In Too Deep (6 page)

I ran back to the driver's-side door, got into the car, and locked all the doors. I sat there, heart racing, afraid to look out again and just as afraid not to. I tried to think of what I knew about bears. It wasn't much. Did they ever attack people in cars? Could a bear break a car window? Could a bear—

Light flashed in my side-view mirror.

I twisted around in my seat and saw headlights in the distance behind me. They grew brighter. I reached for the door handle and then hesitated. What about the bear?

But I had to do something.

I pushed the door open and stepped up out of the ditch just as a pickup truck roared past me. I turned on the flashlight and shone it at the back of the truck. Too late. It disappeared around a bend.

I felt like crying. Then I remembered the bear.

I dashed back to the car, got inside, and locked
the door.

I was going to kill Morgan—assuming I survived
the night.

I was going to—

Two red lights got brighter and brighter from around the bend where the truck had just disappeared. It took me a moment to realize that they were taillights. The truck was backing up. I turned on the flashlight and waved it so that the driver could see me in the ditch.

The truck came to a stop alongside me.

Saved
, I thought.

Both cab doors opened, and two men got out.

That's when it occurred to me I might be in even greater danger now—I was alone in the dark in the middle of nowhere. No one had any idea where I was. And two strange men were coming toward me.

The creepy-crawly feeling overtook me again.

O

ne of the men circled around to the passenger side of my car. The other one approached the driver's side. I gasped as his face appeared in the window beside me. He rapped on the window and gestured for me to roll it down. I did. Just a crack.

“You okay?” he said.

I stared up at him. It was the same guy Morgan and I had seen in the grocery store on our first day in town, the guy who had put the jug of bottled water in my car for me.

“Are you hurt?” he said.

“I got lost. Then a deer or something ran across the road. I swerved and—” It was only fair to warn him. “I saw a bear over there.” I pointed.

“Why don't you get out of there and sit in the truck while Derek and I take a look at your car?” he said.

I hesitated.

He peered in at me.

“If I had a phone with me, I'd call someone for you,” he said. “But I don't. Look, I know how you probably feel. You're a girl, you're all alone out here, we're two strange guys—I'm Bruno, by the way. If you want, we'll leave. When we get where we're going, we'll call someone for you and let them know where you are. You want us to do that?”

I nodded.

“Okay. Just sit tight.”

He straightened up and called to Derek. The two of them headed back to their truck and got in. I heard the engine turn over and saw the headlights go on.

“Wait!” I called, getting out of the car. “Wait!” I ran to the driver's side of the truck. Bruno rolled down his window.

“I recognize you from the grocery store on Sunday,” I said.

He flashed me a smile.

“I recognize you, too,” he said. “But that's no guarantee, right?”

“Guarantee?”

“That I'm not some crazy serial killer who's trying to lure you into my truck.” His smile widened. Morgan was right. He was cute.

“Do you live near here?” I asked.

“Ten minutes up the road and east at the next turn.”

I heard voices in my head—my mother's and my father's. My mom was telling me, “Do not—do you hear me, Robyn?—do not ever get into a pickup truck with two strangers.” My dad—miracle of miracles—was actually agreeing with her. But neither of them had seen that bear.

“Just let me get my bag,” I said.

I ran back to the car—and I do mean ran—dug a piece of paper and a pen out of my bag, and scrawled a note: I have gone with Bruno and Derek. Black pickup truck. I included the make and license number. I put the note in the glove compartment, locked the car, and ran back to the truck. Derek had gotten out so that I could slide in between him and Bruno. We drove the first few minutes in silence.

“You a townie?” Bruno said at last.

“I have a job up here for the summer. You?”

“I'm here year-round. We both are.”

As we turned a corner, I saw lights up ahead on the left. My whole body tensed up. He hadn't lied about how close he was to home. But what did home look like? And what would happen once I got there?

A few minutes later the truck turned off the road. Bruno tooted the horn as he approached a gate set into a high chain-link fence. I felt myself tense up again when the gate slid shut behind us.

We were in a compound of some kind. A large stone house stood far back from the road. I saw the shadowy expanses of other buildings in the compound, but most of them were dark. What kind of place was this? Bruno steered the truck toward the one building that had lights on. It was a large, squat structure that held several cars—a garage. I recognized one of the guys standing around the cars and breathed a sigh of relief. Larry Wilson. He came out of the building to meet the truck.

“We picked up a damsel in distress,” Bruno said. He jumped down from the truck and reached up to help me out. “Her car went in a ditch.”

“Larry Wilson,” Mr. Wilson said to me, thrusting out a hand.

“Robyn Hunter,” I said.

We shook hands.

“Are you hurt?” Wilson said.

“I banged my head, but otherwise I'm fine.”

“Well, come into the light. Let me take a look.”

When I stepped into the building, half a dozen boys—most of them looked younger than Bruno and Derek—straightened up and stared at me. I spotted Lucas, the kid who had stolen the DVDs, and the friend who had tried to defend him.

“You're going to have a nasty bump,” Wilson said after he inspected my forehead. “You should probably get that checked out when you get home.” He turned to Bruno. “What shape is her car in?”

“Couldn't see any serious damage,” Derek said. “But we'll have to tow it out of the ditch ...”

“Do you have your car keys with you, or did you leave them in the car?” Mr. Wilson asked me.

“I have them.”

“If you give them to Bruno and Derek, they'll take the tow truck, get your car out of the ditch. Then we can see if there's any damage. If it's good to go, you can be on your way. If it isn't, I'll give you a lift home. Or you can call your folks and ask them to come get you.”

I fished my keys out of my bag and handed them to Bruno. He and Derek walked across the yard and got into a tow truck.

“Do you have a phone I can use?” I asked.

“Up at the house,” Wilson said. “In the kitchen. The front door is open.”

I followed the long gravel driveway up to the house and let myself in. The house was tidy and comfortably furnished. It was also eerily silent. I guessed that all of Larry's kids were down in the garage with him. I went through to an enormous, spotless kitchen with a phone mounted on the wall and dialed Morgan's number.

“Hello?” she said. There was a faraway quality to her voice.

“It's me,” I said.

“Robyn?” She sounded confused. “What time is it?”

I had woken her up. I suddenly realized how lucky I was that Bruno and Derek had happened along. If I had counted on Morgan for help, I would have been in that ditch all night.

“It's late,” I said, glancing at my watch.

“Where are you?” Morgan said. “What are you doing?”

“I'm in the middle of nowhere. My car is in a ditch. I had a close encounter with a bear. You didn't even notice that I was missing, did you?”

“A bear?” Morgan said. “Ohmygod, are you okay?”

“I'm fine. I'm at Larry Wilson's place.”

“Who's Larry Wilson?”

“Write down the name. And write down this phone number, too.”

“Wait a sec.” I heard a bump, bump, bump at the other end of the line and pictured Morgan hopping across the room in search of a pen. She sounded breathless when she finally said, “Okay. Ready.” I read Wilson's phone number to her. “I'll call you if they can't fix my car. Okay?”

“Okay. But you're not hurt? You're safe?”

“So far. I'll see you later, okay?” At least, I hoped I would.

I hung up the phone and started back down the driveway to the garage. Started, but suddenly stopped when someone grabbed me from behind, clapped a hand over my mouth, and dragged me behind a dark building.

I kicked. I struggled. I tried to bite. Then I felt hot breath against my ear, and a voice whispered, “Don't scream. I'm not going to hurt you.”

My whole body went limp.

I

felt his breath in my ear.

“If I take my hand away from your mouth, promise you won't scream? Promise you'll keep your voice down?”

I nodded.

I felt his hand relax and finally fall away from my mouth. I turned slowly. A sliver of moonlight fell across his face, illuminating a pair of purple-blue eyes and a jagged scar that ran from the bridge of his nose to the base of his right ear.

“What are you doing here, Robyn?” he said.

“What am I doing here? What are you doing here? I thought you went camping.”

Nick glanced around, as if he were afraid someone might see us. He pulled me deeper into the shadows.

“Seriously, Robyn, why are you here?”

“The camp where I was supposed to work burned down. I had to get another job. I'm staying with Morgan. What's going on, Nick?”

“I can't explain it to you now. You have to trust me.”

“But—”

“Just, whatever happens, you don't know me, okay?”

“What?”

“You'd better get back.”

“But—”

“I'll be in touch. I'll explain. I promise.”

He shoved me gently but firmly toward the gravel driveway. I fought the urge to look over my shoulder as I walked back to the garage. But my mind raced. What was going on? What was Nick doing at Larry Wilson's place? Why had he lied about where he was going? And why did he want me to pretend that I didn't know him?

“Is everything okay?” Wilson said when I stepped into the garage again. “Did you get hold of your parents?”

“A friend,” I said. “I'm up here with my friend for the summer.”

Someone shuffled into the building. Nick. I glanced at him but tried not to register any emotion on my face. A few moments later, the tow truck pulled up in front of the garage and Bruno jumped out.

“You have a couple of dents that maybe you didn't have before,” he said. “But other than that, your car's fine.”

My blue Toyota pulled up behind the tow truck and Derek got out. “You could stand a tune-up,” he said as he tossed me my keys.

Mr. Wilson walked slowly around my car, pausing to inspect the body.

“The boys can fix those dings for you if you want,” he said. “Give you a tune-up, too, no charge.”

“Thanks,” I said. “But it's late, and it's been a long day.”

“Well, another time, then,” Wilson said. He fished in his pocket for a business card and handed it to me. “If you want my guys to take a look at it, give me a call.”

One of the boys watching shook his head and muttered something under his breath. Tal, the kid who had defended the shoplifter.

“Do you have something to say, Tal?” Wilson asked him. “Why don't you say it louder so we can all hear it?”

“It was nothing,” Tal muttered.

Mr. Wilson glanced at the kid standing next to Tal, who shifted his gaze down at the ground. Wilson's eyes went back to Tal.

“We're waiting, Tal.”

Tal met Wilson's eyes. “I said, ‘I bet she won't let us touch her car.' I bet no one in town would. They don't trust us.'”