Ice (12 page)

The slope of the driveway increased, going down to the first sharp curve. Niki barely glanced at the pavement; her attention was on the spot where the big guy had gone into the woods. She spun the wheel to the left, and the entire Blazer began sliding sideways to the right. Swearing, she turned back to the right, trying to straighten the vehicle. The old Blazer responded, then the rear end swung around and damn if she wasn’t sliding to the left now. Furiously she fought the vehicle. How in hell was she supposed to do what she wanted if the damn truck wouldn’t go straight? What good was four-wheel drive if it didn’t work on ice?

She jerked the wheel to the left, and both right wheels of the Blazer came off the ground. “Shit!” she yelped, suddenly realizing how close she was getting to the bottom, and the steep drop-off on the other side of the driveway.
“Shit!”
The Blazer settled back onto all four wheels; the big tires tried to grab traction but spun uselessly on the ice. The Blazer slid
backward, then slowly began a sickening spin, around and around, gaining speed as it whirled toward the looming drop-off. She had the totally inane thought that it was almost like riding the teacups at Disneyland.

Niki screamed once, in rage and fear at the injustice of this stupid ice, then the Blazer’s wheels lost contact with the ground and she plummeted over the side.

Lolly clung to Gabriel’s wet coat, watching as the Blazer abruptly dropped out of sight. There was a brief moment of silence, then a horrible screech of metal being crushed and torn.

“Oh my God,” she said in shock, then added, “Good!” She didn’t think it made her a bad person that her first instinct was one of relief. Darwin was dead and Niki had just driven herself off the side of the mountain. For the first time in hours that had seemed as long as days, Lolly suddenly realized the terror was over. She was safe; cold to the bone, shivering, shaken in a way she hadn’t known was possible … but safe.

“Stay here,” Gabriel ordered, as he took a much larger flashlight from his coat pocket, turned it on, and stepped cautiously onto the road.

He had been her rock for the past couple of hours. Everything in her protested at being separated from him for even a few seconds, but she did as he instructed.
There was no point in both of them going to look. Besides, she could barely walk, she was so cold. All she wanted was to sit down and close her eyes.

The sloping pavement was treacherous with ice. Gabriel slipped a couple of times, but both times managed to catch his balance and stay upright. Lolly breathed a sigh of relief as he reached the other side of the road and shone his light down the mountainside.

After a long moment, he made his way back across the driveway to Lolly. Turning off his powerful flashlight, he once more stowed it in his coat pocket and took out the much weaker flashlight Darwin had dropped. “The Blazer’s about a hundred and fifty feet down. It met a tree head-on. The tree won. If Niki isn’t dead she’s seriously hurt, but I can’t get down there to see.” He frowned, because he didn’t like not knowing for certain.

Lolly wouldn’t have thought it was in her nature to be relieved at the news that someone,
anyone
, had died; it certainly wasn’t like her to be willing to leave an injured woman in a wrecked car to freeze or bleed to death—or at least she hadn’t thought it was like her. Darwin and Niki had changed her mind about several things. “Thank God,” she whispered. She felt as if the world around her had warmed a little. Her fear of finding Niki waiting in the house, of the strung-out woman jumping out from behind a tree or springing out of a dark corner, was gone. She wanted to drop to the ground and sob in sheer relief, but she
settled for a deep breath instead. It was too soon to declare victory, because she and Gabriel weren’t home free. They still had to battle the ice, and the ice wouldn’t make any stupid decisions, like trying to drive down a mountain in weather like this. The ice wouldn’t do anything, other than exist, but its very existence reshaped the world.

“Come on,” he said, “let’s go get warm.” He slid his arm around her, holding her upright as he propelled her forward. Without his aid, she couldn’t have moved. The first few steps were an exercise in pain and lack of coordination; she could barely slide one foot in front of the other. She felt as if she had frozen to the spot, as if she could do nothing other than just stop. Gabriel was shivering violently against her; he was in better shape than she was, but that wasn’t saying a lot.

“Do you need me to carry you?” Gabriel asked.

She was horrified at the idea. He could barely walk, and he thought he could
carry
her? “No, I’m fine,” she said.

He made a gruff noise that made it clear he didn’t think she was at all fine, but he didn’t forcefully lift her and throw her over his shoulder.

In the total darkness, with only an increasingly weak flashlight beam lighting their way, they gingerly made their way across the icy yard. What had never seemed like much distance at all now seemed almost insurmountable, but they were barely shuffling along and every inch gained was paid for in agony. Finally
she could very faintly make out the dark house looming just ahead of them, and only then did she really believe they could make it. “I’m sorry,” she said softly, wondering if Gabriel would even hear her, with the wind howling as it was.

He glanced down at her. “Sorry for what?” he asked matter of factly as they negotiated the last few yards, maneuvering around her ice-coated Mercedes. The steps loomed like Mount Everest. She honestly wasn’t certain she could go up them. “Sorry you got caught up in this mess. Sorry you had to kill a man. Sorry you’re stuck here with me when I know you’d much rather be at your parents’ house, with your son.”

“You know about Sam?” he asked, surprised. His voice was breathless. Somehow he hadn’t expected her to know anything about his life after he’d graduated from high school and joined the military.

“I’ve kept up with the news from here.”

They reached the steps, and Gabriel gripped the railing with his left hand. His right arm tightened around her, and he physically hauled her up the steps, groaning in pain as he did. Then they were on the porch, but the howling wind was still blowing the rain in on them so there wasn’t much improvement.

“I’m not sorry,” he said, releasing her to bend over and catch his breath, gather his strength.

Without his support Lolly almost collapsed on the porch, but she wrapped one arm around a column and forced herself to remain upright. “I don’t believe you.” She even managed a credible snort.

“Seriously, Lollipop, do you think I’d be happy sitting in a nice warm house with my kid, eating soup and drinking coffee by the fire, when I could be up here freezing to death with you while we run from two crazy-ass meth addicts? Where’s your sense of adventure?”

“I don’t have one,” she said, suddenly wheezing with laughter. She felt giddy, and she wasn’t certain how much longer she could keep standing, but right now what he’d said was one of the most hilarious things she’d ever heard. “And do
not
call me Lollipop.” If he’d forgotten anything at all about her, why couldn’t it have been that horrid nickname?

“Lollipop,” he promptly returned, just as he’d done in high school. He straightened, grunting with the effort, and said, “We’re idiots to be standing out here. Let’s go inside.”

“Easier said than done,” she said, and abruptly her legs gave way and she sat down hard on the ice-crusted porch.

“Don’t you fucking give up on me now, Lollipop,” he grunted as he lurched toward the door. “I didn’t haul you all this way to let you freeze to death on the porch.”

It scared her that the concept wasn’t all that farfetched. It would be so easy just to curl up on the porch and relax, but she knew if she did she’d never make it inside. Fear drove her to roll onto her hands and knees, but that was as far as she could get. No way could she stand up. Laboriously she began crawling
toward the door. “You just get the door open, hero,” she said, “and I’ll make it the rest of the way.”

There was a horrible, gunshot of a sound at the edge of the woods, and a sixty-foot-tall tree snapped at the base, the entire thing crashing to the ground with a force that seemed to rattle the entire world. They both went motionless for a brief second, then Gabriel turned back to fumble with the doorknob and Lolly resumed her slow, clumsy crawl.

She wouldn’t have survived tonight if it hadn’t been for Gabriel. She would already be dead, shot or frozen or crushed beneath an ice-covered tree. She would have died a violent death, her last few hours spent in terror and pain, her last thoughts that of a horrible man attempting to rape her, and maybe succeeding. And wouldn’t you know it, as soon as the danger had passed, they’d started arguing. Some things never changed. The
feel
of their squabble had changed, though. She wasn’t angry, wasn’t upset. Arguing with Gabriel had a comfortable feel to it, almost like coming home.

Home. She really
was
home. All she had to do was get inside, and she’d be safe. She wasn’t shivering anymore, hadn’t for … how long now? She was a native Mainer, she knew that wasn’t a good sign. She could still think, hadn’t suffered any of the disorientation that came with severe hypothermia, so she thought she’d be all right. But then again, if her thinking was impaired, would she even realize it?

Gabriel tried to open the door, but his ice-coated
gloves couldn’t grasp the doorknob. Swearing under his breath, he used his teeth to tug off the glove; the doorknob turned, and the door swung open to warmth and sanctuary. Turning back, he grasped Lolly’s arm and half-dragged her over the threshold, far enough inside that he could shove the door closed. Then she fell over on her side on the floor and the strength left his legs and he fell beside her. He swore some more, struggling to his hands and knees, then he grabbed the newel post of the stairs and pulled himself to a mostly upright position. Lolly closed her eyes. She just wanted to lie here on the floor …

“Get up,” Gabriel ordered, his voice commanding and harsh.

She cracked her eyelids open a little. “I don’t want to get up.”

“Too bad.”

He clumsily swiped his hand over his head, and shards of ice flew from his hair. He shucked off the jacket and gloves, then leaned down and grabbed her arm again. She couldn’t get her feet under her, so he dragged her to the first step of the stairs.

“I just need a minute—” Lolly began.

“You have to get dry and warm,” he said, jerking at her first layer of clothes. He whipped off the ripped poncho and ice crystals flew, hitting the floor and a nearby table and instantly melting.

“Leave me alone,” she said fretfully, slapping at his
hands. “We’re inside now. Just let me rest for a little while.”

“Not until you’re warm.” He continued to peel away clothes, and she let him. A part of her wanted to fight, just on principle, but she was so tired and moving was so difficult that fighting him was impossible. He pulled her to her feet and she closed her eyes and just stood there, swaying. It was wonderful to be out of the ice, out of the cold. She could sense the warmth around her, lingering heat from before the power had gone out, but she couldn’t really feel it.

“Open your eyes, Lollipop,” Gabriel barked.

With an effort she opened her eyes and scowled at him. “Why can’t I just sleep?”

By the light of the flashlight he’d placed on the floor, pointed upward to reflect off the ceiling, she saw the worry on his face, the anger. “Not yet.”

And suddenly she knew what he’d been doing, calling her Lollipop, all but picking a fight. He’d been trying to get her angry, keep her going.

Touched, feeling her insides turning to mush, she reached up and laid her cold hand along his rough cheek. “I’m sorry I snapped at you,” she said.

“Did you snap? I didn’t notice. You must be out of practice. Now stop apologizing and get out of those clothes,” he ordered. “All of them.”

Niki slowly lifted her head, not quite sure where she was or what had happened. She stared around her, trying to make sense of her surroundings, but the effort was too much and she closed her eyes, let her head rest against something cold and hard. She felt … she felt as if a giant had picked her up and thrown her down on the ground, as if her entire body had been stunned. Had she fallen out of bed? No, she wasn’t in a bedroom, she was in … what was she in? She didn’t know where she was. Nothing looked right.

Then, like a light switch being flipped, her memory clicked and it all came back in a rush. Darwin. The Helton woman and that big dude. The storm, the ice, and the edge of the world.

The dashboard lights glowed softly, even though
the engine was dead. One headlight shone, marking her spot in the night. All she could see through the shattered windshield was the tree that had stopped her descent down the mountainside. The entire front end of the Blazer was crumpled, the dash twisted and crushed and caved in on itself. Slowly she turned her head, because she felt as if it wasn’t securely attached to her neck. What a weird feeling; she didn’t like it. But her neck worked, and that was good.

A big limb had crashed through the window, impaling the passenger seat. Broken glass was strewn about the front seat, and cold wind whipped into the cab from all the broken windows.

Niki touched a hand to her head, felt the sticky blood there. Her entire scalp throbbed, and she was shaking from head to foot, one big convulsive shudder. She couldn’t stop shaking, couldn’t make her muscles stop quivering. Damn it, she could’ve been killed, she could be dead right now, like Darwin. And it was all their fault!

A part of her wanted to stay right where she was. She was so tired, so cold. Moving would take more energy than she had. After a few minutes, though, her survival instinct kicked in. Ordering her thoughts was difficult, but determinedly she set about getting them all lined up. She couldn’t stay here. Once the battery wore down, she wouldn’t have even the little bit of light she now had. She’d freeze to death here, in the dark and cold, if she didn’t bleed to death first. Again she gingerly touched her head. The cut there was
bleeding, but wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Hell, she was alive, and she didn’t seem to be missing any body pieces, so she’d already come out ahead. She listened, wondering if Lorelei and the big guy were working their way down the mountain looking for her, to come help … but there weren’t any voices. There was wind, there was ice, and the creaking of the tree. That was it. Those bastards had left her here to die. What kind of people would do something like that?