CHAPTER ONE
1480 Words
CHAPTER ONE
Katie Winter sighed in frustration as she did the ritual early morning check of her emails to see if the details on her sister’s case were available yet. Why had no information come through, she anxiously wondered. Even though the missing person’s case was fifteen years old, Katie couldn’t help feeling that every moment counted now in reviewing it.
“Why is there nothing yet?” she muttered to herself, tapping her fingers on the wooden table.
She was sitting in the dining room of her apartment in Sault Ste. Marie, on the North American side of the cross-border town where the task force she worked for as a special investigator was based. Her bedroom was quiet and cozy, but the lounge-dining room area had the view she'd grown to love, overlooking the St. Mary's River.
Staring out at the calming view, Katie reminded herself that reopening a cold case was not a quick process, especially when the previous records had been archived before digitization had become the norm. It involved seemingly endless time lags and delays before all the evidence and statements could be in front of her.
But for Katie, the wait felt unbearable. She longed to know what had really happened, back on that fateful day when her sixteen-year-old twin had disappeared. She felt impatient to read through the witness reports, the timeline, and to understand exactly what had really played out during the riverside search. During that search, the police had not found Josie, but had arrested the serial killer Charles Everton, who’d been in the exact location where Josie’s kayak had capsized.
But with no emails in her inbox, she would need to be patient for longer.
At that moment, Katie’s phone began ringing, providing a welcome distraction.
Standing up from her chair, she rushed through to her bedroom, where her phone was still on charge, to take the call. As it was not yet seven a.m., she imagined that it was likely to be Scott, who headed up the cross-border task force, calling with a new case.
When she looked down at her phone, she saw it was from a number she recognized, but had not expected to hear from.
The number was for Northfields Prison in New York State. This was where Charles Everton was serving a life sentence for multiple murders. She thought it was a weird coincidence that just a moment ago, he’d been in her thoughts.
The week before last, Katie had been allowed a brief meeting with Everton in the prison. During the meeting, he'd threatened her, and combined with his other infractions over the past few days, he had been sent to solitary.
What had happened, she wondered, feeling anxious about the possibilities. Had he escaped? Had he died? Something important must have occurred for the prison to be calling her now.
Quickly she took the call.
"Is that FBI Agent Katie Winter?" a man's voice asked.
"Speaking," she said.
She grabbed the phone off the charger and walked back to her laptop, which was set up on the dining room table, feeling nervous and expectant as she waited for the caller to say more.
"It's Mike Beach here, head warden at Northfields Prison."
This was sounding like something had happened, Katie feared, with a twist of her stomach.
"Morning, Mike. How can I help?" she asked.
"Charles Everton has requested to meet with you."
The statement was as shocking as a bucket of ice water in the face.
To meet? With her?
The man she suspected of murdering Josie, who'd stonewalled and taunted and refused to answer her questions in their last meeting, was now wanting to see her again?
"Agent Winter? Are you there?" Beach asked.
In her shock, she'd been too stunned to reply.
"Yes, I'm here. I'm just surprised by this," she admitted.
"Surprised? I admit I was myself," Beach said. "I can understand your reaction. But he was very clear that he wants to see you again. And I have to say, he was insistent."
"Is Everton currently in solitary?" Katie asked, to clarify the situation.
"Yes. And he'll be there another week at least," Beach reminded her. "We are not shortening his time in solitary because he wants to meet with you. We considered this might be a tactic he was using to get out early."
"I'm glad you decided on that," Katie said, also not wanting Everton to use her as a way of cutting short his punishment term.
"He has been fully informed that he is going to complete the full term in solitary, and that requesting this meeting is not going to shorten his term, nor will it prevent any extension of the term, or any future stints in solitary, should his behavior warrant it."
"Good," Katie said, feeling confident that they were taking the hardest possible line with this dangerous prisoner.
"But he still wants to meet with you once he is back in the maximum security cells."
The last time she'd seen him, the man had been utterly hostile and unremorseful. But his behavior had gone a step too far and earned him a punishment that even this psychopathic man had dreaded. Everton had been horrified about going to solitary. He clearly didn't do well in that environment. Perhaps being locked up alone for a stretch had given him a chance to reconsider, or even repent having taken such a hard line with her.
Did she dare to hope so?
"And you're okay with this?" Katie asked. "With me meeting him again?"
"Are you?" Beach asked. "If you're okay with it, then when the time is right, I'll schedule it in, and let you know."
A tingling sense of excitement began racing up her spine.
"Yes. Yes, I am okay with it," Katie said. "Thank you for calling and letting me know."
"I'll be in touch," Beach said.
Katie cut the call. Her mind was racing. This was a completely unexpected turn of events.
Everything she'd heard about Everton had made it clear that he was not a man to change his mind. He had no compassion or empathy. He was a psychopath who was unrepentant and considered himself above the law and beyond any mercy.
And yet, Everton had not only requested their next meeting, he'd pleaded for it.
That had to mean something.
Katie hoped that she would learn more about the disturbing circumstances that had surrounded her sister's disappearance, more than fifteen years ago.
She was desperate to piece together what had really happened on that fateful day of the kayaking accident. Reopening the case would provide one piece of the puzzle, and re-interviewing Everton might provide another. After all, he definitely had been in the exact area when Josie had disappeared. That was concrete fact, and why the police search had picked him up.
Two and a half weeks in solitary confinement, she imagined, was long enough for a criminal to be desperate to talk to anyone in the outside world, even if it meant admitting to the most heinous acts.
She just hoped that this time she'd be able to fight her way through his defenses and discover what he knew.
If he knew anything at all.
She was determined to take whatever chance she was given, and she started mentally working out how she could fit in the time to travel to the prison and talk to him again. It wasn't going to be easy, that was certain, especially with her unpredictable case load.
Plus, this incident was so far in the past. Katie sighed, wishing that at the time she hadn't been sixteen, with little knowledge of investigation procedures, and totally traumatized by her own irresponsible decision to have headed out on the water when the rapids were too dangerous. If only she'd been able to investigate and search at the time, instead of being confined to the house in disgrace. Could she somehow have saved Josie's life if she had?
That was something Katie thought about often, but always with the same twist of guilt.
It was entirely possible Everton had not only been there when the kayak flipped, but that he might know what had happened to her sister.
She knew she should be wary about her hope for this meeting. After all, there was no guarantee that Everton would talk to her. He might have some other game in mind.
But, at that moment, her phone rang again.
Katie grabbed it immediately, seeing that this time it was her boss, Detective Scott, on the line.
Without a doubt, this meant that a new case had landed. She would be reunited with her investigation partner Leblanc, after he'd been out of town for a few days, and they would face this challenge together.
Picking up the call, she wondered, with adrenaline surging, what it would involve.
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