Chapters (73)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Prologue
- Part IAnnie
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Part IIHarry
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Part IIIAnnie
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Part IVHarry
- 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
- Part VAnnie
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Also by Linwood Barclay
- About the Publisher
He came to a stop, hopped off the bike, walked it down into the ditch and up the other side, and leaned it against a large oak tree. He sat down, his back up against the rough bark of the tree, and dug into his backpack for breakfast, which consisted of a plain bagel with gobs of peanut butter on it. The knife he’d brought was not a sharp one, and he would have needed a flat surface on which to slice the bagel in half, so he simply piled the peanut butter on top of it and went at it, one bite at a time.
He’d also brought three bottles of water with him. He would have brought more, but they were heavy, and he figured water was something he could get along the way.
Charlie finished the bagel and washed it down with half a bottle of water. Needed to conserve. He wasn’t sure how long this trip would take, but he knew it was a long way.
He went around the back of the tree for a pee, zipped up, and hopped on his bike, first checking to make sure there was decent air pressure in the tires, and continued on. After another hour, he was feeling especially weary. He hadn’t had much sleep and had been pushing himself hard. Up ahead he saw a barn set close to the road and thought he might find a spot there where he could recharge. He whipped off the road and pedaled to the side of the barn that faced away from the farmhouse so as not to be spotted, tucked his bike behind some rusted barrels, and squeezed through the barn doors to get inside. He found a convenient mound of hay, settled into it, and tried reading a couple of pages from the Ray Bradbury book his father loved so much that he’d thought to bring, but he wished his dad could be reading it to him. Soon enough.
And then he was asleep.
He guessed he had slept three or more hours. When he poked his head outside, the sun was at its highest point in the sky, so early afternoon. He drained the other half of his water bottle, slipped the backpack over his shoulder, and hit the road again.
Charlie was passing through a small town two hours later and his hunger pangs were getting pretty serious. He spotted a small park, sat down at a picnic table, and went into his bag for another bagel. The bagel was dry and stale, and, even with peanut butter on it, was not very appetizing.