“Dunno. Ssss-sidewalk…going h-h-home.” His voice was weak and sounded distorted, as if he were in a tunnel.
There were no tunnels on Belvedere, so I wasn’t sure what that was all about. Nonetheless, I was out of my chair, stuffing my arms in my jacket, and racing for the door in seconds flat. I shouted a harried good-bye at Layla but didn’t stop to explain where I was going. To be honest, I wasn’t sure.
I jumped into my truck and headed south toward home, diligently scanning the sidewalks and roads. My windshield wipers worked triple-time to combat the fat flakes coming down at a deceptively lazy speed. Hours of nonstop snow had blanketed the entire town. And while it was pretty and almost magical-looking, it was dangerous too.
I slowed behind Jerry O’Malley’s van and pressed the Call button on my console. I had no business doing a search-and-rescue operation on my own. If Silas was in bad shape, he’d need medical assistance.
“Call 9-1—whoa!”
There he was. A lone figure with groceries strewn at his feet in the middle of Snowmageddon.
Silas was hunched over, his hands covering his mouth in what was probably a futile attempt to stay warm.
I swerved around the van and made a sharp right onto Ketel Lane. I slammed my door and raced toward him, fumbling for the gloves in my pocket.
“Hey. L-l-look who’s h-h-here.” Silas’s jaw worked overtime, his teeth chattering like a renegade typewriter.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” I exploded. “You’re frozen.”
“N-n-no sh-sh-shit, Sh-sherlock.”
“Put these on and come with me.” I shoved my gloves at him, picked up the groceries, and gestured for him to follow.
Silas dropped the gloves and stumbled like Frankenstein.Fuck. How long had he been out here? He was in worse shape than I’d have thought. I left the gloves where they’d landed, set the bags on the ground, and put his right arm over my shoulders, pulling him along as if I were dragging him out of a burning building.
“Wait. Soup.”
I paused for a beat, unsure what he meant till he pointed at the bags. “Yeah, don’t worry about those. I’ll get them. Let’s just get you out of the cold.”
Thankfully, I’d parked close by and was able to get him inside the truck quickly. I blasted the heat and went back to retrieve my gloves and the groceries. My timing was impeccable. The heavens opened even more, and suddenly those pretty snowflakes looked more like a gauzy white curtain. Icy windnipped at my nape, sending shivers up my spine as I dove behind the wheel.Phew.
I glanced over at Silas, who sat forward with his knuckles pressed to the vent.
“Sss better,” he mumbled. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Put your seat belt on. Let’s get you home.”
“Can’t.”
I frowned. “Can’t what?”
“Move. Fingers stuck.” He lifted his hand and shrugged.
“Here. Gimme your hand.”
Silas didn’t argue. I suspected he didn’t have the energy. But he widened his eyes comically when I rubbed his palms between mine.
“Nice,” he hummed.
“Good. If you can feel that, you’re in fine shape.”
“I can’t feel my pinkies or this one.” He waggled his middle finger.
“Are you really flipping me off?” I joked.
Silas’s snort-laugh had a manic tone. “No. Wrong one. It’s this one. I used to have a ring on it. Not anymore.”
I let go of his hand and studied my unexpected detour of the day.
