The Cold Kiss

by John Rector

  “Why not?”

  The look that crossed his face was probably a smile, but it was hard to tell.

  “She’s not going to let you.”

  “Who’s ‘she’?”

  “Lilith.”

  “Even if she is out there, she won’t find us.”

  Syl coughed again, and this time there was laughter behind it. “This is why I don’t blame you.”

  I shook my head.

  “You don’t believe me?”

  I told him I didn’t.

  “It’s true, I don’t blame you. I feel sorry for you, both of you, but I don’t blame you.”

  “Sorry for us?”

  “Neither of you have any idea what’s coming.”

  “What’s coming?”

  Syl’s eyes dipped shut for a second, and I reached out and touched his shoulder. He jerked back, his eyes opened.

  “What’s this about?” I asked.

  “The money,” he said. “She’s following the money.”

  “Lilith?”

  “We had everything planned. Her husband, she knew his schedule. She told me when he was home and when he’d be alone. I trusted her.”

  “Syl, I—”

  “She told him she was out of town, but before she left, she unlocked a window. All I had to do was get inside and wait. The rest was easy.”

  “Did you kill someone?”

  “He was a criminal,” Syl said. “A wannabe gangster. It wasn’t a loss.” He paused. “But I didn’t do it for the money. I did it for her.”

  Syl looked up and I saw his eyes roll back. I thought for a second that he was going to pass out again, but he didn’t.

  “She was supposed to meet me,” Syl said. “That’s what we decided. Make it look like a robbery. Get in, pull the trigger, grab the money, then get the fuck out.”

  “She didn’t meet you?”

  “She was there.”

  I hesitated. “I don’t understand.”

  “She was there, in the house. She was waiting for me.” Syl looked at me. “She used me to kill her husband.”

  “Did she shoot you?”

  “I grabbed the money and ran,” he said. “I panicked.”

  Syl’s body shook, but his voice was steady.

  “She worked for him,” Syl said. “Before she married him. I should’ve seen through it. I knew what kind of woman she was.”

  I didn’t know what to say.

  “I left town and took back roads, but it didn’t matter. She knew what I’d do, who I’d call.”

  “You’re a cop. You could’ve called other cops.”

  “No,” he said. “I couldn’t.”

  I waited for him to go on. Instead, he swayed slightly and his eyes fluttered.

  He was fading. I needed him awake, so I kept talking. “She can’t know you’re out here.”

  “She knows,” Syl said. “She knows because I fucked up.” He coughed. More blood. “I called my brother. He kept a house out here somewhere for hunting. He was going to pick me up at that diner.”

  “Where we met?”

  “When he didn’t show, I called him again. Except this time she answered. She’d made him tell her where I was and where I was heading, then she killed him.”

  “Do you think she’s coming?”

  “She’s already here,” Syl said. “I’ve seen her.”

  “In the dark?”

  “That’s right.”

  I shook my head. “She’s not here, Syl.”

  “You can’t keep the money,” he said. “She won’t—”

  He coughed again, and when he finished I saw him start to fall backward. I reached out and helped ease him back onto the floor, then I covered him with the blanket.

  “Bring it here, leave it, then go.”

  I didn’t say anything.

  “Use your head, kid. It’s probably too late, but if she gets the money she might just leave.”

  “We can run.”

  “She’ll find you.”

  “How? We can go anywhere.”

  “She’ll find you,” he said. “And you don’t want her to. She’s got a black soul.”

  I sat back and stared into the fire. I was having a hard time taking any of this seriously. I couldn’t help but think he was delirious or just making the story up to scare me into returning the money.

  It wasn’t going to work.

  I started to ask him more about Lilith, but it wasn’t any use. He was out again.

  The fire had burned down, so I stacked a couple more logs on the coals then pushed them around with the poker until they caught.

  I looked at my watch.

  It was ten past midnight.

  Zack was late.

  I sat at the table and waited. Syl was where I’d left him on the floor. He hadn’t moved or made a sound for over two hours, and the idea that I was the last person he’d ever talk to was up front in my mind.

  That, and his story.

  I wasn’t sure how much I could believe and how much was delirium. Someone had shot him, and maybe he was telling the truth. Maybe he’d gotten involved with the wrong woman. It was possible, but to believe she was following him to kill him and take back the money?

  That, I had a hard time believing.

  I played the story over in my mind. It helped keep my thoughts quiet and off Zack and what was going to happen.

  The only sound I heard was the occasional spark popping in the fireplace, and the tired moan of the wind outside. I kept expecting to feel that familiar sharp pain behind my eyes, but it never came.

  No pain, just calmness and peace.

  It didn’t seem right.

  With everything that’d happened, the last thing I should’ve felt was peace. But I did, and I didn’t question it. Instead, I leaned back and put my feet up on the table and closed my eyes and thought about Sara.

  I’m not sure how long I stayed that way, but when I opened my eyes again, I wasn’t alone.

  Caroline was standing across from me, pulling her gloves off one finger at a time. Butch was behind her, standing in the doorway.

  They both stared at me.

  “Sorry to wake you,” Caroline said. “But I think we need to talk.”

  31

  Now, the pain was there.

  I sat up and rubbed the spot between my eyes with my fingertips then looked back toward the office. It wasn’t bad yet, just a dull ache building in the center of my head. I cursed myself for leaving my pills in the room.

  “I thought the bells would wake me up if anyone came in,” I said. “I must’ve really been out.”

  “You were.”

  Caroline stacked her gloves then dropped them on the table and sat down. “How’s he doing?”

  “Woke up around ten,” I said. “Nothing since.”

  “Did he say anything?”

  “A little,” I said. “A woman and some money.”

  Caroline nodded.

  “You don’t seem surprised,” I said.

  “It sounds like what I heard this afternoon.”

  “Did he tell you who shot him?”

  “He told me a lot of things,” Caroline said. “Which just led to more questions. That’s why I thought we should talk.”

  “I still don’t know how he knew my name.”

  “Not about that.”

  “Then what?”

  “About your plans, Nate. You and Sara.” She leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table. “This situation has her scared. You know that, don’t you?”

  “How do you—”

  “Oh, I talked to her,” Caroline said. “While you were sleeping.” She smiled. “Actually, I’ve talked to everyone here. We all know what you two did.”

  “What we did?” I tried to smile, to look amused, but it wouldn’t come. “You’ve got it all wrong.”

  “I don’t think I do.”

  “Do you think I shot him?”

  Caroline nodded. “That’s one theory.”

  “Then y
ou’ve got it all wrong. It’s not true.”

  “People do a lot of things for money,” she said. “And two million dollars is a lot of money.”

  I looked at her then opened my mouth to say something, but she held up one hand, stopping me.

  “Don’t bother to deny it,” she said. “Sara confirmed the amount.”

  “The hell she did.”

  “Not in so many words, you’re right, but you don’t always need words.” She tapped one finger under her eye. “Sometimes, all you need to know is right here. Windows of the soul, or so they say.”

  “You’re lying.”

  “Nate, the poor girl is scared to death. She’s practically crying out for help. All I had to do was provide a shoulder and she opened right up.” She frowned. “You put her in a terrible position, and you don’t see it.”

  I got up and grabbed my jacket.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Back to my room,” I said. “Talk to Sara.”

  “She’s fine,” Caroline said. “Megan is with her.”

  “Why is Megan with her?”

  “To keep her company. The poor girl is a bundle of shattered nerves right now, and the two of them seem to get along well. I swear she’s fine.”

  I slid my coat over my shoulders and started for the office. Butch stepped into the doorway and didn’t move.

  I prepared myself to go through him.

  “Nate, hold on,” Caroline said. “Let’s just talk before you go storming off and making things worse. Can we do that, please?”

  I looked back at her. “If you talked to Sara, then she told you I didn’t shoot him.”

  “That’s what she told me.”

  “But you don’t believe her either?”

  “I’m not saying I don’t believe her, or you,” Caroline said. “I just want to talk.”

  “About what?”

  She motioned toward the chair. “Sit, please. Five minutes, I promise.”

  I looked back at Butch then moved toward the chair and sat down.

  Caroline leaned across the table. “I want you to know that I believe you. I don’t think you shot anyone. You don’t seem like that kind of person.”

  I nodded, but I wasn’t sure I agreed.

  I didn’t know what kind of person I was anymore.

  “I just want to know what happened,” she said. “All I can do is piece together what I’ve heard from him, and it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s not, considering his state of mind.”

  I kept quiet.

  Caroline looked at me, waiting for me to speak. When I didn’t, she said, “You two do know each other, right?”

  “What did Sara tell you?”

  Caroline leaned back in the chair. “Give and take? Is that what this is?”

  “I don’t have to talk to you at all.”

  “No, but you will,” she said. “You will because you’re a good person at heart who made a mistake, and you’re going to need someone on your side when the police get involved.”

  “I didn’t shoot him.”

  Caroline paused. “I believe you.”

  Behind me, I heard the office door open. We all looked as Zack came inside.

  Right away I knew something was wrong.

  Zack’s skin was pale and drenched with sweat. His eyes were the size of silver dollars and they jittered black in his skull. There were scratch marks on his neck, and when he walked, he seemed to stumble over his feet.

  When he saw us, he stopped in the doorway and took off his jacket. “What’s all this?”

  Butch pointed at me. “This is the guy who shot our friend over there.”

  Zack looked at me and nodded. “That so?”

  Caroline held up her hand. “We don’t know that. All we’re doing is talking. I’m sure it’ll all make sense.”

  “I didn’t shoot anyone,” I said.

  Butch leaned close to Zack and said, “Guy was carrying two million dollars on him. This kid took it.”

  If he’d been trying to whisper, he failed at it.

  I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again, Zack was staring at me. I could see his jaw muscles pulse and twitch under his skin. At first I tried to tell myself that it was the meth making him grind his teeth, but I knew better. This wasn’t the drugs.

  This was rage.

  The look in his eyes gave it away.

  32

  “Butch,” Caroline said. “You’re not helping.”

  “Just filling in the blanks.”

  For a while, everyone was quiet.

  I could feel Zack staring at the back of my head, but I didn’t turn around. Instead, I stayed focused on Caroline and tried to ignore him.

  “Two million dollars,” Caroline said. “You can see why people might think you were involved.”

  “Not if they knew me.”

  “But shooting a man for that kind of money isn’t all that far-fetched. Even I’d be tempted.”

  Zack walked around the table and grabbed a log off the stack by the fireplace, then used it to open the spark screen. “She’s got a point. Two million is a hell of a lot different than, say, two hundred thousand.” He shook his head. “That’s more than I’ve ever seen.”

  He smiled at me.

  I ignored him.

  “Sara told us you have a gun,” Caroline said. “Is that true?”

  “It’s his gun, not mine.”

  “Can I see it?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because who the hell are you?”

  “Nate, I—”

  “You’re accusing me of something I didn’t do.”

  “No one is accusing anyone of anything.”

  “You’re trying to muscle a confession out of me.”

  “You admitted you knew him.”

  “Not like you think.”

  “But you were involved, weren’t you?” She hesitated. “Come on, Nate, we’re all going to find out eventually.”

  I started to argue, but there was no point. She was right. Everyone was going to find out.

  “You want to know the truth?”

  I saw Zack turn, fast. He stared at me.

  Caroline nodded.

  I didn’t say anything right away. I wanted to be sure I was doing the right thing. I figured I’d be telling the story to the police eventually, so I might as well tell her. At least then, I could get it off my chest.

  So I did.

  When I finished, Caroline frowned. “You thought he was dead?”

  “We both did.”

  Behind me I heard Butch laugh. The sound was low and rolling. “My God, boy. You must’ve shit yourself when you saw him lying out there in the snow.”

  “Is there more?” Caroline asked.

  I told her there wasn’t, at least not that I knew about. Then I said, “I didn’t shoot him.”

  “I believe you, but I’d still like to know who did.”

  I pointed at Syl. “He told me a woman named Lilith shot him. Said they’d planned to kill her husband and run off with his money.”

  “He told you that?”

  I nodded. “He said after he shot the guy she turned on him.”

  “Sounds like bullshit to me,” Butch said.

  “The man’s been through a lot,” Caroline said. “It’s hard to know what’s true and what’s a delusion.”

  “What did he tell you?” I asked.

  “Nothing that made sense,” she said. “He thought he was in Chicago, for one. He was frantic over this Lilith person chasing him, and about you stealing his money. He wasn’t conscious for very long.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Honestly, I was so surprised when he knew your name that I didn’t focus on much else. And like I said, he didn’t make a lot of sense.”

  I thought about what she told me and tried not to let my imagination run wild. Still, something didn’t feel right.

  I turned to Butch. “Who was the last person to check in last night?” />
  “You were.”

  “No, there was a car after us. I saw it.”

  He thought about it for a moment then said, “I guess I can double-check. I put the notebook in my room to keep it safe, in case anyone else decided to rip out a few pages.” He paused to look at me. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

  Butch turned and walked out.

  “What are you thinking?” Caroline asked.

  I shook my head, didn’t answer.

  Zack started whistling a song I didn’t recognize.

  I looked up at Caroline.

  She was staring at me, and the warm light from the fireplace reflected white off her glasses.

  “Have you thought about what to do next?”

  “I don’t think I have many choices,” I said.

  “You should know that no one here blames you for what you did.” Caroline reached for the deck of cards on the table. “I meant it when I said I would’ve been tempted, too. I think we all would’ve been.”

  “It’s a lot of money to let go.”

  She split the cards and started shuffling. “Just bad luck on your part, if you ask me.”

  “I doubt the police are going to agree with you.”

  “Oh, they won’t.” Caroline dealt five cards facedown between us. “Then again, maybe they don’t have to know.”

  I stared at her.

  “Check your cards.”

  “I don’t think I’m in the mood,” I said.

  Caroline ignored me.

  “The trick to poker isn’t playing the cards, it’s playing your opponent. They’ll tell you what they’re holding if you know how to look. Do you understand?”

  I hesitated then picked up my cards and fanned them out. I was two cards off a low straight.

  “Luck doesn’t play as big a roll in this game as people think.” She pointed to my hand. “How many?”

  I pulled two cards and pushed them across the table.

  Caroline took two off the top of the deck and slid them over.

  I missed my straight.

  I wasn’t surprised.

  “All you have to know is how the person across from you plays the game. Once you do, you can use it to your advantage.”

  “What did you mean, the police might not have to know?”

  Caroline didn’t look up from her cards. “There are seven of us out here, right?”

  I nodded.

  “How much is two million divided by seven?”