Frost (2 page)

Danger.
 

-2-

The sweat trickling over my skin froze the instant I entered the air-conditioned home of Donna Blankenship. It felt
so
good. Crow shivered in front of me. "Wow Miss Blankenship—you hang meat here often?" Oops. There goes my sparkling personality. Now it's obvious why Rucker usually had Crow take point.
 

"No, Detective Frost. I'm not here often so the thermostat's set to 77º but since Jason was coming over to watch movies I moved it down to 50º or so. Jason was sensitive to heat."
 

Crow turned and glared at me. I gave him an exaggerated shrug and the derpyest face I could make.
 

The kitchen was nice and updated in comparison to other houses in this neighborhood. New granite counter-tops—probably one of those counter specials I was seeing on TV a lot. All stainless steel appliances, except the ancient microwave above the stove.
 

Blankenship moved to the counter by the sink and gestured to the coffee machine. "If you want coffee, just open this, slip a cup in, shut it and press the button. The tea is in the large pitcher in the door of the fridge."
 

"Thanks," Crow immediately selected a coffee and started his brewing. The break room in the station had one of the new one cup coffee machines. Not that I ever used it much. I don't like hot drinks.
 

Blankenship pulled cream and milk out of the fridge and sugar out of the cabinet. Before she closed the door I noticed several cans of condensed milk. "Doctor—do you have a can of condensed milk open?"
 

She looked at the cans and then looked at me. "Yeah. In the fridge."
 

I found a container with the milk in it and started my own coffee as Crow and the doc sat down at the kitchen table. It was a nice one, with blonde wood and a white tile surface.
 

"Miss Blankenship—" Crow began as he stirred his coffee.
 

"Donna."
 

"—Donna. You and Mr. Frost met at the hospital in the children's ward. Did you know if he had any enemies?"
 

When the coffee finished I grabbed a large glass draining on the counter and filled it with ice. I poured the coffee in first, then poured in the thick, sweet milk. Using a tall spoon I noisily mixed the ingredients and sat at the table next to Crow. The weird silence caught my attention and I looked up to see Blankenship staring at me. "I'm sorry—did I do something wrong?"
 

"No it's just—the only reason I have condensed milk in the house is because Jason brought them. He fixed his coffee exactly the way you just did. He wouldn't drink anything hot."
 

Crow snorted. "Neither will he. Won't even have a hot chocolate, which isn't American."
 

I stirred my concoction together, feeling more than a little uncomfortable. "I don't do well with heat."
 

Donna continued to stare at me. "Detective Frost—"
 

"Jack."
 

"Jack—
Frost
?" she frowned. People usually had that reaction to my name. And that reaction came with a smile or an eye roll. But never with a look of confusion—or panic?
 

"What's wrong?"
 

She looked uncomfortable and a bit weirded out as she shifted in her chair and wrapped her hands around her mug. I waited her out and continued staring. It wasn't a police tactic as much as it was me thinking she was beautiful and I liked looking at her. She had a face that just got prettier the longer I looked at it. "It's—probably nothing."
 

"Nothing doesn't usually upset people," Crow laced his fingers together and placed his hands on the table between his mug and Donna's. "Doc—we suspect your boyfriend was murdered. We don't know if it was a mugging—which seems unlikely since he still had his wallet on him with cash in it—or he was targeted."
 

"Look—I can't tell you this enough. He wasn't my boyfriend," and she looked right at me. "We were friends. It's just…your resemblance to Jason is uncanny. And your similarities, like the coffee and Detective Crow stating you don't drink anything hot. So, are you also prone to heat exhaustion too?"
 

Crow snorted. I kicked him under the table. "Yes ma'am. When you mentioned Jason Frost also suffered from them—it felt a little unreal. But, that's not why you keep looking at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like I'm going to break out into song any minute?" Yeah…sometimes I was a little odd.
 

The comment brought out her smile, which was something I liked seeing on her face. "No, I don't. Not really. It's just—your
 
name. Jackson—Frost. Did your mother give you that name?"
 

It was obvious to me we weren't going to get very far unless I answered her questions. "I never knew my birth mother. But as far as I know it was the name the orphanage had on file for me. I still get a lot of teasing about it around Christmas."
 

"Jason talked about Jack Frost…"
 

"Yes, well that's nice," Crow interjected and I had the impression he was commandeering the conversation to steer it back where he wanted it. "Miss Blankenship, about enemies?"
 

 
She sighed and still continued to glance at me as I drank my iced coffee. "Everyone that met him liked him. As far as I know he didn't have many friends. Not that he wasn't nice and sweet. He was the kids' favorite on several floors."
 

"I see."
 

I felt awful and pushed my coffee away. And I mean I felt physically awful. Shaky. A little nauseous. Was there something wrong with the condensed milk? "Donna—do you know Dr. Sarah Heine?"
 

She fixed me with another of those stares. "I know
of
her. She's one of the pediatric oncologists. But I haven't actually met her. Why did you bring her up?"
 

"She's my fiancé."
 

Her mouth formed a perfect O. "I guess it's a good think she never met Jason? I'm sure she would have been just as freaked out as I am about how similar the two of you are—were," she lowered her gaze to her cup.
 

Crow and I glanced at each other and I made a mental note to ask Sarah about Donna Blankenship and Jason Frost when I got home.
 

"So Mr. Frost came in to help with the kids," Crow continued. "What exactly would he do as help?"

She traced the lip of the cup with her index finger. "He entertained them with magic tricks."
 

Apparently this was a good memory of my doppleganger because her face brightened again with a genuine smile as she refocused on us. "That's what made him so sweet. He had these magic tricks he used to do with ice and water. He'd somehow freeze water, make a bowl of snowflakes, and one of the kids said he made it snow."
 

"Made it snow?" Crow glanced at me. "In the hospital?"
 

"In a patient's room. Amelia had a birthday so a few of the kids that could, organized a party and Jason helped them. I stepped out to get more trash bags and when I came in the floor was wet. The kids said it snowed but," she smiled. "You know kids and their imagination."
 

"You're right. Doesn't sound like this guy would have any enemies."
 

"None. Everyone loved Jason."
 

"Even you?" I blurted out. I'd somehow lost control of my mouth.
 

"I loved Jason—but not the way I think he loved me."
 

"He was in love with you?"

"I suspected it, yes. Jason was so sweet and kind, and he was so good to those kids. But there just wasn't any—" she looked at me with a befuddled expression. Or what I thought of as a visual image for that word. "I don't know. There wasn't that spark. That push you feel underneath when you meet someone."
 

I felt a little flushed and put my hand to my cheek. The skin was warm but I wasn't perspiring. And who could in this house's sub-arctic temperature?
 

"Do you have a home address for him?"
 

"No. We usually met up somewhere or he came here."
 

"You didn't think that was odd?"
 

"No."
 

I made a face at Crow the Interrogator.
 

"Look—" she shifted in the chair. "I'm not sure how much I can help you. I didn't know Jason all that long. We were friends. He was on his way here for pizza and a movie." And again her gaze settled on me. "Your voice is different. It's deeper. And your mannerisms are completely opposite. Jason was always timid—like he was unsure of himself. But yours are more confident. And your face—it's not exactly like his. You have something—fiercer."
 

Oh. Kay. Now. On to more awkward moments.
 

Crow slipped his phone back in his pocket. "I think we have what we need, Donna. Kids in this area are sometimes high on meth or crank. They see a young man walking down the street and think of him as an easy mark."
 

Her eyes teared again as she sniffed. "It's just so wrong. He never hurt anyone and he died alone in the street."
 

While Crow typed on his phone I thought of something. "Do
you
have any enemies? Someone that might have targeted Mr. Frost to get to you? A jealous ex-lover?"
 

"No lovers," Again she looked at me and then looked back at Crow. "As for enemies I make them all the time, detective," she said in a very calm manner for such a loaded statement. "My job at the hospital is counselor. I work with battered children. Some are abused, others abandoned. When I find evidence of physical abuse—especially sexual—I report it to the police. So," Donna stood with her mug in her hand. "I've made quite of a few enemies over the years."
 

She walked out of the kitchen.
 

Crow and I followed. I took a closer look at the place. Half bath under the stairs, a living room with a small Christmas tree twinkling in the corner beside a fireplace. Plastic mistletoe hung from the light in front of the front door. I caught her looking up at it, then she looked down and stepped outside.
 

The heat hit me like a wall of hell. The air pressed against my skin and made it feel as if I wore a wetsuit. In a sauna.
 

Crow paused at the top of the stairs and I moved to Donna's side to get a look at the thermometer hanging on the post by the stairs. 96º. In December! And who said there wasn't global warming? This was ridiculous. The numbers on the thermometer blurred and I blinked several times, thinking I had something in my eye. I put my hand to my forehead. I felt the heat but not enough to sweat yet—

Oh God no…
 

"Donna," Crow reached into his back pocket pulled out his wallet and then slipped a card from the side pocket. He handed it to her. "If you think of anything else—"
 

I knew it was coming. I'd experienced heat exhaustion enough during my life to spot the signs—nausea, dizziness, blurred vision. Once it started there wasn't anything I could do to stop it.
 

I just didn't want it to happen in front of Donna Blankenship.
 

I grabbed the post where the thermometer hung to steady myself. Nausea rushed forward and I had to swallow a few times to stop myself from throwing up coffee and condensed milk.
 

"Jack?"
 

I felt Crow's hand on my shoulder. I pushed it away—afraid he'd knock me down the steps. Most of the houses in this neighborhood were built up from the road, the lower half of their yards encased in waist-high retaining walls of tile, brick and stone. Their staircases were cut into the yard to give a much less graded path from the house to the sidewalk. "Don't—" I said. "I jus' needa laydown…"
 

"He's slurring his words." Her perfume surrounded me when she stepped closer. Her cool hand felt good on my forehead
 
but that good was abruptly replaced by a harsher, harder hand on my upper arm. "He's not sweating but he's burning up. I'm not sure getting cool and then hot was the best for him. Damn—this is just like Jason."
 

Crow caught me as my knees gave. This one was fast—faster than any other time I could remember. I lost control of everything at once and went limp in his arms. "This is a bad one. Jack? Can you hear me?"
 

I couldn't answer him. The attack was taking me out too fast.
 

"I'd swear he was running at a hundred and three," Donna said again. "Can you carry him down? We need to see if we can get him into that ambulance that drove up. Jason can wait—he's beyond help. But if we don't get Jack to the hospital and get him cooled down, he'll be beyond help too."
 

-3-

"He's coming around."
 

"Oh Christ, finally," Crow's irritated tone was unmistakable.
 

I swallowed first just to make sure there wasn't anything shoved down my throat. Been in that situation before. I opened my eyes and saw two bleary faces hovering over me so I blinked back at them several times. "Shit, not so close. Damn Gawain, you know I don't swing that way."
 

My voice reminded me of a home-made duck call. I cleared my throat and coughed.
 

"Here," a soothing, familiar voice spoke on the other side and I turned as a straw was shoved against my lips. "Drink this. It's just water but it's cool."
 

Cold
water—it was mana from heaven. I gulped it and reached up to take control of the straw. I refocused on my savior and fiancé Sarah Heine staring down at me. I spit the straw out. "Hi baby."
 

Now when she leaned in close I felt my stomach flutter. And when she gave me a quick kiss, sky rockets in flight. "Don't scare me like that, asshole." She wore one of those long white lab coats and a stethoscope.