One block from the destination he didn't want to reach, Kade Brennan had a feeling something was wrong, very wrong.

The sirens were silent, but the blue and red flashes of the lights of half a dozen patrol cars flickered steadily. The scene was somewhat jarring amid the morning light and the green foliage of the poplar trees that lined the banks of the Bow River.

Amid the sounds of the river, birdsong, and morning traffic, the emergency services radio calls could be heard. A female voice was repeating a code Kade couldn't understand. Amid the crush of cars, he thought he could make out an ambulance.

Kade ran between the cars as he crossed Memorial Drive toward the residential area on the other side.

It looked like one of those pretty magazine neighborhoods where nothing bad could possibly happen. It was an old neighborhood of elegant homes, many of which now housed thriving businesses. Along the leafy trees I was passing were a stationery store, an organic bakery, an antique shop, and a shoe store.

The neighborhood had been in high demand since the Peace Bridge, a pedestrian walkway over the river that Kade had just crossed, connected it to downtown Calgary.

At that moment, that pretty, magazine-like neighborhood, where nothing bad seemed likely to happen, was full of police cars. People walking to work had stopped and were beginning to gather.

Kade pushed his way through the crowded crowd and overheard snatches of conversation.

–What happened?
"I have no idea, but if the police have come, it can't be anything good." "A murder, maybe?"

The man speaking could not hide his excitement at the fact that his usual walk to work was interrupted by such an exciting event.

Kade glared at him and hurried to the edge of the cordoned-off area, keeping an eye on the house numbers until he spotted the one he was looking for and headed toward it.

"Sir, you can't go through here," said a uniformed man who suddenly appeared before him.

Kade ignored him, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"I'm looking for my wife," he said, trying to get away.

Technically, it was true, although only for a little longer.

"Kade," Jessica had told him on the phone the night before, "we need to talk about the divorce."

He hadn't seen her in over a year. He'd given her an address on that street, and he'd walked there from his apartment in the city center, not quite sure how to interpret her reluctance to meet up with him.

It was all too complicated to explain to the young police officer who was blocking his way.

–Her name is Jessica Brennan.

Seeing the policeman's expression, she immediately knew that all those cars had something to do with her.

"No," he howled silently.

It was the same silent scream that had risen inside her when she heard the word "divorce." As she hung up the phone, she couldn't help but wonder if that meant she wanted a divorce once and for all.

The night before, lying in bed, Kade had convinced himself that it was best for both of them to get on with their lives.
But from his reaction to the fact that all those police cars were there for her, she knew it wasn't true that he didn't have feelings for her anymore.