Steve Hamilton - Ice Run

“No, not here,” she said. “They’re probably up at the Grants’ house, waiting. If we go up there now, we’ll be playing right into their hands.”

“That’s true,” Vinnie said.

“I’m so tired,” she said. “I haven’t slept in two days.”

“If we do this in the morning,” I said, “you have to promise me something.”

“What’s that?”

“You have to promise me that we’re going to do this together. We’re going to be smart about it, and if it looks bad, we’re going to bail out.”

She didn’t say anything.

“Promise me,” I said. “We’re together, no matter what.”

“Okay,” she said. “I promise.”

“What do you think, Vinnie. Are you up for this?”

“I’m with you,” he said, looking at Natalie. “You know that, Alex.”

“We should try to get some sleep,” Natalie said.

“Good idea,” Vinnie said. “I’ll go see the woman downstairs about another room.”

He stood up, went to the door, then looked back at me. “Alex, you gonna stay here?”

“Yes, he is,” Natalie said. “If that’s okay. I’d rather not be alone.”

“I’ll see you in the morning,” he said. Then he left.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t even ask you if you wanted to stay.”

“It’s okay. If you don’t want to be alone…”

“It’s more than that.”

“Natalie, I don’t know where we stand right now.”

“Show me what happened.”

“What?”

“I can see the bandages. Show me where you got shot.”

“I didn’t get shot,” I said. “It was a piece of metal, from when the shotgun exploded.”

“Show me.” She pulled me to my feet.

“Natalie…”

She shushed me. She unbuttoned my shirt and touched my neck. “My God,” she said. “Look what happened to you.”

“It’s not that bad.”

She shook her head. “After everything you’ve done for me, this is what you get.”

I took hold of her hand. “We’re going to make everything right,” I said. “We’ll do that tomorrow.”

She kissed me.

“Why did you come here?” she said.

“I had to.”

“I pushed you away so hard. What kind of a man would do that?”

I didn’t say anything.

“I’m glad you’re here,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper now. “That much I know. This is better.”

She pulled my shirt off my shoulders. I reached my arms around her and held her tight. I put my nose in her hair and breathed in her perfect sweet scent.

“Everything’s going to be okay now,” I said. “I promise.”

She spun me around and pulled me down onto the bed. I kissed her, again and again. We pulled the rest of our clothes off. We made love on top of the covers and then under them when it got too cold. It kept snowing outside, more and more white flakes coming down like it would bury us forever.

Afterward I held on to her tight. She was breathing deeply. She was falling asleep in my arms. I tried to say something. This is how it should be. I am in bed. I should stay awake for a while, think about what we’re going to do tomorrow. No, I should sleep. Sleep.

The wind blew. The sound turned into the faraway droning of an engine. A snowmobile. Then the sound became the wind again.

“Natalie,” I said, finally finding my voice. I reached for her. There was nothing there. My left arm was being pulled upward now. It made my neck hurt.

“Natalie.”

A clicking noise. I know that sound. I’ve heard it before, a long time ago.

What’s wrong with my arm? I reached with my other hand and heard the noise again. A light came on, blinding me. I felt the pain in my neck again. Pain and what was that? Something cold on my wrists. A metallic rattling. Almost like…

Handcuffs. I squinted at the bright light and looked up at my hands. I was cuffed to one of the iron railings at the head of the bed.

“What’s happening?” I said. “Natalie, where are you?”

There was movement beside the bed. I shook my head and blinked.

“Natalie!”

“I’m right here,” she said.

Everything came into focus. She was standing in the center of the room, putting her clothes on.

“What the hell’s going on?” I said. “Why did you handcuff me to the bed?”

“I’m sorry.”

I pulled at the cuffs. The iron rail was as strong as a prison gate.

“I broke my promise,” she said. “I told you I’d never lie to you.”

“Natalie, listen to me. Just let me go, okay? We can talk about this.”

“You know, it’s funny,” she said. “I think I understand my mother a little better now.”

“Please, Natalie. Let me go.”

“A lie really does have a lot of power, doesn’t it? It makes everything easy.”

“No. Come on.”

“I had to wait until she was dead to see that.”

“For God’s sake, Natalie…”

She pulled her sweater on over her head.

“He sent someone to kill her, Alex. He’ll kill you, too, in a second. You know that. We can’t run away. He’ll find us and kill both of us.”

I yanked hard on the cuffs. The metal bit into my skin.

“Natalie…”

“I’m sorry, Alex. I’m glad we were together. One last time. I wasn’t lying about that.”

She took her service automatic from her bag, checked it, then put it in her coat.

“Do not do this,” I said. “Please, for the love of God…”

“You’d do the same thing, Alex.”

“No. No, I wouldn’t.”

“If you were me,” she said, reaching into the bag again, “yes, you would. We’re the same, Alex. You understand me perfectly.”

“No. Natalie. Please.”

She brought out another gun. It was a revolver.

“Do you know what this is?”

“Natalie…”

“It’s my grandfather’s favorite gun. It’s an old Webley Bulldog, from World War I.”

“Please, you can’t do this.”

“My grandfather’s gun. It was locked away in the basement. But don’t worry. I know how to clean an old gun.”

She took one step closer to me. I tried to grab her.

“I have to go now,” she said.

She stood there for a moment, just out of reach. She looked at me one last time.

“I love you, Alex McKnight.”

Then she was gone.

I pulled at the cuffs until my wrists were bleeding. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t bend the metal bed frame. There was only one thing left to do.

I started yelling.

“Help! Help! Vinnie! Can you hear me? Vinnie!”

I stopped to catch my breath, then started again.

“Anybody! Help! Get me out of here! Help!”

I yelled as loud as I could until my throat was raw. I kicked at the wall again and again, making as much noise as I could. There was no way anybody could sleep through it, and yet when I stopped, everything was silent again.

“Vinnie! Where the hell are you? Vinnie!”

I collapsed in the bed, breathing hard.

God damn it, I thought. I am such an idiot. She’s going to go out there and get herself killed because I’m the biggest idiot who ever lived. Just as I was about to start the noise again, I heard a knock on the door.

“Hello in there!” someone said.

“Who’s there?”

“It’s Mrs. Larusso, from the front desk. Are you okay in there?”

“Mrs. Larusso, thank God. You’ve got to get me out of here!”

There was a pause.

“Are you locked in, sir?”

“I’m handcuffed to the bed! You have to help me!”

Another pause.

“You’re handcuffed to the bed, sir?”

“Please! Just come in!”

I heard her fumble through her keys for a moment. The door finally opened. She poked her head into the room. Then she screamed.