Blood

9. Missing

"You're the second best driver I've ever seen," Hedges said from the driver's seat. "But I rebuilt this truck myself and I'm actually the best driver I've ever seen at least in this old thing, so why don't you tell me where to go and I'll get us there?" He'd slid back behind the wheel while we were exploring that farmhouse.

"Are you even old enough to have a license?" she demanded.

He shrugged. "Learner's permit. You can get one—"

"At fifteen, yeah, I remember. If you sign up for an incredibly dull driving class." Amira slid into the middle of the bench seat and let him stay where he was. "Just make it fast," she snapped. "Head north 'til you reach Pond Road, then turn west."

"The Hollow?" he asked as we roared up the bouncy road.

The Hollow was a little old village of its own with historic houses and farms and a little old library and a little old hall where they still held square dances on the night of the full moon. Some of the houses had been bought by rich people from the city who liked to come up on weekends.

We braked to a screeching stop in front of one of the houses fixed up by city folk. You could tell by the fancy new stonework and designer landscaping. A Mercedes SUV was idling in the driveway, one of its doors open. And the front door of the historic farmhouse was open, too.

"Someone broke a window," Hedges said, pointing.
"Damn!" Amira said. "Damn!"
"Should we try to call the rest of the people?" Hedges said. "Do you have a cell phone?" "I left it," she said. "Too easy to trace."
"Should we at least check out the house?" I asked.

Amira frowned. "We need cover. If they realize we're trying to warn the others they might wait for us at one of the houses. Can this thing go off road?"

Hedges pulled a lever. "Four wheel," he said.
"Drive around back. Keep close to the house and be ready to duck."

He looked worried but determined as we bumped up onto the lawn. We looped around the house, studying it, as Hedges turned this way and that to avoid shrubs and expensive teak outdoor furniture. (He crushed one by accident but it was just a chair.)

The place was quiet and empty except for a cat we scared up a tree. "Stop here," she said. "I'll run in and use the land line to try the others."

Hedges and I parked with the engine running beside a fancy lap pool while Amira went in the back door. I could see her through a window. It looked like she was in the kitchen using a wall phone with an old fashioned spiral chord. (Rich people from the city like to make their weekend houses look old fashioned. Go figure.)

Amira came out shaking her head and looking grim. "Nobody's answering. I know most of their numbers but not a single person seems to be home."

"Gone to the Hide already?" I suggested.