Songbird (A Sinclair Story #1)

by Jaymin Eve

  “Oh yeah, I’m not much for parties. Prefer to do my own thing,” she said, her hands shifting back the silky strands of black hair that had fallen forward. “Anyways, nice to meet you all, I’m just heading in to unpack.”

  She started to close the door.

  Craig’s words halted her again. “Wait, I didn’t catch your name.”

  “I’m Melodee.” No point hiding that much, she never changed her name. She had to have something that was always hers; otherwise she worried she would disappear and cease to exist. “I’ll see you around.” She shut the door before they could hold her up again.

  “Holy shit, Craig. You totally understated how damned hot she is.” Melodee could hear them through the door. “I would totally…”

  The conversation drifted off as the men moved away. She dropped her head against the wooden frame, her fingers scraping across the paint as they fell to her side. Did they live in the same building as her? She should have considered that this close to the college any cheap apartment would probably have students. Here’s hoping a few more drunken frat parties and they’d lose the brain cells that knew about her. Straightening, she turned and grabbed her coat and scarf, throwing a couple of hundreds into her back pocket. Time to get some food. There was supposed to be a big storm coming tonight and she didn’t want to get caught out without the essentials.

  The Alamo was pretty packed, the grocery store struggling to keep up with the rush of people trying to stock up on water and canned foods. Melodee was half listening to the conversations around her as she picked up some supplies. She liked to stay hyper-aware; it didn’t pay to get caught unawares. The chatter was more about this Nathan Sinclair. He was clearly the darling of the Syracuse college basketball team. Besides fighting, Melodee had little interest in sports. She’d never even been to a game.

  Taking the full trolley to the counter, Melodee could see the snow was starting to really pile up outside the glass-fronted window. It was heavy, visibility was poor, and she was going to have to move her butt to get home before it was pitch black outside.

  “Fifty-eight dollars and thirty-five cents.” The woman behind the counter barely glanced up. “Paper okay?”

  Melodee nodded, before reaching out and taking the two large brown bags into her hands. The breeze hit her first as she stepped onto the icy sidewalk, catching herself before her feet slid. There was no doubt she would be relying on her exceptional balance to get home safely.

  “Hey, Melodee, do you need a ride back to the apartment?”

  The deep voice was almost lost in the storm. A face full of snow hit her as she swung around to find a large SUV idling beside her. Through the open window she could see that it was one of the men from earlier today. The dark-haired one who had spoken the most. He had a cute face, brown eyes and cocky grin.

  She shook her head. “I’m fine, thanks.” Gave him a wave. “It’s not that far.”

  He didn’t pull away. “The storm is supposed to get worse. I’m heading in the same direction as you. It’s not safe to be out here.”

  She gritted her teeth. Dammit, she recognized the stubborn tone; he wasn’t leaving without her. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she continued to move along the path. His car kept pace with her. She realized that they were starting to create a scene and that was the last thing she needed. Finally she gave up and, stomping over, she opened the passenger door.

  “You can survive a five minute drive with a punk-ass frat boy,” she muttered to herself.

  Settling into the plush leather seats she dropped the bags down at her feet. She didn’t wear her seat belt, even though she would normally, in case she needed a quick getaway.

  “I’m Doug.” The cocky smile he flipped in her direction had her gritting her teeth even harder. If she kept this up she was going to crack them.

  “Hold on tight,” he said as he peeled off the corner, far too fast for the conditions. “I just have a quick stop before heading back home.”

  “You should have mentioned that before you picked me up.” Her voice was biting and cold, but he was too self-assured to even notice. “I don’t have time for your errand.”

  “Really quick. Just have to drop off some stuff to a friend.”

  Great, moron number one was either a drug dealer or an idiot. No one normal would be doing errands in the mother of all snowstorms. But unless she was prepared to make a huge deal out of it she was stuck in the car for the foreseeable future. Ignoring his attempts at conversation, she studied the scenery outside the window, memorizing the route he was taking, more from habit than any real need. They were winding quickly through the downtown, heading at a rapid rate toward the outer areas. Lucky there was almost no other cars on the road, because Doug was a reckless driver.

  “Where does this friend live?” Melodee finally asked.

  Doug flashed her a wide grin. He had overly bleached teeth that shone in her direction. “His family practically owns this town, and they have this huge property just up ahead. He’s been relegated to check it over in the storm. I’ve got to drop some food off for him.”

  With a sigh Melodee sank further into the heated seats, letting the warmth surround her. She knew it was a mistake to get in the car.

  “You have to learn to relax.” Doug was digging his own grave. Her fingers itched to punch him.

  “You have to slow down,” she commanded calmly, noticing the needle was edging toward sixty-five miles. In this weather that was suicide.

  He laughed. “Don’t worry yourself. I’m an expert driver, been on these roads for years and never had an accident.”

  As the words left his mouth, headlights appeared in the window. A car was heading in their direction, and as Melodee leaned forward to see better through the mists and swirls of snow, her blood froze. In one smooth movement she reached out and clicked her seatbelt in. She was trained to notice any and all minute details, and those lights were definitely in the wrong position for that type of sedan. The car was coming at them on its roof, and at this speed there was no way they could avoid it.

  “Listen to me,” she spoke with a low intensity. “That car is going to hit us.”

  “What?” Doug’s forehead crinkled.

  Damn, stupidity should be a punishable crime.

  “Turn now!” Melodee screamed, reaching out to wrench the wheel.

  The crunch of tires skidding on snow were the first sounds, followed by a jerking smash as the cars collided on their front bumper edges. Melodee’s head slammed into the window as they went into a death spin of several three hundred and sixty degree turns. They had avoided the worst of it, but both cars were heading toward the large embankment. They hit the snow and started to roll over and over.

  Melodee braced against the door and seat to minimize her injuries. Doug on the other hand, who had no seat belt on, was being flung all around the car. Luckily, he stayed on his side and wasn’t smashing into her.

  It felt like forever, but eventually the cars came to a thudding halt at the bottom of whatever embankment they’d gone over. It took a few minutes for the ringing to cease in Melodee’s head; her breath came out in visible gasps as the cold infiltrated the previously heated interior. She was hanging upside down, her seatbelt holding her in position. A body was sprawled under her head. Shit. She had to help Doug.

  She reached out a hand and felt for the pulse in the spread-eagled legs beneath her. Nothing. From her angle, Melodee could see blood spattered around the cabin, but not ridiculous amounts. She wiggled around and managed to turn in her seat belt, and then it was very apparent that Doug had broken his neck. Melodee could see the unnatural tilt of his head as he lay on the roof of his car.

  She fumbled with her seatbelt, the force of her weight making it hard to unclick the buckle. Finally, after leveraging herself up, she managed to get free. She dropped into the cabin next to Doug. She reached out to him again and closed his eyes. She couldn’t stand the empty stare of the dead. Poor, stupid, overconfident Doug did not deserve
to die this night. But death was like that: no judgments. It didn’t always come to the deserving, sometimes it just came on swift wings to any that lay in its path.

  Knowing there was nothing she could do for Doug, Melodee tried to find a way out of the rapidly cooling tomb. The snowstorm seemed to be worsening outside, although where they’d landed was a little protected from the worst, but still, if she didn’t get moving she could freeze to death in no time. The windows were stuck, she couldn’t get them open. Finally, she found a lever and the rear-door of the SUV inched open a small gap. The damage back there looked like it was pretty bad, at least three of the sides were dented shut. Using her shoulder, Melodee managed to push open a space large enough for her to exit. Groceries littered the inside of the SUV – apparently Doug hadn’t been lying about taking things to his friend. She gathered together all of the bits and pieces, and finding an old gym bag amongst the junk she used it to hold as much of the food as she could fit. These goods might spell the difference between survival and death if she didn’t find her way to warmth soon.

  The gym bag was thrown out into the snow first, and Melodee followed. The cars had come to a stop against a collection of large tree trunks. She stared at the other smaller sedan. It was not on its roof anymore, but there didn’t seem to be a panel that wasn’t severely damaged. After the warmth of the car, the icy air took her breath away, and despite the fact that she didn’t have time to stop, she couldn’t leave without checking if the other occupants needed help. Scooting along the snow with the gym bag she reached the driver’s window. All she could see was long brown hair. The woman was face down on the steering wheel.

  “Hello.” Melodee tapped on the window, shouting to be heard over the raging winds. “Turn your head away if you can.”

  Taking off her jacket, she wrapped it around her hand and smashed the corner of the window furthest from the woman. She pulled the rest of the glass out. After shrugging the warm coat back on, she reached through to check for a pulse. One touch of the cold skin told her it was too late to offer any assistance to the young girl. From the side she looked no older than sixteen. Damn, two deaths here tonight.

  Melodee was just turning away when a small whimper froze her to the spot. Her gasp was audible as she caught sight of something she’d missed before, a black baby seat tucked into the right corner of the back seat. Dropping the bag, she dived around the car, and as luck would have it the door closest to the baby opened without effort and Melodee found herself captured by a pair of massive blue eyes. Her heart skipped a beat, how was the baby so calm, she should be screaming her head off after that crash. Her calmness gave Melodee a sense of kinship. She, too, stayed composed in tense situations.

  “Hello, sweetheart, you’re okay. I’m going to get you out.” She started chatting, praying the whole time that the little girl with the mass of dark curls was okay.

  “Holy shit. What happened?”

  A male voice had her spinning to fall in a defensive stance in front of the girl. Out of the snow stepped a god damned Greek god or something. He was massive, towering over her. His hair was white blond and cut short, but with enough height to give it style. His unbelievably chiseled and handsome features were registering concern and horror as he plowed through the deep snow. His eyes were aqua; their color shone in the dying light.

  “Is anyone hurt?” he said, almost at her side. The baby was whimpering again, but Melodee wasn’t sure if he was a threat yet, so she couldn’t turn back to check on her.

  “Is that Doug’s car?” he choked out, his eyes flicking toward the SUV across from them. And then as his light, blue-green eyes focused on her, she knew that this was Doug’s friend. The one he’d died trying to get to.

  Chapter 2

  Nathan huffed as he shoveled another layer of snow off the front porch of the log cabin – though calling the three story, two thousand square feet property a cabin was kind of a joke. Only a Sinclair would refer to it as such. It belonged to him now, part of a massive trust from his grandparents. It was the reason he was here and not at Justin’s club opening in Manhattan. With the massive storm moving in, his gramps would have expected him to lock everything down. He’d loved this farm. Nathan’s brothers of course were supposed to be meeting him here, but so far not one had arrived. Assholes were probably busy with their full social calendars. The Sinclair’s did nothing by halves. And while Nathan was taking a break from all the shit in his life, the four brothers generally rained terror down on Syracuse.

  And speaking of late, where the hell is Doug? Nathan glanced down at his watch. He hadn’t expected his teammate to blow him off. He was supposed to have been here thirty minutes ago with some supplies. It had been a last minute decision to come to Gramps’ land, so Nathan hadn’t had a chance to grab anything.

  Leaving the massive wraparound porch, he was heading in to drop the shovel off with Miguel, the groundskeeper, when a faint crash rang through the trees. Despite the storm raging around him, the distinct sound of glass and metal colliding was heard and could only mean one thing. Nathan took off through the trees. He knew this property as well as any place he had ever lived, and the crash had sounded from the south embankment. This wouldn’t be the first time cars had lost control in a storm and crashed down onto his property.

  It took him about ten minutes, slipping and sliding his way along. He pulled his cell out, but the storm seemed to have knocked out all reception, so he couldn’t call for help. There was a lot of natural forest on this property, and with all the snow it took real effort to run through without disappearing into a snow drift. Luckily, he was well over six foot and his basketball skills were coming in handy. He jumped over a fallen log before diving under an overhanging branch. He rounded the corner and the scene came into focus. Two cars were strewn across a snow mound, anchored by trees which had broken their fall.

  “Holy shit. What happened?”

  He stepped forward and a flash of movement caught his eye. It was a woman crouched in front of an open car door, her expression fierce. Nathan froze, his eyes locked on the stunning vision she presented. He’d known his share of women: models, celebrities, even royalty, but he’d never seen anyone as gorgeous as her. Shoulder length, with bangs that framed her delicate features, her black hair contrasted to her porcelain skin and the snow around her. Her large eyes were blue, dark, almost a sapphire color, and she was tiny. But it wasn’t so much her beauty which stood her apart, it was the calm inner strength she was radiating. To Nathan that level of self-confidence was as sexy as hell. He shook his head, pulling his focus from the woman and back to the accident. People might be injured. Now was not the time.

  “Is anyone hurt?” he asked, unable to stop himself moving closer to her. As he stepped into a clear space he noticed the other car on its roof. It looked a lot like Doug’s SUV.

  Shit. His friend drove like a daredevil with a death wish, not one ounce of self-preservation. “Is that Doug’s car?”

  She still hadn’t said anything and her focus had not wavered off him once. He stopped as a whimper sounded from behind her.

  “Does anyone need any help?” he tried again. “This is my property.”

  Finally she shifted, straightening a little. “Doug’s friend, right?”

  Nathan ground to a halt as the lyrical tones of her voice washed over him. Damn, what the hell was wrong with him? Massive car accident in front of him, and still, all he could think about was how sexy she was. He again forced himself to focus.

  “Yes, I’m Nate.” He heard the whimper again, followed by a distinct cry. “Is that a baby?”

  He tried to keep the horror from his voice. The storm was worsening and he had to find out how many needed help. She turned her back on him then, leaning into the backseat. She had to stand on tiptoes to reach, but without much effort emerged with a baby in a car seat.

  “I don’t want to take her out until I can assess for injuries.” Her voice remained soft and calm as she shifted the car seat. “Can you look i
n there for a diaper bag?”

  Nathan moved forward to assist, but the entire time his curiosity burned. He’d been around the block a few times. People rarely surprised him. Mostly they were assholes, he accepted that. Hell, most of the time he was an asshole. But she was different. For one thing, judging from the cut across her eyebrow, she had been in the accident. He had seen the path of destruction the cars had cut as they plunged over the embankment from the main road above, and yet she showed not one sign of distress, no panic or shock. If anything she seemed to be assessing the situation and dealing with each matter as it arose. He knew that had she been a typical college girl – like the ones who annoyed the shit out of him every game night – she’d be curled up on the ground having a hysterical meltdown.

  As he moved into the open doorway, his eyes flicked to the young woman face down on the steering wheel, feeling grief for the life lost and sympathy for the tiny baby. She’d lost her mother tonight. He knew what that felt like, even though his mother was technically still alive. Trying not to disturb the body, he rummaged through the car, his huge frame having difficulty maneuvering around the crushed sedan. Finally he found, wedged under the crumpled front dash, a plastic bag with a small pack of diapers and one tin inside.

  “This is it.” He emerged holding the two items out for her inspection. She was about five feet away, having moved into a slight alcove formed by the snow. It was allowing a little protection from the storm.

  “It will have to do,” she yelled over the wind howling through the gully. “He’s dead,” she said, halting Nathan on his way to Doug’s car.

  He glanced back but didn’t stop. He wasn’t a man to just take someone’s word. People lied. It took thirty seconds from when he reached the window to realize she was right. Doug’s head hung at an angle that didn’t look natural, and his body was still. Grief and guilt rose up in Nathan, and in that moment he was glad his teammate’s eyes were closed. Doug might have been a loudmouth, but he was a good guy deep down and they’d been friends since freshman year.