Mortal Kiss (2 page)

“Hey!” Faye shouted suddenly. “I didn’t take your picture!”

The boy looked over his shoulder with a grin but didn’t stop. Faye raised her camera, snapping two quick images before he disappeared through the doors.

“Oh … my … God!” Liz breathed. “Isn’t he just the most gorgeous boy you’ve ever seen?”

Faye shook her head, unsure whether to be angry or amused. Flash. He’d called her
Flash
! What a terrible nickname. “Come on,” she said to Liz, running for the doors as the bell rang. “We’re late!”

“Hey, wait up!” Liz called after her. “So, are you going to write about the Morrow mystery, or not?”

By the time school let out, Faye had had just about enough of Liz’s constant talk about the “utterly awesome” Lucas Morrow. Liz had spent the whole day nattering about nothing else, and it was beginning to drive Faye nuts. It didn’t help that Liz was now calling her Flash at every opportunity. It wasn’t often Faye didn’t want to be with Liz, but right now she wished she were going home alone.

Every day after school, the two girls headed back to Faye’s house to study. Liz spent so much time there that Aunt Pam sometimes suggested she just move right in. Faye’s mom had died when she was little, and ever since then Faye and her dad had lived with Aunt Pam, her dad’s sister. Aunt Pam owned the only bookshop in Winter Mill and knew everything there was to know about the town and its history. In fact, Aunt Pam knew a lot about all kinds of history and cultures. She’d spent most of her twenties and thirties traveling all over the world, and had even lived in Eastern Europe and India for a few years before coming back to Winter Mill to start her own business. Faye loved her like a mother.

“Aunt Pam! We’re home,” Faye called loudly as she and Liz pushed open the store’s wooden door. The cluttered shop was quiet, but Pamela McCarron appeared from the back room as Faye and Liz stamped their snowy feet on the mat. Her wavy red hair was bound in a printed African scarf, and despite the snow outside, she wore her usual T-shirt and long skirt.

“There’s no need to shout,” Aunt Pam said calmly. “You’ve lived here long enough to know I can’t be more than a few feet away, now, haven’t you?”

Faye crossed the floor to give her aunt a kiss on the cheek. “Sorry. Anything from Dad?”

Aunt Pam squeezed her arm with a shake of her head. “Not yet, but try not to worry.”

Faye nodded, but her stomach twisted. Her dad had been out of contact longer than usual.

“I know it’s hard, but you know what he’s like. He’ll pop up in a day or two,” Aunt Pam told her warmly. “Now, there are some ginger cookies up in the kitchen for you. Let me know what books you girls need for your homework and I’ll get them for you.”

Liz threw her arms around Aunt Pam. “What about something on how to make the boy of your dreams fall in love with you?”

“What’s this, now?”

“Ignore her,” sighed Faye. “She just hasn’t stopped going on about the new boy since she saw him this morning.”

“Oh?” asked Aunt Pam. “What new boy?”

“Lucas Morrow. He’s amazing. Just
amazing
, Aunt Pam,” Liz gushed. “He’s gorgeous and clever and funny—”

“And annoying,” Faye added.

She saw Liz roll her eyes. “Faye doesn’t like him.”

“It’s not that I don’t like him. I don’t know him. And what’s more, I don’t think I
want
to know him.”

“Faye,” Aunt Pam chided, “don’t be like that. He’s new in town. You should be a bit more welcoming.”

“He calls me Flash!” Faye squeaked. “It’s so embarrassing. Liz is already doing it. If the two of them don’t stop, it’s going to catch on and the whole school will be calling me Flash too! I wish I’d never met him!”

Faye saw Aunt Pam trying to keep a straight face. “Flash? You know, that’s actually—”

“Oh, don’t you start,” groused Faye.

“If that’s the worst he can come up with, I think you should probably give him the benefit of the doubt,” laughed her aunt.

“Did I mention that he’s totally gorgeous, Aunt Pam?” Liz added. “He has this amazing hair that just—”

“Argh!” Faye put her hands over her ears. “Please, no more about the wonderful new boy. Can we please just have thirty minutes without a single mention of him? Please?”

“Oh, all right,” sighed Liz. “Come on, I want one of those cookies—” She stopped short as the sudden sound of loud engines shattered the peace of the quiet street outside.

“What on earth is that?” Faye asked, going to the front door. She opened it as Liz and her aunt joined her, all of them staring out into the snowy street.

Six huge black bikes were roaring, rolling slowly down the road, churning up the snow as they went. They were in formation, a large V-shape that took up so much room that no cars could pass. The riders were all dressed in thick black leather and wore dark glasses that hid their eyes. The leader of the pack had a gray beard and long, straggly gray hair that blew out behind him as he cruised past.

All along the street, the people of Winter Mill were coming out of their homes, startled by the thunder of the motorbikes.

“Wow,” Faye said, raising her voice so Aunt Pam and Liz could hear her. “What a racket!”

“Who are they?” Liz asked, shouting too. “I don’t recognize any of them.”

Aunt Pam watched the bikes carefully. “They’ve been in the area for a couple of days,” she said. “But this is the first time they’ve all come down into town together. I think they’re introducing themselves. Somehow I don’t think they’re going to be very welcome here.”

The riders drew up in front of the bookstore. Faye was fascinated. She’d never seen real bikers before. She scrambled for her camera, eager to take a picture; the bikers would make a great article for the
Miller
. Looking through the viewfinder, Faye realized that one of the bikers was staring right at her. He was younger than the rest of the gang, and she thought he probably wasn’t much older than she was. His dark hair was cropped close beneath his helmet, and she couldn’t see his eyes well because of his shades. But something about him made Faye pause, looking over her camera, as he passed.

“I think he’s the one who came in here a couple of days ago,” Aunt Pam said into Faye’s ear. “He didn’t look quite so fearsome then!”

Faye stared at her aunt. “You didn’t tell me about that!”

Aunt Pam shrugged. “It didn’t cross my mind.”

“Look,” Faye heard Liz say, “there’s my dad in his squad car.”

Following in the bikers’ wake was Sergeant Wilson, the big police officer in Winter Mill’s local law enforcement squad. Rather than driving past the bookstore, though, he pulled to a stop outside it and opened the car door, pressing his cap firmly onto his head as he got out.

“Mitch,” Aunt Pam greeted him. “Looks like we have some new people in town.”

Sergeant Wilson nodded, frowning. “I’m not too happy about it, either, I can tell you.”

“Maybe this is a sign that they’re moving on?”

He shook his head. “Not a chance. They’re still camped up in the woods. Mind if I come in, Pam?”

“Of course. Nothing serious, I hope?”

Sergeant Wilson looked grave. “It might be. I need to talk to the girls.”

Liz watched as her dad shook the snow from his boots. It was closing time, so Aunt Pam locked the door behind him and removed the store’s cash register drawer. Then they all crowded upstairs, into the McCarrons’ small kitchen. Outside, the snow was beginning to fall again, huge soft flakes piling against the window frame.

Liz’s dad sat at the large kitchen table, still frowning. Liz was worried and tried to think of something she might have done wrong. Her dad was pretty strict, but she couldn’t imagine what it could be. Unless—maybe somehow he’d got hold of her report card early? But it was only the first day of the term!

Liz forced herself not to panic. She sat down opposite Faye and helped herself to a ginger cookie as Aunt Pam poured tea from a china pot.

“So what is it, Dad?” Liz asked. “You look worried. What’s wrong?”

The police officer sighed, rubbing a hand through his hair distractedly. “We found a body up in the woods, about half a mile out of town. A man. I don’t recognize him, so I don’t think he’s local. We’re trying to find out who he is right now.”

“No!” said Liz, shocked. “That’s terrible. What happened to him?”

“We don’t know yet. And I can’t tell you too much while the investigation is underway, obviously. But let’s just say we’re not ruling anything out at this stage.”

Liz stared at Faye, who was obviously thinking the same thing she was. “You don’t mean … you don’t think he was murdered, do you, Dad?
Here?
In Winter Mill?”

Her father took a mouthful of tea, and Liz saw him cast a strange look at Faye over the rim of the cup. She wondered what it meant, but a second later it was gone and her dad shrugged. “Like I said, we’re not ruling anything out.”

“But—but Winter Mill is such a peaceful place,” Faye gasped, her eyes wide. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anything like a murder happening here! Have you, Aunt Pam?”

Aunt Pam shook her head. “Not in the time that I’ve been here, and I think I’d have to go back a long way to find the last one.”

“Well, we don’t know for sure that it is murder yet,” Sergeant Wilson reminded them. “We haven’t established a cause of death. I’ll have to wait for the coroner’s verdict before I start a manhunt. And to be honest …” He shook his head. “Just getting around is going to be difficult in this weather. All the roads in and out of town are treacherous.”

Liz was alarmed. “Do you think the town will get cut off if it keeps snowing like this? Are we—do we have enough food and stuff if that happens?”

“I don’t think that’s likely to happen, Liz,” said Faye. “The town has measures in place for that kind of thing.”

Liz’s dad covered her hand with his own, patting it gently. “Faye’s right. Don’t worry. We’re spreading sand to make sure that doesn’t happen. We just have to make sure we don’t run out—and hope that this freak cold snap doesn’t last.”

“But what if it does?” Liz asked, worried. “It hasn’t given up for the last five days! What if it just keeps on snowing like this?”

“It can’t, can it?” Faye asked. “This can’t be the start of winter. It’s only early September!”

“You know, I was doing some research today,” said Aunt Pam. “And I can’t find any mention in the town records of snow falling this early in the year. Not back as far as 1680. It’s amazing—I think this snowfall may be unique in the history of Winter Mill, maybe even in the entire history of New England.”

“I’m not so worried about the snow,” said Sergeant Wilson. “My big concern right now is the bikers.”

“Do you think they have something to do with the body you found?” Faye asked.

“There’s no direct link—not yet, anyway,” he told her. “It’s just a feeling. They’re trouble, and I don’t believe in coincidences. They turn up and a couple of days later I’m investigating the first unexplained death Winter Mill has had in decades.” He shook his head. “I don’t like it.”

Aunt Pam poured him another cup of tea. “Try not to judge by appearances, Mitch. I had one of them in here the day before yesterday. He was young.”

Mitch frowned. “What did he want?”

“He flicked through some books, but I think he mainly wanted to get out of the cold. Finn, his name was. I told him he was welcome, but that if he really wanted to get warm he’d need to help me fix the heat, since it’d been acting up in the cold snap.” Aunt Pam settled at the table. “He did a good job. He seemed harmless to me, Mitch, if a bit quiet. Are you sure the Black Dogs are involved?”

“The Black Dogs?”
Liz repeated, confused.

Her dad looked up from his tea. “That’s the name of their gang, Liz. They’re the sort of folks who like to make a good first impression,” he added wryly.

“But what does any of this have to do with us, Sergeant Wilson?” Faye asked. “You said you needed to talk to Liz and me.”

“I just don’t want you girls up there in the woods.” Sergeant Wilson sighed. “It’s not just you two—I plan on getting the word out to all the Winter Mill kids. I know it’s tempting, what with the early snow. It’s thick, and it’s perfect for skiing,
tobogganing, and snowboarding. I don’t want to be a killjoy, but until the bikers are gone, and until I know what happened to that man …”

Faye nodded. “We’ll be careful,” she promised.

“You don’t need to worry,” Liz agreed, taking another cookie. “We’re not going to mess with them.”

Her dad’s phone rang, and he glanced apologetically at Aunt Pam before answering it.

“I have to go,” he said as soon as he hung up, finishing his tea and standing. “The coroner has just finished the postmortem.”

Liz decided to hitch a ride with her dad instead of staying to finish her homework with Faye. She didn’t really feel like trekking home through the snow, and she was still put out by Faye’s apparent dislike of Lucas. On the one hand, of course, that was a good thing—at least they didn’t both want to date him, which meant Liz could have Lucas Morrow all to herself. On the other hand, she wanted her best friend to at least be friendly to the person she had already decided was her future boyfriend. Not that Liz had had many steady boyfriends before—most boys in Winter Mill were too scared of her dad to ask her out!

She trod through the snow toward her father’s big four-by-four, watching his hunched shoulders. Sergeant Wilson was known in the town as strict but fair, and the same went for his parenting style. In fact, sometimes he was way
too
strict, as far as she was concerned. He had set ideas about things, and she knew when not to cross the line. But right now there was something she really, really wanted … and it looked as if he was going to be very busy, possibly for a long time. So if Liz didn’t ask for it now, who knew when she’d get another chance?

Her dad revved the engine as she pulled the door shut; he waited until she had fastened her seat belt before pulling out. It was rush hour, and Winter Mill’s stores were getting ready to close. The snowy roads were as busy as the small town ever got.