Page 2 of Such a Naughty Girl

I let out a grunt and tossed my phone on the passenger seat, closing the window before slapping my hands against the steering wheel.

What could I do?

The fuel gauge hovered close to red, too low for me to run the car’s heat long enough to outlast the storm, and if it did, I had no food and only half a can of lemonade left.

My hands trembled as I pressed them against my face.What the heck was I going to do?

I allowed myself twenty minutes to wallow in the depths of my panic, to whisper angry words to myself and run through scenarios in my head. Despite my misery, I couldn’t bring myself to curse out loud. Daddy would be terribly mad if I did.

I spotted something far through the inky forest, a faint orange glow. No, two faint orange glows.Square, I thought. Windows! It had to be.

Did I dare to wade through the snow-blanketed forest hoping whoever lived there would help me? What kind of person lived in such a remote spot? Probably a serial killer.

No way.

After a further thirty minutes with no signal, having stared at the distant lights flickering between snow globs, I gave in.

Grabbing my coat and bag, I braved the storm. Beeps sounded amongst the din of the wind as I locked my car, pushing my keys deep into my jacket pocket.

Snow crunched beneath my sneakers; like the ground stretched it's maw wide, ready to swallow me up as the snowstorm whipped my hair over my face.

By the time I’d passed into the tree line, stumbling over hidden roots, I regretted my decision. I turned around, ready to head back to my car with my teeth chattering, but the thick night had already swallowed it up.

My tears freshened as I choked down a sob. I couldn’t see anything but vague outlines of the trees closest to me, and in the distance, those orange lights.

I only hoped whoever lived there would take pity on me and let me call my dad.

CHAPTER TWO

EMMETT

The wind picked up, rattling the windows in their frames.

‘God dang it, Chunk, it’s blowing up a storm out there.’

My mutt looked up at me, tilting his head to one side as I spoke. He wasn’t much for conversation, mind you.

‘I see your lazy ass taking up all the heat,’I chuckled, shifting his backside with my boot so I could throw another couple of logs in the burner. The next few days would be ball-freezing weather.

The phone lines had already dropped out, and the electricity flickered every couple of minutes. A surefire sign it would crap out soon.

Good thing I’d gotten used to the winters out in the middle of the forest. The underground cold store kept my food chilled where a fridge would leave my food to spoil, bottled water stocked on one side, always allowing for something fresh to drink, and plenty of logs out on the covered porch to keep me warm.

Yup, Chunk and I would be fine.

I scrubbed the old dog's fur and smiled at his happy grumble. I missed little about the city and my days followingthe crowd, working in finance and stressing myself out to a near heart attack by fifty. I’d given it all up three years prior, bought my bare-basics cabin and my dog, and left the world behind.

The dog had been cooped up in my downstairs neighbour's yard when I lived in the city, barking half the night and shitting all over the place. The police and animal control never gave a flying fuck, no matter how often I called, and I could see the poor fleabag needed out of the inner-city captivity.

It took three tries, and over a thousand bucks for the douchebag owner to give me Chunk.

I'd never regretted a single dollar.

My boy and I kept each other company. He swam in the river beside me during the summer and warmed the end of my bed in winter. Bar half my meat, he demanded little. A damn sight cheaper than my ex-wife had been. The alimony had near crippled me for years, despite the fact she’d been the one fucking her boss.

Good riddance.

Didn’t need a goddamned woman, anyway. Nothing but trouble.

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