At a whopping twenty-five miles an hour, he carefully negotiated streets, some partially flooded in places from the deluge, until he reached US 41. Even there he only pushed his speed up to thirty-five despite the speed limit of fifty-five.
Please be okay! Please, let me be wrong!
If he was wrong he’d gladly take whatever ass chewing Ellis and Mandaline—and Sachi, since it was her car he’d stolen—wanted to give him.
The storm worsened, forcing him to slow even further. With the wipers on high they still couldn’t keep up with the sheets of rain pounding the little car’s roof. He crept along the road, his attention torn between not running off the highway or missing the turnoff. It wasn’t until he spotted the bright Shell sign of a convenience store about a mile north of the turnoff that he realized he’d gone too far.
“Dammit!”
He pulled off the road into the parking lot and promptly stalled the little Toyota out in a deep puddle.
“Shit!”
He took a deep breath.
Julie’s voice came to his mind. He didn’t know if it was really her or his imagination. “Calm down. You can do this. You can do it for them. You have to.”
He tried to crank the car, almost in tears when it didn’t want to start. He was afraid he’d flooded it out in the puddle when it finally caught and jerked forward as he let off the clutch too fast. It stalled out again, but had moved forward far enough to be clear of the water.
With trembling hands he tried starting it again, careful to keep his foot firmly on the clutch this time.
It cranked over.
“Thank you, Goddess!”
Slowly, he circled the parking lot until he got himself back onto the highway and pointed in the right direction. This time he didn’t miss the turnoff. He slowly drove through the wind-driven rain toward their road.
When he reached the driveway, he breathed a sigh of relief. About thirty yards down, around the first bend, he had to slam on the brakes and stalled out as he came upon a beat-up Chevy sedan parked in the middle of the drive and blocking his way.
No way around it in Sachi’s little car.
He stared at it for a moment.
“Look at the license plate!” Julie screamed in his head.
He had to squint through the rain, even with the headlights turned on high, to make out the white lettering on the dark blue background.
Montana.
“What do I do?” he screamed out loud.
Julie didn’t answer.
He ripped off his seat belt and shut off the car and headlights. He fumbled for the door handle. When he opened it, the dome light came on and he looked down.
He spotted the truck latch lever.
Ellis was soaked through to the skin by the time he pounded through the dark to the store. He beat on the front door, but Brad didn’t come let him in.
“Shit!” He only had a key for the back door.
He ran around the building and realized something wasn’t right but not understanding what. He fumbled for and finally got his key in the lock. Inside, Pers met him at the door. He finally got the alarm turned off and ran for the stairs, the little dog on his heels.
“Brad!” he yelled. He thundered up the stairs but didn’t find him.
He yanked off sodden clothes as he ran for the bedroom. Not bothering with fresh briefs, he pulled on a pair of jeans, slipped on sneakers without socks, and grabbed a dirty T-shirt from the chair by the bed. He ripped a raincoat off a hanger out of the closet and pulled it on.
He also pulled the lock box for his .38 out of the closet. He grabbed the gun, started to close the box, then also took the spare clip for it, which was fully loaded, and a box of ammo.
As he ran down the stairs, Pers tried to follow him but he closed the stairwell door, locking him in the apartment.
It wasn’t until he bolted through the back door, not bothering to set the alarm before he locked it, that he realized Sachi’s car was missing.
“What the fuck?” He got into his car and, praying he was wrong and paranoid and really jumping to conclusions, he pulled out of the parking lot and sped toward the house.
Mandaline didn’t fight Sachi as she kept her hand over Mandaline’s mouth. They both listened at the bathroom door, but they couldn’t hear anything over the rain pounding against the roof. Now she regretted the damn beers.
That’ll teach me to drink. You’d think I’d learn.
Sachi whispered into her ear again. “I’m going to sneak down and get my phone.”
Mandaline shook her head.
“Go up to the attic. It locks, right?”
Mandaline nodded.
“I’ll run back up and join you there. We’ll shove the couch in front of the door. It’ll buy us some time. Maybe whoever it is will just leave.”
That didn’t feel right to Mandaline. In fact, it felt like the most wrong idea in the history of the world. She peeled Sachi’s hand back so she could whisper in her ear. “What if they don’t?”
“911 will get here in a few minutes after we call them. We’ll be okay.” Sachi released her. Mandaline heard sounds like she was wrapping a towel around her.
Mandaline fumbled around in the dark until she located Sachi again and found her ear. “Find my keys and we’ll run out to the car.”
“You can’t run. You’re so drunk you can barely stand, much less walk.”
She felt heat fill her face. Sachi’s tone wasn’t hateful, but the truth in her words still made Mandaline feel ashamed.
They both froze, clutching at each other, as they heard footsteps on the stairs. Under the door, they saw a flash of red light sweep past. The footsteps paused.
Mandaline knew exactly what that was. They had several in their investigation kit. It was a night-vision flashlight.
She heard Sachi breathing in her ear as they both listened and waited. The footsteps moved on, toward the attic stairs. They heard the intruder slowly ascend them, then they heard the sound of him walking around the attic.
“Run,” Mandaline said. “Get my keys and run. I’ll lock myself in here.”
“I’m not leaving without you!”
“Run! This might be your only chance!”
“Fuck that noise!” They clutched at each other, freezing in place as the footsteps stopped directly overhead. When the footsteps moved again, Sachi grabbed Mandaline’s hand. “We both run. He can’t catch us both in the woods. You can hide and I’ll draw him away from you. We won’t have time to get to the car.”
Before Mandaline could object, Sachi shoved the Maglite back into her hand. Then she heard the sound of the door lock unlocking and Sachi pulled it open. With her eyes adjusted to the dark, in the dim light from the window at the end of the hallway she could make things out.
They started out the door but then the steps upstairs quickened. Caught in the middle of the hallway, Sachi pushed her back into the bathroom and quietly pulled the door shut before running across the hall and loudly slamming Ellis’ bedroom door.
Mandaline choked back a sob as she locked the knob. She knew what her friend had done, on purpose.
Heavy footsteps pounded down the attic stairs and stopped in the hallway. A loud, gruff man’s voice screamed, “Miki! I know you’re in here with your friend. I don’t want her. My beef’s with you, you fucking Jew-Jap bitch! I know yer both here because I followed y’all from that witch store.”
Mandaline’s eyes widened in the dark. She bit down on her hand to keep from screaming as she heard Sachi’s muffled voice yelling at him through the walls.