Page 159 of Life and Death

“Beau, you can’t leave now,” he whispered. “It’s nighttime.”

“I’ll sleep in the truck if I get tired.”

“Just wait another week,” he pleaded, looking shell-shocked. “Renée will be back by then.”

This completely derailed me. “What?”

Relief flashed across Charlie’s face when I hesitated. “She called while you were out. Things aren’t going so well in Florida, and if Phil doesn’t get signed by the end of the week, they’re going back to Arizona. The assistant coach of the Sidewinders said they might have a spot for another shortstop.”

I shook my head, trying to get back on track. Every passing second put Charlie in more danger.

“I have a key,” I muttered, turning the knob. He was too close, one hand still locked on my bag, his face dazed. I couldn’t lose any more time arguing with him. I was going to have to hurt him further.

“Just let me go, Charlie,” I said through my teeth. I threw the door open. “It didn’t work out, okay? I really, reallyhateForks!”

The cruel words did their job—Charlie’s hand dropped from my bag.His mouth fell open with surprise while a deep pain surfaced in his eyes. I turned my back on him and stalked out the door. I couldn’t let him see my face now.

I tried to keep my walk angry, but I wanted to sprint. The dark yard seemed full of extra shadows that I wasprettysure were just my imagination. But not totally positive. I hurled my bag into the bed of the truck and wrenched the door open. The key was waiting in the ignition.

“I’ll call you tomorrow!” I yelled.

I would never be able to explain this to him, never be able to make it right again. I gunned the engine and peeled out.

Edythe reached for my hand.

“Pull over,” she said as Charlie and the house disappeared behind us.

I kept my eyes on the road, trying to control my face. “I can drive.”

Suddenly she was sliding over my lap, her hands on the wheel and her foot pushing mine off the gas. She moved into the space between my leg and the door, then shoved me over with her hip. The truck didn’t swerve an inch and she was in the driver’s seat.

“You wouldn’t be able to find the house,” she explained.

Lights flared behind us. I jumped, and stared out the back window.

“It’s just Archie,” she said. She took my hand again.

When I closed my eyes, all I could see was Charlie standing in the doorway.

“The tracker?”

“She caught the end of your performance. She’s running behind us now—about a mile back.”

My body felt cold. “Can we outrun her?”

“No.” But she sped up as she spoke. The truck’s engine whined.

My plan wasn’t feeling so brilliant anymore.

I was staring back at Archie’s headlights when the truck shuddered and a dark shadow sprang up outside the window.

“E—!”

Her hand clamped over my mouth before I could finish shouting the warning.

“It’s Eleanor!”

She dropped her hand to my knee.