He continued. “As soon as I got out of there, I turned right on Bypass One, drove a short distance, and saw another SUV on the shoulder, as if he were trying to hide from traffic. There was something way wrong about all of it. I drove for another half mile, parked, and checked the police scanner app on my phone. There was nothing out of the ordinary. No news of an evacuation or anything. Just an accident west of Falling Rock, fifteen miles from here, which makes me think someone set that up to keep law enforcement and emergency responders away from this area. Regardless, I decided to work my way back here on foot and conduct my own reconnaissance. I’d only been here for a few minutes, hidden in the woods, observing, when you emerged. I was close enough to hear the conversation, which told me all I needed to know—this guy was not an officer of the law, since I’m fairly certain real cops don’t threaten to kill seventeen-year-old girls after sneaking up on them. And I didn’t have a suppressed weapon, at least until now. I did what I had to do, and I’m sorry you had to see it.”

He stopped talking, allowing the information to register in Sam’s shocked brain. “Well, that’s my story. What about you, kid? What happened to you?”

Wait a second. What did he say? I have no idea. She’d heard everything and was grateful that the man—older than she was but only somewhere in his late twenties, by the sound of him—had saved her life. But one fact had hit her like a sucker punch, as if the unfolding violence and terror weren’t enough. Suddenly, she found herself rambling in staccato, as if purging the information would make it less painful. “You’re Mr. Chambers’s brother? I had no idea he had one. I’m his babysitter, and he saved my life tonight. He’s in trouble, although he’s killed a bunch of them. Actually, the whole neighborhood’s in trouble.”

The shadow moved forward. Dark features transformed into gray ones, and Sam realized she’d been right about his age. A young man, clean cut, good looking, with a lean, honest face materialized before her. Unlike his brother, his dark hair was cropped close on the sides and spiked up in front, the rest of it laying down neatly.

“Wait. He’s killed people? Tonight?” Nick shook his head. “I want to say I’m surprised, but I’m not. My brother has a bit of a hero complex—justifiably so—and well, if there’s something bad happening, then that sounds about right. I guess you thought you were living near a nice family man next door. But tonight you got to meet Zack Chambers for real: the man, the myth, the legend.”