Sometimes the dreams were a depiction of what had happened. What might happen. And sometimes they were a jumble of past, present, and future. Dreams were open for interpretation, just like Nate had said. The pieces in them couldn’t be fit together like a puzzle. Some of the elements in them made no sense.
The prickling along her spine told her that this piece fit. But Nate would require proof.
She pulled over on the opposite side of the road, ahead of where the turnoff was. It’d be better to walk in. She could stay inside the underbrush that way. Even if the thought of pushing aside those branches—the ones that had been licked with flame in her dreams—turned her skin to ice. Swallowing hard, she hesitated for a moment. Then forced herself to plunge inside the wooded area.
It was darker without the setting sun overhead to illuminate the way. Easier to stumble over fallen limbs hidden beneath a layer of decaying leaves. After several minutes she began thinking she had miscalculated by not taking a more direct route. A half hour later she was certain of it.
Until she saw something through the trees that had all other thought fleeing from her head.
Fumbling for the cell in her pocket, she pulled it out. Punched in a familiar number. Was rewarded a few moments later with a growled, “McGuire.”
“You need to come out here.”
“Risa? Wait.” The din in the background made it almost impossible to hear him. A few moments later when he came back on the line again the noise had lessened. “Where are you?”
“Twenty miles west of interstate one on route one oh four. My car is on the side of the road. The path you’ll want to take is on the left. It’s overgrown and on foot it’s a thirtyminute walk in.”
“Listen, all hell is breaking loose here. We’ve got a good lead on the car of suspects who fired at Huxley. If we can track them down and discover their identities . . . or who hired them . . .”
“Best guess is Juicy. I think he and Darrell are working together somehow. But listen.” Her voice was low but no less urgent. “What kind of car did Randolph drive? The one that disappeared when he did?”
“A burgundy Chrysler, why?”
She peered out between the branches at the vehicle parked on the rutted road another quarter mile ahead. “Because I think I’m looking at it right now.”
There was dead silence on the other end of the phone. Then, “Give me the directions again.” She did so. “Risa, I want you to go back to your car and wait for me.”
“I’m not going to do that, Nate.” She squinted into the distance. But beyond the car she could see nothing. “It’ll be dark soon. I have to track them while I can still see where I’m going. But I don’t have any intention of making a move unless Eggers is in immediate danger.”
His curses were fluid and creative. “Dammit, I mean it. Don’t take another step until I get there.”
“I’ll call you back when I have more information.” She cut off the call and set the phone to vibrate. Then she visually measured the distance between her location and where the car was parked. Using the underbrush for cover, she crept closer.
Ten minutes later she was at the empty vehicle. There was nothing to see through the windows in the car. The trees grew thicker up ahead. The overgrown road became impassable, which was likely why the vehicle had been abandoned here. Staying low, she crept along the rutted path, the branches of the low-hanging trees clutching at her as she passed with greedy grasping fingers.
The sun had disappeared over the horizon. And soon . . . much too soon, the area would be shrouded in darkness.
As she moved farther past the car, she heard the sound of voices. She couldn’t make out the words at first. But the closer she pressed, the clearer they became.
“Fuck you. Think I’m going to say I’m sorry? If I had it to do over, I’d burn the fucker again. And again.”
Risa drew in a shaky breath. Eggers. She stopped at the ring of trees and squinted through the leafy branches. What she saw had her catching her breath.
Eggers was secured to a straight-backed chair in the center of a clearing. His tone taunting, Cooper was standing in front of him.