“Great,” Kenzie said, quickly, hoping to get her information quickly. “I’m friends with a man who lives in a cabin on the mountain. A guy named Bryce. Have you heard of him?”
The men eyed each other, shrugging slightly. “There’s lots of men that live in these mountains, ma’am. Do you reckon you could get more specific?”
“He drives a big truck?” Kenzie said, knowing she sounded foolish and laughing at herself. “Anyway, he’s also involved with a group called Blue Boys Clubhouse. Maybe motorcyclists. Heard of them?”
The men shook their heads, giving her the same sad expression the waitress had. Kenzie thanked them and drove quickly away, keeping her eyes on the mountains. I will find you, Bryce, she thought. She knew it wasn’t the end of their time together.
She continued toward the neighboring town, driving the car up and over hills, daydreaming about her babies. She hadn’t spent much time with children, not since she’d lived with her mother and her stepsiblings, and the idea of holding one in her arms made her heart ache.
The next town over, a place called Jericho, had a remarkable view of Mount Mansfield. Kenzie parked near a local diner, one that seemed to be a cookie cutout of the previous diner. She wandered in, her hand on her belly, and ordered a cup of tea. After warming her hands over the steaming cup, she asked the waitress about Bryce and his Blue Boys, but again she received a shrug and an “I’m sorry, honey.”#p#分页标题#e#
Kenzie thanked the woman, her shoulders slumping forward. She drove around the town a few times, winding down the main road with its general store and its gas station and its church, before giving up and heading to the next town, a place named Cambridge. She rolled the word over in her mouth, giving it a British accent in the privacy of her car.
Cambridge. Bryce, will I find you there?
As she drove, the sunlight began to dwindle. She grew nervous, knowing she didn’t have a place to stay that night—having thought she would have miraculously found Bryce by now. She parked in front of the downtown Cambridge bar, a shaded place with a blue Bud Light sign flashing in the window. She wandered from her car, inhaling the sharp, chilly air, and walked down the street, searching for that Blue Boys logo, or maybe just a place to eat some dinner.
As she wandered past the final corner, peeking around the bar and seeing only firelight gleaming from the surrounding houses, she heard rapid footfalls behind her. Shocked, she turned quickly and found a man with a black hat pulled low over his ears. He growled at her and grabbed her purse, yanking it.
Kenzie screamed. Her eyes flashed with panic, like a dog’s. She lurched back, falling to the sidewalk and yanking at her purse, trying to keep it. “SOMEONE! PLEASE! HELP!” she screeched. Blood pumped wildly in her ears.
Someone rushed out of the dark, smoky bar beside them. He wrapped his arms around her attacker’s upper torso and yanked at him, pulling him toward the ground. The man immediately gave up on her purse and reared back, trying to get his balance. But the man who’d come to help her was far more powerful. After scrambling with the attacker for a moment, he pushed him against the brick wall of the bar beside them. The attacker’s head snapped back, banging against the hard wall.
Kenzie quivered behind them, watching as the taller man of the two, wearing a red hat and a pair of horn-rimmed glasses, demanded the attacker tell him who he was.
“What the hell are you doing here?” the red-hatted man cried. “Get out of Cambridge. Leave our women alone. Do you even know what you’re doing? You don’t belong here.”
Kenzie clung to her purse, shuffling back. The attacker’s face was babyish, with large cheeks and bulbous lips. She frowned at him, trying to memorize his face. Could she pick him out of a lineup?
But the red-hatted man let the attacker go. The pair watched as the squirrely man rushed down the street and into the darkness, far away from the gleaming lights of the Cambridge main street. He was like a rat returning to the sewers.
“Oh my god, are you all right?” the man asked her, springing to her side again. He wrapped his hand around her arm and helped her up. She still quivered, her knees knocking together.
“I think so,” she whispered, feeling tears spring to her eyes.
“That was horrible. I saw the whole thing from the window,” he said, gesturing. “In Cambridge, mugging is rare. It seems you’ve had a bit of bad luck.” His eyes were deep brown, shining. It was clear he was attracted to her. Kenzie was just grateful for a friendly face.