Goodbye Forever

by Bonnie Hearn Hill

  His easy, almost sweet voice sent a chill through Kit.

  ‘What, then?’ she asked.

  ‘What about this?’ He stepped closer to the wood stove, and they all turned to face him. ‘I know it’s been difficult with many of you arriving at the same time.’ He smiled at her. ‘And Katherine kind of arriving out of nowhere.’

  Everyone turned to look at her and seemed to draw nearer each other.

  ‘As my guest,’ Ike said, and stepped beside her.

  ‘But not mine, friend. Not ours.’

  ‘He’s right,’ Sissy said.

  ‘Considering these developments, it might be time – if you all agree, of course – for a kind of Weaselized test for trust.’

  ‘Walking through the ice?’ Sissy asked. Then her eyes widened. ‘You mean the fog, don’t you?’

  ‘Weasel would come up with something better than that.’ Lucas lifted his arms as if hoping to make himself appear taller and stronger. ‘Everyone, right now, pick a partner you can trust.’

  Kit reached out for Ike the same moment his arm shot out for her.

  Jessica and Wyatt held hands. Other couples grabbed each other, and Kit wondered if they did so as rapidly as they did so that they could avoid being paired with Lucas.

  ‘Looks as if that leaves you and me, Sissy,’ Lucas said.

  ‘Sounds good.’ She gave him an adoring look.

  So that’s what was going on. Luke played the two girls against each other, even though he made it clear that he preferred Jessica.

  ‘Ike, let’s start with you and Katherine,’ he said.

  Ike groaned. ‘In this weather?’

  ‘No worries about the weather.’ Lucas grinned as if they were sharing a joke. ‘You have a heater in that truck, remember?’

  ‘In the truck?’ Ike asked and clutched Kit’s hand. ‘I thought we were supposed to walk blindfolded.’

  ‘Not walk,’ Lucas said.

  ‘Oh, come on, man. You don’t expect me to drive blindfolded, do you?’

  Lucas smiled. ‘You won’t be alone, friend.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘You trust Katherine, don’t you? Isn’t that what you just said?’

  ‘Don’t answer him,’ Kit told Ike. ‘He’s trying to set you up.’

  ‘Katherine.’ Lucas chirped out her name. ‘You appear less and less grateful for the fellowship we’ve offered. Why wouldn’t Ike want to prove that he can trust you?’

  ‘Because of what I just told him.’ She glared from Lucas to Ike and back again. ‘You are setting him up for some reason. Ike, why would he be trying to harm you?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ Ike squinted at Lucas. ‘You aren’t trying to pull something funny here, are you?’

  ‘Katherine proved herself by setting that fire,’ Lucas said. ‘She’s one of us now, and if you don’t believe it, we have it in our movie-night archives. But you’ve all agreed we now need to feel trust, and I’m willing to take this test if you are.’ He walked over to the bald mannequin, took off her red satin Mardi Gras mask, and held it out.

  ‘Don’t,’ Kit said just as Ike grabbed it.

  ‘Want me to go first?’ he taunted Lucas. ‘Want me to go before you?’

  ‘I’m more than willing if you’re having second thoughts.’ Lucas put down his mug and looked up at Sissy. ‘Apparently, our friend here doesn’t have the necessary courage to go first. Shall we take the first drive to town?’

  Town.

  Kit realized this might be her only chance.

  As Sissy grinned and hurried to refill the cup Lucas had offered her, Kit reached out and took the mask from his hands.

  ‘Fine. Then Ike and I will go first.’ She squeezed Ike’s hand and flashed Lucas what she hoped was as ice-cold a gaze as he given her. ‘And, yes, we have the necessary equipment, don’t we, Ike?’

  ‘We sure do,’ he said. ‘Come on, Katherine.’

  They hurried outside as fast as Kit’s aching ankle would allow. To her surprise, the battered truck waited just down the drive.

  ‘When did that get here?’ she asked.

  ‘More important …’ Lucas walked up to her. ‘Can Ike trust you enough to direct him down the road to the highway?’

  He had said town earlier. He was already changing the rules. Still, if she and Ike could get to the highway, she could find her way from there.

  ‘I don’t want to die in the fog any more than he does,’ she said. ‘Is that reason enough for him to trust me?’

  The others laughed again, but it was nervous laughter this time.

  Ike grinned and opened the truck door. ‘Come on, Katherine. Let’s show him.’

  She looked at Jessica, who gripped Wyatt’s hand and leaned against him as if only he could save her from what was happening.

  ‘We’re doing this,’ Kit told Lucas.

  ‘That’s nice,’ Lucas chirped like a child. ‘I like that.’

  As they climbed into the truck, Kit knew the little bastard already thought he had won this game of his, whatever it was.

  ‘I like it too,’ she said. ‘When we get back, it will be your turn.’ She slammed the truck door and added, ‘You sociopath.’

  Through the window, she caught the frozen expression on his face, followed by clenched fists, which he shoved into the pockets of his down jacket. He had heard her. Good. With luck, she would never see him again.

  NINETEEN

  ‘You shouldn’t have called Lucas that name,’ Ike said, and squinted at her.

  ‘Called him what?’

  ‘A sociopath. We’re running from labels, all of us. We’re rejecting them as definitions of ourselves.’

  ‘Well, Lucas is living up to his,’ she told him. Then she remembered why she had agreed to this – not to argue with Ike, but to get where she needed to go. ‘Don’t make me guide you through this. Pull over as soon as we’re out of here, take off your blindfold, and let’s talk about it. Lucas is exactly what I called him. He tried to make me leave that old woman for dead.’

  ‘He didn’t know she was in there.’ The blindfold tied around his head, Ike pulled out on the dirt drive. ‘We’ll get through this and be back in the compound in no time.’

  He went slowly, but Kit realized that he would barely be able to see through the fog even without a blindfold. ‘Pull over now,’ she said. ‘You need to realize that Lucas is trying to destroy you. He’s afraid of your strength.’

  ‘That’s crazy.’ The truck lurched forward. ‘We’re best friends.’

  ‘He only says that.’ Kit raised her voice. ‘You scare him in some way. And slow down, please.’

  Instead, Ike hit the gas. ‘You watch for traffic,’ he said. ‘Stop talking about my friend.’

  ‘Maybe you were friends once, but you’ve got to know that Lucas is threatened by you.’

  Just then, a semi pulled through the four-way stop.

  ‘Stop,’ she shouted, and grabbed the sides of her seat as her own foot hit the floorboard.

  Ike slammed on the brake, and the rattling vehicle came to a halt. ‘What happened?’

  ‘You almost hit a fucking semi.’

  ‘Please.’ He didn’t finish what he was about to say, and perspiration glistened above his lips. The mask covering the scarf over his eyes was as strange in its own way as his features were. He turned to Kit. ‘You don’t understand. Lucas is the mental strength in the compound. I’m the brute strength. Together, we can do anything.’

  He started the truck once more.

  ‘Talk about labels,’ she said. ‘Anyway, maybe that was true when you met, but it’s not now. Maybe that’s why he’s sending you out here. Maybe he thinks you’re too smart, and he wants to get rid of you.’

  ‘He knows he needs me.’

  ‘Maybe he thinks Wyatt or one of the others can take your place.’

  ‘Wyatt?’ He hit the accelerator, and Kit gripped her seat again. ‘Wyatt’s a loose cannon. Besides, he’s the one Jessica wants.’


  The battered red of an illuminated stop sign came into view. Kit let out her breath and whispered, ‘You need to stop now.’

  ‘You sure?’

  ‘Stop, damn it, Ike, and then make a right when I tell you.’

  Maybe she should jump out at the stop sign. Maybe she should just rip the blindfold off his eyes and force him to see. But Ike was too big, too volatile for Kit to second-guess. Thanks to Lucas, her safety depended on Ike now, and his safety depended on her.

  ‘How do I know you’re leading me the right way?’ he asked.

  ‘It’s about trust, remember? Besides, you’re doing fine,’ she lied. ‘We’ll get there and back, and then if you won’t drive me away from the crazy camp of yours, I am going out on my own.’

  ‘Lucas will calm down after this.’ Ike slammed on the brake. ‘He always does.’

  He started to step on the gas again, but Kit already felt queasy.

  ‘So, Lucas does these little tests frequently?’

  ‘Not like this.’ Ike nodded behind his mask. ‘But sometimes.’

  ‘How are we going to ever get out of here?’ she asked.

  ‘I’ll go slowly. You’ll direct me. Got to say, though, this is the creepiest thing Lucas ever asked me to do. I wonder …’

  ‘Wonder what?’ she asked. ‘Slow down more.’

  He did as she asked, yet Kit couldn’t control her heartbeat. ‘Nothing really. I just can’t figure out why he came up with this so quickly.’

  The fog seemed to grow thicker. ‘Slower,’ she whispered. ‘And you do know why, don’t you? I just told you.’

  ‘If I knew, I wouldn’t be wondering,’ he said.

  ‘He’s mad because you overrode his authority and let me in.’

  ‘That’s crazy, Katherine. We’re partners, Lucas and me.’

  ‘Until you decide to let a girl in without permission.’ The truck drifted to the right side of the road. Good. Slow and to the right.

  ‘But he let Jessica in.’

  ‘My point exactly, Ike.’ She kept her voice low, gentle. ‘I have an idea. Why don’t you take off that blindfold? He won’t know.’

  ‘He will. Lucas knows everything. He’s probably listening to our conversation right now.’

  She couldn’t fake calmness much longer, but she needed to try. ‘What do you mean? Does he have you under some kind of electronic surveillance?’

  ‘I don’t know. That’s what a monster did to us at a camp one time. Fucker Weaselized us. That’s why we allow no technology.’

  ‘None at all?’ she asked. ‘How do you play your logic games?’

  ‘Not very often, and I’m OK with it now. Technology is the fastest way to get tracked, caught even.’

  ‘Which is why Lucas destroyed my phone?’

  ‘He didn’t destroy it.’

  ‘It’s dead, Ike.’

  ‘Because we have no way to fix it.’ He nodded as if she could see the sorrowful tone of his voice reflected in his eyes. ‘We’ll get you another one.’

  ‘Pull over and tell me what that means.’

  ‘I can’t,’ he said.

  ‘You’ve got to. Ike, I can’t think. Please, just for a minute.’

  ‘Against my better judgment.’ He pulled the truck to the side of the road too far, and they bumped into a dirt path. ‘Oh, great,’ he said.

  ‘It’s OK,’ she told him. ‘We can’t keep doing this. Tell me how you can get me another phone if you can’t even charge mine?’

  He turned his head as if they were having a confidential chat. ‘Don’t tell anyone. We’ve got a few on ice.’

  ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

  ‘On ice in headquarters. It’s a code word for where we keep them.’

  On ice. Only one place in the main house was that cold, and Kit didn’t dare go near it again.

  ‘When we get back, will you help me get a phone?’ Not that she had any intention of going back.

  ‘Depends on what Lucas says.’ He revved the engine again. ‘I know he’s timing us. Tell me where to go next.’

  The fog huddled over the road, yet Kit knew that if they went straight, she should be able to find the restaurant. At that point, she would jump out of the car, in spite of her raw ankle, and beg Juanita to help her.

  ‘Lucas says to the freeway and back,’ she said. ‘That would be straight ahead, but go even more slowly, will you? I can’t see a thing.’

  ‘I don’t think we’re heading for the freeway.’ He jerked around and seemed to glare at her though his creepy mask. ‘I’ve got a weird feeling about sense of direction.’

  ‘Keep your eyes on the road,’ she demanded, and then realized how ridiculous that sounded. ‘I mean, please don’t distract me, Ike.’ A noise rumbled loudly through the dark. ‘And stop right here. Now!’

  They barely avoided a truck lumbering through the fog as if it were the only vehicle on the road.

  ‘What was that?’ Ike asked, his voice a little thinner and less certain.

  ‘Not sure,’ she said. ‘An unmarked truck, going way beyond the speed limit.’

  ‘Could be anything out here,’ he told her. ‘Drugs. Guns.’

  ‘I think there was some kind of printing on the side,’ she said. ‘It looked legitimate.’

  ‘That’s the point.’ He turned his head toward her again. ‘It wouldn’t be hauling ass through here in this weather if it was doing something legal.’

  ‘Just so you understand,’ she said, her entire body numb with fear, ‘another second or two, and it would have hit us.’

  He sighed and lowered his head over the steering wheel. ‘Lucas didn’t have any way of knowing that truck would be out here at this hour.’

  ‘Didn’t he? Wouldn’t he know that only crazy people drive in weather like this?’

  ‘I’m not crazy.’

  She didn’t like the way his voice tightened.

  ‘That truck could have killed us,’ she said.

  ‘I get it.’ His face, even hidden by the mask, seemed contorted. ‘We need to get moving, though. Don’t lie to me, Katherine. You’re my navigator, but Lucas is probably tracking us. Where’s the freeway for real?’

  ‘To the left,’ she said. He started to move forward, and she touched his arm. ‘Ike, can we just talk about this for a moment?’

  ‘Lucas won’t like it.’

  ‘He won’t know,’ she said.

  ‘OK. But not for long.’ He lifted his mask, looked out at the white-on-white that had closed in on them, and shook his head in disbelief. ‘Holy shit.’

  She didn’t bother to remind him that Lucas didn’t like swearing. ‘We can’t do this,’ she told him. ‘Lucas is trying to get us killed.’

  ‘I told you, he wouldn’t do that.’ Ike seemed blinded by the haze surrounding them, almost in a trance.

  Another truck blustered past.

  ‘Don’t you think we’ve proven our trust?’ Kit asked him.

  ‘I don’t know what to say. We’ve had tests before, but nothing like this. How did Lucas think …’

  ‘My point exactly.’ He looked at her with as much sorrow as confusion. ‘I realize how much this sucks,’ she told him, ‘but you have to know Lucas is not your friend. He wouldn’t ask you to take this kind of chance if he cared about you.’

  ‘I don’t know.’ He spoke slowly as he peered at the fog. ‘How did we get this far?’

  ‘By sheer luck,’ she said. ‘Now, I’m going to ask you to help me with something.’

  ‘I’m not taking you anywhere,’ he said. ‘As you said, we’re lucky we got this far.’

  ‘What about the Mexican restaurant, then?’

  ‘On a night like this, Juanita will have closed.’

  ‘She didn’t the night I met you, and the weather was every bit as awful as it is tonight.’

  ‘But she recognized the pickup and let me in.’

  Kit tried to hide her surprise. ‘So Juanita is part of what you do?’

  ‘Of course not. She just
tries to help by giving us food when she can. For a while, she was cool having me pick up kids there. She’s too curious now, though. I don’t know how long we can keep using her place.’

  ‘How many more are coming?’ Kit asked.

  ‘Just Angel for now. Something must have happened to keep her from showing up on time.’ He glanced over at her again and gave her an awkward grin. ‘Just think. If Angel had showed up when she was supposed to that night, I never would have met you.’

  ‘And maybe we wouldn’t be stuck at a four-way intersection looking into a wall of fog,’ she said.

  ‘I’m glad we are, Katherine. Not the fog, but us knowing each other.’

  She looked away, unable to lie to him more than she already had. ‘I’ll be a lot more grateful if you get me out of this place without smashing into a truck.’

  ‘I’m not trying to hit on you,’ he said. ‘It’s just good to have a friend.’

  ‘You’re right.’ She gave him what she hoped was an older-sister look. ‘Let’s be here for each other, OK? We don’t need to rely on blindfolds anymore.’

  ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘If Lucas says it, we have to do it.’

  ‘I already proved myself by setting fire to that building.’ She trembled as she thought about how wrong it could have gone. ‘It’s time for you to help me get out of here.’

  ‘I don’t want you to go.’ He looked down at his huge hands. ‘I’m starting to think you’re my only friend.’

  She wanted to tell him she wasn’t, but she couldn’t seem to come up with a lie.

  ‘If you want to come with me,’ she said, ‘I’ll try to help you.’

  ‘How?’ he asked.

  ‘Never mind. Maybe you should just let me out on one of the highway off-ramps. Once I get settled – and you know I will – I’ll come back for you.’

  He shook his head. ‘That’s what they all say. Besides, I couldn’t just leave you at some gas station or coffee shop. That’s how girls like you get killed.’

  ‘I could call someone to come meet me,’ she said. ‘A friend from before.’

  ‘Don’t lie to me.’ His headshake was more vehement than before. ‘If you knew someone who cared enough, you wouldn’t have ended up here in the first place.’