Surrounded by only wilderness and wild animals was supposed to help Scott Meyers deal with the shit that happened that year. With New Year’s only hours away, he needed to put the past behind him so he could start fresh. He had been there since Christmas Eve and it was proving to be more of a challenge than he thought it would. The snow hadn’t stopped falling since Christmas morning, and he was beginning to go a little crazy. There was no escaping the
cabin until the storm let up but thankfully he had enough wood to keep him going, even if he was stranded there for weeks.....
This cabin had been his childhood home, a place of happiness and memories. It was shortly
after he turned twenty that his father had a heart attack and died, leaving this place to him. After
that it had only been used occasionally. Now he had been using it as a place to escape from his
life anytime he could get away. It didn’t matter if it was only for an overnight trip or for a few
days. Every time he left here, he seemed to come away a better person, moving closer to letting
go of the mistakes of his past.
Now if he could just give up the biggest ghost—Liz Hoffman. The one woman he’d loved
who had walked out on him. She hadn’t liked the man he was becoming when his business law
firm took off. A few well-placed clients, and suddenly he was in over his head. He never
suspected defending a doctor against malpractice would bring mob connections to his door. Now
that he thought about it, he realized he should be surprised it didn’t happen earlier. After all, with
his practice just outside of New York City, the mafia was a frequent threat.
He glanced up to the fireplace mantel where the reminder of her sat. A glass elephant, with
its skin a silvery gray, bright blue eyes that almost seemed to be watching him, and the long tail
which hung down the back where a smaller elephant had wrapped his trunk around it. Liz always
had a thing for elephants, and when he saw it in the shop a few weeks before her birthday, he had
bought it for her. That was the day he had come home to find all of her things gone. She had
simply vanished.
He should have gotten rid of that figurine but every time he thought about it he couldn’t
bring himself to do it. Well, this year was the end. It would be gone by New Year’s Eve, because
he was closing the door to the past and to Liz. Then, when he made it back to town, he was done;
no longer would he defend low-life scum. He was shutting down his firm and moving out of the
city. Maybe he’d move back to this little cabin; he didn’t need much. Maybe teach a class at the
community college, or write that book he had always wanted to write but never had the time for.
He didn’t care what he was doing as long as it wasn’t the same life he had been living for
the last several years. At forty-three, he needed more out of life than what he had. He had given
up on the idea of a wife and family, but there was more to life than that.
J.R., his old German Shepherd who had been sleeping in front of the fireplace, perked up his
ears and began to bark frantically.
“What is it, boy?” Scott rose from the chair, grabbing the rifle he kept mounted above the
fireplace, and peeked out the window. Snow was all he could see. It was coming down hard and
heavy, the wind blowing until it howled, tossing up freshly fallen drifts. “I don’t see anything.
Old man, I think it’s your ears and the wind. Go back to sleep.”
As if to insist Scott was wrong, J.R. rose from the rug, stretched, and tipped his head back in
a howl.
“Fine, if it makes you happy, I’ll go look.” He grabbed his coat from the peg by the door,
slipped it on, and shook his head at the dog. “If this is nothing, you’re going to sleep out in the
cold tonight.” The threat was a dead one; they both knew he’d never do that to J.R. The poor dog
was too old, and even if he wasn’t, he was Scott’s only companion.
J.R. came up next to him, his barks and howls urging Scott to open the door. He glanced
around, not even a footprint in the snow. “See, there’s nothing.” Before he could grab the dog’s
collar, he took off past him, running through the snow. “If you’re going to play in the snow
you’re on your own,” Scott shouted.
J.R.’s barks continued, finally piquing Scott’s suspicions. He stepped out, pulling the cabin
door shut behind him, and followed. “This better be worth it.” Even if he thought he was going
on a wild goose chase, he couldn’t let J.R. go out there by himself. The bears might be
hibernating for the winter, but anything could happen to his old dog.
He crested the small hill in front of the cabin, giving him a great view of the road. Or what
should have been the road, since everything seemed to blend together from all the snow. He was
only able to tell that there should have been a road there because the trees were cleared away. No
one traveled the mountain in this weather, so there were no tire tracks. Anyone who was stupid
enough to face this storm on the mountain was stuck here until it passed.
Something moved in the distance, catching his gaze. A car. It had gone off the side of the
narrow mountain road and from the looks of it had been there for a while. It was completely
covered in snow, but someone was inside, trying to push the door open. It wasn’t going to
happen, not with the snowdrift that had built up.
He slipped the rifle strap over his shoulder and continued down the hill after J.R., toward the
car. He didn’t bother to yell that he was coming to help, because there was little doubt whoever
was in the car could have heard him over the wind. It had to be a tourist, because any locals
would know it was insane to go out in this weather. No one in their right mind would sign their
death warrant by being out here. Without Scott’s intervention, this person was done for. He
quickened his pace.
He neared the back of the car. The bumper was sticking up, and the license plate read
Virginia. No wonder the idiot was out in this storm. They didn’t know any better. He tapped J.R.
to get him out of the way, and went to the side of the car where someone had been trying to get
out. “Anyone in there?”
“Yes…please, help me!” someone sobbed, the voice edged with desperation. Tiny fists
banged on the glass. “I can’t get this door open.”
“There’s a snow drift here, can you put the window down farther?” He tried to peer in where
the window was rolled down just a crack, but he couldn’t see anything.
“No, the car’s dead.” There was movement closer to the window, but he couldn’t see
through the tinted glass. “Scott…Scott Meyers, is that you?”
“Yeah. You know me? Who’s in there?” Surprised, he waited for a reply. When there was
none, he tried to move toward the front of the vehicle to see through the windshield, but the car
started to shift. The tree it was braced on wasn’t going to hold much longer and it would go
plummeting to the bottom of the mountain. “Are you injured?”
“There’s dried blood, I think from my head. I also believe I might have been unconscious,
but I’m okay. Just get me out of here.” The vehicle moved again and the woman inside squealed.
“Please!”
“You’re going to need to get to the backseat. I can get that door open, there’s not that much
snow there. Just be careful, slow movements, you can do this.”
“No, please, just get me out,” the woman begged, frantic.
“There’s not enough time for me to dig the car out from all this snow.” He squatted down by
the window so she could see him. “You can do this. If you do it slow and carefully everything
will be fine.”
“Okay.”
He rose up and stepped toward the backseat.
“Where are you going?” Her small fist pounded against the window again.
“To get the door open. Now move, there’s not a lot of time.” He glanced to J.R. who was
still standing in the snow a few feet behind them. “Stay back and out of the way.”
“Who are you talking to? Is someone with you?”
“Just my dog.” He used the arm of his coat to brush off the door to find the handle. Since
this end was sticking in the air, there was less snow built up in front of it, making it easier for
him to open. With the snow out of the way, he found the handle and pulled. The door opened
without a problem, but the car began to slide forward, the woman inside screaming. “You’ve got
to get out now! The tree is breaking.”
“Damn, you’re still just as demanding,” she shrieked.
“Who are you?” He squatted, trying to peer into the dark car, but he couldn’t see anything
other than shadows.
“You’ll find out soon enough and I’m not sure you’ll like the idea that you’re the one
rescuing me.” She slipped between the seats and grasped his hand when she reached the back.
He wrapped his fingers around her wrists, just as the tree splintered and fell away, the car
going with it. The sound of groaning metal followed, and then the silent snow seemed to swallow
the sound as the vehicle slipped into the darkness. He tugged her hand, pulling her out of the car
and into his arms.
The long brown curly hair and shapely body were unmistakable. Liz Hoffman, his Liz.
Stepping back a few feet, out of danger, he let go of her as if she’d burned him. “What the
hell are you doing here?”
“Is there somewhere I can warm up? I’ll tell you everything, just…please, I’m freezing.”
He stared at her, remembering their past together. As if transported back there, he could see
one of their last fights, just weeks before they were supposed to get married. He had tried to
protect her from the second life he was swallowed into, and the best way was to hide it from her.
“Scott, what about us? All you care about is your clients, but can’t you see that we’re in
danger.” Her words played clearly through his thoughts. Fifteen years later and it was as fresh as
if it had just happened. She wasn’t talking about physical danger, but at the time that’s what he’d
thought. Looking back, he knew she meant their relationship. A week later he had come home to
an empty house. No note, nothing. At least not until the next day when the package arrived at the
office with her engagement ring and a letter explaining she couldn’t come in second to his job.
She couldn’t bear him concealing the truth.
The mafia connections had cost him a lot but that was the one thing that still pained him. He
loved Liz, wanted to spend his life with her. All because he chose to represent that doctor, he lost
everything he cherished.
“Scott, are you listening to me? I’m freezing.”
“My cabin’s just over the hill. Can you make it?” He nodded the way he had come. The hill
wasn’t too steep and it was the quickest route.
“Yes.” Her teeth chattered.
“Come on, J.R.” He slipped his coat off and put it around Liz’s shoulders.
“You don’t need too—”
“Don’t argue, you’re freezing. Who knows how long you’ve been out here for all that snow
to gather around your car.” He paused at the bottom of the hill and turned toward her. “What the
hell were you thinking being out in this weather?”
“I had to see you.”
“After all these years you decide in one of the worst snowstorms in years that it’s life or
death to see me. What could be that important that you’d risk your life?” He couldn’t keep the
anger out of his words. She might have walked out on him, but he still loved her.
“You.” Tears sprang to her eyes. “I’m here to save your life.”
Chapter Two
After hours in the car, Liz had come up with the best way to tell him what she had found
out. Instead of using the caution she had planned, she ended up blurting it out as they stood in the
middle of the forest, complete targets for anyone who might be stupid enough to have come after
him.
She sat curled in front of the fire with a blanket around her shoulders. The only thing she
managed to save from the car before jumping into his arms was her purse, with her laptop inside.
All her clothes and belongings had plummeted down the mountain with her car. J.R. sat next to
Scott, both of them watching her intently.
Fifteen years since she had left and the man who still held her heart didn’t look as if he’d
changed. He’d grayed a little around the temples, and he had a few more wrinkles around the
eyes which she was sure were due to long hours in the office. But he still sped her heart rate just
like the first time she’d seen him. Even after all this time, she loved him. It was as strong as the
day she’d left, maybe stronger because of their time apart.
“Now, do you want to explain what the hell you’re doing here?”
“A few years ago I accepted a job with the FBI as a technical analyst.”
“Get to the point,” he snapped.
“Damn it, Scott, you’re neck high in mafia business. They’re going to try to take you down
if they can. I’ve come to reason with you, to get you to leave it. I’ll pull some strings, we can get
you witness protection. Anything, because this is going to go down one of two ways…either
you’ll end up in prison or in a casket.”
“The FBI sent you?” He gave a light chuckle before leaning over to rub J.R.’s head. “Hear
that, boy? She’s our protection.”
She let go of the blanket and grabbed her bag. “If you don’t believe me, everything is in
here.” She held out her laptop to him. “As for the FBI, they don’t know I’m here. If they did I’d
probably lose my job.”
“Then why are you here?” When he didn’t take the laptop, she set it aside.
“Because I love you, Scott! I’ve never stopped, but I couldn’t live with someone who would
shut me out.” The tears she had been suppressing began to fall and there was no holding them
back now.
“It was my way of protecting you. I knew I was in trouble when I met the friends of that
doctor I was defending. That’s when this shit started. Pushing you away seemed like the best
idea I had.”
“It’s been going on for fifteen years?” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The man
she loved had been wrapped up in the mafia for over a decade. Was he in deeper than she
suspected?
“Not by choice. It’s been off and on, mostly when they need someone to defend them. I’m
not in that deep and it’s not like I’m doing anything illegal.”
“You’re defending scumbags…getting them off.” With the chill returning, she pulled the
blanket around her again. “That’s not the reason you became a lawyer. Remember all the good
you wanted to do? What happened to that?”
“It wasn’t like I asked for this. I never wanted to deal with this shit.” He leaned back in the
chair and J.R. put his head on his knees. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? You’re not worried the FBI could try to tie you into the
whole mess when they bring the organization down?”
“I’ve always worried about that, but I’ve made sure I’m only doing what I’m hired to do.
Because of attorney-client privilege, I can’t divulge anything they told me when I was defending
them. I’ve never taken part in any of their schemes, or anything illegal.”
She forced her gaze from him and looked at the fireplace. She watched as the log burned,
sending sparks floating up the chimney. Did he not understand that even being associated with
them was dangerous? If he ever failed to represent one of their people as they thought he should,
it could mean the end of his life.
Years ago she realized she had made the biggest mistake by walking out on him, but she
could never find the courage to go back to him, to tell him why she had left. When she found out
about this connection she had no choice but to go to him. Before she had even given it proper
thought as to what it would do to her career, she was already on her way. Now she sat there
wondering if she had made another mistake, because he didn’t seem to care that his career and
life were on the line. Maybe she hadn’t known him as well as she thought—or had he changed
that much in the last fifteen years?
“You’re willing to give up your whole life to defend them? You’re willing to go to prison
for them?” She shook her head, sending her hair into her face. “That’s not the man I fell in love
with. The one who was going to fix the world, defend the people who needed it, and see that
justice was done for the families involved. What happened to you?”
“I’ve been here for days asking myself the same thing.” He ran his hand over J.R.’s head
and scratched behind his ears. “If you came to find that man, I’m afraid he’s gone. Only the outer
shell has been left behind like a remnant of yesteryear.”
“Why? He was a good man.”
“The world is a harsh place, sometimes you’ve got to change to stay alive.” He shook his
head. “You know, a phone would have worked just as well for you to tell me this.”
“I thought it needed to be done in person. I hoped I might convince you to leave this behind
and let me help you. Plus, you never know, your phones could be bugged. If they overheard what
I had to say, it could have meant your death, and it most certainly would have shattered the case
the FBI has been building.” She frowned. “I take it you’re not happy to see me.”
“After all these years…” He stood up from the chair and stalked toward the kitchen.
“What? After all these years, what?”
He pulled open the refrigerator door, disappearing until a moment later when he stood
upright with a bottle of beer in his hand. “You show up, wanting to save me. Where were you
when I nearly lost my firm because I couldn’t get my head on straight? All of my thoughts were
so tangled around you I couldn’t focus on the case before me. Or the months I spent looking for
you for some kind of explanation. We were together for six years and I didn’t even deserve a
face-to-face explanation of why you left without even talking to me.”
“Do you think it wasn’t heartbreaking for me to leave? I love you, Scott. You were my
world. But you changed, suddenly you wouldn’t talk to me. You couldn’t even look me in the
eye. What was I supposed to do?” She stood and J.R. rose as if on guard. Watching the dog, she
moved carefully toward the kitchen. When she got to the counter separating the kitchen and
living area, J.R. growled, as if letting her know that was far enough. “You might be upset on how
things ended but don’t use that as a reason not to save yourself. If you don’t want me to help you,
then fine, I’ll get someone else to help, but don’t…”
He set the beer aside and closed the distance between them. There was something she hadn’t
seen in his eyes in so long and she realized it was desire. He placed his hands on her hips and
lifted her to the counter, claiming her lips. He tasted of hops and spice from the beer. Instead of
pulling away from him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and met his advances. Slipping
his tongue between her lips, he devoured her.
With one final kiss he pulled back leaving her breathless, and just stared at her. Just like
that, she could see the love in his eyes. It was like none of the last fifteen years had happened and
they were right back where they had been before.
“Oh, Scott.” She reached to him but he stepped back. “What?”
“After the New Year, I was starting my life fresh. It’s why I came here…to bury the ghost of
you once and for all. Now you just show up after fifteen years.”
“You can’t pretend you don’t still feel the same way about me.”
“You’re right, I can’t, but fifteen years is too long to just pick up where we left off.” He
snatched his beer off the counter and took a long swig.
“I’ll leave.”
“Where the hell are you going to go? Your car is over the mountain and you can’t get very
far on foot, not in this weather.” He leaned against the counter, watching her.
“I don’t know, but obviously I can’t stay here.”
For a moment she wondered if he would even care if she walked out that door and never
came back. Maybe she was wrong; what she saw in his gaze wasn’t love, it might have been
desire but that was it. Her heart broke a little as she realized she might have lost him for good.
Maybe all these years she had hoped that one day they’d find each other again and could be as
they once were. Now she realized that could never happen. Years had split the love they had for
each other and even though she still loved him, he had clearly moved on.
“Liz…are you listening to me?” He set the beer aside and had come closer to her while she
was lost in her thoughts. “Earth to Liz.”
“What?” She shook her head, freeing herself from the memories of the past.
“I said you’ll stay here until the storm is over.”
“What are you going to do about the mafia? Are you still going to represent their people?”
She didn’t care that she might have jeopardized her job for nothing, what she cared about was
him. Even if they couldn’t be together, she didn’t want him dead or in prison.
“My new life begins the day after New Year’s, so there’s nothing to worry about.” He
picked up his beer and took a long swig.
“What’s that supposed to mean? You’re not going to do anything stupid, are you?”
“I’ve never been the impulsive type. That was always you, sugar.”
She hopped off the counter. “Then tell me.”
“I’ve quit.” He smirked over the top of his beer bottle. “Sold my practice to a junior lawyer I
had working for me for the last few years. My condo hits the market Monday and I’m leaving
New York.”
“They’ll find you. This won’t end, you know too much.”
“Then that’s the price I’ll have to pay. For fifteen years I was stuck defending scumbags
who deserved to be in prison, but no longer. I’m done practicing law, it just doesn’t mean the
same as it once did.”
She closed the distance between them and placed her hand on his cheek. “You might hate
me, but please let me help you.”
To be continued.......Tomorrow
It's not fair! Wherez the rest
ReplyDeleteOh no! I need the rest.
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