1
BECK
The wipers couldn't keepup with the snow. When the lights of Chance Rapids finally appeared through the storm, I flexed my fingers and tried to shake some feeling back into them. They had gone numb somewhere around the second avalanche tunnel. Cell service was shit between Windswan and Chance Rapids. I cranked up the only radio station that came through, and a twangy country version ofSilent Nightfilled the car. I'd told myself this would be a quick trip. In and out. But I spent the last three hours driving in silence, regretting not downloading a playlist and trying not to think about the last time I'd driven this road.
Two more avalanche tunnels and one long scary hill were all that separated me from the road and bed at the Inn, and I couldn't wait to get there in one piece. After fifteen years away, I'd turned into a small-town rookie. I didn't have a blanket, the gas gauge read an eighth of a tank, and the only thing I had to drink was a twelve-pack of Coors Light.
Descending the final hill, lights from the outdoor skating rink welcomed me home. They'd kept it. I'd spent many nights under those lights, slamming pucks into the snowbank. Caught in amemory of chasing the puck across the lake, a sideways jerk of the SUV slipping snapped me back to reality.
Black ice.
"Whew." I shook my head. "That was close," I said to the empty seat beside me.
My relief was short-lived. Seconds later, the rear wheels lost traction. "Fuck," I growled as the snowbanks on each side of the road flashed in the headlights. Counter-steering, my efforts to correct the spin were useless. Left side, right side, left side, right side. I grimaced as the SUV slammed into the snowbank, jolting me forward. The thud of the metal hitting hard snow was followed by another sound, this one more like an explosion. My hands were torn from their death grip on the wheel by the force of the airbag as it smashed into my face.
Had the SUV come to a stop on the lake? I fumbled for the window button, hoping that if I did land on the lake, it was frozen enough to handle the weight of a full-sized Tahoe. Since it was early December, it could go either way.
The Stars are Brightly Shiiiiining.
My fingertips found the window button, and thankfully it was cold air that whooshed into the cab, not frigid lake water. As the airbag deflated, I got my bearings and realized I was damn lucky. I was in O'Malley's field, next to the lake.
Fall on Your Knees, O hear the angels' voices.
I jabbed at the volume button and turned offO Holy Nightby some O'Hillbilly singer and shifted the SUV into park. Dropping my head to the headrest, I took stock of the damage to my body. My face felt like I'd been in a bench brawl. "Ouch.” I winced as I touched my nose, my fingertip meeting the warmth of blood. I pulled down the visor to inspect my face.
Next, I surveyed the situation. The car was running, my headlights shone over the field, and the dirt road to the hot springs was in sight. These SUVs were meant for shit like this.Bob Seger's Like a Rock ran through my mind as I shifted into drive. It was going to be easy. Leave a set of tire tracks across O'Malley's field and blast onto the logging road.
The engine revved, but my stunt driving dreams were shattered when nothing happened.
I was stuck. I knew it. The SUV probably knew it, but my ego wasn't ready to give up. Throwing the car into reverse, I pressed the accelerator, and the car inched backward, then stopped. I tried for another ten minutes, but the truck wouldn't budge. I'd have to walk the last mile into town and hope that I didn't freeze on the way. I pulled the handle and pushed on the door, gently at first. Grunting, I leaned all of my two hundred and fifteen pounds against the door. After two attempts, I was able to get it open about a foot, almost wide enough for me to squeeze out. The size that provided me with an advantage on the ice now trapped me inside the car. I was going to have to go out the window.
A pair of eyes glinted at me. Then another, then what felt like hundreds of eyeballs stared me down from the field.
Mule deer. Of course, there was always a herd of them at the edge of town. But how had I not noticed them before? That's when I realized a second set of headlights was shining into the field. Relief washed over me. I hoped it was a tow truck. Shivering, I reached into the back seat for my coat, but in the crash it must've fallen onto the floor.
My leather bag with my laptop and all of the real estate contracts had also disappeared from sight. If I was going to abandon the car, I had to find that confidential information and bring it with me.
Chance Rapids was the last stop on my business trip, and my goal of getting in and out of my hometown before running into anyone from my past was disappearing as fast as the hood of my car under the falling snow.
A flashlight glinted in my side mirror.
I shouted out the window, "I can't open the door."
"Are you alright?" It was a woman's voice.
"I'm fine, just a little busted up from the airbag."
The flashlight got closer. "Don't get out. You're stuck pretty good, but I think I can yank you out. I'll be right back. Stay where you are." Her clipped orders had an air of authority. Was she a cop?
I turned in my seat to look out the rear window. I'd ended up about ten feet from the road. A pickup truck sat idling behind me. Its redneck light-bar lit up the field like it was morning.
It wasn't a tow truck, and the woman wasn't a cop. Her silhouette was straight out of a horror movie. Antlers arced from the top of her head, and the steel hook on the tow rope glinted in the truck lights as it swung from her hand.
Was this aMiserysituation? Was my rescuer, the woman with the authoritative voice and demonic-looking headpiece, going to take me back to her cabin in the woods and do… whatever with me?
I needed to get out of the car. "Let me climb out the window and help you."
"Don't be ridiculous," Antler Lady shouted.
