44
AUDRA AIMED THE Glock at Collins’ forehead. ‘Where are they?’
Collins stood in the clearing, her hands raised. ‘I left them here last night. I don’ t—’
‘Where are my children?’
Audra stepped off the porch, advanced toward her, the pistol steady.
‘I swear to God,’ Collins said, ‘I locked the door last night. They were here, I promise you, they—’
Audra’s left hand lashed out, slapped Collins hard. She staggered back at the force of the blow, a red bloom on her cheek.
‘What kind of animal are you?’ Audra said.
Collins put her hands up once more, and once more Audra struck her. And again, this time catching her nose, drawing blood. Danny stepped back, watched with an impassive expression.
‘Get on your knees,’ Audra said.
Collins’ eyes widened. ‘What?’
‘On your knees,’ Audra said, a calmness washing over her. ‘Right now.’
Collins lowered herself to her knees, her hands up, palms facing Audra. ‘Whatever you’re thinking about doing, please don’t.’
‘Shut up,’ Audra said. ‘Look away.’
‘Please,’ Collins said.
Audra curled her finger around the Glock’s trigger, put the muzzle against Collins’ temple.
‘Please don’t,’ Collins said.
Audra looked at Danny.
‘You do what you need to do,’ he said.
‘Oh Christ, oh Jesus,’ Collins whispered, her hands trembling. She brought them together. ‘Oh God, forgive me for my sins.’
A dark stain spread from the crotch of her jeans.
‘Please, Jesus, forgive me. Look after my boy, Lord, please, and my mother. Please, God, have mercy on me.’
Audra watched her pray, imagined the bullet tearing through this woman’s head, her existence spread over the forest floor.
‘Goddamn it,’ she said, and lifted the Glock’s muzzle away from Collins’ head. Then she brought it down again, slammed the butt into her skull. Audra felt the force of it up through her wrist, her arm, into her shoulder.
Collins collapsed forward, her eyelids flickering, a rivulet of dark red snaking past her ear to her jaw. She muttered something incomprehensible into the pine needles.
Danny looked at Audra from the other side of the clearing. ‘What now?’ he asked.
Audra turned in a circle, studying the faint currents of mist between the trees. ‘We look for my children.’
‘Out here?’ Danny came to her side. ‘They could be anywhere by now.’
‘Then how do we find them?’
Danny pointed at Collins, still half conscious on the ground. ‘We take her back to town. Hand her over to Mitchell. They can organize a search, now we know where to concentrate it.’
‘That’s two hours back the way we came,’ Audra said. ‘God knows how long to get Mitchell and the state cops to move.’
She turned in a circle once more, wondering which way they might have gone. If they knew where it was, surely they would have headed for the trail and followed it to the road? She strained her eyes, looking for something, anything.
Audra stopped. What was that? Something had snagged her eye. She turned back again, slowly, seeking it out, whatever it was. Look, look, look.
There.
A glimpse of pink against the brown carpet of needles. She lost it again as the breeze moved the lower branches of the trees, obscuring the pinpoint of color. Without a word, she set off at a run, into the trees, ducking the low branches, skipping over the roots.
Was it? Could it be?
‘Audra, wait,’ Danny called.
She ignored him, kept running until she came to the spot. And there he was: Gogo. Pine needles clinging to his worn fur, half burying him. Audra stopped, breathless and dizzy, got down on her knees, reached for the old stuffed rabbit. The raggedy old thing, she’d wanted to throw it in the garbage so many times, but Louise wouldn’t let her.
Audra brought Gogo to her nose and mouth, inhaled, let Louise’s scent fill her head.
‘Oh God,’ she said, feeling the heat in her eyes. ‘Oh, sweetheart, I’m coming for you.’
She turned her head, saw Danny picking his way through the trees toward her.
‘They went this way,’ she said. ‘We can follow them.’
A noise from back in the clearing, an animal groan. Danny spun on his heels, Audra peered past him. She saw Collins stumble for the trees on the other side, her arms out for balance, wavering from side to side.
‘Shit,’ Danny said, making after her, drawing a revolver from his waistband.
‘Leave her,’ Audra said.
Danny slowed, but didn’t stop. ‘The keys are in the car. She gets it, she’ll leave us stranded out here.’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Audra said. ‘Let her go.’
Danny halted, looked back to Audra.
‘Look,’ she said. ‘It’s Gogo. She dropped him. They went this way.’
He started to walk back to her. ‘But how long ago?’
‘Don’t you see?’ Audra asked, running her fingers over Gogo’s fur, feeling fresh tears on her cheeks. ‘He’s dry. Everything else is covered in dew. Gogo’s dry. It means it wasn’t long ago. If we follow them, we can find them.’
Danny came to her, hunkered down, brushed Gogo’s fur with his fingertips.
‘Then I guess we’d better move,’ he said.