The Longest Winter Read Online Free PDF Page B

size. She keyed her mike and spoke in a soft voice. “Knock twice, Yuri.”
    Two sharp knocks sounded. Kara breathed deep and turned her back to the door, her flashlight shining on an open doorway into an uncleared room. She backed up, then put the flashlight on her shoulder and held it with her chin. She reached her free hand behind her and felt for the deadbolt, then turned it and heard the click as it disengaged.
    Yuri tried the handle again. Still nothing.
    “There must be another lock.”
    Kara turned to look at the door and saw a solid bolt near the top. She stood on her tiptoes and reached for the bar. A clattering came from the room behind her followed by the sounds of motion, sounds that were getting louder.
    “Stop there!” she yelled, but the movement continued. She turned her light toward the noise and saw the light reflect from a pair of eyes low to the ground. The creature stopped and stared at Kara, then began chattering loudly. It bared its teeth and leaned back, preparing to leap. Kara fired two rounds and the animal fell to the ground.
    Yuri was hammering at the door, kicking repeatedly against it trying to break it open. “I’m fine. It was a raccoon. Little bastard tried to come at me.”
    She reached up and unbolted the door then opened it. Yuri stepped in from the snow, his pistol in his hands. He shone his light on the deceased animal.
    “Think he was alone?”
    “I hope so. Probably just getting out of the cold. And probably smelled the food that was left out.” Kara lit up the doorway across the room. “Still haven’t cleared in there yet.”
    Yuri nodded and moved up, taking a position against the wall beside the open door. Kara moved up, crouched, then peered around the corner and into the room, her light illuminating the right half. She leaned back in behind cover then leaned out once more, standing this time, and cleared the other side. A dining table and chairs sat in the middle, and there was a fridge and sink against the one wall.
    Kara’s hand came up, a quick signal to Yuri, then she moved in toward a closed door on the other end of the room. Yuri took position on the other side of the door. The handle was on his side and when Kara was ready, he turned the handle and threw the door open hard. The door hit the wall behind it and bounced back part way.
    At least there was no one hiding behind it. Kara leaned in, lighting up a small bathroom that looked as though it had never been cleaned – or had the toilet flushed.
    “That’s nasty,” she said, shining her light on the toilet. “But whomever he was, he was nice enough to leave behind some DNA.”

Chapter Seven
    “W hat exactly are we looking for, Lincoln?”
    “Voids, to put it simply. There used to be buildings here before they were torn down to put this parking lot in. If they paved over the basements without filling it all in, there might be enough space down there for…”
    I didn’t want to say it. He knew what I meant. The radar we were using was capable of penetrating fifteen metres into the ground, based on the assumption we were dealing with concrete and relatively loose soil. If there were any structures still standing, any open rooms left behind, it would find them.
    And if it didn’t, we still had a few more areas to check.
    “What’s to say that one of the houses in the area doesn’t have a hidden room or basement? I mean, just because he said she was underground…”
    “We’d never get warrants to search every house in a several kilometer radius. Trust me, I considered it.”
    It didn’t take long to cover the entire area and confirm what I’d feared. There was nothing under the ground; nowhere that Kat could be hidden. We moved on to the next site and were met with the same disappointment. A few hours and three more locations later we were no closer to finding Kat.
    “Fuck.”
    “Anywhere else, Lincoln?”
    “No. That’s it. You might as well head out, Lefevre. Thanks again.”
    “The whole