Page 27 of Snow Going Back

‘Here you are, Ms Hunter,’ the young woman said chirpily, finally looking up. ‘Everything accounted for.’

‘Thanks,’ Kate replied, slipping her coat on and checking her phone.

Dozens of notifications glared back at her, mostly from her mother and Bob. She shoved it in her pocket, wishing she couldignore them all until after she’d had a hot shower and eight solid hours of sleep. But she couldn’t.

Zipping up her coat, Kate walked outside into the snowy evening. She stopped and held her phone up in the air, trying to get a signal so she could summon an Uber, but it seemed to be a dead zone. She cursed under her breath and looked around the small car park. A man stepping out of his vehicle briefly drew her gaze, but she immediately moved on, searching for some sort of public transport option. The police station was in an annoyingly remote area, with nothing but forest surrounding it and the one empty road.

‘You gonna stand there all night, or shall we try toavoidlosing limbs to frostbite?’

Kate turned towards the voice with a frown, realising that the man who’d stepped out of his car was Sam. She stared at him silently for a moment, surprised at how different he looked today. She could actually see his face now that he’d brushed his hair and trimmed the wild beard back to a more flattering short stubble. His blue eyes stood out more, strikingly bright between two layers of thick, dark lashes. He had a strong jaw and deeply etched dimples either side of his mouth, and a prominent classically sculpted nose that lent him a proud air.

Irritation suddenly ran through her as she realised that the arrogant douche who’d nearly killed her and made her spend a night injailhad theaudacityto be good-looking – and not just slightly good-looking,incrediblygood-looking. It seemed cosmically unjust. She knew as it registered that this was a completely irrational thought, but that made no difference to her feelings whatsoever.

Sam pushed his hands down further into the trouser pockets of the smart suit he wore today and hunched his shoulders, shifting from one shiny black shoe to another in an attempt to keep warm. ‘Well?’ he prompted.

Kate stared at him icily and then turned away without a word, lifting her phone back up and praying for signal. She heard him sigh.

‘Kate, would you please just get in the car? I’m not kidding about the frostbite.’

She turned back with a furious glare. ‘Not a chance! I’ll make my own way back, thank you very much!’

‘Yeah?’ Sam challenged, glancing down the dark empty road to where it disappeared into the forest. ‘How? You made some friends in the short time you’ve been in there? Joined a prison gang maybe? You got an old cellmate coming to pick you up?’

Kate’s hatred for the man increased. ‘Hilarious. I’ll get an Uber,’ she replied coldly.

A ghost of a smile flitted across Sam’s face. ‘We don’t have Uber here, lawyer girl. This ain’t Boston. There is a cab company in town, but they’re closed today.’

Kate cursed and put her phone away. ‘Fine. Then I’ll walk.’

‘You’ll walk?’ Sam repeated flatly.

‘Yes,’ she replied stubbornly.

‘All seven miles?’ He raised an eyebrow and waited.

Kate pressed her lips together hard to stop herself from exploding in a fit of frustration and looked back at the road, desperately willing a bus stop to appear. It didn’t. She stood there for a few more moments, trying to think of another option.

Sam followed her gaze. ‘Look, you can stay out here and freeze to death, or you can get in the truck and let me drive you back. But either way,I’mgetting in the car.’

He paused as Kate warred with the two options, not sure which one she hated less.

‘It’s got heated seats…’ he added temptingly.

Kate held out for another few stubborn seconds, then turned and stalked past him to the passenger side. ‘Fine,’ she snapped as he opened the door for her. ‘But don’t expect any gratitude.You’re the reason I’m stuck here in the first place. And don’t think picking me up makes up for what you did, either. Far,farfrom it.’

Sam let out a short laugh of surprise and shook his head as she stepped up into the plush black pickup. ‘Whatever, lawyer girl.’

‘Anddon’ttalk to me,’ Kate snapped, his casual tone like kindling to her fury. ‘I might need the ride, but I sure ashelldon’t need to speak to you.’

He flashed her a swift sarcastic smile. ‘Suits me,’ he replied before slamming the passenger door shut.

SIXTEEN

After a tense and thankfully silent drive, Kate jogged straight upstairs and treated herself to a long hot shower. When she stepped back out, she felt ten times better, the jailhouse grime washed off and her cold eased by the steam. She rifled through her bag of new clothes and threw on a pair of soft beige lounge pants and matching top, before blasting her hair with the dryer and fanning the long dark waves around her shoulders to let them finish drying naturally. Feeling ready to tackle the many waiting messages, she unlocked her phone and began wading through them while she creamed her skin.

Although there were a lot from Eleanor, they were mainly talkingather, so she hadn’t actually noticed Kate’s prolonged absence. Lance had, in his usual way, just assumed she was busy and told her to call when she had time. After flicking through the rest, she placed a call to Bob.

He answered almost instantly. ‘Kate. Are you alright? What the hell happened?’

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