“We’ve tipped a few beers since school let out. Went fishing.”
“Catch anything?”
“Not till now.”
Jade didn’t like the sound of that but chose to ignore it. Being careful not to touch him, she walked around him and picked her way toward the others. Ever since that night at the Dairy Barn, Neal had been provoking her more than usual, calling her house frequently and deliberately placing himself in her path in the hallways at school. She avoided him as much as possible. He made her skin crawl, and, after what had happened that Sunday night several weeks ago, she no longer attempted to hide her dislike.
Neal Patchett had been born with opportunities that he not only took for granted but squandered. Jade couldn’t tolerate such gross wastefulness, especially since a conscientious boy like Gary had to scrape for every single advantage. Neal was lazy and disruptive at school, all but daring the teachers to flunk or discipline him. He knew they wouldn’t. Most of them had spouses or relatives working in some capacity for Ivan.
Jade believed that more than the universal, adolescent penchant for hell-raising motivated Neal to misbehave. Some of his pranks went beyond mischief and bordered on cruelty. In everything he said and did there was a hint of inbred malevolence, a meanness of spirit. He was more dangerous than most people guessed, Jade thought. Part of the revulsion she felt toward him stemmed from a gut instinct of fear.
“How’re we all going to crowd into there?” Donna Dee asked, dubiously regarding the interior of the sports car through the windshield.
“I’ve got it all figured out,” Neal said. He pushed forward the driver’s seat. “Climb back there with Lamar,” he told Jade.
There was no backseat, merely a space beneath the sloping rear window. Jade hesitated. “Maybe I’d better stay with Donna Dee’s car.”
“Out here by yourself?” Donna Dee screeched.
“It shouldn’t be that long,” Jade said. “Thirty minutes at the most. I don’t mind staying, really.”
“Get in.”
“Neal’s right, Jade,” Donna Dee argued. “You can’t stay out here in the dark by yourself. Get in the back with Lamar. I’ll ride in Hutch’s lap.” She sounded happy with the arrangement.
Jade didn’t share her friend’s enthusiasm. She felt distinctly uneasy, but then she figured she was being silly. Neal drove like a bat out of hell, but she would probably be safer staying with the group than stranded alone on a deserted highway on a rainy night.
She climbed over the seat and squeezed into the tiny space with Lamar, who did his best to make room for her. “Hi, Jade.”
“Hi.” She smiled at Lamar. He always seemed so apologetic and eager to please, and she felt sorry for him. It was a mystery to her why he hung around with Neal.
Neal slid behind the steering wheel and closed his door. “Hutch, get in.”
Hutch obeyed on command.
Donna Dee moved around to the passenger side of the car. Before she could get in, Neal said to Hutch, “Shut the door.”
Hutch shut the door and looked at Neal curiously. “What about Donna Dee?”
Neal revved the engine. “She stays.”
Donna Dee grabbed the door handle, but Neal reached across Hutch’s chest and pushed down the lock button.
“Let me in, you jerk!” Donna Dee pounded on the window.
Warily, Hutch said, “Neal, we shouldn’t leave her—”
“Shut up!”
“Let her in!” Jade dived between the two bucket seats and leaned across Hutch’s lap, reaching for the door handle. “Open the door, Donna Dee! Quick!” She flipped up the lock button, but before Donna Dee could open the door, Neal popped the clutch and the car lurched forward. “If she’s not coming along, I’m not going either!” Jade shouted.
Now more intent on getting out of the car than letting Donna Dee in, she again reached for the door latch.
“Grab her hands, Hutch.” Though he was executing a dangerous U-turn on the highway, which was slick with oil and drizzle, Neal didn’t raise his voice. His icy calm terrified Jade.
“No!” She began to fight Hutch’s attempts to hold her still. She flailed her arms, swatted at his hands, tried to wiggle between the bucket seats and at least get in a position to reach the door handle.
Her elbow caught Neal in the ear. “Jesus! Can’t you hold her down, Lamar? I’ve got to drive, for Chris’ sake.”