Fear The Worst

I thought she’d pepper me with questions, but she instantly grasped that my taking time to answer them would not be in Syd’s best interest. She said, “Just take Bob’s car. Go. Now.”

She was referring to the Hummer, Bob’s massive SUV. I didn’t like the idea of heading up to Stowe in that beast. It stuck out like a sore thumb, was lumbering and slow to respond, I’d lose too much time stopping every hundred miles to fill it up with gas, and before long the police might be looking for it.

“Something else, Suze,” I said.

She nodded, instantly understanding. “On the lot, we just took in a Mustang. Has a V8 under the hood.”

“Come on,” Bob protested, “you can’t be serious.” He looked at me. “You know the police have been by here twice tonight looking for you? What the hell’s going on, Tim?”

“A lot,” I said. “But at this point, all that matters is that I get on the road to Stowe.”

Susa

“And it’s fast?” I said.

She nodded. “In a straight line. Not so hot cornering, but it’s interstate all the way to Vermont.”

“Let’s get it.”

“I don’t like this,” Bob said. “If the police are looking for him, this is tantamount to helping a fugitive.”

Susa

Evan came down the stairs. “What’s going on?”

“We’ll be back in a bit,” Bob said grudgingly. “If the phone rings, answer it.”

“No, don’t,” said Susa

“So you want me to lie to the cops,” Evan said, half to himself. “Cool.”

As the three of us went out of the house toward the Hummer, Bob said, “Honestly, Tim, I think you owe us an explanation of just what the hell’s going on here. You call late at night, demand a car, have some story about Sydney being up in Vermont, you can’t-”

“Hang on,” I said, changing direction and heading over to the van. “I have to get my guns.”

That shut Bob up, at least for a while.

I THANKED IAN and told him to take off. In addition to the guns, I grabbed Milt, whom I gave to Susa

Susa

“Owen?” I said from the back seat. “I don’t think so. If an ambulance got to him in time, he’ll live. But the two with him? Gary and Carter? They’re goners.”

“And Andy,” Susa

“Yeah,” I said. “And it gets even worse.”

“What?”

“Patty,” I said. “I don’t know how she was involved in any of this, but something happened to her in the last forty-eight hours. No one’s seen her. And one of those three who tried to kill me, he said I didn’t have to worry about her anymore.”

“Oh my God,” Susa

“Yeah,” I said, feeling the pain of what had happened to Patty in a way I could not bring myself to tell my ex-wife. At least not now.

“I can’t believe this,” Susa

We went the next few blocks in silence. Then Susa

“Yeah,” I said. Behind the wheel, Bob looked chagrined. “They thought if Syd tried to come home, to your place, they’d get her then.”

“Why hasn’t she just called us?” Susa

“One reason,” I said slowly, knowing there was no real way to prepare Susa

Susa

“I think it may have been self-defense, or she was trying to help someone else who was being attacked.”

“But…” Susa

“I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t know.”

I wondered whether we were thinking the same thing, that something had happened to Sydney, something even the bad guys didn’t know about, that had kept her from letting her parents know where she was.

“Maybe because, on top of everything else, she’s pregnant,” Susa

Bob tightened his grip on the Hummer steering wheel.

“I don’t think so. I mean, yeah, maybe, but I don’t think that has anything to do with why she hasn’t called.”

Bob’s used-car dealership was just up ahead. He pulled into the lot and parked just beyond a dark blue Mustang, late nineties vintage I thought. “I’ll get the key,” Susa

“You never even paid for the Beetle, did you?” Bob asked.

“Is that your biggest concern at the moment, Bob?” I asked.

I was resting my head against the seatback. I was suddenly very exhausted. Stowe had to be a good four-hour drive. I needed some sleep, but I didn’t have time for it.

I also didn’t know where to begin looking for Syd once I got to Stowe.

“Look,” Bob said, “do what you have to do. But it’s not fair to drag Susa

“Did the cops tell you what they want me for?”

“All they said was more questioning. It was Detective Je

“There’s a list,” I said. “But the man who tried to kill me tonight killed a woman named Kate Wood earlier today. The police like me for it, at the moment.”

“Jesus Christ.”

I closed my eyes and rested my head. I opened them when I heard rapping at my window. Susa

I climbed down from the Hummer and took the keys for the Mustang. “Any gas in it?” I asked.

“I doubt it,” she said. “It’s not exactly Bob’s policy to include a tankful with every purchase.”

I hit the remote button and unlocked the doors of the Mustang. I got inside, left the driver’s door yawning open, and turned the engine over. It roared. I glanced at the gas gauge and saw that there was a little under half a tank.

“Gas up now and you should be able to make it the whole way there without stopping if you get lucky,” Bob said.

“You mind grabbing the guns?” I said to Bob.

He went back to the Hummer. Susa

“That’s not a good idea,” I said. “You’re not up to this.”

“Don’t tell me that.”

“Susa

“Tim, don’t say-”

“No, listen to me. I mean it. You have to stay here, be here for Sydney when she comes back, if she ends up coming back alone. And I may need to get in touch, need you to find out things for me. Right off the bat, when you get home, I need you to look up some directions for me for getting to Stowe. I’m going to hit 95, then 91 North, but I could use some pointers along the way.”

Susa

“Don’t tell them a damn thing. But if it’s Je

Susa