Page 76 of Dark Roads
“She’s trying to find out what happened to her sister.”
“And I’m trying to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to her.”
“You should talk to Thompson again.”
“Why? He didn’t do anything after I told him about Vaughn going into Beth’s motel room. Cops stick together.”
He fumbled with his helmet, let out a long sigh. “What parts do you need?”
“A patch kit for my tire, and I can’t fix the clutch alone.”
“You could stay in the workshop.”
I shook my head. “Too risky. I’m not leaving the woods.”
“Fine, but I have to work late at the farm. I’ll try to get back before dark. Stay close. We’ll ride up and fix your bike. Then I’ll go see Beth. Give me her phone back.”
“It’s with my bike and my gear.”
“She’s not safe without it.”
“She’s got a gun.”
“Right.” He thought it over. “We’ll get it tonight.” He stepped forward, grabbed me for a rough hug that pulled me off my feet, and scraped my face against the stubble on his chin.
He pulled away. “Keep out of the campsite. Meet me back here later.”
I found a gulley near Jonny’s house and spent most of the day catching up on sleep. A few times I opened my eyes and spotted Wolf sitting on the bank, looking over the forest, guarding me. Some crows fighting in a nearby tree woke me up. Wolf padded over and nudged me, letting me know he was glad I was finally awake. I rubbed his head, then pulled Beth’s phone out of my pack and slowly scrolled through the photos of Amber that I hadn’t seen before on Facebook or Instagram. I looked up at the sky. Now I could give Beth back her phone.
When the sun set, I made my way closer to Jonny’s house. He should be done with work by now, but there were no lights on in his house and his truck wasn’t in his driveway.
The battery on my burner phone had died. I checked Beth’s phone. Dead too. I calculated the risk. I hadn’t seen any movement on the road or in the surrounding woods. Wolf would know if Vaughn was sneaking around. I’d go into Jonny’s house and use his landline.
I punched in his security codes and kept the house lights off. I’d made it into the kitchen when headlights flashed up on the road. I turned, ready to meet Jonny at the door, and glanced one more time out the window, expecting him to be heading up the driveway. The headlights had stopped moving—red and blue flashing ones were now behind him. He’d been pulled over.
Wolf grumbled when he realized I was leaving him in the house and tried to push past my legs. I stopped him with a quick hand motion, then snuck out the back door, and dashed across the gravel and into the woods that blocked the view of the house from the road.
A few yards in front of me, Jonny’s shape was outlined in Vaughn’s headlights as he stood against the driver’s-side front panel of his truck. His back was to me, so I couldn’t see his face, but I felt his fear. His hands and legs were spread while Vaughn patted him down.
“Don’t fucking move.” Vaughn pushed Jonny’s head down so that his cheek was pressed against the hood—even though Jonny hadn’t spoken and wasn’t resisting. “Stand there.”
Vaughn circled the truck and lifted the cover on the back. He shone his flashlight around. There were sounds of metal scraping against metal as he dragged something closer.
He whistled. “Nice tools. Expensive. Did you pay for all these?”
“Yeah.”
“I bet you don’t have receipts.”
Jonny remained silent. I crept closer, climbing the bank. I stepped on a stick and froze. Vaughn came around the front and pointed his flashlight at Jonny.
“You think you can make a run for it?”
“I didn’t move.”
Vaughn walked toward him with his hand on his sidearm and I tensed, ready to rush out, but he had stopped at the driver’s door, which he opened to continue his inspection. He found Jonny’s helmet and took it out, let it roll off his hand and hit the gravel while he stared at Jonny.
Jonny’s face looked flushed even in the dark, his mouth twisted in anger, but he didn’t say anything. Vaughn set his boot down on top of the helmet and ground it into the gravelwith a smirk. I could hear the crunch of the sharp gravel against the paint—the blue flames we’d spent hours designing.
