Free Colder Than Ice by MAGGIE SHAYNE Page B

ears, awaiting the pain that inevitably came when he questioned his guides.
    The voices went silent, and the pain didn’t come. Not this time. But he was worried. If Spirit insisted, he would have no choice but to obey. Oh, if only there could be another way. Maybe, if Lizzie suffered enough, Spirit would be satisfied that she had found redemption. Maybe, if he could bring her down low enough, she could still be saved.
    Impossible.
    â€œI have to try.” He licked his dry lips and wondered why he hadn’t thought to bring along some food or water. But he knew why. The voices hadn’t told him to get those things. Maybe it was fitting that he fast while he watched Lizzie. Maybe there was a reason for it.
    Lifting the binoculars again, he resumed watching her. He could see her clearly through the sheer curtains, from her blond hair spread on the pillows to the outline of her body beneath the sheets of her small bed.
    She slept with the light on.
    He knew now where Beth went when she went running in the morning. To that house, where the boy was living, with an old woman and a handsome man. The man who had accompanied Lizzie back to her house.
    A dark flame burned in his belly. He didn’t like the man.
    It’s the old woman she’s closest to, Mordecai. It was obvious from their interactions this morning.
    Again he nodded. He was making progress, he thought. He was identifying the underpinnings that supported her in her fraudulent new life. She had students. She had friends. A home and a job. All of those would have to go. One by one, they would have to go.
    â€œWhatever happens, from here on, Lizzie, it’s your own fault. And everything I do is for your own good.”
    You’ve watched her enough for now, Mordecai. Tonight you’ve got other work to do.
    Â 
    Bryan sank down onto the sofa, took up the remote control and began flipping channels on the television. Josh came in from the kitchen, a coffee mug in one hand.
    â€œI’m glad you came down,” Josh said. “I was going to come up.”
    â€œTo lecture me about school again?”
    â€œNo. Just to talk.”
    Bryan shot him a skeptical look. Then he dropped the remote and leaned back. “Why not? There’s nothing better to do.”
    â€œBeth predicted you’d get bored out here in short order.”
    Bryan nodded. “I’ve listened to every music file I’ve ever downloaded, ten times each.”
    â€œWhat would make it better?” Joshua asked.
    His son looked surprised. “An Internet connection would help. My laptop’s set up for cable, but Maude says there’s no cable here.”
    â€œDone. I’ll get on it tomorrow.”
    â€œReally?”
    Josh flinched inwardly. Had he been so self-absorbed that his son was surprised he would want to do something nice for him? “Sure. I’ll find out what the local dial-up service is andget you signed up. I’ll have to clear it with Maude first—it’s her phone.”
    â€œI should have wireless.”
    â€œWe’re not going to be here that long, Bry. Dial-up will do.”
    Bryan nodded. “Where is Maude, anyway? Gone to bed?”
    â€œOut at the movies with her next-door neighbor.”
    â€œFrankie the cop?”
    â€œFrankie Parker.” Josh smiled. “I know, a police chief named Frankie doesn’t inspire much confidence.”
    Bryan looked at him more closely. “You’re…different today.”
    â€œHow so?”
    â€œI don’t know. Less tense. More laid-back.”
    Josh nodded. “It’s a laid-back kind of a town. Hell, I don’t know, Bryan, maybe I’ve needed to take some time off for a while now. Or maybe it’s…that I’ve been sitting behind a desk too long. You know, when Kevin and I first started our own private security business, we did all the work ourselves.”
    â€œBodyguards-R-Us,” Bryan quipped.
    â€œYeah. Now,