We heard the van start and drive off.
"Dammit," said Gordon, staring after him.
* * *
Less than twenty minutes later, the door to the house burst open and Jude came barreling back in. He was carrying a bundle of cloth. It had red stains on it. Was there something inside it?
Gordon got to his feet and stalked over to Jude. "You can't just run off like that," he said. "You can't just take the van. What if there was an emergency?"
"Emergency?" repeated Jude. "This was an emergency."
"What happened?" asked Noah.
Jude clutched the bundle tighter. "If he'd only been there when I'd gotten there, I would have—"
"You wouldn't have done anything," said Gordon sharply. "Because this isn't just about you."
"But it's about my mother!" Jude said, his face twisting like he was about to cry. "He's got mymother. Do you understand that?"
"What happened?" said Noah.
"What happened?" repeated Jude. "What happened! That bastard!" And Jude choked up.
"Jude?" prompted Noah.
Jude flung the bundle of cloth at Noah. Noah caught it awkwardly. He knelt and set it on the floor. Then he stared at it. It was close to where I sat. I could see it better now. It looked like a ripped piece of dress or skirt. And the red stains had a brown tint to the edges. They were some kind of liquid. The liquid was still wet.
I refused to let my brain make the logical connection. Jason wouldn't have . . . Jason had been bluffing, like I'd thought. When Jude called his bluff, he hadn't . . . He couldn't . . .
"Unwrap it," Jude ordered, his voice harsh.
Noah hesitated.
"Do it!" Jude said.
Gingerly, Noah began to pull away at the edges of the cloth, peeling it back so that he could see what was inside.
Abruptly, he jumped back and cried out a little, tossing the bundle away from him.
It landed right in front of me. I swallowed hard, but I couldn't help myself. I leaned forward. Looked inside.
It was a finger.
hapter Twelve
Text message transcript between Jason Wodden and Hallam Wakefield, 03/15/09, 05:15 PM
Jason Wodden: any tips for cauterizing a wound?
Hallam Wakefield: are you hurt? where are you?
Jason Wodden: am fine. not my wound. have u done it before or not?
Hallam Wakefield: tell me where you are!!!
Jason Wodden: can't. i tried to do it and botched it. wound still bleeding heavily.
Hallam Wakefield: give me your location.
Hallam Wakefield: jason?
I let out a little gasp. Muffled it immediately with my hand. I wanted to look away, but I couldn't. The severed finger sat inside the stained cloth, blood still seeping from it. It was a woman's index finger. She had a long, manicured nail. "Oh," I whispered, shaking my head. "Oh, oh, oh."
Gordon pushed past Jude to see what was in the bundle. He turned on his heel and went back to Jude, grabbing Jude by the shoulders. "How did you get this? What happened?"
Jude was sobbing. Huge tears were spilling out of eyes. He didn't talk. He didn't look at Gordon. He just cried.
Gordon shook Jude hard. "Stop it," Gordon ordered. "Talk to me, Jude."
"He called me," Jude said through his tears.
"We were all here when that happened," said Gordon. "What did he say?"
"He said . . ." Jude's sobs cut him off.
Gordon shook Jude again. "What did he say?"
"He said, 'Your mother has something she'd like to tell you.' And then I heard her screaming and screaming and screaming. And then he hung up." Jude sniffled. "When I got there, I found this. It was still warm."
"Oh," I whispered. "Oh. Oh."
"Jesus," said Noah.
He did it. He did it. He actually hurt Michaela because I didn't show up. Oh God. Oh God. Jason.
"There was another note," said Jude. "It said that if I didn't bring Azazel tomorrow, I'd find more pieces." He shuddered.
"She's his own mother," said Gordon, dropping Jude's shoulders and coming to look at the finger again. "How could do that to his mother?"
"He's evil," whispered Noah. "He's just pure evil." He looked at me. "And you won't kill him."
I stood up then. "It's a trick!" I screamed.
"What?" said Jude.
I advanced on Jude. "It's a trick," I repeated. "It's not a real finger. It's not a real finger. You're just trying to get me to kill Jason. You're all lying to me!" I shoved Jude then, hard.
He stumbled back from me, surprised. There were still tears in his eyes and his nose was running. He recovered, rubbing his nose with the back of his hand, a movement that made him look so much like Jason, it hurt. "You think I'm faking this?" he demanded.