my head.
I inch myself down to the ground and use the car as a shield. It helps, but not much.
A few minutes pass, and then I hear footsteps on the gravel.
I try to stand, but with my hands cuffed I can’t get my legs under me, so I stay where I am and I wait.
The footsteps get closer. Nolan comes around the side of the car. He sees me on the ground, and he reaches down to help me up. Then he takes a ring of keys from his pocket and says, “Turn around.”
When I do, he unlocks the cuffs and slides them into his jacket pocket. “Get out of here.”
“And go where?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he says. “Just don’t be here.”
I feel the blood creep back into my hands. I shake them out and say, “I think I’ll stick around.”
“Don’t be an idiot.”
“I have to know, and I’ve got nothing else to lose.”
Nolan shakes his head. “Okay, Jake, it’s up to you. I did what they asked of me and that’s enough.”
He walks around to the driver’s side, and I follow.
“You’re leaving me out here?” I ask. “What if they don’t show up?”
Nolan laughs. “Then you should consider yourself lucky.” He opens the door, stops, then turns back to me. “I don’t know what they want with you, but you’d be smart to get as far away from them as you can.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Nolan frowns, then leans down and reaches into the car. He picks something up off the passenger seat and says, “You had this back at your house. I brought it along.” He holds out my .38. “You might as well have it, for all the good it’ll do you.”
I stare at my gun for a moment, but I don’t take it.
“I was going use it to get you to talk.”
“Not everything works out the way we’d like, does it?” He pushes the gun toward me. “Take it.”
I shake my head, don’t move.
I know better.
Nolan smiles and holds up his other hand. “No tricks, Jake, just doing you a favor. I can keep it if you want.”
I reach for the gun.
When my hand touches the metal, I hear a soft hiss then a loud snapping sound, like a branch breaking. Nolan jerks forward and something wet slaps against my face.
I close my eyes and step back.
The gun drops.
When I look again, Nolan is lying facedown on the ground. One arm is pinned under him, the other stretched out, twitching in the dirt. The left side of his head is open, and blood is spilling out in every direction.
I take another step back, unable to look away.
My mouth is open, but there’s no sound.
All I hear is the wind.
– 25 –
I look down at my hands. They’re covered in blood. There’s blood on my clothes and in my hair. I can feel it on my skin and taste it in my mouth.
My heart is slamming against my ribs, and my legs are burning under me. Every instinct I have is telling me to run, but I can’t do it.
I take a step back from the blood, then see a dark shape duck behind one of the trees in front of me.
A shadow moving between shadows.
Coming closer.
I drop down next to Nolan’s body and try to focus. The wind is loud, but my breathing is louder. I hold it and listen for footsteps crossing the parking lot toward the car, but there’s nothing.
That scares me the most.
I feel something wet under me, and when I look down I notice I’m kneeling in Nolan’s blood. I start to get up, then stop and lean over and search his jacket pockets. I find his cigarettes and lighter, and I toss them aside and keep looking.
Eventually, my hand closes around a cold metal key ring. I pull it out, then step over him and climb into the driver’s seat of his car.
My hands are shaking, and it takes a minute for me to find the key. Every few seconds I look up and scan the park for movement, but all I see are trees and shadows.
When I find the right key, I start the engine, shift into drive, and hit the gas.
The car lurches forward.
I turn the wheel hard, spraying rocks and dirt into the air, then head toward the exit, fast. I clip the side of a tree, and the branches slap against the window. I yell and try to force myself to slow down, but I can’t.
The adrenaline makes it