Frostbite (Touch of Frost) (17 page)

“She was. I have no idea what’s on there or why she’d have it.” Oh, other than the fact that she was probably a super-hero, or super-spy, or some government project involving super-powers. Heck maybe schoolteacher was her cover.

I rested my head against his chest. I’d never wanted anyone to know about me more than Zach. Something about him drew me in. Maybe he’d understand. We could—

“Got through, guys.” Jess’s voice reverberated off the dark walls.

My lungs deflated like a pricked balloon. He’d gotten through? I twisted out of Zach’s arms and scurried to the computer room. A picture of my mom’s face filled the main screen.

My knees buckled.

Zach caught me.

I took a deep breath, but the oxygen didn’t chase away the darkness creeping into my vision.

“Whoa, hold on.” Zach dragged me to the chair. “Amanda?”

I couldn’t pull my stare from the screen, though.

“As soon as I got through, I hit pause.” Jess turned to me. “See, told you, you could trust me.”

A smile sent the dimple in his left cheek into spasms. He’d done it. But why would Georgia’s mom have a disc of
my
mother’s? Did her mom know mine? She must have powers, then, if Georgia did.

Or, she was a
Coat.

NINETEEN

J
ess glanced at me. “Whoa, did it just drop a few degrees in here?”

I coughed through the thickness in my throat. My mom was on the screen. How was that even possible?

“I’ll watch it with you,” Zach said.

“No.” I shook my head. “No. I don’t want to.”

“What do you mean you don’t want to watch it? Why did I spend the last hour and a half breaking into it for you?” Jess’s eyebrows scrunched together. He guzzled more soda.

No wonder the guy twitched.

“Is it fixed for good? Like, if you give me the disc, can I play it on my computer?” I managed to keep my voice from cracking, despite how focused I was on keeping my ice at bay.

“I’m going to put it on this thumb drive here. You can plug it into your USB on your laptop and it’ll run. People don’t use discs anymore.” Jess turned to his computer.

Mom’s image disappeared from the screen. “Whoa, what happened?”

“Just closing everything out so you can have your stuff.”

After a few minutes, he handed me a little flash drive.

“The disc’s worthless. I trashed it. Don’t need that stuff around anymore. The drive has everything you need. No codes, no nothin’.”

I took the treasure with shaky fingers.

“Thanks, Jess. I owe you big-time.” Zach bumped knuckles with Jess.

“I’d say, Z-man. That hack was wicked. Cool, but wicked.” He smiled. “Thanks, though. It’s exactly what I needed. I was getting bored with the lame-ass hacking stuff on the net.” He laced his fingers together and stretched his arms out in front of him.

His crackling knuckles sounded like popcorn.
Gross
.

“I really appreciate it, Jess. Free smoothies for life.”

“Hey now, I might take you up on that. You two stay out of my little office, you hear?” He laughed as he rolled his chair away from us, then hopped to his feet.

We made our way down the front steps as the creaky door slammed shut behind us.

“Tough seeing your mom’s picture, huh?”

“Shouldn’t be. I see the one hanging in my living room every day.”

“But this is different.”

He had no idea. Georgia’s mom must have known mine if she had a disc with my mom’s picture on it. My gut rolled like I’d eaten a bad burrito.

“How come you didn’t want to watch it in there? I would have stayed with you. You wouldn’t have been alone.”

I glanced up at him. Compassion brimmed in his eyes. “You’re sweet. I just think I need to watch it with my bro.”

“I can see that. I’d like to be there, too. To help you through it.”

“Wow, are you for real? You’re too good to be true.” I cupped the side of his face. “But I better watch this with Scott. You understand, don’t you?”

He nodded and offered me the helmet. “Let’s get you home, then.”

Five minutes into the ride, a set of headlights zoomed up behind us. The car went to pass us, but then didn’t.
Shit
.

Tinted windows paired with the darkness of night prevented me from seeing into the car.

Zach gunned it and put some distance between us. It sped up as well. This was not good. I held tight to Zach and turned as much as I could. Should I try to freeze a tire or something? What if it wasn’t the
Coats
?

My pounding heart knew it was the
Coats
, my mind was a few beats behind it. I cooled down my hand and glanced around again before turning my focus to the car. Someone was leaning out the window.

Wait, was that a gun?

The bike jolted. Metal scraped pavement. Sparks lit up the darkness, leaving a trail of light behind us. The bike jerked, and off I went, like a bull rider in a rodeo.

“Amanda,” Zach yelled.

Oh God, Zach. The
Coats
wouldn’t take him, would they? Of course they would.
Please, no.

I flew across the road toward a field. Waving my arms, I fought gravity to land upright. The ground zoomed at me faster and faster. I lifted my arms to brace for the fall, and light, powdery snow shot from my palms with the force of water from a fire hose.

A huge pile of snow formed in time for my landing. The impact knocked the wind from my lungs and sent me rolling down the mound. I scrabbled to get my bearings, but my back rammed into something hard.

A sharp point jabbed my shoulder, pinning me to the ground. “Move and I’ll put you out.”

Damn dart guns. I showed my palms as I scanned the area to my left best I could. Dried grass and weeds. I must have really shot into the field a distance.

I had to cooperate for a second to catch my bearings. Couldn’t help Zach if I was unconscious.

Shuffling to my right drew my attention. The man holding his weapon to me shifted his focus to his partner. “Get the boy. He’s coming, too.”

In his distraction, I grabbed the barrel, crushed it shut and turned on the cold.
Die!
Ice crackled around his mouth as he let out his last breath.

I pointed my hand at the other guy. Before he could get a shot off, he froze solid. My pulse hammered through my ears, and my stomach churned. I pushed to my feet and checked for more
Coats
.

No way were they taking my Zach.
Shit.
I gulped down the nerves and did another three-sixty. I’d never frozen anything—or anyone—that quickly before. Power and energy raged through me like a river. My pulse throttled my eardrums.

Seemed clear so I took off. I’d jetted about fifty feet into the field. But where had Zach landed?

Smoke spewed into the night air from across the road and up nearly a hundred feet. “Zach!”

Please let him be okay. I glanced around again. Still no sign of anyone else. The moonlight danced off the ice sculptures, but I shook it out of my mind. All that mattered right now was Zach.

I sprinted toward the plume and found him lying in the ditch, the bike on top of him.

“Zach.”

He grunted, trying to push the cycle up.

Before I could think it through, I reached down and yanked the cycle off him, then tossed it behind me. When I looked back at him, he stared at me with wide eyes.

Oh my God, what have I done?

TWENTY

“Z
ach.” I knelt beside him. Thank God. The
Coats
hadn’t gotten him. He was alive.

“How...?”

Blood trickled down the side of his face. He stared at me, and I couldn’t decide whether fear or disbelief dominated his expression. Maybe a little of both?

“Where are you hurt?” Where was his helmet?

“I—You—” His eyelids fluttered. “My bike.”

“Where’s your phone?”

“Front Pocket.”

Crap, I couldn’t call the cops. Not with two ice sculptures and a random car so near. My mind whirled. Bile burned the back of my throat. With shaking fingers, I dug out my phone from my pocket and dialed Scott.

Zach lay on his back, his left arm over his stomach. I dug in his front pocket until I found his phone.

He groaned.

“I’m sorry. Just hold on.” I stood over him and turned a three-sixty. No
Coats
.

“Hello?” Scott’s voice crackled over the airwave.

“Scott. I need help.” I propped my phone between my ear and shoulder and faced Zach. “Zach, where are we?”

“County 8.” He coughed. “Hickory Road.”

“Mandy, what’s wrong? What’s happening?”

I turned and whispered, “
Coats
found me. Shot out Zach’s tire, and we crashed. Two ice sculptures in the field. I’ve got to call the cops. Zach’s hurt bad.” Tears lodged in my throat, but I coughed them away. I needed to be strong. For Zach. I would protect him no matter what. “Scott. He saw me use my strength.”

I glanced over my shoulder. Zach lay there, eyes closed, and his arm propped over his stomach.

“Zach. Stay with me!”

His eyes opened, and he let out another pained groan.

“Stay awake!” I knelt beside him, holding my phone close to my chest. “Zach, can you hear me?”

His gaze landed on me. “How’d you—”

“I’ll tell you everything. First, make the call to the cops.” I nodded. “Please. Just don’t mention me.”

“Tire blew.” His eyes fluttered shut. “Hit a rock or something.”

“That’s right. A rock. Tell them that.” I pressed 9-1-1 on his phone. “Tell them where you are, they’ll come. I have to go.”

“But—”

“Do it!” I backed away to the sounds of his faint voice giving his location. “Scott, hurry. I don’t know what to do.”

“Cops’ll beat me there, Mandy.” A stream of curses flew. “You’ll have to take care of the
Coats
.”

“What about the car?” I took off down the road, my heart shredding with each step. I needed to be with Zach. He was so hurt. “Shit!”

“Focus, Mandy. I need you to do this.” Dings in the background sounded. “I’m on my way but you’ve got to be strong. How far away from Zach are the
Coats
and their car?”

“At least a hundred feet. It’s in the ditch, too.”

“You might be far enough away to not even be on their radar, but we can’t chance it.” A door slammed followed by bells and chimes. “Can you push the car out of sight?”

I slowed down and took in my surroundings. Trees hemmed in the field I’d landed in. “Yeah. I can hide it.” The dead grass crunched beneath my feet as I approached the vehicle. “How do I take care of the
Coats
?”

“Should be a crowbar in the trunk. Or find something hard.” Scott paused, and I heard him take in a deep breath.

I gulped down the nerves threatening to choke the air right out of my lungs. So, I’d been right when I’d guessed what Scott had done to the
Coats
I’d frozen.

“Mandy?”

“I’m here.” I ripped open the trunk. “I found what I need.”

“I’m sorry, Mandy. You shouldn’t have to do this.”

Neither should he. I rounded the rear end of the car, carrying my weapon. The glistening ice sculptures came into view, and my stomach cramped. “Hurry, Scott.”

“I’m on my way.”

I ended the call and slid the phone into my pocket as I came face to face with the frozen
Coats.
Lifeless eyes stared at me through the clear ice. Tears welled. Wasn’t sure why, though. These bastards had ruined my life. Scott’s, too.

Now their evil spilled into Zach’s life. Could have ruined it. Killed him.

Distant sirens yanked me back to my bleak circumstances. I choked up my grip like the crow bar was a baseball bat.

And I swung with all my strength.

TWENTY-ONE

“G
eorgia.”

She bolted my direction.

A few steps later I collapsed into her warm arms. “Mandy, what happened? Oh my gosh.” I melted to the ground, taking her with me.

Scott approached, eyes wide, and skidded to his knees next to us.

Georgia plucked the prickers from my hair while I turned to Scott. I opened my mouth to ask him how Georgia was here with him, but I couldn’t find my voice.

He pulled me into a hug. “We’ll figure it out.”

“The
Coats
…The bike landed on him.” I shook my head, trying to organize the mind-whirling thoughts storming through my brain. “I ripped it off. He saw me. Everything happened so fast.”