Tuesday Morning, Continued
I pulled the yellow cord for the bus stop, and my boots hit the ground of the park with a determined thump. There were only a few cars in the parking lot. I paused by the gift shop, which was empty except for a white-haired volunteer wearing a rose-colored sweater. I pulled the tablet out of my bag and opened the voice recorder app, and clicked it to record before slipping it into black mesh side panel of my bag. Hopefully Alex wouldn’t notice it. It should start recording when it heard voices. After refilling the water bottle from my bag, I was ready.
The trail from the gift shop headed uphill, but it would turn and go downward to reach the spot on Alex’s map. I glanced at the map. It was just over two miles to Maggie.
I tightened the straps of my backpack and soldiered on.
The park was empty as I hiked along. No one played tennis on the courts, even though the day was sunny and dry, plus cool enough to be perfect weather for a workout.
A rustling in the underbrush next to me caused me to wheel around, but there was nothing. Must be an animal. I’ve heard there are coyotes in the park. Plus raccoons. Squirrels. Nothing to worry about.
Quiet resettled on everything but the lack of noise means trouble is on the way. Like the brief moment of silence right before getting a week’s worth of detention, but worse. The trail circled around the old playground with the swings. I wanted to check on the voice recorder nestled in my bag, but I needed to forget I had it. I had to have faith it would record everything I said. I needed to act natural. As natural as I could in this situation.
I needed to get Alex to confess.
Where are you?
On my way.
Hurry. Maggie is waiting for you.
I didn’t stop walking as I texted back. I slid the phone into my pants pocket although I wanted to throw it into the woods.
The turret of the new playground came into view first, a castle in the daylight. Two small kids, one in a red jacket, the other in turquoise, played while two women chatted.
Just another mile.
The longest mile of my life.
Silence surrounded me. It was so quiet that it was like a thousand people screaming. The lack of noise felt deafening. The pounding of my heart was so loud I’m sure Alex could track me just by listening for it.
The trees became denser, and then I was there.
I stepped a few feet off of the path into the trees.
“Alex!” I shouted. “I know you’re out there!”
Quietness reigned after the sound of my voice faded away.
“Where are you, you bastard? If you’ve hurt Maggie I’ll massacre you!” I added.
“Really, Harper? You’ll massacre me?” He emphasized me, like he was amused. But the voice was wrong.
As I wheeled to the right, toward the voice, I knew.
The voice didn’t belong to Alex. The tone was confident, but lacked the cocky jauntiness that always colors his words.
There’s only one person it could be.
But my ears have to be wrong. I trusted him. He’d never hurt Maggie.