Pathogen Page 3

  “And did your family like her?” Kate was unsure which answer would make her feel worse.

  Andy looked quickly at Kate. “Not particularly. Though, by the time I brought her home, neither did I really, so I can’t exactly blame them.” Kate still couldn’t return Andy’s smile. “My parents are going to love you, Kate.”

  “You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”

  “Right, because I’m so well known for making people feel warm and fuzzy,” Andy said sarcastically.

  Kate finally laughed, the action easing some of the tension in her body. Andy looked relieved to hear Kate’s laugh.

  “I’m serious, Kate. I was talking to my dad the other night, and he said that he and my mom couldn’t wait to meet you. Apparently my mom has known from the day she watched the press conference in Seattle on TV that you are important to me.”

  “Seriously?”

  “My mom is very…intuitive,” Andy said finally.

  “And she’s known you a long time.”

  Andy nodded. Kate knew Andy had a very interesting relationship with her mother, who had raised her from the time she was three. Kate was curious about Elaine Wyles, the woman who had raised three wild boys and taken in Andy, the child who had resulted from her husband’s one affair. Andy rarely mentioned her biological mother, who had died just after her third birthday. She did have a picture of the two of them in her apartment; Andy as a chubby, smiling toddler sitting on her mother’s lap, one hand holding a length of her mother’s blond hair.

  “All right, fine. I’ll quit my whining,” Kate finally said, giving her head a shake.

  Andy flashed her a grin. “Good,” she said, “because we’re almost there.”

  Just a few minutes later, Andy pulled off the highway, heading north on a county side road. Houses and farms sped by at varying intervals, then long stretches of trees with glimpses of a winding, muddy river. Finally, they pulled off onto a gravel road, Andy gunning the engine to make it up the hill on loose rocks. The long tree-lined driveway opened up to a huge yard with a sprawling, side-split house in the middle. Kate could see where various additions had been added over the years with an extension out the back and a third level overlooking the forest that served as a backyard. There was a long, barn-like shed at the end of the driveway with an assortment of cars parked out front.

  “Looks like everyone’s here,” Andy said, killing the engine. Just as she did, her cell phone rang. Andy checked the caller ID. “It’s the guy up in Hidden Valley. Give me a sec.”

  The rain had picked up, and with the windshield wipers still, Kate could see little through the windows. She thought about Andy growing up here with her three much older brothers, thought about the chaos she imagined they were about to walk into. Her own childhood had been much quieter with just herself and her younger sister, Sarah. As an eight-year-old, Kate would have been more likely to be reading a book or doing crafts than riding her BMX bike over a homemade ramp, as she imagined Andy did at that age.

  Kate tuned into Andy’s half of the phone conversation.

  “This morning? Have they established a cause of death?” Andy pinned the phone between her shoulder and ear, grabbing the notepad and pen she kept in the console. Kate watched Andy scrawl respiratory distress on the paper, and her brain kicked into gear. Andy had told her most of the patients only presented with mild to moderate flu-like symptoms. Nothing Andy said four days ago indicated anyone presented with serious, life-threatening complications from the still-unnamed illness.

  Kate grabbed another pen, found a gas station receipt, scribbled on the back pre-existing med. conditions? and handed it to Andy. Andy took it, nodded, and spoke Kate’s question into the phone while she continued to scrawl notes.

  “Call again if anything else comes up over the weekend. Right, yes…And if you don’t hear back by mid-morning Monday, then give me a call and I’ll see what I can do from this end. Thanks, Ferris, you, too.” Andy disconnected the call with one hand, gripping her notebook with her other. Kate waited, giving Andy space to think. After only a moment Andy started talking, her voice factual and even. Her sergeant’s voice.

  “One of the patients with flu symptoms died this morning. They’re going to try to get an autopsy for early next week.”

  “Were there pre-existing medical conditions?” Kate asked.

  “I don’t have all the details, but apparently the patient was into her second year of remission from breast cancer. Ferris is going to see if he can get all the information for me.” Andy looked down at her notes.

  “I take it you’ll be heading back up to Hidden Valley next week?” Kate asked tentatively.

  Andy looked up. “Probably. Finns made it clear I was supposed to stay on this case that still isn’t a fucking case.” Kate wasn’t sure exactly what Andy was feeling: angry, distracted, or concerned. “It’s hard to feel annoyed that work is creeping into my time off when someone just lost their life,” she finally said, and Kate felt a surge of compassion. She was familiar with that sensation of internal conflict. “Let’s go inside. The longer we wait in the car, the cruder Brandon’s jokes are going to get.” Andy flashed Kate a grin, leaned in, and gave her a quick kiss full on her mouth.

  They opened their doors, the rain immediately soaking into every porous surface. Grabbing bags from the backseat, they dodged the puddles in the driveway and ran up the front steps that led to a large porch. Andy shoved the door open with her shoulder and Kate got her first glimpse of Andy’s childhood home. It was very open, the front entrance leading into a large living room with comfortable-looking, mismatched furniture. Kate counted four huge shelves filled with books interspersed with beautiful, intricate wood carvings and colourful child-like paintings. A carving of a salmon seemed to hold place of honour on the wall, its distinctive, static shape managing to show life and movement, a testament to the First Nations artist who brought it into creation. Up a set of six stairs, Kate could see the dining room that looked down onto the living room and the kitchen just beyond that. The décor was simple and homey and felt like the people who lived here gave little thought to what the latest trends indicated for home decorating and instead chose to revel in their own comfort.

  Andy put down their bags and pulled off her boots and Kate followed suit.

  “Finally!” a voice called, and Kate watched as a tall figure in baggy shorts and a T-shirt, dark brown hair long around his ears, launched himself down the six stairs in what was clearly a familiar movement. Kate caught a flash of perfectly white teeth and smiling brown eyes before the man hooked Andy around the neck in a bearish hug. Andy hugged him back, the smile on her face so incredibly happy, Kate felt all the nerves that had been collecting in her body over the last few weeks completely melt away.

  “I thought we were going to have to turn the hose on you two. What were you doing sitting out in the car steaming up the windows?”

  Kate watched as Andy balled her fist and punched her brother in the kidney. Kate either missed the part where Andy cushioned the blow or she had really just hit him that hard.

  “I got a call from work, you ass,” she told him, letting him go and stepping back. “Brandon, I’d like you to meet Kate. Kate, this is Brandon.”

  Kate held out her hand to the youngest of Andy’s brothers. “Nice to meet you,” she said, looking at him full on for the first time. “And happy birthday.”

  “Thanks,” he said with a smile, shaking her hand. “I’m glad you could make it. We’ve all been dying to meet you.” He said the last with a slightly suggestive tone and had to block the second kidney shot Andy aimed at him.

  “Break it up, children, let the adults through.”

  Two more very tall, dark-haired men were taking their turns hugging Andy now, and Kate realized all three had the same complexion, as if they constantly had the look of having spent the summer out in the sun. The contrast to Andy’s pale skin and blond hair was striking.

  Andy was introducing her to Mark, who had a
beard, and Zach, who was the most clean-cut of the three of them. They were all talking over each other, joking and throwing insults. Looking at the four siblings standing together, tall, athletic, laughing, Kate thought they looked like the poster family for a BC healthy outdoor living campaign.

  “All right, let’s move this party upstairs. Mom and Dad are serving lunch.”

  Andy held out her hand to Kate, eyes shining. “So far so good?” Andy said as they walked through the living room and up the stairs.

  “I feel very short. Is there a height restriction I should know about?”

  Andy laughed. “The kids are shorter than you, so you’re fine.”

  “Sure,” Kate muttered. “For a few more years.”

  It was loud in the dining room, which Kate could now see opened onto a huge kitchen. Adults milled about, carrying dishes to the tables and pulling food from the fridge. In the kitchen there was another round of introductions. Mark’s wife Shayna was friendly and energetic, and Zach’s wife Deanna was seven months pregnant and looked uncomfortable. As she looked around, Kate could just see the legs of a kid, dirty socks hanging loose, from under the kitchen island, then a blur of colour launched itself from the other side of the room, hitting Andy around her knees. When they both looked down, a small dirty face with long, light brown hair gave them an impish grin.

  “You can’t possibly be Brindle Truscott-Wyles,” Andy said to the little girl, and the impish grin got bigger. “Because Brindle is much, much smaller.”

  “It’s me, Auntie Andy! Grandpa says I’m huge!”

  “You are huge, Brin. You’re growing before our eyes.” A man, tall, of course, with receding sandy blond and grey hair and a runner’s build, came out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a dishcloth.

  Andy gave him a hug, which he returned happily, then stepped back to look at Andy, his light eyes clearly shining with pride.

  “It’s good to see you, sweetheart.”

  “Dad, I want you to meet Kate. Kate, this is my dad, Simon.”

  Simon took Kate’s hand in a two-handed shake, and the look of delight on his face was unmistakable.

  “Kate, it’s lovely to meet you. We’re really happy you could make it this weekend, and I apologize in advance for my sons, who will certainly find some way to offend you over the next two days.”

  Kate laughed, feeling much more at ease, even standing amongst the noise and chaos of the kitchen. She heard a door slam, and she watched a short woman with black and grey-streaked hair come in through a back door, rain splattered and with an arm full of vegetables. She had a darker complexion than her sons, a rich brown with high cheekbones and striking almond-shaped eyes, evidence of her First Nations heritage. Andy crossed the kitchen, helped her with the load, and then hugged her, the small woman reaching up to pull Andy’s face down to kiss her cheek. Andy turned and held her hand out to Kate. She walked over, and, as Andy’s mother’s eyes met hers, Kate realized with a shock that she had been pinned by that same look before. She’d seen it the very first time she’d met Andy.

  Kate had some idea she was being introduced to Andy’s mom, Elaine, and they were shaking hands. Elaine hadn’t yet blinked. Kate at first felt like shrinking away from the scrutiny, then she realized she knew perfectly well how to stand up to that look. She’d done it more times than she could count with Andy. As their silent exchange continued, Kate felt like everyone was watching and waiting to see how this would play out despite the chaos around them. After what felt like a long time, Elaine smiled. Any tension Kate felt dissolved instantly.

  “Welcome to our home, Kate,” Elaine said.

  “I’m happy to be here.” And she meant it.

  The day was wonderfully loud and long. After lunch, they walked en masse through the forest, jeans soaked up to their knees in the wet grass, drops from the rain-heavy branches above them falling in constant drips onto their heads. They hiked up to an old zip line, Brandon daring Zach to ride it naked back down the path. Zach declined, though Kate had the feeling any of the four siblings would have taken that dare ten years ago. They were obviously mellowed, their exuberance showing in the retelling of stories, re-enactments of dares and jokes gone bad from decades ago. Simon and Elaine walked with Denver, a quiet kid who seemed undisturbed by the noise and chaos around him, though equally uninterested in adding to it. His little sister made up for his quiet, her energy and noise seemingly boundless.

  After a dinner of barbecued hamburgers and late-season corn, they sat outside on damp logs and folding chairs, the delicious heat of a campfire roasting their fronts, the chill of the night air creeping under their clothes at their backs. The kids had left the campfire earlier, Brindle wailing her discontent over Mark’s shoulder. Conversations melted around them, people’s faces blurred by the light of the fire while at the same time defined by the edges of dark. Kate shivered, a delighted feeling at being even a small part of this family. She felt Andy’s arm around her waist, pulling her in closer, and she looked up into Andy’s grey eyes. Kate had never seen her this off the grid, never this far from her city-cop persona. Kate returned Andy’s smile, happy.

  As the night deepened, Simon and Elaine stood up from their place across the fire, coming to kiss each member of their family good night, including Kate, which for some reason made a lump form in her throat.

  “Who’s going to take me up on a run in the morning?” Andy’s dad asked, looking around the circle expectantly. Kate noticed Zach and Brandon averting their gaze.

  “I’ll go with you, Dad,” Andy said, kicking the leg of Brandon’s chair, and Kate thought she heard Andy whisper the word pussy in his general direction.

  “Excellent. See you at six.” They all murmured their good nights as a log shifted in the fire, sending a spiral of sparks shooting up into the sky.

  Mark returned from putting the kids to bed, two boxes of beer from the fridge clanking his arrival.

  “Dude, you’re old,” Andy said to Brandon, taking a beer from her oldest brother and twisting off the cap.

  “Whatever, Sergeant Blondie,” Brandon said, doing the same before tossing the lid in the fire.

  “Excellent comeback, Brando. I assume you’ve been working on that all day.”

  “Kate, are you going to let her talk to me like that?” Brandon said, his hurt tone sounding utterly insincere.

  “I can’t think of a good reason why not,” Kate told him, making Zach, sitting next to Brandon, laugh.

  “Because it’s my birthday. In fact, you should be drinking with me because it’s my birthday. Grab a beer,” he said to Kate, holding up his own.

  Kate laughed. “No, thanks.”

  “No, really. Kate, I think you and I would have a good time drinking together.”

  “I don’t doubt that for a second, Brandon.”

  Kate could feel Andy press her fingers lightly into Kate’s side. She looked up at Andy, smiling reassuringly. Kate then looked across the fire where Mark had pulled Shayna onto his lap. They rested comfortably against each other, two people who had obviously been together a long time, talking in low tones, sharing a beer.

  Brandon wasn’t backing down. “Kate, come on. I want to hear your life story. Or at least what the hell you could possibly see in my little sister. So grab a beer.”

  Kate probably should have thought through what she said next. She didn’t.

  “I can’t, Brandon, because I’m pregnant.”

  There was dead silence. No one said a word, the only sound came from the hissing and popping of the fire.

  “Don’t worry,” Kate said into the silence. “It’s Andy’s.”

  Mark was the first to react, spitting his mouthful of beer as he laughed. Then all of them lost it, Shayna hitting Mark on the back as he choked, Zach howling and punching Brandon, sending him half flying out of his chair. Beside her, Andy was looking down at Kate, laughing and shocked.

  “Was that your first gay joke?” Andy said as her brothers continued to laugh, the sound echoing o
ut into the night.

  “Yes, I think it was.”

  Andy kissed her lightly, laughter still in her throat.

  Brandon, his composure regained, stood with a deliberate dignity and crossed the campfire over to where Andy and Kate sat. He held out his hand to Kate.

  “Well played, Kate. And welcome to the family.”

  Kate shook his hand, grinning.

  He then put his hand heavily on Andy’s shoulder. “You’ve got your hands full with this one, Blondie. Best of luck to you.”

  As the conversations drifted around her and the night air deepened into cold, Kate listened and watched Andy and her family telling what had obviously become familiar stories. Kate loved the ease of being here, of watching Andy with her brothers, people who had known her almost her entire life. Kate felt, just for a moment, a pressure of sadness on her chest, the ache of missing her own younger sister, of knowing she would never have this. Kate shied away from the feeling, settling into Andy, feeling the warmth and steadiness of her presence.

  Just after midnight, Andy led Kate inside the house and up a series of stairs to the converted attic that served as storage and a guest room. Andy pushed open the windows partway, letting in some of the cool night air. Kate looked down onto the dark yard, the line of trees just visible in the light. Andy came up behind her, slipped her hands around Kate’s waist, and kissed her hair.

  “I love you,” Andy said into Kate’s ear.

  Kate smiled and pictured the first time she’d ever heard those words from Andy. It was in Montana and they’d been sitting on the porch covered in a blanket after a rainstorm had swept passed. Andy had spoken the words quietly but with conviction.

  “I love you, too.”

  They made love quietly, sweetly, swallowing the sounds of their desire, just the rustle of sheets, the slight friction of warm skin against skin. And then they slept, sated and content, wrapped around each other.

  *