FROSTBOUND

Two

The footsteps seem to get louder as the person gets closer. I can't hide, so I guess I'll just have to do the one thing that I can. Fight for my life.

But the footsteps are not as thudding as I'd expect them to be. They are more of a lighter person, and when they show up from the kitchen I internally cuss.

"Auntie Cass!" She calls in excitement as she runs to hug me. I crouch and lift her up.

I don't even know why I was so scared.

"Hey Kim, how is my little girl doing?" I give her a couple of kisses on the cheeks and she blushes. If she is in here then no doubt my brother is also here.

I need to take my spare keys back.

He is like the only one who has them. Well, I didn't give him willingly, he kind of stole my keys and made a copy, when I demanded for the copy, he gave it to me only for me to find out he'd made more than just one copy.

I gave up trying to ask for the other copy.

So, whenever he's bored and feels like ruining my day he always comes to the house, just that, he always informs me.

"Kimberly!" He calls from the kitchen and the little girl clings on to me tighter shaking.

"Don't let him beat me."

"You know he wouldn't do that."

My brother walks in from the kitchen with my apron on that's covered in flour. He's cooking, in my kitchen! I'm going to skin him alive.

"Sis, you're back!"

"You broke into my house."

"I didn't, I have the keys remember." Of course he just had to remind me of that.

"What are you doing in my kitchen?" I walk past him to the kitchen with Kimberly still in my arms. Sankey blocks my way.

"You can't go in there, it's a mess."

"What did you do?" The look I give him should already tell him what I'm going to do to him if he's broken anything in my kitchen.

"It was her!" He points a finger at Kimberly who hides her face beneath my shoulders.

I don't want to think of what I'm going to do to her, but I should better check the damage first. When I walk into the kitchen. It's a mess, and I mean he almost burnt my kitchen down kind of mess.

There's flour everywhere and the vegetables he's been chopping are all over the floor. And that's when I spot it. My most cherished white mug. The imported one, the one mug that no one uses or touches except me. Sankey knows that so well.

I put Kimberly down and run to gather the pieces.

This mug is an aesthetic piece, a one of a kind. When I ordered for it, it was the only one left and very expensive for that matter. I had to pay more because there were lots of buyers and I desperately wanted it.

"San what did you do?" I feel like crying.

"I'll get you another one."

"It's an original piece."

"I know."

I think he doesn't get the point.

"San, it's original and historical, the only one in the whole world."

In my years of growing up and living alone, I've learnt to cherish important pieces in my life. I dedicated my life to collecting the most unique pieces, not just for the joy of it, but for the good memories they carry.

"It's just a mug Cass."

That's something that my brother won't understand. The reason I spent that much money on it, is because mom had one like this, I broke it when I was young, and I remember telling her when I grew up I'd buy her one like this. She laughed it off and told me I'd never find such a cup.

Then years later after her death I find a similar one. But I guess Sankey will never understand that.

"It's okay." I gather up the pieces of broken glass and with a heavy heart, throw them in the trash can. I'll blame it on the kid, so that I don't get mad at my brother and not talk to him for months. I know I can. I have been doing that a lot.

Actually I have been doing that to a lot of the people that were close to me in the past five years. Melody never spoke to me again after I sort of shot her. Phoina, well, we chose different career paths. She calls once in a while to check up on me. I never call her.

My dad, he's family, and just like Sankey, I can only avoid him for a while. The rest of the people in my past, I let them just disappear like that.

I didn't bother to look back, because I knew if I dared to turn back, that would be the end of me, not to be biblical or anything but we all know what happened to Lot's wife when she looked back. So, when the opportunity to start fresh set itself on the table I grabbed it and walked away.

For a while after everything that went down, people talked. Pineville was a small town, everyone knew everyone and everything that happened in their lives. I was that girl that her fiance was murdered on their wedding day. I was that girl that slept with a gang member and got pregnant for them, and being a DCIs daughter with such a reputation, believe me, people talked.

Then I became that girl that killed the father of her child.

They talked.

At some point they even said I was cursed, something to do with my mother's death. Theories were made. It was too much. I wanted out. My dad helped. He'd also gotten tired of his family being the talk of town. Adele had just given birth in prison. Sankey took the daughter, and we moved out of town. Dad suggested it was for the best. Move out, let everything cool down.

I helped him raise her as I did part time studies to secure a descent job. Then I got the job and we kind of went our separate ways. She was all grown, they didn't need me there all the time. So I got a new house and started this new life.

But my brother has always been around, given he doesn't stay that far away from me.

He is a pain in the ass of course, but he is my family. Him, Kimberly and dad are all I got and I will hold on to them no matter what. Once in a while we do weekend sleepovers, today is Friday, I should have expected he'd come.

"Cass I'm really sorry about the mug, but you should blame that cheeky niece of yours."

I look at Kimberly and she literally wants to disappear in her tiny dress.

"It's okay."

"I was making pie." My brother says with a goofy grin on his face and I chuckle.

"You know you can't cook."

"But I can, let me show you." He opens the oven and pulls out the pie and I can't help but burst into a laughter. Kimberly joins in and my brother's face turns into a frown.

Whatever that is he claims he was making, it's so not pie, it's something else but not pie. It looks hilarious.

"I spent over an hour making this."

"I can tell." I say, scanning the kitchen that's all a mess.

"Clean my kitchen, I'll do the cooking." I grab Kimberly and walk with her back to the living room.

"Auntie are you mad at me? I'm sorry I broke your mug."

"It's okay sweetheart, your father will pay for that." She smiles when I pinch into her chubby little cheeks.

Kimberly turned four a couple of months ago. She is in kindergarten and she is one of the cheekiest kids I've ever seen. Believe me, with how humble her father is, I would say with no doubt, she took that from her mother.

She looks more like my brother. In fact, she is just a copy of him. Probably the only thing she got from her mother was the dark eyes, given my brother's are lighter. She is so pretty and adorable, I'm just glad my brother let me help him in raising her.

At first I didn't want anything to do with the kid. I have my own history with that. So when he asked for my help I shunned him off. I didn't want a kid close to me, but then she was so adorable and my brother was really struggling to raise her, like really struggling, so I helped him out, because that's what family do. They help each other.

And it was never a mistake.

My phone buzzes in my bag and it's when I notice I had dropped it at the entrance together with my heels.

I put Kimberly on the couch and run to check it.

The caller ID makes me freeze.

He never calls unless there's something wrong, and I already know what it is. I didn't report to work today. I kind of explained to Cory and Kira, hoping they'd make him understand in the easiest way possible.

I swipe over and place it on my ear.

"Coffey."

"Cassidy, should I be worried?" Just the sound of his voice scares me. How commanding he always sounds. It always scares me.

"No, I had an emergency."

"Well, I have one too, we need to face time, like right now. I'll be calling in the next five minutes." I hang up and I already know what he means by that.

I watch as Kimberly is busy focused on the cartoons on the TV and I make sure she's not seeing me before I walk into the basement.

It's very cold and freezing in here. It always is because I like it that way. I make sure to lock the door before I turn on the lights.

My basement is more like my secret room. It's the one room that no one really knows about it. Not even my brother who claims to know a lot about me. But it's because this is a part of my life that I just want to keep a secret.

The whole room is full of monitors and desktops. It looks more of a surveillance room, it also acts as my CCTV room, but it's more like my secret basement. We had Cory come and install everything for me.

He is like this IT genius. I've seen hackers, but Cory, he's the best.

I turn on the monitors and a moment later Coffey appears on the screen. He looks like his normal calm. Coffey is probably in his early forties. He is good at hiding his personal life. None of us is even sure if that's his real name.

But he's a good boss. For the year that I've been working with him. He's been great.

He's dressed in his signature black T-shirt and he has on his nerdy glasses. I call them that because they make him look like the nerd that he is.

"Hello Cassidy?"

"Coffey." I acknowledge him with a head nod.

"Any update?" By that I know he wants me to explain why I never showed up today.

"My boss changed the rules on my leaving time."

"I see, you know we can't have that job inconveniencing this one." I nod.

"But I need that one too." He knows that. He's the one that advised I still keep it.

"I know, we'll try to work with what we have, now I have something for you."

My eyes light up in excitement. I really hope it's good news.

"Did he talk?"

"Not really, I think we should probably bring in Teddy to make him talk." When he mentions that name my heart does a jump. I shake my head in disagreement.

We can't bring him into this, not at such a time.

"Coffey, we talked about that."

"Well, he's the only guy that can make him talk, you know that."

"I can interrogate him for you." It's been a while since I tortured information out of someone. I think it would be cool if I exercised my arms.

Coffey is shaking his head continuously.

"Not happening, now, back to the task I had for you. Pack up, tomorrow at exactly five in the morning, Im sending a taxi over, you and Cory need to be in Johannesburg by tomorrow midday, I need you two to retrieve something for me."

An adventure, just cool.

"You know I always need a heads up, it's not like people know the kind of business I'm into."

"I thought you'd be here earlier, you work with that, your passports are ready, don't be late, we'll talk once you get there."

I open my mouth to say something but he quickly hangs up the call.

I've been working with Coffey for a while, but I've never gotten used to how he does his things. Most of the time, I just flow.

Now I have to figure out an excuse to give my brother for not being around for the weekend. I haven't thought of one yet, but I need to have one very soon.

##########