“Ashton?”
“Gone still.”
“He’s in Stefan’s shit hole. Some part of his game.”
“You think?” Skye perked up.
“Has to be. Where else would he go? Stefan’s just trying to freak us out,” said Trevor.
Erin watched Trevor, as a look of guilt formed.
“Listen,” he said. “Yesterday I got another note. He left it on our kitchen table. It was a clue for the final weapon. He didn’t put a pause on anything. This was probably his punishment for us. You know, get us scared, get us rattled.” Trevor finished the sentence with an agitated snigger. “God, this entire thing makes me sound like a child. Just ridiculous.”
“I’m gonna kick his ass,” said Skye. “I’m seriously going to kick the shit out of him.”
Erin was angry with Trevor at first, but soon understood his reasoning for keeping the new information to himself.
“I’m sorry. I just wanted us all to pump the brakes and relax. We didn’t agree to any of this shit.”
“I agree. We shouldn’t have to do this anymore. We didn’t know what the hell we were consenting to. He completely blindsided us.” Erin hesitated and spoke again. “Let’s go get him. If he plays dumb, we’ll threaten to leave.”
Trevor’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “I’ll get dressed and we’ll go.”
“What if he’s not there?” Skye’s eyes welled up again.
“He’ll be there,” said Trevor and smiled wide. “Skye… Don’t take this loser seriously. Ashton is fine.”
They wailed on the door and got no answer. Of course, it was locked.
The urge to vomit was kept at bay as Trevor distracted her from it, taking off in the other direction toward the old man’s cabin without consulting them first. Erin remembered Stefan mentioning Bruce but had never met the man. She and Skye followed.
Bruce was quick to answer the door. His hair was thick and combed to the side, white and gray, weaving in and out. He was a massive man, his face wide, his neck nonexistent. He was a little taller than Trevor and was wider in the shoulders, which was saying something, because Trevor wasn’t small.
His face was expressionless, his white eyebrows making a perfect line across his prominent brow ridge.
“Do you know where Stefan is?” Trevor asked, devoid of friendly notes.
Bruce scratched his chin and walked back inside. He came back with a hot cup of coffee, the warm steam rising from his cup. “Should be inside that damned place of his.”
“He’s not answering.”
“Maybe he’s sleeping. City kid probably needs his nap time.” He sipped his coffee.
Erin cut in, hoping he’d be more amicable with her. She used her exaggerated, quiet-Erin voice. “Our friend Ashton disappeared last night. We’re really worried.”
It was difficult to get a read on him, but he seemed to empathize with their situation.
“After my coffee I could help you look. It’s not good to wander around aimlessly.”
Trevor cut in. “Listen, we don’t want to be a part of this stupid game anymore.”
“Excuse me?”
“Mr…” Trevor fished for his last name, but Bruce just stared at him, waiting. Trevor shook his head; nevermind that. “We know you’re most likely involved with Trevor in this whole charade, but we aren’t finding any humor in this. We’d like our friend back.”
Bruce’s eyes narrowed and he sipped his coffee again, his eyes locked in on Erin’s.
“Please, sir,” she said, putting forth her best poor-victim look.
“I got no business with Stefan. I told you. This is my property here. It runs directly a hundred yards that way to the tree line, and this other way here to the kid’s property line. Out back I got another hundred yards to work with. The kid’s got part of his garden on my property, but you don’t hear me complain. So… I don’t know anything about your friend and I’ve not got a damn thing to do with your pretty-boy host. I had a deal of sorts with the previous owners and within that deal, my ass is staying put. Capiche?”
Erin looked over at Trevor. He never liked being told how it was. He was normally the one taking charge.
“You think I’m happy about this new arrangement? My way of living has been completed upended, and what can I do about it? Be a helpless victim, that’s what. While shithead parades his kiddie friends around what should be mine. He owes me yardage. The chips, they like to fall a certain way, don’t they?”
“We’re sorry for interrupting you. We will try and keep to ourselves. I’m—”
“Not going well so far, is it?”
“I’m Erin. This is Trevor, and Skye.”
He looked down on Erin and smiled, his dentures shimmering with a whole new definition of white. “Bruce. Pleasure,” he said with a slight grumble. They shook hands. He sipped his coffee once more, “Now, I suppose I could help look for your friend. I can push back my chores. Not a big deal.”
“Oh, we’d really appreciate that, sir.”
“I’ll just finish my coffee and grab my gun.” He slammed the door on their face.
“Did he just say gun?” asked Skye.
“That he did.”
Eighty-five acres was a decent amount of ground to cover, especially when considering the thickly wooded area clustered on the north end, and also the cliffs.
The sun was fierce again today, burning Erin’s skin. Trevor stuck close to her side, while Bruce flanked off to the right, almost out of sight, rifle in hand. They trekked on ahead into the trees toward the cliffs. They had agreed that Bruce would veer west. Trevor and Erin would cover the south end and follow the bend to the west beach. Skye was adamant that she check the rocky ridges again alone, and then she’d go back to Stefan’s to see if he had returned.
Erin found it oddly suspicious that Skye was so eager to venture off on her own again considering how upset she was this morning, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer, so she let her be.
Having separated from the others, Trevor lowered his head to speak to her quietly. “I don’t trust Bruce.”
“He’s helping us.”
“Or so he wants us to think.”
“That’s some heavy paranoia, if I’m being honest.”
“Let’s break into his cabin.”
“What? You’re crazy. Are you kidding me?”
“What’s the big deal? We take a peek. In and out. Worst-case scenario we find more information in there about what the hell is going on with Ashton.”
“I don’t know…”
“Erin, I don’t like any of this. We need to do something. You really think Ashton got lost? This is either part of the game or we got a serious problem here.”
His edgy tone frightened her, but he was right.
“Okay.” She couldn’t believe she was agreeing to such a risky maneuver. “Now?”
He nodded.
Bruce’s cabin’s musty smells were largely concealed by a heavy use of lemon Pledge and lemon air freshener. Deer antlers hung on the wall. Erin was surprised to find a brand new Samsung TV mounted in the corner of the room with a recliner lined up for viewing. The log cabin was pretty much exactly as expected; a square box made of logs, animal furs and mountings, and no sign of Ashton.
Erin leafed through some old newspapers, feeling terrifyingly out of place while doing so. “Okay, let’s go.”
“What? Wait a second. I need to look around here.”
“What are you expecting to find?”
“Something incriminating probably.”
“Come on. You sound ridiculous.”
“Tell me you haven’t noticed something weird.”
Trevor scampered about, flipping couch cushions and touching along the walls.
“What are you looking for exactly?”