Hideout by Jack Heath (iphone ebook reader txt) 📕

‘Two minutes is long enough to tell the precinct he made it here,’ I say. ‘If they don’t hear from him again soon, they’ll send more.’

‘The driver was a woman,’ Kyle says.

Donnie returns, holding two shotguns.

‘Wait,’ I say again. ‘I can get rid of her.’

‘So can I,’ Donnie says, inserting cartridges into his shotgun.

‘If you shoot her, more will come.’

‘We can be gone by then.’

‘Let me talk to her,’ Zara says. ‘She might be more inclined to trust another woman.’

That sounds like crap to me. ‘Why would a woman who looks like you live alone in the middle of nowhere?’

I hoped the flattery would convince her to back off, but it backfires. ‘Okay,’ she says. ‘You can be my husband.’

‘What?’ I say, but Zara is already walking back towards the door. I run after her.

The doorbell buzzes again.

Zara shakes her hair out and messes it up. ‘Unbutton your pants,’ she says, and reaches for the doorhandle.

I barely get it done in time. Zara opens the door, revealing a police officer.

She’s white, fifties, five-foot-nothing in the black boots and tan uniform of a county sheriff’s deputy. She turns back to face us as the door opens, like she’d already given up and started to walk back to her cruiser. It looks like the Guards’ problem would have solved itself had Zara not opened the door.

‘Sorry,’ Zara says. ‘We were just—’

‘Vacuuming,’ I say.

‘Washing up,’ Zara says at the same moment.

‘I was vacuuming, she was washing up.’ I clear my throat. ‘What can we do for you, officer?’

The deputy looks at Zara’s dishevelled hair and my unbuttoned pants, and gives a slight nod. ‘Sorry to disturb you,’ she says. ‘I’m Deputy Lewis. Can I come in?’

It’s a reasonable request. Snow has started to fall behind her.

I glance back through the doorway. From here, I can see Donnie in the kitchen holding one of the shotguns.

‘The place is kind of a mess,’ I say, hoping Donnie will take the hint and get out of sight. ‘But if you really need to …’

‘No, it’s okay. I won’t take up too much of your time.’ Lewis watches us closely as she talks. ‘A hiker has gone missing in this area. It’s been three days since his family heard from him.’

Zara puts her hand on my shoulder. ‘Oh God, that’s awful!’

‘Hiking, at this time of year?’ I say. ‘He must be nuts.’

A thin smile from Lewis. ‘Well, the County Sheriff’s Office likes to look after the entire community, not just the sane individuals within it, so we’re canvassing the neighbourhood.’

‘Not much of a neighbourhood,’ Zara says. ‘It’s just me and David out here.’

I’m David, apparently. My false identities are getting harder to keep track of.

‘So you folks haven’t seen anything?’ Lewis asks.

‘We haven’t been outside much on account of the weather,’ I say.

Lewis glances at my open fly again. ‘Right. The weather.’

‘Who is he?’ Zara asks. ‘The hiker.’

‘Name of Floyd Harris. He’s forty, married, three kids. Walks the Sundress Hills Trail by himself every year, according to his wife, but I guess this time he went off the path. We’ve walked the whole way along it, looking for him.’

‘I’ve never heard of the Sundress Hills,’ I say.

‘Me neither, until the missing persons report was filed.’ Lewis looks carefully at Zara. ‘Is everything okay out here in general?’

She seems to think I might be dangerous. Astute of her.

‘We’re doing just fine.’ Zara threads an arm around my waist and holds me close. Her body is warm, her abdomen soft through her shirt.

‘Yup,’ I agree.

‘Uh-huh.’ Lewis offers a card to Zara. ‘Well, if you see anything, give me a call.’

Zara takes the card and examines both sides of it. ‘Will do.’

Lewis clomps back down the stairs to the driveway, hands clenched into fists against the cold. Strange that she didn’t bring a picture of the hiker to show us.

Snow has started to settle on the roof of her patrol car. As she climbs in and takes one last look at us through the windshield, Zara kisses me on the cheek.

‘Well done, sweetie,’ she says.

‘You too.’

I watch as Lewis starts her engine, reverses out and drives away. Another chance to do the right thing, disappearing into the snow.

CHAPTER 13

Which animal keeps track of time?

We find Donnie in the kitchen, still clutching his shotgun. ‘Is she gone?’

‘She’s gone,’ I say.

‘Did she call for backup?’

‘No.’ Actually, she didn’t touch her radio before driving away. Seems odd that she didn’t tell the precinct she’d finished talking to us. If she has a car accident on her way back, a SWAT team might show up here, assuming we’re responsible for her disappearance.

‘Good news.’ Zara straightens her hair. ‘The guy last night was just a hiker. His family hasn’t heard from him, so the police are just asking around.’

This can’t be the whole story—the hiker knew my name somehow. But at least my immediate problem is solved.

‘Huh.’ Donnie looks relieved, but also annoyed that he won’t get to shoot anybody. ‘Good job, Lux.’

‘Zara was very convincing,’ I say.

Zara squeezes my shoulder. ‘You make a great husband.’

Kyle clears his throat. ‘We all should get back to work then, I guess.’

‘Right,’ Donnie says. ‘Come on, Lux. Let’s feed the inmates.’

‘Sure.’ I try to sound casual. No one has noticed the sabotaged cameras yet, or at least, they haven’t mentioned them.

Donnie collects the masks. This time I’m Frankenstein and he’s the witch. I can taste his breath from yesterday inside the mask.

Swapping faces probably disorients the prisoners. They can’t be sure who’s who, or even how many Guards there are.

We go out the back door and up the hill towards the slaughterhouse. I