They reached the RCMP station just after noon. Kat unfastened her snowshoes and stomped her feet, shaking caked snow off her boots and gaiters. She pulled on the door handle and to her relief, the door opened this time. She entered the deserted room with Roger Landers right behind her. A row of chairs on one wall faced an unmanned counter. A radio talk show played from a ghetto blaster that sat at the far end of the counter. Static.
“Hello?” No answer.
The radio commentator blathered something about the world economy.
Kat’s ears perked up when she heard Svensson’s name mentioned alongside the Nobel prize in economics. Due to Svensson’s death, another economist had been awarded the prize. An economist who happened to support a common global currency.
She glanced at Landers who grimaced as he rubbed his hands. He didn’t appear to be listening to the radio. Just as well, since she didn’t want a reason to talk to him either.
Their argument had deteriorated to the point that they weren’t speaking to each other. Kat didn’t know what to believe, with Landers changing his story every five minutes. Was Jace’s arrest yet another lie?
Landers let out a loud sigh as he plopped down on one of the vinyl chairs lined up against the wall. Kat watched him from the corner of her eye while she stood at the counter. She scanned the counter for a bell but found nothing. Except for the functioning lights and heat, the place seemed deserted. She hadn’t expected a welcome party, but after a three-hour hike in the –20-degree cold, she didn’t plan to patiently wait either.
A plain wooden door behind the counter led to what Kat assumed was the inner office and whatever else existed behind closed doors at police stations. Maybe a jail cell with Jace in it?
“Hello?” Kat shifted on her tired feet and leaned on the counter. Snow slid off the bottom of her snow pants and melted into puddles on the worn linoleum floor. She glanced back at Landers, who still rubbed his frozen fingers, his face contorted with pain. Condensation formed on the windows above him, the air humid from damp clothes and a heater in overdrive.
She was mad as hell. Mad at Landers for tricking her and then denying it. Mad at Nathan and Victoria. And she wanted to be mad at Jace for chasing the story. But she couldn’t. She just wanted him back.
She turned back to the door. She was considering boosting herself over the counter just as the door opened. An overweight officer emerged.
“Can I help you?” His labored breathing was evident as he lowered himself into a worn vinyl chair. The bottom two buttons of his uniform strained against a pot belly bursting to escape.
“I’m here to see Jace Burton.”
“Who’d you say?” His face flushed as he rubbed a hand across his forehead. He wiped his hand on his shirt before reaching under the counter to pull out a worn manila folder. He opened it and flipped back a quarter-inch of pages before settling back in his chair.
“Jace Burton. He was arrested at the Tides Resort.”
“Jason Burton?” He peered over his reading glasses. “No one here by that name. What makes you think he’s here?”
Kat read the name on his uniform. Officer Kravitz.
The same officer from Roger Landers’s TV interview.
“Jace Burton—you arrested him. A couple of nights ago. I’m told you’re holding him here.”
“News to me,” Kravitz said. “If I arrested someone, I’d know it.”
“Maybe another officer did.”
Kravitz scoffed. “Not likely. No one here but me.”
“Roger, tell them what you told me.” Kat turned to face Landers, but the bank of vinyl chairs was empty. All that remained were Kurt’s snowshoes in a puddle of smelted snow on the floor. “That guy that was just here—he said he was there when you arrested Jace.”
“I don’t see anyone.”
“Officer? How could you miss him? He was just sitting over there. Seconds ago.” Kat pointed to the bank of chairs.
“No one here but you ‘n me. What did you say your name was?”
Officer Kravitz turned up the radio volume. The news had been replaced by a talk show host, droning on about consumer debt.
Kat moved closer to Officer Kravitz and raised her voice. “Katerina Carter. Officer Kravitz, Roger Landers was just here. He’s a journalist with the...” Her voice trailed off when she realized the officer wasn’t listening.
Kravitz dropped the file he had been carrying under his arm and placed it on the desk. He pulled out a notebook from his shirt pocket and flipped it open. He scribbled something in it, studiously avoiding Kat.
“Excuse me, Officer Kravitz.”
“Carry on, I’m listening.” He opened his file folder and licked his finger each time he turned a page.
“No, you’re not. You’re waiting for me to finish talking so I’ll leave. Except I’m not going anywhere. Jace has to be here. I want proof he’s not.” The clock above Kravitz’s head read twelve-forty-five. Twenty-five minutes till the ferry sailed.
“Are you the same Ms. Carter that reported another missing person a few days ago?” He looked up and raised his eyebrows. Then he flipped through the folder again. “Says here it was Roger Landers. Now you’ve lost him again and lost another guy?”
“I’m here about Jace. Is he here or not?”
Kravitz smiled. “The RCMP isn’t in the habit of verifying who they have or don’t have in custody.”
Kat crossed her arms and smiled back, barely containing her anger. “Then I’ll just wait here until you do.” What did small town police do anyways? Crossword puzzles? What was Kravitz so anxious to get back to?
“Fine.”
She headed over to the row of plastic chairs and dumped her stuff. She made as much noise as she could, hoping to annoy him.
It worked. Kravitz glared at her.
“You still here?” He turned down the radio.
“I told you, I’m not leaving without some answers.”
He pursed his lips but didn’t say anything.
Kat met his stare. “I know you’ve got Jace here. Roger Landers saw you arrest Jace. You brought him here. Where else could he be?”
His face reddened. “He’s not here and never was.”
“Prove it. This is the second time I’ve been here. I’m not leaving until I know for sure Jace isn’t here.”
The phone rang. Officer Kravitz answered on the first ring. He held his hand up as he lifted the receiver.
Kat strained to hear. Something about an accident and highway closure.
“How soon can they get him out of there?” Long pause as Officer Kravitz listened to whoever was talking on the other end of the call. “When? Okay, I’ll meet them here.”
He listened.
“Got it. I’ll do a press release at five. That should give you enough time.”
What could possibly require a press release in this little dinky little town? Shoplifting at the general store? Stolen skis?
The press release had to be related to the World Institute. What were the odds of another newsworthy event in this place?
Officer Kravitz glared at her as he replaced the handset. “You still here?”
“I told you, I’m not leaving.” All roads pointed back to this place.
On the other hand, she’d be better off at home. If there were an emergency involving Jace, someone would call home to tell her. Especially since she had left her cell phone behind at the resort.
“If I show you, will you stop? No one’s in custody. Matter of fact, no one’s even been in here for weeks.” He motioned her towards the swinging gate adjacent to the counter. Somehow that phone call had changed things.
She stepped through the gate and followed Kravitz behind the counter. There was one large room on the other side, with another door to a lone holding cell. It was empty.
“Believe me now?” He stood by open door, arms crossed.
Kat stared at the empty cell, crushed. She had been so certain Jace was here that she hadn’t considered any alternative. “When did you release him?”
Officer Kravitz threw up his hands. “Don’t you listen? He’s not here. Never was. I don’t know anything about a—what did you say his name was?”
“Jace Burton. And I want to file a missing persons report.”
“Fine. Then will you leave?”
Kat didn’t answer as she followed him back to the outer office.
Someone was lying, either Landers or the RCMP. She didn’t know which, but there was one thing she was sure of. Roger Landers was somehow involved in Jace’s disappearance. He simply he had too much skin in the game.