Hikers - The Collection (Complete Box Set of 5 Books)

by Lauren Algeo

  ‘I have a feeling I’ll need the sugar today,’ she said, putting the menu to the side of the table.

  They stayed relatively quiet until the food arrived then there was a frenzy of eating.

  ‘This is amazing!’ Mitch exclaimed for the third time as he shovelled in more bacon.

  Brewer felt guilty for only getting them sandwiches for dinner last night when they’d clearly needed more energy after killing that hiker. Breakfast was finished in record time.

  Mitch sat back with a satisfied sigh and patted his stomach. ‘I’m stuffed!’

  ‘Me too.’ Ellen had only eaten about half of her stack of pancakes but compared to what little she’d eaten over the last few weeks, it was plenty.

  Brewer asked for a coffee refill when the waitress took away their empty plates, then he got the atlas out of his rucksack and put it on the table.

  ‘We need to make a decision,’ he said.

  ‘On what?’ Mitch frowned.

  ‘Direction.’ He opened to a detailed map of the East coast. ‘We’re nearly at the edge of the state and we don’t really want to go beyond New Hampshire to Maine. I’d rather stay in the US than cross to Canada. So, ideally, we need to head a little south to get inland.’

  They all leaned over to study the map.

  ‘I thought you didn’t want to go to New York?’ Mitch said.

  ‘I don’t,’ Brewer said. ‘I definitely don’t want to go back through Philadelphia yet either.’

  ‘I think there’s a way to avoid it.’ Ellen pointed to their current position and trailed her finger along the paper as she spoke to show them the route. ‘We can cross into Massachusetts and take the I-90 from Springfield through into the New York state, but avoiding New York City. Then we can swap to the I-88 and eventually join the I-81 down in Pennsylvania.’

  Brewer nodded at her suggestion. ‘That sounds good to me.’ They would neatly side step Philadelphia that way. ‘I guess afterwards we could keep going to West Virginia. Maybe Kentucky?’

  ‘This is a lot of driving,’ Ellen said. ‘If we’re stopping off at numerous towns on the way it’ll take us a while to cross each state.’

  ‘I know,’ Brewer said. ‘Are you guys up for a long road trip?’

  They both nodded.

  ‘I guess I can put up with you both for a while longer.’ Mitch laughed to himself. ‘Ellen will be a music expert by the time we’re finished!’

  She rolled her eyes. ‘I’ll be deaf by then.’

  Brewer paid the bill and they all trooped out of the diner. He tucked his bankcard carefully into his wallet as he walked. His budget had only covered himself at the start of the trip and paying for two other people was going to eat through it rapidly. Mitch and Ellen had both said they had enough funds to cover themselves. He decided he’d be polite for a little longer but then he’d need the financial help for motel rooms and food.

  Ellen still had the car keys and she climbed into the driver’s side. The look on her face was defiant. Her chin tilted upwards, daring him to challenge her. He got in the passenger side without a word.

  ‘Shall I keep going to Springfield then?’ she asked as she started the engine.

  ‘Drive on,’ he said.

  She set off then pulled into a petrol station about ten minutes down the road. ‘We’re going to need some gas for this drive,’ she said.

  Brewer offered to pay but to his relief she waved him away. ‘You can’t pay for everything,’ she said. ‘Mitch can get some snacks and drinks for us.’

  ‘Sure!’ He hopped out of the car and disappeared into the garage.

  Ellen paid at the pump and filled up the car. Mitch came back five minutes later with a full carrier bag.

  ‘This should keep us going,’ he grinned as he got back in the car.

  They set off again. The roads were fairly quiet and there was no traffic.

  ‘We should find somewhere to stop so we can finish reading through the papers and do some research on the laptop,’ Brewer said. ‘We’re not likely to hear a hiker again while driving on the interstate, and I’m reluctant to get off at every town to search. We’re better off trying to locate one first.’

  They found a rest stop a few miles later and Ellen signalled to pull in. It was a small road with a car park at the end. There was a toilet block and a grassy area with a couple of picnic tables. Apparently it was the start of a nature trail and there were thick woods beyond the benches.

  Mitch eyed the signposts suspiciously. ‘Who does these random walks?’ he muttered.

  He seemed to have forgotten that Ellen had been hiking on a trail with Lucy when she’d been killed. She either didn’t hear him or chose to ignore the comment. Brewer would bet on the latter.

  They got out of the car and aimed for the picnic benches. Brewer set his bags down on one and Ellen perched on the seat on the other side of it. Mitch slumped down on his own bench next to them. Brewer manoeuvred his long legs under the table and sat on the hard, wooden seat. His knees accidently bumped against Ellen’s and he shifted them quickly to the side.

  ‘Sorry,’ he apologised.

  She barely seemed to notice; she was busy taking the newspapers out of the bag he’d placed on the table.

  ‘I’ll carry on with the one I was reading earlier,’ she said.

  Mitch looked less than enthusiastic at the stack of papers. ‘Can I research on the laptop instead?’ he asked.

  ‘I guess it’s ok,’ Brewer said. ‘Just make sure you don’t drain the battery. I charged it last night and we won’t have any power again until we find another motel tonight.’

  ‘I’ll make sure I don’t use it for too long,’ he sighed. ‘I’m just better on the internet. It’s how we got Mrs Mac after all!’

  Ellen glanced up from her paper and smiled at him. ‘I’m very glad you did.’

  Brewer didn’t know if she’d still feel that way after a week or so of this life and a couple more hiker encounters. He turned his attention to the paper he’d nearly finished back at the motel.

  They passed the rest of the morning quietly. The silence was broken by the turning of pages, the clicking of the laptop keys, and the odd person pulling into the rest stop.

  ‘Anything?’ Mitch asked for the fifth time in an hour.

  The laptop was down to the last twenty percent now and Brewer and Ellen were on the last two newspapers.

  ‘Not yet,’ Brewer shook his head. ‘We might have to pick up a fresh load of papers when we get to Springfield later.’

  ‘There will probably be some different, local titles too,’ Ellen added.

  She was finding all the reading useful. She’d barely seen any news over the last couple of months and this was the longest she’d been outside for ages. She’d forgotten how good fresh air was. She arched her back and massaged the ache in her neck from leaning over the bench to read.

  Brewer watched out of the corner of his eye with a dry mouth and swiftly jumped up from the table. ‘We should break for lunch and stretch our legs a bit,’ he said.

  Mitch got wearily to his feet too but Ellen stayed sitting. ‘You guys go for a wander, I’ll just finish this paper then we can have some food.’

  Brewer and Mitch walked over towards the woods.

  ‘Man, this is dull,’ Mitch whined. ‘I thought it would be easier to find them. There seemed to be loads in Philadelphia!’

  Brewer knew that was a dig at him for making them leave. ‘You don’t know that they were all hikers,’ he said pointedly. ‘You can’t hear them. Some of those strange killings could just have been committed by crazy people, no hiker involvement at all.’

  Mitch sulked and kicked at a stone on the ground. ‘Well, at least there were some interesting stories there. The ones in these towns are all boring!’

  Brewer shook his head in despair. ‘This is how it’s going to be for the next few weeks,’ he said. ‘You’re going to have to get used to it.’

  ‘Maybe the next town will have some?’

&
nbsp; Brewer shrugged in response as they reached the edge of the woods. There was a path snaking between the trees that disappeared into the darkness.

  ‘Looks creepy in there,’ Mitch said. ‘Like anyone could be hiding and watching you.’

  They both peered into the shadows. Brewer half expected to see a pair of eyes looking back at him. There wasn’t even any noise – no bird song or wind rustling in the trees. There was just black stillness.

  ‘Scott!’ Ellen’s voice shattered the silence and Mitch jumped next to him.

  ‘Shit!’ He put a hand dramatically over his heart. ‘She scared the crap out of me.’

  Brewer had to laugh.

  ‘Scott!’ Ellen called again from the benches.

  ‘Coming!’ They jogged back over to where she was sitting.

  Brewer listened hard for hikers as he ran. He couldn’t pick anything up but maybe she could sense one close by?

  ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked breathlessly when they reached her.

  ‘I think I’ve found one.’ She pointed to an article in the paper in front of her. ‘Look.’

  Brewer turned it to face him and slid onto the bench. Mitch stood behind and leant over his shoulder to read it too. It was a prominent story, taking up nearly a full page of the paper.

  ‘I read it earlier only it didn’t hit me straightaway, I just thought it was very sad,’ she explained. ‘But then I kept thinking about it. Something was niggling at me, then I got it.’

  She waited while they finished skimming through the article. A young woman, Paige Clarke, had been killed yesterday in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. She was only twenty-two years old and she’d been bludgeoned to death by one of her friends. According to the report, the friend had believed Paige was having an affair with her long-term boyfriend and gone to her house to confront her. Brewer was reminded of the girl back in Philadelphia – perhaps jealous lovers were a common cover for hiker activity over here.

  The friend was called Amelia Layton and she’d been arrested for murder. She’d pleaded her innocence, saying she’d acted in self-defence after Paige attacked her and it had gone too far. Brewer didn’t know how you could accidently bludgeon someone to death. Not when the article said Paige had been struck over the head several times with a blunt object. They hadn’t specified the exact murder weapon yet.

  ‘Do you see it?’ Ellen asked, tapping at the page. ‘The boyfriend swears that he had never cheated on Amelia with Paige. Where would she get that idea from if not a hiker? Surely she had to have been persuaded by something very powerful to kill one of her friends over a suspicion!’

  ‘Yeah,’ Mitch nodded. ‘Just like this girl we saw strangled back in Philly for the same reason.’

  Brewer did see it, but not the same way Ellen had. He was more interested in a paragraph near the start of the report. One that detailed how Paige and Amelia were family friends, and frequent faces at a nearby country club. There was even a comment from a club member, saying how shocked they were at the incident and how both girls had been so polite and lovely. He got why the story had nagged at Ellen – it didn’t seem plausible.

  ‘Money is the motive,’ he said, sitting up straighter.

  ‘Excuse me?’ Ellen frowned.

  ‘Oh yeah,’ Mitch pointed at the second paragraph. ‘Country club, they’ve got to be rich!’

  Brewer was surprised at his perceptiveness.

  ‘So the hiker would have used the jealous girlfriend motive to cover the real intention?’ Ellen asked. ‘But who would want her dead over money? She’s only young.’

  ‘That’s where we need to do more research on the laptop,’ Brewer said. ‘We need the whole picture.’ He looked at Mitch expectantly.

  ‘Umm.’ Mitch shuffled his feet. ‘There’s only about 15% power left.’

  ‘I told you not to drain it all.’ Brewer glared at him. ‘We’re going to need it on for a while to look into this properly. We’ll have to charge it somewhere.’ He gazed around, as if inspiration would strike from the rest stop.

  ‘The murder happened in Longmeadow,’ Ellen said. ‘That’s just across the state line, before Springfield even. Why don’t we just drive there and book another motel room? If there’s a case there I assume we’ll be staying for the night anyway?’

  Brewer shot her a grateful look. It was comforting to have a sensible adult with him, instead of just hot-headed kids. ‘Good idea, Ellen.’

  They packed up their stuff and got back in the car.

  ‘It’s not far so it won’t take long to drive there,’ Ellen said.

  Brewer noticed how nervous she suddenly looked. Her face had paled considerably. They were potentially heading straight for a hiker and she didn’t seem ready yet. She put the car in gear and pulled away from the rest stop. Brewer knew she would go there regardless of how she felt. She was sensible, but just as stubborn.

  Chapter 15

  An hour later, they were set up in a motel room with the laptop charging. Brewer had booked a twin room this time so there could be no confusion over the beds. He would sleep on the sofa again. He glanced at the small, hard chaise lounge in the corner of the room. Perhaps they could take turns in the beds.

  He was sat at the headboard end of one, with Ellen sitting cross-legged at the bottom of it. Mitch was sprawled out on the second bed. Brewer put the laptop on his knees and the power cable stretched taut from the socket behind the bedside table. Ellen had the newspaper with the potential case spread in front of her.

  The drive to Longmeadow had been quick and they’d eaten some sandwiches on the move. They’d stopped at a motel a couple of miles outside of town, as they weren’t sure exactly where the murder had taken place yet. Ellen had been visibly relieved that she couldn’t sense a hiker as soon as they got to the town.

  ‘Does that mean it’s not here?’ she asked hopefully.

  ‘No,’ Brewer replied. ‘It could be here still but it’s just not close enough to pick up. We don’t know for definite how far your range for sensing them is yet, remember. Georgie’s used to vary, and sometimes she didn’t pick them up at all…’

  His voice trailed off as he had a vision of the little boy hiker in the snow, who Georgie hadn’t sensed. He quickly pushed aside the painful memories.

  ‘I’d have thought a story like that would have been in all the newspapers?’ he asked to change the subject. ‘I didn’t read it in any of the others.’

  ‘This is a local news title,’ Ellen shrugged. ‘A lot of the others focus on national news.’

  ‘I see.’ He turned his attention back to the screen. ‘Right, we’re up and running.’

  He Googled the name of the newspaper. It had a small snippet about Paige’s murder on the homepage and he clicked through to the details. There was a lot more content than the article they’d read. The killing had taken place yesterday afternoon at Paige’s family home, apparently a large, million-dollar property on Longmeadow Street. Paige had been alone in the house when Amelia came to confront her so there were no witnesses. She lived with her father and a brother; there was no mention of her mother.

  The murder weapon still hadn’t been stated but presumably the police had found one at the scene. Amelia was currently being held at the local police station, awaiting a bail hearing. She’d been found with Paige’s blood on her clothes, and a neighbour had seen her leave the Clarke house around the time of the murder looking ‘visibly distressed’. There was no other comment from the boyfriend, Mark, since he’d sworn he had never had an affair.

  The case still screamed of a hiker to Brewer, he just couldn’t see a reason yet as to why someone would want Paige dead. He read the details from the website out loud to Mitch and Ellen.

  ‘I still don’t get it.’ Ellen shook her head sadly. ‘Why would someone want a young girl murdered?’

  ‘I’ll keep digging.’ Brewer searched Google for more information on Paige’s life and her family.

  Her Facebook profile was private; he could see her Twitter feed thoug
h. Her profile photo was a close up shot of her smiling. Paige was a very pretty girl; with short blond hair, cut into a bob, large blue eyes, and perfect white teeth. All her tweets seemed to be about events and parties she was attending. He hadn’t used Twitter much before and he couldn’t find what they needed. He passed the laptop across the bed to Mitch.

  ‘Here, I’m useless on Twitter. Can you find out if she had a job, or anything useful about her life?’

  Mitch took the computer eagerly. ‘Wow!’ he exclaimed when he saw her photo then he remembered that she’d been killed yesterday and his face turned solemn again.

  ‘Hmm.’ He frowned a minute later. ‘I can’t see anything about a job. She comes across as loaded though so maybe she doesn’t work and lives off daddy’s money… oh, hang on. I think she’s just finished college. There’s a tweet to say, “Thank god studying is over for good, bring on the parties #imfree!” There’s nothing else about it though, just a million pictures of her going out, and tweets about stupid things like TV shows.’

  Coming from a boy who idolised MTV and reality shows that was laughable, but Brewer bit his tongue.

  ‘Oh.’ Mitch squinted at the screen.

  ‘What?’ Ellen asked. She’d edged forward on the bed to get more involved.

  ‘I think her dad is ill. There’s a retweet from a girl that says she’s thinking of Paige and hopes Daddy Clarke gets better.’

  Brewer took the laptop back immediately. Was that their angle? He quickly looked into the Clarke family.

  ‘You’re right,’ he said after a couple of minutes. ‘Mr Evan Clarke is very ill in hospital. Aggressive cancer according to one local site and he hasn’t got long left.’

  He went to another site for more details. ‘Bingo! The family are local celebrities. Evan Clarke got divorced about five years ago. His ex-wife, Linda, is the mother of Paige and her brother, James. The children live with their father as she has some substance abuse problems and has been in and out of rehab. Apparently the money is all Evan’s from his property development company and she just gets a small monthly sum from the divorce settlement.’