The Cold Nowhere Read Free Page A

scared, but he had no way of knowing if any of it was real. When you came and went on the streets, sometimes bad people found you. When you drank or did drugs, sometimes your brain took detours and got lost. It was easy to get paranoid. A string of odd incidents, even if they were all true, didn’t add up to a conspiracy.
    Cat was smart. ‘You think I’m crazy,’ she said.
    ‘No, but I do have to ask, have you been using anything? Maybe synthetics like bath salts? Those drugs can cause severe reactions, including paranoia and hallucinations.’
    ‘I’m
not
using,’ Cat insisted.
    ‘Never?’
    ‘I didn’t say never. I’ve tried things. I didn’t like what they did to me, so I quit. That’s the truth. I haven’t taken any of that stuffin months. It all happened, just like I said. This guy is trying to kill me.’
    ‘Do you have any idea
why
someone would want to hurt you?’
    ‘No,’ she said. ‘Not a clue.’
    ‘Has anything out of the ordinary happened to you recently? Did you witness anything bad? Were you with someone who might not want the relationship exposed?’
    ‘I don’t think so. I mean, I can’t think of anything like that.’
    He gave her a reassuring smile. ‘We’ll figure it out. We’re going to have to sit down and go through everything you’ve done and everyone you’ve been with recently. Are you okay with that? You’ll need to be honest. You can’t hold back.’
    ‘You may not like some of it,’ she said.
    ‘Don’t worry about that. It’s pretty hard to shock a cop. Anyway, I want you to get some sleep first. You’ve had a tough night. Get some rest and then we’ll go see Steve at the clinic.’
    ‘Thank you, Mr. Stride.’ He saw her smile for the first time, and he was right. It was as sweet and warm as the sun coming out from the clouds.
    ‘Can I ask you something, Cat?’ he said.
    ‘Sure.’
    ‘Why did you come here tonight? How did you find me?’
    The girl played with the gold chain on her neck. Her eyes got misty. ‘I looked up your address a while ago. My mother told me that if there was ever a time in my life when I needed protection, and no one was around for me, I should go to you. Find Mr. Stride, she told me. She said you’d help me.’
    ‘Your mother?’
    ‘She died. You were there.’
    Stride was confused. He looked at Cat and saw a teenager, like any other girl. A stranger. Then he looked at her again and saw a familiar child hiding in her face. He knew her. Ten years ago, she’d been a six-year-old chasing butterflies between soaringevergreens. A six-year-old with messy hands and pumpkin pie on her mouth.
    A six-year-old cowering under the porch behind her house, her face frozen in terror.
    Cat.
    ‘You’re
Catalina
,’ he murmured, as he realized who she was. ‘Catalina Mateo. Michaela was your mother.’
    ‘You remember her,’ she said. ‘I knew you would.’
    Stride pushed back his chair and got up with a start. The reality struck him like a blow to the chest. He went into the living room, where it was dark and cool, and he took a loud breath, which felt ragged in his lungs. His face taunted him in the antique mirror. Short, messy black hair, swept with gray. A day of rough stubble on his chin and cheeks. The brown, brooding eyes, feeling everything, showing everything. He could feel the furrows in his weathered forehead deepen. Not wrinkles anymore – furrows. A storm washed over him. He felt his age. He sat down in the red leather armchair in the shadows, and he saw her face again. Michaela.
    He’d never gotten past the guilt of what happened to her. For a decade, she’d been his nightmare.
    And now this.
    Catalina. Cat. Michaela’s beautiful little girl, descending into the lost life of prostitution. A runaway.
    ‘Mr. Stride?’
    She stood framed in the doorway of the dining room, with the lights behind her. She came toward him tentatively. When he read her face, he knew they were both thinking about the same night. Remembering