Page 112

His only reaction is his hands squeezing the steering wheel. “Why didn’t you tell me about my grandfather earlier?”

“I didn’t think you were ready to hear any of it.”

He nods, more to himself than me, his eyes fixed on the road. “Do you think my grandfather and Emily are together?”

I don’t want to give Jake platitudes, so I take a moment to respond. “Yes, I do. Based on everything I’ve experienced, not only here, but over the years, and everything I’ve read about life after death and spirits, I believe they are together. More than believe it, I know it.”

He reaches over and squeezes my hand. His Adam’s apple bobs with a swallow. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

He lets my hand go and grabs the steering wheel to make a sharp turn. “For making me believe again.”

It’s my turn to touch him, and I squeeze his wrist, then let go.

Jake slows down and drives through the open gates to the park. “Where to?”

“The same area we found Alice.”

He raises an eyebrow. “That far in?”

“I’m afraid so.”

Jake drives to and parks in the same spot as before. “Let’s go.”

Jake opens the cruiser’s trunk, and then a locked box. Inside are guns, ammunition, and a bulletproof vest. He attempts to slide the vest over my head, but I take two steps back. “No, it’s yours, and you should wear it.”

His face hardens, and he recovers the distance I put between us. “Either you put this on and do as I say, or we’re leaving, and I don’t care if I have to handcuff you and drag you kicking and screaming out of here.”

Gosh. He would do it too. “Okay, I’ll wear it.”

He slides the vest over my head and fits my arms through the holes. “It’s too big.”

“It’s adjustable.” He pulls the Velcro off the sides to make the vest tighter around my chest, then does the same with the straps over my shoulders. It’s still loose but fits better than before.

Jake grabs a handgun from the locker and checks to make sure the magazine is full. Then, holsters the gun to his leg with a strap. Then he checks the gun in his waist holster and slides three extra magazines and a small flashlight into his back pockets. He grabs a shoulder holster and yet another gun. “Ready?”

The weight of the bulletproof vest and seeing Jake arm himself brings home the reality of our situation and hits me like a sucker punch. I answer in a shaky voice. “Yes.”

Jake takes the lead and goes up the same trail as the last time. The forest closes in around us and it grows denser with each step. Night insects chirp, making their presence known. Or maybe showing their discontent at our presence. Gray clouds above the trees’ canopy lend an ominous feel to the forest.

The rustle of the wind and the insects are the only other sounds. Everything else is quiet. Quieter than one would think in a forest so full of wildlife.

Jake stops at a small clearing near the spot where we found Alice. “Where to?”

I hold Emily’s phone to my chest and let my senses take over, then point to the right. “That way, past the hole.” I don’t have to clarify what hole I’m referring to. I don’t think either of us will ever forget what happened that day a week ago.

When we walk past it, I cast my gaze down and avoid looking at it. We walk another five minutes, and I stop to orient myself. The wind stills, as well as the insects. Above us, clouds hover heavy and gray through the frame of motionless branches and leaves. It’s like the forest itself is watching us.

Jake puts a hand on my shoulder. He, too, can sense the wrongness of this place.

Then, a twig snaps under a foot, as startling as a crack of lightning.

“Well, well, well, what have we got here?”

We turn at the same time, and twenty feet from us is Jeff. The dog is at his side. Unleashed. Jeff’s left hand is in his hoodie pocket, and in his right is a gun—pointed directly at us.

Chapter58