A Cold Day in Hell

by Stella Cameron

When he saw her, she sat cross-legged on the faded blue carpet, wearing a red blouse and navy pants. She faced the door and her smile was the kind that heated him up all over. Her cell phone rested beside her. “Hi,” she said.

  Having her there when he walked in the house was special. It felt unfamiliar but right. “Hi. Look at you. The bruises on your forehead are already disappearing. The cut’s perfectly closed. Mitch is a genius.”

  “He sure is.”

  “How about the headache?”

  “It never came back. I feel normal. I’ve got more energy than usual. Maybe that knock on the head helped wake up some extra brain cells.”

  He laughed. “I’ve always thought you were in command of all those cells.”

  “Thank you, sir. I spoke to Aaron and Sonny. They’re well-settled. And they’re actually looking forward to their second night out there. Locum’s skittish, though.”

  Angel sat on the floor where he could look right at her, and crossed his legs. “The dog’s bound to be missing Chuzah,” he said. “I couldn’t get anything out of Matt today except that it’s going to take a couple more days for Chuzah’s DNA results.”

  “They won’t match anything. How can they? They’ll get the results of the samples taken from my van, too. And I don’t see how Chuzah could have had anything to do with that.”

  “Matt thinks he does.”

  Eileen shook her head. “Poor Matt. He’s desperate for a break in the case. When he saw the blisters and cuts on Chuzah’s hands, he must have thought about the boiling fat in Ona’s kitchen, and Bucky.”

  “He said there was a lot of broken glass in the van,” Eileen went on. “He’s wrong to think Chuzah had anything to do with what happened to me, but I’m sure he does. Matt only wants to keep his town safe.”

  “He’s pandering to the opinions of ignorant people,” Angel said. “Old superstitions hang around this place like pus in an abscess.”

  “Nice picture. Very poetic.” She turned her face from him.

  “So you’re completely on Matt’s side in this? Chuzah’s been good to us, but that doesn’t count for anything with you?”

  She rested her elbows on her knees and let her hands hang. “Chuzah counts for a lot, but I’m not going to blame Matt for doing what he thinks is right.”

  Anger was something Angel had learned to control, but he felt a major slip coming. “Even if you know he’s wrong and he’s thrown an innocent man in jail?”

  “Once he finds out Chuzah’s innocent, he’ll let him go,” Eileen said.

  “Oh, my God.” He scrubbed fiercely at his hair. “So if one of us, you or me, Aaron or Sonny, get picked up by nice-boy Matt, you’ll say he’s doing what he thinks is right?”

  “He would be.”

  “He damn well wouldn’t. What’s the matter with you? Have you ever been in a jail cell?”

  “No, Christian, have you?”

  She could be so infuriating. “Yeah, you’re hanging out with an ex-convict. And I wasn’t guilty of anything, either, other than being on the wrong side the way a bunch of rebels saw things. In a place like that, all you want is out—and a chance to get some justice.”

  “You’re mad at me. I’ve told you my opinion, that’s all. But I’m not supposed to have one, am I?”

  He flung himself backward and spread his arms on the floor. “Why are you so stubborn?”

  “Now I’m stubborn because I won’t say I think Matt’s a creep who doesn’t know what he’s doing. I won’t because I don’t believe that. This isn’t some sort of jungle justice. No one’s going to get tortured. That’s what you did, isn’t it? You tortured people for information, so you think the police in small-town America might do the same thing.”

  Now he had a headache. They’d disagreed before, but never like this. “I was in intelligence, but I didn’t actually torture anyone.”

  “But you had some sort of hand in it.”

  The headache left him. Cold quiet replaced it and he felt blank. Awareness, like he’d felt at the Christmas fair, and other times, came back. Weaker this time. The same pulsing aura, this one greenish, formed half of an arch, then it faded and left him irritable, anxious to know why the arc had been incomplete. Then he understood. The arc was still forming—and at the other end there would be trouble. Someone was lying, pretending, and they were deadly.

  “You don’t want to answer,” Eileen said.

  He heard her clearly but took a few seconds to answer. “Don’t talk about things you don’t understand.” He sat up. Premonitions of danger had left him for so long he had begun to feel free of them. If they continued he would start making psychic connections again. The possibility chilled him.

  “Angel? What is it?”

  Quickly, he forced his mind to see only Eileen’s face and to concentrate. “You’re a civilian. The only information you have is what you’ve heard from other people. And most of them say what they think will serve their cause best. It’s people like me, on the front lines, who really know. And the only reason anyone suffered out there was to save innocent lives.”

  She rocked slightly, her mouth quivering. “You’re right. I don’t know anything about that. I don’t want to. I wish you didn’t, either.”

  “If all the good guys ran away when things got tough, the bad guys would win. For some of us, making sure they don’t is important. I’d still be down there if I hadn’t decided it was time to get out.”

  “Why did you?” Eileen said.

  He searched for an answer to satisfy her while he stayed away from what he wasn’t ready to talk about and probably never would be. “I was tired,” he said. “I was ready to move on.”

  She nodded. “But you still think it was wrong for Matt to jail Chuzah?”

  “I see the connection you’re trying to make. I don’t believe Matt does things out of malice, or because he’s only interested in his own reputation, but he made a wrong move this time,” Angel said.

  “I don’t believe he did,” Eileen said. “There was evidence against Chuzah.”

  “Are you still in love with Matt?”

  Her eyes filled up with tears. At the same time, bitterness gave her the face of a stranger. Finally she said, “How could you?” in a whisper.

  “You keep defending him,” Angel said and sagged while fury drained away. “I don’t get it, you taking his side when it’s me you’re supposed to care about.”

  “That’s childish. It’s stupid. Matt’s a friend, but even if he weren’t, I’d want to be fair to him.”

  Staring back into her wet eyes, watching her struggle not to cry, he felt sheepish. What he’d said and suggested was childish, dammit. Partly childish. But she’d pushed him. “You are fair,” he told her. “But you throw out statements without explanations. What am I supposed to think when all I hear is how Matt’s right and I’m wrong?”

  Those tears overflowed and Eileen let them go without attempting to wipe them away.

  He leaned toward her and brushed at tears with his hands. Hanging on to fury had never come easily to him. “Look at what we’re doing to each other. I’m sorry. I’m so mad about Chuzah being in that place I’m not reasoning as well as I should.”

  She cried again, quietly sniffing and finding a tissue in her pants pocket.

  He had to let it go, Angel decided. If he could, he would force Matt to let Chuzah out. That wasn’t going to happen until Matt was ready.

  “Were you up here all day?” he said to Eileen.

  “Most of it, except when I was raiding your kitchen.” She gave a wobbly smile. “I’ve been reading.”

  “Reading what?” He’d already noted how much she read and he liked that.

  “One of my favorites, Elizabeth Guest.” She turned her head sideways to see the spine of a book resting on top of the bed. “Night Life. I’m really getting into some of this vampire stuff.”

  He lifted his upper lip to reveal his teeth. “I’ve been meaning to explain about my fangs.”

  “I know all
about your fangs,” she said, but deliberately shivered. “You sexy beast.”

  “Mmm, sexy beast? I like it. I like you, so much. Forgive me for coming on strong.”

  Eileen supported her weight on her hands, with her elbows rigid. She looked down, then quickly knelt and kissed him. “I love you,” she said. At once, she sat down again.

  It wouldn’t be hard to think he’d only imagined what she said. But he hadn’t, and she wasn’t the kind of woman who tossed important words around. He wanted to say the right thing. What was the right thing so he didn’t sound like a cliché? He smiled at her. He stroked her cheek.

  Eileen blinked and more tears slipped down her face.

  “I’m a very lucky man. Somehow I found the perfect woman and I don’t deserve you.” His chest actually felt tight. “I’m not letting you go, though.”

  “Do you see me running anywhere?”

  “Uh-uh.” He couldn’t drag his feet anymore; he had to tell her about the message he’d received. “Eileen, I’ve got some good news.” A man could never be sure how a woman would take something, but he hoped she would be pleased.

  She waited for him to go on.

  “I was contacted today—about Sonny. Or about the guy we were afraid could be after Sonny.”

  Eileen dug her fingernails into the flattened pile of the carpet. She appeared puzzled. “What guy?”

  “I don’t get to talk about names. He was in jail, on death row. You know how long it takes to go through the appeals process. A month ago he escaped from a courthouse. I don’t know how. I’ve been pretty stretched out about it. But they’ve got him again, thank God.”

  Eileen took far too long to say, “Why didn’t you tell me about this before? I would have insisted Aaron stayed away from Sonny. I don’t want anything to happen to Sonny, ever. I’d do what I could for him too, if I could help.”

  “I was taking care of them both.” It stung that she didn’t believe in him.

  “Is this the man who killed Sonny’s father?”

  “Yes.”

  “A gang-type or something?” Her mouth thinned. She stood.

  Angel looked up at her, felt the rage building in her. “Something like that.”

  “You said Aaron wasn’t in any danger, but he was. You put him in danger.”

  “No—I didn’t,” Angel said, struggling not to explode.

  “Did he work alone—the man?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “The others are all in prison?”

  “Not all of them, but they’re small potatoes, lackeys.” He got up and she took a step backward.

  “Lackeys? They don’t have guns?”

  His thoughts stumbled around. It wasn’t reasonable to expect her to understand, but he had hoped she would accept that he was a professional and didn’t leave things to chance.

  “I asked you a question,” Eileen said. “I guess you can’t answer because—”

  “Don’t second-guess my motives.”

  The blood had drained from her face, but she raised her chin and looked up at him; her expression dared him to push her too far.

  Dammit, she ought to feel safe with him. She should believe he would take care of all of them. Sonny did.

  “I think I should leave,” she said very quietly.

  “I think we should talk,” he told her.

  “We’re only going to get angrier. You risked my son’s life, but you told me whatever happened in the swamp was nothing to do with Sonny. Now you announce that someone horrible has been roaming around.”

  “But he wasn’t the one who took a potshot at Aaron out there. I explained to you that if it was, he wouldn’t have missed.”

  “You lied to me by not explaining, Christian.”

  He took her by the shoulders and gave her a single shake. “I didn’t lie. I work from my own experience and I know exactly what I’m saying. I wouldn’t lie to you.”

  Eileen caught at the sleeves of his shirt with hands that shook convulsively. “You don’t scare me.” Everything about her screamed that she was lying. The brave words came out small and ineffectual.

  “I don’t ever want to scare you. But I want you to trust me, you hear? Trust is a big deal to me.”

  “You haven’t trusted me enough to let me know exactly what’s happening.” She clenched her fingers in his sleeves.

  “Stop it, Eileen. You’ve gone too far. Congratulations on getting what you wanted. I’m mad and I feel guilty at the same time. Why should you be able to do that to me when I haven’t done anything—except—”

  “Except what?” Her face didn’t thaw a bit.

  “Operatives have been plastered like invisible paint everywhere those boys have gone. They’re watching Chuzah’s place now.”

  “I can’t cry anymore,” Eileen said, but she did cry. “If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have worried.”

  “I’m sorry I’ve hurt you,” he told her. Sometimes he thought he was too jaded to be around normal people.

  “You didn’t mean to. What were you going to say when you stopped yourself? Why should I be able to do anything to you when you haven’t done anything except—except what?”

  “Love you.” Saying the words felt so strange. “I’ve never said that to anyone before.”

  Her hand went to her throat. “But you’re so angry with me you could spit. I never wanted to do that to you. I’m sorry, Angel.”

  “I’m not angry,” Angel said. “But I want you to believe in me and believe in yourself. Can you take that in? Do you get that this is all something that means so much to me?”

  She closed in on him and he didn’t attempt to make any move himself.

  When she started to unbutton his shirt, he closed a hand over hers. “You aren’t ready for this.” But he wanted her. He wanted her every day, dozens of times a day, whenever he thought about her.

  “This is what I want to do,” she said. “Someone hit my head, not…” The bemused crunch of her features made him chuckle.

  “I feel serious,” Eileen said and resumed unbuttoning his shirt. “This is about you and me. Everyone’s safe, I believe you.” She looked toward the ceiling. “Unless someone’s on the roof with a machine gun this time.”

  “They’re not.” He expanded his lungs.

  Eileen had completely undone his shirt and pulled it out of his jeans. “Have I told you what I think about your butt?” She put her fingers over his mouth, although he’d had no intention of answering. “It’s hard. How does a butt get that hard? It feels good to the kiss, too.”

  “Mmm.” He didn’t embarrass easily but a little heat turned his ears red. “That appeals to me, too.” He slid his hands down her sides and over her hips to hold the cheeks of her bottom firmly. “Mmm.”

  She rested her face against his neck and giggled. “Maybe we can bottle and sell the feelings you give me.”

  “If I bottled mine I’d get arrested.”

  “Is it okay if I feel you up?” She ran her fingers up and down his back. Her breath was soft and warm on his neck. He grunted and she pushed a hand into the back of his pants.

  “I believe you,” Angel said. “You like butts.”

  “Your butt.”

  “Cher, what I want is to tear off our clothes and play target practice somewhere. Instead, I’m going to cuddle you in that bed until you fall asleep.”

  “Target practice where?” Eileen said. Eileen unsnapped and unzipped his jeans.

  “Don’t get excited,” he said. “It’s not good for headaches.”

  “I don’t have a headache. What’s target practice?”

  “You don’t know? How old are you?”

  She narrowed her eyes and gave him a punch in the gut. From her grimace she suffered a whole lot more than he did. “That’s not nice. I’m old enough but not so old I’m out of touch. You make it all up as you go along.”

  “Phew, just wanted to make sure you weren’t underage. The point of target practice is to hit the bulls-eye. You have to b
e lined up properly to do that.”

  Her red shirt landed on the seat of the nearest chair. She looked edible in a low-cut black satin bra with a lace edge that didn’t cover the tops of her nipples.

  The navy pants followed and he feasted on a wispy lace thong. Long legs, smooth hips with a perfect curve all the way up to the tiny black band at her waist. All of her was woman, not girl. Lush, that was the word.

  “You’re in a hurry to go to bed,” he said.

  Eileen wasn’t talking.

  She turned her back on him and his breath escaped slowly. Speaking of butts…

  It only took a step to stand close behind her and run his hands over her satiny rear. He kissed her shoulder and looked down at her breasts. Served up perfectly was the thought he had before he slipped his hands around her waist and upward to cup her breasts. He softly passed his fingers over the fine white skin and firm flesh above her bra. When he dithered, returning again and again to her rib cage, her breathing grew shallow. She arched her body and rested the back of her head on his shoulder.

  Angel smiled, he blew against her ear, kissed her cheek and gradually worked toward her mouth. With one hand, he turned her face up to his and kissed her, a long kiss that cost him. His body stood at attention and began to actually hurt.

  Smoothly, he pressed his way down, down to the triangle of lace between her legs, over it to the warm moistness that waited there. It waited for him. Her eyes closed and her knees made a jerky dip. She twirled in his arms, bent over a little and backed away, her chin up so she could watch him with an intense smile.

  “Are you teasing me?” Angel said.

  “Well, I surely don’t see any other men around here and I am teasing someone.”

  He made a growling sound and grabbed for her.

  She jumped away, shaking her finger at him. Then she pulled herself up to sit on a long, low chest of drawers. A pile of Angel’s folded clean clothes flew from the shiny top of the chest and scattered across the floor. “Shall I pick them up now?” She sat on the very edge, swinging her feet, her hand gripping the wood between her legs.

  “No. I want you right where you are.” He shucked his pants.

  Eileen pointed to his shorts. “I like you better without those.”