And Then She Was Gone(104)

Then, from over the hill, he heard his father’s voice. “STOP RIGHT THERE!” Jack had never heard his dad sound so commanding.

Jack sprinted toward the sound, ignoring the driving rain. His feet flew over the slick pavement.

At the top of the hill, he froze.

Below him, in the grass just off the path, his father stood with his legs planted shoulder-width apart. Michael Shaw stood twenty feet in front of him. And Murray lay in a heap at Shaw’s feet.

“Stop hitting him and move back, now,” Jack’s dad ordered in his sternest teacher voice.

Shaw straightened up.

“Move away from him!” Jack’s dad walked forward. “Just back away. We can work this out.”

Shaw took a couple of steps back.

Lightning flashed, and from Jack’s position on the hill, he saw the light gleam off something clutched in Shaw’s right hand. A tire iron.

Shaw started toward Jack’s dad.

“Dad! Look out!” Jack’s feet pressed into the ground as he kicked into a full sprint.

His dad took a step forward. He raised his fists.

Jack had never thought of his father as small until now. It was a lopsided matchup: the huge, hulking man versus the short scholar.

Shaw screamed in rage and charged, his arm raised high. The tire iron gleamed.

Jack’s hands clawed the air as he raced forward.

Shaw swung. The tire iron swept toward Jack’s father’s head.

Jack dove between the two men. Jack’s back took most of the impact. The base of his skull took the rest. His momentum carried him into Shaw and his weight drove the man back, but Shaw remained on his feet while Jack collapsed to the ground.

The rain sparkled and the world spun. Jack’s eyes rolled in his head. He tasted the tang of metal in his mouth—blood.

Shaw stared down at Jack in disbelief. His lips pulled back so far all his teeth showed. “YOU!” he shrieked. Lightning gleamed off the whites of his bulging eyeballs. Gripping the tire iron in both hands, he raised it high.

Jack’s father slammed into Shaw’s ribs and threw all his weight into knocking the bigger man down.

Shaw’s feet slid out from under him on the wet grass and he tumbled backward. The tire iron dropped from his hand. The two men rolled, and Jack’s dad came out on top. His knee pinned one of Shaw’s arms to the ground.

But Shaw’s other hand was free, and he was the stronger of the two men. He swung at his attacker’s head. His first blow glanced harmlessly off the smaller man’s shoulder.

His second blow caught Jack’s dad square in the face.

The teacher’s glasses broke. The broken frame sliced into the skin above his right eye. Then an uppercut caught him under the chin and knocked his head back. He fell off Shaw and onto his side.

By now, Murray had managed to stand. Blood ran down the side of his face and into his beard. He looked at Jack, then he turned and fled, disappearing over the hill.

Jack’s vision blurred. He looked at his father. For the first time in Jack’s life, he saw terror in his dad’s eyes.

“RUN, JACK!” his father ordered.

Shaw’s huge hands circled his throat.

Jack tried to get to his feet, but he was still dizzy from the blow to the head. He stumbled and crashed back down to the ground, helpless.

Shaw leaned all his weight forward, trying to crush the smaller man’s throat. Jack’s father’s fingers clawed at Shaw’s grip. His face turned blue. His back arched, and his eyes bulged in his head.

Jack tried again to rise to his feet. Again, he failed.

A shrill, ear-piercing whistle cut through the storm. Again and again the whistle shrieked. A red baseball hat appeared on the horizon.

Robyn dashed over the hill, blowing her whistle for all she was worth.

“SHUT UP!” Shaw screamed. He released his grip on Jack’s father and stood.

Jack’s father didn’t move.

Robyn ran up beside Jack. Her whistle quieted. Tears poured down her face. She was furiously huffing, but the only sound coming out was a strained wheeze.

Shaw picked up the tire iron and glared at Jack.

“It’s over, Shaw. Give up,” Jack said. He coughed up blood. “The police know everything. The phone app. The broken light. You couldn’t find Stacy’s handbag because someone picked it up while you were hiding her body. So you took your own set of keys and drove the car into the ditch to throw off the investigation.”

“Shut up. Shut up.” Shaw raised the tire iron over his head. Jack was helpless to fight back.

“Stop,” croaked a hoarse voice. Jack’s father. Jack’s heart skipped a beat. Thank God, he’s alive. “Please, stop.”

Michael Shaw had circles under his eyes so dark they looked black. He looked as though he hadn’t slept in days. He looked back at Jack’s father, then eyed Jack and Robyn, one by one. Jack realized he was trying to figure out whether he could finish off all of them. And he’d have to track down Murray too.