Ten Below Zero Read online

  Everett sat up a bit straighter in the bed. “What’s up?”

  Was my face that transparent? I thought I had done well to keep my emotions, my thoughts, in check. But Everett seemed to see right through it all.

  “Can we go to Colorado?”

  “I’d planned on it. To hit the Four Corners.”

  “Okay.” I rolled away from him and grabbed my phone from the nightstand. I pulled up the text Mira sent after she’d hung up, with a map and a location. “Can we go here too?” I put my phone up to his face.

  He blinked and took the phone from my hand, studying the phone. He reached for his phone next and typed something in. A second later he looked at me. “That’s about twelve hours from here.” He looked at his phone again. “It’s 5:30 a.m. We’ll have to get on the road in a few minutes if you want to make it there at a decent hour.”

  I climbed off the bed and searched for my underwear. “Let’s go then.”

  I kept my eyes averted from Everett’s as I searched for my underwear, hoping he wouldn’t question me about the trip. To his credit, he just started searching for his clothes too. I took his tee off and tossed it at him. “Here.”

  I watched him hold the tee up to his nose. “It smells good.”

  “Because it smells like you.”

  “No, because it smells like you.”

  I looked over at him, and saw him watching me get dressed, his eyes warm despite their cool color. Desire flicked low in my belly. “We don’t have time.”

  He pulled the shirt over his head. “I know,” he sighed dramatically.

  I turned away as my lips tilted up slightly. I wasn’t ready to fully smile just yet.

  The drive was a long one, the longest we’d done in a single day so far, which wasn’t saying much since it was only the third day of the road trip. Part of me couldn’t believe it was only the third day. It felt like it’d been longer. At the same time, I was reminded of how little I knew about Everett.

  “What’s your last name?”

  Everett turned over to me, sunglasses shielding his eyes. “Seriously? You’re asking that now?”

  I shrugged. “Probably should have asked it sooner, but I’m asking now. Mira is going to grill you tonight. I should know the basics.”

  He turned eyes back to the road. “O’Callaghan.”

  “Irish?”

  He looked at me with that look I was growing to loathe, that “duh” look.

  When he didn’t say anything else, I asked, “Aren’t you going to ask my name?”

  “I already know it, Parker Sloane. And before you accuse me of something stupid, remember I had your credit card that first night we met. And then you told me about Morris Jensen. I would have figured it out that way, too.”

  I felt it, that rumble of annoyance. We’d had a relatively easy-going morning too. “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-six. I already know you’re twenty-one, before you get your panties in a twist over me not asking you your age.”

  The annoyance was simmering, threatening to boil over. “My panties aren’t in a twist.”

  “Not yet,” he said. He slid his eyes over to me and pulled down his sunglasses. “But tonight? They will be.”

  “You’re pretty sure of yourself,” I commented. I sat back in the seat and forced my eyes to face forward.

  “I am,” he agreed. “I’m also pretty sure about you. Some of the time.”

  I wanted to roll my eyes. Why did Everett inspire the most childish behavior out of me? Before I could say anything, he was pulling off the road, into the entrance of the Four Corners. He paid the fee and parked the car.

  “Hey Parker?” he asked, turning to look at me.

  “Yeah?”

  “Let’s go stand in four states at once.” He exited the car before my hand was even on the seatbelt release.

  I scrambled after him, nearly falling onto the pavement as I exited the car. I laughed. It was short, loud, but I actually laughed. It stretched my cheeks and lasted for just a few seconds, but I laughed. When I looked up, Everett was staring at me.

  “That’s a scary sound,” he said. “What is it you’re doing with your mouth that causes that sound?”

  I stalked towards him, wanting to feel annoyance but all I felt was…light. “It was my laugh. Don’t be rude. You’re supposed to say nice things to me.”

  He grabbed my hand and pulled me along with him towards the monument. “It didn’t sound as awful as the first time I heard it.”

  I yanked my hand away. “That’s still not nice.”

  He turned to me and pushed his sunglasses up on his head. With a sly grin, he leaned in. “You look incredible when you come.”

  My eyes popped open wider than they ever had. “That’s…” I started. “That’s…not appropriate.”

  “But it’s still nice. Really, really nice.”

  And then he was off, jogging towards the monument, leaving me standing there slack-jawed.

  When I finally caught up, Everett was sitting on a bench on the Arizona side. He held a hand out to me. “Stand with me.”

  Reluctantly, I slipped my hand in his. He led me to the circle in the center of the monument. He turned so we were facing each other, with our feet directly on the lines that intersected. And then he pulled me in for a hug. I stopped breathing for a second. Had he hugged me before? I couldn’t remember. I closed my eyes for a moment. I was in his arms, breathing in that scent that belonged only to him. If he had hugged me, I would have realized it.

  It was my first hug in years. So long, I couldn’t recall my last one. His arms were safe. I couldn’t help it: I snuggled closer. We stood in four states at once, together, holding each other for real for the very first time. My heart skipped several beats and my breathing returned to normal as I settled in. It was the nicest thing I’d felt in years. Who knew that two arms wrapped around you could feel so completely right?

  I wasn’t sure how long we stood there, hugging each other. But it was the most connected I’d felt with another human in my life. Realizing that, I pushed away when the feelings got to be too much.

  I backed up and tucked my hair behind my ear, looking everywhere by Everett.

  “Come on, we’re on a deadline.” He grabbed my hand again and walked with me back to the car.

  I was quiet on the walk back to the car because my mind was such a mess. I couldn’t decide how I felt about the hug. It was just a hug, but it was also the first human contact I’d had in years that wasn’t violent, sexual, or educational.

  When we neared the car, I pulled my hand away from Everett’s and walked to my side, jumping in before he could say anything. I needed emotional and physical distance from him.

  It was just a hug, I tried telling myself. But some other part of me didn’t listen.

  Just after six that evening, we pulled into the driveway of the small hotel that Mira had given us directions to. The hotel was settled in the mountains of Colorado, off a dirt road. The entire trip, a million thoughts had run into my mind. And now that we had pulled into this hotel, I was even more curious.

  There was only one car in the parking lot, so Everett pulled the Jeep in beside it. The door to the hotel room directly in front of the car opened and Mira stepped into the doorway. The sounds of something loud on the television came through the door as she ushered us in.

  I walked in first and sat on the bed closest to the door. Everett closed the door to the room and stayed by the door, as if he wasn’t sure what to do.

  Mira was jittery, pacing the room. I could tell she was craving a cigarette to calm her. It made me nervous.

  Her hair was blue now. Bluntly cut at her chin with bangs that came down over her eyebrows. She was wearing tight green jeans and an oversized heather gray University of Michigan tee over that. Mira was always like this: a mess of colors pulled into a style that worked with her.

  She laughed and then put a hand in her hair, pushing the bangs back and holding them with her hand on top of her
head while she paced. “I don’t even know where to begin.”

  “Maybe an introduction?” Everett asked. “I’m Everett.”

  Mira stopped pacing for a minute, as if noticing Everett’s presence for the first time that night. She looked from him to me and cocked her head in question. “Who are you?” she asked warily.

  “I just told you, I’m Everett.”

  Instantly I knew Mira and Everett would not get along. Both of them were headstrong and brutally honest. And both of them were looking at me.

  “Everett is…a friend.” It was the best I could do. “And you already know about Mira,” I said to Everett before realizing I shouldn’t have said that.

  Mira’s head swung back to me, her blue bob swinging with the movement like a bobble head. “What does that mean?” she asked me, annoyed.

  “Ugh,” I groaned. I was already annoyed with the situation. “Mira, I told him you found me, saved me. Everett is a friend. We’re on a road trip together. Can we move on?”

  Mira looked at me shrewdly, as if I’d revealed her deepest, darkest secrets to Everett. Which would be impossible, because Mira was a fortress, impenetrable. She didn’t tell me her favorite color, much less her deepest secrets. When she seemed satisfied with my answer, she finally stopped pacing. She grabbed a chair and turned it around, straddling it so she was facing me. “I have a problem.” She was still a nervous ball of energy. Her leg was dancing up and down, making her head bob more.

  “Here,” Everett said, pulling out his lighter from his pocket. “Fiddle with this.” He tossed it to her and she caught it without giving him even a glance. A second later she was flicking it open and on. Over and over.

  “Okay,” she blew out a breath, staring at the lighter. “It’s a long story and I can’t totally get into it, but I need you to be a decoy tonight, to replace a girl that’s recently been moved from here.” She blew out another breath. “This girl was in danger. There’s a man here looking for her. I need you to be a decoy, to make him believe you are her enough for him to realize you’re not, and that this trip, for him, was a waste.”

  Just then her phone rang. She climbed off the chair and swiped it from the bed, answering it. “What?” She paused for a second and looked at me. “Mouse is here. She’s got Andra’s build and hair color.” There was silence before she held up a hand. “Wait, let me just put you on speaker. I don’t want to say what you’re already saying.” She muttered a swear word as she turned the phone on speaker. “Okay, they’re listening.”

  “I thought you said it was Mouse. Who else?” It was Six’s voice. No doubt about it. He sounded impatient and annoyed.

  “Don’t worry about it, I’ve got it under control.”

  I heard a loud sigh from Six’s end. “Okay, Mouse. Mira is going to take you to a ranch. You’re basically going to hang around the property to see if he shows up. I don’t care where you are – he’s going to be looking for someone who looks a lot like you.”

  “Wait,” Everett walked away from the door, towards the phone. “Mira said this girl, the one Parker is being a decoy for, was in danger by this man. Does that mean Parker is in danger as well?”

  “Who’s this?”

  “Everett. I’m with Parker. Is she going to be in danger?”

  There was silence from Six’s end. Mira was looking at me and Everett with concern in her eyes. Six finally spoke again. “Not necessarily. Mouse can run, and she’s strong. Mira taught her to be strong. Mira will be there looking from a safe distance and I have another guy on the property too.”

  “Her name is Parker.” Everett was agitated. He looked at me, as if I was crazy for agreeing to this.

  “Yeah, well we call her Mouse. And nothing will happen to her. Right, Mouse?”

  Everett and Mira looked at me. I fidgeted. I hated having their attention on me. “It’ll be fine,” I said. It would. I felt a small tug of fear, but I knew I would do it. Not for Six, but for Mira. “I’ve been running still.”

  “Great. That’s really all there is to it. If he gets to close, you run. Run towards the cabins. I’ll have a guy there waiting. I’m sure Mira has a handful of things she can give you to keep yourself safe. Now Mira, take me off speaker.” Mira did and walked away with the phone to her ear.

  “Are you kidding me right now?” Everett asked, anger seeping through his voice. “I veto this idea right now. Let’s get back on the road.”

  I shook my head. “No. If you don’t want to stick around, that’s fine. But I am going to stay here. It’s not a big deal.”

  “Yeah, because you don’t care what happens to you. You’re fearful, but not really.” Everett shook his head. “I don’t like this.”

  “I’d say I’m sorry, but I’d be lying,” I said, tossing his words back at him. “Listen, we can get back on the road later tonight if you want, stop somewhere in Denver for the night. I’ll have Mira bring me back here when it’s done.”

  Everett gave me his signature look – his ‘are you stupid?’ look. “I’m going with you.”

  I didn’t bother arguing. Everett would have his way, one way or another. “Fine. But don’t get in my way.”

  I was dressed in skinny jeans, borrowed from Mira, and a tank top. Mira had piled my hair on top of my head in a messy bun and gave me cowboy boots to wear. I was sitting at the reception desk of the ranch’s main entrance, tapping my fingers over and over on the shiny surface of the desk.

  “Can I get you anything?” A woman with sleek black hair asked me, worry etched in her face. Her name was Rosa, and she ran the ranch.

  I shook my head. “I’m fine. Just go. He’ll be more likely to come around if I’m all alone.”

  Rosa looked like she was going to be sick. She had dark circles under her eyes, and her hands had been wringing a small towel over and over for the last ten minutes. “Holler if you need something,” she said before leaving, shutting off the lights of the kitchen and hall on her way down the hall.

  I was now completely alone in the office. The only lights were the small sconces on the walls and the light for the porch. I sat back in the chair and looked around the office, trying to find something to pass the time.

  There was nothing around the office that indicated what the previous girl¸ the one I was temporarily replacing, looked like. All I knew was what Mira had told me: we had similar builds and hair color. She had different skin coloring than I did and her eyes were not blue. She also didn’t have a large scar on her face. I’d been instructed to keep the left side of my face turned away from the door, to make him think I was really this girl.

  I grabbed a book from the bookshelves by the door and settled into the chair behind the desk.

  An hour later, there was no activity. It was completely dark outside by now and also completely silent. I waited a bit longer, but I was growing restless. I left the book on the desk and walked to the door, looking out. I couldn’t see Mira or Everett, but I knew they were out there somewhere. As uneasy as Everett was with this, he wasn’t going to let me go this alone. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. That was my feeling for Everett in general: unsure. There was no doubt that he did make me feel a wider range of emotions than I usually felt, but I couldn’t process how I felt about them.

  I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I almost missed the glint coming from the opposite direction of the cabins. Whatever it was had caught the light of the moon and reflected it back, causing a small glint of light to flicker towards the door of the main entrance. I stepped out on to the porch, trying to get a better look at the glint. Whatever it was, it was near the entrance to the ranch. I squinted but couldn’t see it well in the dark. So I took a couple steps down the steps to the gravel.

  And that’s when the floodlights came on, illuminating not only me. I heard the crunch of gravel and looked at my feet. But the sound didn’t come from me.

  My eyes shot up, seeing the man crouched behind a vehicle in the driveway, staring at me with black eyes, edging closer. Instantly
, I turned my left cheek, to keep it from his view. And that was when he started to run.

  Fuck, I thought in my head. My body froze, a small voice screaming in my head. And then I turned and started running as I’d been instructed to-towards the last cabin. My delay in turning had resulted in a significant lead for him and as I sprinted, I could hear his grunts. I could see his shadow on the gravel right behind mine.

  My heart beat double time in my chest and I felt fear, true, crippling fear. And then I remembered, knew Everett was there in the darkness. I felt relief. So I pushed harder. Seconds after my steps left the gravel, the sounds of crunching gravel dying, his did as well. Now all I could hear was his grunts and the blood roaring in my head. We were out of the floodlight at this point, in complete darkness.

  And that was when I felt my legs being kicked, knocking me to the ground. Instantly, I recovered, rolling on my back and frantically crawling backwards as he approached. I couldn’t make out his features in the pitch black of the night. My eyes were still adjusting, so I squinted, trying to see his face as I scrambled away from him.

  All I saw was dark hair, shadowed skin, and clothing that was all black. He leaned for me with a hand and I kicked blindly, feeling my foot gain purchase on his hand. Unfortunately, his other hand grabbed my ankle and tugged. Fear gripped my throat, making me unable to form words. My hand reached into the pocket for the knife Mira had given me.

  A moment later, there was a blur. I heard a grunt, and then the sickening thuds of someone being punched repeatedly. My heartbeat was still racing when I jumped to my feet and moved to the commotion. I knew instantly it was Everett, could make out his body on top of the other mans, his fists pummeling his face. And then Everett’s hand was on the man’s throat. “Don’t fucking move,” he growled.

  I put the knife back in my pocket and looked around, seeing Mira standing nearby with her hand on the gun on her hip. The other man, the man that Six had hired to hang around, was helping Everett up.

  Mira walked to me. “You need to get out of here,” she said in a low voice.