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      BLACK ICE

      by

      SANDY CURTIS

      BLURB

       She fears the unknown …

      Artist Kirri Smith is haunted by the memory loss she suffered in New Orleans, and fears what it may hide.

       He has the answer to her past …

      When American Daniel Brand walks into Kirri's art gallery on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, their encounter results in a startling revelation - one which will have tragic outcomes for Kirri's family.

       The present holds dangers they could never imagine …

      A past act of deception has created killers who will do anything to achieve their goal. Kirri and Daniel are flung into a nightmare of suspicion and lies when the killers' plan takes a terrifying new twist …

      In Black Ice, obsession and lies threaten a second chance at love.

      PROLOGUE

      Black ice.

      Hard.

      Smooth.

      Covering the road with an invisible layer.

      The Volvo sped through encroaching dusk, the driver focussed on keeping her panic under control. After two months the route through the Blue Mountains of New South Wales had become familiar, though no easier to navigate.

      The windscreen wipers slashed through wind-driven snow, revealing the road snaking through ancient mountain eucalypts. For the first time since arriving in their temporary home, she saw menace in the looming foliage, and felt the fear isolation in strange territory can bring. That isolation had been a welcome change from the bustling crowds of Sydney, and a haven of peace and quiet in which to gather her strength.

      Now it became the enemy.

      The bleak winter's day had turned bitingly cold some hours before, the unexpected change bringing snow to areas normally untouched by Antarctic breath.

      She reached over and turned up the warmth spread by the car heater.

      A cry of pain tore at her throat. Her foot jerked off the accelerator. Teeth clamped onto teeth as her stomach tightened into a hard ball. She panted, tried to go with the pain, fingers clenching the steering wheel. The car wavered, veered to the side, wheels spitting gravel. Slowly, carefully, she turned the steering wheel, eased back onto the hard surface.

      As the contraction lessened the woman breathed in deeply, forcing herself to relax. She wound the window down a fraction, hoping the cold air on her face would distract her from the pain. The sharp tang of eucalyptus bit into her nostrils, obliterating the sweet smell of rain that had fallen before the snow.

      She exhaled raggedly. The contractions were close together now.

      For an instant she smoothed her hand over the thick coat covering the mound of her baby and whispered words of love and reassurance. The baby was anxious to be born, she could feel the pressure of it hard between her legs.

      Darkness came swiftly. Her headlights sent shadows spinning through the trees, danced the misty snowflakes in arcs of light.

      Anxious to gain time while the baby was still, she accelerated, careful to stay close to the middle of the road. A thin layer of snow covered the grass verge, and the bitumen glistened beneath her headlights. She had no concerns about oncoming traffic, it was infrequent here. The main road wasn't far now, and some of her tension eased as she thought of the houses where she could go for help. She forced her mind back onto her driving as she approached a curve.

      The steering wheel went light in her hands.

      The car began to slide. She eased on the brake, hoping the tyres would grip and slow her pace. They didn't.

      Realisation hit her.

      Black ice.

      Praying and swearing in jumbled entreaty, she watched the curve, now only metres away. Panic seized her and she pulled on the steering wheel, her mind registering the futility of the act even as her hands carried out the command.

      She pushed on the accelerator.

      No traction.

      In horrified fascination she felt the car continue its inexorable glide. The front wheels hit the verge side on, caught in a rut, and spun the car in a crazy circle. Then it rolled, flinging her body from seat to roof as she tried to protect her swollen stomach.

      The Volvo thumped solidly into a tall eucalypt. Crunching metal and splintering glass swallowed her scream of pain as her belly smacked into the door.

      The wheels spun lazily, whispers of noise in a suddenly quiet forest.

      The woman fought the pain engulfing her body, concentrated on making sense of her topsy-turvy world. The car was on its roof, the driver's side door open, the interior light glowing softly in the darkness. She orientated herself, realised she was lying on the inside roof.

      Pain ripped through her, too intense to allow a scream to form in her throat. It curled her over, tightening her belly with a grip almost beyond bearing. After it passed, she lay exhausted, hardly moving. Before the next pain could take her, she reached down between her thighs, praying against what she instinctively knew she would find. A sob of despair racked her as she looked at the bright red stain on her hand.

      A plea for strength formed on her lips. She rolled on her side, pushed herself up, and bit back a cry of agony. Her baby. She had to get help for her baby. Struggling against the deep, dragging ache and the newer pains engulfing her, the woman crawled out of the car. Her hands slipped on the slushy grass and she sprawled face down, veiled by her long black hair. The faces of her husband and child flashed into her mind, and she forced back the tears that threatened to blind her.

      Icy wind knifed into her lungs. She realised the lack of warmth was more dangerous than the walk to the main road. Fear like bile welled up in her chest, only to be replaced by agony as another contraction seized her body, then left her limp and exhausted. The pressure between her legs increased, blood poured liquid heat over her cold skin, and she knew it would be impossible for her to walk even a short distance.

      She crawled back into the car.

      CHAPTER ONE

      He could still turn back.

      Walk away.

      Never again risk the pain that had threatened his sanity these past two years.

      The glass reflected the haunted look in his eyes as he gazed through the window to the painting spotlighted in the small art gallery. He thrust his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans, and his boots ground sand onto the pavement as he turned to leave.

      But the painting drew him. Like its artist who had spun her magical web around him and lured him into a fantasy he had felt would last forever. His gaze traced the blossoming honeysuckle vine tumbling over the roof of an old cottage, then the half-open front door and the darkness inside. Set onto a parchment background, the scene depicted only a tiny portion of the building. The darkness beyond that half-open door beckoned him, teased him, aroused memories once precious but now too painful to bear. He tried to block them, but they rushed back, flooding through him.

      The sounds of traffic and laughing tourists faded and he was there again, smelling the sweet honey scent, touching the rough-textured stone wall and the decaying timber of the door.

      He remembered the vibrant russet of her hair and the way her blue eyes had widened in surprise as he'd led her inside. Before their eyes had time to adjust to the dimness, his lips had captured the smile on hers and he'd tasted a sweetness and a passion that had stayed with him

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