Hellhound, or both, would be at Alicia’s place. And if Kane was there, surely he would have ditched the bug by now and I could get a full explanation.
Or even if he wasn’t there, Arnie would know what was going on. This was all just a big misunderstanding. After we explained it to Stemp, everything would be fine.
I steered back onto the highway and headed eagerly for Calgary.
When I pulled up in front of Alicia’s house, my optimism wavered. It looked abandoned. The blinds were closed and the only vehicles in sight were in front of the neighbours’ houses.
But maybe the vehicles were in the garage. And Arnie would keep everybody away from the windows. They could still be here…
I got out and strode around to the side gate, holding onto hope. If they were pretending not to be home, they wouldn’t answer the front door in full view of the neighbours, but Arnie would let me in the back when he identified me.
When I rounded the corner, a shock of adrenaline burned my veins.
The back door was open.
Swinging in the cold breeze, it closed slowly, then opened again as though admitting an invisible presence.
A shiver tracked down my backbone. The yard was barren except for a swing set, the empty seats swaying as if occupied by ghostly children. The tall fence blocked the views from all the neighbours’ houses.
The door banged shut, making me jump. Then it eased open again, a stealthy movement that made me look for malevolent eyes peering through the crack.
“Fuck off with the imagination,” I muttered.
Then I drew my Glock, just in case. Holding it down beside my leg, I crept toward the door.
It swung wide again.
Come on in, little girl. Just like every horror movie ever made.
Swallowing hard in an attempt to get some moisture into my suddenly-dry mouth, I moved forward, half-expecting to hear creepy music start up.
Dammit, I was not going to call Holt and ask him to come and hold my hand because I was afraid of a door.
I wasn’t afraid. Just… alert.
Yeah, that was it.
The stairs creaked ominously as I climbed them, and I flattened myself against the house. After a few breathless moments of waiting for an attack that didn’t come, I resumed my slow climb.
Shouldering through the door when it swung open again, I sidestepped to put my back to the wall, Glock at the ready.
A few dry leaves swirled in the middle of the kitchen floor, rustling like evil whispers. The only other sound was the rumble of the furnace while it fought to maintain a semblance of warmth in the crypt-cold house.
Dammit, that imagery wasn’t helping.
I shook my head to dislodge the scary thoughts. Focus. Clear the house.
Basement first.
The dark staircase yawned to my right like an entrance to hell, the impression enhanced by the heat wafting up from below. Hoping that the windows I’d seen from outside would allow some daylight into the basement, I inched down the stairs as silently as possible.
The air temperature increased as I descended, accompanied by the hot metallic smell of the overworked furnace. As I reached the bottom it wheezed to a halt, cooling with sharp pings like tiny bullets ricocheting in the ducts.
Thank God, Alicia was a tidy housekeeper. Even in the dimness of the small windows, it only took a few minutes to search the unfinished basement.
All clear.
As I climbed the stairs the furnace groaned to life again, responding to the icy current of air that met me on the main floor.
The kitchen offered no place for anyone to hide, and I sidled toward the living/dining room. Pausing with my back to the wall, I drew a deep breath, then pivoted around the corner gun-first.
I snapped a fast glance around the open space. Nothing moved.
Not even the pair of denim-clad legs on the floor, just visible on the other side of the sofa.
My heart slammed against my ribs, accelerating to jackhammer tempo.
The rest of the room was unoccupied. The legs were very still.
Glock at the ready, I crept forward.
The legs were attached to a bulky body clad in a black leather jacket.
Oh, God.
Not Arnie.
No, no…
My knees wobbled. Panting open-mouthed, I fought to hold my gun steady.
Move.
Forward.
I took the last step that would give me a sightline to the face and my legs gave way altogether. Dropping hard to my knees, I hunched forward to get more blood to my brain.
Do not pass out.
No question about the cause of death. His body lay on its stomach, but the contorted face stared up at me, head twisted a full hundred and eighty degrees on a broken neck.
James Helmand.
The roaring in my ears gradually abated, allowing me to hear my own whimpers. “Thank-God-oh-thank-God- thank-God…”
I stifled myself and heaved back to my feet.
Check the rest of the house.
My hands shook so violently I could barely hold my gun. Disciplining my breathing, I forced calm. Through the lungs, the shoulders, the arms, the hands…
Calm…
My hands steadied and I crept forward again, heart still pounding.
Three bedrooms, five closets, and two bathrooms later, I let out a long slow breath and tucked my Glock into the back of my pants for fast access if necessary.
My fingers were still trembling, and I fumbled out a text to Holt’s burner phone with the address along with the instruction, “Use back door & gloves.” Thank God the coffee shop where we’d planned to meet wasn’t far away.
So what was Helmand doing here?
Even though he was obviously dead, I still had to marshal my courage to approach the body. He looked so angry. As if he was just waiting for me to get close enough so he could jump up and attack me.
I nudged one of his legs with the toe of my boot.
Stiff.
So he’d been dead for a while, and his assailant had fled the house leaving the door open.
My mind gradually re-engaged.
His assailant.
Someone capable of snapping the neck of a very large and angry man without leaving any other mark on him.
Someone who lived in this house and had recently threatened James.
Someone who’d killed another man exactly the same way only a few months ago.
Someone who had called me yesterday about ‘a situation’…
Shit, I shouldn’t have texted Holt.
A slide show flitted through my imagination: Helmand arriving and threatening Alicia and Daniel. Kane reacting, fast and deadly. A quick snap of James’s neck, his body abandoned where it landed. Hellhound rushing Alicia and Daniel into hiding while Kane went to eliminate some other unforeseen threat…
A tap at the back door jolted my adrenaline into emergency production all over again.
“Hello? It’s Greg Holt, Realtor. Is anybody home?”
I hurried toward the kitchen, not sure whether to ward him off or ask his advice, but the decision was made for me when he rounded the corner. His innocuous business clothes and empty hands might have fooled an unwary observer, but I identified the combat-ready stance of an experienced martial artist.
He took in the motionless legs with a single glance. “House clear?” At my nod, his shoulders relaxed and he ambled the rest of the way into the room, eyeing Helmand’s body. “Huh. Looks like Kane had a situation after all.”
“We don’t know that Kane had anything to do with this…” I began, but Holt was already crouching beside the body and peering down at its right hand.
“Know anybody with short hair who dyes it dark brown?” Holt shot me an accusing look.
My stomach sank. Putting on my reading glasses, I squinted at Helmand’s index finger. Under the nail was a single short dark hair with a tiny glint of silver at the root.
“I’m sure Kane didn’t do this,” I said with more certainty than I felt. “In the first place, he might want to beat the hell out of James but he wouldn’t kill him. In the second place, even if he did kill him, he’s far too much of a professional to just leave the body lying here with such obvious evidence under its fingernails. And in the third place, even if there was some situation so bizarre that he killed Helmand and didn’t have time to clean up, he’d still close the door when he left. This is a frame job.”
“Huh.” Holt rose, frowning. “Or maybe your boyfriend decided to do you a little favour and now you’re covering for him.”
Irritation flooded me but I kept my voice level. “He’s not my boyfriend; and if I’m covering for him I’m doing a hell of a shitty job of it, considering I texted you as soon as I found the body.”
Holt sneered. “Or maybe you’re just covering your own ass and letting him take the rap.”
“Fuck off!”
His brows snapped together, his jaw jutting as he took an aggressive step toward me. “Make me, bitch!”
My own jaw jerked down, my fists knotting as rage boiled into my veins.
With all my might I fought the urge to lash out.
Don’t do it.
He’d kick the living shit out of me.
“Anger… management,” I gritted through clenched teeth. “I feel… as though… you’re deliberately… trying to piss me off!”
The last words came out louder than I’d intended, but Holt relaxed with a short bark of laughter. “Good call, Kelly.” He punched the speed dial button on a secured phone and waited for Stemp’s answer before rapping out, “Somebody murdered James Helmand in Kane’s ex-wife’s house. Snapped neck…” He prodded the body with a toe. “…still in rigor, so more than six hours ago but probably not more than a day or two. Looks like one of Kane’s hairs under his fingernail, and Kane called Kelly and said he had a situation yesterday. Guess now we know what it was.”
“Hey!” I barked. “I told you, somebody’s obviously trying to frame him!”
Ignoring me, Holt went on, “The back door was open and the main floor of the house is cold even though the furnace is going full blast, so it’s probably been open since yesterday. Guess that’s when the killer left.”
He listened to the crackle of Stemp’s voice for a moment, then responded, “Right. Alive if possible? …Right. Hang on, she’s right here.” He passed the phone over to me.
“Kelly,” I snapped.
“Come to Silverside immediately for additional briefing and to question your intruders. After that you’ll return to your original mission with Riel. Tell Holt everything about your recent interactions with Kane and his possible whereabouts.”
Heart plummeting, I muttered, “Okay”, and disconnected before he could demand Kane’s head on a platter. If he hadn’t already.
I turned my scowl on Holt. “What are your orders regarding Kane?”
“Bring him in for questioning, alive if possible. But if he resists…” Holt shrugged.