Sound carries out here. There’s nothing to drown it out. He’ll be back.
She returned to the kitchen, grabbed the pot, and carried it outside to the cinder block grill.
“You win, Lore,” called Jonathan. “I can’t find you.”
Harper looked over at him. He stood at the far left end of the yard where the angled fence abutting the rear neighbor’s property formed something of an alcove by trees.
“C’mon, Lore,” yelled Madison on the other side of the yard. “The round’s over, you won.”
Becca waved while running by on her way into the house while saying, “Gotta pee!”
Harper set the pot on the grill. “Jon, go grab the fire thing.”
He hurried over. “Umm, okay. Will you tell Lorelei to stop hiding? I can’t find her and I’m getting scared.”
“Where was she last?”
“In the yard.” He flailed his arms. “We told her not to leave the yard. Just supposed to play hide and seek here.”
“She’s not around front,” yelled Madison.
No… Harper put a hand on her chest; her heart turned into a lead weight, barely beating. “Lorelei! Stop playing. Come out right now.”
Jonathan cupped his hands over his mouth. “Come on, Lore! I give up. You win.”
Madison ran around shouting for her.
“No… no… no…” Harper spun in place, totally blank, her brain doing a spot-on impression of a bowl of scrambled eggs.
“Harp?” Jonathan tugged on her arm.
She looked down at him. The worry in his expression slapped her out of her fog. “Did anyone see where she went?”
“No. I was covering my eyes,” said Jonathan.
“She just evaporated,” whispered Madison.
“Maybe she’s inside?” asked Jonathan.
“You two, check inside.” Harper ran around the yard, looking wherever a little kid might have tucked themselves. Maybe she got stuck somewhere tight and passed out. She alternated between furious that the girl did it on purpose to mess with everyone and ready to break down in sobs. I swear I won’t be mad. Please be nothing.
In her mind, she pictured the Shadow Man creeping out of the trees to grab Lorelei, the girl merrily running over to him to say hi… and being carried away, never to be seen again. The girl wouldn’t have even screamed, mistaking it for an extended hug.
“Lorelei!” shouted Harper, her voice tinged with tears. “Come out. Please. It’s not funny anymore.”
A tiny dirt footprint on the fence behind the trampoline caught her eye. She sprinted over and leapt the fence. Dennis’ yard didn’t have much in the way of hiding spots except for climbing one of three large trees. To the right, fencing enclosed an area of mostly open grass with no way out other than a door to the house. Harper went left around the house to the dirt driveway that connected to Butternut Lane.
She crouched and examined the ground, nearly shouting when she spotted little footprints heading toward the street. The trail led to the fence end on the left side. There, she found a small black-haired doll in a princess gown. The same doll Madison gave Lorelei for Christmas, the doll she’d been carrying around near constantly since.
Someone had posed it seated on the ground with its back to the fencepost.
Both directions down Butternut Lane looked deserted.
Someone grabbed her.
“Lorelei!” shouted Harper, her voice frayed with desperation. “Lore!” she shouted even louder, tears rolling down her face. She pivoted to the left, shouting again.
“Harp!” yelled Madison.
She and Jonathan ran up behind her, the boy carrying the Mossberg, which he held up for her to take.
Madison offered her the air horn, sniffling. “I’m sorry. You wanted us to watch her but…”
“It’s not your fault.” Harper took the shotgun, slung it over her shoulder, and pulled both of them into a hug. “Neither of you guys’ fault.”
“She’s gonna be okay, right?” asked Jonathan in a teary voice.
Harper took the horn from Madison. “Go back to the house and stay inside. Don’t let Becca go anywhere unless her parents show up to get her.”
Both kids nodded, then ran back through Dennis’ yard to the fence, which they climbed.
How could she disappear so damn fast? She’s too trusting. Too friendly. I knew this was going to happen.
She blared a single long 911 tone, clipped the horn to her belt, and spun in place. No footprints existed on the road to suggest which way the guy went, but a right turn offered the fastest way to tree cover. All the houses close by had been assigned to militia, so she doubted a kidnapper would’ve gone inside one.
He’s been watching us for a long time. He knows which houses are empty.
Her hands shook with rage and panic. Right now, some bastard could have Lorelei in a house somewhere, doing… horrible things. She sprinted to the right as answering air horn chirps came from all around.
Darnell Buck emerged from the house at the curve where the road turned north. “Harper? What’s going on?”
“Have you seen Lorelei? She’s missing.”
“Aww, shit. No. Give me a sec to grab shoes, be right there.”
She nodded, but kept going, shouting, “Lorelei!” over and over.
The fence at the end of the curve gave her a flashback of Tyler running off with Madison, but her sister had fought like hell. Lorelei couldn’t process that someone would want to hurt her. Would the man kill her afterward? What if he didn’t? An already-traumatized child enduring further abuse… Harper’s brain ran away, picturing her littlest sister turning into a junkie or ending up pregnant at thirteen or—. Wait. She can’t become a junkie. No one is making drugs anymore.
Marcie and Leigh ran into view to the southeast and north. Upon seeing her, they both stopped and shouted over, asking if she’d sent the signal or knew where it came from.
“Lorelei’s missing,” yelled Harper.
The women started going door to door, assisting in the search.
Darnell ran up to Harper. “What happened? Where’d you see her last?”
She raced an explanation of hide and seek. She’d been getting dinner ready and the girl just evaporated. Something made her climb the fence and go into the next yard, maybe to hide. “He left her doll on the ground, like a giant middle finger. Ha ha, I got your kid.” Harper clenched the shotgun tight, itching to find the son of a bitch.
“We’ll find her. Stay focused. The whole damn militia will stay out there until we’ve got her.”
“Thanks.” Harper fought back tears.
Darnell ran off to the west, heading for Route 74 in case the kidnapper used it to cover a lot of ground fast.
She jogged across a large dirt lot behind a house, jumping its fence to the next street, Sun Creek. A woman stood at the end of a sidewalk that ran along the left side of a giant house split into three apartments, waving at her.
Harper ran up to the woman. “Did you see her?”
“See who?”
“Lorelei.”
“Not sure who that is.”
“Six, platinum blonde hair, tiny. White dress?”
“No, sorry. I thought I saw someone skulking around last night though.”
“Where? When?”
The woman pointed west. “Over by the old dog kennels, near the quartermaster’s. Maybe an hour or two after midnight. Looked pretty big and round. Could’ve been a bear.”
What the hell was she doing out there at that hour? Uhh, probably the food thief. Maybe it’s the same guy… “Thanks. We’ll check on it.”
“Okay. Hope you find that kid.”
Harper nodded and ran down the street, calling for her sister. Shouts from other militia came at random from every direction, along with air horn signals. It sounded as if the entire town searched for her, but no one had any luck.
Tears blurred her vision, defying her best attempt to be too angry to cry. Somehow, losing Lorelei was her fault.
She’d messed up, done something wrong. Not watched her well enough. Harper hated the universe in that moment for its bastardly irony. She had been the one to make everyone aware of the creep, so naturally, he targeted her family.
She stumbled to a stop almost a half hour later, back on Butternut Lane, too hopeless and lost to even choose a direction to go next. Her throat burned from shouting so much, and a heavy, aching hollow had formed where her heart should be. It felt like her littlest sister had been gone for days already. How much time did they have left to find her before the worst happened? Harper shivered, dreading the sight of a tiny body left abandoned in the woods somewhere. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how she’d handle that… if she could handle it at all.
Harper kept turning in place, staring into the deepening shadows cast by a sun racing to tuck itself behind the mountains in the west. What would be going through Lorelei’s mind as the man did whatever to her? Would she fight at all or just sit still thinking it a game, or that she needed to be nice and let him?
Stop thinking such horrible things. Maybe it’s just some crazy lonely person who wanted a child to take care of. She looked down at her stomach, bubbling with anxiety. Her instinct told her the person sneaking around was dangerous. I can’t just stand here. Every second could mean the difference…
“Harper?” called a male voice she should’ve recognized but couldn’t put a name to in her present state.
She spun around, squinting at an imposing two-headed silhouette striding up the road toward her. For a second, all Mila’s talk of shadow men came back to her. Her muscles locked up, and only the nagging sense that she knew this guy’s voice kept her from running like hell or raising the shotgun—so she stood there like a deer in the headlights, staring mutely at him.
“Heard you misplaced this.”
Harper blinked.
Roy Ellis, former Denver police officer, appeared out of the gloom, carrying Lorelei, who perched on his left arm.
“Lori!” shouted Harper.
“Hi,” chirped Lorelei.
Harper ran over and tried to hug him before realizing she carried a shotgun. As soon as she slung it over her shoulder, he handed the girl over. Harper grabbed her in a tight embrace. A moment later, a small finger tapped her on the side of the head.
“Air please,” wheezed Lorelei.
“Where were you? What happened?” Harper shook with emotion, barely managing not to break down in tears.
Roy gestured back up the road. “Apparently, ol’ Sam went by with his food ration and had a bit of trouble carrying everything. This one saw him struggling and helped carry a box for him. Found her up on Aspen Lane.”
“The old man tried to carry too much,” said Lorelei.
Harper sighed at the clouds. “I was so scared. When I saw your doll on the road, I thought…”
“I had to put her down to carry the box. It was as big as me!” Lorelei held her arms out to the sides. “But it wasn’t heavy.”
Harper leaned into Roy, melting into a puddle of relief. “Thank you…”
“All good. Guard your ears, gonna send the all clear.” He plucked an air horn off his Kevlar vest.
Harper nodded at him and hurried a few steps away, cringing. Lorelei clamped her hands over her ears. Roy sounded three short pips, waved, and headed off to resume his night patrol. Answering air horn chirps came from the distance. Roy shouted, “We found her, all clear,” a few times.
“Oh, Roy?”
“Yo?” He swung back to face her.
“Where’s Cliff?”
“Uh, last I heard, they had a minor incident to clean up. Someone assaulted Dave O’Brien in his house over on Elk View Drive, south of the quartermaster on the west side of 74. Dave heard someone moving around inside, went to check on it. Got a whack over the head from behind. By the time he came around, they’d gone. Cliff’s investigating.”
“Oh, okay. Damn. Any idea why someone would break into that guy’s house?”
“Best guess is looking for food. Getting lean for a bunch of folks.”
Harper nodded. “Right, so deadbolts on.” She squeezed Lorelei. “Speaking of food… I totally forgot about dinner.”
“I’m hungry,” said Lorelei.
I’m not. She hugged the girl again, fading adrenaline manifesting as a full-body shake she couldn’t stop. “Okay, let’s go fix that.”
Roy waved and walked off.
Harper carried Lorelei a touch faster than walking in case the unknown ‘ninja’ might be watching them. She paused at the fence to pick up the doll. “Lori, please don’t ever run off like that again. It’s good that you want to help people, but you have to tell me or Cliff that you’re going to do it, okay?”
“But you were all the way inside, and Mr. Sam needed help.”
“I understand that, but you still have to tell me first. Someone might hurt you. People sometimes hurt each other.”
Lorelei nodded, still smiling. “Okay.”
Since Harper didn’t want to put her down even long enough to climb a fence, she headed one driveway farther left, cut across that yard, and slipped past the next-door house onto Hilltop. Lorelei quietly groomed her doll’s hair on the way.
When they reached the front door, the girl looked up at her. “You said sometimes people hurt each other?”
“Yeah. I only want you to be safe, okay? So please… don’t run off without telling us.”
Lorelei fixed her with a curious, innocent stare. “Do you think the man watching me was gonna do something bad?”
17
Unwanted
Harper almost fainted. “What?”
“Another man was watching me when I talked to Mr. Sam. Do you think he wanted to hurt me?”
She stared into the little girl’s bright blue eyes, too stunned to think of anything to say.
Madison and Jonathan ran outside. The boy cheered while Madison burst into tears and leapt into a hug.
“What man?” asked Harper, struggling under the weight of both girls.
“He was black.” Lorelei pointed at the shotgun. “Like that.”
“Like a shadow,” said Jonathan.
“Yeah.” Lorelei nodded.
Shit. “C’mon. Let’s get inside. It’s almost dark.”
Madison stopped hanging on Harper and grasped Lorelei’s hand in both of hers, holding it while they entered the house. “You scared me, too.”
“Becca’s dad came for her. She didn’t leave alone.” Jonathan jogged ahead to the kitchen. “I got the fire going. The ravioli is probably hot enough now.”
Cliff hadn’t returned yet, but Harper flicked on the deadbolt as soon as she went inside, intent on staying awake until he came home so she could let him in. While she hovered at the back door to watch, Jonathan went out to the grill, grabbed the pot, and carried it inside. A few minutes later, they sat around the table with dinner in front of them and two candles burning for light since they had their meal much later than usual.
Harper kept Lorelei in her lap and forced herself to eat, explaining between bites to Madison and Jonathan that their little sister had simply wandered off to help old Mr. Sam carry his food boxes. Her head filled with imaginary monsters in the shape of ninjas, everything from skinny men wearing black to inhumanly large ebon-skinned mutants. It bothered her that kids had been able to spot this guy, but she hadn’t seen him.
Is this some kind of folklore gone nuts? Are the kids at school talking about ‘the shadow man’ and making up sightings to scare each other? She wanted to dismiss it as that for a little while, until she remembered Grace seeing him, too. Her sixteen-year-old friend had no reason to make up stories like that.
Banging came from the front door before they finished eating. Jonathan jumped up and ran to check.
“Who is it?”
“Me,” said Cliff.
Jonathan undid the deadbolt. Cliff stormed into the kitchen, scowling like he itched to rip someone’s head off, but didn’t look upset with anyon
e there. After falling heavily into a chair, he pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned.
“Bad?” asked Harper.
“Frustrating. I picked up on a trail, but whoever it was used roads too much to follow them back to where they came from. I can’t tell if they did it on purpose or got lucky. One area looked like someone deliberately obscured their tracks with a branch, and regularly jumped sideways to interrupt the trail.”
“Someone who knows how not to be followed?” asked Harper.
“More like someone who watched too many bad ninja movies.” Cliff chuckled.
Madison fetched a clean bowl from the cabinet, poured the last of the ravioli into it, and pushed it in front of Cliff.
“Thanks.”
Harper hugged Lorelei like an overgrown child clinging to a teddy bear.
“Something wrong?” asked Cliff, peering into her eyes. “You seem… upset.”
“Uhh… just had the crap scared out of me.” She explained what happened with Lorelei.
“Where’d you see the guy?” asked Cliff.
“In the trees.” Lorelei pointed at the wall.
“One street up, Butternut,” added Harper.
“Don’t be scared. I won’t be kidnapped.” Lorelei smiled. “My mommy isn’t that lucky.”
Harper gawked at her.
“Jesus F”—Cliff muffled himself with a napkin. “She said that?”
Lorelei nodded. “Uh huh.”
“Umm.” Madison made a face that said ‘uhh, getting kidnapped isn’t lucky.’ A moment later, her eyes widened with pity as realization dawned. “That’s so sad.”
“I know.” Lorelei’s permanent smile weakened. “Mommy was always mad at me. Alla time, she said she’d be happy if she got a bortion. I saved up three dollars and fifty cents so I could get her one for Christmas so she could be happy, but the store didn’t have any bortions. They gotta be awesome ’cause the store lady cried when I asked.”
Oh, my God. Harper squeezed her, too choked up to speak.
Cliff glared at nothing in particular. “Some people shouldn’t be allowed to have kids.”
Jonathan and Madison exchanged confused glances.
The World That Remains (Evergreen Book 2) Page 17
