Northern Lights

side, she slipped out of the room.
    Hopp tapped Charlene briskly on the shoulder. "Sorry, Charlene, I need an official moment with Chief Burke."
    Charlene only pressed closer to Nate. He wondered if she'd just pop out the back of him. "Town Hall's closed, Hopp."
    "Town Hall's never closed. Come on now, let the boy out of that stranglehold."
    "Oh, all right. I expect you to finish this dance, handsome."
    "Let's find ourselves a corner, Ignatious." Hopp waved people aside, cut a swatch through the crowd. She hunkered down at a table someone had pushed into the pool area. "Want a drink?"
    "No, I think I want the back door."
    "You can run, but you can't hide in a town this size. You're going to have to deal with her sooner or later."
    "Let's go with later." He wanted to go upstairs, back to the dark. His head was pounding, his stomach queasy with the stress and effort of just being.
    "I didn't just pull you away to break Charlene's headlock. You've got my deputy mayor well and truly pissed."
    "I know it. I handled that situation as seemed most prudent and within the confines of the law."
    "I'm not questioning how you do your job, Ignatious." She waved that off as she'd waved off people. "I'm just giving you the facts. Ed's pompous, self-important and a pain in the ass more than half the time. Still, he's a good man and works hard for this town."
    "Doesn't mean he can drive worth a damn."
    She grinned at that. "He's always been a lousy driver. He's also powerful, rich and a grudge-holder. He won't forget you crossed him on this business. It might seem small potatoes to the type of thing you're used to dealing with, but in Lunacy, this was major."
    "I can't be the first to cross him."
    "You're not. Ed and I butt heads all the time. But the way he'd see that, he and I are on equal footing. I might even have a leg up. You're Outside, and he expects you to kowtow some. On the other hand, if you'd kowtowed, I'd have been very disappointed. Puts you between a rock and a hard place."
    "I've been there before. Does kowtow really have anything to do with cows?"
    She stared for a moment, then barked out a laugh. "A polite and sneaky way to tell me to mind my own. Before I do, let me add something. Getting yourself caught between Charlene and Meg means that rock and hard place are both going to be very hot, very sticky, and mean as a demon from hell."
    "Then I'd better not get caught."
    "Good thinking." Her eyebrows lifted when his cell phone beeped.
    "Calls to the station get transferred to my personal," he said as he pulled it out of his pocket. "Burke."
    "Get your coat," Meg said. "Meet me out front in five minutes. I've got something I want to show you."
    "Sure. Okay." He stuck the phone back in his pocket as Hopp watched him. "It's nothing. I think I'm going to duck out."
    "Mmm-hmm. Use the door there, go through the kitchen."
    "Thanks. And Happy New Year."
    "Same to you." Hopp shook her head as he walked away. "Going to be trouble."
     
     
    IT TOOK HIM more than five minutes to get to his room, pile on his gear, slip out, then walk around to the front of The Lodge. He was halfway there when he realized he hadn't been tempted to just lock the door behind him and burrow back in the dark.
    Maybe it was progress. Or maybe lust was stronger than situational depression.
    She was waiting, sitting on one of two folding chairs she'd set dead center of the street.
    The bottle of champagne was screwed into the snowpack. She sipped from her glass, and a thick blanket covered her lap.
    "You can't sit out here in that dress even with your coat and the blanket—"
    "I changed. I always carry extra clothes in my pack."
    "Too bad. I was looking forward to seeing you in that dress again."
    "Another time, another place. Have a seat."
    "Okay. Why are we sitting outside in the street at . . . ten minutes to midnight?"
    "Not much for crowds. You?"
    "Not really."
    "They can be fun for a while, on a special occasion. But it wears thin for me after a few hours. Besides." She handed him a glass. "This is better."
    It amazed him the champagne wasn't frozen solid. "I think it would be better if we were inside, where frostbite isn't a factor."
    "Not that cold out. No wind. Hovering around zero. Besides, you can't really see this from inside."
    "See what?"
    "Look up, Lower 48."
    He looked where she pointed and lost his breath. "Holy God."
    "Yeah, I always thought it was holy. A natural phenom caused by latitude, sunspots and so on. Scientific explanations