Season of Desire: Complete Edition Read Free Page A

last.
    Or as free as I ever am.

Chapter Two
    I hear a noise. The bodyguard is talking to me. I look up from my phone.
    ‘What?’
    His blue eyes fix on me in the rear-view mirror. ‘I said, the weather is terrible.’
    ‘Is it?’ I look out of the window. He’s right, the world is completely white outside, the snow piled up in huge drifts. Something has been through to clear the mountain road but it’s still thick with ice and studded with grit. I gaze out with a kind of detached curiosity. Things like the weather rarely affect me. If I want sun or snow or whatever, I just go wherever it can be found. I’m well insulated from events like floods or tornados, the things that happen to other people. My world is so protected that the weather is just the occasional mild irritant when it interferes with my plans. Like today.
    ‘Why are we going so slowly?’ I demand, looking at my watch. I don’t bother arriving for the usual check-in time. I fly so frequently and have so many VIP memberships, that I’m usually ushered straight from the car to the plane. If I’m late, it’s been known for planes to wait for me.
    Those blue eyes land on me again, as cold as the weather outside, before they return to the road. ‘We’re going slowly because it’s bloody dangerous out there. The road’s like an ice rink.’
    ‘It’s what you’re trained for, isn’t it?’ I retort. ‘Put your foot down. I’ll be seriously annoyed if I miss this plane.’
    ‘Your plane might not be going anywhere. There’s obviously more snow to come any minute now. The sky’s heavy with it.’
    I feel a surge of panic at the idea that I might not be basking in Californian sun later today. The thought of returning to the mountain house makes my hands clammy. ‘No. You’ve got to get me there. Go faster. I can’t be late, just in case they don’t hold the flight for me.’
    I hadn’t realised until now how much I want to see Jimmy. He’s one of the few friends I really trust, and I can confide in him about Jacob and all that awful stuff, and he’ll understand. I need that right now. I really need a friend.
    ‘Listen,’ the bodyguard says gruffly. His accent is definitely Scottish and it seems to be getting stronger. ‘Maybe you haven’t heard me correctly. The weather is bad and the conditions are treacherous. I can’t magic up a way for you to get to the airport or guarantee your plane will take off when you get there. Sorry and all that, but that’s how it is. Not even you can buy good weather.’
    He hasn’t bothered to meet my eye in the rear-view mirror this time. Fury surges over my neck and shoulders and I can feel my hands trembling a little. How the hell dare he?
    ‘ Don’t speak to me like that!’ I say, anger making my voice slightly quavery instead of strong and authoritative, like I’d hoped.
    There’s a long pause and then his blue eyes flicker up to meet mine. ‘I apologise if I’ve been rude,’ he says in a slow, deliberate way. ‘I’m simply trying to explain to you that there’s not much we can do about whatever Nature has in mind for us.’
    ‘I realise that!’ I exclaim. ‘I’m not an idiot. But you’re supposedly trained for all weathers! Your expertise is what you’re paid for, but maybe you’re not up to it . . .?’
    There’s no response from him except for a small quiver of the head as though he’s making some kind of expression of anger, but of course I can’t see from the back seat. The road descends tight against the side of the mountain in long snaking curves. At its edge is a small railing, all that stands between us and the huge drop down the mountainside. The view is usually spectacular, of the valley below and the range of mountains stretching away for miles. I’m never afraid. The bodyguards are all ex-SAS and highly trained in advanced driving techniques. I know that they’re not fazed by the mountain roads, and after the first few times, the drive loses its power to