His Frozen Heart

by Nancy Straight

  Through the night, memories of his electric kiss and the passion seeped into my dreams while stories of being ripped away from the only family he knew got all jumbled together. I wasn’t sure where that left us. I wanted to be strong and supportive because I felt his pain last night, but I wanted to be more than a shoulder for him to unload on, too.

  I should have had something profound to say: something to the effect that I would help him find his brother, or that I wanted to be tangled up in his bed again with him tonight, or maybe that I was here for him if he needed me. But the words didn’t come. None of them. This new Dave was a stark contrast to the one I had purposely befriended in high school. Back then he was someone who looked like he needed someone to care, but for the life of me, I couldn’t get close enough to learn why I felt that way.

  Now, knowing the secrets he carried with him, he did need me. He was successful, strong, protective, and could send shivers through my body with just a light caress. Wet hair or not, I needed to get out of here before I made a complete fool of myself. I would say something either stupid or profoundly inappropriate. I liked where this relationship was going, but I didn’t want to rush it.

  Walking over to the opposite side of the little studio, I set the cup in the sink. “Well, I’m going to go check on Libby.”

  His eyebrows drew together, “You think that’s a good idea?”

  “It’s early. Stalkers don’t get up this early. Besides, if she’s awake, I want to see her.”

  Dave stood up and moved to the sink, rinsing out the cup I had set there. “How would you know? How many stalkers have you had?” He asked good-naturedly. Before I could answer he offered, “I’ll go to the hospital with you. Just give me a minute to put a sign on the front door.”

  He had already shut his business down yesterday because of me. I couldn’t let him screw things up with his customers again. Based on my conversation with the policeman last night, having him out and about with an assault charge was a seriously bad idea, as well. “That’s okay. It’s Thursday, I’ve got a morning class, too. I haven’t been able to get ahold of Libby’s dad to tell him, either.”

  Dave squeezed my shoulder and looked down into my eyes, “I could try to help you find her dad, then we could go pick up your assignments. You could work on them here. If you tell your teachers what’s going on, they’ll let you slide.”

  “Speaking from experience?”

  “Yeah, I was the king of ‘I need more time’ when I was in school.”

  “That was high school. I’m paying for this. If I wanted to learn from a book on my own, I wouldn’t have written the tuition check. I’ll be fine.”

  Dave put both his hands on my shoulders as his brown eyes warned mine, “I don’t remember you being this stubborn. At least let me try to help to find her dad. What’s his name?”

  Defensively I flared, “Henry Merrick. And what do you mean stubborn?”

  “Uh, yeah, you’ve got some killer stalking you, so I think you can skip a couple classes.”

  “And do what?”

  “You can have the run of my apartment. I won’t bother you. I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”

  Run of his apartment? Like from one wall to another? “As enticing as that sounds,” and spending more time with him today did seem decent, “I have a test to retake from yesterday.”

  Dave’s hands squeezed my shoulders, as shivers erupted in my body. “I’d feel better if you were here – where I could be sure you were safe.”

  Leaning into him, I whispered a soft kiss on his lips, “I’m glad you’ll miss me.”

  “I wouldn’t miss you if you were here. I’d much rather not miss you.”

  Grinning, “I don’t want to become a piece of furniture. I’ll be back this afternoon.” I started for the stairs, but paused at the top step long enough to see the disappointment shining back at me through his eyes.

  “You could never be a piece of furniture.” After a second he offered, “Hey, want to go to Bank Shot tonight and see if anyone knows Mark?”

  Inwardly I sort of cringed. The only one I knew who would know Mark was one of the guys who was responsible for turning my life upside down – Teddy. After everything he had told me last night, there was no way I would deny him. “Sounds great. I’ll be back late this afternoon.”

  Holding his position near the kitchen sink, he offered, “If you need me, for anything, call me.”

  A warmth spread through my body. I had no doubt he would drop everything if I needed him, not that I wanted to be someone who wasn’t capable of operating independently. It made me feel good that Dave was only a phone call away. I blew him a playful kiss from the stairs and went to my car.

  Dave followed me down the steps. I climbed into my car as he lifted the lever to let me out of the garage. Dave’s expression was sad. . . maybe not sad – concerned. My hand rested at the top of the steering wheel as I gave him a quick wave and rolled out onto the street.

  I spent less than fifteen minutes at the hospital, after conferring with Libby’s doctor again and finding there had been no change. She was still sedated. Larry had spent the night in the waiting room. I offered to get him some coffee, but he held up an empty paper cup tucked under his chair.

  Looking at my watch, I still had plenty of time. I drove toward the east side of town. It was too early for Bank Shot to be open, but I had an incessant need to drive by anyway. I slowed as I approached its empty parking lot. Thirty-six hours ago, this place had been nothing more than a means to an end, now it had a near sinister feel to it.

  An image of Chris flashed in my mind. Regret clouded the image as I wondered if the psycho stalker had come looking for him, too. But why would he? For that matter, why would this guy be chasing me? Four hundred bucks was nothing, well, it was something, but it wasn’t worth what he had done to both Libby and me.

  School was a breeze. I expected to completely blow the test I had missed, but it was pretty easy. My lack of studying between Tuesday night and this morning had me nervous, but I was feeling much better after having finished it. As I emerged from the building where my last class had been, bright sunlight hit my face. It was still sub-zero outside, but something about feeling the sun was a real treat. Most of the winter was day after day of gray overcast skies. The sun’s bright rays did something to me and put the events of the past two days in a better perspective.

  Libby had been attacked, but her doctor was optimistic. However, he had reminded me several times they wouldn’t know the extent of her injuries until after the swelling went down. Larry was spending night and day looking out for her – something I couldn’t do if I had any hope of finding the lunatic who did this to her. Mr. Sanders had given me a week off with pay. When he had first offered, I was stunned. I sort of figured I’d take a couple days then let him know I’d be ready to come back, but I hadn’t even driven past the place since I picked up my car yesterday morning. It was on one of the major streets, so I must have subconsciously avoided the gas station not to drive by it.

  I turned the key to unlock my car door when a voice I hadn’t expected came from a car parked right next to mine. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

  My body froze. Cycling through all the familiar voices, I didn’t need to turn in its direction to know who it belonged to. I didn’t turn toward him. If he had a gun trained on me, I didn’t want to see it. Instead, I answered, “Hey, Tony. Does Teddy know you’re here?”

  Chapter 17

  “Of course not. You know what he’d do to me, right?” I had backed my car into my usual space this morning. Tony’s car was pulled into the parking spot beside mine so our driver’s doors were side-by-side.

  I whirled on him, “I’ve got a pretty decent idea. What the hell is going on?”

  Sheepishly Tony answered, “I wish I knew. I overheard Teddy talking to Grey last night. Are you okay?”

  “No, I’m not okay. Neither is Libby. Is Grey the guy who attacked us?”

  Tony looked around t
he lot to see if there were any prying ears. Satisfied that there weren’t, he started to answer, “Grey’s bad. . .” He stopped abruptly. “Look, do you have somewhere you can go for a couple weeks? Grey and Teddy have short attention spans. If you can just disappear for a couple weeks, they’ll lose interest.”

  “Disappear for a couple weeks? I can’t just go into hiding.”

  Tony shook his head, “They aren’t going to let it go right away. They’re both on some insane adrenaline rush.”

  Disbelief colored my words, “Over four hundred bucks? Grey robbed my gas station for more than that.”

  “It doesn’t make sense to me, either. Teddy just moved here from Kansas City. Grey came up to visit. I had met Grey a few times when I lived there. Just trust me. If you ever wanted to take a vacation, now is the time to take it.”

  I shook my head. I wasn’t going to be bullied, not by these two losers or by the cops. If the two had known each other in Kansas City, maybe they had a record. Tony was already helping me. How much help would he give me if one of the crazies was his brother? One question, above everything else needed an answer. “How is Mark involved?”

  Surprise registered on Tony’s face at my question. “Mark? Mark Brewer? He wouldn’t get his hands dirty with any of this.”

  Relief engulfed me. “How can I get a hold of him?”

  “You don’t get a hold of Mark. No one does. But that’s someone you better never cross. You think my brother and Grey are bad news, they’ve got nothing on him.”

  My heart sank. Dave’s brother was worse than Teddy and Grey? I felt the hair on my arms prickle under my sweater. Who could be worse than a hot-headed murderer and his sore-loser sidekick? I didn’t doubt the sincerity in Tony’s words, but what would have possessed him to try to warn me? “Why are you here?”

  Tony looked nervous. “Your friend is the first one to get the better of Teddy, ever. I knew he was mad; I didn’t know how mad at the time. Look, deep down he’s not a bad guy. He had never been hustled before.”

  Did Tony know what the two of them had done? If he did, why wouldn’t he have turned them in? “You know that Grey guy put Libby in the hospital, shot at me, shot a friend of mine, robbed the gas station where I work, and broke into one of my neighbor’s houses?”

  “I heard. That’s why I’m here. They were both out looking for you last night, and when they couldn’t find you, they decided you probably skipped town. You need to lie low so they keep thinking it, or better yet – leave town.” Tony gave me a menacing scowl, “Coming to school today was a dumb move.”

  With a confidence woven into my answer that I didn’t feel, I answered, “I’m not scared of either of them.”

  “Then you’re an idiot, because both of them scare the shit outta me.” Tony put his car in gear. “Pack up. Seriously, just leave for a couple weeks until this blows over. Right now they’re both so hyped up neither is thinking straight.”

  I appreciated that Tony was trying to look out for me in his own way, but I needed more information about Dave’s brother. Before he could drive away, I reached out and put my hand on Tony’s driver’s side door. “Tell me where I can find Mark.”

  “He doesn’t live here. He comes through town every now and again to do business.”

  “What kind of business?”

  “None I want to know about. Stay clear of all three of them. Don’t go back to Bank Shot. Don’t go to any places you would usually go.”

  Tony drove away. As I looked around the parking lot, I was suddenly acutely aware of the fact that I was alone. Mark blew through town to do business? He was worse than a killer? If I told Dave what Tony had just said, what would he do with this information? Dave told me he wanted to go to Bank Shot tonight, but from what Tony said, that would be one of the places Grey and Teddy would be looking.

  I didn’t know how accurate Tony’s information was. Maybe he was wrong about Mark. As I watched Tony’s car disappear around a corner, the reality of everything sank in. Grey knew where I worked, so even if I didn’t want to take the full week off, going back to the gas station was a no go. Did he know I also worked at Cookie’s Cuisine? I was due in again on Saturday. I had told Teddy that I was in college. There were several colleges in town, but my car stuck out – he could easily find it the same way Tony had, by just cruising parking lots. I couldn’t go home even if I wanted to: it would be a crime scene for the foreseeable future.

  My head was spinning, and I had the overwhelming urge to retch. I doubled over, waiting to see if my body was going to unload my lunch. My hands began shaking, and the cold from the air was doing little to cool the bile and heat rising inside of me. I took in several deep breaths, filling my lungs with the arctic air.

  As I stood next to my car, grateful that my body hadn’t betrayed me after all, I let Tony’s words marinate for another minute. I hadn’t seen Mom and Dad since summer, not even for Christmas. New Mexico was sounding better by the second, but even if I could swing a trip down to see them, I didn’t want Libby to wake up without me. Then there was Dave. I liked where things had started to go with us yesterday. He was so much different than the guy I thought I knew. I wanted to get to know him better.

  What little relationship advice my sister Kim had given me, she was adamant that starting any kind of a relationship under stressful circumstances was never a good idea. It was too tough to sort out what feelings were real and which ones were fed by insecurity. Maybe it would be best if I hit the road for a couple weeks as Tony had suggested. Dave wasn’t going anywhere. If I left, he would be here when I got back. Maybe if I were gone, Libby would be safer.

  The cold air began to permeate my jacket. My shaking fingers I had from fear had morphed into shivers from the cold. I took a seat in my car and turned the heater on full-blast. Eyeing my phone, my fingers dialed a self-preservation call. When the call connected, Mom’s voice picked up, “Hello?”

  Sounding as cheerful as possible, I said, “Hi, Mom. What’re you and Dad doing?”

  “Dad’s at work, and I’m watching Rachel.” My mom was a Rachel Ray fanatic. I didn’t give her a hard time about it because dinner was rarely boring. I missed that since they had left. Dinner nowadays was Ramen noodles or whatever was on sale.

  A little less enthusiastically I offered, “I was thinking of taking a road trip.”

  “Here? What about school?”

  “Spring break is next week. You want some company?” That was a lie. Spring break was still four weeks away, but she wouldn’t check. Once she and Dad left, they stopped paying attention to the little things in my schedule. Lots of students went south for spring break, so this shouldn’t give her any cause for concern.

  “Oh, I’d love that Candy, but it’s such a long drive. Do you think Kim or Carly might want to drive down with you?”

  Although I technically loved both of my sisters, I didn’t want to be stuck in a car with either of them. Kim was seriously self-absorbed, and Carly seemed like she intended to be a career-student. She had been at Midland University in Freemont for four years with no tangible end in sight. “I haven’t mentioned it to either of them yet. I wanted to make sure you had a guest room before I made any big plans.”

  “There is always room for you. But call your sisters to see if one of them will drive down with you. I don’t like the idea of you driving that far alone.”

  “If they can’t, I’ll see if another friend wants to come along.”

  Mom answered, “It would be great to see Libby again. Will she be able to get off of work?” I couldn’t tell Mom what had happened two nights ago: she’d be on the next flight back. That would completely defeat the purpose of the road trip. Sadly, even if there were no threat from Teddy or Grey, I didn’t think I could even say what had happened to Libby out loud yet.

  “I’ll see.”

  Mom began telling me about her latest adventures. She was treating her new surroundings as if she were semi-retired and had several new interests. She had taken up knit
ting, scrapbooking, and extreme couponing. One afternoon she had called to brag that she was able to purchase $150 worth of groceries for less than $15.

  At the time I had been envious, thinking this was a hobby Libby and I needed to take up. Then I learned she had forty boxes of cereal and at least that many boxes of cake mix – neither she nor Dad ate cereal for breakfast, and I couldn’t imagine eating that much cake in a year.

  She broke off in mid-sentence, as if sensing through the phone that I wasn’t listening. “Candy, is there anything wrong?”

  Taken a little by surprise, I answered, “No. Why would you ask?”

  “I’m not sure. I just worry about you and Libby sometimes. I know I shouldn’t. You’ve got a good head on your shoulders.” She paused a few seconds, “Of the three, you were always the one I knew would be able to take care of herself.”

  Pride welled up in me. The shakes, whether they were from the cold or the fear, stopped in that moment. “I’m fine, Mom. I just miss you and Dad.”

  “Well, if that’s all it is, get packed and come on down. But if there is something more going on. . .” She trailed off briefly, as if knowing I was keeping something from her, “But if you’re having a problem, running away from it isn’t the answer.”

  My breath hitched at her words. She was right. I had never run away from anything in my life. Despite how meager our existence was, Libby and I were making it on our own without any help from anyone. I cringed at the thought of her hospital bills. She would owe thousands by the time she was released. Or rather, we would owe thousands. It might not be my name on the bill, but I’d find a way to help her make good on them because that is exactly what Libby would do if our roles were reversed.

  Mom’s words were exactly what I needed to hear. Still sitting in my car in the parking lot – my decision was made. I wouldn’t go to New Mexico, or anywhere else. Despite Tony’s prodding, I had gotten us into this mess, I would get us out if it. The fear that had tried to attach itself to me diminished marginally. I wouldn’t let it own me. I wouldn’t let any of what had happened in the last couple days define me.