Page 87 of Rex

We come to the end of the woods and stop, crouching down in the tall grass. The car is nowhere to be seen, but there’s an old shed off to the side, and it could be in that. From this angle, I can’t tell. Ivy was right about the view, unfortunately. We can only see a small part of the backside and roof of the cabin.

“Oh fuck. I hope there are no snakes in this grass,” Reeves says in a quiet but suddenly nervous voice.

“Suck it up, bitch boy,” Pigeon orders.

“Easy for you to say, asshole. It’s not very fucking likely a clown is going to pop up out of nowhere and bite you in the balls,” Reeves shoots back.

I ignore both of them and lean up enough to look around. In the distance, I can see the creek everyone was talking about. It’s not so much a creek as it is a river. It’s much wider than I expected and probably deeper too.

“I want to get closer,” I say.

“You’ll be exposed if he’s watching,” Pigeon advises.

“I don’t see any windows on this side of the cabin, though,” I respond.

“True, but if he’s inside and comes outside, you’re caught,” Reeves states.

“If that happens, I’m relying on you two fucktards to cover me then,” I say before standing and moving forward.

“This risk is what women do to us. Makes us make bad choices,” Reeves states in a disgruntled tone.

I ignore him and continue moving slowly, as quietly as possible, toward the cabin. When I get close, I realize the cabin really is sitting on a small ledge of dirt and rock, not far above the water. I place my back against the cabin and stay still, listening for sounds within. My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I pull it out.

Petey: We’re about ten minutes from the cabin. Me and Trigger in the boat, Horse in a canoe. He’s ahead of us and should be there in about five.

Me: I’m against the back of the cabin. Just got here. Don’t know if he’s inside or not.

I inch my way along the wall, trying not to disturb anything that might tumble and make a sound. When I’m nearly to the end ofthe wall, I look toward the old shed, but the door is shut, and I can’t see inside. I turn the corner and freeze when a squirrel sits up and starts chirping its displeasure at having company. His noise sets off a few birds, and they take flight. When my phone vibrates again, I look down at it in my hand.

Chubs: I got the address from Pigeon. On my way. Save some of him for me.

Me: Who’s with Aria?

Chubs: Gunner

I slide the phone into my pocket and take another few steps before it vibrates again. What the ever-loving fuck!

Pigeon: We’re right behind you

Turning my head, I see Reeves and Pigeon moving in my direction. I wait until they join me, all our backs against the wall. The addition of humans sets the squirrel off again, and when his chirping doesn’t make us leave, he charges Reeves’ foot. Reeves lifts his boot out of the reach of the pissed-off squirrel, but it simply attacks the other one.

I shoot Reeves a dirty look, but he just shrugs at me. Pigeon has a hand over his mouth, holding back a laugh when the squirrel takes things up a notch. Racing up Reeves’ body, it circles his neck with his tail across Reeves’ eyes. I swat at it, wanting the damn thing to leave us alone, but that only makes it angrier.

Reeves starts thrashing around, grabbing for the squirrel, but it finds an opening and dives down the back of his shirt. Now Reeves is nearly coming out of his skin while Pigeon is trying to pull his shirt up to let the squirrel escape. I start slapping at bothof them, trying to get them to quiet the fuck down when Reeves shouts and throws himself to the ground. I quickly peek around the corner to see if Dale’s going to come charging out of the cabin, but the door stays closed.

Glancing up the creek, I see a canoe coming our way. I wave, trying to get Horse’s attention and let him know our location. During this, Reeves is still rolling around on the ground and trying to strip himself of clothing. When Pigeon’s eyes meet mine, I stab a finger at him, then at Reeves, and then draw my finger across my throat. The threat raises Pigeon’s eyebrows, but it does get him moving to shut up Reeves.

Turning back to the river, I see Horse standing in the canoe, fishing pole in hand. He’s very slowly floating past the front of the cabin. I see him give a negative shake of his head and sigh. Fuck, he can’t see anything helpful either. Hearing a new sound, I look again and spot Petey slowly rowing while Trigger tosses a line. They stop just a bit upriver from the cabin and Horse.

“I’m bit! The fucker bit me! Fuuucckkkk!” Reeves suddenly and loudly shouts.

Ignoring his pain, I pull my gun from my waistband and step around to the front of the cabin. I lean back and kick in the door, gun aimed at the interior. Moving inside quickly, I look in every corner for a threat. Not seeing any, I move down the hallway, clearing the bathroom and single bedroom. Nothing. He’s not here.

Turning around, I nearly plow over Pigeon, who’s right behind me, gun in hand.

I walk into the living room/kitchen and stop. Looking around, it’s obvious someone’s been here recently. Stalking to the smallfridge, I open it and pull out the milk container. Its expiration date isn’t for a few days yet, so it’s fresh. Pissed off about missing him again, I heave the container against the wall and watch it explode milk everywhere.

I step outside and wave to Petey. He immediately starts rowing toward the shore. Horse starts to sit down, probably to do the same as Petey, but instead, his canoe starts rocking wildly. I watch, completely disinterested, as the canoe loses the fight and tosses Horse out as it capsizes. I don’t even have it in me to laugh, but that doesn’t hold Pigeon back. He starts howling, bending over, hands on his knees.

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