The Wildman (23 page)

Jeff was dumbfounded. It was one thing to mistrust Evan or Ben or whoever he was, but he had never struck h
im as
that
crazy.

“He told me all of this once he had me safely
tied up and gagged. The other night, it must have been Thursday, just before you guys came, he was ranting and raving like a freaking lunatic.”

Jeff saw such fear and trepidation in Evan’s eyes
he
had
to b
elieve him.

“
He’s been tracking us—all of us-for years. With the Internet and all, it’s a lot easier than before. When he found out I’d bought the island and camp and was planning the development out here, he came to me, posing as an interested buyer.”

“
This is just—” Jeff shook his head, finding it impossible to think it all through clearly. “It’s totally insane.”

“
Tell me about it,” Evan said. “Look, would you please finish untying me? I’m sure Ben’s wondering where you are, and we have to figure out what we’re gonna do to get out of here alive.”

Jeff realized he’d been away from the dining hall much longer than necessary. It would only be natural for Ben or whoever he was to start worrying that Jeff had found the real Evan. He could barely feel his fingers as he redoubled his efforts to free Evan. After a long struggle, the last ropes fell free. Evan sighed as he stretched out his arms and rubbed his shoulders to relieve the pain.

“
Do you think you can stand up?” Jeff cast a worried look at the door, expecting any second now to see Ben standing there. “We’ve got to get you out of here.”

“
How are you gonna do that with Ben still here?” There was a look of apprehension mixed with pain in Evan’s eyes, and his voice sounded absolutely hopeless. Jeff couldn’t help but wonder if his mind had snapped while he was a prisoner out here.

“
Well we’ll think of something,” Jeff muttered as much to himself as Evan. “W
e
have
to.”

He stood up and then bent down to help Evan to his feet. Evan cried out in pain as his knees popped and his back snapped when he straightened up. He was much too unsteady on his feet after being tied up and stuffed into this closet for so long. He wobbled from side to side and finally had to brace himself against the closet wall so he wouldn’t fall down.

“
Has he been feeding you?” Jeff asked.

Evan grimaced and shook his head. “Just some stale bread and water once or twice. I don’t know.” He winced as he shook hands wildly in front of him. “Jesus, they tingle from not having any circulation.”

“
I don’t see how you could stand it.”

“
It hasn’t been easy. I was sure he was going to leave me here to die. I … I can’t believe you found me.”

Jeff shrugged.

“
I can’t either, but Evan—I me
an
Ben
has been acting strange all weekend. There were several times where he just … I don’t know. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but now it makes sense. He didn’t seem to know quite what was going on with the development. He couldn’t answer some fairly basic questions about what he—what
you
plann
ed out here, and he came across as a bit distracted a lot of the time.”

“
Yeah,” Evan said. “He’d come out here at night and pump me for information. He tortured me by withholding food if I didn’t tell him what he wanted to know. I was sure he was going to kill me, anyway, so I lied about a few little things, hoping it’d trip him up, and one of you would be smart enough to figure out something was wrong.” He chuckled softly to himself. “Figures it’d be you.”

“
Yeah. Well, I always was the smart one,” Jeff said with a grin.

“
Yeah … After me.”

Jeff was about to say something about how, if Evan was so smart, he let himself get tricked like this, but he realized this was no laughing matter. They were in some serious trouble here, and it was going to take some doing if they were going to get out of here alive.

“
You think you can walk yet?” Jeff leaned forward to help support Evan if he needed it.

“
I dunno. I can hardly feel my legs. Let’s give it a try.”

Evan sucked in a breath and held it as he slid one foot forward and shifted his weight onto it. His leg began to shake, and he lunged forward and grabbed Evan to keep from falling

“
Jesus. I guess I don’t have the strength yet,” he said with a fearful tremor in his voice. Jeff could imagine how he must be wondering if he’d ever be able to walk again. “So how are we gonna get—”

“
Don’t worry about it,” Jeff said quickly. He had his own fears but didn’t want to express them. Not now. “Don’t worry. We’ll think of something.”

“
We always did, didn’t we?” Evan said.

But the truth was, Jeff was concerned that Ben would know why he’d been gone so long. If it wasn’t such a crappy night, he could have sauntered back to the dining hall and told everyone he’d been for a long late-night stroll, but who was going to believe him on a night like this?

Certainly not Ben.

“
We gotta get you someplace where you can hide … someplace dry.”

“
Other than the dining hall and here, you mean.”

Jeff nodded.

“
There aren’t any other camp buildings left,” Evan said. “And what if Ben comes out here and finds me gone? He’ll know it’s because you found me.”

Frustrated, Jeff clenched his fist and smacked it against the wall hard enough to hurt. Shining the flashlight up at the rafters, he wondered if he could rig up a platform so Evan could hide up there, but he didn’t have the necessary wood or tools. He certainly couldn’t bring Evan back to the dining hall and confront Ben. Chances were he was armed. The only thing they had going for them was that now they could define the situation. They would have the advantage if they could throw Ben off whatever plans he had.

“
I’ve been away too long,” Jeff said. “Ben’s gonna know something’s up. You need something to protect yourself in case he comes out here.”

He looked around but didn’t see anything useful.

“
How ‘bout some rocks,” he said.

“
They’re better than nothing.”

Evan gritted his teeth as he tried to take a few more steps. His feet made loud scuffing sounds as they dragged across the bare wooden floor. After only two steps, he let out a sigh and collapsed against the wall. He was trembling all over.

“
Are you sure you feel safe, hiding out here until I get back?”

“
What choice do I have?”

Jeff bit down on his lower lip as he considered and then shook his head.

“
None unless we can get you to the boat. Problem is, the motor’s broken.”

“
That’s not good. What happened?”

“
It burned out when we were taking a cruise around the island.” He took a deep breath, frustrated because he couldn’t think of any alternatives. “Look. You just have to hang tight, okay? Use the time to get your strength back so you can walk.”

Jeff started for the door.

“
I’ll get you some rocks, and if that son of a bitch comes out here before I get back, bash his fucking head in, okay?”

“
With pleasure,” Evan said with a grim chuckle.

Snuggling into his raincoat, Jeff went back outside. A low-lying mist wafted through the surrounding forest, looking like a dense layer of smoke. Rivulets of muddy water gurgled as they ran down the slope toward the lake. The night air was filled with the damp, mulchy smell of the forest floor.

Jeff scrambled around until he found five fist-sized rocks, which he brought them back to Evan who was sitting in the middle of the floor.

“
You’re looking good,” Jeff said, surprised to see he had made it all the way from the closet on his own power.

“
It knocked the shit out of me.”

“
That’s understandable. Let’s get you over by the door here.” Jeff came around behind Evan and lifted him. Evan was still unsteady on his feet, but with Jeff’s help he made it to the wall beside the door.

“
I gotta get back there,” Jeff said, “but I’ll be back for you. Trust me.”

“
How long, do you think?”

“
I have no idea, but believe me, I’m not going to let that son of a bitch get away with anything.”

“
He plans to kill us all, you know,” Evan said in a flat voice heavy with resignation. “That’s been his plan all along.”

Jeff nodded grimly and said, “I know. But he hasn’t done it yet.”

Even as he said it, the fear that it was just a matter of time before Ben got them all of them, picking them off one by one, sliced into him with the cold chill of a razorblade.

CHAPTER TEN

Drowning

Jeff was filled with trepidation when he closed the infirmary door and stepped out into the night. The lock and latch were smashed beyond repair, so if Ben came out here now, he’d know right away that Evan had help escaping. And it wouldn’t take him long to figure out who had done it since Jeff was the only one who had left the dining hall alone.

As he started back to the beach, he shined his flashlight into the woods along the trail, looking for something—a stick or anything—he could use as a weapon. He found a broken birch branch that wasn’t too rotten, but he knew it wouldn’t be enough … not if Ben had a gun.

And he had no doubt Ben had a gun.

From what Evan had told him, he obviously had the whole thing planned out. Jeff wondered if, even now, he was playing into Ben’s hands just the way he wanted. Maybe Ben had even anticipated that he would find Evan, and he couldn’t help but wonder why Ben hadn’t killed all of them already, the first night they were here.

He remembered how on edge he had felt all last night and hadn’t gotten much sleep. Sleep deprivation and raw nerves plus exposure to the rain and cold were starting to take their toll. He was wrung out and weakening; he jumped at the slightest sound. He doubted he’d have the necessary endurance to do what he had to do tonight.

When he rounded a turn in the trail and saw the dining hall, he turned off his flashlight. Gripping the birch stick tightly, he slowed down, moving slowly and ready to react the instant he sensed danger. The overcast looked deeper, and he was afraid it might start raining again soon. He was sure the worst of the storm hadn’t passed.

He wondered how he was going to warn the others about what was going on without alerting Ben.

What if, while he was gone, Ben had already taken killed the others? What if they were dead, and Ben was sitting there, waiting for him to come back?

Or what if—even now—Ben was standing unseen behind him, drawing a bead on him and was about to shoot him without warning?

Jeff shivered as he looked around. Moisture from the trees fell on his face. The visibility wasn’t good, but as he moved forward, getting closer to the dining hall, he saw a faint glow of light far down on the beach.

Something was happening, but he held back, staying out of sight until he figured out what it was. For all he knew, Fred might still be wandering around, stewing about the confession he’d made to them.

Jeff found it easy to imagine he was twelve years old again, playing hide-‘n-seek as he hunkered down in the wet brush. Then, as quietly as possible, he started moving from tree to tree, always keeping cover. He watched both the dining hall and the ever-increasing glow of light on the beach, and when he was about a hundred yards from the beach, he saw a second flashlight beam. They wavered back and forth in the night, sweeping the beach and lake. As he came even closer, the sound of voices came to him, but the gusting wind carried away whatever was said.

One of the beams of light came to rest, fixed on one spot. Two figures were standing there, hunkered over a dark shape lying on the sand. Jeff’s throat closed off when he realized it was a body—a human body.

He had an immediate flashback to that summer long ago when, from almost the exact same spot he was standing now, he watched the emergency workers carry the body of Jimmy Foster out to the waiting warden service boat. For a terrifying moment, he imagined he was seeing that horrible scene reenacted by the ghosts of the people who had been there. It was all too plausible that an event so horrible could have leave a psychic echo, and someone sensitive enough to it could pick up.

Still keeping to darkness under the trees, Jeff moved even closer, straining to hear who was talking and what they were saying. There was a frantic edge in one of the voices, and Jeff realized it was Tyler. Someone else was standing off to one side with his hand to his ear. Judging by the bulk, Jeff guessed it was Mike. He looked like he was trying to make a call on his cell phone. So that left either Ben of Fred, who was leaning over the figure on the ground. Jeff was suddenly sure it was Fred, lying there.

“
Jesus,” he whispered, his breath coming out a gray mist that swirled away on the wind. A cold tingling tightened the skin of his face.

“
We have to try!” someone—Tyler—shouted in a strained voice.

The figure kneeling down looked up at Tyler. The harsh glare of the flashlight lit his face. Ben shook his head.

He said, “It’s too late.”