27
ANTHONY
It was getting dark.
A car accident had held them back for almost an hour, and every passing minute felt eternal. The police had promised to send someone to the address Ethan had given them, but that had been hours ago, and they hadn’t gotten any update since. Or maybe the cops had tried to call them but failed due to the horrible reception out here in the woods. They hadn’t even seen one house in the last thirty minutes.
“I think we’re getting close,” Ethan said, barely visible in the darkness inside the truck.
“The map gets all jumbled when I try to zoom in,” Anthony said. “Like the house is not on an actual street.”
“The police did ask three times if I was sure about the address. Maybe they lied about sending help. They acted like I was crazy.”
To be fair, Ethan had been so upset when he made that call, Anthony couldn’t blame the police for being skeptical. There were also no active missing person reports for either Chris or Jay.
Anthony’s body was operating on pure adrenaline, but even that was quickly running out. He’d barely slept the previous night, and the mixture of hours on the road with bubbling anxiety was taking its toll.
Just need to hold on a bit longer.
If Chris and Jay weren’t in that house, Anthony was officially out of ideas. The video Chris had “sent” earlier played in the back of his mind on repeat. He couldn’t fathom having that video become his last memory of him.
“Ant, is that...?”
The car that drove past them was a police car.
“Did you see if anyone was in the back seat?” Ethan craned his head back, but the police car was already disappearing in the rearview mirror.
“I think I only saw two people at the front. It might not be connected to the call you’ve made.”
“I think it is, and they’re driving the wrong way!”
“It’s likely just a patrol.” Anthony didn’t fully believe that, not out here, but what else was he supposed to say? He shook his head to sharpen his senses, worried he might crash with how tired he was.
“Whoever thought that building an amusement park out here would be a good idea was an idiot,” Ethan said.
Anthony had to agree. He mentally kicked himself for the time they had spent driving to the other side of the state, following the wrong trail. They should have waited to get confirmation from Mickey about the address.
The last rays of sun peeked here and there between the lush trees. By now, the maps on their phones were useless, not tracking their location or the road they were on. For all Anthony knew, they may have driven past the house earlier, yet he hadn’t noticed anywhere he could have turned.
“I’m stopping at the next place I see,” he said. “We need directions. I’m driving blind.”
“Maybe you should stop now to rest. I can see you’re getting tired.”
“I’m not sure.” He was dying to shut his eyes and sleep for twenty minutes, but how could he do that when they were so close to their destination?
“I’m sorry I can’t drive sticks,” Ethan said. “Maybe I should watch a tutorial or something, but I can’t get the internet working.”
Anthony held back a smile. “I think you’ll need more than a tutorial.”
Ethan leaned forward. “Do you see that?”
Anthony squinted his eyes. “See what?”
“There. Over there!”
Anthony looked closer and noticed what Ethan meant. “Shit.”
No longer remotely tired, he accelerated.