it might
She didn’t want to risk slowing down to find out who it was. At the same time, she didn’t want to lead them to Rosie’s—and Mattie.
The headlights in her rearview mirror seemed larger and brighter now. Susan bit her lip and then switched off her own headlights. For a few moments, it felt like she was driving blindfolded. Her hands taut on the steering wheel, she tried to find a trail off Carroll Creek Road. She felt the tires go over some gravel on the side of the highway, and she heard a spray of pebbles hitting the underside of the car. She quickly steered back onto the pavement.
At last, amid the shadows, she spotted a dirt road to her left. The car swerved and skidded as she made the last-minute turn. For a few seconds, Susan thought the Toyota might flip over. She couldn’t help slowing down once she hit the unpaved path. But she couldn’t step on the brake, for fear they’d see the red brake light in the woods. So she just steered and kept her foot off both pedals. The car reverberated with every rock and bump it encountered along the crude trail. Sans headlights, Susan couldn’t see all the obstacles in front of her. She navigated by the contour of the trees and the tops of bushes—and even then, she could barely make out their shapes in all this darkness.
She hit something that finally made the car stop. Maybe it was a tree stump or a boulder, she couldn’t be sure. But the Toyota’s engine kept purring and rattling while the car remained stuck.
She glanced over her shoulder in the direction of Carroll Creek Road. Beams from the approaching car’s headlights swept across the trees. Susan prayed the car would just stay on the main road. For a moment, the headlights illuminated her car—and the surrounding woodlands. Then she was in the darkness again, and the other vehicle sped on down the highway. It was the cop car.
Susan felt so relieved—for about five seconds. Then she realized if they continued down the road, they’d hit Rosie’s store and find Mattie. Allen could easily talk Rosie into letting him take Mattie off her hands. And Mattie would go with him, too.
Susan couldn’t let that happen. She had to catch up with them. She’d do whatever she had to, even if it meant running them off the road or getting herself killed. They weren’t getting her son.
She switched on the headlights and saw a clearing up ahead—a bald spot in the forest, where she could turn the car around. Susan stepped on the accelerator, but the car just wheezed and bucked. Her hands shaking, she shifted to reverse and tried to back up. But she hit a divot, and the whole left side of the car dropped suddenly. “Damn it!” she cried.
She shifted to drive again, and the Toyota lurched forward a foot before it slammed against something again. The rattling noise became louder every second.
Frantic, Susan jumped out and checked the front of the car. The trunk of a tilted tree had created a barrier at least a foot high. “Oh, dear God, please,” she murmured.
She jumped back into the driver’s seat and started working the gear shift. She inched forward and inched back—at least ten times. All the while, she kept thinking that Allen and that horrible policeman were getting closer to Rosie’s store—and Mattie.
Finally, Susan drove over the tip of the tree trunk, and she felt the underside of the car scrape against it. She headed into the clearing and started to turn the car around. Past the rattling noise, she thought she heard another car’s engine. Switching off her headlights, Susan glanced around for another vehicle along the dark, hidden trail. All around her, shrubs and tree branches swayed in the breeze. A leaf danced across her windshield.
She could still hear another car nearby. It seemed to be coming up behind her. Susan glanced over her shoulder but didn’t see any headlights. She heard footsteps, someone—or something—running. Maybe the forest was playing tricks with sound. Maybe it was the echo of her own engine she heard.
Susan switched on her lights again. Looking up, she saw something that made her heart stop. She let out a startled, little cry.
Bathed in the headlights, Allen stood in front of her car. He glared at her. Wearing the tight white T-shirt and painter pants—and with that haggard, cold expression—he looked like a total stranger. He put a hand on the hood of her Toyota.
She heard the other car. All at once, a bright light went on in back of her. Glancing over her shoulder, Susan was blinded for a moment by the patrol car’s high beams. The squad car crawled to a stop a few feet behind her. Susan realized the deputy must have seen her turn. Obviously he knew about another artery to this hidden dirt road.
The cop’s high beams illuminated the interior of her car. No doubt, Allen saw how terrified she was. He probably noticed her trembling, too. He approached her window.
Susan took a deep breath and opened her door. “Oh, Allen, thank God!” she cried, jumping out of the car. “Are you okay? I’ve been worried sick!”
She figured if she played dumb, they were less likely to restrain her. It would buy her time, and maybe she’d live a little longer. Though it sickened her, she forced herself to hug him and even kissed his cheek.
He seemed slightly taken aback.
“I kept thinking those teenagers down the road from us had abducted you as part of some kind of—twisted game or something.” She pressed her head against his shoulder. “I was going out of my mind with worry. I thought they might have killed you.” Susan pulled back for a moment to glance at him.
He was looking toward the patrol car—a furtive, slightly dubious look on his face.
“I drove over to their cabin,” Susan explained breathlessly. “I got halfway down the driveway and heard gunshots. Then I got out of there. I could see a car behind me. I thought it was those awful kids. I had no idea it was you. Thank God you’re okay….”
She waved at the deputy in the front seat. “I can’t believe you found him! Thank you!”
Allen kissed her cheek. “Wait in the car, okay?” he said. “I want to talk with this guy and find out how soon we can go home.”
She nodded obediently.
He started toward the police car, but hesitated and turned toward her. “Where’s Mattie?”
“He’s okay,” Susan said, forcing a smile. Then she climbed back behind the wheel. She grabbed her purse and frantically searched for something she could use to defend herself. The closest thing to a weapon she had was a Bic pen.
She glanced in the rearview mirror. Past the patrol car’s high beams, she could just make out Allen, hovering by the driver’s window. He and the deputy were talking.
She thought about stepping on the gas and making a run for it. But the deputy knew these roads too well, and her dinged-up, old Toyota was no match for his patrol car. He’d catch up with her in a matter of minutes.
Susan sat frozen behind the wheel. Staring at her side mirror, she watched Allen in conference with his cohort, his fellow murderer. She knew what they were talking about back there.
They were discussing how they should kill her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
His head was splitting, and he felt nauseous. His arm—pinned against the floor of the backseat—was dead asleep. But Leo didn’t dare move a muscle.
He didn’t want them to know he’d regained consciousness.
He remembered the deputy clubbing him with the nightstick. The next thing he knew, he’d found himself lying on the filthy floor in the backseat of a car. His head was behind the driver. Allen Meeker’s voice had come from outside the vehicle. “Hold it, hold it!” he’d called. “There’s something back here by your tire….”
Leo had heard the clatter of a metal object hitting the driveway. The two men had muttered to each other, and then the car doors had opened. “Is he dead back there?” Allen had asked.
“Might as well be,” the deputy had replied.
“Why didn’t you stash him in the trunk?”
“I got a shitload of stuff in the trunk. He’s fine back there. He can’t get out. The door and window controls
