Chapters (57)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Foreword
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Praise for Linwood Barclay
- Also by Linwood Barclay
- About the Publisher
Next to the large garage door was a huge red button. You didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what it was for. Archie slammed his palm onto the button and the door began to rise with a great, metallic rattle.
Archie felt sunshine on his face, fresh air fill his lungs. He stepped out onto the raised platform that trucks backed up to when making deliveries.
“Fucknuts,” Archie said.
Out in the parking lot, just beyond the loading bay, sat half a dozen Arrivals, all looking his way, like a welcoming committee.
Thirty-One
“Are you sure?” Brandon Kyle asked, sitting in the middle of the sprawling back seat of Bruce’s Cadillac, his legs straddling the driveshaft hump. “It wouldn’t take that long to go to take a side trip to the ferry. Then you could be on your way to get this young lady’s brother.”
Bruce, behind the wheel, could only take quick glances at the hitchhiker they’d picked up, but Katie had turned sideways on the front bench seat so she could engage with Kyle.
“What’d you say your name was again?” Katie asked.
“Ben,” he said. “Ben Stapleton.”
“So, Mr. Stapleton, we get that you want to get to the ferry, but we gotta find my brother first, and then if there’s anything we can do for you after that, well . . .”
At this point, she looked at Bruce. This was, after all, his car.
“Katie’s right,” Bruce said. “We’re not exactly running a taxi service. Let’s see how things go. If we run into any more of those little sons of bitches, that could change our plans, too.”
“Don’t seem to be too many of them out here,” Kyle observed. “In the center of town, that’s where they’re gathered.”
“You were there?” Bruce asked.
“I was,” Kyle said with mock dismay. “Horrible, just horrible.”
The Caddy continued to cruise along the country road, heading into a tunnel of trees.
“And what about at the community center?” Katie asked.
“Same thing,” he said. “Chaos.”
“So,” Katie said, thinking, “how come you didn’t stay there? Wouldn’t it be safe in the building?” Her face became hopeful. “Was my mom safe inside?”
“Like I said, I don’t really know about your mom,” Kyle said. “I suppose I could have holed up in the building with the others, but for how long? They could be hiding in there for days. The smart thing is to find a way out. I was down by the harbor, and lots of people are heading out to sea until things calm down.”
Katie looked at Bruce. “You think we should try to find my mom before we go to the mall? Maybe she’s already heard from Archie.” Her eyes widened. “Maybe Archie’s with her! Maybe they got in touch with each other and that’s where we should go.”