Bleeding Darkness. Brenda Chapman

life.

      His eyes found Frances’s face in the photo again. He picked up the frame. I can’t say that I blame Heath for finding his happiness. It’s too bad I didn’t come to my senses sooner too, eh love?

      Kala looked around the dining room at the assembled members of the McKenna family and tried to memorize their names and relationships from the quick round of introductions when she and Bennett had entered the room moments before. Only the mother, Evelyn, was absent from the family circle, having gone to the hospital to sit with her husband. Bennett had taken up a position near the hutch and had his notebook out. She directed her gaze at the missing woman’s husband, Tristan. He looked as if he hadn’t slept for days, judging by his bloodshot eyes and the dark bruising underneath. Now, he was standing with his back toward her in front of the window, looking out at the street. She raised her voice to catch his attention. “Can you tell me how your wife was feeling leading up to her disappearance, Tristan?”

      He took a few seconds to turn and focus on her. “She was feeling good. Happy. We both want this baby so badly and we were making plans. She wouldn’t simply have up and left, Officer. I’m going crazy with worry.”

      The darker-haired brother, Adam, who was standing at the end of the table holding a cup of coffee, said, “We’re all incredibly concerned. Vivian isn’t a flighty woman and she loves Tristan. She wouldn’t run off like this because she knows how worried he’d be, not to mention the rest of us. We’re already torn up about my father.”

      “You have to find her,” Tristan said, his voice loud and anguished in the silence of the room.

      “We will do everything we can to find your wife,” said Kala, “but we need more information. Could each of you tell me about your last interaction with Vivian and where you were when she went missing?”

      “The last time I saw her, she told me that she was getting a massage in the morning, coming home for lunch, and going for a short walk. She then planned to relax with a book and have a nap,” said Tristan. “She’d been having trouble sleeping and had started resting in the afternoon. I slept in that morning and soon after I ate a quick breakfast I left to visit my father in the hospital. Mona came with me. That was the last time I saw my wife.”

      “I left after breakfast as well to go to the gym and meet up with a friend, who ended up cancelling last minute. I was already downtown so I grabbed some lunch from a coffee shop,” said Adam. “Before I left the house, I passed Vivian on the stairwell when I went up to our room to get my gym bag and said good morning. She seemed in good spirits and said she was on her way to get some breakfast in the kitchen. That was it. No sign of distress or upset.”

      Kala looked from them to the two women sitting on the other side of the dining-room table. The sister with the short, peroxide-white hair looked up from typing on her cellphone. Her skin was ashen and her eyes bleary from lack of sleep.

      “Vivian and Mona were having breakfast when I last saw her,” she said. “We sat at this table and talked about how happy Vivian was to be having a baby. She and Tristan had been trying for some time. She talked about going to the spa before taking a walk and a nap in the afternoon, but I teleworked in my room all morning and left before lunch so I have no idea what she actually did.”

      “And where did you go when you finished working?” asked Kala.

      “To the hospital and then shopping and a late lunch at the mall in the food court. I drove around for a while and got home around four after I got a text from Tristan asking if I’d seen Vivian. I called him right away and he sounded worried, so I came home to help track her down.”

      Kala looked at the sister-in-law. “And you, Mona?”

      Mona had been listening to everyone intently and turned her head from Lauren to Kala. “Yes, I had breakfast with Vivian and Lauren came in as we were finishing up. I went to the hospital with Tristan and walked back here late morning. I was probably the last one to see Vivian. She was in the kitchen making tea when I got here. We said hello and then I went upstairs to call our son Simon in Edmonton before having a bath. I didn’t hear Vivian leave for her walk. She seemed tired but fine otherwise.”

      “Was Evelyn home at all during the day?”

      “She was at the hospital. I’m not sure if she came home for a break or not.”

      Adam walked around the table and stood behind his wife. He rubbed her shoulders as he said, “We’ve checked everywhere we can think of and driven the streets most of the night. What are you doing to find her?”

      Kala tried to sound reassuring. “We’ve had officers watching for her since Evelyn called yesterday. We’ve checked the hospitals and clinics but she hasn’t been brought in so this a hopeful sign. We’ll be stepping up the search with a team on the way here to start a foot search of the neighbourhood. We could put out a public appeal if you give us permission. It’s early but given the situation, it could prove helpful.”

      “I want you to do whatever it takes,” said Tristan. “I want her home before another cold night sets in.” He’d begun pacing and Lauren jumped up to intercept him. She put an arm around his shoulders. They were nearly the same height and standing so close to each other, Kala could see the strong family resemblance. Her touch seemed to calm him down.

      “We all want that,” said Adam, drawing Kala’s attention back. “This is a difficult enough time for our family with Dad nearing the end. You can imagine how raw we are to begin with, never mind our worry over Vivian’s whereabouts.”

      “We will do all we can to find her.” Kala glanced at Tristan one last time before she motioned for Bennett to leave with her. It wasn’t time yet to raise the matter of his dead high school girlfriend, even if she sensed an unspoken tension in the room. She’d noticed the looks that passed between the family members and the way they studied Tristan when they thought she was looking elsewhere. This family was teetering on the edge of a deep suspicion that could go one way or the other. So far everyone was playing their role to perfection, but the longer Vivian remained missing, the harder they would find it to keep up a united facade, to pretend to believe that Tristan was not involved in the unsolved murder of his ex-girlfriend or the disappearance of his pregnant wife.

      Kala and Bennett stopped for takeout coffee and breakfast sandwiches on their way back to the station after Gundersund phoned to say that Woodhouse would be leading the neighbourhood search. She and Bennett sat in the Tim Hortons parking lot and watched traffic go by on Princess Street while they ate. She kept the engine running and the interior was toasty warm while the north wind pummelled the outside of the truck. The brilliant sunshine wouldn’t make a dent into the frigid temperatures.

      “I’m not sorry Woodhouse gets to be lead on the outdoor search,” said Bennett, warming his hands on the coffee cup. “Geez Louise, but that’s a cold day out there.”

      Kala nodded. “If Vivian McKenna spent the night outdoors, she could be in real trouble.” She didn’t want to say the word dead out loud. Not yet.

      “From what they said, she doesn’t appear to be a woman who’d just up and leave.”

      “No. I’d be more hopeful if she’d been less definite about the walk and nap.”

      Kala’s cellphone buzzed and she took it out of her pocket to read a text message from Gundersund. “Sorry, Bennett, but you’ve been recruited to help with the search. I’ll have to drop you off back at the McKennas before I go to the station. Rouleau wants a verbal update from me in advance of getting the media briefing set up, and this will give me a chance to read up on the case of the murdered high school girlfriend.” She’d also use the time to follow up on the form she’d emailed to Millhaven tracking down Fisher Dumont. He was like a stone in her shoe. Not consuming her waking moments, but bothering her enough that she knew the only way to keep the problem from taking over was to find him and keep an eye on his whereabouts.

      Bennett asked, “Do you really think Tristan McKenna is behind Zoe Delgado’s murder and his wife’s disappearance?”

      “No