Cold Snap Read Free Page A

coat was at the door. She rang the buzzer again.
    “Shit, what’s she doing here?” Elle backed away from the door as if it were about to attack.
    “Who is she?”
    “A social worker. Damn, now I have to wait until she leaves. This is the worst day in my life!”
    Patrick knew he was going to regret it, but he said, “Can I help?”
    “No!”
    “What does she want?”
    “Something I can’t give her.” Her cell phone rang and Elle looked at it. “She’s calling me now. Dammit!” She then glanced at Patrick and said, “Tell her we’re not here.”
    “We?”
    “She’s going to ask about Kami. Tell her Kami and I went out and you don’t know when we’ll be back. Look, I can’t lie to her, but you can!” She tossed Patrick her phone.
    Skeptical, and wholly uncomfortable with what Elle was asking him to do, he answered the phone. “Santana residence.”
    “Is Elle Santana there?”
    “I’m sorry, who’s calling?”
    “Sandy Chin, I need to come up.”
    “I’m sorry, I’m not supposed to let anyone inside when Gabrielle isn’t home.”
    “Who’s this?”
    “Who’s this?”
    “Sandy Chin. I’m with the San Francisco Department of Child Welfare. I need to inspect the apartment, and Ms. Santana has been avoiding me. Where’s Kami?”
    Elle had leaned close to him to hear both sides of the conversation better. Sandy Chin had a much softer voice than Elle’s mother.
    “Not here, either.”
    “And you are?”
    “A friend.”
    “Ms. Santana didn’t inform us that a man was living with her.”
    “I’m just visiting.”
    “Tell Ms. Santana that I expect to hear from her by ten P.M. , or Kami will be placed in custody until the hearing.” She cut off the call.
    Patrick had no idea what that conversation was about. “Elle, what just happened?”
    She glanced at her watch, then took her phone back from Patrick. “I have two hours to find Kami. I’ve been looking for her since noon.”
    “Who’s Kami?”
    “A fifteen-year-old who’s in deep trouble and will be in deeper trouble if she doesn’t show up in court Wednesday morning. Something spooked her when I went out for groceries. She wouldn’t just leave. She knows how important this is!”
    Elle ran into the kitchen, opened the freezer, and removed a can of coffee. But there was no coffee inside—only money. Roughly a thousand dollars in fives, tens, and twenties.
    “I’ve never known anyone who keeps money in her freezer.”
    “My mom,” she said. She counted out three hundred dollars, divided it between two different pockets, then put the can back. She ran upstairs and came back a minute later with a bag filled with clothes, and a heavy jacket with a hole in the elbow. “Thanks for covering with Sandy.”
    Patrick was going to regret this. He said, “Let me help.”
    She stared at him as if surprised by the offer. “Don’t you have someplace to be?”
    “My flight doesn’t leave until tomorrow.”
    “It’s nice of you, but no one is going to trust you. You look—well, I know you’re not a cop anymore, but you look like one. I know where Kami hangs out. They don’t like cops. Especially cops who dress like rich kids from a prep school.”
    Patrick glanced down at his khaki Dockers and leather loafers. Rich prep school kid? Really?
    He said, “You’ve been looking for her all day and couldn’t find her.”
    “I have to convince the right people that they can trust me.” She didn’t sound optimistic, just determined.
    “You need help. I have the time. And the training.”
    Her expression showed her inner battle as much as her fidgeting. The woman couldn’t keep still as she shifted her weight and played with a string on her jacket. Finally, she said, “Okay, fine, thanks. But just trust me out there, okay? Don’t do anything, well, coplike.”
    “I’ll try.” They walked out. He motioned to the door. “Aren’t you going to lock it?”
    “Kami has the downstairs door code, if she comes back she needs to be