Page 12 of Saving Mr. Bell

Which, he didn’t.

Arlo and I had been acquaintances for two weeks, six years ago. Friends, he’d called it. Had we been? We’d certainly got along well, Arlo making me laugh like no one else could. And then he’d been gone. Without so much as a note. With friends like that, who needed enemies? And now he thought he could… what? Just stroll back into my life with his kidnapper’s kit and a smile. Technically, I knew there’d been a distinct lack of duct tape or cable ties involved in the previous night’s extraction,but the intent had been there. And fanning the flames of my indignation helped me pick up the pace.

I glanced back at the cabin in time to see the door open and a figure step out. Oh, Arlo had decided to move his arse, had he? That was big of him. I’d been avoiding the densely wooded area to my right, but with Arlo on my tail, I veered into it, more concerned about staying out of sight than I was about following a road I couldn’t even see. It was a decision I regretted almost immediately, the foliage only growing thicker the deeper I went, and snow-covered branches bombarding me at every turn. I took one directly to the face, the momentary blinding causing me to lose my balance and pitch forward into the snow.

“RUDOLF?”

I lifted my face and spat a mouthful of snow out. At least it wasn’t yellow. “Leave me alone, Arlo! Go back to your little prison cabin.” I struggled to my hands and knees, the snow feeling more like sinking sand. Not that I’d ever been in sinking sand, but that’s what I imagined it would feel like.

“You’re being ridiculous.”

I struggled to my feet, indignation lending me an extra burst of energy. “Oh, I’m being ridiculous, am I? And there I was thinking you were the one who traveled all the way to Austria, waited outside a nightclub, abducted me, and then brought me to a remote cabin in the middle of nowhere. But yeah,I’mbeing ridiculous by wanting to leave. Am I supposed to accept my fate meekly and spend Christmas with you?”

“You’re twisting things.”

He sounded far too close, my head start all but gone. I struggled on, my damp clothes making forward progress more difficult. Was the snow getting deeper? It felt like it. Or was it just fatigue setting in? The hangover didn’t help. The painkillers—and probably the food as well—had made it better for a while, but physical exertion had reawakened the pounding in mytemples, and nausea had decided now would be a good time to rock up and introduce itself. “I don’t think I am twisting things. And we can see whose side the Austrian police take once I reach civilization.”

“You’re going to set the police on me?”

I leaned against a tree, using the excuse of looking back as an opportunity to take a breather. Arlo wasn’t close enough to see, but he was definitely getting nearer. With his clothes far better suited to the weather than my club gear, it was inevitable, he’d catch up. A case of when rather than if. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“You want me to go to prison? An Austrian prison at that.”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t give a damn what happens to you.”

“I guess that’s where you and I differ.”

“I guess it is.” I slipped, this time landing on my arse. Great! Now my back was just as wet as my front. I might as well roll around in the snow and be done with it. I struggled to my feet again, the cold affecting my movements. Despite wearing gloves, my fingers were stiff and uncooperative, the wool sodden. And I wasn’t entirely sure I still had toes, my feet completely numb.

Was it cold enough to get hypothermia? Probably, if I was out here long enough. I tried to recall what I knew about it. Not much, apart from the brain getting confused at the end and interpreting the extreme cold as heat so that people took their clothes off and froze to death even quicker. Well, I had zero inclination to take my clothes off, so I took that as a good sign.

“You’ll get hypothermia. You’re not dressed for this weather.”

Fantastic!He was reading my mind now. “I’m fine.” If fine was wet, cold, nauseous, and miserable. “Never been better, in fact. Everyone should take a bracing stroll after breakfast.”

“Or frostbite.”

Fuck!I hadn’t considered frostbite. Was that what was happening to my toes? Would they turn black and drop off? I’d never considered having much attachment to my toes, butI’d prefer them to stay where they were and remain pink. And it would really scupper my audience’s fascination with my bare feet if a few toes fell off. “You’re just trying to scare me.”

“Not really. I’m worried.”

Arlo had to only be a few meters away now. He’d be on me in no time at all. I picked up my pace, trees giving way to… more trees, the forest uncompromising. How long did forests usually go on for? Miles? If so, I was fucked. “Well, you should have thought about that before you dragged me here against my will.”

“I didn’t think you’d be stupid enough to walk out of here.”

“Admit… you lied… about how far… the closest neighbors are.” My words were coming out in pants. I rarely worked out to this degree, my body screaming at me and asking what the fuck I thought I was doing?

“I didn’t lie.”

The words were so earnest they sent a shaft of alarm through me. “You must have done.”

“I didn’t.” I stopped dead, turning toward Arlo’s voice just as he stepped out from behind a tree. In contrast to me, he was all bundled up, and I couldn’t help but be jealous. “Jesus!” he said as soon as he saw me. “What happened to you?”

I sighed. “I fell. A few times.” I lifted one foot. “These shoes are shit for walking through snow.”

Arlo grimaced. “I have boots you could have borrowed if you’d asked.”

I laughed. “Oh, yeah. I’m about to run away from you and hope you don’t follow, can I borrow your boots to do that? Oh, and maybe your very warm looking coat as well.”

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