We both re-read the note before we break the lock on the shed.
The note reads as follows:
Dear Tibby,
I know you guys are following me, but I have important stuff in here I don't want you to see...yet. You are getting closer to discovering what I did with the bodies and I'm sure you'll find out soon enough. I'm also sure you know by now that I will eventually have to kill you and I'm also sure you have the same plans for me. See you soon...my bald friend.
I laugh and turn to Laura for any commentary I'm certain I'll hear. She's frowning, with concern. "Tibby, are you actually going to try to kill him? I really think we should turn him into the cops." I shake my head and double check our surroundings, making sure he's not watching us.
"He's too smart for that. I think he'll turn it around on me somehow. I'm not going to prison for something I didn't do." I say in hushed tones, paranoid someone will hear us.
She grabs my shoulders and makes me look at her in her deep blue eyes. "Listen, Tibby. I would rather have you go to prison than him killing you. I worry about you like I worry about Chaney. I need to make sure you're safe, okay?"
I pick up a jagged piece of broken rock and start smashing the lock, eager to get the fucker off. "Laura, if I go to prison, that will kill me. I need to do this. I will be fine. My sister Solia is looking out for me."
"Well, then let's do this. I'm with you all the way." She grabs the rock from my hands and with one hard hit, breaks the lock on the shed. "Here we go," She says, as she pushes the door to the shed open. We step inside and gasp in unison.
"Fuck!" I scream in frustration. Laura and I turn around, searching for anything. The entire shed is empty. Everything has been cleared out in the span of a few hours. He even got rid of the stuff that wasn't his, like the old chairs and boxes that were in here when I was living here. My disgusting vomit stain from when I got sick is the only thing left.
I punch the shed wall and hurt my hand. "Ow, oh god that hurt like a mother fucker!" My eyes water and I wipe away a stray tear, not wanting Laura to see me cry.
"Look! Tibby, another note!" I run over to where Laura is standing and read the two worded, yellow sticky note. The note says: CHECKMATE in all caps. "He's good!" Laura Laughs. "Well, shit!"
I sigh, a little defeated. "Alright, Laura. Let's get out of here." I smirk at her and we walk back to my mom's navigator shaking our heads. "You know, the truck bed was empty too. I wonder if he used a U-Haul and stored the contents of the shed there."
Laura grabs the keys from my hand and gets in the driver's seat. I don't object because she can tell my mind is somewhere else. My mind is out the window, gazing at the dark, nothingness of? the desert. Is that how he views these girls he takes? Does he even view them as human beings? I am certain he isn't human, he's a monster. A monster who set us up. He left the truck there on purpose, to mess with us.
"Look, it's raining." Laura says, trying to distract me from my rampant thoughts. Laura's a great friend. Her smile is tight as she points to the expanding raindrops on the windshield. The desert hasn't seen raindrops this big since my sister was taken. It's like the rain stopped when her life stopped. Her life and the rain have a few things in common, they were never really gone, they're just in a different form.
"Hey, do you think it's a sign? From my sister, I mean?"
"Well…." She pauses.
I interrupt her," I guess that sounds kind of dumb, huh?"
She shakes her head no. "I don't think that's dumb at all. Our loved ones that have passed are always sending us signs that they're still here with us. It's what keeps us going." She smiles and changes the subject when she sees my eyes watering. "Hey, do you want to get something to eat? Dessert sounds pretty good right about now. There's a diner in town, like ten minutes away."
I watch the heavy raindrops dwindle to sprinkles in a matter of seconds. On the passenger side window they drop and form Solia, confirming my thoughts that she is here with me, every step of the way.
"Sure, dessert sounds great," I smile at the window, where Solia's name was a few seconds ago. My mood has lifted, in spite of everything that's transpired. We pull up ten minutes later to another run of the mill diner, with decor from the 50's on full display. There's a red classic car stationed above the restaurant's name, Speedy Ruby's.
"Tibby, look!" I turn to see where Laura is pointing and my heart beats 100 miles a minute. It's his car. Evan's Mercedes is one of the only cars in the lot. I glance at the digital clock on the screen of my mom's upscale stereo system. It's 1:00 am.
"Doesn't this guy sleep?" Laura asks, incredulously.
"Not when you're a serial killer, apparently." I scoff and hop out of the car.
"Tibby, what are you doing?" Laura's eyes are bugging out.
"We're going in to have dessert." Laura hops out and follows me. Her breathing has accelerated to a rapid rate.
We walk in and my eyes zero in on a lone plate of food, untouched. A burger and friends, with the silverware laid meticulously on the napkin. It must be his. He's nowhere in sight. When I followed him the last time at a different diner, he was in the bathroom doing god knows what. I scan the diner and don't see the waitress either.
I snatch the burger off his plate and start eating it. Laura starts laughing and says, "Give me a bite. We polish it off before we seat ourselves, rushing to eat it before he returns. I start to assemble the fries on his plate to leave him a little message to let him know we're here.
"CHECKMATE!" Laura reads my message out loud. "You've got some balls, Tibby!" She's laughing uncontrollably, while making her way to the nearest booth.
"Exactly," I smirk.