The Familiar Dark(43)

I drove past the guard station, wincing a little as I remembered the few times I’d let Jimmy Ray talk me into bringing Junie out here. My worst moments as a mother rising up along with the shadows creeping out from the stands of trees lining the road. Back then, Matt lived in a trailer on the western edge of Jimmy Ray’s property, and I was guessing that was still the case. Once Jimmy Ray’s henchmen staked out a piece of land, they were reluctant to move. And if memory served, Matt’s trailer might have been a broken-down tin can like my mama’s, but he was close to the creek and had a view of the rolling hills out of his back windows.

The road curved, and I eased my car onto the shoulder, following a set of tracks I knew from memory, not from sight. Branches slapped against my windows, and I thanked God for the lack of recent rain. Last thing I needed was to get bogged down, stuck out here with no way to escape. Just when I thought maybe I’d turned too early, I saw the half-rotted cabin Jimmy Ray had shown me once. It was the original homestead of the family who had owned this land years ago. Overgrown and hidden. We’d had sex there, me pressed up against the moss-covered walls and Junie asleep out in the car. I knew there was a wide-open patch of ground to turn my car around on, leave it facing out for a fast getaway.

There was no subtle way to approach Jimmy Ray’s compound in a car. He’d built it at the base of a hill. Even with your lights off, you crested that rise and it was all over. The only chance you had to approach undetected was on foot, and the farther you stayed from Jimmy Ray, the better your chances. If things went right, I could cut through the woods, talk to Matt, and be back out again before Jimmy Ray even knew I’d been here. It was in Matt’s best interest to make sure that’s how it went down, too. Jimmy Ray only liked the drama he created. He didn’t want to deal with anyone else’s bullshit. The faster Matt got me out of here, the better for both of us.

I grabbed a flashlight out of my glove compartment and set off through the brush. Kudzu grabbed at my ankles, and overhead I could hear bats wheeling in the darkening sky. Off to my left, something slinked through the underbrush, and I made my footfalls louder in response. But I wasn’t afraid. I’d grown up in these woods, knew them as well as I knew my own heartbeat. Nothing out here would hurt me without a fair fight.

I slowed as the trees thinned out, lights glowing in the near distance. I could see an ever-present ring of trucks outside of Jimmy Ray’s house, but it was too far away for me to see any movement, especially in the growing dark. Ahead and to my left was the path leading to Matt’s trailer. There was no way to avoid leaving the cover of the trees and being exposed, at least for a few moments. I’d worn jeans and a black shirt, and hoped that anyone who might spot me would be far enough away to simply assume I was one of their own. Almost all Jimmy Ray’s men had girlfriends or wives, sometimes both, living on the compound, so my presence might not seem out of place.

I hesitated, listening, but heard nothing but the wind through the tops of the trees, the distant hoot of a barn owl. The time to go was now, but still I waited. Not sure if it was fear stopping my feet or some remnant of my lizard brain warning me not to move yet. I counted slowly to one hundred and then did it again. Nothing. I took a deep breath and pushed out of the trees, walking quickly, eyes straight ahead, toward the path to Matt’s trailer. The sense of exposure, of being easy pickings, made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, and I resisted the urge to run. I was halfway there when I heard the sound of a car engine from the direction of Jimmy Ray’s house. My heart burst forward in my chest, like it was trying to beat my body to the safety of the path, and I glanced to my right, saw headlights cresting the hill and sweeping across the long grass in front of me.

There was nowhere for me to go. I couldn’t make it back to the woods before the lights reached me, so I surged forward, tripping a little as I broke into a run, scrambling forward to where the path disappeared over a rise. I threw myself into the long grass and rolled, my shoulder snagging on something sharp as I slid to a stop.

I waited, breathing in harsh pants, listening for the sound of voices or car doors opening. Jimmy Ray would have a field day with me. He’d make my broken wrist seem like amateur hour. But the car didn’t stop, kept moving down the road and away from me. I lay there for a moment longer, pressing against the wound in my shoulder and watching my fingers come away red.

“Shit,” I muttered, pushing myself up. A weird kind of embarrassment flooded me. What was I doing here, pretending to be some kind of badass avenger? What would Junie say if she could see me right now? Somehow I thought her reaction might be more eye roll than encouragement. But I’d come this far, could see the light glowing from the windows of Matt’s trailer in the distance.

I trudged down the hill, feet sliding a little on the matted grass. Nobody out here locked their doors. I could barge in, catch him unawares. But everybody out here kept a loaded gun at the ready, too. And total surprise might end with a bullet in my belly. I decided knocking was probably the smartest way to go. Somehow I didn’t think he’d refuse me entry. If nothing else, curiosity would probably get the best of him, like it did with most people.

I was still fifty yards away when I heard the twang of a country song from his windows. A few steps closer and I smelled the remnants of his dinner on the wind. Grilled meat and barbecue sauce. Another five yards and a strange whooshing noise stopped me in my tracks. Not the wind. I tried to place it, stomach plummeting as my brain clicked—the sucking noise a stove makes when you fire up the pilot light. And then the whole world exploded.