Kaleidoscope (30 page)

Just as we turned onto Osler Street, Leland grabbed my arm. “Look out, Jo.”

I glanced down and saw an ugly shard of glass from a broken liquor bottle on the pavement in front of me. A second later, I heard a percussive sound, then another, then a third – very close together. I knew immediately that it was gunfire. I turned towards Leland. “Did you hear that?” I said. But Leland wasn’t there. I stopped and looked behind me. He’d fallen.

“Are you all right?” I asked, but I knew he wasn’t. He was crumpled on the pavement and blood was pooling around his head. His brilliant blue eyes were still open, but his lean and powerful body was unnaturally still. I knelt on the sidewalk. It was a replay of the morning Leland and I had run to help April Stonechild, but this time, I knew I couldn’t harm Leland by moving his body. I knelt, lifted his head on to my knees, and then hit Zack’s number on speed-dial. He picked up almost immediately. “Leland’s been shot,” I said. I looked up at the building nearest me for the address. “We’re at 630 Osler Street.” Then I broke the connection and sat cradling Leland’s head in my lap until the piercing bleat of the sirens grew louder and then, when the ambulance found us, fell silent.

With April Stonechild, the
EMT
technicians had been deliberate and thorough, but their treatment of Leland seemed almost casual. They checked his vital signs, and then finding no sign of life, one of the technicians gently closed Leland’s eyelids and shut his jaw. When the
EMT
team lifted Leland’s body onto a gurney, covered it, and stowed it in the ambulance, I didn’t move. They turned their attention to me: checking my pulse and blood pressure and asking me questions that were designed to elicit information about how I was handling trauma. A female technician with a
broad, kind face and a gentle voice took charge. “You’ve had a terrible experience. The police want to talk to you, but we think it would be best if they waited until we could get you stabilized at the hospital.”

“I want to go home,” I said. My voice was dead.

A young police constable stepped forward. He was firm but kind. “I’d like to ask you a few questions. Can you tell me your name?”

“Joanne Shreve.”

“What happened, Joanne?”

“Someone shot him,” I said. I looked past the officer’s shoulder and saw the ambulance carrying Leland start its unhurried passage down Osler Street. There were no flashing lights. This was no longer an emergency. The young constable asked me again to tell him what happened, but I couldn’t see the point of answering. The story was over.

I saw Zack coming down the sidewalk and pushed myself to my feet. “That’s my husband,” I said. “I’m going home now.”

A female police officer stopped Zack a few metres away. “Stay where you are, sir,” she said. “This is a crime scene.”

“Fair enough,” Zack said, stopping his chair. “But my wife wants to go home.”

The officer took a step towards Zack. “You’re Zack Shreve, the lawyer.”

Zack nodded. “I am.”

“Then you know it’s essential that we talk to your wife. She was the last person to see Leland Hunter alive, and she’s the only witness. There’s the possibility a fragment of a bullet may have exited Mr. Hunter’s body, so we need to check Ms. Shreve’s clothing for residual evidence. I’d also like to run a
GSR
test.”

Zack scowled. “Oh, come on.”

I turned to him. “What’s a
GSR
test?”

“It’s a test to see if a person has fired a gun recently.” Zack glared at the officer. “And in this case it’s totally unnecessary.” He turned to me. “Joanne, you’re under no legal obligation to permit the officer to administer the test.”

The young constable ignored Zack and addressed me. “It’s a simple test. No more intrusive than having your hands wiped by a moist towelette. And, Joanne, by eliminating you, we can make sure we’re looking for the killer as soon as possible.”

I held out my hands. Another officer, this one older, came over to conduct the test. He started to explain what he was about to do, but I cut him off. “I don’t care,” I said, “just do it.”

When the
GSR
test was over, I turned back to the young constable. “Leland and I were running together,” I said. “He said, ‘Look out’ and grabbed my arm. I thought he was warning me about a broken bottle on the sidewalk. There were three shots. Leland fell. I went back to him, but he was dead. Can I go home now?”

As I walked towards my husband I felt as if I was encased in ice.

Zack took my hand and turned to the young constable who’d been interviewing me. “Here’s what I propose,” Zack said. “My wife has given you what she can, and she voluntarily submitted to the
GSR
test. I’m concerned about her. I’d like to take her to our family doctor.” He took out his cell. “I’m going to call Inspector Haczkewicz in Major Crimes. I’ll describe the situation and ask her if it’s possible to interview Joanne more fully later. Then I’ll hand the phone to you, and if you have concerns you can relay them to the inspector. Is that acceptable?”

When Zack put his cell back in his jacket pocket, the officer said, “We have to make certain your wife’s clothing is handled in a way that will ensure continuity of the evidence. I’ll send a female officer home with you to get your wife’s
clothing. Inspector Haczkewicz will make arrangements with you for the interview.” I hadn’t been paying attention to the call. One thought pushed everything else away.

“Zack, how are we going to tell Margot?”

Zack stroked my hand and looked at the officer. “I’m going to call Margot Hunter. I don’t want her to hear about Leland from a stranger.”

Zack’s conversation with Margot was brief. I stood next to him, but it seemed as though he was speaking from a great distance. When he broke the connection, he turned to me. “She wants to go the hospital to see him.”

I remembered Leland’s unseeing blue eyes staring at the sky. “That’s a mistake,” I said.

“It’s Margot’s choice,” Zack said. “We’re going to have play this by ear, Joanne. Now let’s get you home.”

As soon as we crossed the threshold of our condo, I headed for the bedroom. Constable Lerat, who had followed us in a squad car, was close behind me. When I began to peel off my T-shirt, she slipped on a pair of surgical gloves and said, “I’ll help you with that.”

She dropped each item of my clothing into a separate clear plastic bag and marked the bag with an identifying notation. When I was naked, she said, “Well, that’s it. Can I get you a robe?”

I looked at the smears of blood on my body, “I need to shower.”

“I’ll send your husband in to help you,” Constable Lerat said.

When I stepped out of the shower, Zack was there with a towel and my favourite pair of flannelette pyjamas.

I put them on and got into bed. Zack moved close. “Could you stay with me till I fall asleep?” I asked.

Zack smiled. “Sure.”

I don’t know how long I slept, but when I awoke, Zack, who was always in motion – thumbing his BlackBerry, making phone calls, scribbling on legal briefs – was exactly where he’d been when I lay down. “Welcome back,” he said.

Hearing Zack’s voice, and seeing his silhouette in sharp relief against the sunny window, I felt the comfort of the familiar. Then the memories engulfed me. “Leland’s dead, isn’t he?” I said.

Zack nodded. “I heard one of the
EMT
guys tell a cop that it was over in an instant. Leland didn’t suffer, Jo.”

“We don’t know that,” I said, and I was surprised at the anger in my voice.

Zack rubbed my shoulder. “Can I get you anything? Some tea?”

“I can make tea,” I said. I slid out of bed and walked towards the kitchen. One of my running shoes had left a faint track of blood on the floor. I soaked a towel, cleaned the blood off, then dropped the towel in the garbage.

Zack’s eyes never left me. “Do you want me to call Henry Chan?” he said.

“Why?”

“He could give you something to help you get through the next few days. You’re going to have to do a lot of things that you won’t want to do. Debbie will be over later. Margot will want to know exactly what happened, and she’s going to need us to be here for her. And we’ll have to tell Taylor and do what we can to help Declan. I know you’re strong, Jo, but everybody has a breaking point. There’s no shame in getting a little help.”

I shrugged. “If you think it’s necessary, give Henry a call.”

Zack called Henry’s office. “He’s sending a prescription for Ativan to the pharmacy on Broad Street. But he does want to see you. Gina says he can squeeze you in after lunch. Will you be okay here alone while I pick up the prescription?”

“Doesn’t that pharmacy deliver?” I said.

“Not as fast as I do,” Zack said.

After Zack left, I went back to our room and stared at myself in the full-length mirror. Running with Leland had been good for my body. “You can get through this,” I said to the tanned, strong-looking woman in the mirror. And for about thirty seconds, I convinced myself that it was true.

CHAPTER
16

When there was a knock at the door, I opened it expecting Debbie Haczkewicz, but it was Margot. “What happened?” she said.

I put my arm through hers and led her into the living room. She listened without interruption as I told her about Leland’s and my last run.

“He had death threats, you know,” she said. “Including one from Louise the night before our wedding. He just shook them off.” She exhaled. “Jo, all I want to do right now is crawl into a hole and never come out again.”

“I know,” I said.

“I have to tell Declan.” Margot’s eyes were miserable. “How do you tell a boy something like this.”

I put my arm around her. “You’ll find the words.”

“I shouldn’t be driving. I’ll take a cab to the school and bring Declan back here. Would it be okay if I bring Taylor home too? Declan will want her around.”

“I’ll call the school and tell them you’re coming.”

Margot didn’t answer. Her attention had drifted. “This morning when we woke up, Leland and I made love,”
she said. “Then I went back to sleep, and he went for his run with you.” She swallowed hard. “I’m really glad we did that.”

As soon as Zack came through the door, he handed me the bag with the pills. “Those things are supposed to kick in pretty quickly.”

“Good,” I said. “Margot was here. You just missed her. She’s gone to Luther to get Declan.”

“I could have done that for her,” Zack said.

“I think Margot wanted to do it. She’s bringing Taylor back, too.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Zack said. “The media will have the news about Leland soon, and the kids don’t need to be dealing with a circus.” He took my hand. “How’s Margot doing?”

“I don’t think it’s real for her yet,” I said.

Zack’s laugh was short and bitter. “I don’t think it’s real for any of us.”

“Before you came home, I looked in the bathroom mirror and told myself I just have to hang on until after the funeral, then I can fall apart.”

“Let’s hear it for short-term goals,” Zack said. “But there’s a lot to do between now and the funeral, and ready or not, you and I are going to have to step up to the plate.”

“I’m not ready, Zack,” I said. “I feel as if my skin’s been ripped off. My default position is always fake it until I make it. But right now I’m not even up to faking it.”

“Give yourself time,” Zack said. “The big thing is getting Margot and Declan through this. Margot has significant decisions to make, and she has to make them fast. Peyben was Leland’s company. He has a board and hundreds of people working for him, but it was a one-man show. Margot has to decide who’s going to run the company now, and she
has to make sure Peyben’s board and its stakeholders know the company will continue to be strong.”

“What’s going to happen to the shared facility with North Central?”

Zack groaned. “If it turns out that someone associated with Riel Delorme killed Leland, it’ll blow sky high, and that will mean more problems for The Village, for North Central, and for all of us.”

“And there’s the funeral to plan,” I said.

“I’ve already asked Norine to help with that. If Margot gives Norine a general idea of what she wants, Norine will make it happen.”

“Thank God for Norine,” I said.

Zack raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I do. And if I forget, Norine reminds me.”

When my cell rang and I saw that the caller was Mieka, I felt my nerves twang.

Mieka was agitated. “I just heard the news. Leland Hunter was shot this morning. He’s dead, Mum.”

“I know,” I said. I took a breath. “Mieka, I was with Leland when he was shot.”

She was clearly baffled. “But they said Leland was killed early this morning. You would have still been at the lake.”

“No, we were in Regina. During the week, Zack and Taylor and I have been living in the building Leland owns on Halifax Street. Leland and I have been running together. And this morning someone shot him.”

“I don’t understand. Why didn’t you tell me you were living there?”

“After the explosion at the house, the police thought that the fewer people who knew where we were, the better.”

Mieka’s voice was cold. “And of course I couldn’t be trusted because of my relationship with Riel.”

“I didn’t tell your brothers, either.”

“Because you knew I’d be hurt if I were singled out. Well, I am hurt. And I’m angry.”

Suddenly the emotions I had walled in erupted. “I’m angry, too,” I said. “Do you realize you haven’t said one word about the tragedy of Leland’s death or about Margot and Declan’s loss. Not one question about how I’m reacting to watching a man I considered a friend die. Just schoolgirl pique about not being in on a secret. I love you, Mieka, but I can’t deal with this right now.” I broke the connection.

Zack looked at me questioningly. “That was Mieka,” I said. “You heard my half of the conversation. I don’t want to talk about it any more.”

“Understood,” Zack said. “I’ll call Peter and Angus for you.”

“Thanks,” I said.

My cell rang again. It was Ed Mariani. His voice was choked. “Jo, I am so terribly, terribly sorry. I liked Leland, and I’m very fond of Margot. Please give her my condolences.”