Chapter 4 - The Scars of Katherine
"Bruno," Julian said, his voice barely a breath. "Down."
The growl ceased instantly. From within the room came the dry, frantic scratch of heavy paws against linoleum, followed by a sharp, metallic whine of pure recognition.
The door swung open.
A massive gray canine with cropped ears threw its front paws against Julian’s chest, its tail thumping violently against the doorframe, a long tongue licking the salt spray and rain from his jawline. Julian wrapped his arms around the dog’s thick neck, burying his face in the coarse fur, letting out a choked sob that sounded like dry wood snapping.
When he looked up, she was standing by the iron radiator.
She did not look like the debutante who had graced the cover of Town & Country. She wore an oversized men's denim work jacket lined with faux shearling, flannel trousers, and heavy laced boots. Her dark, lustrous hair had been chopped haphazardly with shears to her jawline, and across the left side of her face—running from her temple, through her eyebrow, down to the corner of her lips—was a jagged, jagged silver scar from a shattered windshield.
Her large, liquid brown eyes were wide with a mixture of terror and overwhelming, unbearable sorrow.
"Julian," she whispered.
Julian stepped past the dog, his world collapsing into the six feet of linoleum between them. He did not ask how. He did not ask why. He reached out, his large, calloused palms framing her scarred face with infinite, trembling reverence.
"You're cold," Julian wept, tears spilling unchecked into his dark stubble. "Katherine... your face... your hands are ice."
"You shouldn't have come," she sobbed, collapsing forward until her forehead struck his chest, her arms wrapping around his ribs with a desperation that threatened to crack his bones. "Julian, you shouldn't have found me. If Vincent knows you're here, he will kill you. He tried to kill me."
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Behind them, Frank closed the pine door, his face grim as he clicked the deadbolt into place and drew the heavy blinds over the window.
"He already knows, Katherine," Frank said quietly from the shadows. "A three-year-old girl in the foyer saw you by the platform. And in this town, silence lasts about twelve minutes."
