it.”
“Three months in the mountains didn’t cure your stubborn streak, did it?” Dylan said.
“Nope.”
By the time Dylan reached Alex’s house, they knew that Billy had drugs in his system at the time of death and that he’d been alive when he was run over. There was still no explanation of how he ended up at the old drive-in except that it seemed unlikely he rode there on his bike as there were no discernible bicycle tracks. And if he hadn’t ridden the bike, then someone had taken him. Why? Hopefully Billy’s mother or the Cummings boys could shed some light on the matter.
“Jessica isn’t home yet,” Alex said to himself as they pulled in the driveway.
“Did you expect her to be?”
“Kind of.”
“Don’t worry. She’ll be cautious.”
“Yeah,” Alex said, not at all sure his partner was right. As Dylan roared off, Alex unlocked the garage and got in his truck. It was the first time he’d turned the key in the ignition since coming home, but Jessica had told him she’d run the engine every few days. The truck started right up and he pulled out of the garage.
As he drove away, he attempted to reason with himself. Jessica was fine, she knew he was going to be late, she probably just stopped by a friend’s house.
The pep talk grated every raw nerve in his body.
* * *
T HE LAST TIME Jessica felt like she did today, she’d been eighteen years old and a freshman in college. It had been the first time she’d been away from home and she remembered feeling so excited she could hardly sleep. All the new people and ideas and parties and conversations made her anxious for each new day.
And then things began to change. It started with an uneasy feeling of being watched, causing her to turn while walking across a field or down a hall to see if someone was behind her, looking over her shoulder with uneasy glances. There never seemed to be anyone interested in her and after a few days of it, she began to think she was developing some major psychological problem.
After a week or so of this, she began getting phone calls from a blocked line with no one speaking on the other end. This was followed by someone turning her doorknob in the middle of the night. She considered contacting the campus police but decided against it, unwilling to go public lest her parents be notified. No way did she want them to panic and demand she come home. A few times she managed to yank the door open, but there was never anyone there. When a bouquet of dead flowers greeted her one morning, she decided it was time to enlist the aid of the dorm resident assistant who helped her set a trap.
The perpetrator turned out to be a boy she had in one of her classes. She vaguely remembered that sometime in the first month of school he had hemmed and hawed in an awkward attempt to ask her out. As she wasn’t interested in dating him or anyone else at that point, she’d attempted to defuse the request by joking around and making an excuse to rush off. After that, she’d seldom seen him again. And all along, he had been furious with what he thought was her total disregard for his feelings and had decided to retaliate by anonymously stalking her. After she’d apologized up one side and down the other and he had done the same, they’d avoided each other for the rest of term. She wasn’t sure what happened to him after that.
And that’s how she felt today as she left the Green Mountain Mall. Like someone was watching. It hadn’t started until she finished shopping and was making her way back to her car.
In a replay of those long-ago college years, she found herself whipping around to check out the people and cars around her. And as before, she saw no one lurking, nothing threatening.
Alex had asked her to not be alone. She’d thought a mall would be the perfect place to search for a condolence card for Billy’s mother. At this hour of the day, the place was crawling with people. But now she realized that there were several
“Three months in the mountains didn’t cure your stubborn streak, did it?” Dylan said.
“Nope.”
By the time Dylan reached Alex’s house, they knew that Billy had drugs in his system at the time of death and that he’d been alive when he was run over. There was still no explanation of how he ended up at the old drive-in except that it seemed unlikely he rode there on his bike as there were no discernible bicycle tracks. And if he hadn’t ridden the bike, then someone had taken him. Why? Hopefully Billy’s mother or the Cummings boys could shed some light on the matter.
“Jessica isn’t home yet,” Alex said to himself as they pulled in the driveway.
“Did you expect her to be?”
“Kind of.”
“Don’t worry. She’ll be cautious.”
“Yeah,” Alex said, not at all sure his partner was right. As Dylan roared off, Alex unlocked the garage and got in his truck. It was the first time he’d turned the key in the ignition since coming home, but Jessica had told him she’d run the engine every few days. The truck started right up and he pulled out of the garage.
As he drove away, he attempted to reason with himself. Jessica was fine, she knew he was going to be late, she probably just stopped by a friend’s house.
The pep talk grated every raw nerve in his body.
* * *
T HE LAST TIME Jessica felt like she did today, she’d been eighteen years old and a freshman in college. It had been the first time she’d been away from home and she remembered feeling so excited she could hardly sleep. All the new people and ideas and parties and conversations made her anxious for each new day.
And then things began to change. It started with an uneasy feeling of being watched, causing her to turn while walking across a field or down a hall to see if someone was behind her, looking over her shoulder with uneasy glances. There never seemed to be anyone interested in her and after a few days of it, she began to think she was developing some major psychological problem.
After a week or so of this, she began getting phone calls from a blocked line with no one speaking on the other end. This was followed by someone turning her doorknob in the middle of the night. She considered contacting the campus police but decided against it, unwilling to go public lest her parents be notified. No way did she want them to panic and demand she come home. A few times she managed to yank the door open, but there was never anyone there. When a bouquet of dead flowers greeted her one morning, she decided it was time to enlist the aid of the dorm resident assistant who helped her set a trap.
The perpetrator turned out to be a boy she had in one of her classes. She vaguely remembered that sometime in the first month of school he had hemmed and hawed in an awkward attempt to ask her out. As she wasn’t interested in dating him or anyone else at that point, she’d attempted to defuse the request by joking around and making an excuse to rush off. After that, she’d seldom seen him again. And all along, he had been furious with what he thought was her total disregard for his feelings and had decided to retaliate by anonymously stalking her. After she’d apologized up one side and down the other and he had done the same, they’d avoided each other for the rest of term. She wasn’t sure what happened to him after that.
And that’s how she felt today as she left the Green Mountain Mall. Like someone was watching. It hadn’t started until she finished shopping and was making her way back to her car.
In a replay of those long-ago college years, she found herself whipping around to check out the people and cars around her. And as before, she saw no one lurking, nothing threatening.
Alex had asked her to not be alone. She’d thought a mall would be the perfect place to search for a condolence card for Billy’s mother. At this hour of the day, the place was crawling with people. But now she realized that there were several
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