Page 20 of A Touch of Frost
Mozart turned to look at me and for a moment, I thought he wouldn’t say anything. Instead, he walked over and pulled me into a hug.
“You be careful.” He told me. “And if Frost doesn’t kill you, I’ll see you back state-side when this is over.”
I nodded. “Thanks.”
Mozart left me alone with this woman, this person they saw fit to call Frost.
I wasn’t sure what to say, how to react and that was new to me.
Chapter 5
Frost
“The first thing I need you to do, is turn off your cellphone and remove the battery.” I told him while scrolling through my phone for Black Widow’s contact information. I doubt the number was still the same, but it was worth a try.
Jesse hadn’t said anything, but I could feel his stare on me.
“Phones can be tracked.” I replied without even looking up.
“Says the woman texting on aphone.”
“It’s a burner and the minute I’m done what I’m doing, it goes off.”
He said nothing but I could see from the corner of my eyes he was doing as I’d told him. He dumped the pieces of his phone into his pocket, and I refocused on my best friend.
Black Widow was angry at me.
I knew it.
The truth was, I hadn’t meant to stay gone so long. The issue was, deep down, I knew my shit-show of a life would only make things complicated for her.
I came with demons—pissed off ones that could bring her career crashing down—pun intended.
She was all the family I had left and though it broke me to walk away, I needed to protect her.
With that in mind, I tried calling her. True to form, being on an aircraft carrier in the middle of the ocean, her cell didn’t work. Video calling her didn’t work either, so I settled for sending her an email then closing the laptop.
Jesse’s footsteps sounded against the wooden floor and I turned to watch the entrance until he stepped through.
“Let’s go for a ride.” I told him.
“Oh yeah?” He cocked his head to the side. “Where we going?”
“To visit someone who might have some idea of where your brother is.”
“I’m down.”
We left the house, stopping only so Jesse could buy something to drink and snacks. Since I didn’t want us standing out like a sore thumb, I left my customized GTO behind and drove a black jeep instead. The moment he got in, Jesse wound down the window.
Once I was settled into the drive, I kept glancing over at him. He had one hand stuck out the window, I supposed enjoying the way the wind felt gliding through his fingers. It ruffled his hair and for the first time I noticed the edges of a tattoo peeking up at his shirt collar.
I wondered how much he had done, and how intense it was for him to experience that. The one tattoo I had was a quote down my ribs –sooner or later, everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences.It was a quote by Robert Louis Stevenson.
That one tattoo had hurt like hell.
I supposed the artist had been right—maybe the ribs hadn’t been the best place to get my first tattoo.
“How many tattoos do you have?” I asked before I could stop my self.
