His father’s sharp gaze showed appreciation for Gabriel’s unhesitating support and willingness to act. When he’d been younger, that natural inclination toward action—any action—had sometimes landed his ass in hot water, but as a sergeant in the military police, he’d been able to channel that aggression and decisiveness into the job, which was good for both him and the army.
“This damn weather system is dipping our way,” Harlan said tersely. “We were supposed to get snow, with the ice staying northeast, but now the weather service is saying we’re going to get hammered by the ice. They issued the storm warning just a little over an hour ago, and we’re scrambling to get ready, plus there’s an accident tying up three deputies when I can’t spare even one.”
Shit, an ice storm. Gabriel was on full alert now, his eyes narrowing, his stance subtly shifting as if he could take on the storm in a bare-knuckle brawl. Ice was ten times worse than a blizzard, in terms of damage. Maine had taken two hits from ice in the past ten or twelve years, but both times the storm had missed this area. That was good then, but bad now, because it meant there was a lot of weakened timber that had been spared before but would now be coming down under the weight of the ice, crushing cars and houses, taking down power lines and leaving hundreds of square miles in the cold and dark. Ice was like a crystal hurricane, destroying everything it touched.
“What can I do?”
“Drive out to the old Helton place and check on Lolly. I haven’t been able to get her on her cell phone, and she may not know this weather system has shifted our way.”
Lolly Helton? Gabriel almost groaned aloud. Of all the people—
“What’s she doing here?” he asked, trying to disguise his sudden hostility, which was the way Lolly Helton had always affected him. “I thought the whole family had moved away.”
“They did, but they kept the house for summer vacations. Now they’re thinking about selling it, and Lolly’s here to check things out and, hell, what difference does it make? She’s out there by herself, with no way of calling for help if she gets hurt.”
Despite his reluctance to put himself out for Lolly Helton, Gabriel immediately grasped the logistics of what his father was saying. Anyone who wasn’t from Maine might not be able to read between the lines, but he could. Cell service was spotty at best; if she’d been safely here in town, Harlan would have been able to reach her on her cell phone, but out by the Helton place a cell phone was useless for anything except throwing. And because no one lived in the old house now, the land-line phone service had long ago been disconnected. Probably there wouldn’t be any televisions in the place either, for the same reason. Unless Lolly happened to drive into town and was listening to her car radio, she’d be unaware of looming disaster.
Fuck. There was no way out of it. He had to go after her.
“I’ll take care of it,” he said, striding to the door. “How much time do I have?”
“I don’t know. That’s a higher elevation, the icing will start sooner than it does here. The weather service is saying it could begin here as soon as sundown.”
Gabriel glanced at his watch. Three p.m. This far north, sunset was around four p.m., which didn’t give him much time. “Shit,” he said. “I won’t have time to see Sam.”
“You will if you hurry. The kids were let out of school as soon as the weather service changed the forecast, so your mom has already picked him up. I’ll call her to get some coffee and food ready for you, stop by there on the way, then haul ass.”
He was out the door, moving fast, before Harlan had stopped talking. The coffee and food were more of a necessity than a comfort. He’d been driving all day, he was tired, and in severe weather conditions having something to eat and drink could make the difference between living and dying. He didn’t know what kind of situation he’d be in, once he left the main road and started the long, winding climb toward the Helton place, so it was better to have the provisions and not need them than it was to not have them and maybe die because of it.
The wind slapped him in the face as soon as he opened the courthouse door and stepped out. That wasn’t good. The air had been fairly calm when he went inside, but now, barely ten or fifteen minutes later, it was really blowing. Wind made the tree limbs and power lines come down faster, besides sapping the body heat of every poor fool who was outside, or who was being sent to rescue some bad-tempered bitch with a snotty attitude who was as likely to tell him to go to hell as she was to park her dainty ass in his truck.
Nevertheless, an unholy grin split his face as he sprinted for his truck, unlocking it with the remote while he was still about ten feet away. He wrenched the door open and vaulted inside. Lolly Helton! Damn, nobody else had ever locked horns with him the way Lolly had, or got on his wrong side so easily. He probably owed his success in the army to the early training she had given him; after all, how much trouble could the most fractious recruit be compared to Miss Hoity-Toity Helton?
Lollipop! Want me to lick you, Lollipop?
Putting the gear in reverse, he powered out of the parking space in an arc that left him facing the direction he wanted. His grin grew wider as he shifted into drive and put his boot down on the accelerator. The memory echoed in his head, the taunt that he’d known would drive her over the edge, the laughter of his buddies, the way her tight, unfriendly expression had gotten even tighter as she stared at him as if he were an insect she’d stepped on and smashed flat.