Stonechild and Rouleau Mysteries 5-Book Bundle. Brenda Chapman

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СКАЧАТЬ destination. Perhaps she’ll lead us to something interesting.”

      “Will do.”

      Kala dropped back. She’d been gaining on the van and didn’t want Susan to spot her. Traffic was light. She checked her mirrors to make sure Pauline wasn’t also on Susan’s tail. All looked clear.

      Five minutes later, Kala turned south on Woodroffe and followed it for a few minutes until she reached Prince of Wales. Susan was a few cars in front. They idled at a red light for several beats before it turned green. Susan pulled out slowly and headed north on Prince of Wales. Traffic was heavier and Kala was able to drop back and put more cars between them.

      A few kilometres further on, she spotted the red flash of Susan’s right turn signal and slowed the truck even more. Kala watched the van pull off the road into the wooded area called Chapman Mills Conservation Area. Kala put on her turn signal and pulled onto the shoulder not too close to the turn off so Susan wouldn’t notice her if she looked back toward the roadway. Susan’s van took the side road down an incline into a plowed parking lot.

      Kala called Rouleau again while taking off her seat belt. She shut down the engine and did a shoulder check, careful not to open her door into oncoming traffic. Two cars sped past doing over the speed limit. There was never a traffic cop around when you needed one.

      “She’s gone into the parking lot at Chapman Mills Conservation Area. I parked on the shoulder on Prince of Wales and am going in on foot.” Kala watched in her side mirror for a break in traffic.

      “I’m almost there. I can see your truck on the shoulder. Sit tight. I’ll do a U-turn and will park behind you.”

      “Okay.”

      Kala spotted Rouleau driving toward her less than a minute later. The minute felt like an hour. Her instincts told her not to wait, but she didn’t have any reason for this sense of urgency. Susan might just be on a nature walk by herself with no danger present. Pauline hadn’t followed her, of this Kala was certain.

      Rouleau made the turn and slid his car in behind her truck. Kala opened her door and stepped onto the snowy shoulder. She shivered and pulled up the hood of her jacket as cars sped by, blowing up gusts of snow.

      Rouleau walked toward her, his phone cupped next to his ear. He was dressed casually in a dark blue parka, jeans, and Sorels. He closed his phone and stopped next to her. “Pauline’s not at home. Her car’s not in the driveway.”

      “She might be at her daughter’s. It’ll be a shame if I got you out here for no reason. Pauline didn’t follow Susan here but she could already be in the parking lot.”

      “I told Bennett to keep checking for her. Shall we take a walk to see if Susan’s alone?”

      “Sure.”

      They trudged from the main road to the parking lot. It took a long five minutes. The lot had been recently plowed, but the snow had blown into drifts that were knee-deep outside the tire tracks.

      “Hard to believe the temperature fell so suddenly. I was thinking about getting my golf clubs out a few days ago,” said Rouleau.

      “Just Susan’s van over there. That’s a relief,” said Kala. She felt a drop in adrenaline. “I guess I really did get you out here for nothing.”

      Rouleau’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He looked around as he answered. He said a few words that Kala couldn’t hear and shut it again. “That was Bennett. Geraldine’s expecting her mother within the hour. They’re catching a plane to Florida for a two-week holiday.”

      “Geraldine and Pauline?”

      “And the baby. Geraldine told Bennett that they need a break from all that’s been going on.”

      “Understandable,” said Kala. Disappointment washed over her. She’d really believed she was onto something. She looked at Rouleau. “Are you heading out then? Likely there’s nothing to worry about here if Pauline is on her way to Florida. Will you be bringing her in for questioning?”

      “We haven’t enough evidence.”

      “I’ll just go have a look at Susan’s van before we go. I’ll get some lunch and then head back to her house for that interview. She should be home by then. Clinton looked to be away.”

      “I’ll come with you.”

      They trudged through the snow and circled the van. Kala squatted down next to the footprints. “Looks like she was alone. She headed that way toward the path.”

      Kala stood and began following the footprints. They were difficult to see in the crusty snow but no harder than tracking animals through the woods. Rouleau followed a few steps behind her. They reached the first line of trees. Kala searched the ground under a big pine. She crouched down for a better look, then looked up at Rouleau, not as relaxed as she’d been a moment before.

      “There’s two sets of footprints. I think she met someone and they went down the path into the woods together.” She pointed toward the river. “They have a good fifteen-minute head start. We should follow.”

      “Could the two of them have come in the same van?” Rouleau asked.

      “No, it was definitely just Susan in the van.”

      Rouleau looked back at the parking lot. “Then where’s the other vehicle?”

      “We’d better hurry,” said Kala. “That bad feeling has just come back.”

      Kala was jogging close behind Rouleau and nearly crashed into him when they rounded a curve in the path some twenty minutes into the woods. Rouleau reached back to steady her. He half-turned and looked at her with eyes that reminded her of hard green stones.

      He spoke quietly. “They’re up ahead talking. I’m not sure if it’s Pauline in white. What was Susan wearing?”

      “Red coat. Knee length.” Kala’s chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath.

      “Susan’s sitting on the bench. The other woman is standing. They might be strangers who met by chance. It looks like Pauline’s height and weight.”

      “How do you want to play this?”

      “We can pretend we’re just out for a walk.”

      “They won’t buy it.”

      Rouleau thought for a moment. “If it is Pauline, we don’t want to tip her off before we have some evidence that she killed Underwood. Let’s stick to the original plan and interview Susan alone. We can start back and hope they don’t catch up to us.”

      “You think Susan’s safe?”

      “Looks safe enough to me.” Rouleau watched the two women another moment “They’re just talking.” He turned and started walking back the way they’d come.

      Kala hesitated. Rouleau stopped and looked at her. “Coming?”

      “Yeah, I guess.” She took a step toward him, but a noise that sounded like a strangled scream made her turn and look back. She motioned to Rouleau to stop.

      “Susan’s СКАЧАТЬ