by Siara Brandt
“A lot of people live in the country, Edmina. Contrary to your idea that nothing happens here, we do have access to the same things you have. Cell phones. Internet. TV. We even have access to medical care. In fact, lots of people prefer living in the country.”
“But not alone,” Edmina pointed out. Even though her sister immediately looked contrite, Ailin knew that the jab had been deliberate. “Are you seeing anyone?” Edmina came right out and asked.
Ailin smothered a slightly exasperated sigh. “I just signed the papers yesterday, Mina.”
“I’ll take that as a no?” Edmina waited for her answer.
Bevanne as usual jumped in to smooth things over before tempers could flare. “We’re only saying that the only man you could probably find around here would be a farmer.” Bevanne’s hand went to her throat. She practically shuddered as she breathed the word, as if farmer was somehow synonymous with serial killer.
“Some farmers make good money, don’t they?” Edmina asked Bevanne.
Both women immediately launched into an in-depth discussion about the profession of farming, deciding that the worth of an individual farmer was dependent on his land holdings, and whether his farm had been passed down from previous generations, and, of course, the value of the equipment that he owned.
“The bigger farms are like corporations now,” Bevanne said. “They have to be run like any business. With accountants and consultants.”
Ailin tried to stay out of the conversation as much as possible. It’s just two days, she reminded herself. Not even that. It’s the rest of today and then tomorrow. And then they’ll leave the morning after that. She glanced up at the clock. It was still early. Only 9:15, but already the September sun was blazing through the diner windows. And incredibly, as early as it was, Ailin heard a police siren in the distance. What was going on?
Edmina ignored the siren and paused to tap a glossy, intricately-painted fingernail on the table. “I was really hoping you would come up,” she said to Ailin. “We’ve grown apart over the years and I would like to change that. You remember how things used to be.”
Yes, Ailin remembered. If there was a piece of candy, a cupcake, or a cookie that had to be divided between them, Edmina always had to have the bigger piece. Without fail. Even if the difference was only miniscule, she would go to elaborate lengths to make sure the bigger portion went to her.
Just why Edmina was so eager to get her back up north, Ailin didn’t know. But one thing was certain. It wasn’t because she wanted to re-live fond memories. The truth was they had never been close.
Now that breakfast was over, Ailin was hoping that Edmina and Bevanne would want to leave right away. She watched, hopeful, as Edmina extended her wrist and looked at her watch. She knew what was coming. The itinerary.
“I do want to stop at that little antique store outside of town,” Edmina said. She looked at Ailin. “And I found a brochure at the Inn about a Civil War reenactment going on this weekend. Something to do with the local historical society. Well, we’ll decide on that later. It depends on the weather. If it’s too hot, we won’t go. You can go take care of whatever it is you need to do, Ailin, while we check out the antique store. After that we’ll head back to the hotel. We’ll wait around there and then we’ll meet you here for lunch.”
Edmina checked her watch again. “One o’clock. Will that work for you?”
“Yes, that will be fine,” Ailin said as the waitress brought the check and set it on the table. She picked it up.
“No, I’ve got this.” Edmina tried to snatch the bill out of Ailin’s hand.
“No. You’re my guests. I’m paying,” Ailin said as she got up from the table.
Edmina tried protesting behind her. “You need to save your money,” she called out after her, embarrassing her once again as several heads turned.
“I’ll get the tip,” Bevanne said as she reached for her bag. She raised her voice. “And I want to take a picture of you, Ailin, in the diner.”
At the counter, Ailin instructed the cashier to add a generous tip to the bill on top of what Bevanne would leave on the table. Bevanne was notoriously stingy when it came to things like tips. Ailin turned and said hello to the man who had just come into the diner after he first greeted her.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Edmina’s head spin around and stay fixed on her. Ailin had to suppress a smile. Edmina had always had a competitive streak, especially when it came to men, and at the moment it looked like it was kicking into high gear.
“And who was that?” Edmina wanted to know when Ailin got back to the table.
Schoen Haldin was a farmer and a volunteer fireman, Ailin told her sister. She didn’t have to add that he was good looking. Really good looking.
Edmina still had to have the biggest piece of cake. Or perhaps the only piece.
“So how do you know him Ailin?” Edmina asked, her gaze reminding Ailin of an owl watching a mouse.
“It’s a small town, Edmina. It’s easy to get to know people.”
Edmina held her phone up and moved it this way and that. “I have no reception at all,” she said after an impatient sigh.
Bevanne rooted around in her bag and checked her own phone. “I can’t get a signal either.”
Edmina shook her head. “How does she live like this?” She put her phone away. “I’ll try later. Surely we can get better reception at the hotel.”
Now that Ailin was gone, Bevanne asked, “Are you going to tell her?”
“Not until I get her up there,” Edmina replied. “She might refuse to go if she knew.”
Bevanne nodded. “You’re right. She might not go back. Unless she wants a confrontation,” she added. “You’re sure she doesn’t suspect anything?”
“She still hasn’t got a clue,” Edmina replied and then thinned her lips contemptuously for a moment until her mouth was a mere slit. “Though, God knows, I’ve given her enough hints over the years.”
As they walked out the front door of the diner, Edmina’s eyes held a calculating light. She had already thought about a confrontation. But that could work to her advantage, too. Whatever Ailin decided to do when she did find out, Edmina felt secure in the knowledge that she finally held the trump card that she had waited for all her life.
They heard sirens in the distance. Again. “Something must be going on,” Bevanne remarked curiously as she stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, hoping there would be something interesting to take a picture of.
Whatever was going on, Edmina didn’t bother to reply. In her opinion, small town life was like living in the Stone Age. The sooner she could make Ailin realize that, the better. So after she stepped out into the blazing sunlight and took her very first breath of stifling air, she hurried to the haven of her air-conditioned car.
The breakfast crowd had thinned out. Everyone left in the diner was more than curious about the police cars and the sirens. But for now, they finished their breakfast in a leisurely fashion and went about their business as usual without too much fuss. Whatever was happening, no doubt they would know all the details by noon, which would give them something to talk about over lunch.
So the tables were nearly empty when Hollis Clayburn burst into the diner. He didn’t immediately enter the dining room. He braced his hands on both door jambs and stood there in the doorway looking wild-eyed and speechless as he tried to catch his breath.
Everyone, including the waitresses and the cook, stopped what they were doing to stare at him. He was still in his Civil War clothes. And was that- blood on his clothes? Whatever it was, he reminded one diner of a desperate criminal emerging from a swamp after being pursued by a pack of baying hounds.
He staggered forward a few steps and pointed a shaking finger at Schoen Haldin who was just finishing his breakfast. “You,” he panted. “You need to come with me.”
Alarmed, Schoen rose from his chair. “What’s wrong, Hollis?”
“What’s wrong is that all hell is about to break
loose,” Hollis answered him.
Chapter 3
_______________
Something had been wrong at her house. With the TV signal and the internet. Ailin had no idea what would cause both of those things to go out at the same time, but she assumed that both would be up and working soon. Since Edmina and Bevanne weren’t staying at her house, there was no sense in mentioning it. That would just prove how remote her house was, how backwoods, as Bevanne had once described it. Surely, whatever the problem was, everything would be fixed by the end of the day, so she had put it out of her mind. She had more important things to think about at the moment.
She had already decided that she was going to make a point to be more patient with her sister. And no more lying, she told herself sternly. No matter how much Edmina, or Bevanne, tried to push her buttons. She was an adult. She wasn’t a helpless child anymore. Which meant she should be able to rise above it all.
But apparently this just wasn’t her day because when she got to the office, things went from bad to worse.
“That gives you- ” Lencee held up her wrist to check her watch. When she looked up again, there was a smug smirk on her face. “Half an hour to clean out your desk,” she said triumphantly. “You can be gone before noon.”
Lencee Stroud had made her life a living hell since she had come to work here. They made a lot of bad decisions at the Farm Bureau, but hiring the woman that her husband, her ex-husband, she corrected herself, had decided to have an affair with had to be the dumbest one of all. The woman might be good at other less-than-professional pursuits, but she was completely inept at everything else. Ailin could accomplish in one hour what it took Lencee to get done in one, sometimes two days.
Ailin didn’t have a clue as to why she had been fired. She suspected Lencee had something to do with it, but Lencee had told her that she would have to talk to their boss if she wanted the details. Who conveniently happened to be out of the office at the moment.
Ailin had already decided to quit and today she had meant to give her two-week’s notice. It looked like she didn’t have to do that now.
It was the first time in her life that she’d been fired. She absolutely wasn’t going to tell Edmina about this. And if Bevanne knew-
She started to say something but she closed her mouth again. For weeks, Lencee had been looking for an excuse to have it out with her. She wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction. Fifteen minutes later, carrying her bag of personal belongings, she stepped out into the bright September sun.
She paused a moment to put her sunglasses on. Maybe she could enjoy some peace and quiet, for a little while at least, before meeting Edmina and Bevanne for lunch. If she hurried, she might even have time to go home and change into more comfortable clothes. What was the point in putting on airs for Mina and Bevanne? It wasn’t like it was going to make a difference anyway. Her shoes were new and her feet were already aching. At this rate, by the end of the day . . .
Out of nowhere a man ran up to her, startling her and almost knocking the bag out of her arms.
“Where’s your car?” he asked abruptly, without so much as an apology.
Pushing her sunglasses up on her head, she echoed inanely, “My car?”
“Yes. Hurry up. We don’t have time for this.”
His manner wasn’t only abrupt and aggressive. It bordered on threatening. Ailin looked around for some help, but there wasn’t another soul on the street.
“Where’s your damned car?” the man repeated, scowling as he got right in her face. “Do you understand me?”
She instinctively took a step backwards, trying to re-claim her normal boundaries. Should she scream? Throw her bag at him and run?
Ailin had no time to even make a decision. Not when she looked down past her bag and saw the gun in the man’s hand.
“Look, I’m not going to hurt you,” he said when he saw her eyes widen with alarm. “I just want you to get me out of town. I need to get to Willow Grove.”
Willow Grove? She was headed back there herself. But why didn’t he just ask her politely for a ride?
He motioned impatiently with the gun. “Where’s the car?”
She pointed vaguely in front of her and sputtered something that didn’t make sense even to her, but he silenced her with another jerk of the gun. Her car was parked right in front of the Farm Bureau, not twenty feet in front of them. He grabbed the car keys from her hand and punched the unlock button which told him exactly which car was hers.
“Let’s go,” he said as he grabbed her arm and steered her forward.
As he propelled her towards her car, he muttered something about damned high heels slowing them down. The heels had been another concession to her sister. One that she was regretting more and more.
He threw the door open and made her get into the driver’s seat. He immediately went around the front of the car and slid into the passenger seat beside her.
“Drive,” he ordered her with another wave of the gun.
Parallel parking wasn’t her forte. It took her several tries to get out of the tight spot that the van behind her had locked her into. The man beside her rolled his eyes after her third attempt. When she finally did pull out into the road, he swiveled his whole body around to look behind them, which made her wonder if he had just robbed a store. A bank. Or maybe a gas station. But she couldn’t see anyone chasing him. And she didn’t hear any sirens.
“What have you done?” she asked, wondering if the sirens she had heard earlier had anything to do with this. They rolled past the one bank in town, but everything seemed quiet there.
She didn’t expect him to answer her question, so she was surprised when he said, “In case you don’t already know, there is some seriously bad shit going on.” When he turned back around in the passenger seat, he muttered half to himself, “My day is going to hell every way you look at it.”
“Your day?” she echoed. “I just got fired and on top of that, my family is visiting. They’re waiting for me and- ” She wanted him to know that people would be looking for her.
“Yeah, I know all about family visits,” he interrupted her, but he said it like he really did understand.
“And now- ” she finished. “I’ve just gotten kidnapped.” She looked at him. “This is a kidnapping, isn’t it?”
“I guess you could call it that.” He looked straight at her. “So it looks like this isn’t your day, either.”
She might have realized just how bad her day was going to get, but they were long gone before the first zombie staggered down the main street of Creyvan. They didn’t see one of the patrons of the bank collapse in the middle of the lobby, either.
After they left the small town behind them and there was still no one in pursuit, Ailin pushed her sunglasses back down to shield her eyes from the blinding sun and asked, “Are you running from the police?”
“No.”
“Did you- “ She had been about to say: “Did you kill somebody?” But she didn’t know if she really wanted the answer to that, so instead she asked: “Did you hurt somebody?”
“No.”
His maddening, mono-syllable replies weren’t telling her anything.
“Did you rob some place?” It might be best to find out the worst now. Just get it over with and deal with the consequences later.
He snorted under his breath and then did offer her an explanation of sorts. “My car broke down. Of all the days for the water pump to go out, this had to be it.”
Car trouble. That was better than a bank robbery. If he was telling her the truth. Maybe he had some kind of emergency at home. Maybe he had kids and one of them was sick or hurt. She was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt-
“Take this back road,” he said suddenly, pointing to the one he meant. When she almost missed the road, he grabbed the steering wheel and turned it sharply. The road had come up out of nowhere. Still, that was no reason for him to be so reckless.
The man was obviously desperate. That
wasn’t good. Was he going to take her into the woods and-
She forced herself not to think about those kinds of possibilities. It would be better to put her efforts into thinking of a way out of this. As she concentrated on navigating the winding country road, she heard, “You work at the Farm Bureau, don’t you?”
She nodded and then corrected herself. “I did work there. They just fired me.”
He nodded, too. “I’ve seen you there,” he said absently. He regarded her closely for the space of several heartbeats and then said with dry humor. “What did you do? Rob the place?”
As she gave him a narrowed, sidelong glance, her brain was working overtime trying to think of a strategy that would keep her alive. At the same time she had to pay close attention to the road because there were sharp curves everywhere. Not to mention steep hills. But adrenaline was pumping through her now, and it gave her a small jolt of courage. “How can I drive safely when you keep waving that gun around? You’re making me nervous.”
He surprised her again by resting the gun in his lap in a less threatening manner.
“I’ve never taken this road before. Where does it come out?” Being nervous always made her want to talk.
“On the main road into Willow Grove,” he answered her. “But we want to avoid the main roads as much as possible.”
We. He made it sound like they were in this together.
“Why?”
“Just concentrate on driving and getting us there in one piece.”
After another tense silence, he said, “I’ve seen you in Willow Grove a few times. You live there, don’t you?” But she knew that where she lived didn’t mean anything to him. He was watching the scenery around them too intently. She suspected she could have answered that she lived on the moon and he wouldn’t have heard her. What was he watching for? she wondered as she glanced first into the rearview mirror and then into her side mirror. The police?
