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anything?” Liz said.
    “I’m all right. I’ll be out soon.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Just let me get myself together here.”
    “If you need anything, just shout.”
    “I will,” she said as she took a deep breath and
tried to gather her thoughts. She had surprised herself when she
walked out on Teddy. The idea had come to her when she followed him
into the break room. At the time it had really been nothing more
than a what if. But when he started talking about their
relationship she realized she had to do something to prove, if only
to herself, if they really had something or if it was just a
passing fancy. A fling that had lasted for a little more than a
year. She was confident that what she felt for Teddy was love.
    The door opened and she steeled herself for more
probing questions from Liz, or heaven forbid, Teddy.
    The soft sound of footsteps came from the room
beyond the stall door. From somewhere in her past came the
remembered sound of footsteps crunching through the snow. She
didn’t know where the memory came from, but with it came a chilling
fear accompanied by the sound of a dog barking.
    The footsteps stopped right in front of the stall
she occupied. On the floor, visible beneath the door, lay a shadow
that filled her with fear.
    He has returned . The thought whispered in her
mind and she cringed as the shadow moved closer, accompanied by
slow, measured, footsteps crunching through the snow. Cold air
filled the stall around her, chilling her flesh, and she hugged
herself to stay warm. It was as if someone had opened a window,
letting a wintry wind into the warm interior of the bathroom.
    The shadow got closer as the chill deepened,
bleeding across the floor under the door to the stall, slowly
consuming the light as it drew closer to her feet. She lifted her
feet from the floor, pulling her knees up under her chin as the
shadows spread across the tile like a black stain.
    She was only dimly aware of the door opening. Of
footsteps moving crisply across the tiled floor.
    “Are you all right?” Liz said, breaking the spell
she had fallen under. The shadows retreated and the chill flowed
away from her. She struggled to catch her breath, not really sure
if what had just happened had been real or the product of all the
stress she had been under lately.
    “I’m okay,” she said, trying to disguise the
shakiness in her voice. The footsteps had awakened an old memory
from when she was a child. One she had successfully locked away
from the cold light of reality. Her dog Charlie had become lost one
winter’s morning. He’d been found shortly afterwards, but the
details were fuzzy at best, and try as she might, she couldn’t
recall anything more about what had happened that day.

Chapter 10
     
    Teddy followed Judy into the hallway. He had been
totally unprepared for her reaction, and he stopped when she
entered the ladies’ room. Reason overpowered emotion as he decided
to let her have the time and space she needed. He was turning
towards the main room when he caught a glimpse of movement out of
the corner of his eye. He turned back to the rear door leading to
the smoking area. A small wire mesh window set at eye level
revealed a white world of swirling snow. The falling snow, driven
this way and that by a restless wind, parted to reveal a person
standing on the bank opposite the dock. He was dressed in a heavy
leather coat whose hem stopped between the knee and ankle. A filthy
red scarf was wrapped around his neck, covering the lower half of
his face, and a battered leather hat rode low over his forehead.
His eyes were hidden in the deep shadows of the brim.
    The stranger’s presence sent a shiver down Teddy’s
spine before his natural desire to protect others kicked in and he
pushed his way through the door. The wind tore at his shirt,
causing his tie to whip around his throat as he crossed to the edge
of the dock to search for that lonely figure.
    “Anybody out here?” he shouted, the words