Wild Night is Calling

Wild Night is Calling, by J.A. Konrath and Ann Voss Peterson

Excerpt from FLEE, by J.A. Konrath and Ann Voss Peterson

Also by the Authors

Part 1

T
he red Grand Am crossed two lanes of traffic. Tires buzzing across rumble strips, it made for the off ramp. “Where is he going?” Caitlin jolted forward, nearly hugging the wheel. She swung in the direction Josh’s car had darted, trying to follow.

A loud horn blared through her open windows and rattled the frame of her Subaru.

A semi roared up beside her, cutting off the right lane, and she swerved back to avoid a collision. Caitlin couldn’t see the exit on the other side of the truck, but she felt them streak past.

Her heart hammered against her ribs, jostling her stomach. Her whole body trembled. She glanced at Zach sitting in the passenger seat and prayed she wouldn’t be sick.

He looked a little queasy himself. Bracing against the door and dash, he stared at her, eyes wide. “What was that?”

“Josh just…” She gestured to the right, where the semi still blocked the next lane. “He veered off. I tried to follow. I—”

“Almost got us killed.”

He was right. She hadn’t looked over her shoulder. She hadn’t even used her mirrors. “Oh God, I’m so sorry.”

Zach shook his head and relaxed his death grip. “It’s okay. I was watching Josh’s car, too. I don’t know why in the hell he did that. I didn’t see it coming.”

“But you aren’t driving.”

He let out a laugh. “Good thing. I am way too wasted to drive.”

Caitlin had thought she was okay. Not old enough to buy beer in Milwaukee’s Summerfest grounds, she’d only had a couple in the parking lot. She hadn’t felt drunk. She’d been sure she could make it. Zach and Josh had said it wasn’t too far. But now she had to wonder if letting Hannah talk her into going to a party with guys they barely knew was a mistake, no matter how nice the guys had seemed. If Caitlin hadn’t promised to help Hannah celebrate how far she’d come in the last year, she would have said no.

She pulled in a breath and let it out in shuddering puffs. Still sweaty after a long day in the sun, now she felt downright clammy; her palms slick on the steering wheel, her legs sticking to the seat. She adjusted her mini skirt and tried to smooth her frizzed and windblown hair.

“Okay. So it might take us a little longer to get to the party. We’ll deal. So where do I go?”

“Go?”

“The party. Where is it?”

“I…I don’t know.”

He couldn’t be serious. “What do you mean, you don’t know?” She pulled her focus from the road and glanced into his sincere green eyes. Eyes that had given her a shiver—the good kind—the moment they’d met hers.

Zach shrugged one shoulder, as if none of it was a big deal. “I don’t know where he lives.”

“I thought you two shared a house.”

“Josh and me?”

“You don’t live together?”

“I’ve only known him for a couple weeks.”

“What’s his last name?”

Another shrug. “I told you. I don’t know him very well.”

“You don’t even know his last name? But you drove to Summerfest together.”

Just as she and Hannah had. And when Hannah had gotten in the Grand Am with Josh and she’d agreed to give Zach a lift back to their house, to the party they were throwing, it had made sense. Or at the very least, it was spontaneous, adventurous and wild. Just what she and Hannah had decided tonight would be. Just what they needed after working so hard these past months.

“Didn’t you guys drive together?”

“Yeah. But he picked me up. He knows where I live.”

She had to stay calm. She would find Hannah. Everything would be all right. It had to be.

“So where’s the party?”

“Josh’s place, I guess. I have roommates.”

“How did you think we would get there?”

“I thought we were following him.”

“Clearly we aren’t anymore.” One hand gripping the wheel, she dug blindly in her bag for her iPhone. The next question was obvious, not that she’d thought to ask it back in the parking lot. “What was the plan if we got separated?”

“I was…hoping you’d just want to come to my place.”

If Zach hadn’t seemed as surprised as she was by Josh’s sudden exit, she would have to wonder if splitting up was their strategy all along. She had to admit that under different circumstances, she might have gone for the idea. Zach was cute; great smile, blondish hair just a little too long. She’d gotten a jitter in her chest the moment she’d met him. The kind of jitter she wanted to hold onto, to explore where it could go. And she and Hannah had decided they were going to be wild, hadn’t they? Spontaneous. To celebrate.

Some celebration. Caitlin had no idea where her best friend was, and Hannah was alone with a strange guy…

Alone with a strange guy.

Oh, God.

Now Caitlin didn’t want to go anywhere. Not to Zach’s. Not to a party. Not anywhere except home, with Hannah belted into the passenger seat beside her.

Her fingers closed over the phone. She pulled it out and called up Hannah’s number, trying to keep her eyes on the road.

The phone rang three times before going to voice mail. “Why aren’t you answering?” Caitlin’s voice sounded as panicked and choked as she felt. “You guys turned off too fast for me to follow, and Zach says he doesn’t know where you’re going. Call me back right away.” She ended the call and tossed the phone back into her purse.

“I’m sorry this happened, Caitlin. Really, I am. I guess I just wasn’t thinking.”

“Sorry doesn’t help.”

“No, it doesn’t. We need to find your friend.”

She glanced at the side of his face, and for a second, what Hannah and she had done crashed down on her chest, making it hard to breathe. Wild? Spontaneous? More like profoundly stupid. And she wasn’t sure that she could get them out of it this time. At least not on her own. “Are you serious about the
we
?”

“Of course. Don’t you think I feel bad about this?” He stared straight ahead, the green glow of the dash highlighting the line of his jaw.

A strong jaw. A hero’s jaw, that’s what it was. At least she needed him to be a hero tonight. “What are you thinking?”

“That I shouldn’t have drunk so many beers.”

She wished none of them had. Especially Hannah. Especially her. Sure, Caitlin hadn’t had as much to drink, since she was driving. But obviously it had been too much; otherwise, she’d never have let Hannah get in the car with Josh. No matter how good looking he was or how spontaneous they’d decided to be tonight, it hadn’t been worth the risk. Even if Caitlin fixed this mistake, after all Hannah had been through, this might be too much for her.

Jesus, what could be going through Hannah’s head right now? Did she know Caitlin had lost her?

Please, please, please let it be okay.

“Take the next exit.” Zach’s voice rang with conviction, taking charge.

Caitlin wanted to trust him. Wanted to be able to rely on his help to find her friend. She took a deep breath and zoomed down the off ramp. “You thought of something?”

“He talked about work. A place in Lake Hubbard.”

Caitlin recognized the name of the small, southeastern Wisconsin burg she’d visited once as a kid. “You think he lives there?”

“It’s a start.”

A start. The name of a town. And the scary thing was that she felt relieved they had something, anything. That she and Hannah, after all this, just might come out of this mess okay.

“What does Josh do?” she asked.

“He’s a mechanic or something. As I said, we’re not that tight. We just started hanging.”

“Is he…okay?”

“Yeah. He’s cool.”

“I mean, do you think he’ll try anything with Hannah?”

Zach was silent.

“Zach…?”

“I said, he’s cool. But I saw him shove a girl once. It was no big deal, really. She was acting like a bitch. But he knocked her down.”

Caitlin jumped on the highway heading for Janesville. Miles spun under tires. Summer wind whipped through the car, carrying the scent of moist earth, green plants and manure. Rolling hills and the yard lights of farms gave way to the illuminated slashes of strip malls then faded back to dark stretches of burgeoning corn. Neither one of them spoke. Caitlin couldn’t really hear Zach’s breathing, but she could sense it. In and out. In and out. She found herself listening for it, straining to hear over the whoosh of the highway outside. As if it was the only thing she had to hold onto. The one thing that could see her through this nightmare.

“How are you doing?” he asked, as if sensing her tenuous hold on control.

“Okay.” It was a reflexive answer. And not a bit true. “Actually, I’m scared. Hannah’s had some trouble in the past.”

“Trouble?”

She kept her focus on the road. She knew she shouldn’t be telling him her friend’s secrets. Hannah wouldn’t forgive her. “Her stepfather.”

“He beat her up or something?”

“That was only the start of it. It was bad. The whole thing was bad. I’m afraid…” She couldn’t say more. Hannah trusted her. She couldn’t tell the rest. She couldn’t betray her friend.