Vanishing Girls

Chapter Fifty-Five

There was a tension-filled moment of awareness before the three of them acted simultaneously. Josie raised the Marlin, pumping a round into the chamber as she brought it up, and fired a shot at Nick. Ray pushed her out of the way, sending her shot wide. Nick fired back. Josie tumbled into the rock wall, hitting the back of her head. A bright light flashed across her vision. She tried to take a step but fell forward, the Marlin jabbing her in her side. Ray rushed Gosnell, and Nick’s shotgun boomed again. The two men tumbled down the dell and out of sight, a whirling dervish of flailing limbs and the sleek black of the shotgun barrel. Josie’s vision seemed to split, everything multiplying by two, and then returned to normal. She reached back and felt blood in her hair. She could hear Ray and Nick crashing through the underbrush in the distance. She tried to stand again, but her legs were made of jelly. She moved toward the noise on her hands and knees, the heavy Marlin slung across her back, until the sound stopped.

Ray.

There had been no more gunfire. Was Ray still alive? The thought made her sway on her knees. She could go back to the cave, maintain a defensive position there until she figured out what the hell was going on. She would be able to hear Gosnell coming from inside the cave, see his shoes. She’d shoot before he could move on her. Then she could get away. If she could just stand. She tried to stand. The forest around her spun. She sat back on her heels and shifted the sling to bring the Marlin around to her front.

By the time she heard the crunch of feet in the leaves beside her it was too late. Her hands fumbled with the Marlin but they were clumsy and unsure. Someone behind her lifted her body as if she weighed nothing. The cold metal of the Marlin’s barrel pressed into the side of her throat. On the other side, the coarse material of the sling cut into her skin. As her carotids were slowly crushed, the spinning forest around her went gray, then black.