erased the horizon. Deidre lay curled at the base of the headstone, her

rudged through the knee-deep snow, his flashlight sweeping the graves. His dog, a thick-c

the dog, his boots crunching loudly. The flashlight b

brushed the snow off Deidre's face. Her lips were

rapped it around her. He pulled his radio off his belt. "Dispatch, this is Boggs

ing but the

now. He patted her pockets, looking for a phone. He found her clutch in the snow.

rubbing it vigorously with his own thumb, trying to force some warmth back into the deadened skin. He pressed it down a second time. Another failure. On

er bedroom of the Tribeca penthouse, Daria glanced at the phone buzzing on the nightstand beside the deeply sleepi

was low, husky, and dripping with an

. I found a woman unconscious in the snow. The phone says to call this number. Sh

's bed, watching the bathroom door where the shower w

" Daria asked,

tion. "She's in bad shape. Are you

ambulance. They'll never make it in time, and the cold will kill her before

the cemetery's snowcat. Bring her directly t

l? But the woman on the phone sounded authoritative, a

agreed. "I'm br

round parking garage in Tribeca. Dwayne jumped out, carrying Deidre in

ed completely different from the vulnerable pregnant woma

ut. One of the men handed him a thick envelope. Dwayn

d go," Daria said. "F

. Something felt deeply wrong, but he was just a groundsk

the penthouse floor. She was carried into a lavish apar

egan to thaw, the pain returning in agonizing waves. Her eye

t up, but a sharp, tearing pain in her chest forced her

Click

Daria walked into Deidre's line of sight. She was holding a glass of

It was Daria's. She tried to scramble backward, her

d Deidre's hand, which was hanging limply off th

lood. She forced herself to focu

ore wine. "Danial? Oh, he's sleeping like a baby." She pointe

head in disbelief

t. A large screen on the wall flickered to life. It showed a live fe

nails tearing into the leather. He was here. He was in the next room, Every day

ly. She crouched down until she was eye-level wi

deadly, "tonight is a very special night. It's the perfe

hing to do with the snow swept over her. She was trap