Page 37 of Ice Cold Christmas
Melody searched Olivia’s eyes. Then she decided to play a game of her own. “I’m engaged to Victor.”
Olivia exploded into a fit of laughter. “The hell you are.” More laughter. “You can’t stand him.” She didn’t just grasp Melody’s hands. She drew her in for another crushing hug. “See, this is why I missed you. You are hilarious.”
No, she wasn’t.
Her best friend had just told her that she wasn’t engaged to Victor.
The door opened. A hard squeak. No knock from the visitor. Just the door instantly swinging open as if the visitor owned the place.
Surprise, surprise, Victor was the one standing there. He frowned at them.
Olivia stepped back but didn’t completely let Melody go. “Melody just told me the most hilarious story,” she began.
Oh, uh, Victor was not going to find this funny.
“She said you two were engaged.” More laughter pealed from Olivia. “Can you imagine? The two of you would kill each other if you were married.”
Victor’s jaw hardened. “Melody, your father is asking to see you.” A brief pause. “It’s one of his good times.”
She wasn’t exactly sure what a “good time” meant, but she nodded anyway. “Olivia, if you’ll excuse me?”
Olivia squeezed her hand. “I’m glad you’re back. Things weren’t the same without you.” Her gaze searched Melody’s. “You get the urge to vanish again, how about you come and talk to me first? It wasn’t cool to make me worry and wonder about you for a year. Friends don’t ditch friends.”
They did if they had no choice. If they were running through the snow, leaving blood in their wake, and a car slammed into them. But Melody didn’t say any of that. She just forced herself to smile. “Absolutely. I’ll come to you first.” Did the words sound as hollow as they felt?
But Olivia seemed satisfied. She nodded. Let Melody go. Ambled for the door. Her gaze raked over Victor. “Try to be nice to her, would you? We both know she probably went running before because of you. You take away everything a woman wants, and what else is she supposed to do?”
With that parting shot, she left the room.
Melody could hear Olivia’s steps padding softly away.
She squared her shoulders and hurried for the door. “I’ve been wanting to talk with Sebastian?—”
He didn’t move out of her way. If anything, Victor blocked the doorway more. “We had just become engaged before you vanished. As in, moments before.”
She raised her brows. She also bit back the response of…That seems convenient.
“We had told no one. After you left…” A slow shake of his head. “I didn’t tell your friends or your family. Didn’t tell the cops.”
“Why not?”
“Because I was already a suspect. And part of me wondered—hell.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I wondered if you’d changed your mind. Fled to get away from me.”
She wished she could remember him. “Did I love you?”
The hand he’d raised fell back to his side. “Your dad’s good bouts don’t last long. Especially in the middle of the day. He always seems to get weakest then. Probably because he tires out. A nap usually helps.”
What exactly was wrong with her father? A form of dementia? “Victor…”
“We should hurry downstairs. And we’re getting out of here today. I called the local sheriff. Let Jamal Wroth know about the shooting. He’s coming to investigate as soon as he can, but the guy was spouting off about hunters.” Disgust and disbelief tightened his hard features. “Hunters, my ass. That was someone deliberately stalking close to the house. Someone taking a shot into the house. Multiple shots. It was deliberate, and I want you out of here. I want you safe.”
She wet her lips. “And I’ll be safe with you?”
He didn’t blink. “Yes.”
She wanted to believe that. And he had been with her when the shots were fired. That meant Victor wasn’t the bad guy, right? But…as for the others in the house…
One of them could have fired the gun. Then circled back inside. Isn’t that possible? Couldn’t the shooter be right here with me? Or maybe not…maybe it would have taken too much time to circle back inside. She didn’t know. She had no idea what the layout of the property and all of the rooms were really like.
