Bon Jovi was already shaking his head. “I’m sorry.”
Charlie felt a finger slide up her back. She shivered, and Zach laughed.
“Let my sister go,” Sam said. “She’s thirteen. Just a kid.”
“Don’t look like no kid to me.” Zach made pinching motions at Charlie’s chest. “Got them nice high titties.”
“Shut up,” Bon Jovi warned. “I mean it.”
“She won’t tell anyone,” Sam tried. “She’ll say it was strangers. Won’t you, Charlie?”
“Black fella?” Zach asked. “Like the one your daddy got off for murder?”
Charlie felt his fingers brush across her breast. She turned on him, screaming, “You mean like he got you off for showing your wiener to a bunch of little girls?”
“Charlie,” Sam begged. “Please, be quiet.”
“Let her speak,” Zach said. “I like it when they got a little fight in ’em.”
Charlie glared at him. She marched through the woods, pulling Sam behind her, trying not to go too fast, anxious to go fast enough so that Zach didn’t walk alongside her.
“No,” Charlie whispered. Why was she going fast? She needed to go slow. The farther they got away from the HP, the more dangerous it would be to break off and run back. Charlie stopped. She turned around. She could barely see the lights in the kitchen.
Zach had the shotgun in Sam’s back again. “Move.”
Pine needles cut into Charlie’s bare feet as she trudged deeper into the woods. The air got cooler. Her shorts were stiff with dried urine. She could feel the inside of her thighs starting to chafe. Every step felt like it was wearing away a fresh layer of skin.
She glanced back at Sam. Her eyes were closed, hand out in front of her. Leaves rustled under their feet. Charlie stopped to help Sam over a fallen tree. They walked through the stream, the water like ice on her feet. The clouds shifted, letting in a sliver more of moonlight. In the distance, Charlie could see the outline of the weather tower, the rusted steel structure like a skeleton against the dark sky.
Charlie felt her sense of direction click into place. If the tower was on her left, then they were walking east. The second farm was about two miles north on her right.
Two miles.
Charlie’s best mile was 7.01. Sam could do 5.52 on a flat surface. The forest wasn’t flat. The moonlight was unpredictable. Sam could not see. They could do an eight-minute mile, maybe, if Charlie paid attention, if she looked straight in front of her instead of looking back.
She scanned ahead, searching for the best path, the clearest route.
It was too late.
“Sam.” Charlie stumbled to a stop. A trickle of urine rolled down her leg again. She gripped her sister around the waist. “There’s a shovel. A shovel.”
Sam’s fingers felt along her face, pushed up her eyelids. She sucked in a quick rush of air when she saw what was in front of them.
Six feet away, dark, wet earth opened up like a wound in the ground.
Charlie’s teeth were chattering again. She could hear the clicking. Zach and Bon Jovi had dug a grave for Rusty, and now they were going to use it for Sam and Charlie.
They had to run.
Charlie knew that now, felt it to the core of her being. Sam could see, at least enough to see the grave. Which meant she might be able to see enough to run. There was no choice. They couldn’t stand here politely waiting for their own murders.
And whatever else Zachariah Culpepper had in mind.
Charlie squeezed Sam’s hand. Sam squeezed back that she was ready. All they had to do was wait for the right moment.
“All right, big boy. Time for you to do your part.” Zach leaned the shotgun butt on his hip. He slapped open a switchblade with his other hand. “The guns’ll be too loud. Take this. Right across the throat like you do with a pig.”
Bon Jovi stood there, unmoving.
Zach said, “Come on, like we agreed. You do her. I’ll take care of the little one.”
Bon Jovi said, “She’s right. We don’t have to do this. The plan wasn’t ever to hurt the women. They weren’t even supposed to be here.”
“Say what now?”
Sam squeezed Charlie’s hand even harder. They both watched, waited.
Bon Jovi said, “What’s done is done. We don’t have to make it worse by killing more people. Innocent people.”
“Jesus Christ.” Zach worked the knife closed then shoved it back into his pocket. “We went over this back in the kitchen, man. Ain’t like we gotta choice.”
“We can turn ourselves in.”
“Bull. Shit.”
Sam leaned into Charlie, pushing her a few steps to the right, getting her ready to go.
Bon Jovi said, “I’ll turn myself in. I’ll take the blame for everything.”
“The hell you will.” Zach shoved Bon Jovi in the chest. “You think I’m gonna go down on a murder charge ’cause you grew a fucking conscience?”
Sam let go of Charlie’s hand.
Charlie felt her heart drop into her stomach.
Sam whispered, “Charlie, run.”
“I won’t tell,” Bon Jovi said. “I’ll say it was me.”
Charlie tried to grab Sam’s hand back. They had to stay close so that she could show Sam the way.
“In my got-damn truck?”
Sam waved her away, whispering, “Go.”
Charlie shook her head. What did she mean? She couldn’t go without Sam. She couldn’t leave her sister here.
“Motherfucker.” Zach had the shotgun pointed at Bon Jovi’s chest. “This is what’s gonna happen, son. You’re gonna take my knife and you’re gonna slice open that bitch’s throat, or I will blow a hole in your chest the size of Texas.” He stamped his foot. “Right now.”
Bon Jovi pointed his gun at Zach’s head. “We’re gonna turn ourselves in.”
“Get that fucking gun outta my face, you pansy-ass piece of shit.”
Sam nudged Charlie, telling her to move. “Go.”
Charlie didn’t move. She wasn’t going to leave her sister.
Bon Jovi said, “I’ll kill you before I kill them.”
“You ain’t got the balls to pull that trigger.”
“I’ll do it.”
Charlie heard her teeth chattering again. Should she go? Would Sam follow her? Is that what she meant?
“Run,” Sam begged. “You have to run.”
Don’t look back. You have to trust me to be there.
“Piece of shit.” Zach’s free hand snaked out.
Bon Jovi backhanded the shotgun.
“Run!” Sam shoved her hard. “Charlie, go!”
Charlie fell back onto her ass, slamming into the ground. She saw the bright flash of the gun firing, heard the sudden explosion of the bullet leaving the barrel, and then a mist puffed from the side of Sam’s head.
Sam spun through the air, almost somersaulting like the fork had, into the gaping mouth of the grave.
Thunk.
Charlie stared at the open earth, waiting, begging, praying, for Sam to sit up, to look around, to say something, anything, that indicated that she was alive.
“Shit,” Bon Jovi said. “Christ. Jesus Christ.” He dropped the gun like it was poison.
Charlie saw the glint of metal from the weapon as it hit the ground. The flash of shock on Bon Jovi’s face. The sudden white of Zach’s teeth when he grinned.
At Charlie.
He was grinning at Charlie.
She scrambled away, crab-like, on her hands and heels.
Zach started toward her, but Bon Jovi grabbed his shirt. “What the fuck are we going to do?”
Charlie’s back hit a tree. She pushed herself up. Her knees shook. Her hands shook. Her whole body was shaking. She looked at the grave. Her sister was in a grave. Sam had been shot in the head. Charlie couldn’t see her, didn’t know if she was alive or dead or needed help or—
“It’s okay, sweetpea,” Zach told Charlie. “Stay right there for me.”<
br />
“I j-just—” Bon Jovi stuttered. “I just killed … I just …”
Killed.
He couldn’t have killed Sam. The bullet from the gun was small, not like the shotgun. Maybe it hadn’t really hurt her. Maybe Sam was okay, hiding in the grave, ready to spring up and run.
But she wasn’t springing up. She wasn’t moving, or talking, or shouting, or bossing everybody around.
Charlie needed her sister to speak, to tell her what to do. What would Sam say right now? What would she tell Charlie to do?
Zach said, “You cover this bitch up. Lemme take the little one off for a minute.”
“Christ.”
Sam wouldn’t be talking right now, she would be yelling, furious at Charlie for just standing there, for blowing this chance, for not doing what Sam had coached her to do.
Don’t look back … trust me to be there … keep your head down and—
Charlie ran.
Her arms flailed. Her feet struggled for purchase. Tree limbs slashed at her face. She couldn’t breathe. Her lungs felt like needles were stabbing into her chest.
Breathe through it. Slow and steady. Wait for the pain to pass.
They used to be best friends. They used to do everything together. And then Sam had gone to high school and Charlie had been left behind, and the only way she could get her sister’s attention was to ask Sam to teach her how to run.
Don’t hold the tension. Breathe in for two strides. Breathe out for one.
Charlie hated every part of running because it was stupid and it hurt and it made you sore, but she had wanted to spend time with Sam, to do something that her sister was doing, to maybe be better at it one day than Sam was, so Charlie went to the track with her sister, she joined the team at school, and she timed herself every day because every day, she was getting faster.
“Get back here!” Zach yelled.
Two miles to the second farmhouse. Twelve, maybe thirteen minutes. Charlie couldn’t run faster than a boy, but she could run for longer. She had the stamina, the training. She knew how to ignore the pain in her body. To breathe into the shock in her lungs when the air sliced like a razor.
What she had never trained for was the panic from hearing the heavy tread of boots pounding dirt behind her, the way the thud-thud-thud vibrated inside of her chest.
Zachariah Culpepper was coming after her.
Charlie ran faster. She tucked her arms into her sides. She forced out the tension in her shoulders. She imagined her legs were pistons in a fast-working machine. She tuned out the pine cones and sharp rocks gouging open her bare feet. She thought about the muscles that were helping her move—
Calves, quads, hamstrings, tighten your core, protect your back.
Zachariah was getting closer. She could hear him like a steam engine bearing down.
Charlie vaulted over a fallen tree. She scanned left, then right, knowing she shouldn’t run in a straight line. She needed to locate the weather tower, to make sure she was heading in the correct direction, but she knew if she looked back she would see Zachariah Culpepper, and that seeing him would make her panic even more, and if she panicked even more, she would stumble, and if she stumbled, she would fall.
And then he would rape her.
Charlie veered right, her toes gripping the dirt as she altered direction. At the last minute, she saw another fallen tree. She flung herself over it, landing awkwardly. Her foot twisted. She felt her anklebone touch earth. Pain sliced up her leg.
She kept going.
And going.
And going.
Her feet were sticky with blood. Sweat dripped down her body. Her lungs burned in her chest, but not as much as it would burn if Zachariah pinched her breast again. Her guts cramped, her bowels had turned to liquid, but that was nothing compared to how she would feel if Zachariah shoved his thing inside of her.
Charlie scanned ahead for light, any indication of civilization.
How much time had passed?
How much longer could he keep running?
Picture the finish line in your head. You have to want it more than the person behind you.
Zachariah wanted something. Charlie wanted something more—to get away, to get help for her sister, to find Rusty so he could figure out a way to make it all better.
Suddenly, Charlie’s head jerked back with such violence that she felt like she was being decapitated.
Her feet flew out into the air in front of her.
Her back slammed against the ground.
She saw her breath huff out of her mouth like it was a real thing.
Zachariah was on top of her. His hands were everywhere. Grabbing her breasts. Pulling her shorts. His teeth clashed against her closed mouth. She scratched at his eyes. She tried to bring up her knee into his crotch but she couldn’t bend her leg.
Zachariah sat up, straddling her.
Charlie kept slapping at him, tried in vain to buck off the tremendous weight of his body.
He worked his belt back through the buckle.
Her mouth opened. She had no breath left to scream. She was dizzy. Vomit burned up her throat. She closed her eyes and saw Sam twisting through the air. She could hear the thump of her sister’s body hitting the grave like it was happening all over again. And then she saw Gamma. On the kitchen floor. Back to the cabinet.
Bright white bone. Pieces of heart and lung. Cords of tendon and arteries and veins and life spilling out of her gaping wounds.
“No!” Charlie screamed, her hands turning into fists. She pounded into Zachariah’s chest, swung so hard at his jaw that his head whipped around. Blood sprayed out of his mouth—big globs of it, not like the tiny dots from Gamma.
“Fucking bitch.” He reared back his hand to punch her.
Charlie saw a blur out of the corner of her eye.
“Get off her!”
Bon Jovi flew through the air, tackling Zachariah to the ground. His fists swung back and forth. He straddled Zachariah the same way Zachariah had straddled Charlie. Bon Jovi’s arms windmilled as he beat the other man into the ground.
“Motherfucker!” he yelled. “I’ll fucking kill you!”
Charlie backed away from the men. Her hands pressed deep into the earth as she forced herself to stand. She stumbled. She wiped her eyes. Sweat had turned the dried blood on her face and neck back to liquid. She spun around in a circle, blind as Sam. She couldn’t get her bearings. She didn’t know which way to run, but she knew that she had to keep moving.
Her ankle screamed as she ran back into the woods. She didn’t look for the weather tower. She didn’t listen for the stream, or try to find Sam, or head toward the HP. She kept running, then walking, then she felt so exhausted that she wanted to crawl.
Finally, she gave into it, collapsing to her hands and knees.
She listened for footsteps behind her, but all she could hear was her own heavy breaths panting out of her mouth.
She threw up. Bile hit the ground and splattered back into her face. She wanted to lie down, to close her eyes, to go to sleep and wake up in a week when this was all over.
Sam.
In the grave.
Bullet in her head.
Gamma.
In the kitchen.
Bright white bone.
Pieces of heart and lung.
Cords of tendon and arteries and veins and her life gone in the flash of a shotgun because of Zachariah Culpepper.
Charlie knew his name. She knew Bon Jovi’s build, his voice, the way he’d stood silently by while Gamma was murdered, the way his hand had arced through the air when he’d shot Sam in the head, the way Zachariah had called him brother.
Brother.
She would see them both dead. She would watch the executioner strap them to the wooden chair and put the metal hat on their heads with the sponge underneath so that they wouldn’t catch on fire and she would look between Zachariah Culpepper’s legs to watch the urine come out when he realized that he was going to be electrocute
d to death.
Charlie got up.
She stumbled, then she walked, then she jogged and eventually, finally, she saw the light on the porch outside the second farmhouse.
7
Sam Quinn alternated her arms, left, then right, then left again, as she cut a narrow channel through the cool waters of the swimming pool. She turned her head every third stroke and drew in a long breath. Her feet fluttered. She waited for the next breath.
Left-right-left-breathe.
She had always loved the calmness, the simplicity, of the freestyle stroke; that she had to concentrate just enough on swimming so that all extraneous thoughts cleared her mind. No telephones rang under the water. No laptops pinged with urgent meetings. There was no reading emails in the pool.
She saw the two-meter line, the indication that the lane was about to end, and coasted until her fingers touched the wall.
Sam kneeled on the floor of the pool, breathing heavily, checking her swimmer’s watch: 2.4 kilometers at 150 seconds per 100 meters, so 37.5 seconds per 25-meter length.
She felt a pang of disappointment when she saw the numbers, which were within seconds of yesterday’s, because her competitive streak glowed in white-hot opposition to her physical capabilities. Sam glanced down the length of the pool, wondering if she had another short burst inside of her.
No.
Today was Sam’s birthday. She was not going to tire herself out so much that she had to use her cane to walk to the office.
She pushed herself up onto the edge of the pool. She quickly showered off the salt water. The tips of her fingers were furrowed and rough against the Egyptian cotton towel. Somewhere in the back of Sam’s mind, her mother’s voice told her that the body’s response to being submerged so long was to wrinkle the pads of the fingers and toes in order to improve grip.
Gamma had been forty-four when she’d died, the same age that Sam was now.
Or at least would be in another three and a half hours.
Sam kept on her prescription goggles while she rode the elevator up to her apartment. The chrome on the back of the doors showed her wavy reflection. Slim build. Black one-piece suit. Sam ran her fingers through her hair to help it dry. Twenty-eight years ago, she had walked into the woods behind the farmhouse with hair the color of a raven’s feather. Almost a month later, she’d awakened in the hospital to find a shock of white stubble growing from her shaved head.