Page 75 of Snow Going Back

She looked down at her notes, pondering what she should do next. It seemed pretty cut and dry at this point. Though really, she wanted to run it past Sam, now she’d made a potential decision.

‘I leave on the thirtieth, by the way,’ Edward said to her. ‘For New Zealand. If I’m going to get things in motion with him, I’ll need to know by then.’

Kate nodded. ‘I’ll keep that in mind. Do you have a personal mobile or direct line I can take?’ she asked suddenly, remembering his doddery gatekeeper.

‘Yes, here, take one of these,’ he said, reaching into his inside pocket. He handed her a business card, and she slipped it into her bag.

‘Thank you. I’ll be in touch,’ she said.

‘OK then,’ he said, abruptly standing up. ‘Goodbye.’

Kate blinked as he turned and left without another word. ‘Right,’ she said to herself as no one else was there to say it to. She picked up her bag. ‘OK.That’s it then. Time to make a decision.’

FORTY-ONE

Kate walked outside, zipped up her coat and walked down Main Street in the opposite direction for a change. Pulling out her phone, she wandered down a bit further, then leaned against a wall at the end of a row of industrial buildings that ran the length of a small side road as she scrolled through her contacts to Sam’s number. She pressed dial and waited.

At the same time her call connected, she heard the shrill ring of Sam’s ringtone resound through the air. She frowned and pulled her phone down to look at the screen, confused. She put it back to her ear, but the shrill ring continued. She looked around, wondering who it was. It would be just one of those random coincidences, of course. Two phones connecting at the same time. It was a fairly common ringtone. Still, it was annoying her not knowing where it was coming from. She frowned, stepping forward and circling back for a better look around as she waited for Sam to pick up. As she leaned to the side and glanced down the industrial side road, she almost missed it, but then suddenly he moved his arm.

Kate darted her head back across, her eyes widening under her frown. Just a few metres down there was an opening into the building she was leaning on. Andsomeonewas leaningagainst the inside frame of that opening, facing away from her.Someonewith a thick khaki coat and a mass of dark hair.Someonewith his hand coming out of his pocket holding a phone. And assomeonechecked the phone and rejected the call, simultaneously endinghercall, Kate’s mouth opened in a wideOof indignant shock.

She almost marched down there to confront him, to tell him she was only calling out of concern, to make sure he was OK after he’d not returned the night before. But then the swish of blonde that flicked out made her pause. She frowned and leaned around a little more. Was that Aubrey? They were talking, she realised in shock, their voices low. What the hell was going on? This made no sense. Sam hated Aubrey. And why would they meet somewhere like this? Somewhere so secretive?

Aubrey’s arm suddenly came into view, too, and Kate instinctively ducked. But neither of them looked her way.

‘Listento me…’ Aubrey’s voice grew louder momentarily, and Kate leaned further, her eyebrows shooting up as she heard her own name. ‘… just checking Kate doesn’tknow.’

‘No,’ Sam replied firmly. ‘She doesn’t. Notyetanyway.’

‘Good,’ Aubrey purred, wrapping her arm around his neck and, from what little Kate could see, pressing her body to Sam’s. ‘Keep it that way, you absoluteanimal.God,you’re hot.’

Kate recoiled like she’d been stung. What washappening?This can’t be what it looks like, she told herself.It just can’t. But as Aubrey’s words and the image of her arm around his neck looped on replay through her mind, she knew she was just trying to fool herself. Feeling sick to her stomach, Kate rolled back around the end of the building, unable to look anymore.

‘Listen…’

As she heard Sam’s voice again, she glanced down the road, debating whether she should leave or stay. She didn’t want to hear any more of this. The thought of him being withherofall people felt like a punch to the stomach. The shock alone had knocked her for six. She needed to leave, she decided. She couldn’t hear any more. But she wasn’t quick enough to evade Sam’s next few words, and as he spoke, it felt like he’d stabbed a knife right into her chest.

‘Once Kate’s done what I need her to, I don’t care what she knows. It’ll be done. Legally sealed.’

Kate gasped and then clapped a hand over her mouth, realising too late that she’d been too loud. They stopped talking.

‘Whatwasthat?’ Aubrey snapped. ‘Go,’ she ordered. ‘Check it out.’

Kate panicked and looked around desperately for somewhere to hide. She heard Sam turning around and, realising she had maybe three seconds at best, threw herself under the branches of a large overhanging wall plant. It didn’t cover her fully, long thin vertical gaps between every branch, but her long weather-friendly coat was bright white, and they were surrounded by snow. She squatted down and pulled her hood up, quickly tucking her hair in and huddling down.

She froze, the sound of her breath suddenly horribly loud in the silence. She pressed her mouth under the zipped part of her coat in the hope it hid both sound and clouded breath as she heard Sam walk out onto the road. She moved a fraction of an inch, just enough to see Sam’s brown boots. He stood just feet away, turning in a circle and pacing away as he looked around. Then suddenly the boots turned in her direction. Her eyes widened, and she froze as he stopped just a step away. He was so close she could have reached out and touched him, and if he thought to check inside this bush, the game would be up. Her heart thumped, and her breathing hitched, and it was all so loud she wassurehe had to have heard her. But then he turned and just walked away, back to Aubrey.

‘Nothing there,’ Kate heard him say.

With the danger over, she heaved in a deep breath and released it heavily. Tears stung her eyes as she thought about what she’d just heard. They’d been working together all along, she realised. They’d set her up together. Aubrey had acted out the threat, and Sam had saved the day. It was so cleverly simple, when she looked back. Aubrey had never been the real enemy. She’d just been a distraction. The wall of smoke and mirrors.Samwas the enemy. He had always been the enemy. From the very first second until now.

She pressed her hands to her eyes as she thought about how hard they must have laughed at her. Kate had gone from hating Sam’s guts to seeing him as a shining hero within the space of a minute. She was such afool. Sam had never stopped playing the game at all. He’d just uppedhis. And Kate had played right into his hands.

FORTY-TWO

Looking down at the delicate gold necklace Sam had given her just two days before, Kate felt a hot prickle at the back of her eyes. Sitting on the bed, she blinked it away angrily and snapped the box shut, turning it around in her hands. How had she been so stupid? She should haveknownit was just another elaborate prank. She should have been more suspicious of it all from the start. Sam had proven himself to be an awful person several times over before he’d swooped in and pretended to save her from Aubrey, so why had she believed him so easily?

Because he’s hot, the devil on her shoulder whispered.

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