Season of Fear by Brian Freeman

Author:Brian Freeman [FREEMAN, BRIAN]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FICTION / Thrillers / Crime
Publisher: Quercus
Published: 2015-03-03T00:00:00+00:00

26

Peach knew where she needed to go. Lake Wales.

She drove inland. Interstate 4 was jammed with cars. There had been no evacuation ordered for Chayla’s landfall, but some coastal residents weren’t taking any chances with the storm.

It took her twice as long as it usually would to reach the exit at Lakeland, where she headed southeast toward Bartow. The farther she drove into the backcountry on the quiet two-lane highway, the more she retreated into her past. The land between towns was untouched by time. Flat, empty green fields. Fruit stands selling mesh bags of oranges out of barrels. Billboards advertising gun shows. The sky was a depressing charcoal overhead.

She thought about what Cab Bolton had told her.

Justin had been in Lake Wales before he was killed. They’d been there together barely a month earlier, and then he’d gone back without saying a word about it. He’d started asking questions about the Labor Day murders. That was his secret.

Why?

Part of her was angry at him. He’d lied and kept her in the dark. Their trip to Lake Wales was supposed to be a chance to talk about who they were, about life, love, sex, and the future. Their future. She’d even thought about breaking her vow that weekend and letting him take her virginity, but in the end, he’d been the one to say no, and she loved him even more for it.

She wondered how that same man could have deceived her. She wondered if he’d had an ulterior motive about the trip from the beginning.

When she’d left Lake Wales with Deacon years earlier, she had never wanted to see the town again. Justin had been the one to persuade her to return with him, but with each mile they drove, emotions rushed back. Memories flooded her, disconnected images that made no sense and left her deeply anxious. She was haunted by grief, loneliness, and loss. Through it all, Justin was there beside her.

Now she was going back again. Alone. She needed answers.

Ten miles outside town, when the first spatter of rain struck her windshield, she saw a cross in the long grass by the highway shoulder. Flowers decorated it, and the paint was fresh. Someone still honored whoever had died there. It was nice to think you could die and not be forgotten.

That had been her marker. That was where she’d pulled off the road with Justin.

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