There was nowhere for me to go. I couldn’t make it back to the woods before the lights reached me, so I surged forward, tripping a little as I broke into a run, scrambling forward to where the path disappeared over a rise. I threw myself into the long grass and rolled, my shoulder snagging on something sharp as I slid to a stop.

I waited, breathing in harsh pants, listening for the sound of voices or car doors opening. Jimmy Ray would have a field day with me. He’d make my broken wrist seem like amateur hour. But the car didn’t stop, kept moving down the road and away from me. I lay there for a moment longer, pressing against the wound in my shoulder and watching my fingers come away red.

“Shit,” I muttered, pushing myself up. A weird kind of embarrassment flooded me. What was I doing here, pretending to be some kind of badass avenger? What would Junie say if she could see me right now? Somehow I thought her reaction might be more eye roll than encouragement. But I’d come this far, could see the light glowing from the windows of Matt’s trailer in the distance.

I trudged down the hill, feet sliding a little on the matted grass. Nobody out here locked their doors. I could barge in, catch him unawares. But everybody out here kept a loaded gun at the ready, too. And total surprise might end with a bullet in my belly. I decided knocking was probably the smartest way to go. Somehow I didn’t think he’d refuse me entry. If nothing else, curiosity would probably get the best of him, like it did with most people.

I was still fifty yards away when I heard the twang of a country song from his windows. A few steps closer and I smelled the remnants of his dinner on the wind. Grilled meat and barbecue sauce. Another five yards and a strange whooshing noise stopped me in my tracks. Not the wind. I tried to place it, stomach plummeting as my brain clicked—the sucking noise a stove makes when you fire up the pilot light. And then the whole world exploded.

EIGHTEEN

I came to on the ground, stars above me, fire roaring in front of me, the sound of shouting in the distance. Everything was muffled, though, as if my head was encased in thick cotton. I rolled onto my side, and the world spun off its axis, bile rising in my throat. I lowered my head slowly until my forehead touched the grass, breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth until my stomach eased back down to its rightful position.

It took me a minute to remember where I was, what had happened. I pushed myself up onto my knees, one hand starfished on the ground for balance, and looked at the spot where Matt’s trailer had been. All that was left of it were a few burning hunks of metal, pieces scattered across the ground, fire burning along the tree line on the other side of the clearing.