Page 100 of Tiger Queen

“Then we need to tell your brothers.”

We ran outside and along the path heading back to the house. The crickets and cicadas were silent now, as if they understood that there was danger in the air. The only sound was of our feet crunching on the gravel of the path.

“He took your laptop,” I said absently. “He thought I would be able to login. When I couldn’t, he smashed it against the wall.”

“Aw man,” he said.

He sounded off. Detached. “Anthony, I can’t imagine what you’re feeling right now…”

“It’s fine,” he said. “We’ll worry about it later.”

The path turned and we both slowed down. We had accidentally caught up to Carl, who was fifty feet ahead of us. The gun was still in his hand while he ran, so Anthony put a finger to his lips and we followed slowly, from a safe distance.

“What if he goes into the house?” I hissed. “We have to warn David and Jake.”

“He wouldn’t hurt them,” Anthony replied.

“Are you sure about that?”

His silence was answer enough. Fortunately, Carl climbed up into his monster truck instead. The engine roared to life like a wild animal, and the entire vehicle bounced up and down just from the engine vibrations. Gravel sprayed all over the other cars as the monster truck flew down the driveway.

David and Jake came running out of the house moments later. “What the hell is—” David cut off as he saw me and Anthony standing there. “Who took the truck? Mary Beth?”

“It’s dad,” Anthony said. “He’s alive.”

Jake’s hands clenched into fists and he trembled with rage. David’s mouth hung open, and he looked to me for confirmation that this wasn’t some sick joke.

“It’s true,” I said. “We have to call the police…”

Jake jumped into his truck and pulled the keys down from the visor. I knocked on the window and asked, “What are you doing?”

He rolled down the window. “Going after him. I want some fucking answers.”

Before he could drive away, I ran around to the passenger side and hopped in. Anthony and David were right behind me and climbed into the back seat of the cab.

“We want answers too,” David said as an explanation.

Jake flew down the driveway, through the zoo parking lot, and onto the main road. The monster truck was in the distance, aglow with non-standard lights.

“What’s the plan here?” David asked.

Jake grunted. “Plan?”

“I assumed you had a plan.”

“The plan is to catch up to dad. I haven’t thought past that.”

I twisted to look at David. “Do you have your phone on you? We need to call the police.”

“On it.” David began dialing.

“I can’t believe he’s alive,” Anthony said.

“I can.” Jake’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “This is exactly the kind of bullshit dad would pull. How did you two get downstairs so fast?”

“I found him about half an hour ago,” I admitted. “He was in the house. He threatened me with a gun and he stole all the GoFundMe money.”

“That son of a bitch,” Jake growled. The engine noise rose as he accelerated.

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