In Her Tracks (Tracy Crosswhite #8)(93)

He had taught her how to play the card game kings in the corner, and they had played twice already. He’d also brought board games—older games like Monopoly and something called Snakes and Ladders. Stephanie figured Evan had been the person who carried her from the ravine up to the basement in the house. That was why Franklin had been so upset, why he’d beaten Evan. She was having difficulty believing Evan had been the person who hit her or had presumably tried to rape her. He didn’t seem the least bit interested in sex, and he gave no indication of an intent to harm her. He seemed only interested in playing games.

“Do you like board games?” she asked, looking at the stack behind him.

“We can play Monopoly after this,” he said. He put a black six on a card trail. “Your turn.”

Stephanie considered her options and put down a red five on the black six. She moved a black four from another string and put down an ace of spades on a third card trail.

“I hate aces,” Evan said, rocking. “You can’t do anything with them.”

“Who taught you all these games?” Stephanie asked.

“Lindsay.” He studied his cards, then picked up one at a time from the pile in the center. As he did, he sang. “Pick ’em up. Da-da-da-da. Pick ’em up.”

“Who’s Lindsay?”

“My sister. We used to play all the time.”

“She taught you?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Where’s your sister now?” Stephanie asked.

“Gone.”

“Gone where?”

Evan played a card and shrugged. “Your turn.”

As Stephanie considered her moves, she heard a sound in the distance like a car backfiring. She looked at Evan, who seemed not to have noticed the noise. Donna and Angel, though, stared off in the direction of the sound.

“It’s your move,” Evan said again.

She put down a red two, looking in the direction of the noise.

“You’re not done,” Evan said. “I liked to help Lindsay too.”

As she studied the game, she heard another blast. So did the two women. No mistaking it now. Gunshots. Her hand trembled as she moved the black ace, and used the free space to put down a run of seven, eight, and nine in alternating colors. Then she put down a king in the corner. Her final card.

“You won,” Evan said, looking up and smiling.

She felt sick to her stomach, but also a sense of urgency. “Does your sister live near here?” She just wanted to keep him talking, find out as much as she could, maybe get him to trust her, to remove the shackles.

Evan gathered the cards. “I don’t know,” he said.

“Don’t you ever get to see her?”

He shook his head and turned quickly for the stack of games.

“Evan—” she said.

“Let’s play Monopoly.”

“Evan—”

He looked to the other two women. “Do you want to play?”

“I do.”

The voice came from the door behind them. A male voice. Stephanie looked up at a man in the doorway, his head covered in a cap with earflaps, a rifle in his hands. He looked vaguely familiar. What she remembered more distinctly, though, was the dog, a Jack Russell terrier wagging its tail and shaking its body.

“Hey, Bibby,” Evan said. “Hey, Jackpot.”

“Jackpot,” Stephanie said under her breath and looked from the dog to the man. He smiled at her, the way he’d smiled at her on the trail. It gave her the creeps. In her memory she watched him raise the rock overhead.

Bibby motioned with his hand. “Go,” he said to the dog.

Jackpot ran to Evan, who petted him. “What are you doing here?”

“Franklin invited me up to the cabin. Didn’t he tell you?” Bibby asked.

Evan shook his head. He looked confused. “Franklin doesn’t like you. He says you’re a busybody.”

“Did he? Well, I like Franklin. Who is your friend?” Bibby asked.

“That’s Stephanie,” Evan said. “She’s my new sister.”

“Is she? Where did she come from?”

Evan made a face. “I don’t remember.”

“You don’t remember?” Bibby asked. He looked to Stephanie. “But you remember, don’t you, young lady? I can see it in your eyes.”

Stephanie didn’t answer, but she put a hand to her back, feeling the piece of wood.

Evan said, “We’re going to play Monopoly.”

“That’ll have to wait, Evan. Franklin asked me to come get you. He needs your help behind the house. He’s splitting some wood.”

Evan looked to the games. “He said I could play.”

Bibby shook his head. “Guess he changed his mind. Said there were chores needed to be done. He said you could play after you helped him. Said to tell you that if you didn’t come with me, he’d come get you, and he wouldn’t be happy.”

Evan let out a breath of air and stood. “Okay.”

“Evan,” Stephanie said, looking between the two men. “I don’t think you should go.”

“Now why would you involve yourself in something that has nothing to do with you?” Bibby said. “Come on, Evan.”