Winter of Secrets.
Vicki Delany.
Dedication.
For all the people in Nelson, too numerous to mention, who make me feel so welcome. You know who you are.
Acknowledgments.
As always Id like to thank the officers of the Nelson City Police and the Nelson RCMP detachment for their help and advice, particularly Brita Wood, Constable Janet Scott-Pryke, Corporal Al Grant, and Detective Paul Burkart. Any errors in police procedure are either for the sake of the story or because I forgot to ask. Thanks also to Staff Sergeant Kris Patterson and Constable Laura Portt of the Belleville Police Service. Help with swift water rescue procedures was provided by Al Craft, Fred Doefler, and Chris Armstrong of Beasley Fire and Rescue. To Ken Campbell who kindly took time to talk to me about his many years working with police dogs, Shenzi says "woof". Skiing tips were provided by Maureen Jansma, Jennifer Muller, Ken Semon, and Deborah Turrell Atkinson. Madeleine Harris-Callway and Verna Relkoff helped fine-tune the drafts.
Chapter One.
They dont often get big snow storms in the Kootenay area of British Columbia. Lots of snow, thats a given; sometimes the air is so full of snow that the daytime is as white as the night is black. But there isnt much wind in these mountains, and the snow falls thick and fast and straight down, where it lies deep on the ground. The word "whiteout", meaning when high winds whip falling snow around, reducing visibility to nothing, isnt often heard in Trafalgar.
Tonight it would be.
It was Christmas Eve, and as Constable Molly Smith began a twelve hour shift the storm of the decade was settling in over Trafalgar. Shed scarcely had time to say hi to the earlier shift, the lucky ones who got to enjoy the evening with their families, before the first 911 call came in. The first, of what would be many.
Pedestrian struck by a car on Front Street. Appear to be injuries.
Smith reached for the keys to the truck, but she wasnt fast enough. "Ill drive," Constable Dave Evans said, tossing the keys in his hand and heading toward the back door and the parked vehicles.
"Youll be with Evans tonight," Sergeant Caldwell, the shift supervisor, shouted after her. "Its going to be rough in this. And its supposed to get worse."
Grumbling under her breath, Smith climbed into the pa.s.senger seat. Evans flicked on the wipers to get rid of the snow that acc.u.mulated since the vehicle had been parked. Which hadnt been long: the truck had turned in as shed walked up the steps to the station.
Caldwells prediction came all too true, and Smith and Evans spent their Christmas Eve running from one call to another.
Cars in the ditch. Cars spinning out of control in the middle of the highway. Pedestrians slipping and sliding all over the place. Holiday revelers whod started into the Christmas cheer a bit too early, and too heavily, but thought they could still drive.
In late December, in a town surrounded by mountains, it was dark before four-thirty. The night was a strange shade of shifting white as the lights of cars and homes and streetlamps reflected off snow cutting through the black sky in near-horizontal slashes. The snow was blinding; there were times when Smith could barely see the front of the truck as they drove.
The radio crackled with activity, everyone was out, and even Caldwell had grabbed a car and was answering calls.
A few minutes before midnight they were called to an accident on Cottonwood Street.
Smith and Evans arrived to find a fender bender. Two vehicles, a top of the line, fully-loaded SUV, and a rusty old van, had met in the middle of the road. Not hard to do, as drifts of snow had reduced the road, one of the steepest in a town built on the side of a mountain, to a one-lane track.
When the police arrived, blue and red lights reflecting off falling snow like manic Christmas decorations, the drivers were standing in the road, inches apart, screaming in each others faces. Additional yelling came from the ditch and Smith could see two women on the far side of the cars, waving arms. Wide-eyed children peered through icy windows of the SUV. Cars began lining up in both directions, horns honking as drivers leaned out of windows.
Evans glanced at the clock on the dashboard. "Merry Christmas, Molly," he said. It was one minute past midnight.
"Lets go spread some seasonal cheer," she replied.
It was a battle just to get the truck door open, but she proved to be stronger than the storm. Snow and wind hit her full in the face. If it were possible, the power of the blizzard seemed to be increasing.
Without discussion, Evans approached the arguing men and Smith walked around the cars. The two women stopped fighting at the sight of the police officer, trying to keep her footing in the calf-high drifts lining the road.
"Whats going on here?"
Whereupon the women resumed screaming, at each other and at Smith.
She wanted to ask them what had happened to their Christmas spirit. Instead she flashed a light into the back of the SUV. Two small, round white faces looked back at her.
"Why dont you get into the car, Maam. Your children seem distressed."
"Theyre fine," the woman snapped. She wore a beige fur coat, either real or a good fake, and leather gloves. Knee-high boots were planted firmly in the snow. Her chin-length blond hair was a wet mess and thick lines of black mascara ran down her face. "That fool came out of nowhere, and..."
"Dont you call my Ed a fool. If your G.o.dd.a.m.ned husband had been watching where he was going he wouldnt have..."
"Wait in the car, please," Smith interrupted. "My partners taking the details of the accident. Your children are bound to be upset and in need of some care."
The woman had the grace to look embarra.s.sed. Her shoulders lost their fighting stance, and she put her hand on the SUV door.
"You tell her, Molly," the other woman said.
That was not helpful.
The fur-clad woman swung around. "What the h.e.l.ls this? Youre going to pin this on Roger because theyre locals, is that it?"
"Im not going to pin anything on anyone. You can look after your children or Ill radio for someone from social services to come and do it for you."
"You cant..."
"And as for you, Mrs. Morrison," Smith said, "if you dont get back into your vehicle, right now, and sit and wait quietly while Constable Evans talks to Mr. Morrison, Ill arrest you for interference. Decide ladies, but do it fast."
A tree groaned and let loose its full weight of heavy snow. A substantial portion of which found its way down the back of Smiths neck. Involuntarily, she yelped.
United in their anger at the female police officer, satisfied at her small bit of humiliation, the two women returned to their vehicles. Both doors slammed hard.
The radio at Smiths shoulder crackled. Two people were waving liquor bottles and screaming at each other outside the variety store on Aspen Street. The caller reported that she knew them: the LeBlancs. Smith groaned under her breath. Them again. Shed been called to their house in the summer. Husband and wife each as drunk as the other, both of them off to spend a night in the cells. Police had been at that address at least once since. Tonight, Dawn Solway responded and said shed take it.
Evans put his notebook into his coat pocket and told the men to move their cars. People trying to get past were getting restless, and a few figures stepped out of the swirling snow to see what was going on. There didnt seem to be enough damage to either car to prevent them from moving.
Grumbling, and with shouts of "see you in court and "Ill sue you for everything youve got, the men joined their families.
"Five-one?"
Smith answered the call. "Five-one here."
"Car off the road at the bottom of Elm Street."
"Were almost clear."
"The car has gone into the river."
"On our way. Move it, Dave, we gotta go. This could be a big one." She jumped into the truck, heart pumping. Evans climbed behind the wheel. "What we got?"
"Car in the river."
"Jesus." He started the engine, while Smith punched lights and sirens on.
Chapter Two.
Elm Street was decorated like a Christmas fairyland. It was a pleasant street of small shops, coffee bars, casual restaurants. Tonight, everything was closed, but windows shone with muted lighting ill.u.s.trating holiday displays. Tiny white lights glittered from lamp posts, illuminating eddies of snow swirling like the skirts of ballerinas. The snow was falling so heavily that all traces of afternoon foot traffic had been eliminated, leaving the sidewalks white and pristine.
Visibility was poor, and the trucks windshield wipers werent doing much more than stirring the white stuff around. Smith wanted to tell Evans to slow down or theyd end up in a fender bender of their own. She bit her tongue instead.
Elm Street descended from the upper town in a long straight line before taking a sharp turn at the river, where it carried on to the east. It used to be a street of industrial docks and warehouses; modern, expensive homes now lined the river. To the west lay the beach, Riverside Park, and city hall.
At the bottom of the hill a car was sprawled across the street, front end buried in a snow drift, rear end blocking the road.
Evans slammed on the brakes, and the front of the truck stopped within inches of striking the car broadside. "Close one," he said, trying to sound casual.
Smith stifled a grin, and jumped out of the truck. Either the wind had died, or they were facing in a different direction, but she had no trouble getting the door open.
"Oh, G.o.d, Officer. He was there. He was just there. I tried to get out of the way, and then he was gone. Oh, G.o.d."
The man was young, wiry, long-haired, and long-bearded. His brown eyes showed too much white, like a horse smelling fire, and his gloved hands flapped in the air. A purple toque, with a cheerful pink ball at the crown, sat on his head, and a black scarf had come unwrapped from around his neck. The long ta.s.seled ends dragged in the snow.
"Who was there? Where? Dispatch said someone in the river?"
The man turned and pointed. "He went in, Officer. He went in."
Smith and Evans ran. The river was black and moving fast. Snow flew in their faces, sharp as the needles of fir trees. Cold wind sought gaps in necks and cuffs.
"I cant see a d.a.m.ned thing," Evans shouted.
"There." Smith grabbed his arm. "Look there."
About twenty-five feet from sh.o.r.e the undercarriage and wheels of a vehicle were pointing up. Some of the rear was visible, bright yellow, otherwise she might never have seen it.
Smith turned to the man with the long scarf, whod followed them. "Did you see anyone? Did anyone get out?"
He shook his head. Ice was gathering on his beard. "Dont think so. I sat in my car for a few seconds, trying to get my head back. When I got out, he was in the river, going down. I didnt see anyone."
"Five-one to dispatch. We need Fire, now. Swift water rescue team."
"On their way."
A siren screamed down the hill.
"See anyone?" she asked Evans, who was pa.s.sing the beam of his flashlight across the water.
"No." The wind whipped the normally placid Upper Kootenay River into tall peaks. Waves crashed against the sides of the car and washed over the exposed undercarriage.
Black water and white snowflakes covered the tops of the rocks lining the riverbank. The snow at the side of the road was piled as high as her waist. Smith climbed onto the snow bank. The snow was hard, packed by the plow. Shed swum in this river many times, and knew it was shallow for a long way out; the roof of the car must be resting on the bottom. People were trapped in there. How long had it been since it went in? Ten minutes at least. Time for the long-scarfed guy to get out of his car, run to the waters edge, pull out his cell, call 911. And then for Smith and Evans to arrive. More than time enough to drown.
People had survived for longer in a trapped car, if they had an air pocket. She moved to undo her gun belt.
Her boot slipped on a rime of ice, and she would have fallen into the water but for the hand on her arm. "You cant do it, Molly." Dave Evans was strong enough to almost lift her off her feet with one hand. "That waters freezing. Youll be incapacitated in under two minutes, and the rescue guysll have to waste their time trying to find you."
He was right, much as she hated to admit it. She followed Dave Evans hand back to solid ground. "We cant stand here and do nothing."
Another siren-the fire truck this time.
"Get that car out of the way," Evans said to the fellow with the long scarf. "Theres going to be a lot of traffic coming this way and youre blocking the road."
"Ill try, but Im pretty much stuck."
"Constable Smithll give you a hand. Get that car moved. If not, the fire guysll hit it so hard well be looking for pieces into next year."
They ran uphill to the car buried head first in the snow bank.
People were beginning to gather at the edges of the streetlights, ghostly shapes, faint outlines in a swirling white world. The curious, drawn by blue and red lights, the sense of urgency, the promise of excitement.
"You there," Smith called to a man in a good overcoat and black scarf. "Im Constable Smith, Trafalgar City Police. Can you get your neighbors together and help this gentleman get his car out of the road. We need it cleared."
An ambulance made its way down the hill. It edged carefully around the stuck car, as if ill.u.s.trating Smiths point.
"Glad to help," the man turned and with a single step he disappeared.
Fire truck. Top of the hill. Moving fast. Smith yelled into her radio to tell them to slow the h.e.l.l down, a vehicle was in the way.
Whether her request got through or not, she didnt know. But the fire truck climbed the sidewalk to miss the obstruction and pulled parallel to the river. The occupants jumped out. Two were already dressed in yellow and black dry-suits. They fastened helmets as they ran. Another firefighter followed, carrying bundles of rope.
A group of locals, some in their Christmas Eve best, some in overcoats thrown over pajamas, came running, carrying shovels of various sizes. Snow flew everywhere as they began to dig. Smith tried to direct them, but she was ignored. The man with the long scarf jumped behind the wheel.