Audra stared into the empty air inside the cell as tremors worked through her body and limbs, her feet glued to the concrete floor.
He reached a hand out to her. ‘Come on, now, quicker you get in there and get settled, the quicker we can get all this straightened out.’
She unbuckled her belt, slipped it from her jeans, kicked off her sneakers, then placed them all on the desk. Her sock soles whispered on the vinyl tiles as she walked to the cell and through the door. She heard that squeal again, and turned in time to see the door slide closed. Whiteside turned a key in the lock.
Audra approached the bars, put her hands on them. She looked Whiteside in the eye, inches away, on the other side.
‘Please,’ she said, unable to keep the quiver from her voice. ‘I’ve done everything you said. I’ve been cooperative. Please tell me where my children are.’
Whiteside held her gaze.
‘What children?’ he asked.
6
SEAN WATCHED DUST plumes through the window as Deputy Collins pulled off the road onto an unmarked dirt track. Without thinking, he reached over and took Louise’s hand in his, her fingers warm and sweaty. His stomach roiled inside him as the car swayed from side to side, the track winding up through the hills.
It felt like they’d been driving for ages. Sean figured the town they’d been driving to with Mom had been only one or two miles from where they’d stopped, going by the road signs, but they’d driven far more than that now. He was sure of it.
The gnawing worry had not left him since they’d set off, even if he’d managed to stop crying like a baby. A safe place, the deputy had said when he asked where they were going. He asked so many times she told him to shut up, goddamn it, just be quiet back there. Louise hadn’t said a word, simply held tight to Gogo and looked out the window, like they were going on a day trip.
The dirt track had faded and narrowed until Sean wasn’t sure if it was a track at all. The car shook and rattled and jerked, bouncing him and his sister on the seat. Eventually the ground leveled off and they approached a small ruin of a shack, its roof caved in, the remains of its walls blackened and charred by a long-ago fire. Beside it, what Sean guessed to be a carport of some kind, a simple wooden frame with a corrugated-iron roof. A van stood in the shade beneath it.
Deputy Collins pulled the cruiser in beside the van, and the interior became suddenly dark. She opened her door, climbed out, and came to Louise’s door. A wash of heat as she opened it and leaned down.
‘Come on,’ she said, reaching in to undo Louise’s seat belt.
Before Sean could stop her, Louise pulled her hand away from his and let Collins lift her out. Collins leaned down once more.
‘You too,’ she said.
‘I don’t want to,’ Sean said.
Collins adjusted her grip on Louise’s hand. ‘I’ve got your sister,’ she said.
Sean felt the sweat on his back turn cold. He reached for the seat-belt release, let the belt retract. He hesitated, then slid across the seat and out of the car.
‘Here,’ Collins said as she put Louise’s hand in Sean’s. ‘Stay right there.’
She shut the cruiser’s door, then walked to the back of the van, fishing in her pants pocket for a key. The van looked in almost as poor condition as the shack, its beige paintwork dappled with rust. Its rear doors creaked as Collins opened them. She stepped back, showed them the dark throat of it.
‘Get in,’ she said.
Louise stepped forward, but Sean pulled her back.
‘No,’ he said.
Collins pointed into the dark. ‘Come on, now.’
Sean shook his head. ‘No.’
‘Don’t be difficult,’ she said, her face hardening.
‘We’re not getting in,’ Sean said.
Collins took a step toward them, then hunkered down, her knees to her chest, balancing on the balls of her feet. She spoke to Louise. ‘Honey, your brother is being silly. Now, you need to get inside out of this heat. If you don’t, your mom’s going to be in even bigger trouble than she is now. She might have to go to a jail for a long time.’
‘That’s a lie,’ Sean said.
‘Louise, sweetheart, you don’t want your mommy to be in worse trouble, do you? You don’t want her to go to jail, right?’
Louise shook her head.
‘Well, then, let’s—’
As Collins reached out for his sister, her balance shifted, and Sean chose that moment to throw his hand out at her, pushing her shoulder. Not hard, but enough. Collins’ eyes widened in surprise, and her arms spun in the air as she tried to stop what would surely happen next.
Sean didn’t wait to see her topple onto her back. Instead he turned and ran, dragging Louise behind him. She squealed and stumbled, almost went down, but his momentum kept her moving. He followed the tire tracks, thinking, get to the road, flag down a car. Whatever happens, run, run as fast as you can.
‘Gogo!’
He spared a glance over his shoulder, saw the remains of the pink rabbit bounce in the dirt. Beyond him, Collins getting to her feet, fury on her face.
‘We’ll come back for him,’ he said, jerking Louise’s hand. ‘We’ll come back, I promise.’
He kept going, churning his legs harder, his sister flailing after him. Somewhere behind he heard Collins yell at them to stop, goddamn it, stop right there. Dirt and grit slipped under his shoes as he took the slope, leaping down the steeper parts, his back jarring each time he landed, Louise somehow staying with him, staying upright.
‘Stop!’ Collins’ voice echoed between the steep slopes all around. ‘For Christ’s sake, stop!’
Sean ignored her, his mind focused on the road somewhere down there through the hills at the end of this track. Just keep running, that’s all.
Ahead, a turn in the track, maybe a place to take shelter. Sean put his head down, kicked the ground hard, felt his shoulder wrenched as Louise’s feet left the dirt.
Then the crack of the gun, the pressure in his ears. By instinct rather than thought, he threw himself down, taking Louise with him. Louise cried out, rolling away from him. He looked back, saw Collins at the top of the slope, her pistol pointed skyward, a wisp of smoke taken away by the breeze. Collins lowered the pistol, gripped it with both hands, aimed it at them. She breathed hard, her boots crunching on the ground as she bounded down the slope toward them.
Sean got to his knees, the grit burning the heels of his hands, and turned to see the pistol aimed at his head, only feet away.
‘Don’t move,’ Collins said.
He froze, watched as she reached down to grab the back of Louise’s T-shirt, haul her upright, put the pistol to her head. Louise stared at him, her eyes and mouth wide. The knees of her jeans torn, the skin grazed and bloody.
‘Do you want me to kill her?’ Collins said, her eyes glistening with tears and anger. ‘Is that what you want?’
Sean held his hands up and out, a gesture of surrender. He shook his head.
Collins let go of Louise, pointed her pistol at the ground. Her shoulders rose and fell as she fought for breath. She sniffed and wiped her face with the back of her free hand, leaving smears of dirt on her skin. ‘All right, then,’ she said, a quiver in her voice. ‘Let’s go.’
Sean helped Louise up, became aware of the sting of his elbows, the tears in his own jeans. Collins pointed back up the slope, and he took his sister’s hand, started the climb up toward the van. Collins trudged behind them. On the way, he stooped to pick up Gogo, handed him to Louise. She clutched the pink rabbit to her chest as she sniffed and pouted.
They remained silent as he hoisted Louise up into the van. He followed, careful of splinters from the plywood flooring. Once inside, Sean gathered Louise into his arms. She curled there in his lap and he began to rock her, the way Mom had done for him when he was scared. He turned his head, saw Deputy Collins watching him, saw the fear on her face.
She raised a cell phone, and Sean heard the synthetic whirr and click as she took a photograph.
Then she slammed the doors closed and terrible darkness swallowed them.
7