Hush, Hush #1 by Becca Fitzpatrick Read Free Book Online

running beside the car several feet before dropping away.
    I sped forward with the force of adrenaline. I checked the rearview mirror to make sure he wasn’t chasing me, then shoved the mirror to face away. I had to press my lips together to keep from sobbing.

CHAPTER 4
    FLYING DOWN HAWTHORNE, I DROVE PAST MY house, circled back, cut over to Beech, and headed back toward the center of Coldwater. I speed-dialed Vee. “Something happened—I—he—it—out of nowhere—the Neon—” “You’re breaking up. What?”
    I wiped my nose with the back of my hand. I was trembling down to my toes. “He came out of nowhere.”
    “Who?”
    “He—” I tried to net my thoughts and funnel them into words. “He jumped in front of the car!”
    “Oh, man. Oh-man-oh-man-oh-man. You hit a deer ? Are you okay?
    What about Bambi?” She half wailed, half groaned. “The Neon?”
    I opened my mouth, but Vee cut me off.

    54
    “Forget it. I’ve got insurance. Just tell me there aren’t deer parts all over my baby… . No deer parts, right?”
    Whatever answer I was about to give faded into the background. My mind was two steps ahead. A deer. Maybe I could pass the whole thing off as hitting a deer. I wanted to confide in Vee, but I didn’t want to sound crazy, either. How was I going to explain watching the guy I hit rise to his feet and begin tearing off the car door? I stretched my collar down past my shoulder. No red marks where he’d gripped me that I could see …
    I came to myself with a start. Was I actually considering denying it had happened? I knew what I’d seen. It was not my imagination.
    “Holy freak show,” Vee said. “You’re not answering. The deer is lodged in my headlights, isn’t he? You’re driving around with him stuck to the front of the car like a snowplow.”
    “Can I sleep at your place?” I wanted to get off the streets. Out of the dark. With a sudden intake of air, I realized to get to Vee’s, I’d have to drive back through the intersection where I’d hit him.
    “I’m down in my room,” said Vee. “Let yourself in. See you in a few.”
    With my hands tight on the steering wheel, I pushed the Neon through the rain, praying the light at Hawthorne would be green in my favor. It was, and I floored it through the intersection, keeping my eyes straight ahead, but at the same time, stealing glimpses into the shadows along the side of the road. There was no sign of the guy in the ski mask.
    Ten minutes later I parked the Neon in Vee’s driveway. The damage to the door was extensive, and I had to put my foot to it and kick my way out. Then I jogged to the front door, bolted myself inside, and hurried down the basement stairs.

    55
    Vee was sitting cross-legged on her bed, notebook propped between her knees, earbuds plugged in, iPod turned up all the way. “Do I want to see the damage tonight, or should I wait until I’ve had at least seven hours of sleep?” she called over the music.
    “Maybe option number two.”
    Vee snapped the notebook shut and tugged out the earbuds. “Let’s get it over with.”
    When we got outside, I stared at the Neon for a long moment. It wasn’t a warm night, but the weather wasn’t the cause of the goose bumps rippling over my arms. No smashed driver’s-side window. No bend in the door.
    “Something’s not right,” I said. But Vee wasn’t listening. She was busy inspecting every square inch of the Neon.
    I stepped forward and poked the driver’s-side window. Solid glass. I closed my eyes. When I reopened them, the window was still intact.
    I walked around the back of the car. I’d completed almost a full circle when I came up short.
    A fine crack bisected the windshield.
    Vee saw it at the same time. “Are you sure it wasn’t a squirrel?”
    My mind flashed back to the lethal eyes behind the ski mask. They were so black I couldn’t distinguish the pupils from the irises. Black like …
    Patch’s.
    “Look at me, I’m crying tears of joy,” Vee