Hunted (38 page)

“Lanie, why did you leave The Drive-In last night?  Why didn’t you answer your phone?” Johnna asked her, clearly perturbed.

Lanie reached to pull her phone from her back pocket, but it wasn’t there.  Stunned, she racked her brain, trying to remember the last time she had it.  She clearly remembered texting her dad right before they left the game field to go to The Drive-In and then…she didn’t remember having it after that.

Her phone must have fallen out sometime during…her encounter with Chase.  Which meant it was probably still lying in the woods behind the restaurant.  Perfect.  What if she needed it?  What if her dad was trying to call her? 

“What’s going on?” she asked Johnna, not wanting to dwell on the night before.

“They found another…person last night,” Johnna whispered, as if that would lessen the blow.

“I know,” she said.  “My dad told me on his way out last night.”

“Well, everyone found out pretty fast and now there’s a panic,” Johnna said, shaking her head.  “The parents are refusing to let their kids come to school.  They don’t want to let them leave the house.  We might have to cancel the Homecoming Parade and the game.”

Lanie felt her mouth fall open.  “What?”

Johnna shook her head, looking helpless.  “Obviously there’s a serial killer in Fells Pointe, Lanie.  He’s going after young girls and it could be anyone!  I mean, my neighbor said hello to me this morning when I was leaving and my dad nearly had a fit.  He’s known Mr. Cooper for years and he suddenly thinks he might be the one doing it!  People are going crazy!”

Lanie felt her stomach drop.  People were blaming their neighbors.  People were locking their children up in the house.  The town was running scared.  She could not imagine what would happen if they found out that a monster who couldn’t be stopped was responsible. 

There would be a panic.

“I don’t know what to do,” Johnna said, her large eyes tearing.  “I mean, everything’s all screwed up and there’s no telling when things will be back to normal.  This ruins everything!”

Lanie nodded, her own eyes tearing out of sympathy.  “I know,” she said.

“That’s three people dead, Lanie,” Johnna said unevenly.  “Three girls that we know!  Three girls that would have left school with us and probably left town to go to college in just a few months!  It’s…it’s not fair!”

Lanie agreed that it wasn’t fair.  It wasn’t fair that Frederik picked their town to move into and take over.  It wasn’t fair that he was killing people who hadn’t done a thing to him.  It wasn’t fair that Kyle Vincent had spent years of his life chasing after someone he was never going to catch.  And what was even more unfair was that Frederik was never going to be stopped, that he could keep going forever!  Who knew how long he’d already been doing this, going from town to town, killing girls like they meant nothing, like they were cattle just waiting to be slaughtered.

There was nothing
fair
about this entire situation!

“I don’t even want to be here,” Johnna said, swiping at her eyes.  “The teachers aren’t going to be able to have class with half the school missing, anyway.”

Lanie agreed with Johnna on both counts.  “Did you drive?”

“Yes.  Why?” the girl wondered.

“Then let’s get out of here,” Lanie suggested, slamming her locker shut, the noise echoing loudly up and down the empty hallway.

Johnna seemed shocked.  “Lanie, what’s going on with you?  You don’t blow off school!”

“These are extenuating circumstances,” she stated with a shrug.

There was a vampire in Fells Pointe and she had no idea when he might be swooping at her from out of the shadows, ready to make her his mate.  She was allowed to break character, wasn’t she?

Johnna shrugged, a
whatever
expression suddenly on her face.  “Where are we going?  I mean, it’s not safe to be out anywhere.”

Lanie shrugged.  “We can go to Katy’s Korner for a while.  I could use a coffee.”

Without further argument, Johnna grabbed her purse from her locker and they made for the door, meeting Finn on his way in. 

“Where are you two going?” he asked roughly, using his large frame to block the doorway.

“Away from here,” Johnna answered.  “Half the kids have been kept home.”

“I’m coming with you,” Finn said without hesitation.  And then he turned his gaze to Lanie.  “Have you seen Chase this morning?”

She flinched, feeling heat creep up into her cheeks.  “No.”

She didn’t need to see Chase Wylie this morning.  She’d seen him enough the night before.  He was there every time she closed her eyes.

“He has something to say to you when he does sees you,” Finn stated, putting an arm around both she and Johnna and leading them out of the building and across the lot to Johnna’s car.

“What does he have to say to Lanie?” Johnna asked.  “Does this have something to do with why you both disappeared from The Drive-In last night?  Finn made Brady give us a ride home, but he wouldn’t tell us why.”

“Brady had to give you a ride home because Chase had to drive himself to the ER,” Finn stated as they all piled into the car.

Johnna gasped loudly, her eyes growing wide.  “Why did he have to go to the ER!  What happened to him!”

Finn cast a glance at Lanie, who was sitting in the backseat, obviously waiting for her to answer.  But, she couldn’t.  She didn’t want to say it out loud. 

“The jackass got a little bit overheated last night and tried to maul Lanie,” Finn answered for her. 

“What!  He-he did not!” Johnna exclaimed in a horrified tone as she turned to look at Lanie.  “Lanie, tell me he didn’t!”

“He did,” Finn stated.  “But, me and a couple of the guys had a few…words with him and he decided he wants to apologize to her.  And then he wants to say as far away from her as he can get.”

Lanie felt a little surge of fondness for Finn Gellar.

“Lanie, are you…was it...bad enough to tell your dad?” Johnna questioned, her eyes filling with tears.

“I-I…I’m going to tell him as soon as he’s done with whatever happened last night,” she answered quietly.

There was a brief silence between them and Lanie found herself wishing that her friends would look away from her for a minute.  The expressions on their faces hurt her.

“I’m just glad your friend was there to stop him, but I need to apologize to him for what we did,” Finn broke the silence, turning back around and buckling up.

“Friend?  What friend?  What’d you do to him?” Johnna asked as she jammed the key into the ignition and started the Honda’s engine.

Lanie did not want to talk about her friend, but Finn had no such qualms.  “Lanie had a friend there and I thought
he
was bothering her, so me and the guys might have tried to give him a little bit of an ass kicking.”

Yes.  They had
tried
to give him an ass kicking, but in reality, he had just been trying
not
to kick their asses.

Johnna threw the car into gear and headed out of the nearly empty parking lot.  “What friend?  You didn’t have anyone with you last night,” she accused, shooting Lanie a look over her shoulder.

Lanie cringed, not knowing what to say.  “He…he just showed up.”

“Is this the guy you’ve been ditching school for?” Johnna asked her.

Lanie shrugged.  Why were her friends so nosy!  She would never stick her nose into their business!

“Lanie, this is freaking me out!  Why won’t you let anyone meet him!” Johnna demanded.  “What’s wrong with him!  Is he fresh out of Juvie or something!”

“Johnna, you’re going to pop a vein,” Finn told the girl.  “If Lanie wanted you to know, she’d tell you.”

Thank you, Finn!  At least someone had a sense of boundaries!

Johnna huffed and fell into silence.  However, a second after she stopped talking, Finn took over.  “Lanie, that was the guy from The Pub the other day, wasn’t it?  The one you bought food for?”

Johnna sucked in a breath, her head whipping around and her mouth falling open.  “What!  Lanie, no! 
What
!  Not
that
guy!”

Lanie gritted her teeth, trying to see a way out of this, but she couldn’t.  “I don’t want to talk about it,” she said, knowing full well that she was wasting her breath.

“Ha!” Johnna spat derisively.  “Well, you’re going to!  You’re hanging out with
a bum
!  You’re hooking up with him in your bedroom!  You
are
going to talk about it!”

“I am not hooking up with
anyone
!” Lanie defended herself.  “It’s not like that.”

“Then what is it like because I have to tell you, that guy is weird,” Finn added helpfully.  “We tried to beat
the shit
out of him and he barely even flinched.  And he knocked me on my ass with before I even knew what happened.  I wanna know what this guy’s deal is.”

Lanie cringed.  Perfect!  Finn did not need to say things like that in front of Johnna, of all people!  “I don’t want to talk about it,” she repeated.

“You are talking about it, Lanie!” Johnna hissed.  “I mean, this guy shows up out of nowhere!  He can’t even pay for his own food!  And you’re hanging out with him!  And you know what’s going on around here!  I mean, how do you he’s not the one going around killing people!”

A sudden wave of silence broke over the car and Lanie could just hear the wheels grinding in both her friends’ minds. 

“Don’t even think it, you two!” she warned, meaning it.  “He has nothing to do with what’s happening here!”

“How do you know that, Lanie?” Finn spoke up.  “Are you with him twenty four hours a day?  How do you know what he’s doing when you aren’t watching him?  And Stacy
was
found the night before we saw him in The Pub.”

“Lanie, your dad is looking for that guy to question him!” Johnna gasped.  “Does he know you’re with him?  What will he do to you if he finds out?”

Lanie drew in a breath.  “Guys, he’s not the one who’s killing people.  Trust me, alright?  I know what I’m doing,” she stated seriously.

The resounding lack of response told her that her friends highly doubted that she knew what she was doing, but she couldn’t argue them into believing her.  And she didn’t want to try.  Spending any more time than necessary on the subject of Kyle Vincent might just tip Johnna off that something was amiss about him and that was the last thing she needed to happen!

They lapsed into silence while Johnna navigated across town to Katy’s Korner and as soon as they were parked, Lanie exited the car with a grateful sigh.  Maybe some iced coffee would keep her friends mouths busy enough so they would stop prying.  As quickly as possible without being obvious, Lanie hurried into the building, but her friends were right on her heels, giving her no break at all.  Inside, the small space was already filled up with people, all gathered at the tables and talking in hushed tones.  The atmosphere was so heavy, it gave Lanie a chill.

Once they’d ordered their coffees, it was decided they would drink them outside in the little courtyard area off to the side of the building.  Lanie knew that by sitting outside, in full view of anyone driving by, she ran the risk of being spotted by her dad or one of his deputies, but she was willing to do it anyway.  Her dad would be angry that she wasn’t in school, but what was the point when half the kids weren’t there?  And she figured she would be perfectly safe sitting in plain view of a busy street with her friends there with her and probably Kyle lurking somewhere about.

“Has anyone heard from Devyn?” Finn asked as they sat beneath one of the little white umbrellas, sipping their coffees.

“She’s locked up at home,” Johnna answered.  “Her mom’ll probably never let her out of the house again.  She’s always been paranoid about something happening to Devyn and this will push her over the edge.”