“Shh.” A strong hand covered his mouth from behind and he felt the warm, firm length of Jason’s body pressing against his back. Jason’s signature blend of spicy aftershave and clean sweat filled Patrick’s nostrils, a scent more intoxicating than Freddy’s weed. An electric thrill sparked across his skin, and that unnerved him more than any potential murderous visitor. He’d never been this close to Jason before, not even during that deluded moment in the toolshed four years ago.
“Just hold still a few more minutes,” Jason whispered. “Then we’ll know.”
Something hard probed the base of Patrick’s spine, and the sparksacross his skin blazed into high heat. He mentally chastised himself to keep his mind out of the gutter. It was just Jason’s cell phone or flashlight. Now was not the time or place, or even the guy.
Patrick blamed the sudden flood of primal urges on the unbearable anxiety brought on by the dark. No wonder people made dumb choices in slasher movies. Anticipation reduced you to a quivering mess of hormones and reflexes.
“Can you see who it is?” Jen hissed.
Carrie peeled back the curtains again. “I can’t tell. It’s too dark.”
“Is it your ex?” Freddy asked.
“I’m not sure. I don’t recognize the car.” She retreated and crouched beside Mikey by the sofa. Mikey put a hand on her arm and said something that Patrick couldn’t hear. Carrie nodded and gave him a weak smile.
Only Patrick noticed the smug look on Mikey’s face when Carrie turned her attention back to the door. Mikey had changed only on the surface. He was still being nice to Carrie for the sole purpose of gaining her affections. In high school, Carrie had once asked for Patrick’s help with a math assignment, and later Mikey had gotten him alone and complained Patrick didn’t need to get into her good graces because he was gay. To Mikey, kindness was transactional. A lesson perhaps learned from his parents. Although Jason, Jen, and Carrie had their share of shitty parenting, too, and they’d turned out fine. Well, mostly, when it came to Jen.
The footsteps coming up the porch were slow and sure, and in the hushed silence each step was a thunderclap. Jason’s hand slid from Patrick’s mouth and down to his chest, still clutching tightly. That warm, broad hand palming his thumping heart was the only thing preventing Patrick from running away.
Three sharp knocks sounded on the door.
Patrick twitched. Jason’s grip drew him farther back, unbearably tight and yet comforting. “Shh, it’s okay,” Jason whispered, practically brushing his lips against Patrick’s earlobe. The touch of his breath sent a shiver straight down Patrick’s neck to his groin. If thevisitor didn’t kill them, Patrick was going to die from the one-sided sexual tension.
The doorknob turned.
“Didn’t you lock it?” Tiffany hissed.
“I swear I—” Patrick said, but didn’t finish because the door swung open, hitting them all with a flood of incandescent white light.
A hulking figure filled the doorway, backlit by the car’s headlights.
“Daniel?” Carrie said.
A guttural cry rose from behind the sofa, and before Patrick could register what was happening, Mikey rushed for the door with the fireplace poker swinging.
The poker connected with the intruder’s head with a viciouscrack.The intruder toppled to the floor and did not stir again.
Mikey yelled in triumph. “Got him, Carrie!”
“Michael!” Carrie rushed over. Jason released Patrick, taking tentative steps toward their fallen visitor, and Patrick immediately missed the closeness of their bodies.
Jen set down the table lamp. “Nice work, Pipsqueak. I’m pretty sure that was the creeper watching us from across the lake.”
Carrie directed her flashlight on the fallen intruder. A man flopped on his side with his eyes closed, blood beginning to pool below his head. He wore a short-sleeved button-down shirt and belted olive khakis over hiking boots, and a broad-brimmed hat lay by his body where it had been knocked off.
Shit.
A different flavor of fear washed over Patrick, as he’d always toed the line when it came to the authorities. “He was watching us because he’s apark ranger.Shit. I told you all not to overreact!”
The triumphant look on Mikey’s face was slowly replaced with alarm as he realized what he’d done. The poker dropped to the floor. Patrick winced as the iron tip gouged the hardwood.
Mikey clapped his hands to his mouth. Suddenly he was thattwitchy kid again, the one afraid of getting into trouble. “Oh shit. Ohshit.I killed a park ranger.”
“Carrie’s ex is a park ranger?” Freddy said, confused.
Carrie’s face twisted in an apology. “It’s not Daniel. I got mixed up in the dark. They’re about the same height and build.” She crouched over the body, placing her hand on the man’s neck—and recoiled. What now? Patrick couldn’t take any more surprises.
“I’ve seen him before,” she said with wonder. “He was at the gas station I stopped at before I came here.”
