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Jasons piloted his Lexus past them.
So this was where they believed Deputy McKenzie and the two killers were heading.
Jasons drove over the bridge, below which was an impressive moonlit gorge. Then as soon as the interstate was deserted he made a U over the flat, grassy median and crossed the bridge again going the other way. Then, about even with where the men had parked, on the other side, he nosed his car into a woody area off the shoulder and pulled to a stop.
He climbed out and stretched. He opened the trunk and replaced his sports coat with a windbreaker and his dress shoes with boots. He took out a canvas bag, which he slung over his shoulder.
Waiting for a massive Peterbilt tractor-trailer to pass, swirling dust and grit in its wake, he crossed asphalt, the median and then more road and vanished into the woods.
AT THE POND, an oval far smaller but no less dark and eerie than Lake Mondac, Bry
The little girl nodded. She was wearing Bry
Surveying the pond, their rallying point, Bry
Control.
And it had all been just a cruel joke. She didn’t even have her spear anymore. She felt wholly depleted. She pulled the girl down beside her and continued to scan the pond carefully.
Motion. In the bushes. Bry
Was it Hart and his partner?
Was it the wolf who’d attached himself to them?
No. Bry
The young woman was crouching, like a huntress. The spear in one hand and something in the other-the knife, it seemed. Waiting for the killers, defiant, tense, as if daring them to try to hurt her.
Bry
The woman froze. But then Bry
“Bry
The women embraced briefly and Michelle dropped to her knees, hugging the girl. “Who’s this?”
Amy eased free from the overly emotional embrace.
“This’s Amy. She’s going to come with us.” Bry
“You’re adorable! And who’s this?”
“Chester.”
“He’s as cute as you are.”
The little girl remained somber, sensing the atmosphere of tragedy if not comprehending the actual events that had caused it. If she didn’t know about her mother’s fate, maybe she hadn’t witnessed the other killings.
The moon was lower now, darkness was deepening. Curiously, Amy was the only one among them who didn’t seem uneasy at this. Maybe if you have parents like hers, fear of the dark doesn’t figure much in your life.
The girl blinked at a flying squirrel as it sailed past. Bry
“I heard some noises,” Michelle said. Meaning the gunshots. “Our friends…?”
“Still with us. One hurt a little more but mobile.”
“So they could be on the way here.”
“We have to get going. To the Snake River. We’ll climb the gorge and be at the interstate in forty-five minutes. An hour, tops.”
“You said there was an easier way.”
“Easier but a lot longer. And Hart thinks we’re going that way.”
Michelle blinked. “You talked to him?”
“Yep.”
“You did?” the woman whispered in astonishment. “How’d that happen?”
She told her briefly about her captivity in the van.
“Oh, my God. He nearly killed you.”
It was pretty close to mutual, Bry
“And what’d he say?”
“Not much. But I told him we were making for the interstate, so he’ll think we’re going toward Point of Rocks.”
“Like reverse psychology.”
“Yep.” Bry
“Where’d you get that?”
“Stole it from him-our friend Mr. Hart.”
Michelle gave an astonished laugh.
Bry
“I want my mommy.”
Bry
“I guess.”
“And then we’re going to climb a hill.”
“Like rock climbing? There’s a climbing wall near my school. Charlie said he’d take me but he never did.”
“Well, this’ll be like that. Only more adventurous.”
“Like Dora the Explorer,” Michelle said. “And Boots…” When Amy looked at her blankly the young woman added, “The monkey.”
“I know. I just, like, haven’t seen that for years. That’s not what Mom and Charlie watch.”
Not wishing to speculate on what was viewing material in that household, Bry
Michelle pulled a Chicago Cutlery out of her jacket and handed it to Bry
A bit of control. Not much. But better than nothing.
A faint laugh. Bry
“Doubt it. I just experienced my second car wreck of the night. I win. But, yep, you’re not so hot either. I wouldn’t go out on the town without a makeover.”
Michelle squeezed her arm.
They started hiking.
The Snake River was closer than she’d estimated. They made it in a half hour and that included keeping to the thickest cover and pausing to look behind them frequently for the men.
Of whom there was no sign. This was reassuring but Bry
They paused in a circle of tall grass to look up and down the bank of the wide, shallow river punctuated with rocks, logs and small islands.
No one.
“Wait here.” Clutching the knife, Bry
She studied the otherworldly landscape, saw no one else and motioned to Michelle and Amy to join her. They too drank.
Then Bry
Though a mile straight up.
“Jesus,” Michelle said, following Bry
They now walked to the begi
Looking back, Michelle gestured at the muddy ground behind them. “Wait, our footprints.”
“They don’t look too obvious.”