Page 191 of Deliverance

“Just because we’re so fucked up that we sometimes forget to fight for ourselves doesn’t mean we don’t want other people to keep fighting for us, Zander,” she utters solemnly.

It’s the most profound thing I’ve heard in years and, oddly, it came from someone who’s nearly twice as young as me.

After visiting Drew’s loft, we split up.

Preston drives to the nearest police station to raise hell, and I follow the GPS and leave for Redlands. By the time I get there, the sun has completed its journey across the sky and is about to dip below the horizon.

I stop in a deserted parking lot on the edge of the city limits, and I’ve been behind the wheel so long that the moment my feet connect with the ground, my knees buckle.

Everything here is unfamiliar, dry, and reeks of disappointment.

Leaning against the Jeep for support, I scan the washed-out landscape, the dilapidated buildings, the flat roofs of faraway warehouses glinting beneath the final bursts of the evening sun.

The air that flows into my lungs is chilly and smells like grass, and I realize that the night is going to become even cooler, which might be an issue since I didn’t bother to wear anything but a T-shirt and jeans.

Drawing a deep, steadying breath, I drop my gaze to the phone clutched in my hand and study the map. The pin indicates that the Lexus is somewhere here, but all I see is a barren piece of land blanketed by beat-up asphalt with faded parking lines.

No one’s used this lot in ages.

I push off the car, go to the road, and start walking. Farther down the road, there’s a thin line of dead trees. To my left, there’s an alley, a tall metal fence running along one side of it. The other side overlooks a small clearing. To my right, there’s a cluster of unkempt bushes, crooked bold-tipped branches sticking out every direction.

Great.

Tossing my head back and halting for a brief second, I stare up at the darkening sky that has no answers for me.

I dialed Drew’s number over a hundred times today and every single one ended in me listening to her voicemail recording.

I wasn’t sure why I called, knowing that she left her phone at the studio. Perhaps a fraction of me still hoped that Officer Kincaid was right and she simply freaked out and got herself lost because she needed some time to sort through everything, but my heart tells me otherwise. My heart tells me that Drew’s disappearance is part of the chess game her ex has been playing.

And this is checkmate.

You can’t think like that, I tell myself starting back for the alley while occasionally checking the map on my phone.

Unmoving, the pin is a small winking dot against the screen.

I continue my march down a narrow stretch of street with a distant dog barking and the smell of piss. The road curves and forks, and I see a smattering of house lights behind a shadowy structure up ahead.

I recognize the Lexus from afar before I confirm the color. Its slick shape couldn’t be mistaken for anything else in this dump of a town.

My pace quickens to a light sprint and I soon find myself running. My lungs burn and push against my ribcage, the vicious rhythm nearly bruising it.

Surprisingly, the car is untouched. Aside from a thin layer of dust on the windshield, there’s no other damage—no scratches, no broken glass, no signs of struggle. When I pull the driver’s door open, it complies with suspicious ease.

The knot in my stomach grows heavy at the sight of the fob on the passenger seat. I lean forward and pop my head inside to snatch it, then check the trunk.

Empty.

The carpeting is cool to the touch too.

I stumble back and study my surroundings, wondering how the car hasn’t been stolen or vandalized yet. But then again, there’s not a single soul anywhere in the streets. This place feels like it’s been forgotten by the entire world and I’m terrified that it’ll swallow up Drew too.

My thoughts continue to run rampant as I begin to lumber toward my Jeep, ignoring the cold wind tearing at my T-shirt.

In the car, I Google the nearest police station and drive there.

The red and gray brick building sits on the corner of a large shopping center, and the area is dark but for a series of lampposts that flank the entrance and seems abnormally still.

I steer the Jeep into an empty parking spot in the front and when I make my way through the swinging glass doors, several sets of eyes instantly land on me.

---