Snow Going Back

Chapter 15

FIFTEEN

Kate glared over the counter at the young policewoman bent over the desk taking an age to sign her very few personal belongings back to her. She’d lost all patience in the seventeen hours she’d been left in here. Aside from the fact she’d spent not just the night in jail but an entire day , too, the awful thin plastic-covered mattress and the drunken ballads coming from the cell next door had meant she’d not slept a wink, either. She’d waited all morning to be collected for release. As morning had turned to afternoon, she’d been crawling the walls, furious that this ridiculous situation had gone so far. Finally, just before seven in the evening, the young girl in front of her had finally collected her for processing out.

Catching her glowering reflection in the glass separating them, Kate calmed her expression and rubbed her temples tiredly. It wasn’t this officer’s fault that she was here.

‘Here you are, Ms Hunter,’ the young woman said chirpily, finally looking up. ‘Everything accounted for.’

‘Thanks,’ Kate replied, slipping her coat on and checking her phone.

Dozens of notifications glared back at her, mostly from her mother and Bob. She shoved it in her pocket, wishing she could ignore them all until after she’d had a hot shower and eight solid hours of sleep. But she couldn’t.

Zipping up her coat, Kate walked outside into the snowy evening. She stopped and held her phone up in the air, trying to get a signal so she could summon an Uber, but it seemed to be a dead zone. She cursed under her breath and looked around the small car park. A man stepping out of his vehicle briefly drew her gaze, but she immediately moved on, searching for some sort of public transport option. The police station was in an annoyingly remote area, with nothing but forest surrounding it and the one empty road.

‘You gonna stand there all night, or shall we try to avoid losing limbs to frostbite?’

Kate turned towards the voice with a frown, realising that the man who’d stepped out of his car was Sam. She stared at him silently for a moment, surprised at how different he looked today. She could actually see his face now that he’d brushed his hair and trimmed the wild beard back to a more flattering short stubble. His blue eyes stood out more, strikingly bright between two layers of thick, dark lashes. He had a strong jaw and deeply etched dimples either side of his mouth, and a prominent classically sculpted nose that lent him a proud air.

Irritation suddenly ran through her as she realised that the arrogant douche who’d nearly killed her and made her spend a night in jail had the audacity to be good-looking – and not just slightly good-looking, incredibly good-looking. It seemed cosmically unjust. She knew as it registered that this was a completely irrational thought, but that made no difference to her feelings whatsoever.

Sam pushed his hands down further into the trouser pockets of the smart suit he wore today and hunched his shoulders, shifting from one shiny black shoe to another in an attempt to keep warm. ‘Well?’ he prompted.

Kate stared at him icily and then turned away without a word, lifting her phone back up and praying for signal. She heard him sigh.

‘Kate, would you please just get in the car? I’m not kidding about the frostbite.’

She turned back with a furious glare. ‘Not a chance! I’ll make my own way back, thank you very much!’

‘Yeah?’ Sam challenged, glancing down the dark empty road to where it disappeared into the forest. ‘How? You made some friends in the short time you’ve been in there? Joined a prison gang maybe? You got an old cellmate coming to pick you up?’

Kate’s hatred for the man increased. ‘ Hilarious . I’ll get an Uber,’ she replied coldly.

A ghost of a smile flitted across Sam’s face. ‘We don’t have Uber here, lawyer girl. This ain’t Boston. There is a cab company in town, but they’re closed today.’

Kate cursed and put her phone away. ‘ Fine . Then I’ll walk.’

‘You’ll walk?’ Sam repeated flatly.

‘ Yes ,’ she replied stubbornly.

‘All seven miles?’ He raised an eyebrow and waited.

Kate pressed her lips together hard to stop herself from exploding in a fit of frustration and looked back at the road, desperately willing a bus stop to appear. It didn’t. She stood there for a few more moments, trying to think of another option.

Sam followed her gaze. ‘Look, you can stay out here and freeze to death, or you can get in the truck and let me drive you back. But either way, I’m getting in the car.’

He paused as Kate warred with the two options, not sure which one she hated less.

‘It’s got heated seats…’ he added temptingly.

Kate held out for another few stubborn seconds, then turned and stalked past him to the passenger side. ‘ Fine ,’ she snapped as he opened the door for her. ‘But don’t expect any gratitude. You’re the reason I’m stuck here in the first place. And don’t think picking me up makes up for what you did, either. Far, far from it.’

Sam let out a short laugh of surprise and shook his head as she stepped up into the plush black pickup. ‘Whatever, lawyer girl.’

‘And don’t talk to me,’ Kate snapped, his casual tone like kindling to her fury. ‘I might need the ride, but I sure as hell don’t need to speak to you.’

He flashed her a swift sarcastic smile. ‘ Suits me ,’ he replied before slamming the passenger door shut.