Fire in the Stars Read online

  Sheri gulped a sharp breath. She strode inside, checked the house phone and the street yet again. Her jaw worked. “There was a time, this winter, when he asked me to hide all the axes and knives. I wasn’t sure if it was to protect me, or him.”

  “Did he go for help?”

  “Ask for help? Phil? Besides, here in Grand Falls, what kind of help is there? Trauma counsellors falling out of the sky, are they?”

  Amanda came to her side and put a gentle hand on her arm. “I know this is scary, but we have to consider it. Because I think maybe it’s what this is all about. He said he forgives you and he hid his cellphone where we would eventually find it, but only once he was too far away for us to stop him. I bet if we search it, or decipher the password on his laptop, we’ll find a note.”

  Sheri’s chin quivered. She snatched the cellphone from Amanda’s hand and tried to thumb through links. Once again a password stymied her. Frustrated, she shook her head. “Goddamn Nigeria! It made him so paranoid! It swallowed a wonderful, caring, trusting man and spat him back, destroyed. But Phil is a strong man. He’s a fighter. Even if he’s on the edge, he’s not going to quit on Tyler. He’s seen too many children suffer …”

  “But would he quit on you?”

  Sheri flinched.

  “Please call the cops, Sheri.”

  Sheri averted her eyes and walked to the window as if to put distance between herself and Amanda’s pressure. “I need to think. Let me call his family to see if they’ve heard from him. Maybe he felt a need to visit home. There are a lot of possibilities to explore before we press the panic button.”

  Amanda forced herself to back off. Every ounce of her screamed danger, but maybe she was overreacting. She could no longer trust her own alarm system; it had failed her one crucial time, and now its sirens shrieked at even the smallest hint of danger.

  “Okay, good idea. I’ll take Kaylee for a walk before she mutinies, and when I get back, we’ll take stock again.”

  The walk through the quiet, leafy residential streets was peaceful, giving Amanda time to sort through her fears. She was surprised Sheri had not already contacted Phil’s family in Manitoba, which seemed an obvious first step for a worried wife to take, but perhaps the family ties were tenuous. When you spend most of your adult life in tumultuous, faraway lands, a placid, prosperous home can feel like a very distant place.

  As always, Kaylee’s boundless enthusiasm for each new person or patch of grass made her smile, and by the time they rounded the final corner half an hour later, Amanda felt almost relaxed. She hoped there might be a police cruiser in Sheri’s drive, but instead, parked behind her own motorcycle was a dusty red pickup.

  As she mounted the front steps, she heard a low murmuring from inside, which stopped the moment the front door screeched open. She found Sheri in the kitchen, busying herself with a pot of tea. Lounging against the counter was a tall, lean man in jeans and a black T-shirt. His grey buzz cut and square shoulders screamed drill sergeant, but before Sheri could say a word, he eased away from the counter and extended a confident hand.

  “You must be Amanda. I’m Jason Maloney, Grand Falls RCMP.”

  His hand enveloped hers in a warm, comforting grip. The skin was rough and weathered, like his face. “Nice-looking little Kawie you’ve got out there.”

  His smile was teasing and Amanda found herself blushing in spite of herself. Before she could ask about Phil, Kaylee rushed in to tangle herself in Jason’s long legs.

  “Hey, boy!” He stooped to ruffle her fur, lost in the moment. His manner was casual. At home. Not at all like a cop on a missing-persons call. Amanda’s sixth sense prickled.

  “He’s a she. Kaylee. What’s the plan about Phil?”

  Maloney straightened as if called to attention.

  “Corporal Maloney thinks we should keep it low-key —” Sheri began.

  Maloney interrupted her. “Unofficial. For now. Phil’s a friend of mine and he’s having some rough times. No point in siccing the dogs on him.”

  Amanda shot Sheri a dismayed glance. The woman was still in denial. What the hell had she told this guy? “But —”

  “We can still accomplish a lot without putting it on the books. This may be a big island, but it’s a small place. People know each other and watch out for each other. They notice things. A word in the ear of a few friends in other detachments —”

  Sheri was watching him as if mesmerized. When the kettle whistled, she blinked her eyes as if he had snapped his fingers. She returned to earth, flustered, and turned her attention to the tea.

  “Phil has a friend who’s a corporal in the Deer Lake detachment,” she said. “They’ve both been through some difficult times in the past. If anyone can understand Phil, it will be Chris.”

  “Have you called him?” Amanda asked.

  Sheri slipped Jason a hesitant look before shaking her head. “Jason thinks he should handle it. One cop to another.”

  One man to another, he means, thought Amanda. But he was probably right. If this Chris guy knew about the marital trouble between Phil and Sheri, he’d be much more likely to talk openly with Jason than with her.

  Jason moved toward the door, brushing Sheri’s hand with his fingertips as he passed by. Sheri edged away. “I’ll make the call from my truck. You can fill Amanda in on the rest of our plans while I’m gone.”

  Sheri’s hand shook slightly as she poured tea into two mugs and dumped more cookies onto a plate. Amanda had taken a few coffee breaks along her journey to ease her muscles and let Kaylee out, but her last real meal had been breakfast at the roadside diner more than eight hours earlier. Her stomach roiled in protest at the sight of the cookies, but she suspected Sheri was too distracted to even think about anything more substantial.

  Kaylee, however, was watching Sheri’s every move with eagle eyes, reminding Amanda it was well past her dinnertime too. When Amanda went outside to fetch her food, she spotted Jason on his phone, head bent. His voice was raised as if in argument although Amanda couldn’t make out the words.

  Back inside, she fed Kaylee before returning to the living room. Sheri was gazing out the window at Jason’s truck, frowning. At her own private thoughts or at Jason’s behaviour, Amanda wondered.

  “Are you hungry? We could go out to eat, my treat.”

  Sheri flinched. Shook her head. “I don’t want to leave, in case …”

  “Of course. Order in pizza?”

  Sheri shrugged in disinterest. “Maybe when Jason’s gone.”

  “Okay. So … what’s the plan Jason mentioned?”

  Sheri wrenched her gaze away from Jason’s truck. “That’s it, mainly. Jason is going to phone around to his colleagues and send them a photo of Phil and Tyler. Phil’s family hasn’t heard from him, not that I thought they would.” She pulled a wry face. “Nice enough people, but to them even a trip from the farm to Winnipeg is a trip to foreign lands. They don’t understand what he’s been doing all these years, mixing in other people’s troubles.”

  Amanda smiled in rueful understanding, even though her own parents were university professors. Cloistered in their academic ivory tower, they had mouthed all the right words of admiration for her as they wrote out cheques for the latest world disaster, but Amanda suspected they felt much the same.

  Sheri sighed. “I phoned as many of Phil’s friends as I can think of, which wasn’t many. He hasn’t made many connections here yet. He’s picked up odd jobs to help fill the hours, but there’s not much work on offer in this town, especially for a development teacher who speaks four languages but none of them Newfoundlandese. That was getting him down too, I know that. It gave him too much time with his thoughts and memories.”

  She sat down and picked up her neglected tea, her hand steady now as she focused her thoughts. “It’s even possible he’s off looking for work. There is more to be had in the major centres li
ke Corner Brook and St. John’s.”

  “But what about Tyler? He’s taken him out of school, hasn’t he?”

  Sheri smiled, a fond, maternal smile that lit up her face and gave a brief flash of the old Sheri. “Tyler was delighted, believe me. The school year is just beginning, and not much new work is being done yet anyway. And Tyler is very smart. Missing a couple of weeks won’t hurt him at all.”

  Amanda wasn’t surprised. She’d last seen the boy two years ago in Senegal, and even back then, home-schooled and left to his own entertainment in the village, his intelligence and curiosity had shone through. At the age of eight, Phil had put him to work tutoring the village children in basic reading. She remembered Phil’s face, shining with pride and love.

  “Phil and he always were close,” she said.

  Sheri’s smile faded. “That was before. But Phil knew he’s been neglecting Tyler this past year, and he felt bad about that. Tyler’s been hurt and angry. That’s why Phil was taking him along on this trip with you. Hoping to rebuild.”

  Amanda was saved from further comment by the opening of the front door. Jason’s face gave away nothing about the argument or its resolution. How like a cop, Amanda thought. But Sheri’s face was a different story. Hope, apprehension, and guilt collided in one flushed glance. Before she could ask, he shook his head.

  “Chris Tymko’s heard nothing. Knows nothing. Last he heard from Phil was a few weeks ago.”

  “What does he think —?”

  “Like I said, nothing. He’s as surprised as we are.”

  “I’m not surprised, Jason,” Sheri snapped back. Her colour was rising and her jaw was set. Amanda had seen that look before, when militia diverted some supplies needed for the local villagers. Sheri had berated them like an outraged schoolmarm. “I’ve seen this coming. I just didn’t …” Her voice shook. “Well, you know.”

  “This isn’t your fault, Sheri.” He walked over and stood by her. Close and protective, yet dominant as well. Sensing a mixed message of support and warning, Amanda’s intuition stirred.

  Sheri stepped away from him. “What is Chris planning to do?”

  Jason shrugged. “Tymko marches to his own drum. If he has any ideas, he didn’t tell me, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a hunch. He might head off on his own private search.”

  “Then he’s taking this seriously?”

  Jason smiled. “Well, I guess there’s not much action out his way. We’ll find them, Sheri. One way or another, the whole island has their eyes peeled.”

  “Thank you, Jason. Corporal Maloney.” Sheri headed for the front door, her face rigidly polite. For a moment Jason hovered on the threshold, his gaze lingering on hers, before with a quick nod, he was gone. Sheri stood in the open doorway, gazing out into the violet dusk.

  “So,” Amanda said, “does Phil know?”

  Sheri pressed her lips tight. Every ounce of her quivered for calm. Amanda had expected surprise, bewilderment, or denial, but after a long minute of tense silence, Sheri shook her head. “Not about Jason. Just that there was someone.”

  “One of his friends. That would be a blow.”

  Sheri slammed the front door. “That’s why I didn’t tell him! How cruel do you think I am?”

  “I don’t think you’re cruel, Sheri. But husbands can sense these things. Even I sensed it after less than half an hour!”

  “I lied. I told him it was someone I met at a teacher’s conference in St. John’s.”

  “But does Tyler know? Did he ever witness anything?”

  “Around him, we were always just friends — Jason and his son, and me and Tyler. The boys brought us together, in fact. There was never anything for anyone to see.”

  I wouldn’t count on it, Amanda thought. Small town, handsome local cop, vulnerable mother … denial would be no match for such a luscious brew. She suspected this Chris Tymko might be way ahead of any of them.

  Two hours later, pink and languid from a hot bath, Amanda curled up beneath the handmade country quilt and stuffed a couple of pink ruffled pillows behind her back. The outrageous extravagance of the Victorian B&B was well beyond her camping budget, but after three days straddling Shadow, and facing the prospect of sleeping on a two-inch strip of foam in a tent, she decided to toss her budget out the window.

  After Jason left, Amanda had picked up fish and chips for them from the local diner, and although Sheri had extended an offer of lodgings for the night, Amanda sensed her reluctance and declined. She had her own plans for the night. Tucked into her backpack were Phil’s laptop and cellphone, neither of which Jason Maloney, as the cop on the case, had asked to see. All through the desultory dinner, during which Sheri kept one eye on the phone and the other on Tyler’s empty kitchen chair, the devices had beckoned to her. Now, propped on the bed with Kaylee happily stretched out on the crocheted throw at her feet, she was finally free to open Phil’s computer.

  As the computer came to life, the cursor blinked stubbornly in the password box. Amanda tried the usual suspects — Password, his son’s name, his wife’s name, even her own — before typing in Nigeria. Nothing. Passwords were supposed to be memorable and unique. What could be more so than Nigeria? She cast about, mystified. Typed in the name of the village, and finally Alaji, the name of the boy who had died in his arms that last night.

  Bingo. An array of icons opened up before her. She clicked on his email account and watched the messages flash across the screen as they downloaded. Dozens of emails from charities and businesses, Facebook and Twitter updates, the usual clutter of banal correspondence from cyberspace. She scrolled through the trivia in search of gems. There were emails from herself, of course, and from the RCMP cop Chris Tymko, whom Jason had spoken to. None of the messages in the past two days had been answered, or even opened.

  Among the emails were replies from several campgrounds and one boat tour, but these were over a week old. She spread out her map on the quilt beside her to check locations. Phil had apparently been exploring options as far away as the Avalon Peninsula to the east and the Great Northern Peninsula to the west. No bookings had been yet made, but at least as of a week ago, Phil had still been planning their camping trip.

  Frustrated, she checked his Internet search history and was surprised to discover it had been cleared. She knew people who cleared their search history every hour, but they were paranoid people living in dangerous places, exploring information that could get them killed. Had Phil brought his paranoia home with him, which was entirely possible, or had he wanted to erase his trail for a reason?

  She knew that cyber detectives could still find the footprints he was trying to erase, but she had no such skill. Her vision blurred with fatigue and her eyelids threatened to close. Pouring herself another glass of wine, she set aside the laptop in favour of Phil’s cellphone.

  This time the password was easy to crack — the same boy, who even after a year obviously loomed larger in Phil’s thoughts than his own family. Phil had never talked about him. He had simply thrust his body aside and raced to the children who were still waiting. Cowering. Hoping. It had been a long night.

  The cellphone was synced to the laptop, so she ignored the emails and went directly to the history of his phone calls. Besides the calls and texts from herself and from Sheri, three texts stood out. Two received, one sent. All dated three days ago, just before she’d stopped hearing from him.

  All to or from Jason Maloney.

  She read the first, which was an invitation from Jason to get together for a beer. The next was from Phil asking when and where. The third named the place, a bar that Amanda remembered passing on the way into Grand Falls. Seven o’clock in the evening, three days ago.

  Funny that Jason never mentioned a word of this.

  She was tempted to drop by the bar to find out whether the two had actually met and whether any of their conversation had been overheard. But t
he pillows and the silky duvet drew her down into them, and she found she couldn’t budge. Not a single muscle obeyed her. So she slipped naked between the cool cotton sheets and fell asleep.

  Chapter Four

  Tuesday dawned blustery and cold, reminding Newfoundland that summer was an elusive and fickle partner in the yearly dance of seasons. On the western coast, a deluge battered the seaside coves, but inland in Deer Lake, it was reduced to a chilly drizzle.

  The kind of weather Corporal Chris Tymko hated. As a boy from the prairies, he was used to endless summer days of wide-open blue sky punctuated by fierce thunderstorms that rolled across the flat lands like a freight train. In his previous posting up north, he’d learned to cope with violent, changeable storms and long months of darkness and snow, but Newfoundland seemed on the collision course between massive celestial forces. Humid warmth from the south and gales from the Arctic swirled over the knobby outcrop of rock, dumping snow, rain, and sleet, sometimes all at once.

  Roads could turn slick in an instant, hurling cars into ditches and knocking power out for miles. Chris arrived at the Deer Lake detachment early for his morning shift, hoping to use the extra minutes to check for news on Phil Cousins before the duties of the day began. Thoughts of Phil had intruded on his sleep several times during the night, and although there had been no reassuring phone call from Jason Maloney that morning, Chris hoped for some information in the routine police chatter. Not knowing Jason very well, he didn’t know whether the man would afford him the courtesy of a phone call, especially after the argument they’d had. Jason was a local Newfoundlander from Corner Brook, and he’d been known to use his connections and credibility to hog the upper hand in an investigation. But Chris figured that on his own home turf of Saskatchewan, he would act the same. Canada was a big and disparate place, full of regional suspicions and loyalties.