Page 65 of No Place Left to Hide

I nod, and realize too late that she can’t really see me. “Where did you even come from?”

“I got to the road, but you didn’t come up. I waited but when I heard you scream, I grabbed my keys and came to find you.”

God, I could kiss her. “I’m glad you did. I think he was about two seconds from wringing my neck.”

The screaming stops long enough to switch to angrily cursing my name, and we climb faster. Our attacker probably got a direct shot of the spray, but he could get up this hill if he wanted us badly enough.

My hand slaps the cool metal of the guardrail, and my muscles go weak with relief. We haul ourselves over the top of it and onto the breakdown lane. I hit the asphalt with a groan, seeming to land on all my embankment bruises at once.

“Don’t stop,” Jena says, tugging at me again. “We have to get out of here before he reaches the top or we’re fucked.”

I stumble to my feet, squinting to see through the burning.

We stagger along the road and when we come around the bend,the crash site is right there. One of the Bronco’s high beams is pointed straight at us. It illuminates the interior of the police cruiser and the Subaru like a lamp. I watch tendrils of smoke rise from beneath the hood of the Bronco with a burst of satisfaction. The fucker won’t be following us this time.

I wrench open the driver’s side door and reach inside the Subaru to grab the waters Jena bought at the gas station. I hand her one and crack it open.

“Don’t touch your face,” Jena warns. “Don’t rub it. Don’t touch anything but the water bottle until you can blink it away.”

The water stings until it doesn’t, and slowly but surely, I can open my eyes all the way. They still burn like a bitch but it’s bearable. Everything is hazy, like I’ve been swimming open-eyed in a pool for too long. Only much worse. I ditch the rest of the water and leave Jena to finish up with hers while I run to the police car.

Officer Lefebvre is hunched over her steering wheel. Blood is drying along the edges of her hairline and for one horrifying moment, I think she might be dead. But then her back rises and falls, and when I poke her shoulder, she groans.

“Oh, thank god.”

Her radio is going nuts. Calls come in, asking her to respond. Another voice says backup has been dispatched. Another voice asks how long she’s been out of contact. By now they probably have half the Dallas PD bearing down on this location. She’s probably going to be fine. The police response also means help is already coming our way, and if we keep driving, we’ll intercept them in no time.

I run back to the Subaru. “Get in!”

Jena throws the empty water bottles into the car and dives through my open door to get to her side of the car. Apparently neither of uswants to get close to those woods, not without knowing exactly where that fucker is.

I slide in and as I click my seatbelt into place, there’s movement in Jena’s sideview mirror. I look back and watch in horror as the masked asshole comes up over the guardrail next to the cop car. Black pants, black sweatshirt all covered in debris and clumps of pine needles. A darkened mask where their face should be.

This can’t be happening. How did he get back there already?

Who is this guy, Michael Myers? How many times does he have to go down before he stays there?

“Brooke, hurry,” Jena shouts, pushing the button to lock the door.

I hit the keyless start and the engine groans to life. The headlights blink on and someone’s standing fifty feet in front of the car. They throw up their arm to shield their eyes from the light.

Black pants. Black sweatshirt. Only their mask glows pink.

I whip back around. The other figure still stands at the railing.

Holy shit.“There are two of them.”

That’s how he’s appearing everywhere. That’s how he got to the top of the road before me. Hedidn’t. One chased me through the woods, and a second person pushed me down the hill. One got hit by the branch, and the other rattled my brains loose at the base of the hill.

Jena shrieks. “Brooke!”

I can’t respond. My brain is moving a mile a minute.

All night my only comfort has been knowing who was behind this: Brandon Heck, out for revenge—terrifying but simple. I knew my enemy and could at least guess what he was and wasn’t capable of. But astwodark figures stare me down, I am entirely unmoored. Who would help Brandon with this bonkers plan?

Sorry. Not Brandon.

And if it’s not him…who the fuck is chasing us? Whoelsewould want me dead?

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