His Frozen Heart (27 page)

Dave continued studying me as if I had
just said something absurd. He took a step back from me, eyeing me
suspiciously. I got the impression I might have been a
disease-riddled leper. “Did I say something wrong? Hey, if you are
sensitive about your secret recipe, I’ll keep it on the down
low.”

Still confused, he answered, “I have
no idea what you’re talking about.”

The look he gave me was strange, as if
he really didn’t have a clue what I was talking about. I studied
his face: it was Dave. No, it wasn’t! There was no shininess on his
head from the glue holding the gash closed. I looked at his
clothes: he wasn’t dressed like Dave. I had been through most of
Dave’s cabinets and had only seen t-shirts and hoodies. The man
before me wore a thick winter wool coat with a dress shirt peeking
out from the collar. The word formed on my lips before I knew what
I was asking, “Mark?”

He still eyed me suspiciously, but
kept his distance. Words poured out of me, “OHMYGOD it’s you.
You’re here. Holy crap! I didn’t know that was you. I mean, I know
your brother.”

A foreboding look glared at me when he
answered icily, “I don’t have a brother.”

Searching for something in his eyes,
the playfulness from before was gone. He thought I was running some
sort of scam on him or something. “Dave. Your brother is Dave
Brewer.”

Without warning, his hand was around
my throat and lifting me angrily off the ground. “My brother’s
dead, you stupid bitch.”

Air was cut off from my lungs and the
constriction on my throat made speaking impossible. Rage showed
through his eyes, and had I not been held inches off of the ground,
I would have cowered away just from his glare. My legs kicked
frantically while he continued holding me in the air, glaring at
me. A voice yelled from across the parking lot, “You better put her
down, friend.”

I didn’t recognize the voice, and for
all I knew, an angel had descended from heaven to intervene on my
behalf. Well, most angels wouldn’t wear dirty blue jeans, Carhartt
jackets and baseball caps, but I wasn’t about to ridicule this
stranger’s wardrobe choices. Mark dropped me and pushed me away
from him, landing me squarely on my butt on the frozen
asphalt.

Coughing and gagging as my lungs
desperately tried to fill with air, I held an arm up feebly as the
stranger came to my side and helped me to my feet. The stranger
watched Mark who walked off toward the far side of the parking lot,
then asked, “Are you okay? Do you need an ambulance?”

My eyes darted around the parking lot.
I had lost Mark for a second, but saw the lights flash on a sleek
black Mercedes. Still trying to gather air, I launched myself away
from the good Samaritan and jogged toward Mark’s car. His
expression was still full of fury when he glared in my
direction.

I couldn’t catch my breath, so I waved
my arms like crazy trying to convince him not to go. It didn’t work
because he got in his car, revved the engine, and spun the tires on
the ice-packed pavement. I did one of the stupidest things of my
life and leaped in front of his on-coming car, despite seeing the
rage on his face. The car skidded to a stop within inches of
me.

The idea that I would be a new hood
ornament for his car should have convinced me to jump out of the
way, but after seeing the pain in Dave’s eyes last night, I
couldn’t let Mark get away. Mark rolled his window down as his
angry voice shouted, “Get out of my way. I’ll flatten
you.”

“
Dave’s not dead.” I
coughed a few more times, my eyes locked hard on his. “Lives here.”
A loud wheeze, “He told me about you. I told him I saw you here
Tuesday night.”

My heart was still pounding like a
jackhammer in my chest, but he had heard me. He didn’t look
convinced, but he put the Mercedes in park, opened the door, and
stood up. “What do you mean he lives here?”

“
He moved here when he was
nine. He said you two got separated when he was five. I was
supposed to come here with him tonight to try to find
you.”

The stranger who had come to my aid
was watching the events unfold. He must have thought this better
than daytime television because he didn’t budge from the place
where he had lifted me off of the asphalt. Mark walked over toward
me, disbelief still coloring his expression. “Dave Brewer. My
brother? You’re telling me he’s alive and he lives
here?”

“
Yes. He and I have been
friends since high school. He restored my car,” pointing absently
at my Chevelle two rows over. “He told me about what happened with
the two of you when you were little. How the foster family kept you
and gave him back to the state.”

Mark said nothing. As powerful as he
had looked to me just minutes before, his whole demeanor had
changed. I saw his mouth try to form words several times, but words
weren’t coming out. I offered, “I can take you to him. Or give you
his phone number. You have no idea how badly he wants to see
you.”

Still not believing me, he asked,
“He’s alive?”

“
Uh, yeah. At least he was
when I left for school this morning.” I gave him a smile that he
didn’t return. Instead he went back to his car and sat in the
driver’s seat. I looked toward the stranger who was still watching
with morbid curiosity. I went around to the passenger side of
Mark’s car and tapped on the window for him to unlock the door.
When he did, I took a seat beside him.

Much the same as last night, I had no
idea what words could possibly comfort this brother any more than
the words I couldn’t find last night for Dave. When he finally
spoke, his voice was absent any emotion, “I’ve got some things I
need to take care of. You should go. Don’t tell him you saw me
tonight.”

“
What? Are you kidding me?
Dave was beyond excited when I told him I met you. He would kill me
if I lied to him about seeing you tonight.”

“
Give me some time. I need
to tie up some loose ends before I see him again. You said he lives
here?”

“
Just let me get him on the
phone. Five minutes. Please? Just talk to him for five minutes and
let him know you’re okay.” I pulled my cell phone out, scrolling
through contacts to find Dave when Mark’s hand closed over
mine.

His eyes were sad, which didn’t make
any sense. If I called Dave right this second he would be elated.
Mark’s reaction to learning that Dave was alive baffled me. Mark
looked into my eyes, “So, when you kissed me, you thought. . .you
thought I was him?”

“
Well, yeah. I don’t even
know you.” Embarrassed that I had confused the two, I thought of
what Dave’s reaction might be if I shared the parking lot encounter
with him. He would probably think it was funny, except that I
didn’t know the difference. I was mortified.

He snapped his fingers and scowled.
“My loss.”

Strange response. Questions poured in
on me. Why wasn’t he pumping me for information on Dave? Why did he
think Dave was dead? Why would he choke me like that? Mark had
scared me, the same fear that up until now was reserved for Grey
and maybe a little for Teddy. Not wanting to elicit an angry
reaction, I asked the safest question I could think of, “Why did
you think Dave was dead?”

“
It doesn’t matter. You’re
sure it’s my brother? People steal dead people’s identities all the
time.”

“
He has the same eyes as
you. The same cleft chin. Your hair is the same color, too, but
yours is just a little longer. No, your appearances are too close
not to be brothers.” I studied him for a second longer. Dave had a
much less intense personality, but a comment like that could only
be offensive if I shared that disparity with Mark. Instead, I
offered, “He only lives like ten minutes from here. We could go
there now.”

“
No.”

“
I don’t understand. You
don’t want to see him?” Without waiting for any kind of a response
I said, “He’s a great guy. He owns his own repair shop – all custom
muscle. I know he wants to see you. He told me about you last
night.” My voice lowered, “It almost ripped his heart out to share
it with me. Please go there with me.”

Mark turned away from me and gazed out
into the darkness in front of him. He shook his head as his voice
turned to steel, “Not now. Soon. I’ll find him.”

He bobbed his head toward the
passenger door, wordlessly dismissing me. I reached for the door
handle when the reason I had come in the first place cascaded on
me, “Hey, before you go, how well do you know Grey and
Teddy?”

Mark’s eyes narrowed. I might well be
stepping onto thin ice, but I needed to know. “Teddy was one of the
two guys that my roommate and I were playing pool with the other
night.”

His expression didn’t change, but he
clarified, “You two hustled Teddy, right?”

“
Sort of. I mean, we needed
groceries.”

“
Bad move.”

“
You know him? Because the
police are looking for them now.”

“
You might as well be
looking for a ghost. He has more identities than a shark has
teeth.”

“
Can you tell me their last
names?”

“
Get out.”

Get out? Did Mark know what Grey had
done to Libby? What he tried to do to me? Grey had shot Dave, but
given Mark’s response to finding out Dave was alive, I wasn’t sure
that would make any difference. Mark didn’t wait for my response as
he reached across me and pulled the passenger side door handle. His
voice commanded, “Now.”

I slid off the seat not sure what to
think. I closed the passenger side door as he pulled out of the lot
without so much as a second glance in my direction. What had just
happened? He thought Dave was dead, but when he found out he was
alive, he wanted nothing to do with him? I asked if he had any info
on the two scum bags who had turned my life upside down, and he
kicked me out of his car? What was Mark involved in?

Tony’s warning from earlier came in
loud and clear – he said Mark was worse than Teddy or Grey. What
was Mark? A mob boss or something? Teddy had called him “Boss” and
had gotten nervous when Mark told him to be respectful to Libby.
What had they discussed after we left? Mark knew Libby had hustled
Teddy and his little brother.

The same voice from across the parking
lot shouted, “Hey! He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

The man still stood where he had
helped me up. I shook my head and waved. Glancing toward the
entrance, I saw a man walk out of the bar then stand in the shadow
to the left of the entrance. As I held my position trying to make
my eyes see into the dark corner, a shiver ran up my spine. I took
a step toward him, then my whole body stiffened as his face emerged
from the shadow: Teddy. Grey was nowhere to be seen, but I’d
recognize Teddy anywhere. He blew me a kiss, stuffed a cigarette
butt into an ashtray by the door, and disappeared back inside Bank
Shot. I ran to my car at the far end of the lot. Reaching into my
purse, my fingers latched on to my keys. I pulled them out,
fumbling with them in the darkness while looking over my shoulder,
trying to see if Teddy was coming after me.

In my hurry, I jammed my house key
halfway into the lock on my car door. I jerked at it, but the key
was stuck. I looked back toward the entrance, praying Teddy stayed
inside. I wiggled the key which had no business being in the lock,
peeked over my shoulder again while continuing to jiggle it. My
breathing was labored, my heart pounding in my chest. A streetlight
flickered to my left as a flashback of security cameras being
knocked out at the gas station blew through my memory.

This was it. I’d done a great job
hiding from everyone until now. These thugs would catch me here,
where it all began. I looked for somewhere I could run to while
still desperately trying to remove my house key from my car door. I
reached into my purse, pulled out my cell, and hit redial on my
phone. Officer Brown’s voice answered in earnest, “Officer Brown,
how can I help you?”

Although no one was anywhere near me,
I crouched down beside my car and whisper-shouted, “It’s Candy.
He’s here. Teddy’s at Bank Shot right now. I just saw
him.”

“
Has he seen
you?”

“
Yes. He’s here. I’m in the
parking lot. Please hurry!”

“
Get somewhere safe and
stay there. I’m five minutes away. I’ll call it in.”

Feeling the rubber of the tire up
against my shoulder, my eyes remained fixed on Bank Shot’s front
door. I felt the iciness of the pavement coming up through the sole
of my boots. Shivers began to take hold of me, whether induced by
the cold or the fear, I’d never know. The stranger who had helped
me when Mark had me dangling in mid-air was nowhere to be
found.

A taxi pulled up to the front door; it
was one of the new Green-taxis in a Toyota Prius. The front door
opened. Teddy opened the back door of the taxi as his eyes scanned
the parking lot over the roof of the car. I stayed crouched at the
height of my wheel well, hidden in the shadow. I had an excellent
vantage point to see him, but he would have had to know I was there
for him to see me. A lady with a ruby-red dress and porcelain skin
followed him out of Bank Shot as he held the door for her. When she
disappeared inside the car, Teddy took one more concerted look
around the lot, then tucked into the back seat with her.