Page 28 of Hard Ruck
“It was an accident,” Storm stated, as if that was that. Case closed. Move on. Nothing to see here.
Frost turned haunted eyes to him. “No accident. I wanted her to leave me alone, but then I couldn’t stop myself. I had my hands around her throat, then… She was dead.”
He glanced down at his fingers, curled in a strangling motion in front of him.
“Holy shit,” Storm whispered. “You fucking strangled her?”
I squeezed Frost’s knee. “Are you okay?”
Storm stared at me, then at him, then back again. “Are you out of your mind? He killed someone and you’re asking ifhe’sokay?”
“Yeah, I am,” I said. “You really think he went out of his way to do it?”
The big fullback gaped. “Frost would never… Would he?” He turned to Frost. “Would you?”
“I didn’t,” Frost said.
“But he might in the future,” Ice said cheerfully.
“Isaac.” I shook my head at him.
“What? You said not to kill any of them. You didn’t say anything about not recruiting them.” Steam rose from the cup in his hand, dancing in front of his face before his breath dissipated it.
“I thought it was implied,” I said dryly. It seemed to me like that horse had already bolted.
“I’d say sorry, but Frost was lucky I was the one who walked in and not someone else,” Ice said.
“He helped me take care of her,” Frost said. “He said you wouldn’t be surprised about any of this.”
I leaned back and rubbed my temples. “I’m not,” I admitted. I’d seen the darkness in Frost, but I hadn’t anticipated it would manifest in this way. “You liked it, didn’t you? Killing her.”
“What kind of fucked up question is that?” Storm demanded.
“A pretty standard one for Dusk Bay,” Ice said. They could have been discussing the rising price of cantaloupe.
Storm looked at him like he’d completely lost his mind. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Ice said the whole city is run by organised crime,” Frost said. “That people regularly turn up dead. He said they own everything here, including the sporting teams.”
“It’s true,” I said wearily. This whole night had been long and I was tired.
Storm’s stare turned to me. “Who the hellareyou?”
“The same person I’ve always been,” I said. “I grew up here. I know what the place is like. I knew it was only a matter of time before you found out. I didn’t expect it to happen this way.”
He looked disbelieving. “Right. I guess you weren’t going to sit me down and say, hey, the fucking mafia run Dusk Bay.” He nodded over to Ice. “What’s your role in all of this? Are you going to tell me you’re some kind of mafia don?”
Ice laughed. “No, but I work for one. They’re not so bad when you get to know them. As long as you stay on their good side. If you don’t, your rugby career will be the least of your worries.”
“Are you threatening me?” Storm growled.
“Not threatening, just stating a fact,” Ice said. “Now you and Frost know the truth of things, you might be useful to us.”
“How?” Storm demanded. “How the fuck are you planning to use Frost? Or Chelsea?”
“That’s up to them,” Ice said.
“I try to stay out of it,” I said. “I have enough on my plate without getting involved.”
