Those Girls (26 page)

He smiled. “Did you find a place to sleep last night?”

“Yeah.” I wasn’t going to share where, in case I slept there again tonight.

He pointed down the hill toward the second driveway. “There’s a creek down that way, if you want to clean up or whatever. It’s on our property, just look for the side road off River Bottom Road before you get to our driveway and go through the gate. It’s rough, but your car should make it.”

“Thanks.”

“Well, see you around.”

*   *   *

In the afternoon Theo got me to hose down all their tractors and equipment, scrubbing the caked dirt, grease, and manure off. After I was finished I walked slowly back to my car, hot, sweaty, and exhausted—I’d thought I was physically fit but this had used all new muscles. I was so hungry I felt faint. Theo had paid me some cash for the day’s work and I planned on getting some food as soon as possible. I was almost at my car, which was still parked in front of Brian’s office trailer, when a door slammed shut and a young girl wearing gardening gloves came out of the house. Tall and willowy, with long black hair that curled all around her face, she looked about twelve or thirteen. She looked so much like me at that age I couldn’t help staring at her. And she was giving me a curious look.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi.”

“Are you lost?”

“No, I’m working here.”

She came forward a couple of steps, leaned on a post. “What’s your name?”

“Skylar. I’m friends with Riley.”

“I haven’t seen you before. You friends from school?”

“No, we just met.”

Brian came out of his office and I wondered if he’d been watching from the side window.

“Megan, you finished all your chores?” His voice was stern.

“No, Dad.” She went right back inside.

Brian gave me another friendly smile and a nod of his head, but his eyes were cold. I got into my car and drove out of there.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

I grabbed some food at the grocery store, barbecued chicken and a salad, fruit for the morning, and protein bars to hold me over during the day—without a cooler I didn’t have any way of keeping food fresh. I also bought a few bottles of water—at the ranch I’d had to drink from the hose, hoping I wasn’t drinking contaminated well water or something. I drove by the motel again, but Crystal’s car still wasn’t there. If she’d checked in Monday, she’d only have a couple more days.

I didn’t know where to spend the night—and I really needed a shower. My feet were filthy from all the dust and my hair smelled like manure. I hadn’t seen a truck stop or a public pool around town. Then I remembered Riley mentioning the creek near his house. I headed back toward the ranch and found the dirt road he was talking about. I drove slowly, the car kicking up dust behind me. I had to open a metal gate, drive through, and close it behind me.

I found a clearing on the edge of the creek and parked, got out to have a look around. The creek was shallow, but there were a couple of pools farther down and someone had built a fire. I could see a ring of rocks with blackened wood on the shore, but there weren’t any empties or anything.

It was creepy, being alone in the middle of nowhere—I kept looking around every time I heard the slightest noise—but at least it was private. I hoped Riley didn’t come down to look for me. To the right of the creek there was an open field with small clusters of trees and the odd big tree standing alone, but I couldn’t see any houses. This must be one of the Luxtons’ lower fields.

I sat on a smooth rock by the creek, still warm from the sun, and ate my dinner. After I was finished I smoked one of the joints I’d taken from Crystal’s. I felt lost without my music, used to always having my headphones on, but now there was a different kind of noise in my head. I was worried about Crystal. I didn’t know how I was going to be able to look around more. It seemed like they had hundreds of acres of property and God knows how many outbuildings. Somehow I had to find a way to sneak off the next day. I wondered if I could ask Riley for a tour. He should know if his family had a warehouse. I just had to figure out a way to handle things without making him suspicious.

I couldn’t stop thinking about Brian’s cold eyes, and what he’d done to my mom and aunts. I didn’t want the images in my head, how much more real it all seemed now that I had met him. I felt shattered, like something had broken inside me, but I didn’t know how to put myself back together.

I thought about that girl I’d seen who looked like me, wondered whether we had stuff in common, whether I’d like her. I imagined what it might’ve been like to have a younger sister, and anger grabbed hard in my stomach again.

I’d never have a father now.

I started to cry hard, and I let myself, let it all come out until my face was sore and my eyeballs ached. I felt empty and exhausted, but a little calmer.

I changed into my suit in the back of my car, left my towel on the hood, and found a pool in the creek deep enough for me to wash my hair and shave my legs. It would’ve been nice to have a swim, but I lay in a shallow pool with my back resting against the rocks and let the current nibble at me. I thought I heard a rumbling down the road, stood up and strained my ears.

It sounded like a truck.

I quickly got out, almost slipping on the algae-covered rocks under the water near the shore. I heard a door slam. Was it Riley?

When I walked up, I saw a tall man leaning against my car. He was wearing loose jeans, a white T-shirt, and a blue baseball cap with a red logo on it. My step slowed. He had small mean eyes, a wide mouth, with thick lips, a bit of a gut. He looked strong. He smiled, showing lots of stained teeth.

“This is private property, you know.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll leave.”

“You Skylar?” he said.

How did he know my name?

“Yeah.…”

“I’m Gavin, this is my ranch. Heard we had a new girl. How did it go today?”

I tried to answer but my tongue was thick in my mouth. It was him
.
I’d never sensed so much danger from someone. It rolled off him in waves, a dark and cold energy, dirty like engine oil and cigarettes.

Gavin’s smile was fading, his eyes narrowing. I unstuck my tongue from the roof of my mouth and swallowed, trying to get some saliva back.

“Good, thanks.”

I was shivering, my arms wrapped around my body, trying to hide anything he might be interested in. I hated the way he was looking at me, his eyes half-mast, his head tilted to the side, this weird kind of smirk on his mouth.

He picked up my towel, held it out. “Well, come on, you must be cold.”

I didn’t know what to do. Would he try to grab me if I came close enough to get the towel? I thought about the knife under my front seat, kicked myself for not bringing it down to the creek. I couldn’t get into the car without passing him.

I walked up to him, slowly. He held out the towel, gave me a friendly smile.

I reached out, ready to run if he moved a muscle, but he stayed still. I took the towel and wrapped it around myself, wishing it was a beach towel and not a small white one from the motel. I moved around to the passenger side of the car.

He had a beer in his hand. “Want one?”

“No, thanks.”

He pulled a red cigarette pack out of his front pocket, lit a smoke, his head tilted to the side. For a second it looked like he was checking out my legs, but then he glanced away. A shiver crawled over my scalp.

“Riley mentioned you’ve been sleeping in your car.” He glanced into the back of my car, stared for a second at the blanket I’d spread out. “He said he told you that you could clean up down here after work.”

So that’s how Gavin knew I was there. Why had Riley told his uncle? Was it a trap? I felt a flash of anger at my stupidity.

“I’ll leave.”

He picked up the roach I’d left on the hood of my car, gave me a creepy smile. “Tell you what, I’ll let you stay if you smoke a joint with me.”

I didn’t want to smoke anything with him, but he had this angry energy about him. Like if I said no, he’d freak out. I imagined his big hands hitting me in the face, all over my body, his own face twisted in rage.

“Okay.”

He walked back to his truck. I quickly opened my car door and pulled my T-shirt over my head, grabbed my shorts and pulled them on behind the car. I could see him sitting in the passenger side of his truck, his glove box open. He was rolling a joint, but he kept glancing in my direction. When he looked away I reached back into the car, felt under my driver’s seat, and pocketed my knife.

My bikini was still wet under my clothes, soaking through my shirt. I wrapped the towel around me. I looked around. No one could see me, and no one knew I was there. I’d thought that meant I was safe. I was an idiot.

Gavin closed his glove box back up, leaned over to turn the radio on. He flipped through a few stations. Country music filled the air.

He left the passenger-side door open and walked back toward me, his tongue flicking out to lick the joint’s seam. He glanced up, met my eyes. I looked away. He came around to the front of the car, sat on the hood.

“Come on, don’t be shy.”

I took a couple of steps closer but left a few feet between us. If he tried to grab me, should I run for the woods or my car? I should’ve left the door open. I fingered the knife in my pocket, the cold metal comforting.

He lit the joint and took a long drag, then passed it to me. He stared at me as my mouth circled the end. I looked down while I finished inhaling, passed it back to him.

“Brian said you were eighteen,” he said.

“Yeah.”

“You’ve got a boyfriend waiting for you in Revelstoke?” He took another drag, coughing on the smoke.

I nodded.

“He doesn’t sound like a very good boyfriend, letting you stay out here by yourself.” He shook his head. “Kids these days, Riley, that fuckhead Noah he’s always hanging out with, they don’t know how to treat a girl.” He passed me the joint. I noticed his hands, how big they were, the dirt under his yellowed nails.

I didn’t say anything, just took a drag, but I didn’t inhale much, didn’t want to get that stoned. I needed to be sharp in case I had to run for it.

“You get cold or scared down here, you come up to the house and knock, okay? I’ve got a couch.”

I’d rather set myself on fire than sleep in your house.

“Thanks, I like sleeping in my car.”

“You got problems with your folks?”

“We’re in touch. My mom worries if I don’t check in every day.”

He gave me a measuring look. “I bet she does.”

I wanted him to leave, but I didn’t know what to say.

“Riley said he might come by later and hang out. Noah too.” It was a gamble—he might already know Riley was doing something else tonight.

“You be careful with those boys. Pretty little thing like yourself shouldn’t be hanging around alone with them.”

“I’ll be careful.”

His gaze slid down, leveling somewhere around my breasts as he sucked on the joint. His phone rang in his pocket. He pulled it out and checked the call display, his jaw tightening.

He answered. “The fuck do you want…?” He listened, his face angry. “So deal with it.… Okay, okay.…” He ended the call, stuffed the phone back in his pocket, stood up, and handed me the joint. “You’re going to have to finish that for me. My brother needs me up at the ranch—a hose broke in the barn.”

I wanted to cry, I was so relieved, mentally thanking God and whoever else was watching over me. I was getting out of this place and never coming back.

He gave me one last smile. “Don’t forget, door’s always open.”

“Okay.”

He walked toward his truck. The glove box had popped open. He made like he was going to close it, but something slid out and hit the floorboard. He picked it up and in the dim light I caught the flash of a bright blue cigarette pack, looked like Player’s light—king-sized. That was Crystal’s brand.

He got back into his truck and drove off, giving me a wave out the window.

The minute I couldn’t hear the truck anymore, I climbed into my car and drove fast back to town. I parked behind the school again, changed out of my damp clothes and into my jogging pants and sweatshirt, and curled up into a ball, but I was still shivering. I couldn’t stop thinking about that pack of cigarettes—I didn’t know any guys who smoked king-sized—and his pack had been red. I couldn’t leave yet. I
had
to find a way to search around his property.

I decided to give myself one more day. If nothing turned up, I’d call Mom and get out of town.

*   *   *

The next morning I cleaned the barn again, then Theo had me picking up rocks in the horse corrals. It was backbreaking work, bending and lifting, tossing the rocks into the wheelbarrow, then dumping them out in a pile behind the barn. My hands were so dried out I thought the skin would crack, and my nails were chipped and broken. I’d never appreciated my job at the gym so much before. I wanted to quit a million times, but I was waiting for my chance. I hadn’t seen Riley all day and was starting to get worried that I might not be able to get a tour and ask him about warehouses. I had to find a way to get down to Gavin’s somehow.

He’d been giving me creepy looks all day and kept coming into the barn or walking by the corral, though I didn’t think he even needed to be there.

“You doing okay?” he’d ask every time.

“I’m fine, thanks.” I’d say, relieved when he’d walk away.

Once he leaned on the corral fence and had a cigarette, smoking it slowly while he watched me.

“Sure is hot out today.”

“Yeah.” I tried to angle myself so he couldn’t see my butt when I bent over, but I could still feel him staring.

“Well, I better get back to work,” he said, finally leaving me alone.

Around three o’clock a woman came out of the main house with the young girl who resembled me. They got into a truck and pulled way. The girl gave me a curious look as they passed, then waved. I waved back, my face flushed. Did she notice we looked alike?

I slipped behind the barn to go to the bathroom, and startled when I heard Gavin’s voice close to me until I realized he was in the feed room talking to Theo.