CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN

MY HANDS WERE numb as I ripped the slide bolt down, yanked open the door, and found her there. Nothing made sense. The hallway was empty except for Susan, who was crumpled against the wall, gripping the hole I’d put in her upper chest. Somehow, I was aware of the wail of horror that was coming out of me, but I was unable to stop it. I gathered up my girlfriend and held her against my chest. Down the hall, I spied the open window Driver must have slipped out of.

“I thought you were him!” I screamed. Susan’s face was white and rigid with shock. Her hands were tangled in my shirt. She gave a little nod, like yes, she’d thought the same thing of me. That Driver had indeed anticipated our plan and gone into Neddy Ives’s room to wait for me. I held her and growled in fury at myself, just for a second, unable to stop the regret leaving my body in a long, animalistic sound.

Then I picked her up and ran for the stairs.