Page 43 of Hidden Shadows
“It’s nice to meet you, Lydia. Is your mom by herself?”
She shook her head. “No, she’s pushing a stroller with my baby brother in it.”
“Do you know what color clothing she’s wearing?”
Lydia wrinkled her nose. “Um. A purple jacket. It’s long and reaches her knees.”
“That’s good. What about hair color?”
“It’s brown. Mommy says we have the same hair.”
“Well, she must have beautiful hair then, because your hair is very pretty.”
She got a small smile for that.
Finley stood and searched for a woman in a purple jacket pushing a stroller. She walked the girl along the water’s edge. When she saw a stroller, she got her hopes up, but the woman’s jacket was black. Finley was just about to turn when a woman in purple stepped through the crowd. She was behind a stroller and searching the area frantically, like she’d lost something…or someone.
Finley lowered to her haunches again and pointed. “Is that your mom, Lydia?”
The girl’s eyes widened right as the woman spotted them, relief moving over her face. Lydia ran to her mother, while Finley rose and crossed the distance.
“Oh, baby, I thought I lost you!” the woman said, lifting the small girl and kissing her head.
“I was sad. But Finley helped me find you.”
The woman looked over her daughter’s head. “You helped her?”
“I just walked with her to help her find you.”
She reached out and squeezed Finley’s arm. “Thank you!”
“You’re welcome. Enjoy the fair.” Finley gave them one last smile before turning and walking back toward the entrance. She was still smiling, so caught up in her own bubble that she didn’t realize how close she’d gotten to the edge of the lake—until a shoulder hit hers,hard. She screamed and threw her arms out to catch herself, but there was nothing to grab onto.
The second her body hit the ice, it shattered beneath her, and she was submerged in the frigid water.
Cold blasted her system like a thousand knives pricking her skin, cutting into her. She barely stopped from gasping, knowing the inhalation of water could drown her.
She tried to swim, but God, it was hard! Every limb shook as the combination of cold and panic tried to halt her movements. Take control and render her still.
She forced her foggy mind to work. To reach up for freedom.
But instead of hitting air, her fingers hit ice.
Oh God! Where was the hole she’d broken in the ice?
The panic intensified, her heart thudding against her ribs as her body screamed at her to take a breath. She tried to move her arm, to hit the layer of ice even while looking for the hole, but already her body was shutting down, her limbs refusing to move.
Her vision was going dark when fingers wrapped around her wrist and tugged her forward, then up and out of the water.
* * *
A vein throbbed violentlyin Nixon’s temple. He’d never moved so goddamn fast in his life to get Finley to the car and turn the heat on.
Even with the blanket around her, she shook so violently he could hear her teeth chattering together. Her lips were blue and her skin too pale.
She needed to get out of her wet clothes before hypothermia kicked in, if it hadn’t already.
He tried turning the heat up again, only to realize it was already at full capacity.
