Chapter 5. Alice
ALICE
Alice pulled the rear couch into a bed and roughly spread their sheets and blankets over the cushions.
Then she paced the RV. The campground office was closed now.
Was there a pay phone? She could try to run to it, but the others would be back any moment, and if they found her gone, they’d be suspicious.
She didn’t want to leave Tom alone with two killers.
She whirled around. A weapon. She should hide one.
She yanked out the drawer in the kitchen, pulled out a knife, and shoved it under the bed’s cushion, near the edge.
She wiped at her brow. Sweat stung her eyes.
The RV was too hot. The windows were open, but the air was so still.
No cool breeze. No relief. She stepped out just as Jenny was returning.
The girl smiled at Alice, her hair damp around her forehead, her cheeks rosy and freshly scrubbed. She’d finished quickly. Maybe she and Simon had an agreement not to leave Alice and Tom alone for too long. As Jenny drew near, Alice could smell soap and mint toothpaste.
“Good night.” Alice tucked her hands into her armpits to hide the shaking.
“Good night.” But Jenny didn’t go straight to the tent. She paused in front of Alice as though she was waiting for Alice to say something else. The seconds stretched. Alice’s heart was racing. Her muscles cramped. She wondered if she might be having a heart attack.
Jenny shifted her weight, gnawing on her bottom lip as she looked at the tent and then back at Alice. “Would we be able to borrow those pillows again?”
Right. Last night she’d treated them like guests.
“Of course.” She fetched the pillows, handed them to Jenny, and scurried back to the RV, tossing out a final, “Well, good night then!” over her shoulder.
Alice paced inside the RV. What was taking Tom so long? Finally, she heard his voice as he arrived back at the campsite with Simon.
She peeked out the window. They were putting out the fire. Their outlines turned to shadows. Then one shadow moved toward the tent and the other toward the RV.
Tom opened the door, and the RV filled with the scent of wood smoke. His wet hair was neatly combed, and he was carrying his shaving kit, with his towel around his neck.
“Lock the door!” Alice whispered urgently, and when he didn’t move fast enough, she reached past him and did it herself.
“What’s going on?” Tom looked confused as she began to close all the curtains, swishing them closed so fast she nearly tugged them off the rods.
“They’re wanted for murder!” She yanked the newspaper article out of her purse, unfolded it, and shoved it into his hands. “Look!”
When he saw the photos, a wave of red climbed his neck and into his face. “Jesus Christ.” He took a ragged breath and sat down at the dinette so hard that the RV rocked.
“We should leave.” Alice sat across from him. “We should just drive off.”
Tom was staring at the article, his eyes flicking side to side. He shook his head. “We’d have to unhook the RV—and the awning is out. They’d hear us.”
“Then one of us has to walk and see if the office has a pay phone.”
“We’ll go together. I don’t want you alone with them.” He got to his feet, opened the closet near the bed, and slid out a dark-walnut wooden case.
The handgun. She was relieved—then terrified. Tom knew how to shoot, but Simon might also have a gun. He could shoot them from the tent before Tom was able to fire back.
Tom took his key from his ring, opened the case, and lifted out the gun. She’d seen him clean and load the gun before, but it was more ominous now as she watched him pull the slide back, insert a loaded magazine, then pull the slide back again, and smoothly release it.
She felt like she needed to say something, but what? It was all happening so fast, danger and fear, spinning out of her grasp.
“Don’t do anything rash. If you get hurt—” Her voice broke, and she had to stop.
“I won’t.” Tom tucked the gun into his waistband, sat beside her, and then pulled her close with his arm around her shoulder. She leaned into his warmth.
“We’ll wait until they’re asleep, okay?” Tom said.
They turned off all the lights inside the RV except for the one above the stove, which cast a dim glow. Tom shook open their map and they sat at the table as he traced the highways with his finger. They found White Cliff—north of Vancouver. Simon hadn’t lied about that part.
“They must have boated up the river.” Tom tapped a spot on the map. “Remember when Simon said they’d slept on the beach? They were probably traveling at night.”
Alice thought back to when she first saw the couple walking on the road, how tired they looked. Then when Jenny was in the bathroom. She’d felt sorry for her.
They switched off the stove light so that Simon and Jenny wouldn’t see their silhouettes moving around in the RV. Tom and Alice sat close at the table, fingers entwined.
“It’s going to be okay,” Tom whispered, and Alice wished she could believe him, but he’d said the same thing when she’d gone into labor early, when he’d rushed her to the hospital.
Her legs were jittery, muscles vibrating like violin strings.
She got to her feet a few times and pulled the corner of the curtain back, staring into the dark, at the quiet campsite and the barely visible triangle of the tent.
Then she’d sit back down and grab Tom’s hand again.
They talked about the couple. Each memory and conversation was suspect.
Every interaction clouded. A suffocating dread settled onto Alice’s chest. She’d never felt the presence of evil before. Now it was only yards away.
When thirty minutes had passed, they slipped on their shoes, and Tom carefully opened the RV door and stepped out. Alice flinched at the creak of the metal stairs. Everything was so loud in the dark. She felt Tom’s fumbling touch as he reached back for her hand.
Alice set her feet on the steps, clinging to his hand, and held her breath until she heard the door softly click behind her. She looked at the tent. Tom tugged on her hand. He was moving them toward the road, passing the picnic table, the fire pit—the scent of charcoal still lingering in the air.
They were close to the entrance of the site when the unmistakable sharp zipping sound of the tent flap broke the silence. Tom stopped so abruptly she hit his back.
“Who’s out there?” Simon’s voice was firm, challenging.
Tom tightened his hand around hers and turned his body. She shifted along with him, keeping herself behind his large shoulder.
“Just us,” Tom said. “We heard a noise.”
“Yeah? Hold on.” Rustling, then a flashlight flicked on and aimed at the ground.
The beam of light revealed Simon standing outside the tent, dressed only in a pair of denim cutoffs.
He was jamming his feet into his sneakers like he was getting ready to help find the source of noise.
Jenny emerged from behind him in a long T-shirt and bare legs. She rubbed at her arms.
“Sorry for waking you.” Did she sound casual? Alice couldn’t tell. Her heart was pounding too hard, her mouth suddenly dry. Her mind locked on the girl’s name. Jenny. Was her full name Jenny? Did her mother call her that? When they lived in their big white house.
“It’s okay,” Jenny said.
“Where was the noise?” Simon shone the flashlight into the trees beside the tent.
“Over there. Something moving.” Tom gestured toward the bushes near the back of the RV. “It’s gone now—whatever it was.”
“Did it sound big or small?”
“Hard to say. It was probably just a bird. You know us city folks. Jumping at every noise.” Tom barked out a short laugh, and Alice cringed. He sounded like a TV game-show host cracking jokes. Alice wished she could see Simon’s face. Was he believing any of this?
“Could’ve been a raccoon,” Simon said.
“Maybe, yeah. Very possible.” Tom nodded. “Well, good night then.” Tom tugged on Alice’s hand and moved them toward the RV, getting closer to the couple. His grip was so tight she couldn’t flex her fingers. They were at the RV. The metal door handle clicked as Tom pulled.
“Did you check if we left any garbage out?” Simon said. “There’s bears around here.” He swung the flashlight, and it landed on them, illuminating their bodies. Alice heard a quick inhale.
“You have a gun?” Simon said.
Alice panicked—how had Simon seen the gun? Tom’s shirt must have lifted when he was reaching for the handle. The door now hung open. They’d been so close.
“Didn’t know what we’d find out here. Like you said, there are bears.”
“You’ve got to make noise to scare off bears.” Simon’s voice had changed from surprise to wariness. “You were sneaking around…”
“We’re making plenty of noise now.”
The flashlight beam shifted, aiming right into Alice’s eyes. She squinted but she couldn’t see Simon’s shape, or Jenny’s. Were they moving closer?
“You look freaked out, Alice,” Simon said. “You want me to check the bushes?”
She laughed nervously. “I’m fine. Got myself worked up over nothing.”
“You sure? Me and Tom could take a walk.” He’d lowered the flashlight, but he was still challenging their story. She couldn’t tell if he was onto them or just thought they were stupid.
“No, no. You should go back to bed. Jenny needs her rest.”
Tom’s hand clamped on hers, almost painfully. She caught her breath. She’d said Jenny. Maybe Simon didn’t realize. Maybe he didn’t hear her. Everything went silent.
“What did you just call her?”