The Longest Winter by Harrison Drake Read Free Book Online Page A

in his hands. He looked at Jacques bindings, made sure they were still tight, then walked into the room and set the food in front of the boy. His hand went behind his back and when it came forward he was holding a large hunting knife.
    “Scream and I’ll kill you. Eat quickly.”
    He moved behind Jacques and untied the gag then bunched it up in his hand and stuffed it into his pocket. Jacques looked at the food. More white rice, but it looked amazing and tasted even better. Hunger could do amazing things to a person. They had never been given utensils – could become weapons, Jacques figured – so he dug into the food with his hands. It wasn’t easy in his new position and he was barely flexible enough to get the food from the bowl to his mouth without straining hard against the ropes.
    When he was finished he picked up the glass and drank the water. It was nice and cold, refreshing even. Jacques savoured the feeling of the moisture on his lips.
    I hope Claude has been having some better meals, maybe McDonald’s or something.
    He spent his time visualizing what Claude might be doing and then he imagined himself there beside him – at the park, at school, playing video games at home, eating dinner and wrestling in the snow. It gave him strength and a little bit of happiness.
    “Open your mouth.”
    Jacques did as he was told and winced as the gag was tied in place once more. The man picked up the bowl and glass and left Jacques alone, shutting and locking the door behind him.

Chapter Nine
    T he snow stopped just as the sun rose above the fields. The meteorologists had been clear; it was just a break in the storm, but it was enough to make the work easier for Kara and Yuri. The sun climbed through the sky, its rays bursting through small breaks in the clouds, casting its light over the snow-covered field.
    Kara stood in the doorway to the building and looked out over the area. If she turned her head just a little to the right, the trenches dug through the snow by heavy boots worn by trudging police officers disappeared and the ground was uniform, pure, pristine. It was the beauty of winter that Kara loved, the simplicity before the monotony of the day-to-day kicked in – the driving, the shoveling, the wading through slushy parking lots, and of course scraping the ice off of the windshield.
    “You good?”
    “Yeah,” Kara said. “Just needed a breather.”
    Yuri nodded. “No doubt. This case is getting really heavy. There is so much I would rather not think about, so much I wish we could imagine never happened. But I guess we wouldn’t be very good at our jobs if we did, right?”
    “It’s disgusting what people will do to each other. Before homicide, I was a detective in a unit investigating sex crimes and child abuse. Some days those things were separate. It was the days where they overlapped that were the hardest. I’d really hoped I was done with it. Those cases, those kids… they needed help, that’s for sure, and it felt great to be able to save them from what they were going through. I just never felt strong enough.”
    “I am not sure anyone does. Not when it comes to children. If someone can handle these kinds of cases, day in and day out without a problem, they are either completely numb or inhuman.”
    Kara kicked the snow beside her. The drift was nearly to her waist and the light snow collapsed inward onto her boots.
    “Shit.” She laughed for a moment. “Doesn’t matter, I’m still wet. Probably going to have trench foot after today.”
    Yuri smiled. “Sensible footwear tomorrow?”
    “I’m coming in Antarctic survival gear.”
    “Hopefully we can avoid foot pursuits then.”
    “Shall we go back in? Finish this up?”
    Yuri nodded and stepped back inside. Kara shut the door behind them; the sound of steel on steel rang through the small building.
    “Not designed for acoustics, apparently.”
    Once daylight broke, Kara had been better able to inspect the building. They had found the