"Who?" Jude asked.
"Jessica," Don sobbed. "I was taking out the trash ... and I found her body. She was behind the Dumpster."
I covered a gasp. Where is Daniel? Did he know a body had been found right next to where we'd been kissing only a few hours before?
"And you're sure it was Jessica?" Jude asked.
Don nodded. "Her face was so clawed up, I wouldn't have known it was her if it weren't for her hair. When the cops came by to tell Mr. Day she was missin'---they'd said she had green hair."
"Green hair?" That girl! The one who rammed into me at the party. The one with all the piercings, and the huge eyes, and the green hair. No wonder it seemed like I knew her from somewhere. "Oh, my ... I saw her ... I saw her the night she disappeared."
"Where?" April asked.
"At Da--" I stopped when I saw Jude staring at me. "Just somewhere in the city."
"At Daniel's?" Jude grabbed my arm. "She was at Daniel's apartment on Markham Street. She was at that filthy party."
"What? How did you know--?"
"Then it's true?" Jude twisted my wrist. "She was there, wasn't she?"
"Yes," I said. "But Daniel didn't have anything to do with this. He told me--"
"He told you? And you just believed him?" Jude sank his fingers into my arm like they were teeth. "Of course you do. You'd believe anything he said."
"Stop this now," I tried to say to him like my father would, but Jude's fingers only bit harder.
"I don't understand," Pete said from the other side of the car. "You think Kalbi did this?"
"It wasn't Daniel," Don said. He lowered his voice as if he wanted to say something only to me, but his whisper was an echoing shout. "It was the monster, Miss Grace." He glanced over my head at Pete. "The monster was the one who took James, too. Your dad and I stopped at the police station in the city. Your dad asked for the blood-test results--but they said they didn't have none. They said they couldn't even figure out if the blood was from a human or an animal. It had to be the monster."
"You see." Jude's hand trembled. He dropped my arm. "You see. This is him."
"No," I said. "It can't be. There must be someone else." Jude reeled on me and grabbed me by both shoulders. "Where is he?"
"Jude, stop," I said quietly, all too aware of the cops across the street.
"Calm down, you guys." April yanked at Jude's arms, but he didn't budge.
"Where is Daniel?" Jude clenched my shoulders through my chiffon wrap and shook me.
"I don't know," I said. "I don't."
Jude let go. He backed away to the driver's side of the car.
How did he get the car keys?
"Jude, stop. This is insane. You've been drinking." I looked at Don for help, but he cowered away into the street.
"Please," April yelped.
"Hey." Pete stepped in front of Jude. "If you think this is Kalbi, then go tell the cops."
"No," Jude said. "They can't stop him." "Then what are you going to do?" "I'm going to find him."
"Then I'm coming with you." Pete opened one of the back doors.
"No!" I tried to grab the keys, but Jude shoved me away.
"Hey," someone called from the police line. "What's going on over there?" Jude jumped into the driver's seat. As he gunned the engine I scrambled into the backseat next to Pete.
"Hey, stop!" someone shouted.
But Jude shifted the car into drive, and we went flying down Main Street, leaving April and Don behind.
We didn't go far. Jude floored it a couple of blocks and then skidded down Crescent Street. We flew past the high school, and just when I thought we were going to pass it, Jude whipped the car around and into the crowded lot. He drove up and down the parking lot, searching between every car.
"Turn the car around, Jude," I said softly. "Let's go home and talk to Dad. He can help." Jude pulled the car to a stop in the alley between the parish and the school. He opened his door and got out.
"What are you doing?" Pete asked.
"He's here," Jude said. "I know he is." He stood still for a moment, as if listening. All I could hear was the echo of the music in the gym.
"Jude, please, listen to reason." I started to get out of the car.
"Stop her!" Jude said.
Pete grabbed my arm.
"Keep her here. Do whatever it takes." Jude took a couple of steps into the alley. A police siren whirred past the school and continued on down Crescent.
"What are you going to do?" I asked.
"I'm finishing this." Jude turned toward me. And that's when I saw it: his eyes, once mirror images of mine, were twin tornadoes. Black, silver, sharp, twisted--glinting with the light of the full moon.
Human eyes don't glow in the dark. Only animal eyes do.
"No." I gasped. I tried to pry myself from Pete's viselike hands.
"I'm going to find Daniel and finish this," Jude said. And then he was gone.
Chapter Twenty-six Hero
IN THE ALLEY
"Let me go!" I pushed against Pete's chest. I had to find Daniel before Jude did. This was what he'd been afraid would happen tonight!
"Please, Pete. You have to let me go."
"So you can warn Kalbi?" Pete didn't look me in the eyes. "Why can't you just stay away from him?"
"I have to stop Jude. I have to stop this from happening. I'd do the same if he was after you." Pete looked up at me, but he didn't loosen his grasp. "Relax, Grace. This is Jude you're talking about. He's just going to find out what's going on."
"He isn't Jude anymore," I said. "Can't you see that?" Pete shook his head, confused.
"You have no idea what this is about, do you?" I asked. "You're in danger. We're all in danger. You have to let me go."
Pete's grasp weakened. I pulled away from him and grabbed the door handle. He snatched at me, but all he got was a fistful of my satin shawl. It trailed behind me like a purple banner as I jutted out of the car and down the alley. Pete bolted after me.