Dark Pursuit

She lowered her face into her hands.

When her grandfather and Margaret didn’t hear from her tonight, they’d panic. They didn’t even have her address to come looking for her. Only one thing left for them to do: call the police. Some officer on night patrol would come out here. What excuse would she give for her grandfather’s worry?

She could think of none except for labeling him an old man, half senile after his auto accident. The thought of such betrayal cut deep.

Tomorrow Craig would hear that Darell Brooke had called the station. That he was her grandfather. And Craig would know she’d told him. She and her grandfather both would die. Margaret too.

I can’t believe this. Craig, what happened to you?

Aimlessly, Kaitlan wandered into the kitchen and guzzled a glass of water at the sink. The forest beyond her window was a black, sucking void.

Her eyes fell to her purse on the kitchen table. No cell phone in its inside pocket. No car keys either. She’d checked the minute Craig left.

The Jensons.

Kaitlan’s chin bounced up. Her lips parted as she stared at her purse. Had he checked all through it?

She grabbed her handbag and yanked back the long inside zipper. Thrusting her hand in the deep pocket, she felt around.

Her fingers closed on the key.

With a victorious cry she pulled it out. The key to the Jensons’ house. Every few days she took in their mail and watered the plants while they were away. Craig hadn’t known.

Her eyes blurred as she slipped the key into her pants pocket. “Thank you, thank you, God.”

She ran into the living room and peered out front, making sure Craig was gone.

What if he was hiding at the top of the driveway, waiting? What if this was a trap?

Like she wasn’t trapped here anyway.

At her side door Kaitlan eased into the goblin darkness under the carport. Crickets throbbed and sang.

The door sounded loud as she pulled it shut.

She stood there, hugging herself, waiting for her eyes to adjust.

Slowly, listening at every step, she made her way from under the carport and onto the driveway. A weak moon fumbled through high fog. She thought of her grandfather’s house on the hill. There the ground-hugging cloud would be thick and chilling.

A shudder ran down her back.

The night plucked Kaitlan’s nerves with greedy fingers. Asphalt stretched before her, long and curving, mocking as it disappeared into nothingness.

Was Craig down there?

Kaitlan leaned forward, eyes narrowed, searching the blackness. Did she see the hulk of a car? That shape far ahead …

Was it only her imagination?

She hesitated, on the verge of turning back. If this was a test and she failed it, he would kill her.

But how would she get through this long night, worrying about her grandfather and waiting for dawn like some hunted animal in a cave?

Kaitlan took a deep breath and started down the driveway.

After a few steps the crickets’ rasping blended with the rhythm of her own body. The beat of her heart, blood whooshing in her ears. Cool air crawled across her skin. She shuddered.

Ten feet from the carport massive sequoias and eucalyptus trees studded the driveway’s edge. Kaitlan could see only a few feet beyond them into the woods. Her brain conjured visions of the dead woman’s face frozen in horror. Was she buried out there?

Kaitlan neared a bend in the road.

Heart in her throat, she drifted toward the outside edge, craning her neck to view around the curve. After this she’d be able to see the Jensons’ house.

Kaitlan’s foot hit something hard. She tripped and stumbled forward. Throwing out both hands, she caught herself before hitting the ground.

Chest heaving, she hovered on one knee, darkness pressing against her back.

She pushed her body upright. Looked ahead and saw a faint glow.

Scattered through the Jensons’ house were lamps on timers, clicking on at dusk, off at midnight. They’d been strategically placed in front windows, facing the street. Kaitlan now could make out the vague outline of the house’s right corner—where the kitchen lay. The light filtered through the kitchen’s rear sliding door.

That faint glimmer pushed hope into her soul.

Fastening her eyes upon it, she quickened her pace. All she had to do was reach the Jensons’ and get inside to the phone. Call her grandfather for help.

Get to the house, get to the house. The words chanted in her head, driving her steps.

By the time Kaitlan reached the edge of the yard, she was panting. Her heart beat double time. Almost there.

She imagined the sound of her grandfather’s voice. Kaitlan didn’t even care how grumpy he was, she just wanted to hear it.

Nearing the back of the house, she veered into the yard and picked her way along a stone path that led to the deck off the kitchen and garage.

Her key was to the back garage door.