Chapter 8

Laying to the right of the cops looking down at the wreck, Bobby could make them out in the light from the fire below, their pistols still in their hands. He remained completely still as he lay on the ground, hoping they wouldn't see him. When they turned away to return to their cars, he studied the slope of the bluff below him.

After earlier seeing a police car roar up to Julie's house, then again at his own home, and now here, he doubted the cops had shown up here to arrest Van. They were after him, and they were obviously trigger happy.

He wondered if the car in front of the house had really been Sandy's? What if it was? If he suddenly appeared out of the darkness among the excited cops, he would be putting her in danger. He decided he couldn't risk that.

In the flickering light provided by the fiery wreck below, he saw a route that he thought he might be able to successfully descend, and slipped over the edge.

Sandy and Sammy were trembling, holding each other, peering over the edge of the car's dashboard. They had heard nothing further after Van's piercing scream from the edge of the bluff; the sounds of the car's plummet and crash below did not carry past the brink of the hill. They were left to wait and wonder at the outcome of the shooting, and the meaning of the scream - fearing the worst.

Eventually, they saw Pete come walking briskly to his patrol car and grab the radio mike through the window. He spoke into it for several minutes, before he replaced it and began walking to Sandy's car.

"Please get out of the car," he called to them.

They came out to stand on the sidewalk in front of him, still holding on to each other.

"My sergeant says you're going to have to come down to the station to answer some questions about how you knew where Bobby had gone. It shouldn't take long, unless you decide that you want to have an attorney present. If you do... I'm sorry, but you'll likely spend the night in the lock up until your attorney arrives."

The two women looked back at him in renewed shock. Sammy was the first to recover.

"Where's Bobby, you fucking Nazi?"

Pete's face darkened in reaction. After a visible effort to control himself, he cleared his throat and said softly, "I'm sorry, Sammy."

Sandy looked at him in horror. Sammy's eyes began to water, her lower lip beginning to tremble.

"What does that mean?!" she screamed. "Where's Bobby!? Where's Bobby!? Where's Bobby!? God, no! Where's Bobby!?"

She screamed at Pete, her voice getting ever louder and more frantic; while at the same time her body was slowly collapsing to the sidewalk in Sandy's embrace.

Pete didn't reply. He eventually turned and walked slowly back to his patrol car, as Sammy continued to scream, and scream, and scream.