Never Hug a Mugger on Quadra Island by Sandy Frances Duncan & George Szanto

Author:Sandy Frances Duncan & George Szanto [Duncan, Sandy Frances & Szanto, George]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General, Mystery & Detective
ISBN: 9781926971506
Publisher: Touchwood Editions
Published: 2011-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Kyra followed Shane along a wooded path. After a minute it narrowed, then dwindled to nothing where the ridge fell off the cliff. Discovery Passage lay in front of her.

“Timmy’d come up here to stare at the water.” Shane glanced about. “Sure isn’t here now.”

Peaceful place for staring, Kyra thought. Across the water the sun hung low over Vancouver Island, hitting black clouds sideways and burning them orange. Below lay several buildings with rooflines that swept up just before their gutters, pagoda-like. The largest, set in the middle of a pond, featured bridges leading to platforms. Two guests sat on the near platform, drinking beer from bottles. She’d prefer vodka-tonic but even a beer would be good. Not for nine months. “Maybe Timmy’s down there.”

“Doubt it. He doesn’t like tourists.”

She could spend a few days in a place like this, chirping birds and lapping waves. “Okay. Let’s keep looking.” Along the trail to the car. “Where to now?”

“Maybe April Point Road toward the village. New territory.”

“Okay.” She looked at the sky. “Going to be dark soon.”

“We can get home easily from the village.”

They drove down from the parking lot and headed the way they’d come. “Wonder if your dad and Noel had any luck.”

“They’d have let us know.”

“Yeah. Still, I think I’ll give Linda a call.” She pulled her iPhone from her purse.

“Hey, you shouldn’t be using a phone while you’re driving.”

“You’re right. But there’s no one around and I’m going slowly.”

“Lots of curves, Kyra.” He glanced in the passenger side mirror.

She pressed three buttons—

“Anyway, there is someone on the road. A green van and he’s coming up fast.”

Kyra checked the rearview mirror. “Damn fool.” The van was barely fifty feet behind and catching up. She set the phone in her lap and slowed the Honda.

Shane had turned to see what the van was up to. “Damn! He’s going to pass us! He can’t see around—”

The front of the van was beside the driver’s side rear bumper, beside the rear door, it bashed against them. “What the hell—” They swerved toward the narrow shoulder. Kyra’s hands squeezed the wheel and pulled the car straight. But the van was there again, a harder push, they were driving one wheel on the shoulder, ahead a gully filled with peckerpoles. Now the van was parallel and Kyra turned to see what the crazy guy was doing and she saw his face, something wrong with it— He hit them again, they were off the road heading for the scraggly trees, Kyra yelling “Hang on—” as the Honda dropped into the gully, one braked but speeding wheel after another, half-dozen scraggly trees ahead, car cutting a path between them, bouncing off tree trunks, slowing. Stopped.

• • •

“Oh my god, thank you thank you. Yes, we’ll be right there.” Linda put down the phone.

“What?” asked Alana. “Tim?”

“Yes, oh thank god yes.”

“And he’s okay?”

“Well mostly. He’s banged up but they don’t think anything’s broken. Oh, but he’s okay, yes,” and suddenly she was hugging Alana. “Yes, he seems to be okay.

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