Glare Ice by Mary Logue Read Free Book Online Page B

might really hit it off, or they might not. Thanksgiving would tell.
    Rich sipped his drink, ate one of the cookies, and then turned on the Weather Channel. Blue-and-pink pulses of light moved across the United States. A perky blond woman said that skies would clear overnight in Florida. Hurricane season was well over. He had enjoyed watching those storms move across the Caribbean, so far away.
    He wondered what the weather would bring them. It was dropping down to under ten degrees tonight. He hoped that Claire wasn’t out in the cold. Then he thought about how he would have to warm her up when she got home. He watched the clouds drift through the satellite skies. He set his cup down and closed his eyes as the woman with the soft voice told him how cold the northern tier of the United States would be. Below zero. Nasty cold. Icy.
    Snooper tucked her head into Stephanie’s thigh and whimpered as they pulled out of the parking lot. The silky fur of the small dog reminded Stephanie of a lamb she had petted once on her grandfather’s farm. A small comfort.
    “I know it’s cold. I’ll get you home soon,” Stephanie promised the tightly curled-up dog.
    A few minutes ago two guys had come into the bar, saying that a car had gone through the ice down the road a ways. Didn’t look good, they said. Stephanie called Buck, but all she got was his answering machine. She decided to head home and check out the accident on the way.
    As she drove down Highway 35, she heard a siren, and then a cop car went sailing by her. She was glad she hadn’t had anything to drink in case she was stopped. She didn’t want to have to explain anything, certainly not why she was interested in the accident. As she rounded a curve in the road, she could see down to the lake and the tangle of cars and trucks that were lined up by the point.
    She pulled off the road and watched what was going on. Not wanting to be in the way, she pulled off the track she had turned onto so that any vehicle could get by her.
    She knew it was Buck who had gone through the ice.
    She knew it before she saw the large, familiar body stretched out on the ground, before she saw that it was his old Chevy Nova they were trying to pull out of the lake. Before she saw how everyone moved around the body, not really paying it much attention, she had known he was dead.
    She had always known she would never get to stay with Buck. He was a gentle soul whom she didn’t deserve. He had treated her like she was worth something, and she had tried to push him away. Now she was sorry that she hadn’t pushed harder. Because of her, Buck was dead.
    Jack had killed Buck. She didn’t know how he had done it; she hated to think about that. She knew it as well as she knew her own name, as well as she knew that someday he would kill her too.
    She had to freeze herself. She had learned how to do that many years ago. In order to get through the beatings, the fear, the relentless waiting, she had learned how to turn her mind off and make her body move forward. That part of her that cared about people, she needed to disconnect it from the rest of her mind. It had never done her any good anyhow.
    Stephanie reversed out of her parking spot and turned back onto the highway. Get home, she thought.
    When she pulled up into the driveway, she saw that the porch light was off. Maybe it had burned out. She tried to tell herself that as she got out of the car and walked up to the house, Snooper following at her side. Then the little dog stopped and relieved himself on some bushes.
    “Come on, Snooper,” she called, needing to hear the sound of her voice in the still air.
    The dog wagged his fluffy tail and carefully stepped over the rocks in the driveway. Stephanie walked up the steps to her house and tried her door. It was locked—a good sign. She inserted her key and slowly opened the door. Nothing. She reached inside and turned on the outside light and the light in the kitchen. Empty. Still nothing. She