His Frozen Heart (20 page)

“
Fine. You called the
police. I’m going over there. I won’t get in the way.” I tried to
get to my feet, but Dave held me in place on the step.

His voice was smooth, while his hands
were firm as iron restraints, “You’re forgetting: I can’t go over
there. The police are still looking for me. If I show up there with
you, they’ll take me to jail. I don’t want you alone while things
get sorted out. I’m not going to leave you to fend for yourself
while I’m locked up. We stay put.”

I had made a mess of things. Dave had
already tried to come to my rescue once today, which was before he
knew anything of the chaos that was going on. He’d gotten shot for
his trouble, I’d probably given him a concussion on the drive here,
and now I wanted him to go back to the lion’s den with me. His hand
cupped my face, forcing me to look into his dark brown eyes. His
thumb nimbly caressed the sensitive skin under my jaw as his
fingers spread out on my cheek. My eyes closed, allowing my senses
to soak up his touch.

His simple gesture had captivated me.
Dave’s thumb continued to stroke down to the nape of my neck as I
felt his breath close to my lips and could smell the wintergreen
mint of his breath. As my eyes opened, the intensity of his stare
held me still. I averted my eyes, embarrassed by the sensations
rushing through me. When I spoke, my voice sounded feeble, even to
me, “I owe her.”

“
She will understand. She
wouldn’t want you to put yourself in danger. She would want you to
stay where you are – safe.” My hand raised itself to his, which was
still cradling my face, his eyelids slowly closed as he leaned his
lips forward brushing mine. His kiss was apprehensive, as if he
were silently asking me for permission.

My lips reacted to his, the suppleness
of his lips lingered on mine as his other hand drew to my side and
wrapped itself around me. I had kissed plenty of guys, but most
were more interested in shoving their tongue down my throat. Dave’s
kiss was different, like a cool breeze on a warm day, a seductive
caress. I leaned forward, pressing my lips more firmly to his as a
dull moan escaped him. He stood from where he had been kneeling on
the steps, bringing me to my feet and guiding me back to the top of
the steps.

My hands wrapped around his elbows, as
I registered defeat at the top step, wanting to give in to the
building desire welling up within. As we both stood just inside his
apartment, Dave’s arms encircled me, holding me to him as his
breath danced across my neck in a heavy exhale.

Before I could completely lose myself
in him, the nagging voice that had been briefly locked away in a
compartment inside my brain roared to life. Images of Mrs. Bavcock
began playing in my head: her insistence that I not go in my house
when I arrived this morning, her support as we crouched on the
floor and peered through her front window, and her eager offer to
provide me shelter no matter what kind of trouble I had gotten
myself into. Each of these images sprung to the surface of my mind.
I pulled away from Dave, trying to clear my head.

He eased forward as I stepped back. I
put both of my hands against his chest to separate myself from him,
acutely aware that he had briefly incapacitated any hope I had of
rational thought while he kissed me. I took another step away from
him. Dave’s eyes snapped open while an apology poured out of him.
“I’m sorry. Shit. I didn’t mean to. . . Candy, I’m an
idiot.”

Dave believed I had rejected him. He
distanced himself from me as he turned away. I had wedged space
between us because I couldn’t think with him that close to me,
kissing me, caressing me. He made me want to shut the rest of the
world out and get lost in him, but I didn’t have that luxury right
now. I couldn’t let anything happen to Mrs. Bavcock, and I couldn’t
let Dave distract me from what I needed to do. Her life was in
danger because of me – I would never forgive myself if something
happened to her because I had done nothing.

His back faced me and his posture
looked sullen: Dave had misconstrued my action. My head was still
spinning from the impact his kiss had on me, but the fog he had
created was clearing enough for me to say the words that had been
muted in his embrace. “Look, I know why you can’t go. It’s okay. I
just need to be sure she’s okay.” He remained with his back toward
me, still on the other side of the room, fumbling with a remote for
the television.

His voice was low, filled with
remorse, “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. It won’t
happen again.” His shoulders remained arched forward as if weary
and defeated.

My backpack was in my hand. I didn’t
have much time, but I couldn’t leave him like this. I bolted over
to where he stood, wrapped my arms around him from behind and stood
on my tippy toes as I breathed into his ear, “You’ll do it again if
you know what’s good for you.” His body went rigid under my touch,
but he made no move to turn toward me. “I’ll be back in twenty
minutes. Promise.”

I spun toward the steps, but Dave
caught my forearm before I could go. He wore a confused expression,
as if trying to detect a hint of deception. Before he could ask me
anything lame, I planted a kiss just to the right of his lips.
“Twenty minutes. Don’t go anywhere. I’d like to continue what you
started on the steps.”

With no time for a sappy goodbye, I
pulled my arm free from his grasp, and ran down the steps – only to
see my battered car. The windshield looked far worse than I
remembered it from when we had arrived. I looked for the lever to
lift the bay door behind it when Dave’s voice called from beside
the pop machine. “Here.” He tossed a set of keys. “Take my truck.
I’m timing you.” A brilliant smile flashed as he hit a lever behind
him and the right bay door lifted.

It was a beautiful black truck, newer
with leather seats and, surprisingly, an automatic transmission. It
had been forever since I drove a vehicle I didn’t have to shift. I
would have expected him to have a restored truck, but this one had
heated seats, so I wouldn’t give him any grief later.

Chapter 14

I eased Dave’s truck to a stop halfway
up my street. The area in front of Mrs. Bavcock’s house was
completely blocked by police cruisers with flashing lights. At
least a half-dozen uniformed policemen milled around the street and
Mrs. Bavcock’s yard. I breathed a sigh of relief when I didn’t spy
an ambulance, and none of the police had their guns drawn. Had I
been wrong? Had I overreacted to what she had said on the
phone?

A pit began to form in my stomach. If
I had misunderstood her on the phone and called the police out on a
false alarm, could I be charged with anything? I got out of the
truck knowing Dave had been right: I had been stupid to come here.
What did I hope to accomplish? I never should have left his
apartment.

An energized voice echoed from Mrs.
Bavcock’s yard, “Oh my goodness, Candy! You’re okay.”

Mrs. Bavcock was running at me like a
two-year-old leaving day care. I scrambled to get to the neighbor I
would be forever indebted to. “I’m okay. Are you okay? What
happened? Was he here?”

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she
grabbed hold of me. “He was. He’s gone. He was standing at the
front window when the patrolman who had been parked up the street
began walking toward my front door. He ran out the back door and
through the alley before I realized what was happening.”

I looked her up and down: not a mark
on her or a hair out of place. All these grotesque images of the
vile man hurting her had been on constant play in my head on the
drive over – she was fine. “How did he get in?”

Mrs. Bavcock’s head bowed as
embarrassment clouded her face. “He knocked on my back door holding
a cat, asking if it belonged to me.”

It wouldn’t take a criminal mastermind
to know that cats were her weakness. It wouldn’t matter who the
stranger was; if it was someone who had a hurt cat, she would open
her door to them. Where was the policeman who was supposed to be
watching out for her? I grabbed hold of her, unwilling to chastise
her for her lapse in judgment. I only wanted her to know how glad I
was that she was okay. I gave her the strongest hug I thought her
frail body would be able to absorb without hurting her. “I’m just
glad you’re okay.”

Tears continued streaming down her
face as she hugged me back and whispered, “I could sure use a guest
in my guestroom tonight.”

As I pulled away from her embrace, I
saw the hopefulness in her eyes. She had every reason under the sun
to be frightened and not want to be alone in a house full of cats
tonight. I longed to go back to Dave to take whatever comfort he
could offer me after the worst twenty-four hours of my life, but I
couldn’t tell this lady no. “Sure. Just let me make a
call.”

I pulled out my phone as she walked
back to her yard. I didn’t have Dave’s cell, but given the fact
that he lived over his garage, I called the number listed in
information for his shop. Dave picked up on the second ring. His
voice urgent with worry, “What happened? Is she okay?”

“
He was here. She’s a
little shaken up, but it doesn’t look like he hurt her.”

He let out a grateful sigh, “Good. I’m
glad she’s okay.” There was a pause on the line as I grappled for
how to tell him I wouldn’t be back tonight. His voice rolled back
to the silky sound from before, “My watch says you’ve got eight
more minutes before your promise is broken.”

My heart lurched hearing his words as
heat welled up within me, “Yeah, about that. She’s okay, but she’s
pretty scared. She really wants me to stay with her
tonight.”

A disappointed breath echoed through
the phone, but Dave remained silent without trying to tempt me with
his seductive voice. I wanted to go back to his place. For a
fraction of a second I had considered calling my sister to tell her
what had happened so she would come stay with Mrs. Bavcock. If I
did that, a family phone tree would be enacted, and I would spend
the next two days reassuring every relative I had that I was fine,
while they interrogated me about the events. I wouldn’t call Kim or
Carly.

I was striking out without even
getting a chance to bat. “I know. Look, I’ll return your truck
before I go to school tomorrow morning.”

Dave’s voice was disappointed. “You
don’t have to. I don’t need it. I’ve got a car I can
drive.”

The car he had brought to my house
earlier today was still parked in front of my house. How many cars
did he have? Trying to make sure he understood the only reason I
wasn’t returning to his place was that I couldn’t leave Mrs.
Bavcock alone, I said, “She needs me.”

“
I understand,” although
from his defeated tone, he didn’t.

I cupped my hand over the phone so I
wasn’t sharing this with all of the people now standing within ear
shot of me. “I want to see you. That conversation you started on
the stairs, I had a few things I wanted to add.”

Another sigh sounded in my ear. “The
garage is open at eight.”

Mischievously I answered, “So expect
me at seven.”

He gave me his cell phone number
before I hung up, and I felt unforeseen butterflies taking flight
in my stomach. His kiss had been unexpected, both of them, although
the first one probably didn’t count. Lying in the snow with his
weight on top of me and his lips finding mine had been his way of
keeping me from screaming for help. An enormous smile grew as I
thought of how he had completely disarmed me. The second kiss was
different, very different. It also disarmed me, but in a sensory
overload sort of way. I thought of nothing beyond the sensations in
the moment – as if the rest of the world would have to get along
without us for a while.

A policeman approached while I was
still reliving the moment with Dave in my mind. I probably looked
like a dork standing with my phone in one hand, wearing a dazed
look I was sure any passerby could see. The policeman was a little
overweight, or maybe he had washed his uniform in hot water;
regardless, it didn’t seem to fit. He nodded in my direction, “Miss
Kane?”

“
Yes.”

“
Mrs. Bavcock indicated you
called this in tonight.”

Cautious with my answer, given the
circumstances in the last twenty-four hours, “Yes.”

“
She also says you will be
staying with her this evening?”

“
Yes.”

Narrowing his eyes at me, he asked,
“What is your relationship to Mrs. Bavcock?”

I looked in the old woman’s direction.
“No relation, we’re neighbors.”

“
The Sergeant’s log says we
responded to a disturbance at your place this morning.” He motioned
to my house directly across the street with wide bright yellow
caution tape across the door.

A disturbance? Which one? “Right. The
same guy who broke into Mrs. B’s house tonight had been in my house
this morning before I got home. A friend chased the guy out of my
house and down the street.”

The policeman looked down at his
notes. When he did, a bald spot on the top of his head leered at
me. “That friend of yours is a suspect. His name is David Brewer.
Were you aware he escaped our custody earlier today?”

Now was my chance to get things
cleared up for Dave. “Yes, Officer Bivens told me. But I don’t want
to press trespassing charges or anything against him. Dave was just
worried about me.”