Chapter 28 Blizzard

One month later, Foster, Mace, Knox, and Remy are in town getting supplies to build more cabins. The heat from the fireplace warms my feet as I break open my book for my anatomy class. Our new puppy, Blizzard, a snow white Husky-wolf hybrid rescue, is lounging with his nose on my thigh.

I'm not getting very far in this book though. I'm spending too much time staring at the photo of me finishing my first triathlon. I'm all sweaty and my mouth is open. Not the best picture of me but you can see the pure joy in my eyes.

The perimeter alarm beeps, but I'm too cozy to get up and check the monitor. It's probably Foster and the boys returning.

Blizzard's ears perk up and he leaps off the couch to bark at the front door. Maybe a raccoon or a deer made the monitor beep.

"Shh. You'll wake Sutton." She sleeps deeply, but Blizzard's barking is loud and insistent.

"Blizzard, no. It's too dark and you've already gone out."

He looks back at me then proceeds to bark at the door.

"Blizzard! Come here!"

His bark becomes urgent and stings my ears. Maybe he has to pee.

"All right. I'll let you go out if you come right back. Okay?"

Blizzard barks and howls something that sounds a lot like why are you talking and not opening the door ? He scratches at the floor so hard, he's going to leave marks.

"Go then." I open the door and peek out as he bursts through my legs, nearly knocking me over. The winter chill freezes my cheeks but I can't complain. It's nothing like New York, and I've become spoiled by the mild California weather.

After a few seconds, I can't hear him. "Blizzard! Come back!"

Nothing. Where is he?

It's scary how quiet it is. He's not rustling in the bushes. Nothing.

"Blizzard!"

He responds with a series of barks and a yelp. Oh shoot. Maybe he tracked down a skunk or a mountain lion? Foster insists there's no bears up here and we haven't seen one yet, but if I were a bear, I'd live here.

I grab my jacket, throw on some Birkenstocks, and head out into the cold with Blizzard's leash in tow.

It's a full moon so I can see shadows, but I don't see him.

Now I'm scared. I'm all alone walking in the dark forest chasing after a husky-wolf puppy who got himself into some trouble.

He's not in the front yard, so I trek around to the path down to the lake.

His painful yowl makes my hair stand up. What animal has him?

That's when I see him. There's a man at the end of the dock. He has Blizzard pinned by the neck. I run to save Blizzard. I don't even worry about my own safety. I have to get to my dog. My ankles wobble on the sticks and rocks.

The man has thick black hair and is wearing a long winter coat. Not the kind they wear in California. The kind they wear in New York. The black glove on his hand is squeezing Blizzard's neck. As I get closer, he looks up and my feet stumble, stopping me in my tracks at the entrance to the dock.

My dad.

He's here and he's strangling my dog. I'm never going to allow that. He's done hurting me and the people I love. "Let him go!"

"Hello, sweetheart." He smiles at me and it's so sick and twisted bile rises in my throat.

"Let go of my dog!"

"No hi, Dad? Nice to see you? "

I look back up the slope to see if there's any sign of Foster's truck.

Nothing. I'm alone with him.

"What do you want?"

"I heard you turned me in to the FBI."

"No, I didn't."

"You're not faithful to the Bianchi family anymore?"

I don't answer him. He's crazy. I take a step closer and keep my eyes on Blizzard who is crying and lying still now. My poor puppy must be so terrified.

"Whatever you want, Dad. I'll do it. Just let my dog go."

He looks down at Blizzard then back up at me. His jaw juts forward and his eyes flare. "Come here and give your dad a hug and I'll let the dog go."

It's dangerous, but my heart is dying for my dog. He can have me if he lets Blizzard go.

I run out onto the dock and as I get to him, he tosses Blizzard off! His back twists as he falls into the lake.

"Blizzard!" A rough glove wraps around my neck and pulls me back. My dad holds a knife up to my throat.

I choke out a cough .

Blizzard splashes in the cold water next to us. The lake didn't freeze but it's still cold. He's a husky, but he's got to be shocked to suddenly be swimming in an icy lake.

"You ungrateful bitch. I'll slice up your dog and your boyfriend."

"No," I squeak out. I can't feel anything but his hand at my neck and the blade pressing on my throat. "Let me go. My dog…"

He hesitates. A loud pounding under our feet jolts the dock.

Something hard slams my side and I'm falling. My back hits the water first.

I've fallen into a giant bucket of ice and can't hear anything but a loud gurgle and a push of pressure in the water next to me. I fight my way to the surface and see Foster and my dad wrestling in the water.

I'm looking around for Blizzard when someone jumps in next to me. Knox wraps an arm around my chest and tugs me toward the shore.

"Blizzard!"

"He's okay."

Blizzard's head bobs toward Foster and my dad.

We make it to the shore and my whole body shivers as the frigid water drips off me, but I can't feel it. I'm watching the violent splashing and grunting out in the water by the end of the dock.

Knox pulls his phone from his pocket and hands it to me. "Take this. Keep recording no matter what."

He runs back into the lake and dives in when he's at knee level.

I find the camera app and get it going. Thank God his phone is waterproof.

Remy and Mace jump in the water too and swim out to the action.

Oh my goodness. This is terrible. Everyone I care about is out there in the lake. I don't know if my dad dropped the knife before they went in the water.

I see Blizzard's head. I see Knox, Remy, and Mace's heads. I don't see my dad or Foster at all. The surface is smooth. They're both under there.

My hands shake. I can barely record all that's happening and the screen is dark. I find a function for light and it sends out a beam. I hope I'm capturing it. It's so hard to see.

When their heads pop through the surface, I aim the phone at them. Foster shakes the water off his head and starts swimming back. He's towing my dad, but my dad isn't moving.

Knox, the boys, and Blizzard never made it out far enough, so they turn and swim side-by-side with Foster and my dad .

I don't care if I'm sopping wet and freezing cold, my Foster is swimming back to me. My dog is okay. The boys look okay. My dad doesn't look good. He's very limp.

They make it to the shore and crawl in the mud until they are out of the water. Blizzard sheds the water from his fur in a tremendous shake, but his tail is wagging. He barks at Foster who is hauling my dad onto the shore.

Foster pushes my dad to his back, grabs his head, and blows air into his mouth.

"Compress his chest," Foster says to Knox.

Oh my God! He's giving him CPR? This feels like a dream. My training kicks in. I've just finished a CPR course and I should be the one doing it. "Let me do it, Knox. You record it."

He takes the phone and I fall to my knees next to my dad. Trying to remember what I learned in my CPR class, I stack my hands over his sternum and count. "One, two, three, four, five." He feels lifeless and cold under my palms.

Foster is fully concentrating on blowing in his mouth. As I'm counting and compressing again he says, "Call 911."

Oh shoot, yes, we need an ambulance.

Mace pulls out his phone and makes the call.

A red trickle trails down Foster's arm.

"You're bleeding. "

"I'm fine. Keep up compressions."

"One, two, three, four, five…"

***

The emergency team had to drive up from the next town. As Foster and I worked, hopelessness set in. My dad never moved. His eyes opened and he stiffened like rigor mortis was setting in.

"Don't stop!" Foster yells at me.

"One, two, three, four, five." I'm trying not to cry, but I'm pretty sure he's dead.

Sutton comes down to the lake and stops cold in her tracks, her eyes glued to the body. Remy wraps an arm around her and blocks her view. "You don't have to watch this."

"No. I'll stay."

When the EMTs finally race down to the lake and take over compressions, Foster and I stop CPR and look at each other.

Tortured eyes stare back at me. "Fuck!" He turns away from the body with his head down. He didn't want to kill my father.

"How long have you been doing CPR?" the EMT asks.

"About twenty minutes," Knox answers for us.

I'm shocked. I'm sad. I feel guilty but I'm relieved he's dead and everyone else is alive .

Walking up to his back, I wrap my arms around his waist. We're a freezing wet mess like we were the night of the hurricane.

He turns and squeezes me close to his body.

The strength of his hug tells me we'll get through this together somehow.

***

After we warmed up in the shower and dried Blizzard by the heater, we gathered in the kitchen. The coroner and the police had left. They didn't arrest Foster because we had video of the entire incident on Knox's phone.

Foster had become withdrawn and didn't say anything except for what he told the police, which was the total truth about what happened.

"We have to go back to New York." Foster's eyes are dazed and distant.

"Why?"

"We have to bury your father." His voice is monotone.

Of all the thoughts running through my mind, this was not one of them. How my dad is memorialized doesn't mean much to me right now. I'd mourned the loss of my father many months ago when I left him. Now I feel no remorse at all. Maybe I'm in shock and it'll sink in later .

Foster runs his hands through his hair. "When I saw him holding a knife to your throat..."

"When you were under the water and I couldn't see you, my heart stopped. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."

"I thought I'd take my own life. Wouldn't want to go on living knowing your beautiful smile wouldn't greet me in the mornings." He presses his hand to my cheek.

"Okay. That's enough. Can we save the sentimental crap till after we leave the room?" Knox says with a sleepy Sutton standing next to him.

I laugh and change the subject. "Blizzard was a hero tonight. He's only a puppy. He warned me and swam toward you to save you."

"Good dog." Foster scratches Blizzard's nape.

Blizzard looks at us like, hey, I'm a wolf-husky . It's what I do .

"You're a badass dog and you know it," I say.

How lucky am I to have these guys around?

"Thank you for coming home early," I say to Knox, Mace, and Remy.

"You were handling him pretty well, but still could use some more self-defense training." Mace puts his hands on his hips and cocks one knee out .

I nod. "Yeah. I can't swim, bike, and run my way out of an attack like that."

"Well, he had a knife so not much you could have done without a weapon," Foster says.

"We need more guns in this place," Knox replies.

"Shotgun is all we need up here." Foster shakes his head.

"After tonight, we need handguns and rifles." Knox's eyes are dark and laser focused on Foster. We've touched on this subject a couple of times and it's always a sore spot for Foster. He doesn't want to arm a bunch of teenagers with serious emotional baggage.

"You expecting more attackers?" Foster squints at him. Donnie has been convicted and he's in prison. My dad is dead. I think the worst is behind us.

"Good to be prepared," Knox replies. Mace and Remy nod.

Foster chews his bottom lip and keeps his gaze on Knox and the boys. "You depend on a gun, you won't learn to fight with your fists."

"You bring your fists to a gunfight, you lose," Knox counters. He's too street wise for his age.

"We'll talk later." Foster's eyebrows draw together. I hope we don't end up needing more guns up here, but if there's a chance, it makes sense to be prepared.