Page 87 of Dark Roads
“Vaughn is a pervert. I wasn’t lying—but Mason’s done something to Beth. Swear to God. Just check it out, please? Or I’m going to talk to him myself.”
“Stay away from Mason. Let me deal with it.”
“She could behurt.”
“Stayawayfrom him, all right?” This time he hung up first.
I went back to my spot in the woods where Wolf was waiting. He got to his feet, tail wagging, and bumped his snout into my face when I crouched to ruffle the fur on his neck.
“Good boy.”
Resting my back against a tree, I kept my binoculars aimed at the diner. The sun was high now and scorching hot, even in the shade. My hair was damp with sweat under my cap. I took it off, wiped at my forehead. Wolf and I drank my last bottle of water, sun-warmed.
A cop car turned onto the road and rolled to a stop in front of the diner. I held my breath, waiting to see who got out. Black hair. Tall, with narrow shoulders. He wore dark mirrored sunglasses. Thompson.
Hewasgoing to follow up on my report. I checked the cop car, making sure Vaughn wasn’t with him, and then up the street. No sign of backup. I focused on Thompson again.
He was at the diner door now. He paused, looked right then left. I scooched lower. Did he sense I was nearby, watching?
After a moment, he slid his sunglasses up onto his head, and entered the diner.
CHAPTER 34
Beth
She woke to black. Woozy, semiconscious, delirious with pain. Her head was heavy and throbbing, a helmet of agony. Where was she? She was lying on a floor, contorted into an uncomfortable position. She tried to open her eyes, which were so swollen she could only squint.
Her tongue was thick as it pushed against the fabric balled in her mouth. She choked on saliva and blood. Her back was arched, her hands tied to her ankles behind her back.
Panting, she lay still, listened hard. Traffic sounds in the distance. Was she by a road? She felt movement, vibration around her. She was in a vehicle—the camper? She pushed forward and came up against a hard surface. She lifted her head and slammed into something. She gasped. Nausea and dizziness. Fresh air was coming from somewhere. She wiggled backward and hit another obstacle. She was in a box or a crate. Maybe a closet. She tried to scream but could only moan and grunt, then dissolved into sobs that made her gag, her body shuddering. She was alone, helpless. No one knew where she was. No one would notice she was missing.
She found the spot of air, pushed her nose against it. Coolness. Outside air? Wherever she was, he’d wanted her to breathe. He was saving her for something. Horror swelled. She thrashed, kicking and twisting until she was exhausted and panting and couldn’t struggle anymore.
The movement stopped. A truck door opened. She couldhear it through the ventilation somehow. Did that mean someone could hear her scream? She waited, ready to fight in whatever way she could if he was coming to get her. She imagined him dragging her out. Imagined him cutting her with a knife, stabbing into her flesh. Her breath was too fast, she was going to hyperventilate. She tried to focus, tried to remember any self-defense lessons she’d taken.
Time passed. He hadn’t come. Where had he left her? She stared into the darkness. She had to pee and finally, when she couldn’t wait anymore, she had to go in her shorts. Maybe he’d hate that. Maybe he’d beat her for it. Maybe that would be a blessing. He wasn’t going to let her live. She already knew that. Whatever he was planning, she wasn’t going to walk away from it.
Beth thought of Amber, closed her eyes as tears leaked out, and prayed to her sister. Prayed for her to send help. She repeated it over and over, a mantra of desperation. She didn’t know how long she had been trapped. She was sure she had a concussion. She drifted into a hazy sleep, then woke to the pounding in her skull. Beth had never experienced pain like this. Nothing had ever prepared her. She wanted to step outside of her broken body.
Voices. Coming closer. She lifted her head, tried to listen through the small air hole. The voices were deep-pitched. Men. She stilled. She needed a plan. If he opened up the box, she could pretend to be dead. She’d rear up and smash her head into his face.
“Vaughn looked over everything last night.” Mason’s voice. Distant, like he wasn’t standing close to the camper.
“I just needed to confirm the point of entry.” The other voice was familiar. Thompson? The point of entry. What did that mean? She couldn’t think properly, the pressure in her head moved her thoughts around backward. Door. The diner door. The truck was in the alley.
“You’re alone today?”
“Gave the cook the day off. I was going to let Beth work a few extra hours, but she didn’t show up.”
“You didn’t go to the campsite?”
She rocked her body, but she couldn’t stretch her legs and barely made a soft tap. She tried to moan loudly, straining her throat muscles, and bringing noises up from her chest.
“No. Came straight here. Why?”
“She’s missing. Her tent, her car, everything is still there.”
Wait. Someone had noticed she was gone. Someonehadcalled the police.
