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“Wow, I didn’t realize ...” Wincing, she gripped the side of her head.
I hit the brakes. “You okay?”
“Yeah. I’ve got a terrible headache.”
“Your body has been through a lot.”
“Oh my God.” She gawked at the blizzard swirling around us in an apocalyptic color of gray, the last of the muted sunlight.
Her jaw dropped.
“Don’t worry,” I said as I slowly decelerated. “We have shelter.”
Frowning, Sophia squinted at the cabin ahead, which looked like nothing more than a mound of snow. “Where are we?”
“A spot I found while looking for you after you sneaked out of the bathroom window.”
“You looked for me?”
“Of course I did.” I shoved the SUV into park. “We’ll hunker down here tonight.”
Speechless, Sophia gaped at the cabin, her throat working a deep swallow.
“Sorry it’s not the Four Seasons.”
“No,” she said quickly, “it’s fine. I just ...”
When her voice trailed off, I couldn’t get a read on what she was thinking, and that bothered me.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. Sorry. Just a little shook, I guess.”
“You’re safe here. We’ll reassess in the morning. For now, try to relax.” I grabbed my bag from the back and flung it over my shoulder. “Stay there. I’ll come around.”
To my surprise, Sophia complied.
Icy wind tore through my parka as I opened the door and quickly scooped her into my arms before she could protest. When she wrapped her arms around my neck, I could smell the gentle scent of coconut—the scent of her. Careful to keep the thermal blanket wrapped around her naked legs, I kicked the door closed and trudged through the snow that reached the middle of my boots.
The front door of the cabin was boarded up by a few rotted planks nailed horizontally.
“Turn your face and close your eyes.”
Sophia buried her face in my chest. After two heel kicks, the planks fell to the ground.
“Grab the flashlight from my pocket.”
Sophia did as I told her and slowly aimed the light through the space. It was exactly as I’d expected.
One room, rotted, dilapidated, practically falling apart. The floor was made of concrete, which was good news. The bad news was that the roof had several holes in it, and while the dead vines helped provide a screen, several mounds of snow had gathered on the floor.
The relief from the wind was instant.
I carried Sophia to the side of the room with the most roof cover and kicked away the debris—leaves, twigs, the nest of an animal who had once lived there. Gently, I lowered her onto the floor.
She looked up at me. The bruising under her eye was already beginning to darken. Knowing that someone had physically hurt her drove me insane, consuming me from the inside out. All I could think about was finding the asshole and beating him to death with my fists.
“Look!” she said with startling excitement, pointing to several half-burned logs in the fireplace. Next to it was a stack of more. “Looks like we aren’t the only people to have taken shelter here at one point.”
