Page 83 of Frozen Heart

“I’m not leaving her,” he snarled.

The chief of the bomb squad, an overweight guy in his fifties, looked at me and his face softened. “You can stay for now,” he said at last. And he waved his team into position.

They didn’t dare open the doors so a hole was drilled through the door and a long, snake-like thing with a camera on the end was threaded through it to look under my seat. “Make sure they’re not looking up my skirt,” I told Radimir, trying to lighten things. But my voice came out as a dry croak and Radimir just looked at me with such deep, heartbreaking worry, that my smile crumbled.

The bomb technicians gathered around a laptop, watching what the camera saw.This might still be nothing. Maybe Radimir dropped something under the seat. Maybe it’s part of the car. God, what if that’s it, what if it’s just part of the heater for the heated car seat and all of this is for nothing, and I feel like a complete idiot.

Please please God let me be a complete idiot.

The chief of the bomb squad came over. “We can see explosives under your seat,” he said gently.

Radimir cursed in Russian. I closed my eyes and counted to three, trying not to throw up. “Can you unwire it—break it—”Jesus I’ve forgotten how to speak. “Defuseit?” I managed at last.

He inhaled, a doctor telling the patient it’s stage four. “We’re not sure how to proceed. We don’t know which of the car’s sensors the bomb’s wired into so we can’t open a door or a window.” He leaned closer. He had a reassuring manner: withhis big, wide face and mostly bald head, he reminded me of an earnest little league coach. “But I’ve got a specialist coming in to take a look.”

I nodded weakly and leaned my head back against the headrest, trying to force the panic down inside me. All I could think about was that little red light under my seat, and what it meant. A device primed to kill me, just waiting for one signal.What happens when the battery runs out? What if it shorts? What if there’s someone watching with a remote control and they can just press a button and—I started to huff air through my nostrils, faster and faster?—

“Hey!” said Radimir sharply.

I looked around at him.

“It’s going to be okay.” He pressed his palm harder against the glass. “I’m right here with you.”

I nodded and tried to breathe. The minutes ticked past like centuries. I’d never gone so long without moving. With all the doors and windows closed, the air in the cabin was getting stale. I knew that there were vents but it felt like I was running out. And the walls of the car seemed to be creeping closer and closer, squeezing me into a tiny box. The fear took hold.Oh Jesus Jesus God, I don’t want to die?—

“Talk to me,” said Radimir. “Tell me about…” —he thought desperately—“books.”

“Books?” I tried to laugh but the fear made it come out kind of hysterical.

“What happened to Kurt the cowboy? Did he get together with Christa?”

I stared. I recognized the names, but they made no sense, coming out of a Russian mobster’s mouth.The book he read to me when I was ill.“You still remember that?!”

He nodded. “I never got to find out what happened.”

My mouth opened and closed a few times. “I never did either. I stopped reading it, after I got well.”

“You didn’t like it?”

“I loved it, but…it wasn’t the same without you reading it.”

There were people listening, police and the bomb squad and his brothers, but he didn’t seem to care. “You hold on,” he told me, “And I’ll read the rest of that book to you.” His eyes...were his eyes glistening? “Any book. I’ll read all the books. Whenever you like.”

I nodded, feeling my own eyes go hot. We sat there staring into each other’s eyes...

“Hey,” said a female voice right in front of me.

I jerked: but luckily wentbackinto my seat. I panted, blinked...and focused on the woman who was standing in front of the car.

She was about my age, with blonde hair tied in a ponytail. She was wearing a death metal t-shirt, black jeans and a bright orange puffa jacket. And now she was...climbing onto the hood.“Don’t!”I yelled, panicked, but she ignored me, too focused on balancing.

“Goddammit, Boxley, get off of there!” yelled the chief of the bomb squad. “What if it’s hooked up to the suspension?!”

Radimir and I stared at the two of them, then looked at each other. Thisis the specialist?!

“It’s not hooked up to the suspension,” mumbled Boxley. “Because that would be stupid. It would make no sense to hook it to the suspensionandthe seat sensors.” She stood up on the hood and then stepped onto the roof.Oh my God she’s crazy.“I’m going to need an angle grinder.”

“You can’tcut through the roof!”roared the chief, going red in the face. “Get off of there!”

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