Northern Lights: A Due South Novel

Chapter 30: If You'll Have Me

Inspector Cartier didn't die. Elizabeth and Fraser bandaged his wound on the spot and covered him with a blanket from the survival kit before placing him in the sled. The drone of snowmobiles reached them as they finished giving first aid. Constable Franklin and Ray Kowalski burst from the trees, with Robert Black as their guide, just as the last light of the sun disappeared over the western mountains. They hauled Cartier to the highway, where an ambulance and two armed officers arrived to take him to the hospital in Whitehorse.

Margaret Thatcher kept herself busy while she waited for the Frasers in Bear Falls. Meg obtained and Maggie Mackenzie executed a flurry of search warrants on Dr. Douglas and Inspector Cartier's homes, their vehicles, the medical clinic, and any other place they'd touched. The evidence from the searches, along with the boxes seized from the plane, spilled out of the detachment's tiny evidence locker. By the time the Frasers came out of the bush, Constable Mah was already driving the plane's contents to headquarters in the capital.

On Tamara Black's smart phone, alongside photos of family and dogs, were a dozen incriminating videos dating back several months. Brendan and Colin unloading the plane. Dr. Douglas handing over duffel bags to Lester Pearson and Sam McGee. A peek inside a box full of drugs. And, from the night of the murder, a video that appeared to show the very bag they'd found in the canyon, stuffed with cash and sitting on the floor in Cartier's office. Elizabeth wondered when Tamara had realized Cartier was part of the scheme. Was it when she saw the cash that night? Or earlier? When had she grabbed the cash and run for help? They might never know.

With the Northern Lights Hotel full of tourists on spring break aurora viewing tours, the out-of-town officers bunked wherever they could squeeze in. Constable Turnbull took his nephew's couch. Sergeant Kataq accepted an invitation to sleep on Robert Black's floor. And the Vecchios, the Kowalskis, and Meg Thatcher all squeezed in with the Frasers at the cabin.

"Gee, Benny, you know we have this new thing in America called solar panels," Ray Vecchio complained as he fumbled for a flashlight. Fraser's gas-powered lanterns didn't reach the corners of his suitcase.

"I'll think of that for next time, Ray." Fraser pulled armfuls of fading flannel sheets, down duvets, and striped Hudson Bay blankets out of the linen cabinet and distributed them to the crowd. Every muscle ached. He stifled a yawn and fought the urge to collapse in place. It was nearly midnight, but it felt like much later.

The nimble young officers climbed into the top bunks. Meg Thatcher took the lower bunk beneath her daughter. Ray Vecchio bunked under his son. The Kowalskis sprawled on the pullout couch. And Fraser collapsed on his twin bed in the northwest corner, between the Vecchios and the door. The Huskies slept in a pile on the threadbare rug. Ogilvie, who curled up next to Fraser on the bed, tried to steal his pillow. Ingratitude ran in the half-wolf's bloodline.

Snow fell through the night and the fire faded to coals. But all were cozy inside the little log cabin.

Morning came, clear and bright, and a little earlier than it had the day before. Elizabeth, in her bunk next to the south window, rose first. After lighting the fire, she headed out, with Montgomery in pursuit, to shovel the paths and fetch snow to melt for breakfast.

Jon heard the creaking bunk and the squirming dog from across the room. Quickly, he donned his outerwear and followed. Once he got over the stinging slap of the cold, it was surprisingly comfortable to stand beneath the spruce with only his face exposed. When the door slammed behind him, Elizabeth looked up from shovelling the outhouse trail north of the cabin to smile at him.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" Wisps of her long brown hair had tumbled out of her toque and onto her shoulders. She had changed out of her uniform and back into her jeans and burgundy Aran sweater from the plane ride. She worked in thin wool gloves, without a coat. Her cheeks were blush-pink from the cold.