Here and Gone(13)

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.