Cold Death Read Online Free PDF Page B

button on her phone.
    “Hello, Milly. It’s nice to finally meet you. Edgar here seems to remember me. I’d suggest you sit down if you want your two dogs back. They’re fine, don’t panic, they’re just not here at the moment.” The woman’s voice was dark, smoky, and obviously American, from the southern part of the country, according to her accent. A long way from home then, Milly thought.
    Milly sat on a footstool, not wanting to get too close to the woman, Callum settled in the chair behind her. Neither said anything, only stared at the woman, unsure of what further threats she might make, or what she may actually do. Callum had slipped his own hand into a pocket, hitting his own buttons on his phone then hitting send. The police would be here soon, he hoped.
    “Now, you two are going to tell me what you know.” The woman spoke.
    “We don’t know much of anything, really. We don’t even know your name.” Milly spoke first, hoping she’d keep the woman calm.
    “My name is Allison. Maria and I were lovers, though I wouldn’t allow her to broadcast that. She was a lesbian did you know that? That’s why she started using drugs, in fact. She dated you Callum, hoping such a fine specimen of a man could fix her, could fix the cravings she’d had for other women since she was in school. She never admitted it to anyone, didn’t want to until she met me, but she couldn’t stand being touched by men. She started to hide her pain in the drugs but after a while she needed more and more. Her need grew out of control and it killed her.”
    “What do you mean?” Callum spoke, his shock apparent. The words the woman spoke must have hurt him, as well, Milly thought. He had loved Maria, after all.
    “She wasn’t murdered. We were arguing yes, but that’s because I wanted to leave this tiny little Podunk town before anyone saw us. I believe your nephew saw us one time, Callum. We were leaving town and almost hit him in Maria’s car. I didn’t want that happening again. My husband is a very possessive man, a very rich man; I can’t afford to lose him so I had to keep our affair quiet. Being here was a threat for me.”
    “That night Maria was feeling especially guilty over her treatment of you, Callum. She wanted to take me to you, to apologize for what she’d done to you, but I wouldn’t let her. I gave her more heroin to shut her up about it and the greedy little cow took too much. I was trying to walk her back to her car and she fell and hit her head. It was as simple as that, we were walking then she fell and hit her head. I knew instantly she was dead but I couldn’t be seen there, I couldn’t report it. My husband was growing suspicious because we spent so much time together and I told him I’d broke my friendship off with her. He couldn’t know I’d been here so I left her there, in the cold and the snow and…” the woman broke off as tears clouded her eyes and her voice tightened. Neither Callum nor Milly interrupted her, wanting to know what she had to tell them.
    “I left her there, I’m guilty of not reporting a death, but that’s all. I started this other crap, hoping you’d let it go, that the medical people would figure out it was an accident or that they’d charge you Callum. I know it’s the coward’s way out but you don’t know my husband. The man is terrifying; he’ll kill me if he ever finds any of this out.”
    For a moment Callum regretted the steps he’d taken when first walking into the room but soon realized he could have lost his freedom, the life he loved, because of her selfishness so dismissed the feeling.
    “You do realize she was going to die anyway, don’t you? That night?” He asked, anger apparent in his voice.
    “Oh, she’d only taken a little too much, it wouldn’t have killed her! Walking it off would have fixed her right up.” The woman declared, as if she were an expert on overdoses.
    “No, her organs were failing, that’s why she fell. She’d