18

BY THE TIME GARRETT GOT back to Misery Bay, it was already morning, a windy, gray Nova Scotia day. He wondered if the remnants of the hurricane Sarah had mentioned might be moving in. The sky was angry and low, which was how he felt after mulling over the professional setup they’d uncovered, designed solely for the purpose of exploiting young girls. He wondered, too, if this whole situation was precisely what Tuttle had in mind as a way of keeping him on the job.

Well, it wasn’t going to work. Straightening things out here, if possible, would be his last official duty. Then he’d be ready for retirement and maybe something else new, with Sarah.

He pulled into Sarah’s just after nine a.m. There was a strange car in the driveway. As he went up to the door, it opened and Sarah emerged with Kitty Wells in tow, holding onto her dress to keep it from blowing up.

“I’ve been having a nice talk with your partner,” said Sarah, smiling sweetly at him.

“My who?”

“Well, Garrett, we are going to be working together.” Kitty came over and put her free hand through his arm and walked him toward her car.

“Look, Miss Wells, we are not working together. I said I’d give you any information that I thought could be released. So far there isn’t any.”

“Oh, that’s okay, Garrett,” she oozed, giving him a little squeeze. “I’m just working on background. You might be surprised what I uncover. It could be helpful to you. Anyway, I’m off now to meet the people at Ecum Secum. Find out what’s what over there. See you all later.”

She climbed into the car, letting go of her skirt, which the wind compliantly picked up, exposing a generous portion of thigh. It was an action for the benefit of Sarah, he suspected, as much as himself. He watched her drive off as a way not to look at Sarah for as long as possible.

“What a charming girl,” Sarah said. “She’s been telling me all about how closely you two are working. Practically in bed together.”

He grimaced. “Look, I only met her yesterday. She wants to kick-start her national career with the killings here. It was probably a mistake to tell her I’d give her what I could. But sometimes it helps to have someone in the press funnel the right stuff to the media.”

“Well, and isn’t she the perfect choice?”

He detected a need to change the subject. “How did she get on to Ecum Secum, anyway?”

“She saw the sign on her drive down. ‘Troubled Youth’ is apparently code to reporters that stands for ‘News at Eleven.’ She asked me about it and …” She looked sheepish. “I’m afraid I told her what I knew about the place.”

“Well, maybe it will keep her occupied. I can’t really see Lloyd spending too much time explaining his operation to a reporter.”

“Oh, I don’t know. From what you told me, she’s exactly his type. I don’t think there’s much she wouldn’t do to get a story from someone—including you.”

“You’ve got that right. She practically invited herself to move in with me.”

“And you turned her down?” She leaned in, the wind blowing her hair about her face and kissed him on the mouth. “There might be hope for you yet.”

“I didn’t exactly turn her down. It was more like my two-seater of an outhouse that gave her pause.” He looked around. “Where are the girls?”

“They walked into town to buy some ice cream. Thank God. It might have really been a mess if Kitty had got hold of them.” She looked at the sky. “I hope they don’t get rained on.”

“Well, thanks for small favors. How about inviting me in out of the weather?”

“Tea?”

“I was thinking of something a bit stronger.”

“Why Mr. Barkhouse, it’s not even ten in the morning!”

“It was a long night. Give me a drink and I’ll tell you about it.”

Inside, he relaxed on the couch with a glass of Glen Breton and told her about what they’d found on Micmac Island.

Her eyes grew wide. “Can’t you close the place down?”

“It’s a possibility. But it’s not against the law to have a ritzy resort or even a building with bars on the windows. We have to catch them in the act.”

“Sounds like you did just that. Didn’t you say there were men and young girls?”

He sighed. “Yes, but we didn’t really witness anything except them walking in the compound. Besides, I think it might be better to keep an eye on the place for a while, see what turns up.”

“Evidently Lloyd turned up.”

“That was interesting, all right. I hardly think he was there to do research on prostitution, so he could better relate to his own girls.”

She frowned, and he could see the wheels turning behind those freckles. “Do you get the sense you might be onto something bigger than you expected?”

“Crossed my mind a time or two.” He put his glass down. “But this isn’t the first time I thought I might be close to breaking a major prostitution ring that didn’t pan out. You can’t begin to know how good these people are at covering themselves. Part of it is that they can be very well connected politically. Lots of money, top-notch legal assistance, and sexual favors to boot. That can buy a lot of protection.” He stood up. “You know, I think I’m going to tag along after our Miss Wells. I want to confront Lloyd anyway, and it just might be interesting to see his reaction to a reporter snooping around.”

* * *

He was about forty minutes behind Kitty when he turned into Ecum Secum Haven. He parked the car, wondering where she was, since her vehicle wasn’t in the lot. Maybe Lloyd had given her a quick boot. The sky had turned an interesting shade of purple with mackerel clouds blowing high overhead. Still, it hadn’t rained and the wind at ground level was sporadic.

In contrast to his last visit, this time there were kids sitting around on the deck of the main house, relaxing and jamming, with one of the boys playing a guitar. They also appeared to be drinking. It wasn’t clear what was in their glasses, but the mood of levity suggested something stronger than carrot juice. Lloyd was nowhere to be seen.

As he approached the porch, his suspicions were reinforced as several of the kids slid glasses out of sight. This hardly seemed the atmosphere Lloyd said he tried to promote.

The guitar player stopped when Garrett climbed onto the deck.

“Hi guys,” he said, trying not to sound like a cop. “I’m looking for Lloyd. He around?”

The guitar player said, “Lloyd’s not around.” He raised his glass casually in a mock salute. “While the cat’s away …”

“While the asshole’s away,” said a thin girl of perhaps fourteen. Several others laughed.

As a detective of some twenty years’ experience, Garrett perceived a possible opening.

“You mind if I ask you all some questions? I’ll be honest with you. I’m a cop, but I’m not interested in you personally. I’d like to know more about Ecum Secum Haven. What do you think of the program here?”

The guitar player snorted. “I’ve been in reform school,” he said. “Twice. This is worse.”

“How so?” Garrett sat casually on the steps. Just one of the guys. “Seems like a pretty nice place.”

“Lloyd’s a prick,” said the thin girl. “Thinks he owns us. It’s a real power trip for him. He prances around with no clothes on half the time.”

“No clothes at all?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” said the guitar player. “He says he’s a naturist, or something. But he likes us to see his body. He sunbathes naked on the porch while we have to work in the garden in the front yard.”

“Sometimes, he plays with himself,” said another girl.

This was developing into an all-together nastier picture than he’d had in mind.

“Have any of you been molested by him more directly than that?”

No one answered. A very blonde girl who appeared to be one of the oldest said, “I think he likes to be looked at, you know? He’s an exhibitionist. It’s how he gets his rocks off.”

“Yeah,” said the guitar player. “He’s got himself the perfect little setup here. None of us dare say anything, ’cause it would just get us in more trouble than we already are, if that’s possible. And who would believe us anyway?”

“I see.” He stared at their plain, hopeless faces. Having nothing and no one had led to their being sent here, where they were just being exploited all over again. He was getting pretty ticked off at old Lloyd.

“Anyone happen to notice a young woman drive in, oh, about an hour ago?”

The thin girl nodded. “I saw her. She was real pretty. She asked for Lloyd and went in to his office. They were there for about ten or fifteen minutes, then they came out, got in her car and drove away.”

“Any idea where they went?”

Heads shook all around.

“Any other staff around right now?” Garrett asked.

“Greta and Keegan went into town for supplies,” said the blonde. “The woman who cleans is somewhere up in the cabins and there’s a couple of others out in the gardens. But things generally slow down around here when Lloyd’s gone.”

He looked longingly at the house. There would never be a better opportunity. “Do you mind if I wait for Lloyd in his office?”

“Suit yourself,” said the guitar player, and he began to strum softly.

That, as far as Garrett was concerned, was a legal invitation. He listened to the musician for a couple of minutes, then got up easily and went inside. It was the first time he’d been in the building. A hallway with several doors off it led to a central staircase. He poked his head in two of the doors before finding one that was clearly an office.

Alone, he began a hasty search. The room was big. Lloyd had clearly taken the best for himself. There were two large windows looking out on the garden at the side of the house and a fireplace with a polished mahogany mantel. One whole wall was taken up with shelves filled with various bric-a-brac, largely pictures of Lloyd himself.

He spent some time going through a file cabinet but it was pretty straightforward, records of the kids who passed through the program. In a chest of drawers by one of the windows, he found a digital camera. The viewscreen showed a variety of pictures of the kids, mostly working in the garden and many of them obviously taken through the window of the office. Several pictures showed girls looking straight at the window with wide eyes. He would have bet the farm they were staring at a nude Lloyd who wanted pictures of their reactions to seeing him in all his glory.

The desk was messy, covered with papers and forms. In the center drawer on top of other papers was an address book. He only recognized one entry: Madame L, with a Halifax exchange number.

There was nothing else. He’d gleaned little more than an increased dislike for the man in charge. Yet he couldn’t quite believe this entire enterprise was all simply about Lloyd’s need to expose himself to kids. He had a perversion for sure. But Garrett continued to feel he was part of something bigger and more sinister.

He was looking out the window when Kitty Wells’s car came up the driveway. He glanced quickly about the room to make sure there was no sign of his presence and went back out onto the porch. He had little worry that any of the kids would tell Lloyd where he’d been. He didn’t get the impression they told their resident exhibitionist anything at all voluntarily. But he did notice that all signs of the drinks had miraculously disappeared and even the guitar player’s instrument was nowhere to be seen. These kids had developed a well-greased cover-up operation. Everything was hidden in just the ten seconds it took from the time the car became visible to Lloyd’s climbing onto the porch.

Before he saw Garrett, Lloyd said, “What’s going on here? You kids are supposed to be doing garden work. Get cracking.”

The crowd of youngsters moved slowly off the porch, leaving Lloyd staring suddenly at Garrett. Kitty had also come onto the deck.

“What are you doing here?” Lloyd asked. “I didn’t give permission to talk to my kids. You already took Lila. Now you’re after more of them? I’m going to report this to your boss. These kids are here for a reason, you know. To turn their lives around. Your interference is not going to do them any good.”

Obviously, the pleasant facade of their previous meeting had evaporated following their little contretemps over Lila. Lloyd glanced at the departing kids and Garrett took the moment to meet Kitty’s eyes and shake his head. There was no reason for Lloyd to know they were acquainted. He went over to her.

“Don’t believe we’ve met,” he said. “Garrett Barkhouse, RCMP.”

She had the presence of mind to play along, giving him her hand. “Nice to meet you, officer.” She smiled seductively.

Lloyd observed the interaction with distaste. He’d clearly been enjoying having Kitty all to himself. He stepped forward and took her arm.

“Miss Wells has asked me for an interview,” he said, directing her toward the door. “You’re not welcome here, Barkhouse.”

Kitty winked at Garrett as they disappeared inside, her expression clearly saying, “See? I’m making progress already.”

He decided to clear out before Lloyd could see anything that might suggest his office had been ransacked, though Garrett suspected his attentions would be altogether focused on Kitty for however long their ‘interview’ took. He wondered just how far Kitty would go for information and suspected Lloyd was wondering the same thing.