Cold (28 page)

Susan stopped again and turned to face Jo. "Something happened tonight which caused my husband to leave the house. He's gone to one of his usual haunts, seeking what he feels I can't provide. What he thought Michelle could." She looked at the closed door. "She fought him, Jo. Something he'd never come up against before, not from Michelle, at least."

"Did he hurt her?" Jo was pulling the bolt back, and turning the doorknob, but before she could open the door Susan had pulled her back again.

"Yes, he did. I'm sorry. But I spoke to her after he left the house. She told me he didn't have sex with her. I think her fighting him threw him." She leaned across to see into the room. "She may be a little groggy, I gave her one of my sleeping pills. They're not very strong, but she didn't take it long ago, so it'll still be working. She was almost hysterical after he left, calling for you. I tried to call you - Michelle gave me your number - but I just got your machine." She took Jo's hand, squeezing it gently. "You need to take her away, Jo. And then we both need to go to the police."

Jo nodded, realising what this woman was about to lose. "Yes, we do. Thank you."

Susan nodded towards the room. "Go to her," she said, and backed away.

Jo took a deep breath and crept into the room. She didn't turn the light on, and stood a few feet from the bed for a while, watching the small figure sleep in the light that filtered into the room from the landing.

Rocky was lying on her side, curled in a tight ball. She had her back to the door, and to Jo.

Jo crouched at the side of the bed, and reached out with a tentative hand curling it around her lover's shoulder.

"Hey," she whispered.

The reply was a soft whimpering sound, and the blonde pulled weakly away from the hand that was on her.

"Rocky, baby. Come on." She pulled Rocky onto her back, ducking back as the blonde's arms flailed.

"No," the blonde said, her voice little more than a gasp. "Don't touch me."

"Open your eyes, Baby." Jo cupped a warm cheek in her hand, waiting for the green eyes to open.

When they did they took a few moments to focus, then looked at her blankly for long moments.

Jo traced the bruise she found on Rocky's cheek, barely visible in the dim light. There was also a cut near the corner of her eye, which had bled a little, probably caused by a ring.

Green eyes were blinking at her, then filling with tears. She reached shaky arms towards Jo, and was gathered up into comforting arms. "You came," was all Rocky said.

Jo held her close, burying her face in soft blonde hair. She tried to reassure her lover, but her throat closed and she settled for just holding her, revelling in the reality of having her lover back.

She managed to pull away from Rocky and looked around the room. She saw her leather jacket lying on the floor, and reached across for it.

"Come on," she managed after clearing her throat. "Put this on; we're leaving."

She sat Rocky up and pulled the jacket around her.

"He'll hurt you," said the blonde, swaying as Jo zipped the jacket up. Rocky looked even smaller, engulfed as she was in Jo's leather jacket.

"No he won't." Jo stood, pulling Rocky to her feet. She wound an arm around the blonde and started to walk her out of the room. As they reached the doorway Rocky's knees buckled, and Jo, surprising herself, bent and picked the small blonde up, cradling her against her chest.

Susan approached them, brushing hair away from her niece's face. "I'm so sorry, Michelle," she whispered to the groggy woman. "I'll never let you down again." She looked up at Jo. "You must get her away from here. I'll try to keep him away from the room for as long as possible."

Jo nodded, and, not knowing what to say to the woman she'd hated for a while, she turned with her lover in her arms and made her way carefully down the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs, Susan made her way past Jo and opened the front door, and then went on ahead, opening the passenger door of the Merc.

Jo settled Rocky into the seat, and buckled her seatbelt. She turned back to the woman shivering in the doorway. "You need to get away from here, Jo said.

Susan nodded. "I know, I will."

The two women regarded each other for a moment across the roof of the Merc. The wind howled, driving the snow through the glare of the security light. With a quick nod Jo got into the car, started the engine, and drove carefully down the drive.

Susan watched them go, and then quietly closed the door. She went up the stairs and closed and bolted the door to Rocky's room. Then she went downstairs and sat in the lounge, awaiting the return of her husband.

Jo had never before encountered such weather. As she picked her way carefully through the almost deserted streets of Leicester, her attention was repeatedly drawn to the hunched figure beside her.

Rocky was fighting against the effects of the sleeping pill that Susan had given her, almost desperate to stay awake, fearful that sleep would only return her to the horror she has so recently escaped.

Jo reached across when the blonde head slumped against the window for the umpteenth time. "Go to sleep," she said, smoothing her hand against a denim-covered thigh.

Rocky captured the hand, but Jo had to pull it away quickly when the need to shift down a gear presented itself.

"Sorry," Jo said. "The weather's getting worse."

"Can we stop?" Rocky's voice was strained, and she shifted uncomfortably in the seat.

"If you want," said Jo, and steered into the small car park of a darkened `Little Chef`, which had obviously closed early for lack of customers. The wheels briefly skidded on the slight incline but then caught, and Jo eased the car behind a large sign, hiding them from the street.

She turned to the smaller woman who quickly undid her seatbelt and crawled across the gap between them.

Jo found herself with an armful of sobbing blonde. "Hey," she whispered into soft hair. "It's okay, we're okay."

"I was so scared," Rocky sobbed into Jo's chest.

"I know, shhh." Jo held on tight, letting Rocky know she was there, and that they were both safe.

"I can't believe you came for me."

Jo slipped a hand beneath the leather jacket and rubbed a trembling back. "Tell me what happened."

Rocky was quiet for long moments and Jo thought she wasn't going to answer. "I don't know how he found us." Her voice was muffled by the sweatshirt Jo was wearing. "He waited until you left, then rang the bell.... I thought it was you." She was quiet for a while, her hands tangling in Jo's shirt. "He said he'd hurt you. I had to go."

Jo closed her eyes, realising what Rocky had sacrificed for her. "How did you know to take my jacket?"

Rocky pulled away from her, wiping at the tears that dampened her cheeks. "I just took it because I wanted something of yours." She lay her head on Jo's chest, and relaxed into her lover when she felt the long arms enfold her again. "I didn't know the cell phone was in there until I put my hands in the pockets when I was walking across to the loo."

Jo tightened her hold. "I'm glad you found it."

"Yeah, me too." Rocky's voice was husky. "Can we get out of here now?"

Jo looked through the windscreen at the worsening weather. "I think we'd better. I'm going to stop to try and get some fuel, then we'll find the motorway and get as far as we can." She gently pushed the blonde across to the passenger seat, and waited while Rocky refastened her seatbelt. "If we have to we'll find a hotel." Jo eased the Mercedes back onto the road, which was nearly deserted.

"What do we do then?" Rocky switched her attention from the passing houses to her lover. "He knows where you live."

"We go to the police."

"Do you think they'll do anything?"

"They have to if you make a complaint."

Rocky looked down at her hands, which were folded in her lap. "They won't believe me."

Jo looked across at her, sensing an attitude of defeat about the blonde. "Susan is going to help us. We'll be fine."

Rocky nodded slightly, not entirely convinced.

Jo managed to find the motorway in what was possibly close to blizzard conditions. Theirs was one of a few vehicles trying to find their way using the three-lane road, which looked more like a toboggan run than a motorway.

"This is scary," said Rocky, leaning forward in her seat, one hand on the dashboard.

"I know, but we'll get as far as the next exit and then get off." Jo peered into the gloom, following the track made some time earlier by a snowplough, which had cleared the middle lane.

The further she went the more confident she became, and she increased her speed slightly.

"Jo," the blonde said, her nervousness clear. "Let's stop; this is crazy."

"It's okay, there's nothing else about. Look," she said glancing at the illuminated clock on the dial. "It's well past midnight. No-one in their right mind is out in this." She shot a wicked grin at her companion, who, despite her nervousness couldn't help but smile back. "I want to get as far as I can."

"That's great, just let's get there a little slower." Rocky winced as the wheels of the Merc hit the snow bank on their left.

"Ye of little faith," Jo chuckled trying to lighten the mood, and increased the speed.

"Jo!"

"Don't worry." Jo looked across at the blonde, who was peering beyond the bonnet of the car. The snow was getting lighter, the flakes smaller now, swirling around in the beam of the headlights.

"Shit!" The blonde threw herself back into her seat.

Jo's eyes tore themselves from Rocky just in time to see the abandoned car in their path. She braked and swerved but was only propelled off one snow bank into the other. The car skidded into the parked vehicle, coming to rest half on its right side, wedged between the bank and the bumper of the abandoned car.

Rocky was first aware of a pain across her chest where the seatbelt had held her against the seat during the collision. "Bloody hell, Jo! Watch that last corner," she joked weakly, turning her head slowly towards her lover.

It was dark in the Merc, just the quiet sound of the radio breaking the silence. The engine was dead but the ignition still on, causing the headlights to illuminate the now light snow.

"Jo?" Rocky reached across and down to where her lover lay unmoving. "Hey, Jo." She nudged the brunette's shoulder, beginning to panic when there was no reaction. "Come on, we need to get out of here."

Rocky managed to unbuckle her seatbelt, bracing her arm against Jo's seat so as not to fall onto the obviously injured woman. She managed to get her foot against the driver's door and eased herself down, the steering wheel digging painfully into her back. The deflated air bag hung limply across it. She could see the snow bank packed against the window on which Jo's head was resting. The glass of the windscreen was cracked but not shattered; the driver's window was intact. But the canvas roof of the car was torn and buckled out of shape.

Rocky reached down with a trembling hand and pulled back the hair that obscured her lover's face.

"Oh God," she breathed as she found hair sticking to Jo's face. The sticky substance she immediately realised was blood. Her lover was bleeding from a cut, which must have been inflicted when her head hit the window beside her. She couldn't see the wound, but it was bleeding profusely, congealing beneath her head on the glass. She reached behind her with her right hand, opening the glove compartment. Its contents spilled out, but she managed to grab the small box of tissues Jo kept in there. "Jo?" she asked as she tried to mop away the blood from the side of the slack face. "We have to go. It's getting cold here; we need to get out of here."

Jo could hear her lover, but she sounded far away. Besides she was much too tired to wake up and answer her. But the voice was insistent. And she found she couldn't resist the pleading sound of the blonde's voice. She decided she'd just go and see what it was that was scaring the blonde, then she'd go back to sleep.

Rocky watched as the blue eyes fluttered open then quickly closed again. Jo groaned and her face tightened, and Rocky ran gentle fingertips across a tense cheek. "Careful, take it slowly," said Rocky relieved when Jo's eyes seemed to focus on her and track her as she leaned back for more tissues.

"What...?" Jo tried to talk, but a stabbing pain in her head cut short the sentence.

"Sssh, just lie still for a moment. Then we need to try to get out of here."

Jo tried to lift her head from its sticky place against the window, but gave up quickly. "You go," she mumbled. "Go find help."

"Not without you." She leaned down and managed to undo the buckle of Jo's seatbelt. "I want you to try to pull yourself up."

"No," Jo slumped back, pulling herself out of Rocky's grasp.

"Come on, Sweetheart." Rocky pulled again at her shoulders. "We need to get out of here; we'll freeze to death. The engine's dead, and the roof is bust."

Jo managed to open her eyes again. "Can't see you very well."

Rocky bit her bottom lip. "There's a lot of blood; it's getting everywhere." She leaned in close, switching on the interior light in the car. Jo appeared to be having trouble focusing and blinked glazed blue eyes rapidly. "We're going to have to climb out of my door."

"Why? What's going on?" Jo looked around, then reached for the door handle. "The door's broke?"

The blonde smiled down at her lover. "Jo, the car's broke." She leaned down and gave the groggy woman a peck on the lips. "Now, I'm going to climb out, then I'm going to reach down for you. But I won't be able to pull you out on my own - you're going to have to help me."

"I can do that." Jo sounded annoyed now. Why was Rocky treating her like a kid?

Rocky sighed and turned in the tight space, then reached up and opened the passenger door, which was now above her. She pushed the heavy door up, but it wouldn't stay and kept slamming shut again. Wedging her back against the door she pushed again, and then reached down for Jo.

"Jo," she said. There was no reaction from the woman, and Rocky nudged her shoulder with her foot. "Jo, come on, we need to go."