October Snow (12 page)

Max crushed out the cigarette, and put her arm around her. “C’mere, hon.”

“I don’t even have any
money
,” she sobbed, laying her head against her shoulder. “He makes a ton selling his cars, but he keeps it all. Even all the child support Dave sends. He gives me a little here and there–but right now, I don’t have
anything
but what I put in my bag this afternoon.”

“We can take care of that,” Max said, looking over Sam at Jo.

Jo was staring out the window. “Don’t worry, Sammy,” she said. “We can take care of whatever you need.” She handed her a box of tissues, caressing her cheek for a moment. Sam looked up at her. “I mean it. Don’t worry about money.” She glanced out the window. “Hey, the pizza’s here. Be right back.”

Jack Seever wasn’t happy.

“Liz, I told you I’d be here at seven.”

He wasn’t a big man–only five-feet, nine or so inches tall, and slender–but he was muscular, and there was something menacing about his affect.

“I know that, Jack. And I told
you
when she left this afternoon.” She came out onto the front steps, reluctant to allow him into her house.

He leaned against the railing, looking knowingly at her. He smiled. “So, where is she?”

Liz thought his expression looked like a threat of some kind. “I don’t know.”

His smile faded. “Yeah, you
do
.”

Liz sighed, nervous, but hoping she sounded merely annoyed. “No, Jack, I don’t.” She hurried to continue as his face turned hard. “But…I would assume she’s with Josie and Maxine.”

His face relaxed a bit. “Okay. Where would I look, then? They live off the main drag in the city, right?”

“You know those old houses that the city converted into apartments? They live in the same apartment house, but I never asked Samantha which one.”

Jack looked doubtful.

“It’s one of those places near Pine Street.” She took an unsteady sip of the wine she was holding, keeping her eyes on him. “I’m serious, Jack. I don’t know the exact address. I know it’s a light blue Victorian, backs up to the conservation lands.” She was talking fast, anxious for him to leave. “Remember, I’m the one who told her to see you tonight.”

He studied her for a long moment, deciding to believe her. “And for that, I thank you, Liz.” He handed her the white roses he had brought for Sam, and gave her a perfunctory kiss on the cheek.

As he jogged down the walkway, Liz called after him, “Let me know when you find her.”

Max was at the sink washing a few dishes when Jo came in. She jumped up to sit on the counter, grabbing a dripping plate from the rack, and then a towel. “She fell asleep.”

“Poor kid.”

Jo was stacking the plates to the side. “I’m going to move her car to the parking garage on Concord Street. Get it out of view. And you know, I may need to get to the bank soon. She needs things, not the least of which is a lawyer. Unless Dave wants to step up, that is.”

Max smiled. “You’re a nice person, Bim.”

“Eh.” She waved the towel in Max’s face. “You too. What time are we getting her stuff tomorrow?”

As if she hadn’t heard the question, Max went on. “Be careful, though. I can’t imagine you can run through your money too fast.”

“I’m
on
it. Don’t worry. What time?”

“Then I’ll leave it there.” She handed a china cup to her. “Two, maybe three o’clock. We’ll pick her up at work.” She reached for the small stack of plates, putting them carefully in the antique cabinet that sat in the corner of the small kitchen. She closed the cabinet, then pretended to slap her own cheeks, back and forth. “I’m being a bad friend. I need to get in-the-
moment
here. But, I mean, we need to plan our trip, too. We have the house now. In spite of everything else, I’m just really excited about that.”

“Well, you should be. I want you to be.” She dangled her legs, smiling. “Maybe we can talk the Bimbat into a summer at Bow Lake.”

“Better chance of it now, that’s for sure.” She sobered then. “I’m scared for her, Jo.”

“Well, then, we’ll be on our toes that much better, right?”

“Then you’re scared, too?”

“Concerned. Worried.” She nodded, looking down at her dangling feet. “A little scared. We’ll handle it.”

“I know we will.” Max extended her closed fist. “Fist bump.”

Jo jumped off the counter, tossing the towel on the sink. “Uh…
No
.”

They laughed for a moment, then their eyes met.

“We
will
handle it, Max.”

“Okay.”

Jack located the apartment house easily enough: it was the only light blue Victorian in the neighborhood. He sat in his car for an hour, watching, waiting to see if she’d emerge–and becoming angrier by the minute when she didn’t.

“You bitch. You
bitch
,” he sputtered, slamming his hands on the steering wheel. Pain shot up his right arm, and he shook it off, deciding she’d be paying for that, too. He looked across the street again at her car, and thought about maybe keying it, or slashing the tires. But there were still way too many people out and about, and he filed the idea away for later.

“See you soon,
Samantha
.”

He started the car, flooring the accelerator as he pulled away, knocking over a recycling bin.

His house was dark as he pulled up. Inside, he threw his keys across the dining room, then picked them up from where they had landed on the massive oak buffet. He reached for the lamp, noticing the deep mark in the wall where the keys had hit, and that enraged him further.

“I spent two days painting this room, this room in this house that
you
had to have,
bitch.
” He poured scotch into one of the heavy crystal tumblers on the buffet. Glaring at the glass he held, he rolled it back and forth in his hands. “Yeah, like I’m going to sit here and drink by myself, like every other idiot who hooked up with a
slut
?” He threw the glass into the kitchen, where it shattered against the center island. “
She’s
the pathetic one.
Not me
.”

He knew fully well that Liz was screwing with him, that she was part of the plan to help Sam get away. Likely a big part, because she controlled everything her daughter did. The idea that he was now being discarded by the useless old hag, the one who had once been on his side, made his head throb with rage.

He grabbed his jacket as he went out the door, deciding that if Sam was going to make trouble, then he sure as hell wasn’t going to be sleeping alone that night–but he would make a quick stop at Liz’s house on the way. Just to get the point across.

.

chapter 6

D
AISY WAS BARKING
.

Jo rolled over, putting a hand on her back. “Daisy, shhhh…”

She realized that someone was knocking at the door to her apartment. Groaning, she sat up reluctantly, reaching for the sweats she had laid across the foot of her bed the night before. “Stay, Daisy.”

The knocking intensified as she made her way to the door. “Jo! Hey! Get up!”

She swung the door open, scratching at her head. “Geez, Max…What time is it?”

“Eight or so. My car won’t start, and Sammy needs to go to the ER.”

“Huh? Why?”

“She’s sick, pretty bad. I woke up to her dry-heaving in the bathroom. Then she nearly passed out on her way back to lay down.”

Jo grabbed a hoodie from the coat rack by the door. “She’s in your car?”

“Yeah, I told her to stay put. What’re you doing?”

Jo’s head popped out through the top of the sweatshirt. “Going with, what do you think I’m doing?”

Max was shaking her head. “No, no reason for both of us to spend the morning there. Just gimme your keys. I’ll take her.”

Jo plucked them off the hook by the door, hopping and stutter-stepping as she tried to slip her sneakers on. “Okay, but I just want to see her quick. I’ll walk you down.”

Sam was crying softly, eyes closed, her head against the headrest and her cell in her hand. Jo leaned through the window. “Hey,” she said softly. “What happened?”

“It’s eight-twenty in the morning, and he’s already at it.” She handed her phone to Jo without opening her eyes. “And Mom’s called me three times. Just take it. Please. Call Max if you need to reach us.”

Slipping it into the pouch of her hoodie, Jo put her forearm on Sam’s forehead. “No fever…How’re you feeling?”

“Better. I mean, physically–not too bad now. Must’ve been the late night, and the stress and all that.”

Jo’s dropped her head for a moment, and then she looked helplessly at Max. The realization had hit them both in the same instant. “Sammy,” Max came to stand beside Jo, “when was the last time you had a period?”

Sam’s eyes flew open, staring straight ahead, as the color that had returned to her cheeks drained from her face. Her hand rested on her abdomen. “I…don’t know.”

Jo handed her keys to Max. “The drugstore on Valley Street is open early.”

Max made a clicking sound with her tongue. “Yeah. Back in a bit,” she said.

Liz Bentley stood in her driveway, animated well beyond what was her norm as she talked to two police officers.

She pulled the hood of her slicker over her head as it started to drizzle, making a face at the sky. “Well,” she moaned, hugging herself, “rain won’t help preserve the evidence.”