All-Night Party Read online

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter

  1

  “Tonight is going to be awesome!” Hannah Waters exclaimed. “Our plan is brilliant.”

  Gretchen Davies stopped her blue minivan at a red light, then turned to her best friend. “You think Cindy will be surprised?” she asked Hannah.

  Hannah nodded, her green eyes sparkling. “She doesn’t suspect a thing. She thinks we totally forgot her birthday. She sounded really upset when we all had excuses for not hanging out with her tonight. Especially since her parents had to go away on business this week.”

  “She’s probably sitting around, pigging out on junk food and feeling sorry for herself,” Hannah’s boyfriend, Gil Shepherd, commented with a laugh.

  “Little does she know, she’s about to be kidnapped,” Jackson Kane chimed in from the backseat.

  “And dragged off for an all-night party on Fear Island,” Gil added.

  “It was so nice of your grandfather to let us use his cabin, Gil,” Gretchen said. She glanced over her shoulder at Gil, who sat in the backseat between Jackson and their other friend, Patrick Munson.

  “Yeah—a surprise party is one thing. But an overnight party in our own private cabin is totally cool,” Patrick said.

  “Definitely,” Jackson agreed.

  Gretchen nodded happily. It felt great to be part of the “kidnapping” plan—especially since she hadn’t known Cindy as long as the others.

  She had moved to Shadyside only six months before, when her dad’s job transferred him here.

  She expected it to be hard starting a new school her senior year. But Hannah had helped her fit right in and introduced her to all her friends.

  “I’ve never done anything like this before,” Gretchen confided.

  Hannah snickered. “Neither have we. But it’s exactly what Cindy deserves.”

  “Light’s green,” Jackson pointed out.

  Gretchen shifted her eyes back to the road and started driving again. Six blocks later, she turned onto the street where Cindy lived.

  Gretchen pulled her minivan up to a curb several houses away from Cindy’s and turned off the engine.

  “Does everyone know what they’re supposed to do?” Patrick asked.

  “I’m all set,” Jackson replied. “How about you, Gretchen?”

  Gretchen glanced in the rearview mirror. Her gaze met Jackson’s. She felt a tiny shiver race up her back. She looked away.

  She had hung out with Jackson since she moved to Shadyside, but she still didn’t know him very well.

  She wasn’t sure why, but Jackson gave her the creeps.

  When they first met, she thought he was sort of cute. But he seemed so moody. Serious and quiet.

  Gretchen didn’t think she’d ever seen him smile. Most of the time he stood apart from the group, watching everything.

  Definitely a strange guy.

  But weird enough to get his kicks making prank calls? Gretchen wondered.

  For the last two weeks she’d been getting annoying hang-up calls. Always late at night, on the private line in her bedroom. Whenever she picked up the phone, the line went dead.

  Only her friends had the number to that phone. So she figured it had to be somebody she knew.

  And every time Gretchen caught Jackson watching her, she got a creepy feeling that he was the one.

  One thing was for sure. He was always staring at her.

  Like now. She could feel his dark brown eyes on her back.

  Gretchen whirled around in her seat to face Patrick.

  The movement must have caught Jackson off guard. With a guilty expression on his face, he tore his eyes away from her.

  “We all know what to do,” Gretchen told Patrick. “Let’s go. Let’s kidnap Cindy.”

  Gretchen gazed up at Cindy’s house.

  Cindy is going to be so surprised, she thought.

  She glanced at Jackson and felt a sudden chill.

  This is going to be a great party, she assured herself. Tonight is going to be so much fun.

  So why did she suddenly have such a bad feeling?

  Chapter

  2

  “Let’s get moving,” Hannah urged, climbing out of the minivan.

  Gretchen locked the driver’s door as her friends piled out of the van.

  Patrick led the way. Gretchen walked beside Hannah.

  “This is perfect,” Patrick murmured as they moved through the darkness.

  Suddenly feeling nervous, Gretchen glanced around.

  The street stood dark and deserted. She saw no lights on in any of the nearby houses.

  A gust of wind whipped strands of her dark brown hair across her face. The moonless night sky carried the promise of an approaching storm.

  “We’ll be able to slip in and out,” Patrick said with a chuckle. “We’ll grab Cindy and disappear. No one will even know we were here.”

  They reached Cindy’s house. Patrick signaled the others to follow him to the backyard.

  A light above the back door cast long shadows across the grass. Gretchen spotted a single light on in the house. The second floor. Cindy’s room.

  Then she saw Hannah hunch down next to the back door and lift a potted plant from the cement step.

  “Got it!” Hannah whispered.

  She held up a door key.

  A cold gust of wind cut across the porch, and Gretchen shivered. March really came in like a lion this year, Gretchen thought.

  She hugged herself inside her denim jacket, wishing she’d worn a heavier coat.

  She dug her hands deep into her pockets as she waited for Hannah to open the back door.

  As Gretchen tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ears, she caught Jackson staring at her again.

  What is his problem? she wondered.

  She gave him a warm smile, hoping he would smile back at her.

  But he didn’t. He stared down at the ground, his lips twisted in a frown. Then he turned his back on her.

  I don’t get it, Gretchen thought. I try to be friendly to him. But Jackson acts as if he doesn’t want anything to do with me.

  Okay, Jackson. Play it your way. But I’m done trying to be nice to you. You are one strange dude.

  Hannah fumbled with the key. Finally, she managed to open the back door.

  They all tiptoed into the dark kitchen. They huddled together for a minute, listening for the slightest sound, eyes searching the darkness.

  Gretchen didn’t hear a thing. Except for the ticking of a clock in the dining room. And the sounds of everyone else breathing.

  “The coast is clear,” Gil whispered.

  “Let’s head upstairs,” Patrick instructed. “Cindy is probably in her room.”

  They crept out of the kitchen and down the hall. Up the front staircase.

  At the top of t
he stairs, Gretchen could see a light underneath the door of Cindy’s bedroom.

  She was home.

  Alone.

  Unaware of what was about to happen.

  Outside Cindy’s bedroom door, Patrick placed a finger to his lips. Then, as they had planned, he began silently counting off on his fingers. Five… four… three… two…

  When Patrick reached one, they burst into Cindy’s bedroom.

  The bedroom door slammed against the wall. To Gretchen, it sounded like a clap of thunder.

  She saw Cindy sprawled across her bed reading a fashion magazine.

  Cindy sprang up in surprise. She stared at them in shock.

  “What’s going on?” she demanded. “How did you get in? What are you doing here?”

  Gil and Jackson pounced on her. They grabbed her arms and pulled her off the bed.

  “Hey!” Cindy protested. “Let go! What are you doing?”

  Cindy struggled to break free, but Gil and Jackson were too strong for her. They held her still while Gretchen and Hannah wrapped a blindfold around Cindy’s eyes.

  “This isn’t funny, guys!” Cindy cried. “What’s going on? What are you doing?”

  “Hold still, Cindy. I don’t want to hurt you,” Gretchen said. She tightened the blindfold behind Cindy’s head. “We’ll explain later.”

  Gretchen stepped away from Cindy. She gave a sigh of relief.

  So far, so good. Everything was going according to plan.

  “Got the blindfold on, Patrick—” she began.

  She turned to Patrick—and the rest of the words died in her throat.

  Gretchen gasped. What was going on? This wasn’t part of the plan!

  Why was Patrick holding a pistol?

  “Hey—!” she choked out. The silver barrel glistened as Patrick pointed the gun at Cindy.

  “Hold still, Cindy,” Patrick said, mimicking Gretchen’s voice. “We don’t want to hurt you.”

  With a nasty grin, he pressed the pistol into Cindy’s side.

  Cindy’s shrill scream echoed through the silent house.

  Chapter

  3

  “Noooo!” Gretchen wailed. “Patrick—drop it!”

  Had Patrick lost his mind?

  Hannah dove forward and grabbed Patrick’s arm. “Arc you crazy? Put that down!” she screamed.

  Patrick laughed. “Calm down!”

  He jammed the gun back into the pocket of his black leather jacket. “It’s gone.”

  “You never said anything about bringing a gun!” Gretchen cried in a trembling voice.

  “No big deal. I thought it would make our kidnapping more realistic,” Patrick explained. “You can check it out. It’s not loaded or anything.”

  “What’s going on?” Cindy demanded angrily. “Do you really have a gun? What are you doing in my house?”

  “We’re kidnapping you,” Gretchen told her.

  “Huh? Kidnapping me? Why?”

  “We’re taking you away for an all-night birthday party!” Gretchen told her.

  “You are?” Cindy squealed excitedly. “Where?”

  “You’ll have to wait and see,” Gretchen instructed. She followed Gil and Jackson out of the bedroom.

  They led Cindy down the front stairs. “That’s why you’re blindfolded,” Hannah told her.

  “You guys scared me to death,” Cindy said, shaking her head. “You really did.”

  “That was the idea!” Gretchen laughed.

  “Can’t I take this blindfold off?” Cindy asked when they were all settled in the minivan. She reached up to pull off the blindfold.

  “No way,” Gretchen answered. “It stays on until we take it off.”

  “But I can’t see anything!” Cindy protested.

  “That’s the whole point,” Gil laughed.

  “Cindy loves doing her helpless routine,” Hannah grumbled, sliding into the front passenger seat.

  “It works for her,” Gretchen joked.

  Hannah sighed. “No kidding.”

  Gretchen smiled uneasily, and started up the engine.

  After all these months, she still hadn’t figured out Hannah and Cindy’s friendship. They were more like rivals than friends, always competing for something. Grades. Attention. Boys.

  When it came to boys, Cindy definitely had the edge over Hannah. Practically every guy at Shadyside High had a crush on Cindy.

  Petite with big blue eyes and white-blond hair, she was the type of girl guys always fell for. Big time.

  Boys just loved taking care of Cindy. That included Gil, who had been Cindy’s boyfriend until they broke up at the end of last summer.

  Gretchen turned to Hannah, who was fastening her seat belt. Tall and athletic, with freckles and a wild mass of red curls, Hannah didn’t need anybody to take care of her.

  “Why don’t you turn on the radio?” Patrick suggested from the backseat. “If this is a party, we need some music, don’t we?”

  “I will if you answer a question for me,” Gretchen replied, pulling the minivan away from the curb.

  “Shoot,” Patrick replied. Then he groaned. “Poor choice of words.”

  “I still can’t believe you brought a gun along,” Gretchen said. “Where did you get it? Why did you do it?”

  Patrick hesitated.

  Gretchen could sense there was something he wanted to confess, but was holding back. “What’s wrong, Patrick? What’s going on?” she demanded.

  “I’m really not supposed to tell any of you this,” he said finally. “The police are keeping it quiet.”

  “Keeping what quiet?” Hannah asked.

  “Come on,” Jackson urged. “You can tell us. We can keep a secret.”

  Patrick hesitated, staring out the van window. “No. I’d better not tell you,” he said softly. “It could spoil the whole party.”

  Chapter

  4

  “Tell us,” Gretchen urged. “You can’t keep us in suspense. You have to tell us now.”

  Patrick sighed. “My dad came to visit today,” he began. “You know he’s a police officer in Waynesbridge where he lives with his new wife.”

  Gretchen nodded. After his parents had divorced the year before, Patrick and his mother had moved from Waynesbridge to Shadyside. “What did your father tell you?”

  “He told me that a prisoner escaped from the prison upstate,” Patrick revealed. “He was spotted in the Fear Street Woods.”

  “Fear Street Woods!” Hannah gasped.

  Patrick nodded. “I didn’t bring the gun along for the kidnapping. My dad gave it to me. Just in case we run into the prisoner on Fear Island.”

  “Patrick!” Hannah wailed. “You have such a big mouth! Now Cindy knows where we’re taking her. You ruined the whole surprise.”

  “Oh, wow. I’m sorry,” Patrick groaned.

  “Never mind that,” Cindy said, pulling off her blindfold. “Tell us more about the prisoner.”

  “What did he do?” Gretchen asked.

  Patrick didn’t answer.

  Gretchen repeated her question. “Patrick, what did he do?”

  Patrick shook his head. “You don’t want to know. Trust me.”

  “Yes, I do. Tell us,” Gretchen insisted.

  “He murdered three girls. Teenagers,” Patrick murmured softly.

  “Whoa!” Hannah cried.

  “How did he kill them?” Gretchen asked. She turned the minivan onto the gravel road that led through the woods to Fear Lake.

  “Please!” Hannah protested. She covered her ears with her hands. “I really don’t need to hear the gruesome details.”

  “I don’t know how he killed them,” Patrick admitted. “My dad didn’t tell me. He only warned me to be careful.”

  “Why didn’t you tell us all this before?” Gretchen asked. She parked the minivan near the shore. “We could have changed our plans.”

  “I promised my dad I wouldn’t,” Patrick explained. He sighed again. “I wish I hadn’t taken the gun out when we were
kidnapping Cindy! Then you wouldn’t have known. And we all could have had a good time. Now I’ve ruined the party for everyone.”

  “Maybe we should go somewhere else,” Hannah suggested tensely. “To play it safe.”

  “Hannah is right,” Patrick agreed.

  Gil shook his head. “No way. I’m not scared.”

  “Me either,” Jackson chimed in. “Anyway, we worked so hard to fix up the cabin. All our stuff is already on Fear Island. We’d still have to go across the lake to get it.”

  “Why would a prisoner go to Fear Island?” Cindy asked. “He probably wants to put as much distance between himself and the police as he can. I’ll bet he’s in another state by now.”

  “The birthday girl has spoken!” Gil announced. Gretchen heard the van’s side door slide open and saw Gil jump out. Hannah followed. Then Patrick, who helped Cindy out.

  Gretchen suddenly found herself alone with Jackson.

  “What about you, Gretchen?” Jackson asked. “Are you scared?”

  Gretchen turned. She forced herself to stare into the depths of Jackson’s dark eyes.

  His words had sounded taunting. As if he were hoping she might be afraid. As if he were trying to frighten her.

  “No, I’m not scared.”

  “I think you are,” Jackson replied quietly.

  Gretchen felt her throat clench with fear. “You’re such a jerk, Jackson,” she snapped. “The killer is not out there. Hiding on Fear Island makes no sense.”

  A smile twitched on Jackson’s lips. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  Jackson’s smile chilled Gretchen.

  What is he saying? Is he threatening me? she wondered.

  How twisted is he?

  Chapter

  5

  “Come on!” Patrick shouted. “We’re wasting time. Let’s party!”

  After locking up the minivan, Gretchen followed the others to a dock at the lake shore. Gretchen spotted the rowboat that floated beside the dock on the dark water.

  Patrick climbed aboard first. Then he helped Hannah down into the boat.

  Gretchen shivered, burrowing deeper into her denim jacket. She couldn’t wait till they got indoors again.

  The wind felt damp on her skin, and thick clouds covered the night sky.

  She didn’t need a weather report to know that rain would soon be falling in buckets. Gretchen hoped they wouldn’t be caught in the boat when the storm began.