The Cold Kiss (13 page)

27

I was back at the window watching the snow gather in the parking lot and thinking about Zack. Sara was sitting on the bed. She’d found a deck of cards and was practicing dealing blackjack, preparing for the future.

It was a good sign.

“I can’t be in here anymore.” Sara stacked the cards then set them on the nightstand. “I’m losing my mind. I have to get out of here.”

“The roads are still—”

“This room, Nate. I have to get out of this room.” She walked to the table and grabbed her jacket. “I need to eat something. I feel like I’m going to pass out.”

“Where are you going?”

“To the office. They might have something there.”

“But—”

“I’ll be fine,” she said. “I know what I’m doing.”

I got up and reached for my coat.

“You don’t have to come,” she said. “I’ll be fine.”

But I went anyway.

I thought the fresh air might do us good.

Sara saw her first.

The woman was standing alone at the edge of the playground and staring out at the field and the single cottonwood in the distance.

“Who is that?”

I stopped walking and looked back. When I saw her, I felt my stomach twist. For an instant, I couldn’t speak.

“Nate, who is—”

“I don’t know,” I said.

We stood and watched her, then she turned and walked toward the right side of the playground.

“It’s Caroline,” I said.

“What is she doing?”

My heart was beating double time, and all I could do was shake my head.

“Do you think she’s okay?” Sara asked. “Does she need help?”

“She’s fine,” I said. “Let’s go.”

I turned and kept walking toward the office.

Sara followed.

It was unsettling to see Caroline out there, standing in that spot. It was too familiar, too coincidental, and something about it burned in the back of my mind.

I told myself she was tired of being inside, just like us, and she needed to get out and walk, even if it was through the snow. It sounded possible and I mentioned it to Sara, even though I didn’t believe it myself.

She didn’t believe it either, and by the time we got to the office, I could tell she was starting to worry.

“What was she doing out there?”

“Walking.”

“But why that spot?”

“You’re doing it again.” I did my best to sound calm. “Let it go.”

Sara frowned, but she stopped talking.

I opened the door and we stepped inside.

The air in the office was hot, and I could hear Syl moaning in the other room. We followed the sound.

“Where is everyone?”

The room was empty except for Syl on the floor by the fireplace. He was twitching under the blanket like a giant yellow worm. As I got closer, I saw that the skin on his face had dried and begun to peel away in thin, dead gray strips.

“Who’s supposed to be in here?” Sara asked. “What happens if he wakes up and needs something?

I looked at her. She seemed to realize what she was saying and she turned away.

“Are you sure you can handle this?”

She nodded.

“Why don’t you wait in the other room. I’ll look for something to eat.”

“No.”

“It might be easier.”

“Let’s just grab something and go.”

We looked around, but we didn’t find much.

There were individual packets of oyster crackers on the counter and some instant oatmeal. We put the crackers in our pockets and left the oatmeal behind.

“I wish there was fruit around here,” Sara said. “I’d kill for an apple.”

Behind us, Syl coughed then said, “No, I don’t know.”

We both turned around.

Syl’s eyes were closed.

A second later he coughed again, then he was silent.

Sara didn’t look away from him until I reached out and touched her arm.

“Come on,” I said. “Let’s go back.”

“We should stay until someone shows up.”

“Sara.”

“It’ll make me feel better.”

So we did.

A few minutes later we heard the bells above the office door, then Marcus came into the dining room.

When he saw us, he stopped. “Hello, Nate.”

I motioned to Sara and introduced her.

“Caroline’s husband,” I said.

Marcus had a hardcover book under his arm. He set it on a table then unzipped his coat. “Pleased to meet you.”

“We didn’t think anyone was in here,” Sara said.

“I ran back for my book.” Marcus pointed at Syl. “Our friend here isn’t much of a conversationalist. Megan was here for a while. Did you see her on your way over?”

“We saw Caroline,” I said.

Marcus frowned. “Yes, I know. Was Butch with her?”

“I didn’t see him,” I said. “Is she okay?”

“Bored. At least I hope that’s what it is. She’s taking all of this rather seriously.”

“All of what?”

“This,” Marcus said. “Our friend over there.” He paused. “She can’t seem to come to terms with the fact that we’re stuck out here, and now she’s acting like Miss Marple, out trying to solve a quaint Midwestern murder.”

“He’s not dead,” Sara said.

“That’s right.” Marcus pointed a finger at her. “You and I can see that, but for some reason it’s lost on her. And now with someone going around breaking into people’s rooms, Butch is all worked up, too. They’re a regular Holmes and Watson.”

“Someone’s room got broken into?”

Marcus tapped his finger against his chest. “Just my room and Butch’s place. Nothing was taken, but things were thrown around.” He pointed toward the door. “If you ask me, it’s his own damn nephew doing it. That kid isn’t right.”

“Why is Caroline outside?”

“No idea,” Marcus said. “She insists she knows what’s going on. Didn’t say what she knows or how she found out, but she seems serious. It’s damn silly, if you ask me.”

I felt Sara tense up next to me.

I pretended not to notice.

“It’s easy to let your imagination run wild out here,” I said. “Especially in this situation.”

“Caroline doesn’t need much help in that regard.”

“At least she’s keeping herself busy.”

Marcus pointed toward Syl. “He’s been talking a lot more. It’s all nonsense to me, but maybe he said something to her that clicked.”

“She didn’t tell you anything at all?” Sara asked.

“Not a word,” Marcus said. “When I showed up, she just grabbed her coat and ran out. And to be honest, I’ve learned not to ask. I know there’s no talking to her when she’s like that.”

Sara and I looked at each other.

Marcus sighed then picked up his book and sat at the table by the fireplace. “Sometimes, I just don’t get that woman.” He shook his head. “Damn silly.”

28

We carried the food back to our room then locked the door behind us. The first thing I did was slide the mattress off the bed and check the suitcase.

It was still there.

“What are you doing?” Sara asked.

“Making sure no one’s been in here.”

Sara leaned against the wall then opened a package of crackers and ate them one at a time. She didn’t look at me, and neither of us said a word.

I pushed the mattress back in place.

Outside, the wind was picking up, and occasionally it would slam against the building and rattle the windows. Every time it did, Sara would jump. When I noticed her hands shaking, I figured I should say something.

“Don’t be upset,” I said. “Everything’s going to work out. Caroline doesn’t know anything.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You’re worried.”

“Doesn’t mean I want to discuss it.”

I watched her for a while then got up and grabbed my coat off the chair.

“Where are you going?”

“Outside.”

“What for?”

I took my cigarettes from my pocket and showed her.

She stared at them then turned back to her crackers.

“What do you want me to say?”

“There’s nothing to say,” she said. “Things are the way they are. It’s too late to say anything.”

“You said we could ride this out.”

“I know what I said.”

“We can still do it.”

“Do you think so?”

“You don’t?”

“I think this isn’t going to end well,” Sara said. “Not as long as we have that money.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“That money is cursed.”

My first instinct was to yell at her.

The flash of anger was so strong and came so fast that it shocked me into silence, and that was a good thing.

I turned and unlocked the door.

“Hold on,” Sara said. “Don’t go yet.”

“I’m not getting rid of the money.”

“Nate, I—”

I told her again, louder this time.

“I’m not getting rid of the money.”

Sara looked at me. “We could lose everything.”

“We don’t have anything.”

“We have each other,” she said. “And we have the baby. That’s all that matters.”

I didn’t speak.

“Jesus, Nate, you could go back to prison.”

“I’m not going back to prison.”

“You could if Zack goes through with—”

“I’m not going back to prison, no matter what.”

Sara looked like she had more to say, but instead she got up and came to me and buried her head against my chest and stayed like that for a long time.

Eventually, she pulled back and looked up at me.

“All I want is you. Do you know that?”

I told her I did.

“The money isn’t important unless I have you.”

“Not right now,” I said. “But in a few years, when you’ve had me around for a while, you’ll think it’s important and you’ll wonder about what could’ve been.”

She looked up at me and smiled, but it never touched her eyes. “You don’t know me at all, do you?”

I leaned against the side of the building and smoked my cigarette. The snow was falling hard, and heavy gray clouds settled low over everything.

Somewhere in the distance, I heard a door shut.

I went to the end of the walkway and looked out at the office. Caroline and Butch were walking up the path toward our building. I wasn’t surprised to see them.

I watched until they got close then I dropped my cigarette in the snow and waited.

“Nate,” Caroline said. “You got a minute?”

I told her I did, then added, “How’s the detective work coming?”

She didn’t understand.

I explained my conversation with Marcus.

Caroline frowned. “I’m glad he sees the humor in all of this, and you, too.”

I told her it was a joke and tried to laugh it off, but she didn’t care. I invited them inside, out of the cold.

“This won’t take long,” she said. “We can talk out here.”

I took another cigarette from my pocket then lit it and said, “It’s up to you.”

Butch was staring at my lighter, frowning.

I remembered the matches and said, “Found it in my bag. I didn’t need those matches after all.”

Caroline looked at Butch then back at me. “You were the last to arrive last night, right?”

“I don’t know about that, but we got in late, sure.”

“Do you remember seeing any other cars on the road?”

I told her I didn’t.

“How about anyone walking?”

“Megan already asked me all this,” I said. “You want to know if I saw him out in the storm.”

Caroline waited for me to answer.

“If I’d seen him, I would’ve picked him up.”

“So, you didn’t.”

“No,” I said. “I didn’t see anyone.”

Caroline looked at Butch and something unsaid passed between them.

“Why are you asking me?”

“We’re asking everyone,” Butch said. “Not just you.”

“But you’re suspicious of me.”

“We’ve had some problems around here today,” Caroline said. “And I’m afraid your name keeps coming up.”

“I’m not the one going through people’s rooms,” I said. “I’ve been inside with Sara all day.”

“Marcus told you about that, too?”

I told her he had, then looked at Butch and said, “He thinks it’s your nephew. Did you start with him?”

Butch shook his head. “It’s not Zack.”

“And it’s not just the rooms, Nate,” Caroline said. “Butch told me he caught you behind the front desk this morning. Now he’s missing all your personal information from last night when you checked in.”

“I don’t know anything about that.”

The both stared at me, then Caroline said, “And then there’s the man dying back there in the office.”

I waited.

“He knows your name. Can you explain why?”

I shook my head. “I helped carry him inside. Maybe he heard my name and remembered it.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“He’s been saying a lot more,” Caroline said. “He mentioned money and a woman named Lilith. Do you know anything about that?”

“I don’t know anything about any of this,” I said. “What exactly are you accusing me of doing?”

“We’re not accusing you of anything,” Butch said.

“Then maybe it’s a good idea if we stop talking before you do.” I took one last drag off my cigarette then tossed it into the snow. “I’m heading over to the office in a little while to take my turn, unless you don’t want my help anymore.”

Caroline looked at me and I saw her eyes soften. “I don’t know, Nate. Maybe I am taking all of this too seriously. If so, then I apologize.”

Butch started to say something but didn’t.

“I’ll come by the office later and we’ll play some cards,” Caroline said. “We’ll see if you’re as bad as you say you are.”

I lied and told her I’d like that, then I turned back toward my room.

Butch stopped me.

“I need to get all your information again.” He reached into his pocket and took out the notebook. “Before you leave.

“I’ll give it to you when I get over to the office,” I said. “I want to get back inside before Sara starts wondering what happened to me.”

I could tell Butch didn’t like the idea, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, they told me to say hello to Sara then they turned and started back toward the office.

I didn’t stick around to watch them go.