Hide and Shriek Read online

  They just wanted to get away. They wanted Cam to be out of this car. It was way more likely that they were going to haul him out and dump him somewhere. Somehow, I thought of that awful fate with relief. Cam left to wake up cold and alone on some dark highway, if he didn’t get hit by a car first. Or shoved into the forest, no matter whether he was really hurt, no matter whether there were wild animals out there.

  If Cam was getting dumped out of this car, I was getting out too. Obviously. I had to protect him. That was the whole point of my being here. I wasn’t some hyper-curious kind of kid who really needed to get to the bottom of the whole criminal enterprise. Nope. I’d leave that to the cops. Besides, the thought of going off alone with these guys to who knows where terrified me.

  I tried to think of how it would work. How they would really do it. They’d think of the police radioing ahead to surrounding towns. They’d be smart enough to think of that. Kidnapping was on Boss Scumbag’s mind. I had to stay alert. They had to dump Cam soon.

  And they had to do it quickly, very quickly, to minimize the chances of them being seen by a passing motorist.

  They’d pull over somewhere, pop the trunk, haul Cam out and dump him probably close to the road. Or into the trees? A fifteen- to twenty-second stop maybe. That’s all it would take. I had to be ready when I felt the car start to slow down. I had to use all my hide-and-seek skills to get out of the car and hide. It was like some twisted, desperate, extreme version of the game.

  It would take both of them to haul Cam from the trunk. That would be my chance. Right then. The moment of the Cam-removal. My plan A was to slip out the passenger-side door—Kev’s side—just as they started pulling Cam out and then hide somewhere quick. But where could I hide if they just stopped on the shoulder of the highway? They wouldn’t do that, would they? What if another car came along? The chances of that were slim at this time of night though. They would know that.

  There would be nowhere to hide if they pulled over on the shoulder. Unless I could scramble down into a ditch or something. Or was it dark enough out here to just melt into the darkness? Just lie on the ground and continue being a ghost? I’d have to play it by ear.

  Plan B was to create a distraction. I could open the driver-side door and let Diablo out. That would turn their heads for a split second, and maybe I could slip out the other door. But again, a hiding place was the problem. Plus, them blundering around getting Diablo back into the car would just delay their leaving, increasing my chances of getting caught. Also, they’d be mean to Diablo when they caught him, and that wasn’t fair.

  I lay there, my face pressed into the stinky gym bag, tossing around plans and possibilities.

  Then something changed. The engine sounded different.

  I felt it shudder.

  Wait.

  The car was slowing down.

  Chapter Fourteen

  My heart started thudding.

  Showtime.

  I hoped I was ready. I didn’t feel it.

  Speed decreasing. Indicator on. A car passed on the left in a whoosh of sound.

  If I knew more, if I knew what they were going to do…

  Like he had heard my thoughts, good old Kev turned to the Boss.

  “We’re stopping? Already?” he asked nervously. It had been clear from the beginning of this mess that Kev was the junior in this partnership in crime. The Boss was clearly in control. He called the shots. Kev did what he was told.

  I was way more scared of the Boss. Like, if I had to pick percentages, I was maybe 85 to 90 percent more scared of him than of Kev. Boss was the leader. The brains. He was also way bigger. I remembered the two of them standing under that streetlight, looking at each other and listening to the siren. Boss made Kev look like a kid. But Kev was one of those skinny, mean little guys that you’d still probably cross the street to avoid. Wiry. Kev wasn’t smart, and he certainly didn’t make any decisions. But my dad had told me never to discount the little guys. I wasn’t about to. I had a crumpled, unconscious friend in the trunk of this car to remind me.

  One of them has a gun. Probably Boss. Obviously Boss.

  “Gotta take a leak,” Boss said. “Three-second stop. We’ll dump the kid soon, up ahead. I know a spot where there’s more cover. Dirt road, in case they got a roadblock up near Bensam.”

  As the car slowed, the tension rose.

  We turned right, bumping and jolting onto a gravel side road. Just a little ways. Then the Boss swung the car around so that we were back facing the highway. For a quick getaway, I realized.

  He banged out of the car, leaving it running. Kev opened his door quickly, making a fumbling sound. Smokes, I thought. He needs a cigarette. He closed the door softly like he didn’t want the Boss to know.

  It was inky dark in the car. I sat up a little and peered out the window. I could only make out a dark shape leaning against the car’s front fender and the red, glowing end of a cigarette.

  Diablo and I were alone.

  Alone in the car.

  Alone in the running car.

  The idea came to me lightning fast. It wasn’t even really an idea—it was just a realization. They were outside. We were inside. We had a way to escape now rather than be dumped later.

  Get away, get away…

  I didn’t exactly stop to analyze anything. There wasn’t time. The car was an automatic. Couldn’t be simpler, Mom said. Put it in Drive and hit the gas. I didn’t think about the gun. I didn’t think at all. I acted on instinct, hide-and-seek style.

  I slithered between the seats in a flash and scrambled into the driver’s seat. I banged the power-lock button down just as Kev swung around.

  “What the—?”

  I slammed the car into Drive and jammed my foot down hard on the accelerator. The engine roared, and the back end of the car fishtailed. The wheels squealed and spat gravel. It was an explosion of sound, ripping into the quiet of the night.

  Kev spun off the car as I shot forward, and Diablo started baying. I thought I heard the Boss shout from the pitch darkness off to the right. I couldn’t see him, and he couldn’t see me. I didn’t dare fumble for the lights. I just focused on the gas—I was practically standing up on the accelerator.

  I found the lights a split second before the car careened onto the highway.

  I thought I heard a shot, but I didn’t turn around.

  Get away, get away…

  I pulled the steering wheel sharply, and the car screeched left in a screaming, lurching, shuddering arc.

  It took me both lanes to straighten the car, I was that out of control. Thank god no other cars were around. Terrified of crashing into the ditch, I found the solid yellow line in the middle of the highway and used it as a guide, driving right on top of it. Gradually I inched the car into the right lane, but I stayed pretty close to that friendly yellow line.

  And I floored it down that straight, dark highway.

  Driving like a maniac, like a getaway car.

  Heading home.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Woo-hoo!” I screamed when we were a good few miles down the road. “In your face, Scumbags!” I have never been a very good sport, even with people who deserve it. But seriously, can you blame me here?

  Diablo’s tail thwacked against the seat. He had stopped barking and settled into a sitting position right in the middle of the backseat. His huge head blocked my whole view through the rear mirror. But tail wagging and happy panting were way better than deafening barking.

  I didn’t dare turn around to pet him. We’d just lurched dangerously when I took one hand off the wheel to grab the seat belt. I needed all my concentration to keep us next to that yellow line. But I talked to him.

  “You’re such a good boy. Such a good boy. And you’re never going back to them, okay? Never. I’m officially kidnapping you. This is quite the night for kidnapping.”

  The kidnapping thing reminded me of Cam in the trunk. Not like I’d actually forgotten him or anything. But I was busy bein
g a total hero. Now I wondered how he was doing. Had all this action jolted him back to consciousness? Was he lying there sick with terror? I hoped not, but I didn’t dare stop the car.

  “Hold on, Cam. Hold on, buddy, we’re almost home,” I called, just in case he could hear me.

  I also wondered about Kev and the Boss. What were they doing now, other than swearing at each other and possibly fistfighting? Did they even know what had happened back there in the dark? Or did they think Cam had somehow escaped from the trunk? Was I still a ghost?

  They wouldn’t hitch a ride back this way, would they? That horrible thought gave me the shivers. My foot pressed harder on the gas. Of course they wouldn’t. Even to get their car, they wouldn’t. They must know that whoever was driving it could identify them. They must know that the police would figure they’d fled town and would be hunting for them.

  Headlights appeared up ahead. Not just headlights. Flashing lights. No sirens, but flashing lights. Police! Relief flooded through me. I felt weak with it.

  I almost laughed out loud. Here I was, speeding in a stolen car, with no license, a kidnapped dog and another kid and who knows what criminal stuff stashed in the trunk.

  And I couldn’t wait to talk to the cops.

  I took my foot off the gas and slowed the car, but the cop car flew right by me. I fumbled with the headlights and flashed them too late. Clearly the police weren’t interested in a car coming into town.

  Another police cruiser would have to come by soon. Dad says they go out in pairs—at least, for anything serious they do. They must have heard Tess’s story by now. Maybe even Dylan’s. It seemed like ages since I’d seen Tess and Dylan, but judging by the clock on the dash, it might only have been half an hour. Hard to believe.

  Anyway, the police had to know by now that the Scumbags were dangerous and that they had at least one of us in their car. Surely they wouldn’t just send out one car.

  As soon as I saw the flashing lights of the second cruiser coming over the hill, I turned my lights off, then flicked them on. Off, then on. Please stop, please stop…

  The car sped past me, slowed and then did a sharp U-turn.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I hit the brakes too hard, too suddenly. Diablo lurched forward, his big head plowing into my shoulder.

  “Sorry, buddy,” I said as he scrambled to get back on the seat. “You’ve got quite a hard head there.”

  Gradually the car slowed down. I just let it roll to a stop. It was such a relief to stop. I collapsed all the way back in the seat. The Boss was huge, and he’d had the seat pushed way back. I’d been perching right on the edge of it so my legs could hit the pedals. I put the car into Park and waited. Another cop car shot down the highway, heading out of town in a streak of blue and red lights.

  I thought about how I should handle this. Calm and cool would be best. Give them the facts in a clear and organized way.

  I was out of the car and running toward the police cruiser before I’d even finished that thought.

  The police officer getting out of the car froze. Her hand automatically felt for her weapon.

  I knew what came next. I stopped dead and put my hands in the air. I was completely lit up by the cruiser’s headlights.

  “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! I’m Daniel Chang’s kid, Emily! The Scumbags are the ones you’re looking for! The criminals, the bad guys!” I said, panting. “Back that way. They’re back down there.” I pointed vaguely down the dark highway. So much for calm, cool and organized. A toddler would have given a better explanation.

  “Emily!” As she got closer, I saw it was Officer Brent, who’d worked with Dad for ages. “Buddy, am I glad to see you. Are you all right? Are you hurt?” She looked anxious as she put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

  “No, I’m okay. But my friend is in the trunk. I’m scared he’s hurt bad. Those guys threw him in there and took off and I hid in the backseat and kidnapped that dog and took the car and they have a gun!” I took a deep breath.

  “Okay, they’re up ahead. How far? Just ballpark it.”

  “I’m not exactly sure. Maybe ten or fifteen minutes of really, really fast driving. I got away from them when they pulled over to the right, onto a gravel road.”

  She nodded.

  “Just a sec.” Officer Brent ran back to her cruiser. I heard the radio crackle. Good, I thought. Let everyone know we’re safe, and warn the other cars about the Boss and the gun.

  She jogged back.

  “Let’s get your friend, and then you can tell me everything, from the beginning. Can you pop the trunk for me, Emily?” Diablo started barking at the stranger. Officer Brent eyed him. “Uh, is the dog friendly?”

  “He’s a sweetie,” I said, opening the door and pulling the trunk release. I ran to the back of the car.

  We both pushed up the trunk.

  “AAAAAHHHH!” Cam screamed as he kicked and punched out at us. We took a few quick steps back to avoid the assault. While ninja-Cam was kind of startling, I was impressed that he’d come up with a plan while he was shut up in there. That he’d come out fighting. Attaboy, my dad would have said.

  “I’m thinking he’s fine,” Officer Brent said, raising her voice. “Just scared. Confused.”

  I grabbed at one of Cam’s flailing arms.

  “Cam! Cam! Stop it, you idiot! You’re safe! It’s Emily!”

  “Em!” Cam sat up and cracked his head. He swore and rubbed it with his hand.

  “Okay, you need to calm down.” I was almost stress-giggling again.

  Officer Brent and I helped him out of the trunk. He seemed dizzy, and his legs buckled a little. He sat down abruptly on the rim of the open trunk. His pale face looked dazed, young and scared.

  “Emily? What are you doing here? Where are we? Where are Tess and Dylan? And the Scumbags?”

  “Probably a concussion,” said Officer Brent, brushing Cam’s hair away from the cut on his forehead. “You’re still bleeding too. Let me get my first-aid kit.” She turned and headed for her car.

  Cam was shaking, and he looked angry and confused. I sat down beside him and explained how he had been knocked out by Kev (I didn’t dwell on the fact that Kev was much shorter and skinnier than Cam. I’d save that for later). I told him how he’d been shoved into the trunk and how they had chased Tess and me through the backyards.

  “I don’t get how you’re here though. Out here.” Cam threw out his arm at the night, the fields, the highway.

  “I drove here.”

  “You drove? Drove what?”

  I patted the car.

  “This? You drove their car? What the hell?”

  “Oh, did I forget to mention that? Yeah, I hid in the backseat before they took off with you,” I said. “It was a hall-of-fame hide-and-seek spot, Cam! They never suspected a thing!”

  Cam stared at me with his mouth open.

  “And then when they stopped to, well, pee and have a smoke, I locked them out and hit the gas! Diablo and I burned down the highway until the cops came along.”

  Cam, with his bruised and bloodied face, started laughing. It grew and grew, until he was doubled over, wheezing and crying with laughter. I started laughing too.

  Finally the laughter died down, and he wiped his eyes.

  “You okay?” I said. I punched his shoulder.

  “I’m fine.” He took a deep breath. “Thanks to you. Man, I wish I could have seen their faces.”

  “Me too,” I said. Actually, that was kind of a scary thought. The more I thought about that, the more I didn’t want to see their faces. I hoped the police had found them by now.

  “I don’t think we should ever play hide-and-seek again,” he said. “We’ll never top this one, Em. Ever.”

  “We’ll play again. Of course we will.”

  “Yeah, probably. But right now, let’s just get home.” All of a sudden he looked shaky and super tired. He stood up and looked through the back windshield at Diablo. “Poor guy,” he said.

 
“He’s not going back to them. He’s not.” I didn’t kid myself that we would be able to keep him. But I was still going to ask. My best shot would probably be tonight, when everyone was all tearful and grateful to see me alive.

  Cam banged the trunk shut as Officer Brent came back.

  “Whoops, sorry—you probably wanted to search that trunk, right?” he said.

  “Not now. Tow truck is coming to bring that sucker down to the detachment.”

  Good. I didn’t even care what was in that trunk. I just wanted to get home.

  “So, Emily, you know this dog?” The officer opened the door carefully. Diablo bounded out. I took him for a little run in the ditch by the cars.

  “C’mon, boy, c’mon,” I said. He trotted beside me over to the police car. Cam was already slumped in the passenger seat. Diablo and I hopped into the backseat. Nice to be able to sit upright in the backseat like a normal person, I thought.

  Cam looked over his shoulder. “You okay, Em?”

  “Yeah.”

  Officer Brent pulled on her seat belt.

  “Okay, kids. Let’s get you home.”

  We pulled out onto the dark highway.

  Suddenly I felt tired. So tired. Totally drained.

  “Heading home, buddy,” I whispered to Diablo, patting his tightly muscled body. “Almost home free.”

  Alison Hughes is the author of many books, including Lost in the Backyard and Hit the Ground Running. Her books have been nominated for the Governor General’s, Silver Birch, Red Cedar, Diamond Willow, Hackmatack, Chocolate Lily and Alberta Literary awards. Alison lives in Edmonton, Alberta, with her family. For more information, visit alisonhughesbooks.com.

  Chapter One

  My father didn’t mean to be so nasty to me. It wasn’t his fault.

  He would sometimes (often, well, almost always) have a bad day at the fish-and-chip place he worked at called the Fish Shack. Only he called it the Shit Shack. He’d worked there ever since I could remember. And hated every minute of it. But he was always afraid to quit.