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I’d been sitting there with the door half-open, one foot out while I thought With a suddenness that struckSUV pulled in beside rabbed and I was out of the car Then a big hand hit o, and then I was out

Chapter 13

I was in his vehicle by the ti, and by then ether His blitz attack had caught me completely unawares

Barney Si out of the driveway and taking off down the road like a maniac The SUV lurched so violently that I slid to the floor I had no means to stopI would have screaain, he’d taken care of that

There’s soht et bitten on the ass

I’d be lucky if that was all that happened

He pulled over after five ather y I had no idea where ere Twyla lived in a suburb,development Five minutes from it would take us almost anywhere: into the older part of Doraville or out into the country Past Barney’s head, I could see iceoff a pine tree, one of a stand of trees There are trees all over in North Carolina

"We had it all," he said He was looking down at nified his eyes, so he was not just looking, but glaring "We had it all, until you found them I’d spot them at the hospital andor hitching, and ould pick them up and then we’d justuse theht

"We’d use every bit, all the pain, all the sex, all the fear We’d consu behind the tape, gurgling and gasping

"We had the second place, the place in the barn, in case we had two boys at the sa cell We’d never really had to use it But I guess To he should have done was pick up another boy"

Having made his point, which was that I was the snake in their paradise, he put the SUV in gear and glanced in his rearview mirror He pulled back onto the road

"But Toht it would be his last tiuess, and a hitchhiker, they’re just like apples falling into your lap"

I couldn’t just huddle there on the floorboard and fear I had to think of soe to open the door and roll out, but the car was going so fast that I didn’t think I’d survive I would save that for a last resort Dying that ould be better than dying the way the boys had

Okay, it was ti myself that, but I remained so dizzy and disoriented that it was hard to raet in position to s were free, because Barney hadn’t had time to confine them, and also er So I kicked at hi so that ainst the door Of course, the SUV swerved and he screa to pull your skin off!" I knew he meant it literally He didn’t look like a hospital administrator anymore He looked like what he really was: a man crazed with his own evil

He struck at s didn’t connect with s often If they did, they didn’t haveto strain to reachIn a way it was good, because it kept ry, and in a way it was bad, because it was drainingto be careful of the healing injury But there was no point in keeping the ar if I died soon after, I told e

"You crazy bitch!" he screaht back at you, buddy I was so pleased I hadboots on

I’d assumed sooner or later we’d be in the center of Doraville, but he swerved to the right, and I knee’d turned onto one of the back roads that twisted through the county We were going up into the mountains That was the worst possible development

He leaned way over, till his left hand was barely on the wheel, and he hit ray for a second He looked very satisfied, when I could focus on his face again He’d caused pain, and he liked that a lot Also, I’d quit kicking He could drive with both hands on the wheel I debated with ain, or to kick out and get hurt I rested for a couple of ot his knee this time, and there was the familiar swerve, but this tiain Okay, this was a step for the worse He flung open his door and dashed around the SUV while I was struggling to change positions so I’d be facing hie it, and he popped open the passenger door so suddenly that I fell out He caughtthe stitches in my scalp I made a noise that would have been a screaed ray with ice and snow slush There was a steep slope down to the forest, patched hite Beyond the forest, I glile desperately to keep froot my feet under ain, this tiotto knock hier a foot or two, and then he began beating ht if I fell down he would killI landed a lucky kick to his crotch, but when I brought my foot back down I slipped on the ice by the side of the road, and I toppled over I rolled through snow and wet grass, down and down to the botto like this; in fact, he was even less prepared, because I earing boots and a heavy coat and scarf, and he earing a suit and that was it His shoes went along with the suit, strictly indoor wear By the tiot to the tree line at the botto down afterup was very hard with le to h the heavy brush and trees, with the ground slushy But I had to put as much distance as I could between him and me

Would he come down in the trees after me?

Yes, idiot Of course he will I heard his inarticulate screah the trees

At least he was openly nuts now At least he wasn’t trying to reason That was the only chance I had, his