The Complete Hush, Hush Saga Page 55

  It seemed unlikely that anyone had followed me to Patch’s apartment so late last night, but if there was one thing I knew about Nephilim, it was that they were very good at doing the unlikely.

  My cell rang in my pocket and I whipped it out before the first ring had time to finish.

  “Hello?”

  “Let’s go to Summer Solstice,” Vee said. “We’ll eat a little cotton candy, catch a few rides, maybe get hypnotized and do stuff that would make Girls Gone Wild look tame.”

  My heart, which had been up in my throat, slid back into place. Not Detective Basso, then. “Hey.”

  “What say you? You in the mood for some action? You in the mood for Delphic?”

  Honestly, I wasn’t. I’d planned on redialing Detective Basso at sixty-minute intervals until he picked up one of my calls.

  “Earth to babe.”

  “I’m not feeling well,” I said.

  “Not feeling well how? Stomachache? Headache? Cramps? Food poisoning? Delphic is the cure for just about all those things.”

  “I’m going to pass, thanks anyway.”

  “Is this because of Scott? Because he’s in jail. He can’t get to you. Come have fun. Rixon and I won’t kiss in front of you, if that’s what’s bothering you.”

  “I’m going to put on my pj’s and watch a movie.”

  “Are you saying a movie is more fun than me?”

  “Tonight it is.”

  “Huh. Movie this. You know I’m not going to stop harassing you until you come.”

  “I know.”

  “So make this easy and just say yes.”

  I blew out a sigh. I could sit home all night and wait for Detective Basso to get around to answering my calls, or I could take a small break and start up again when I got back. Besides, he had my cell phone number and could reach me anywhere.

  “All right,” I told Vee. “Give me ten.”

  In my bedroom, I squeezed into a pair of toothpick jeans, pulled on a graphic tee and cardigan, and finished the look with suede driving mocs. I smoothed my hair into a low ponytail, offsetting it so it hung over my right shoulder. Having not slept in more than a full day, my eyes were ringed by smoky circles. I brushed on mascara, silver eye shadow, and lip gloss, hoping I looked more pulled-together than I felt. I left a rather bland note on the kitchen counter for my mom, telling her I’d gone to Summer Solstice at Delphic. She wasn’t due back until tomorrow morning, but she surprised me more often than not by coming home early. If she did make it home tonight, this was probably going to be one time when she wished she’d drawn out her trip. I’d been practicing what I was going to say to her. Whatever I did, I couldn’t break eye contact when I told her I knew about her affair with Hank. And I couldn’t let her get a word in before I told her I was moving out. As I’d practiced it, I planned to walk out at that point. I wanted to send her the message that it was too late to talk—if she’d wanted to tell me the truth, she’d had sixteen years to do it. Now it was too late.

  I locked up and jogged down the drive to meet Vee.

  An hour later, Vee squeezed the Neon into a parking spot between two oversize trucks that extended into our space on both sides. We rolled down the windows and boosted ourselves out backward to keep from scratching the paint by opening the doors. We crossed the parking lot and paid our way inside the gates. The park was more crowded than usual due to Summer Solstice—the longest day of the year. Right away I recognized a few faces from school, but for the most part, I felt like I was standing in a sea of strangers. Most of the crowd was wearing jewel-toned butterfly masks that concealed half their faces. One of the vendors must have been selling them at a discount.

  “Where should we start?” Vee asked. “The arcade? The fun house? The food vendors? Personally, I think we should start with the food. That way, we’ll eat less.”

  “Your logic?”

  “If we stop by the vendors last, we’ll have worked up our appetites. I always eat more when I’ve worked up an appetite.”

  I didn’t care where we started. I was only here to distract myself for a couple of hours. I checked my cell, but there were no missed calls. How long did it take Detective Basso to return a call? Had something happened to him? I had a black cloud hanging at the back of my mind, and I didn’t like how it made me feel ill at ease.

  “You look all pasty,” Vee said.

  “I told you: I don’t feel great.”

  “That’s because you haven’t eaten enough. Sit down. I’ll go get us some cotton candy and hot dogs. Just think about all that relish and mustard. I don’t know about you, but I can already feel my head clearing and my pulse slowing.”

  “I’m not hungry, Vee.”

  “Of course you’re hungry. Everybody’s hungry. That’s why they’ve got all these vendors.” Before I could stop her, she marched into the crowd.

  I was pacing the walkway, waiting for Vee, when my cell phone chirped. Detective Basso’s name showed on the screen.

  “Finally,” I breathed, flipping the cell open.

  “Nora, where are you?” he said the moment I picked up. He was speaking fast, and I could tell he was upset. “Scott escaped. He got away. We’ve got the whole force looking for him, but I want you to stay the hell away from him. I’m coming to pick you up until this blows over. I’m on my way to your house right now.”

  My throat constricted, making it hard to force words out. “What? How did he get out?”

  Detective Basso hesitated before answering. “He bent the bars in his cell.”

  Of course he did. He was Nephilim. Two months ago I’d watched Chauncey mangle my cell phone with a mere squeeze of his hand. It didn’t seem too unrealistic to imagine Scott using his Nephilim strength to break out of jail.

  “I’m not at home,” I said. “I’m at Delphic amusement park.” Without meaning to, I cast my eyes over the crowd, looking for Scott. But there was no way he could know I was here. After breaking out of jail, he’d probably gone directly to my house, expecting to find me there. I felt incredibly grateful to Vee for dragging me out tonight. Scott was probably at my house right this very minute—

  The cell slipped a notch through my hand. The note. On the counter. The one I’d left for my mom, telling her I’d gone to Delphic.

  “I think he knows where I am,” I told Detective Basso, feeling the first licks of panic. “How soon can you get here?”

  “Delphic? Thirty minutes. Go to security. Whatever you do, keep your phone on you. If you see Scott, call me immediately.”

  “They don’t have security at Delphic,” I said, my mouth gone to dust. It was widely known that the park didn’t employ security, which was one of many reasons why my mom didn’t like me coming here.

  “Then get out of there,” he barked. “Drive back to Coldwater and meet me at the station. Can you do that?”

  Yes. I could do that. Vee would give me a ride. I was already walking in the direction she’d departed, eyes raking the crowd for her.

  Detective Basso exhaled. “You’re going to be fine. Just . . . hurry back here. I’ll send the rest of the force to Delphic to go after Scott. We’ll find him.” The anxiety in his voice didn’t console me.

  I hung up. Scott was out. The police were on their way, and this was all going to end fine . . . as long as I got out now. I sketched a quick plan. First, I had to find Vee. I also had to get out of the open. If Scott came walking down the path right this moment, he would see me.

  I was jogging toward the food vendors when my ribs were elbowed from behind. Something about the force of the elbowing told me this was more than an accident. I turned, and before I’d come full circle, my brain prickled as it registered a familiar face. The first thing I noticed was the flash from the silver hoop in his ear. The second thing I noticed was how beat-up his face was. His nose was broken—crooked and bruised deep red. The bruise spread below both eyes, turning a deep violet.

  The next thing I knew, Scott had me by the elbow and was steering me down the walkway.


  “Get your hands off me,” I said, wrestling against him. But Scott was stronger, and his grip held.

  “Sure, Nora, after you tell me where it is.”

  “Where what is?” I said, my voice passive-aggressive.

  He laughed humorlessly.

  I kept my expression as opaque as I could, but my thoughts were racing. If I told him the ring was at my home, he’d leave the park. He’d probably drag me with him. When the police arrived, they’d find us both gone. It wasn’t like I could call Detective Basso and tell him we were headed to my place. Not with Scott standing over me. No, I had to keep him here, in the park.

  “Did you give it to Vee’s boyfriend? Did you think he could protect it from me? I know he’s not—normal.” Scott’s eyes held that same terrified uncertainty. “I know he can do things other people can’t.”

  “Like you?”

  Scott glared down at me. “He’s not like me. He’s not the same. That much I can tell. I’m not going to hurt you, Nora. All I need is the ring. Give it to me, and you’ll never see me again.”

  He was lying. He would hurt me. He was desperate enough to break out of jail. Nothing was too extreme at this point—he would get the ring back, no matter the cost. Adrenaline pumped through my legs and I couldn’t think clearly. But somewhere in the back of my mind, my sense of survival told me I needed to take charge of the situation. I needed to find a way to separate myself from Scott. Blindly following my instincts, I said, “I have the ring.”

  “I know you have it,” he said impatiently. “Where?”

  “It’s here. I brought it with me.”

  He considered me for a moment, then yanked my handbag off my arm and ripped it open, searching it.

  I shook my head. “I threw it away.”

  He shoved the handbag back at me, and I caught it, clutching it against my chest. “Where?” he demanded.

  “A trash can near the entrance,” I said automatically. “Inside one of the women’s restrooms.”

  “Show me.”

  As we made our way down the walkway, I ordered myself to stay calm long enough to figure out my next move. Could I run? No, Scott would catch me. Could I hide out in one of the women’s restrooms? Not indefinitely, no. Scott wasn’t timid, and he wouldn’t have a problem going in after me if it meant getting what he wanted. I still had my cell phone, however. In the women’s room, I could call Detective Basso.

  “This one,” I said, pointing at one of the cinderblock shelters. The entrance to the women’s room was straight ahead, down a sloping stretch of cement, with the men’s room around the back.

  Scott grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me. “Don’t lie to me. They’ll kill me if I lose it. If you’re lying to me, I’ll . . .” He caught himself, but I knew what he’d been about to say. If you’re lying to me, I’ll kill you.

  “It’s in the bathroom.” I nodded, more to convince myself I could do this than to reassure him. “I’ll go get it. And then you’ll leave me alone, right?”

  Instead of answering, Scott shoved out a hand, catching me in the navel. “Your cell.”

  My heart fumbled. Seeing no other choice, I retrieved my phone and held it out to him. My hand shook slightly, but I steadied it, refusing to let him know I’d had a plan, or that he’d just shattered it.

  “You’ve got one minute. Don’t try anything stupid.”

  Inside the restroom, I made a quick survey. Five sinks against one wall, and five stalls opposite them. Two college-age girls were at the sinks, a foam of bubbles covering their hands. There was a small window on the far wall, and it was cranked open. Without eating up any more time, I got my foot up on the last sink and pulled myself to standing. The window was level with my elbows now, and while there wasn’t a screen to block me, it was going to be a tight fit to squeeze through. I could feel the eyes of everyone on me, but I ignored them and hoisted myself up on the ledge, hardly aware of the splattered bird poop or spiderwebs.

  When I pushed on the open windowpane, it popped free and fell to the ground outside with a clatter. I sucked in a breath, thinking Scott had heard, but the crowds out on the walkways had stifled the sound. Propping my stomach on the windowsill, I lifted my left leg up, cramming it against my body until I was able to roll it through the window. I wiggled the rest of the way through, my right leg sliding out last. I hung from the windowsill by my fingers, then dropped to the sidewalk outside. I stayed in a crouch a moment, half expecting Scott to round the building.

  Then I ran toward the park’s main walkway and slipped inside the stream of the crowd.

  CHAPTER

  22

  DARKNESS WAS STRETCHING ACROSS THE SKY, eclipsing the pale streaks of light fanning out from the horizon. I walked in a hurry toward the park’s exit. I could see the gates ahead. Almost there. I was pushing through the fringe of the crowd when I came up short. Less than two hundred feet away, Scott was pacing the gates, his eyes sweeping the crush of bodies pouring in and out of the gates. He’d figured out I’d escaped the bathroom and was blocking the only way out of the park. A high chain-link fence topped with barbed wire encircled the park, and the only way I was getting out was through the exit gates. I knew it, and Scott knew it.

  I turned abruptly and melted back into the crowd, checking behind me every few seconds to make sure Scott hadn’t spotted me.

  I worked my way deeper into the park on the assumption that the last place I had seen Scott was at the gates, and it was in my best interest to get as far away from them as I could. I could hide in the darkness of the fun house until the police arrived, or I could take the sky ride above the park, where I might be able to see Scott below and keep an eye on him. As long as he didn’t look up, I’d be fine. Of course, if he did see me, I had no doubt he’d be waiting for me at the end of the ride. I decided to keep moving, stay in the heaviest pockets of traffic, and wait this out.

  The walkway split at the Ferris wheel, one path branching off toward the water rides, the other leading to the Archangel roller coaster. I’d just veered onto the latter when I saw Scott. He saw me, too. We were on parallel walkways, the chair lift to the sky ride separating us. A boy and girl took their seats on a chair as it swung around the conveyor, momentarily breaking our eye contact. I took that moment to run.

  I shoved my way through the crowd, but the walkways were congested, making it hard to move faster than stop-and-go. Worse, the walkways in this section of the park were lined with high hedges, squeezing traffic through the labyrinth of twists and turns. I didn’t dare look behind me, but I knew Scott couldn’t be far behind. He wouldn’t try anything in front of all these people, would he? I shook my head to flush out the thought, and concentrated instead on where I was going. I’d been to Delphic only three or four times before, always at night, and I didn’t know the layout well. I could have kicked myself for not grabbing a map on my way in. I found it absurdly ironic that thirty seconds ago I’d been running away from the exit; now getting to it was the only thing on my mind.

  “Hey! Watch out!”

  “Excuse me,” I said, breathless. “Which way to the exit?”

  “Where’s the fire, man?”

  I fought my way past the crowd. “Excuse me. I have to get through . . . excuse me.” Above the hedges, the lights of the rides blazed and glittered against the backdrop of night. I paused at an intersection, trying to orient myself. Left or right? Which would get me to the exit faster?

  “There you are.” Scott’s breath warmed my ear. He laid his hand on my neck, sending a spike of chills ricocheting to the bone.

  “Help!” I shouted on instinct. “Someone help me!”

  “My girlfriend,” Scott explained to the few people who’d paused long enough to direct their attention at us. “This is a game we play.”

  “I’m not his girlfriend!” I shouted in a panic. “Get your hands off me!”

  “Come here, sweetheart.” Scott wrestled me into his arms, pinning me against him. “I warned you not to lie t
o me,” he murmured in my ear. “I need the ring. I don’t want to hurt you, Nora, but I will, if you make me.”

  “Get him off me!” I shouted to anyone who would listen.

  Scott wrenched my arm behind my back. I spoke through gritted teeth, trying to battle the pain. “Are you insane?” I said. “I don’t have the ring. I gave it to the police. Last night. Go get it from them.”

  “Quit lying!” he growled.

  “Call them yourself. It’s the truth. I gave it to them. I don’t have it.” I shut my eyes, praying he believed me and released my arm.

  “Then you’re going to help me get it back.”

  “They aren’t going to give it to me. It’s evidence. I told them it was your ring.”

  “They’ll give it back,” he said slowly, as if he was forming a plan as he went. “If I trade you for the ring.”

  It all clicked into place. “You’re going to hold me hostage? Trade me for the ring? Help!” I screamed. “Somebody get him off me!”

  One of the people standing nearby laughed.

  “This isn’t a joke!” I yelled, feeling blood rise in my neck, terror and desperation scraping away at me. “Get him off—”

  Scott sealed his hand over my mouth, but I got my foot up and kicked him in the shin. He gave a grunt of pain and buckled in half.

  His arms loosened slightly in the surprise of the attack, and I shoved myself free. I fumbled back a step, watching agony twist on his face, then turned and bolted, seeing glimpses of the rides through the gaps in the crowd. All I had to do was make it out. The police had to be close. Then I’d be safe. Safe. I repeated the word frantically as motivation to keep my head and not succumb to panic. There was a wan light left in the western sky, and I used it to orient myself north. If I continued north, the pathway would eventually deliver me to the gates.