The Serial Killers (Complete)

River 04/02 12:46 PM

"Do you think it was right to leave her?" Kate kicked at a rock, tripping herself ever so slightly as she missed her target.

I clutched tighter to the can of mace in my hand, "No, but it was her decision and someone needed to stay with the car in case someone stopped near it."

We lapsed into silence, even the forest seemed to be holding its breath as we waited for something to happen. Finally Kate broke the tension. "I think the line was cut."

"What?" I tugged at the hem of my athletic shorts, rubbing my fingers over the fray.

"I get that you're probably skeptical about my automotive knowledge, I am too, but I'm seriously convinced that someone cut the line."

I stared at her, knowing my face wasn't giving away any of the panicked emotions I felt brewing on the inside. "What's your reasoning?"

The game of reasoning was one that had started in high school. When one of us seriously doubted the logic of another on a serious issue. Instead of calling bullshit, one person would simply ask the other for their reasoning. I suppose in the 'real' world it's called politics, but I'd like to think that we're all above such base things.

"Wouldn't you think, if the line had been severed by the environment that it would be necessary to have driven on rough terrain and that the cut would have been rough?"

"It could have corroded over time; it's an old car."

"But that's the thing, I didn't see corrosion. I saw a clean, slightly diagonal cut, as if someone had been laying on their stomach on the left side of the car and had to reach up to finish the job," Kate informed me, refusing to meet my eyes. Her own fingers were worrying the hem of her button up shirt and I dropped my shorts.

"We never left the car unattended."

"Yes, we did. Remember when Raelyn went inside to talk with the realtor and we went to the winery next door? It could have happened then; the guy who did it wouldn't have even had to come into our range of sight."

My stomach clenched; she was on to something. "Kate, if you're right and someone did that on purpose, they could have followed us out here."

Her face didn't change and I knew I was the second one to come to that conclusion. "River, we should get back to Raelyn."

I took off at a sprint, leaving Kate struggling to keep up.

"Raelyn!" I was the first to call out. A part of me was convinced she'd already be gone.

When the door didn't open, I slid to a halt. Kate shoved past me, skidding as her hands latched onto the window. "She's not here."

"No." I pushed her out of the way. "We were just here."

There was a crack in the woods and my hand went to the taser gun in my belt. The foliage began to rustle as a body shoved them apart. The point of a pistol was the first to emerge.

"Raelyn?" Kate cocked her head.

Raelyn quickly pocketed the weapon again. "You guys are back already?"

"Were you going to shoot us?" I slipped the gun back into my waistband.

"Were you going to taser me?"

I glanced back at the car. "What were you doing in the woods?"

Raelyn blushed. "Nothing."

Kate huffed, reaching for her hand and began to pull her back down the road. "We can interrogate each other later, but we need to go, it's not safe to be near the car."