You Can't Catch Me(66)

I type something and hit “Send.”

Then I take out the other cell phone that I found in Jessie’s tent and hold it in my left hand. An unmistakable sound goes off as it receives my text.

Ping!

She got the message.





Chapter 30

Ollie, Ollie, Oxen Free

Seconds later, JJ and I are chasing Jessie through the woods. I stopped long enough to shove my feet back into my water shoes, but part of me regrets it as the wet fabric rubs against my skin.

Jessie’s faster than I expected, weaving in and out of the trees, not looking back. But then I think back to that first time I saw her, at the end of her run back in Wilmington. Who knows how long she’d been out there that day, or how fast she could go?

I drop my head to avoid the branch of a conifer but not fast enough. I feel the skin on my cheek slice open, but I can’t stop to tend it. It’s easy to see Jessie; she’s still wearing her bright-yellow life jacket, jumping over logs like a deer. JJ’s to the right of me, just ahead, also faster than I am, her arms pumping. I’m having trouble catching my breath, and my legs feel like they’re moving through molasses.

I stop and cup my hands around my mouth. “Jessie! There’s no use running! Stop!”

She keeps going, so I start to run again. JJ’s gaining on her but still hasn’t caught her.

Wham!

I slam into the forest floor so fast I don’t even have time to get my hands out in front of me. My chin hits first, clicking my teeth into my tongue. My mouth fills with the metallic taste of blood as I lie facedown, stunned, unsure of how badly I’ve hurt myself. I can feel my heart thudding, the blood rushing to the various scrapes and bruises that I’ve collected today. I hear a shout up ahead, indistinct. Was that JJ?

I pull my arms out from under me; nothing’s broken. I place my hands on the ground and start to push myself up gently. Everything hurts, but it all seems to be working.

“No!”

The voice seems closer now, and scared. A new jolt of adrenaline brings me to my feet. I grab a rock off the ground, then spin around in a circle, looking, looking. Dammit, where are they?

“Stop!”

There! A flash of yellow. I start to run, my left leg dragging with a sprain that might be more serious than I can absorb right now. I break through the trees and there they are, in a small clearing. Jessie’s on her back on the ground, her hands up, trying to protect her face. JJ’s standing over her with a heavy piece of wood in her hand, ready to go in for the kill.

“Stop!” I scream as JJ pulls her arm back.

“You stupid bitch,” JJ says to her.

“JJ, no,” I say. “Not like . . . Stop! Back away.”

“Please, JJ, please.” Jessie’s crying, but it sounds fake to me.

I walk toward them gingerly. Jessie has a gash across her forehead. Her arms and legs are scratched up like mine. Only JJ seems unfazed and uninjured.

“Please, Jess, don’t let her—”

“Shut up, Jessie!” I say. “You’re not helping.”

I put my hand on JJ’s shoulder. She rounds on me quickly, and I duck out of the way of the log.

“Hey! Watch it.”

“Sorry, man, I—”

Jessie uses the moment of inattention to jump to her feet. “She almost killed me,” she says to me.

“Drop the act, Molly.”

Her face relaxes and it’s easier to see her now: Jessica Two. Like a painting that was there all the time, only a bit of linseed oil needed to reveal the image underneath the mask.

“Fine,” she says. “Whatever you like.”

“There’s nothing about this I like.”

“Bullshit.”

“Stay there.” I point to her. “What do you want to do?” I ask JJ.

She thinks about it. “Nice secluded spot. No one will find the body before the bears get to her.”

I watch Jessie as JJ speaks. She’s calculating the odds that JJ’s actually going to hurt her. Maybe she’s remembering back to last night at the washstand. We both saw the look in JJ’s eyes. The casualness. She’s killed someone before, maybe at close hand.

“We’ve left our DNA all over, though,” I say, as I wipe my hand across my cheek. It comes away full of blood. “Plus, the mess we’ve made of the forest.”

“You think they’re going to get all CSI out here if this piece of shit goes missing?”

“Not sure. It’s possible, though, isn’t it?”

“They’ll definitely do it,” Jessie says.

“Shut up!” JJ and I say together.

I get closer to JJ without taking my eyes off Jessie. She smells earthy, sweat and dirt mixed with a tinge of blood.

“Let’s get the money first.”

“First? What’s—”

JJ turns and thrusts her hand out in a chopping motion against Jessie’s throat. Jessie falls to the ground, gasping, clutching her neck.

“Shit, JJ. How’s she going to talk now?”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t do anything permanent. That’ll keep her quiet for a minute. I couldn’t stand her talking anymore.”

I watch Jessie rolling around on the ground, clutching her throat. I have to admit, it feels good to see her suffer.