Did You Miss Me? by Karen Rose Page A

forward, his rifle sliding out of his grip. The old man pushed himself up on his hands and knees, reaching for his weapon. Ford hit him in the head a third time. This time the man didn’t get up.
    Ford stood there, panting, staring down at the old man. Oh my God, I killed him .
    So? He’s a sick fuck who would have killed you .
    No, wait, he’s breathing . I didn’t kill him . Now what? Run . Ford grabbed the rifle and burst through the doorway, gasping at the cold air outside. Need a coat . You could die out here without a coat . He ran around the shed, toward the cabin. There was an old truck parked out front. Keys . Dammit . I should have taken his keys .
    He ran into the cabin. There was a phone on the wall, but it was an old rotary style. ‘No way,’ he murmured. Would it even work anymore? He lifted the receiver – but heard nothing. The line was dead.
    Turning slowly, he looked for the keys to the truck. His heart was pounding so hard it was all he could hear. No keys . Not okay . For a ridiculous moment he wished he’d run with a rougher crowd in high school. Then I might know how to hotwire an engine .
    Gran would know . His mother’s mother knew how to do lots of things that would be useful in this situation. Wish I’d paid more attention during all those hiking trips . She’d tried to teach him survival skills, but he’d been too addicted to his GameBoy to listen.
    He opened drawers, looking for keys, a knife, anything. Hello . Boxes of ammo. This could come in handy . He pulled one out and frowned. Empty. They were all empty.
    His back was to the open front door when he felt the floor tremble under his feet. He wheeled around to see the old man stagger through the doorway, an axe clutched in both hands. For a second they stared at each other before Ford remembered he still held the guy’s rifle. Not breaking eye contact, Ford lifted it to his shoulder.
    Luckily I did pay attention to all Gran’s target shooting lessons . They’d given him the edge over all his friends, making him a living legend at Xbox Medal of Honor .
    ‘Where’s the girl?’ Ford asked quietly.
    The old man hesitated, then shook his head. ‘Don’t know what you’re talking about.’ But there was a flicker of unease in his eyes.
    Liar . ‘ The girl who was with me last night. What have you done with her?’
    Unease flashed to relief before settling into feigned confusion. ‘There wasn’t any girl. Just you.’
    ‘There was a girl. Where is she?’
    ‘You’re crazy,’ the old man said. He took a tentative step forward, then another.
    Ford took one step back, then stopped himself. ‘No more. I will kill you if I have to.’
    ‘No you won’t.’ He took a third step, his confidence growing. ‘Give me the—’
    The man was a yard away from grabbing the barrel of the rifle. Do it . Shoot him now . Ford prepared for the recoil and the ear-splitting blast, and squeezed the trigger.
    Nothing happened. No recoil. No blast. Ford cocked the lever, fired again. Nothing.
    The gun wasn’t loaded . Ford wasn’t sure who was more surprised, himself or the old man. But the old man recovered quickly and charged, swinging the axe up as he’d done with the logs outside.
    Ford stepped to the side and when the old guy rushed past, he jabbed at his back with the rifle stock, knocking him off balance, then swung the weapon by the barrel to smack the back of his head again. The old man went down and Ford followed, shoving his knee into the guy’s kidney. Hope it hurts, you bastard .
    He wrenched the axe from the old man’s grip and pressed the blade up under his grizzled jaw. ‘Where’s. The. Girl?’
    ‘I. Don’t. Know.’
    ‘You have to know. You shot me in the back with a fucking taser. She was there. What did you do with her?’
    ‘I didn’t shoot you with nothin’. I signed on to babysit only you and that’s all.’
    Ford frowned. I’m back . Did you miss me? This wasn’t the same man that talked to him before. The