Missing: The Body of Evidence (12 page)

Nancy took hold of a chair at the dining
table and collapsed her backside onto the seat. An expression of bewilderment
took hold across her face and in her mind. Thoughts twirled in a vortex that
made her light headed. The smell of the freshly polished wood in the cabin,
which was pleasant to the senses when she first entered the room, now hit the
back of her throat and she felt sick.

She struggled to make sense of the
situation and tried to put her initial fragmented thoughts in some semblance of
order. Maybe, she thought, her memory of the dreams of visiting the cabin was
playing tricks on her mind, because of the damage caused by the knocks to her head.
She reasoned that most cabins in Pine Mountain were likely furnished with pine
furniture and log-burning stoves. Perhaps it was a tourist thing, to give the
cabins an old frontier feel. Most cabins, she imagined, were probably furnished
with old-world items, like the rocking chair in front of the stove. Ants
marching in line on the frame of kitchen door alarmed her. She wondered if
seeing the ants triggered some kind of illusion that she had visited here
before.

Kyle distracted her thought pattern as he
piled his baggage, including his fishing gear onto the dining table surface. Up
close, the fishing tackle smelled like a pile of months old dirty dishcloths.

‘Not on the dining table, please.’

‘Damn, you sound like Mom,’ he said and
moved the items to the floor away from the table. ‘You look pale, something
wrong?’

‘Err, what? ...Sorry. No, I’m fine, just
tired. I’ve had a stressful day.’

He reached over and gave her a peck with
his lips on her cheek.

‘Tell me about it, same goes for me. I’ll
bring the rest of the baggage inside. Then we can take a shower, change into
something comfortable and relax. Mom made us a shrimp salad and wrapped some
fresh baked bread. I have a bottle of Merlot to wash it all down. We can eat
and chat. Maybe you can tell about your day and what Logan said.’

‘Sure.’

Taking his hand, she gave it a gentle
squeeze. His fingers slipped from hers as she loosened her grip and Kyle headed
out to his SUV. She felt a sense of relief that Kyle wanted to know what Logan
had said, and hoped for a two way street on the subject of how they had spent
their day. But there again, she wondered if it would lead to too heavy an
insight as to where their relationship was at, especially after Logan’s
lecture. Until now, their
mutually beneficial
friendship, had not posed
any threat to either of their careers. The notion made her feel nervous. The
last thing she wanted was to feel awkward at discussing relationships with him
this weekend. In her mind, she thought she would rather come straight out with
it and ask about the janitor’s suicide investigation part of his day, and to
hell with Logan’s view on the subject of partners talking shop out of work
hours.

Nancy used her hands on the tabletop as a
lever to raise herself to her feet. She walked over to her bags, picked them up
and headed for the bedroom. An annoying housefly dived bombed her as she
unpacked. After unpacking, she walked over to the head of the bed, stooped and
lifted a corner of the bed sheet and held it to her nose. The unmistakable
smell of freshly laundered bed linen brought a smile to her face. Everything
was perfect, except for the annoying fly, which landed on the glass of the
window.
You’re not gonna spoil what’s going on in here, baby.
Nancy
unhooked the handles on the window, pushed it open, and quickly closed it
again. With the fly gone, Nancy undressed, put on a bathing cap and stepped
into the shower. The water, as it hit her body, relaxed the tension in her
muscles. She could see Kyle enter the room through the frosted glass door, but
took no notice and carried on showering.

‘I’m going to take a shower in the next
room.’

She could see the hazy figure of Kyle
through the sliding door. He was undressed down to his boxer’s and looked to be
holding a towel.

‘Pass me my towel before you go, it’s in
the drawer next to the bed.’

Nancy dwelled on the gesture he had made
and the trouble he must have gone to for him to locate and book the cabin. Kyle
returned and she slid back the door for him to pass the towel. His hand reached
inside offering her the towel. She grabbed his wrist, slid the door open and
pulled him inside.

‘Next door? You wuss, come here.’

She pulled him to her. He threw the towel
over the cubicle frame and they embraced.

‘My boxer’s?’

‘Well, take them off, before I change my
mind.’

He wriggled out of his boxer’s and left
them blocking the drain. He removed her bathing cap. Her hair fell to her
shoulders and he pushed his body hard against hers. She rested her back against
the tiles and they threw their arms around each other’s bodies. They kissed
feverishly. Kyle twirled stands of her hair in his fingers, and she could feel
the sensual warmth from his breath in her ear. To Nancy, their entwined bodies
felt as if they were as one entity. She was in a special place in her mind as
they made love. They broke apart like two spent roman candles and snickered
like naughty schoolchildren as if they had just shared their first cigarette
behind the bike sheds.

‘Thanks for all this,’ said Nancy.

‘What, for the sex?’

‘No, you idiot, the cabin.’

‘Oh, that. I have another surprise for you.
I’ve bought you a present.’

‘What is it?’

She squealed with excitement at the thought
of the present, but then started to worry.
What if it’s an engagement ring?
Damn, I’d have to say no. My career.
There was no doubt in her mind he was
making a special effort, especially after Logan’s lecture.

‘Wait and see, the quicker we can scrub
each other’s backs, the quicker we’ll get to it.’

Nancy slid the door open and ushered him
out of the cubicle.

‘Get it now, we can scrub after.’

Kyle picked up the towel and rubbed himself
dry. Nancy followed him out of the cubicle and tiptoed to the drawers to get a
large bath towel.

‘Well, where is it?’ Nancy asked and
wrapped the towel around her body. She sat at the bottom corner of the bed.
Kyle hauled a canvas bag onto the bed, unzipped it and took out a gift-wrapped
package.

Thank God for that, too big for a ring.
She sat on the edge of the bed and ripped away at the wrapping.

‘Oh, Kyle, that’s so sweet.’

Emotion welled inside and her eyes
moistened at the sight of the gift basket.

‘Oooh, Belgian chocolates... and strawberry
scented candles, my favourite. What’s this? Champagne? And... and lingerie!’
She held up the outfit. ‘Hmm, sexy. Maybe we should have waited until after the
shower.’

‘Hope it fits? I took the sizes from some
stuff in your bedroom when I called around to your apartment.’

Nancy looked at the gift card.
Bittersweet
Butterfly Lingerie. Did he follow me? Nah, he was in the office before me.

Kyle sat on the bed next her and they
shared an embrace and a kiss. Kyle pulled away.

‘The shower!’

Water was spilling out over the cubicle
base. He rushed into the cubicle and turned off the shower, picked up his
boxers and twisted them to wring out the water. He stepped out of the cubicle
and they both laughed.

Kyle dressed and left the bedroom, carrying
the candles. Nancy sat pondering. She wondered where all this was leading.
There was no doubt in her mind that it felt good to be with Kyle. A thought
caught her by surprise, that maybe she could ask for a transfer to the gang
division. She wiped the thought from her mind.
What are you thinking girl.
Get a grip.
Nancy put on the outfit she had bought earlier, including a
white silk short robe.
Time to show him my present.

He sat on the rug in front of the log burner.
Kyle had set out a picnic on the rug, scattered cushions from the sofa, and
surrounded the scene with lit candles. She hesitated for a moment. The
imaginary wall she had surrounded herself with all these years on the
relationship front, crumbled. She stepped under the ceiling fan, which blasted
welcome cool strawberry-scented air over her and she opened her silk robe.

‘Here’s the present I bought you. Do you
like it?’

‘Like it, what more could a man want?
Beautiful.’

‘Sure you don’t mean pig headed, touchy and
having a chip on my shoulder.’

‘No, I mean, beautiful, intelligent, and
sexy,’ he said and rose from the floor and stood in front of her, leaned
forward, put his arms around her waist and whispered in her ear. ‘Then pig
headed, touchy and with a chip on your shoulder, but irresistible.’

Nancy playfully pushed him away. ‘Careful,
flattery like that will get you everywhere. Let’s eat I’m starving.’

‘See if you can find an opener for the
wine. I never thought to bring one.’

Nancy headed for the kitchen humming the
tune
Flying Without Wings.
The opener was on a rack on the wall. She
inspected the coffee and sugar jars, relieved there was enough for at least a
few coffees. Nancy turned to the refrigerator and opened it to see if the
previous occupants had left anything else. It was empty, save for a carton of
milk and a childish handwritten note in front of it. ‘Have a nice time, Katy
and Lucy. Say hi to David.’ At the bottom of the note, was a crayoned drawing
of two girls holding hands with a taller boy in the centre of the picture. The
boy’s head was totally out of proportion and had the look of an alien. Warmth
engulfed her at the sentiment of the note; she smiled and closed the door. She
froze.

‘David!’

An image of the janitor’s son flashed
through her mind. A cold wave started at the nape of her neck and headed down
her body in waves. A photograph of a family fastened to the door with a fridge
magnet, mesmerized her.

‘Holy crap! It’s...’

Her lips froze. She felt weak in her legs.
The light around her dimmed, she staggered and then total darkness descended.

The faint sound of someone calling out
Nancy’s name drifted through a dark corner of her mind, which grew into a
crescendo, stabbing at her brain. Nancy opened her eyes. Focusing on the figure
above her, it appeared black, silhouetted against the florescent ceiling light.
Gradually Kyle’s features formed on the face of the figure. His mouth twisted
to one side and his eyes pleaded an explanation.

‘What the hell happened?’ Kyle asked. ‘One minute
you were humming a tune, and the next thing I heard was a crash.’

‘I tripped, that’s all. Help me to my feet.’

The last thing she wanted to do was to
spook him with the truth, and have him think she was one-step away from a
mental institution. Kyle grasped her arm and helped her to stand. He reached
out for the corkscrew and slipped it in his pocket. The floor beneath her
seemed to sway and she held onto Kyle as they shuffled into the living room.

‘You’re not hurt, are you?’

‘Nah, I’ll be okay, just help me onto the
rug. I’m starving.’

Thoughts of the picture of the family and
the note consumed her mind. Kyle set her down on the rug and joined her. He
filled a plate of shrimp salad.

‘Do you want bread with your salad?’ Kyle
asked. He passed her the plate. Nancy picked at the food on the plate and chose
a shrimp to nibble. Kyle opened the wine and poured some into a glass, and then
he held it out to her. ‘Wine?’

‘Yeah... em. Sure.’

‘What, bread, or wine, or both?’

‘Sorry... what was that?’

‘Never mind.’

She took the wine glass from him. He sliced
some bread and put it on a plate in the middle of the rug.

‘Bread’s there if you want some.’

A nod of the head was all she could muster
as an answer. Kyle was saying something, but the words passed her by. She
raised her wine glass to Kyle in salute and gulped the Merlot down in one shot.
The aftertaste on her palette was like velvet nectar.

‘Steady on there.’ Kyle refilled her glass.
‘Good thing I brought more than one bottle.’

Nancy took another drink, this time downing
half the glass.

‘That’s better.’

‘Did you hear a word I said?’ Kyle asked.

Nancy made a feeble attempt to lighten her
obliviousness and laughed.

‘Sorry, I didn’t. It must be the shock.
What was it you said?’

‘It’s not important.’

His expression was at odds with his words.
The evening looked as though it was not going to work out as planned. Nancy
knew it
was
important they talk about their relationship. The wine
dulled her racing mind sufficiently to get back to the task at hand.

Worries about the photograph playing tricks
on her mind would have to wait. Her curiosity about what happened to the
janitor started burning a hole in her thought process. But even more, to her
surprise, she was anxious to know where they went from here after Logan’s
lecture. Nancy glanced at Kyle. He hadn’t touched his food and he was twirling
his watch around his wrist.

‘Come on, out with it. It must have been
important. Please, go ahead. Tell me what you said.’

He awkwardly shuffled his backside on a
cushion as if comfort eluded him. His face started to redden. Whatever he had
said, the words were not coming easily a second time around. He coughed, before
picking up his glass of Merlot and took a long swig. He put the glass on the
rug and gave a final throat clearing.

‘I was sayin’ we need to do some serious
talking. We need to be straight with each other about where we’re headin’.’

The incident with the note and the
photograph had broken the magic. Nevertheless, there was no getting away from
it, she knew it needed discussing, but she was at a loss as to what to say to
him. Nancy took a contrived sip of her wine to think before speaking.
Fortunately, Kyle bought her a little more time.

‘Incidentally, if you hear knocking in the
morning, the guy from the booking office said their handyman, Dave, will be
calling to mend the picket fence around back.’

‘Dave... David?’ Nancy almost choked on her
wine. She felt stupid at the realization that was to whom the note probably
referred, the handyman. She cursed her fertile imagination at placing more
significance on the note and photograph than they had deserved.

‘Yeah, Dave, that’s what he said.’

The shadows at the back of her eyes lifted.
She picked up her glass and held it out to Kyle.

‘Here’s to serious, straight talking. You
go first.’

Kyle chinked her glass with his in a toast.

‘Let’s toss a coin for who goes first,’
Kyle said.

‘I’ll tell you what, open another bottle.
Trust me it works like sodium pentothal on me.’

‘Good Idea.’

He leapt to his feet and scurried off to
fetch another bottle of wine. The temperature in the room dropped. Nancy
shivered and wondered if she would be better wearing a heavy dressing gown.
Where they were heading in their relationship eluded her. She hoped that Kyle
would open up his heart first. Her thoughts on the subject were that they
should carry on seeing each other in secret and leave things as they were.

The flames on the candles flickered and
dimmed, and then rose again. A noise behind her startled her and she turned her
head. There was no one there, but she had a distinct feeling she was being
watched. Her heart began to thump in her chest. Another noise and she snapped
her head toward the stove. A log rolled off the stack of wood at the side of
the stove. The door to the kitchen slammed, and she spun around, expecting to
see Kyle.

‘Kyle.’

Floorboards creaked behind the closed door
to the bedroom hallway. Her vision turned to the hallway door handle. Nancy
could see the knob twitching.

‘Kyle, is that you?’

A pain gripped her guts, as if someone
where wringing out her stomach with their bare hands. The taste of bile rose in
her throat and burned the back of her throat, leaving a sour taste in her
mouth. She reached out, picked up a poker from the hearth, and leapt to her
feet. Nancy appeared glued to the floorboards where she stood. Her eyes widened
at a kicking sound at the bottom of the hallway door.

Nancy broke free of her statue like stance,
stepped forward and gripped the door handle with her clammy hands. Her eyes
rose to the heavens for a moment and she took a deep breath
. One... two,
three.
With the poker aloft, she turned the doorknob and pushed open the
door with all her force. There was a muffled groan and then a thud as a figure
hit the floorboards to the sound of clinking glass. She was blocking what
little light there was from the candles behind her and clawed at the wall for
the light switch in the hallway. Light flooded the hall. Kyle lay on the floor,
his eyes wide open. He spat the stem of a single red rose from his mouth and
pushed a cardboard box off his chest to the sound of more glass clinking.

‘For God’s sake, Nancy. Who did you think
it was?’

‘Why didn’t you answer?’

‘I could hardly speak with a rose in my
teeth, could I?’ Kyle hauled himself to his feet, stooped to pick up the rose
and handed it to her. ‘It’s a bit droopy, I forgot I’d put it in the wine box.’

Nancy took the rose and half smiled at the
gesture, but held back from gushing, out of embarrassment. She looked at him,
her head slightly bowed and with her eyes forming a little girls glancing coy
look.

‘Sorry.’

Kyle picked up the wine box. Nancy turned
on her heels and he followed. She put the poker back in its holder.

‘Is it me or has it gone cold in her?’
Nancy asked.

‘You’ve gotta be kidding. I’m breaking a
sweat here.’ His nose twitched as he put the box down. ‘Don’t say you’ve lit
the wood in the stove?’

‘As if.’

Kyle took the poker and used it to pry open
the stove hatch. The heat from the burning logs hit her cheeks.

‘Well, I didn’t light it. Maybe some embers
still had some life in them when the other people moved out and it’s just taken
hold.’

‘What, when it’s been hot all day outside,
give me a break?’ Nancy said.

‘They could have used it to toast
marshmallows. There isn’t much in the way of logs stacked in there. I’ll throw
the windows open until it dies down.’

Nancy felt safe in Kyle’s presence. She
watched as he opened the windows, and she smiled inwardly. Dressed for work,
with her badge and packing her 9 mil, she knew that she exuded a presence to
take on anyone. At times, she was conscious that she was like an actor on stage
who had honed the persona of a strong familiar friend and their character
traits. But out of uniform, she felt like any other Jane Doe... vulnerable. Kyle,
she thought, was the catalyst to close that chink in her armour when she was
off duty. He walked over to her, sat beside her and opened another bottle of
wine. She gawked at him in admiration.

Her thoughts drifted as he poured out the
wine. Most of the guys she dated would have dumped her for the way she had
treated him these past few days. Many a suitor had been put to the test by her
in the past and come up short. Sometimes it had gutted her, when either of them
had terminated the friendship, but mostly she was glad to see the back of them.

They sprawled out on the rug, rested their
arms on the cushions facing each other, and gazed into each other’s eyes. Nancy
could see Kyle compose himself; he dug deep within and the words flowed. The
conversation took an unexpected turn. His life history, from his childhood to
his parent’s bitter divorce, cast some light as to why he had never married.

The conversation flowed two ways, as each
insight seemed to prompt an equally frank response. The wine flowed and the conversation
strayed from shared secrets and feelings, to anecdotes that had them laughing
aloud. The sense of liberation at sharing her inner demons and triumphs was
beyond description. At last, she thought, that elusive soul mate was within her
grasp, and Logan or no Logan, she didn’t feel like she wanted to let go of him.

‘So, what do we do now, about Logan and
where we go from here?’ Nancy asked.