Ice Diaries (26 page)

“David. I used to know
him … reassuring to have a dentist on board.”

Ginger laughed. “Raj isn’t
a lot of use, no kit. He used to be a top Harley Street cosmetic
dentist. He’ll tell you what’s wrong and what treatment
he’d do if he had the equipment, then say come back if it gets
too painful and he’ll take it out. Give him his due, he’s
good at extractions. Fast.” He gathered up his tools. “That’s
done. Come and let me top you up.”

We lolled around on the sofa, drinking
and talking. Pleasant though it was, I was longing for bed after the
day’s events and all the rushing around, and kept yawning.

Later Ginger led us to the mezzanine
and showed us our room. The bedroom was furnished as if for a photo
shoot, with lamps and cushions and vases and fur throws and a handful
of books chosen for their looks. Toasty warm. A huge window would
keep us abreast of how much snow nature was currently dealing out. I
switched the lights on and off a few times, just because I could. The
bathroom was so ridiculously opulent it made me laugh out loud. A
free-standing tub, a marble floor and walls, and both the window and
the mirror were floor-to-ceiling; no neighbours to worry about on the
forty-first floor. The effect was slightly spoiled by a bucket with a
lid, the only part of the room you could actually use. Ginger went
and got us an electric kettle, an extension lead, two buckets of
water and a plastic washing up bowl so we could wash.

“If you need anything else, just
shout,” he said.

Ice Diaries ~ Lexi Revellian

It was not that my worries had
disappeared; but they had for the moment slunk back to their lair to
bide their time. I slept well in that warm room under only one duvet
and the fur throw, with Morgan beside me. He woke me getting out of
bed soon after daybreak. I shivered involuntarily when I remembered
he was clearing the snow off the turbines for Ginger that morning,
and felt delightfully snug as I watched him dress. There’d be a
lot to clear if it had been snowing all night, enough to stop the
blades turning; we hadn’t drawn the curtains, and thick flakes
were still pelting past the windows. I couldn’t feel that
subliminal vibration which meant the turbines were working.

“D’you want me to come and
help?” My heart was not in this offer.

“No, it’s okay. Go back to
sleep, it’s only six thirty.”

“Don’t fall off the edge.”
Darn, that slipped out.

He raised his eyebrows. “Wasn’t
planning to.”

“Morgan, supposing Mike comes up
here? I’d better come and bolt the door after you.”

“You can if you like, but the
lift’s off, and I can’t see him climbing the stairs.
He’ll still be in bed. As soon as I’ve done this, we’ll
look for the trailers and get out of here whatever the weather. We’ll
hide somewhere till the snow eases.”

“D’you think Randall will
be any use? Ginger seemed to think so.”

“No idea. He may be able to help,
but I’d rather not wait to find out. Best to rely on
ourselves.” He bent and kissed me. “See you later.”

I shut my eyes. I thought of Morgan
beside the turbines in driving snow, with nothing between him and a
sheer drop. I curled into a ball, only my nose above the duvet. I
thought of my poor flat, its windows gone and snow drifting in to
cover my possessions, the stove out and the bed cold; my home that
had sheltered me for a year. I turned over on my other side. I
thought of Greg with only a rat for company, looking from his window
to the burnt remains at Bézier. I tried lying on my back. I
thought of Mike, and wondered what he was doing right now, and what
he would do later that day. The unbolted door was niggling me. I had
a vivid vision of Mike wandering around the flat holding the gun,
opening the bedroom door and creeping in … My eyes sprang open
on their own, and I shut them again. Nothing doing. I was wide awake.
I got up, tiptoed downstairs and shot the bolts, then came back up. I
put the kettle to boil for a thorough wash, deciding to use a whole
bucket of water and do it in style.

Ten minutes later, I dressed and went
downstairs to see if there was any food I could scrounge. The kitchen
was immaculate, with three stools lined up against a crisp white
island unit. I opened the cupboards without much hope. Plenty of
white crockery and glasses, four one-litre bottles full of water, but
nothing to eat at all. Ginger had achieved a minor dream of all men,
commonplace in other centuries; meals delivered regularly and no
washing up ever. When would breakfast arrive? Presumably not till
Ginger woke and turned on the lift, and he was having a lie-in.

I wandered into the living area in the
hope there might be nuts or crisps kicking around. I found and ate
half a packet of peanuts, and was on my hands and knees reaching for
the oat biscuit I’d spotted under the sofa when a knock on the
door made me jump and bang my head on the coffee table. I scrambled
to my feet, heart thumping. Morgan wouldn’t have finished yet.
Perhaps he’d forgotten something.

I walked to the door and listened. I
couldn’t hear anything. “Who is it?”

“David.”

I opened the door and he walked into
the room holding an empty plastic bottle. I shot the bolts again.
“What are you doing here?” With my mingled emotions of
fear and relief, this came out unwelcoming. He looked sweaty and
exhausted and irritable. “Did you climb the stairs?”

“Yes.” He slumped on the
sofa. “Thirty-odd flights. Can I have some water?”

I fetched two glasses and one of the
litre bottles, poured, and handed him his. He drank. Movement above
made me look up. Ginger, fully dressed, his hair sticking up, was
walking down the stairs. I guessed he wasn’t much good at
lie-ins. He didn’t seem surprised to see David.

“Morning all.” He yawned.
“Where’s Morgan?”

“Clearing the turbines.”

“Cool beans. I’ll turn on
the lift and we’ll get some breakfast.”

He left the flat, on his way to the
turbine room. I turned my attention back to David, waiting for him to
explain his presence.

“I talked to Serena last night.”
He tipped more water into the glass. “I was in the Hall and she
came in, in a state, clutching bags with all her stuff in. Mike had
thrown her out. They’d had a fight. I said everyone had
disagreements, and she said no, this was final, he’d taken her
sled key. She burst into floods of tears. She was really upset,
saying she’d never get south, she’d die here. Then she
started worrying the committee would take Mike’s side and think
she was a troublemaker and not let her stay. So I bought her a drink
and talked to her for a bit.”

I remembered that was one of the good
things about David; he liked to help people, and always made time for
them if he could. Which thought made me ask, “What about Katie?
Wouldn’t she have wondered where you’d got to?”

He looked away. “As a matter of
fact, we’d had a row and I wanted some time to myself.”
Hmm. They seem to have a lot of rows
. “Anyway, I offered
to have a word with Mike, and Serena said that wouldn’t do any
good. Then she told me all about him – about the business with
Red, and the gun, and him nearly shooting Morgan. Why didn’t
you tell me what he was like?”

“I tried. I told you he was a
psycho.” I was pleased Serena had done what I had failed to do,
and made him see Mike in his true colours. He sat there, frowning
down at his glass. “Where did Serena sleep, if Mike had kicked
her out?”

“On a sofa in the Hall. A woman
lent her a blanket. She’d have come up here, but the lifts were
off and she couldn’t face the climb.”

Poor Serena. Maybe Ginger would let her
move in to his spare room. After a bit I said, “So what brings
you up here? Apart from the stairs.”

“I came to apologize. I got Mike
wrong, I thought he was a really nice guy. Maybe his offer of
transport south over-influenced me. I was desperate to get Katie and
Tessa away from the snow. Probably that made me uncritical, too keen
to trust him. And I’m worried about you, if Mike’s
determined to shoot Morgan. You’re in danger, being with him.”

“We’re going to leave
soon.” We should have gone as soon as we woke. Except we
couldn’t because of the snow. I was beginning to feel jumpy.
“Did Serena say Mike knew we were here?”

“Eddie told him you brought him
back to Strata. He went to their flat after I realigned his nose
again. It was a really tricky job, totally smashed up this time –
I had to give him morphine.” He looked at me in a meaning way
as if to make sure the message
Morgan is a violent thug
got
home. “I put a fresh dressing on it, then once the bleeding had
stopped, which took an hour, he left. I know he told Mike, because
that’s what the row with Serena was about. He was angry she
knew Morgan was in the building and hadn’t told him. He’s
only got to ask around and he’ll find out you’re still
here, and where you are. You can’t keep a secret in this
place.”

Everyone had seen us in the Hall, then
Randall Pack had noticed us with Serena by the lifts, then Sue saw us
when she came to clear the dishes …

David stretched and consulted his
watch. “I suppose I’d better go, once the lift’s
working.”

Politeness dictated I should ask him to
stay for breakfast, but though David had rethought his opinion of
Mike, he clearly disapproved of the new man in my life as much as
ever, and Morgan would be down from the roof in twenty minutes or so.
On the other hand, if Mike appeared the minute the lift was working
I’d prefer not to be on my own. At that moment Ginger came back
in.

“Morgan’s not doing a bad
job. He’s nearly finished one turbine already. I’m going
down now to talk to Randall. When Sue comes up with my breakfast,
just ask her to bring up whatever you fancy.”

I thanked him, and asked him to hurry
in case Mike arrived first. He said he would. He turned, just as he
reached the door. “David, d’you want to stay for
breakfast? Keep an eye on Tori.”

“Oh, yes, thanks very much,”
David said with alacrity.

When I’d bolted the door and we
were alone again, I said, “Thank you for coming up all those
stairs just to apologize.”

“I still care about you, Tori.”
He said this staring at his knees, then his eyes met mine. “I
know there’s nothing I can do about it, it’s all too
late, but I’m beginning to think I rushed into the relationship
with Katie. She got furious last night when I said I ought to warn
you, she told me to stay out of it, it was none of our business and
we shouldn’t get involved. She didn’t seem to understand
I couldn’t do that. We’ve been getting on less well
lately, since she had the baby. If only I’d known you were
alive … I didn’t realize how I felt until we met again,
and afterwards I found I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
His hand moved towards mine. “You seemed to still feel the same
way about me. Maybe it’s not too late –”

Stone me
. I could see hope in
his eyes. I put my hands behind me and leaned back. “Stop right
there, David. You might be having second thoughts, but I’m not.
I’ve moved on. Anyway, your responsibility is to your child and
the mother of your child.”

David sighed. “You’re
right, of course.” He stared glumly into space, the silence
growing. There didn’t appear to be anything left for us to talk
about. I was starving. I nibbled the edge of the oat biscuit,
experimentally. It was soft and tasted wrong. I put it on the table,
and drank some water, wondering if it would be rude to fetch a book
to read. The faint thump of the lift doors, and a polite knock …
I walked over to the door, hoping it was Sue with breakfast.

“Who is it?”

“Mike.”

My heart pounded. “Go away.”

“I want a word with Morgan.”

I didn’t say Morgan wasn’t
there in case he guessed he was above with the turbines. I retreated,
looking round for a weapon. I’d got my knife … David
stood up. A huge thump made us both jump. I guessed Mac was throwing
his weight against the door. It was solidly-constructed, perhaps
strong enough to withstand the assault. Ginger would be back soon.
The heavy bangs continued.

“Is there another way out?”
David asked quietly.

“No.”

The banging ceased. We looked at each
other. A gunshot splintered the wood on the hinge side of the door.
David pulled me to the far corner of the room out of range. Another
shot, two more thumps and the door crashed inwards smacking on to the
floor.

Mike stepped over it, followed by Hong
and Mac.

“Tori, hi,” Mike said,
moving forward into the room, as casual as if he’d dropped by
for a cup of coffee. The gun was not in evidence. “David, what
are you doing here? Thank you for patching up Eddie again.”

“How is he?” David asked,
cautiously, after a pause. It’s not easy to strike the right
social note with an armed man who busts down a door then strolls in
behaving as if nothing has happened.

“Well, understandably he’s
not feeling marvellous, but he’s resting now and I’m sure
he’ll be fine in a week or two. You must let me pay you.”

“That’s not necessary. You
know I get a retainer from Randall.”

“Then I hope you’ll accept
something as a personal favour to me. Think of it as a bonus.”

David responded awkwardly. “No,
really,” he muttered. “I couldn’t.”

“If you’re sure. Is Morgan
about the place?”

“He went down to the Hall to get
us breakfast,” I said.

Mike considered this misinformation. I
couldn’t tell if he believed me. He turned to Mac and Hong.
“Check out the bedrooms.” He didn’t believe me.
They clumped up the stairs. A minute or two later they came down,
alone.

“We’ll wait for his return,
if you don’t mind.” He sat on the sofa, at the far end
where he could see the entrance. Hong and Mac settled on stools by
the workbenches. After a moment, David and I sat too. Mike looked
around him. Something tiny and silvery in his ear caught the light
for a split second; he was wearing acoustic earplugs, the kind that
protect your ears while letting you hear what people say. I’d
been issued with them when I worked in a music bar as a student.
Hong’s ears were covered by his black hair, but I could see Mac
had them too. My drumming heart did a quick syncopated groove.