The Missing Passenger by Jack Heath

Author:Jack Heath [Heath, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published: 2021-02-23T00:00:00+00:00

Nightmares

Doug woke when a mosquito flew into his ear.

He yelped and slapped himself in the side of the head. It hurt, but the mosquito flew off. He wondered if it had bitten him already. As a kid he had read a book that featured a mosquito as big as a horse, chasing the main character through a forest. The scene had scared him so much that he was still frightened of mosquitos, years later.

Doug sat up, rubbing his eyes. His face and hands were freezing. Birds were chattering and trees were rustling.

He hadn’t intended to fall asleep. He’d just been so tired. After Jarli left, Doug and Priya had argued for most of the night—she still wanted to go to the police, and he still thought it was a bad idea. Eventually she had given up. Doug had been sitting down, then leaning on one elbow, then lying down. Priya had said she needed to go to the bathroom and walked outside. Doug had closed his eyes, just for a second. Now suddenly the sun was up.

He’d been dreaming about his old house, from before he’d come to Kelton. In the dream, his parents had been put in witness protection without him. They had changed their names and moved away, leaving him behind in an empty house. He was going through the stuff in their bedroom, searching for clues about what their new names might be, getting more and more frantic. Because Viper was coming, and Doug needed to be gone by the time he arrived.

And then there was a scratching sound at his parents’ bedroom door. Viper was already inside the house—

And Doug woke up.

He had this nightmare often, but it had been especially vivid this time. It took him a minute to reassure himself that it had only been a dream. Then he turned to ask Priya if he’d missed anything important.

She wasn’t there.

Doug looked around. The cave was dark and empty. In the light of day, he could see that it was small, with no tunnels or other openings.

He crept over to the mouth of the cave and peered out. There was no movement among the trees. No sign of Priya’s black-and-white pilot uniform.

“Priya,” he hissed. His voice was still rough-edged from sleep. “Are you there?”

The bush took his voice and gave nothing back.

He called out louder. “Priya? Where are you?”

Insects hummed. Leaves rustled.

Doug took a deep breath. The bad guys haven’t found her, he told himself. Because they would have taken me, too. So where is she?

Only one possibility remained. Priya had left. She had gone looking for the police because she trusted them more than some kids and a stranger on the phone who claimed to be a journalist.

Fair enough, Doug had to admit. But now he had a problem. Priya knew where he was. She would tell the cops. Then Viper would find him.

He had to move.

Doug took one last look around the cave to check that he hadn’t left any traces behind. Then he trudged out into the trees.

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