Shiver Sweet (3 page)

I reached down.  “You okay?  Sorry.”  I tugged her by the slender wrist to her feet.

She rubbed her bottom and shot a waspish stare at the passing children.  “Fine.”

Thick snow fell all around us, blanketing what few dark patches of the landscape remained, as we trudged along in search of Claire’s red car.  What few vehicles braved the slippery roads rolled forward at a snail’s pace, their headlights casting halo-fuzzy cones along the street.

“This is no good,” Nicola complained ten minutes into our search, irritation pulsing off her like a sonar.  “Sorry, Christa, but phone Brian and let’s head back.  Claire might not even be in this area and I’m freezing my ass off.”

I glanced up and down the streets, thinking.  “Okay.  I’ve done my bit.”  I pulled my mobile out of my coat pocket and dialed.

Brian answered quickly.  “Hey!”

“We can’t find her.  Sorry.  Where are you?”

“Parked outside your local shops.  Figured I’d see if she stopped here on the way.”

“Stay where you are.  I’ll cut through the alley and walk to you.  Has your sister arrived yet?”

“Erm.  Well...”

His reluctance to answer made my stomach cave in.  “Erm isn’t an answer.”

“She’s kind of got... car trouble.”

There it was.  I stood bolt upright.  “Sarah’s home alone?”

“Yes.”

I had to keep my cool.  Brian loved Sarah and would never leave her alone purposefully.  If it weren't for my unsettled nerves from last night, it wouldn't have been such a big deal.  After all, Sarah was thirteen.  “Look.  I know you’re worried about Claire, but the whole point of Sarah being at your place is so she’s safe.” 
Not only from burglars.

“I know, and I’m sorry things haven’t gone as planned.  But I’m also worried about you, you know.”

Something twigged.  “Is that why you phoned me for help?  To get me out of the house?”

“Of course not!”  His overly-dramatic voice did little to squash my theory.  It charmed me how deeply Brian cared.

"Thanks.  But I'm a grown woman.  Anyway, I’m not alone.”

He didn't respond straight away.  “You’re not?  Oh, do you mean Nicola or...”

“See you in five.” 

“W-wait.  Hold on!”

I ended the call and turned to Nicola who battled to stop her long, curly hair from sticking to her green mask.  “Follow me.” 

We turned left down the next street, trudged through a snow-thick alleyway and came out into the local pub’s icy car park. 

We walked across it and picked up the pace on the less slippery surface at the other side.  Then, suddenly, tyres squealed as though braking on ice.  This was followed by an immense bang and the crumpling of metal.

“Holy crap!” I shrieked, eyeing Nicola.  “That didn’t sound good.”

Nicola geared into panic mode.  "Come on."  She hurried me around the corner where a car, the left side of its bonnet crumpled against a stone wall, belched steam into the winter night from its radiator.

“Oh, my God!”  I slid to a stop and slammed my hand on the mangled bonnet.  I stooped to look through the front window as Nicola raced to the driver side.  A dark-haired man sat behind the steering wheel, his face partially obscured by the deflating airbag. 

I knocked on the bonnet to get his attention.  “You okay?  Are you injured?”

Nicola yanked the door open.  “He’s alive.”

I rounded the car and stood at her side as the man raised his unshaven face.  “Christ!” he said, running a shaking hand across his eyebrow and finding a trickle of blood.  “Damn, stupid weather.”

“We’ll call an ambulance.”  I fumbled for my phone and pointed at him.  “Don’t move.”

“How do you feel?”  Nicola leaned across and unclipped his seatbelt.  “There.  Is that more comfortable?”

He nodded and swung a leg out of the car.

“Hey, hey!” I said, lowering my mobile.  “You shouldn’t move.”

“Yes, he should.”  Nicola frowned at me.  “What if the car blows up?”

I rolled my eyes.  “It’s a crash, not a bomb.  And I can’t smell fuel.”

“I’m fine,” the man insisted.  “J-just a bang to the head.”  He glanced up at the sky, twitched and groaned.  “I couldn’t tell which was road and which was...  Just snow flying at me.”

“You’re lucky you’re in one piece,” I commented.  "This town is a minefield of danger when it snows.  Are you from here?"

"Kind of."  He pushed up off the seat and paused as he caught my gaze.  A haunting look filled his dark slitted eyes.

I tilted my head.  Did I know him?  No.

“Th-thanks, but don’t bother phoning for help.”  He shifted focus to Nicola, frowned, then used the door for support and hauled himself up.

“Why not?” Nicola asked, steadying him as he staggered out of the car.

“There’s a big pile up in town."

"Really?"

"Yes.  Every ambulance will be headed there.  I’d be waiting for ages.  Besides, nothing’s broken.”

Reluctantly, I pocketed my mobile.  “You sure?  I mean... you should get checked out.”

“I’m fine.”  He waved a dismissive hand with greenish dots tattooed on his knuckles, then studied the crumpled mess of his car.  “Guess I’m on foot from here.  Damn.”

“Well.  At least let me help you with that cut on your head.”  I grabbed a tissue from my pocket and dabbed blood off his eyebrow.  “It looks pretty bad.  You might need stitches.”

“Where are you going?” Nicola asked.

“What will you do about your car?” I said, giving his eyebrow one last dab.

He leaned down into the car, grabbed a box of sticking plasters and a mobile phone from the footwell.  “Meeting a friend.”  He shut the car door and locked it, never again meeting my eyes square-on. 

“Plasters,” I said.  “You came prepared.”

“Oh, err... yep.”  He pocketed them.  “Thanks for your help.  But I need to get going.  I’ll arrange for a tow in the morning.”  He limped away, glanced back at us once with an unreadable frown, then cut tracks in the snow toward the pub we’d just passed.

“Poor guy,” I whispered.

“Did you see the way he looked at us?” Nicola commented, then touched her cheek.  “My facepack.  Jeez.  No wonder.  I’m a human monster.” 

“You do look scary,” I giggled, although it was more the way he
didn’t
look at my eyes that struck me.  “He’s embarrassed.”

“Come on."  She tugged my coat sleeve.  "I don’t wanna be on these streets any longer than I have to.”

“Nor do I.”  Strange, weird evening... and damn that Claire and her stupid mission to get Brian’s attention!  On the one night I needed to stay at home...  Grrr.  The plan to defend my house was already falling apart.

CHAPTER 4

CHRISTA

A horn beeped outside the local shops.  I scanned the poorly-lit street, spotted Brian’s car outside the closed Post Office and headed over while hanging up my mobile.  For some reason, Sarah was not answering my calls.

Brian grinned at us through the window, then leaned over to open the passenger door.  “Hop in,” he said, then slotted his mobile in its holder on the dash.

My heart rapped a double beat as I opened the door wider to climb in his Freelander.  That old sting of guilt from our teen years never went away.  “Brrr...”  Once I shut the door to keep the heat in, a fresh masculine scent wafted around me.  Nicola climbed in the back. 

I handed the laptop to Brian.  “Mission accomplished.”

He placed it on the back seat, and then swept concerned eyes up and down me.  “The roads sure are bad, aren’t they?  You look terrific.  I thought you’d cancelled your meal out?” 

“I did.  Th-thanks, but...”  I glanced down at myself.  I didn’t look great at all.  He was just being polite.  My long dark-brown hair tinted blonde on the ends was tangled and wind-swept, and the last time I’d glanced in a mirror, my mascara was smudged.

Brian’s gaze locked on mine while he slid the back of his hand down my cheek, in a companiable way.  “So, I finally got in touch with Claire.  God, you’re frozen.  Stay in here and get warm.  In fact...”

I angled my head, drawn into his lingering gaze.  “In fact what?”

Eventually, he looked away and put the car in gear.  “You’ll warm up in a minute.” 

“I’d say it’s pretty damn
h-hot
in here already,” Nicola mused, her voice tinged with a chuckle.

After driving off up the street, he fiddled with the heater, but it was evident he’d heard Nicola’s comment, for he gave us both a sideways glance.  “It’s no problem.  Oh, nice make-up job, Nicola,” he joked, being equally sharp but playful with her.

I sighed at their exchange, fed my hand around the back of my seat and poked her leg.

“Ouch,” she yelped.

“As I was saying, Claire called,” Brian said.  He glanced at me with bright blue eyes that reminded me of Sarah’s.  “Her car’s stuck on Jackson street.  Wheels spinning, churning up sludge but not getting anywhere.  You were right.”

“I was?”

“Yes.  Before heading over to your place, she planned to stop at the shops, but skidded into a ditch.  She tried to get her car free so she wouldn’t have to tell me."

"She’s probably cold and stressed," I said.  "Don't worry about dropping us home.  Go help her."  Typical Brian.  Forever the nice guy.  His girlfriend was stuck in the snow and he still wanted to ensure we got home safely.

Brian glanced my way, then surprised me by saying, "I wasn't planning on dropping you home... yet.  I hoped you'd give me a hand towing her out.  I think if you two would just spend a little time together, you’d start getting along.”  Brian stopped at the red lights. 

Nicola leaned forward between the front seats.  She set her hand on Brian’s shoulder and interrupted my mumbling excuse that Claire would not appreciate my unexpected appearance.  “Christa would
love
to assist you.”

I turned in my seat, ready to give her the ‘what the hell did you say that for?’ eye, when the back door clicked open.

“But not me,” Nicola said, legs already dangling out of the car.  “You two go.  I’m not venturing anywhere else with green muck on my face.  My street cred will be in tatters.”

I twisted around, wanting to grab her by the sleeve to stop her.  “N-no.  No, Nicola.”

She reached back into the car and clasped my shoulder.  “Someone needs to play security guard at your house, right?” 

I crushed my bottom lip between my teeth, torn two ways.  Sarah was, and always would be, my number one priority.  The sooner we rescued Claire, the sooner Brian would return to Sarah.  But in the meantime, I did not want my house to be a sitting duck to the underbelly of society, nor did I particularly want to see Claire.  “But I don’t want you to be on your own in the house.  It’s not safe.”

“I’m a big girl.  I’ll make it obvious the house is occupied; stick music on, open all the curtains and prance around in the nude like you do.”

“You do what?” Brian turned to me, his voice sky high, eyes glittering.

“Don’t listen to her.”

“And an anonymous admirer mailed her more goodies this morning.  She’ll not be single forever.”

Limit reached.  “Nicola.  Shut up!” I snapped.

“Okay, okay, I’m going.” She left the car with wicked satisfaction flashing across her face.  “But if you two finally decide that you can’t be good... be careful.” 

“Jeez!” I said, but she slammed the door shut.  Oh, God.
  Did she really say all that out loud? 
I shifted in my seat feeling awkward about how Brian might respond to her comments.  Nicola always read our friendship so wrong and I feared it would one day cause an irreversible awkwardness.  He drove off without saying anything.  His expression unreadable. 
Is that good or bad? 

“Claire’s not gonna be happy about my being there,” I warned him. 

“Don’t worry.  I’ve already told her you’re coming to help me.”

Rather presumptuous.
  “Let’s just get this over with so we can all go home.” 

“Sorry your birthday celebrations didn’t pan out,” Brian said, steering around the corner.

“Thanks.”

He winked at me, then took a right.  “And just for the record, you’re wrong about Claire.  She does like you.”

I shook my head.
  Impossible.

He glanced my way.  “I'm serious.  She told me so.”

Then she lied.
  “Really?  How nice.”

He winked again.  “What’s not to like?”

I settled into my seat and buckled up.  Why was Brian so blind to Claire’s dark way of thinking?  Or maybe my intuition was off, and she was indeed the sweet person he made her out to be.  If so, why couldn’t I see her light through the dark?

He quirked an eyebrow.  “Secret admirer, huh?”

I bit my lip.

We approached the main road that led to town. 

“Oh! Don’t go this way.”  I waved my hand in a fluster.

“Why?”

“Because...”

Too late.  He swung onto it.  “They grit the main roads first.  It’s our safest bet.”

I pointed ahead.  “Except there’s a crash in town.  Didn’t you hear?”

Brian shook his head.  “They’ve diverted traffic because of the snow, that’s all.  My friend Marcus works for the highways.”

“You’re wrong.  A guy just told me about the crash.”

“Then he lied to you.”

CHAPTER 5

CHRISTA

It really wasn’t a choice at all.  We had to get to Sarah.  Brian’s sister had just phoned and said her car still refused to start, and Sarah was not answering our calls.

“Relax,” Brian said.  “She knows she’s not allowed out at dark.”

“I can’t believe you’re being so lighthearted about this.”

“I’d ask my mum to nip round but, well... after the cancer scare she’s a bit fragile.  Brought memories back.”

I understood.  “I’m so glad she got the all clear.”

“Thanks.  Anyway, Sarah will be listening to her iPod,” Brian said as I dialed her again.  “That’s why she can’t hear the phone ring.”

I did not for one minute believe that, but there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it right now.