Free Wild Night is Calling by J.A. Konrath Page B

whipped through the car, carrying the scent of moist earth, green plants and manure. Rolling hills and the yard lights of farms gave way to the illuminated slashes of strip malls then faded back to dark stretches of burgeoning corn. Neither one of them spoke. Caitlin couldn’t really hear Zach’s breathing, but she could sense it. In and out. In and out. She found herself listening for it, straining to hear over the whoosh of the highway outside. As if it was the only thing she had to hold onto. The one thing that could see her through this nightmare.

    “How are you doing?” he asked, as if sensing her tenuous hold on control.

    “Okay.” It was a reflexive answer. And not a bit true. “Actually, I’m scared. Hannah’s had some trouble in the past.”

    “Trouble?”

    She kept her focus on the road. She knew she shouldn’t be telling him her friend’s secrets. Hannah wouldn’t forgive her. “Her stepfather.”

    “He beat her up or something?”

    “That was only the start of it. It was bad. The whole thing was bad. I’m afraid…” She couldn’t say more. Hannah trusted her. She couldn’t tell the rest. She couldn’t betray her friend.

    “We’ll find her,” Zach said.

    It didn’t take long before they were in Lake Hubbard, yet Caitlin still had no clue where to start searching. The town wasn’t large, but it was certainly too big to find one woman, when they had nothing to go on but the first name Josh.

    She looked to Zach. He was so cute with his hair curling around the collar of his polo shirt. Clean cut. Nice. The kind of guy she could rely on to help. At least she had that going for her. “Now what?”

    “Now we go to the police station.”

    A quiver seated itself in Caitlin’s stomach. She drove two blocks and stopped for a red light before she was ready to speak. “Are you sure we need the cops?”

    “Any other ideas?”

    She didn’t have a single one.

    “Me, either.” Zach reached out and patted her arm. The gesture was awkward, as if he was trying to be reassuring and didn’t quite know how. “So we go to the police. Maybe they can help us figure out where Josh lives.”

    “Why would they know? Has he been in trouble with the law?” Possible scenarios sprouted and bloomed in her mind.

    “I have no idea,” he said. “Except for that one thing with the girl, every time I hung out with him, he seemed perfectly normal.”

    “A lot of people seem normal. Seeming normal doesn’t mean he hasn’t been in trouble before.”

    “Yeah. You’re right.”

    Her throat pinched. A sob jerked deep in her gut. This whole thing was seeming more hopeless all the time. Maybe Zach was right. Maybe going to the police was their best choice. Maybe it was their only choice. And if Hannah hated her as a result, she would just have to live with that.

    The light turned green, and Caitlin continued through the outskirts of Lake Hubbard. The bright colored signs of fast food restaurants, bowling alleys and big box stores shimmered in the humidity. The scent of burgers and deep fried grease wafted in through the windows. Caitlin hadn’t eaten since she’d scarfed down a cream puff right before they left the park, but the last thing she wanted was food. She just wanted to be on her way home with Hannah. She just wanted everything to be back to normal. And if it took going to the police to make that happen, maybe that’s what she’d have to do.

    “We’ll find her. It’s all going to be all right.”

    “You keep saying that. But…” The horrors of the past battled at the wall she built in the back of her mind. She didn’t want to remember the details. Didn’t want to think it was possible such terrible events could happen again. “It was bad enough with Hannah’s stepfather, but there was another guy, too. Just last year.”

    “Sounds like your friend has gone through hell.”

    “She has.” And Caitlin had, too. Everyone had.

    “I know you’re afraid for Hannah, but