she thought, watching the glass doors slide open and closed for shoppers. Hurry up .
She felt certain her mood would improve when they reached the house. The SUV and the storm felt so confining. She would have gone into the store with her parents, except her mom would have constantly asked her opinion about food and junk to make Lindsay feel involved, and she just wasnât in the mood. The house would be better. She could charge up her phone and Treo and reconnect with Kate so her friend didnât have an attack over the party. And bonus, her uncle Lou was out of town. That was such a relief. Lou wasnât a total freak, but he came close. He was loud and annoying and told the worst knock-knock jokes ever. Her dad said he was in Arkansas, fishing withfriends, which meant sheâd get the guest room, and her parents would take his. At least sheâd have some privacy.
But what was she supposed to do for ten days? She couldnât hang with her parents the whole time, though she imagined that was her dadâs plan.
âYou might meet a nice boy on the beach,â her mom had said before they left on the trip.
Yeah right , Lindsay thought. Redlands Beach is probably crawling with gap-toothed Cletuses. Likely they swim in cutoff jeans and show off their hairy backs. Gross .
She smiled and shook her head, but she did find a ray of hope way in the back of her thoughts. Maybe she would meet a boy. It could happen. People from all over went to the beach in the summer.
The glass doors of the store opened. Lindsay squinted through the storm and saw a fat guy in overalls hauling two bags of groceries into the downpour. Sadly, that was the kind of guy whoâd probably be prowling the beach, his round belly rolling over the top of his swim trunks. Or worse, what if he was feeling saucy and decided to wear a thong?
Lindsay groaned and laughed, imagining that very thing. âSo sick,â she whispered to the empty car.
Though totally unlikely, some hot guyâs parents might have kidnapped him, too. That would be cool. Theyâd meet on the beach. Heâd have blond hair and aquamarine swimming trunks, like the kind she saw that OC stud wearing in last nightâs rerun. His name would be something totally cool, like Jaimie or Josh, and heâd be eighteen and headed off to college after summer. Every afternoon theyâd meet on the beach and then hit town for coffee and stuff.
As she thought this, the doors of the market slid open again. Two men stood in the opening, side by side. One was tall and slender, the other short and round. The rain blurred their faces, so Lindsay only got a vague impression of what they looked like. Both wore slick black parkas against the rain. The round one held a sack of groceries. The thin one opened an umbrella, then handed it to the round man. The thin man opened a second umbrella that he raised over his head, and the two men stepped into the storm.
They walked slowly, seeming to match eachotherâs steps perfectly in a creepy kind of dance. The mushroom parts of the umbrellas floated over their heads, gliding smoothly through the battering rain and wind. Lindsay squinted harder and slid across the seat to get a better look at these strange men. A chill ran down her back, and her hands trembled.
When the men reached the front of her parentsâ SUV, the tall one looked through the wind-shield at her. His head turned slowly, though his shoulders didnât move. He didnât stop walking, didnât even pause. He kept looking at her, though. His narrow face was blank and motionless, his eyes black with shadows. And his head kept turning, as if it wasnât attached to the rest of him.
Lindsayâs stomach knotted with fear. The guy was creeping her out bad. She checked the doors and made sure they were locked; then she curled her legs up tight to her chest and held them with her arms. She looked down at the screen of her iPod and stared at the