Deep Freeze (West Coast 1)

Something she wouldn’t like.

Something intimately evil.

CHAPTER 3

“Cassie!” Jenna yelled up the stairwell. “Allie! Breakfast. Get a move on! We have to be out of here in half an hour!” Listening for sounds of life coming from upstairs, she walked into the kitchen and glanced at the clock mounted over the stove. They were going to be late. There was just no two ways about it. They really should be at Allie’s school in forty-five minutes and it would take at least twenty to get to the junior high. She flipped on the television, slammed two English muffins into the toaster, and yelled, “Come on, girls!”

She heard the thud and shuffle of footsteps overhead. Thank God.

She swallowed her second cup of coffee, nearly tripping over Critter, who was hovering near the counter, dropped her empty cup in the sink, and yanked open the refrigerator door. Still no sound of water running. Cassie was usually in the shower by this time. Yanking open the refrigerator door, she found a carton of orange juice and poured two glasses as the muffins popped up. From the television, the local weatherman was predicting the worst snow of the season so far, as temperatures had dropped far below freezing.

Slathering the first set of muffins with butter, she heard footsteps on the stairs. A few seconds later, Cassie appeared.

“There’s no water,” she said glumly.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean there’s no friggin’ water. I turned on the faucet and nothing!” To prove her point, she walked to the sink and twisted on the faucet. Nothing happened.

“No hot water?” Jenna said, hating the thoughts running through her mind. Better a problem with the water heater than the pipes.

“No cold, either.” Cassie looked over at the coffeepot. “How did you…?”

“Got it ready last night. It’s on a timer.” She was at the sink, trying to get the water to flow and failing miserably. “Damn. I guess you’ll just have to get dressed without a shower.”

“Are you out of your mind? I can’t go to school without washing my hair.”

“You’ll survive. So will the school.”

“But, Mom—”

“Just eat your breakfast and then change into something clean.”

“No way. I’m not going to school.” Cassie slumped into a chair in the nook. Dark smudges surrounded her eyes, and she couldn’t keep from yawning from her tryst the night before.

“You’re going. Remember the old saying, ‘If you fly with the eagles, you have to rise with the sparrows?’”

“I don’t get it.”

“Sure you do.”

“Well, it’s dumb.”

“Maybe so, but it’s our credo for the morning.”

Cassie rolled her eyes and took a swallow of her juice, but let the muffin sit untouched on her plate. Critter planted himself under the table, his head resting on Cassie’s knee. She didn’t seem to notice or care.

“You and I still need to talk. Last night isn’t going to happen again. I don’t want you sneaking out. Ever. It’s just not safe.”

“You just don’t like Josh.”

“We went over this last night. Josh is fine.” Even if his IQ was smaller than his shoe size. “But I don’t like him manipulating you.”

“He doesn’t.”

“And, if you two are having sex—”

“Oh God. Save me.”