At the turn off to Van Dyke Avenue, Raj reached for the car radio’s audio cable and plugged the jack into his phone. The car speakers shook with heavy guitar, a deep growling voice, and a rapid-fire drumbeat.
Allie pressed a button on the dash and the noise from the speakers gave way to the sound of rain and wipers. “Driver decides music, and that’s not music.”
The neon light of a Mobil gas station reflected off the rain swept street as we crossed 21 Mile Road and made our way north toward Stony Creek Lake. The landscape grew darker as we approached the woods. Allie’s eyes were on the road, but her mind was somewhere far away. “So this Drac guy said he’d be there at eight?”
In the rearview, I saw Gordie close his eyes and shake his head.
Raj leaned forward. “He never actually said that.”
The light from a streetlight flashed across Allie’s face, showing her tightly creased brow. “And you gave him the money?”
Gordie propped his elbow on the door and rested his head on his fist. “We should have kept the cash and got out of Detroit.”
Ever since we’d left Drac’s gym, the more I’d thought about it, the more I’d admitted the same thing to myself. I turned to him. “Paying Drac was our best chance at getting out of this mess. And still is.”
Our headlights bounced across woodland as we followed Park Road. A clearing came into view on the left, and I pressed my door lock. “We don’t want to get too close – Kyle might already be here. Let’s find somewhere to hide.” Allie stepped on the brake, slowing the car to a crawl, and pulled off the road. Rain glistened on wet grass as the car bumped and swayed across craggy ground, rocking rhythmically from side to side. I pointed at a thicket of bushes at the end of the clearing. “Get in behind there if you can – so we can’t be seen from the road.”
With her eyes scanning the terrain ahead, Allie guided the car through the bushes, scraping the sides against branches as she inched in. She glanced at the rearview and stepped on the brake. “They won’t find us here.” The engine went silent, and the bright light from the headlights turned to darkness.
Hidden in branches and shadows, we listened to the rain pelt the roof. The wipers swept away the flood with each stroke, only for it to be replaced a second later, and the windows gradually fogged up.
Reaching forward from the back seat, Raj grabbed the audio cable, and Allie swatted his hand away.
I turned to him. “Let’s walk through the trees to the parking lot.”
“How about I have a nap instead.”
I turned to Allie. “You and Gordie wait here with the doors locked. If anyone comes, drive away.”
She bit her lip and tucked her hair behind her ear. “What will you do if Drac doesn’t show? And what if he does?” She put her hand on my arm. “I’m worried something will happen.”
A lump formed in my throat, and I swallowed against it. I put my hand on hers. “It’s okay. We’ll just hide for a while and meet you back here. Nobody will see us.”
“And besides,” Raj said, tapping his knuckles on the window, “when have our plans ever gone wrong?”
Allie gave him a distracted look and turned to me. “Just promise me if anything happens, you’ll come right back or call for help.”
“Promise,” I said. Cold rain showered my face as I stepped out. With my hoodie over my head, I clicked the door closed and hurried to the cover of a nearby tree, breathing the earthy smell of rotting leaves and wet pine trees. In the distance, heavy clouds over Detroit glowed with the lights of the city.
Raj’s shadowy figure trudged toward me, head down and shoulders hunched against the downpour. Together, we moved into the darkness, creeping between trees and bushes. Shoes sunk in muddy puddles, and wet jeans clung to legs as we stumbled and slipped on uneven ground. Bear Gryls can keep the outdoors – I’ll take warm and dry any day.
A couple of hundred yards in, we reached a line of pine trees that bordered another clearing. I tapped Raj’s arm. “This is it.”
Past the clearing, the inky blackness of Stony Creek Lake stretched a half-mile across. Gusty wind chopped at the water and sent small waves lapping into the shore. Lights on the other side of the lake shimmered across the surface and cast weak shadows on the rocky grassland in front of us. Not far from where we stood, a wooden jetty jutted out a hundred feet from the gravelly shoreline. A small dinghy with an outboard motor bobbed in the water next to the jetty, a short walk down the shore from the dark emptiness of the Stony Creek Lake parking lot.
My fingers stung from the icy rain, and the freezing air burned my lungs. No sign of Kyle, or anyone else.
I lifted my phone from my pocket and shielded it from the rain with my arm.
7:57 p.m.
Slipping it back into my pocket, I said, “Let’s get closer to the parking lot.” A fresh gust of wind zinged goose bumps up my arms as we crept behind the tree line, avoiding the open ground where anyone in the area would see us.
Half way along the tree line, we arrived at the parking lot and a flicker of movement stirred in the shadows. I gripped Raj’s arm and stopped walking. Trees rustled in the wind and cast shadows and shapes across the parking lot.
Another flicker of movement.
I crouched and pulled Raj down with me. Less than fifty feet away, a dark figure sat perched on the curb, knees against its chest with a hoodie over its head. Light reflecting from the lake glinted off an object held tight against its knee. Oh shit.
Barely daring to breathe, we watched from behind a tree, listening to the rain’s steady patter.
Raj leaned close to my ear. “I wonder how Kyle got here? I don’t see a car.”
Shivering at the biting wind and rain, I tipped my head at the dinghy tied to the jetty. “That’d be my guess.”
We’d have to move soon if we didn’t want to freeze to death.
“Hurry up, Drac,” Raj whispered, “you needle-dick steroid junkie.”
Kyle shifted his weight on the curb. It was strange to see him alone, but even Bundy and Fink weren’t insane enough to come out here at night in this weather.
In a low voice, Raj said, “Drac’s not gonna show. Let’s head back before Kyle makes a move.”
“Not yet. Let’s wait for–”
Kyle rose to his feet and lifted his phone from his pocket. Sheltering it with his hand, he thumbed the screen and a dim glow lit up his face.
“Why is he…?” Raj whispered. “Oh no!”
My jeans pocket vibrated against my leg, and Eminem’s ‘Love the Way You Lie’ squealed at dance club volume. Every nerve in my body electrified. I plunged my hand into my wet pocket and pulled out my phone. Eminem’s chanting grew louder, and the screen lit up the trees as I fumbled to turn it off. With a press of the side button, Eminem went silent and the patter of rain took over again.
The urge to sprint into the woods would’ve been too much to resist if it wasn’t for the thought of being shot in the back. I held my breath and gave myself a mental ass kicking for making the same mistake two nights in a row. From now on, my phone was permanently on silent.
Next to me, Raj crouched with a look of horror that was barely visible in the darkness.
Kyle slipped his phone into his pocket and glanced over both shoulders. Aiming the gun in our direction, he started toward us. Trying to run would get us shot, but I was pretty sure staying wasn’t any safer. He shouted over the rain, “Did I hear a rabbit hiding behind a tree?”
Raj closed his eyes and shook his head. Behind him, the glowing clouds above Detroit looked a million miles away.
Kyle twisted his wrist, turning the gun on its side. “Come here, little rabbit, or the next thing you’ll know is a bullet breaking your skull.”
Some people thought Kyle acted crazy just to scare people, but I wasn’t so naive. If he came any closer he’d find both of us, and then nobody would be calling for help. Fighting my instincts, I staggered out from behind the tree, my legs tingly and weak and rai
n streaming down my brow into my eyes.
Kyle stepped closer and aimed the gun at my chest. Slowly, he adjusted his aim to just left of my shoulder.
Bang.
A flash lit up the woods, and bark splintered off the tree next to me. The air left my lungs and the patter of rain gave way to my heart pounding in my ears.
Kyle lowered his aim to the tree where Raj was crouched. “Don’t make me hunt you down, little rabbit’s friend, hiding behind the tree.”
If Raj was planning to run, he’d better get onto it quick. I wouldn’t hold it against him if he did – it was as good as any other plan we had. Emerging from the shadows behind the tree, Raj stepped toward me, his arms folded tight across his chest.
This would’ve been a good time to negotiate, if we had anything to bargain with. And trying to defend ourselves wouldn’t have worked even if he didn’t have a gun. All we could do is talk to him until one of us had a chance to call Allie and sound the alarm. I wiped the rain from my eyes. “Let’s talk. This doesn’t have to–”
Kyle aimed the gun at Raj’s chest and held out his hand. “Your phone.”
So much for calling for help. Raj put his hand into his jeans and pulled out his phone.
Kyle nodded at the ground, his fingers tight around the gun’s grip. “Drop it.”
At school, Raj got phone separation anxiety every time his battery died. Out here with Kyle, he’d feel more at ease being shot in a vital organ than not having his phone. He looked at his phone and then at the mud near his feet.
Kyle
Killer of Giants Page 26
