“No, thanks,” Owen said, jumping from his stool. “I can look it up in the phone book. I appreciate this, Mrs. Verdini.”
“Anytime,” she said. “Liza’s a lovely woman. I just hope she’s all right.”
She walked with Owen to the door. “Listen, if she doesn’t come home tonight, don’t you eat alone. One more person won’t make a difference at my table tonight.”
Owen grinned. The smell of sauce was making him famished. “Thanks. Maybe I’ll see you later.”
The club was easy to find. It was in the heart of town, just around the corner from the main road.
“I was wondering if you could help me,” he said to the girl behind the horseshoe-shaped desk.
“Sure,” she answered. She studied his tanned face and sun-bleached hair and smiled. “Sure, what do you want?”
“I’m looking for two people,” Owen said. “One is named Liza Crewe, the other is Derek. I don’t know his last name.”
“Why do you want to know?” the girl asked, tilting her head. “You aren’t a cop, are you? I’m not sure you’re allowed to ask questions like this.”
“Liza’s my sister,” Owen said. “I’ve been looking all over town for her. Has she been here in the last few days?”
“I don’t know any couple named Liza and Derek.”
“Liza has dark hair,” Owen said. “And eyes like Ava Gardner.”
The girl cut him off. “Who’s Ava Gardner?”
“An actress,” Owen said patiently. “My sister’s a dancer. She plays racquet ball here.”
“Oh, I know who you mean!” the girl cried. “I remembered Liza when you said she was a dancer—she has those muscular calves, you know.”
“Has she been here recently?”
“I haven’t seen her,” the girl said. “Or her boyfriend.”
“You don’t happen to know where he lives, do you?”
The girl shook her head, smiling. “Sorry. Even if I did, I couldn’t tell you.”
Owen sighed so sadly that she was moved to say, “I’ll relay a message to them for you if they come in.”
“I’d appreciate that,” Owen said. “You have something I can write on?”
The girl pulled a short, eraserless pencil from a red cup and handed it to Owen with a pad. After scribbling his message, he pushed it across the counter and thanked her. He left, feeling no better than he had earlier. He’d found a lead, and it had brought him nowhere.
Well, he thought, he could always come back to the club. Liza had to show up soon.
All that optimism didn’t take away the burning in his stomach, a sign Dr. Owen Crewe, psychiatrist, interpreted as fear.
23
That Tuesday Gary had gone back to work. Derek, only too glad to have a chance to get away from the house, drove him to the city. So Melanie spent the entire day alone, keeping very busy with her painting so as not to think about what was happening. Nancy was now sitting at her little table in Melanie’s studio, coloring. At last the other children came home from school. Melanie, seeing thick gray clouds in the sky, was glad to see them. She knew now that they were safe.
She thought it was possible that Gary’s theory about Alicen might be correct, but she couldn’t be absolutely certain. Until there was definite evidence against the child—and Melanie doubted there ever would be—she had to keep herself ready for the worst. No matter how much Gary objected.
The studio door opened wide just then.
“Hi, mom!” Gina cried.
“Hi, honey,” Melanie said, taking her in her arms and giving the child a tight hug. For a moment she didn’t want to let go.
“Mom, you’re squashing me,” Gina protested. She pulled away and smoothed her hair.
“I’m just glad to see you, Gina,” Melanie said. She noticed her son now. “Hello, Kyle.”
“Hi, mom,” Kyle said. He kept his distance, having witnessed the bear hug Gina got. He was at an age where gushy affection made him shy.
“What’s Nancy doing in here?” Gina asked.
“Well, I just figured she shouldn’t be alone in this big house,” Melanie said.
“Since when?” Kyle wanted to know.
I’m too protective, Melanie thought. Even the kids see it.
“Hey, I don’t have to explain myself to you,” she said in a warning tone. “Nancy’s fine here. By the way, where’s Alicen?”
“She went to her room,” Gina said.
“She’s not ill, is she?”
Gina shrugged. “Who knows? She didn’t talk to me at all today. Sometimes she’s just weird.”
“I told you to be nice to her,” Melanie reminded her.
“I am!” Gina cried. “But how can I be nice to her when she doesn’t talk to me?”
“I know you do your best, Gina,” Melanie said. “But everyone gets into moods. Just let Alicen’s pass, and she’ll be nice as ever before you know it. Now, why don’t you kids go out to play? But stay in the yard where I can see you. It’s going to rain soon, and I don’t want you caught in a downpour.”
The children left the room. In the hall Kyle turned to his sister and said quietly, “Mom sure is acting funny lately.”
“Yeah,” Gina said. “Just like last year, when daddy was hurt. I hope nothing is going on.”
“Oh, it’s probably okay,” Kyle, the eternal optimist, said. “Say, I know something we can do. We can look for Lad in the woods.”
“Good idea,” Gina said, forgetting her mother’s orders to stay within her sight.
They ran from the house, hand in hand. Melanie watched them cut across the lawn and smiled. They were such nice, normal kids. If only Alicen could be that way, too. Then Gary wouldn’t have any cause to be suspicious of her.
But Alicen wasn’t normal at all. Normal children didn’t become liars, thieves, or murderers just out of obedience to a disembodied voice. And they didn’t sit in their rooms, staring at walls, waiting for that voice to come again. That was exactly what Alicen was doing at this moment. All during the bus ride home from school, she had heard her “mother” calling her.
The room grew cold, but Alicen didn’t mind. She looked around and saw a cloud hovering near the door. She smiled.
“I wish you’d let me see you just once, mommy,” she said.
“No,” the vision snapped. “Not yet. There is something I want you to do today. The boy Kyle—he’s next.”
“Am I going to kill him, too?” Alicen asked, with innocence that would have alarmed a sane person.
“Not today,” the vision said. “I want him to suffer first. I want them all to suffer, the way I do.”
“What do you want me to do, then?”
“Get him up to the attic.”
“The attic?”
“Yes,” was the reply. “When you get there, you’ll know what to do.”
Melanie looked out her window and noticed her two oldest children were nowhere in sight. Thunder sounded in the distance, and a breeze blew up through the trees. Very firmly, she told herself not to panic. But she tore off her smock and threw it across the room. Nancy looked up, startled.
“What’s the matter, mommy?”
“Nothing, dear,” Melanie said. “You go on coloring. I’ve got something to do.”
“I’m making a picture for daddy,” Nancy said.
“That’s nice,” Melanie said, leaving the room. She saw Alicen coming down the hallway but ignored her. A few moments later she was yelling out the back door: “Kyle! Gina!”
She breathed a sigh of relief to hear their faint reply.
“Come where I can see you!”
Gina and Kyle appeared at the edge of the woods, then ran up to the house. They exchanged confused glances to see the angry look on their mother’s face.
“Did we do something wrong?” Gina asked.
“Yes, you did,” Melanie said. “Didn’t I tell you to stay where I can keep an eye on you?”
“I guess so,” Kyle answered, fidgeting. “We forgot. Ca
n’t you see in the woods from upstairs?”
“I’m not blessed with X-ray vision,” Melanie snapped. She brought her hand to her still-bandaged forehead and rubbed away an oncoming headache. “I can’t see through a half acre of fir trees.”
“We’re sorry,” Gina said. “But we were looking for the dog.”
“Yeah, don’t be mad,” Kyle begged.
I must sound like an idiot, Melanie thought. They’re big kids.
“Sure,” she said, smiling weakly. “I’m sorry I yelled. But Lad will come home in his own good time, don’t you think?”
“I hope so,” Gina said. She turned to her brother. “Kyle, I’ve got some homework to do.”
“See you later,” Kyle said.
Alicen was standing in the kitchen. Gina was tempted to ignore her, but since her mother was at her side, she said hello. Alicen mumbled a greeting as they passed her. She stared at Kyle for a few minutes before speaking.
“Your mother treats you like a baby,” she teased.
“She does not!”
“Then how come she has to watch you?”
“What do you care?”
Alicen shrugged. “I don’t know. Except that nine is kind of old to be listening to everything your mother says, isn’t it?”
“No,” Kyle said. “She’s my mother.”
Alicen turned on him. “I’ll bet you can’t even cross the street by yourself!”
“I can, too!” Kyle cried.
“Then prove it,” Alicen said, her eyes thinning. “Take a dare.”
Kyle hesitated. But how could a little boy resist a dare?
“What?”
“Come up to the attic with me,” Alicen said.
“Oh, no,” Kyle said. “I’m not allowed up there. Some bad things happened there last year. I’m not gonna get myself grounded just when summer starts.”
“No one’ll know,” Alicen said, “Unless, of course, you’re afraid.”
It was an old trick, but Kyle hadn’t been on earth long enough to be wary of it.
“Okay,” he sighed. “But let’s get it over with. And you gotta promise to stop teasing me if I do.”
“Sure,” Alicen said.
The two children walked upstairs together. Melanie’s studio was not in the same hallway as the linen closet, which led up to the attic, so no one saw Alicen climb its steps. Kyle was close behind her, his heart beating. If his mother caught him . . .
Alicen pushed aside the cover and hoisted herself up over the ledge. She had never been in the attic before, and she looked around in awe at its contents. There were chests and toys and old furniture, all covered with a thick layer of dust. Mesmerized, she moved into the room to inspect a full-length mirror. A vision in its glass, of a blond-haired, faceless woman, reminded her of her task.
“Okay, I’m up,” Kyle said. “I’m going down again.”
“Wait a minute,” Alicen replied. “Don’t you want to see the neat stuff that’s up here?”
“It’s just a bunch of furniture,” Kyle said, stepping down to the top step. He didn’t want to leave Alicen up there, so he stopped for a moment to watch her.
She moved through the room, brushing cobwebs out of her path. She walked as if she had been up there dozens of times. At its other end she found what she was looking for.
“Hey, come here and look,” she said. “There’s a trapdoor in the ceiling.”
Of course there was. Her mother had told her so.
“So?”
“So I’ll bet you can see for a million miles if you go on the roof,” Alicen said.
“I’m not going on the roof!”
Alicen looked over her shoulder at him. “If you don’t, I’ll tell your mother you did, anyway. And then you’ll get into big trouble.”
Kyle considered the threat.
“Maybe she’ll ground you for the whole summer.”
That was threat enough. Sighing, he walked across the room to Alicen and helped her open the trapdoor. Alicen boosted him through it, then climbed out herself.
The loose tiles made a precarious foothold for them. Alicen sat down, putting herself between Kyle and the door. The little boy clicked his tongue, having hoped to get right back inside before his mother came looking for him. But how could he, with Alicen in the way?
“It’s going to rain,” he said. “I felt a drop.”
“Just look at the bay,” Alicen said, ignoring him. “Isn’t it neat the way the wind makes it so choppy?”
“Yeah,” Kyle said, studying her.
“You’re not looking!” Alicen cried.
Kyle turned his head and pretended to be interested in the faroff water. Moments of silence went by, and then suddenly he heard a thud and a click. He turned and saw that the trapdoor had been slammed shut. Alicen had tricked him.
“Hey, open up!” he shouted.
Kyle pounded at the door, unable to pull it open. No reply came.
“Alicen, this is stupid!” he cried. “Let me in!”
No answer.
“ALICEN!”
A clap of thunder made Kyle jump. Crying, he grabbed for the door frame to keep himself from slipping. He held his breath and waited for the downpour. It began to drizzle.
“ALICEN YOU STUPID SHIT-HEAD! OPEN THIS FREAKIN’ DOOR!”
He was so frightened that he didn’t know what he was saying.
“I’LL KILL YOU, ALICEN! LET ME IN! LET ME IN!”
He pounded on the door, his soft young hands scraping over the shingles. A loose nail caught the side of his fist, opening the skin. Kyle’s hand flew to his mouth. Praying someone would find him, he sucked on the wound while rain pelted heavier and heavier against him.
“HELP! HELP!”
His words were so muffled by the downpour that no one heard him. Fighting tears, Kyle lay down and drew himself into a ball. One hand held fast to the door frame while the other remained in his mouth. He could only wait.
“Look at that rain,” Melanie said to Nancy as she put the finishing touches on her work. “I hope daddy and Derek get home okay.”
“Are they coming soon?”
Melanie looked at her watch.
“In about an hour,” she said. “Except this rain may delay them a bit.”
She took off her smock and laid it across a stool.
“It sure is loud,” Nancy said.
“I can’t even hear myself think,” Melanie answered.
“What are you thinking about, mommy?”
“Nothing,” Melanie said, laughing. And that was true. She had been so ashamed of yelling at Kyle and Gina for no good reason that she had forced herself to stop worrying and concentrate on her painting. For the time, it had worked.
“Well, I’ve got to start dinner,” she said. “You be sure to wash your hands and clean up nice for me.”
“Okay.”
Melanie went downstairs to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerate, and pulled out chopped meat for hamburgers, and a package of fries. Seeing a bag of unshucked corn on the counter, she decided to have that, too. That would show her children she wasn’t mad at them.
She could hear all the windows of the house rattling from the terrible storm as she walked out into the hallway and called upstairs for Kyle. Her son didn’t answer her. But then, the storm was so loud that he might not have heard. She called again and this time heard a door open upstairs. But it was Gina who appeared on the top landing.
“Find your brother and tell him I need some corn shucked,” Melanie said.
“Sure,” Gina answered.
Melanie went back to the kitchen. She sat at the wooden table, took some meat, and began molding it into patties. The rain pounded the roof above her, and the wind blew furiously as she worked on dinner. A chill went through her—Melanie hated dark, rainy days.
After she had finished making the hamburgers, Melanie suddenly realized Kyle hadn’t yet come downstairs. Melanie felt her heart jump to her throat but controlled herself as she went upstairs. She m
et Gina in a hallway.
“I can’t find him anywhere,” she said. “I looked in every room.”
“Oh, God,” Melanie whispered. “Did you ask Alicen and Nancy?”
“They don’t know where he is, either,” Gina said.
“He must be downstairs, then.”
“I already looked.”
“Look again,” Melanie ordered. “Then come and get me if you find him.”
If you find him . . .
Gina hurried downstairs. Melanie walked down the hallway to Kyle’s room. She checked his closet and even under his bed, to no avail. He had to be in here somewhere, though. He couldn’t have gone out in that storm.
“Kyle?”
The rain had subsided, so there was no reason he couldn’t hear her—unless he was in some kind of trouble.
He has to be okay, Melanie told herself as she rounded a hallway. She passed the linen closet and noticed the door was open. She wouldn’t have given it a second thought if she hadn’t felt an icy wind rush out of it. Melanie stepped inside and looked up. The trapdoor had been left open.
What’s he doing up there? she asked herself. But she didn’t stop to think of an answer.
She hurried up the stairs, calling her son’s name. The attic was hot, which made Melanie wonder why she had felt such a freezing blast a moment ago. Again, she didn’t give herself time for an answer. She moved through the half-light offered by the clouded sun, looking behind the chests and pieces of furniture. She hated this place, with all its cobwebs and dark shadows. Had Kyle come up here on his own, or had someone made him do it?
Every time she looked behind something, only to find he wasn’t there, she couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief. Her heart was pounding in anticipation of what she’d find. But at last, after a very thorough search, she realized he wasn’t up here. The trapdoor had been left open by accident, of course. She’d find out about that later.
She was on the first step when she heard a small noise. It was a squeaking sound, like a mouse. Melanie remembered the rat that had gotten caught in the wheelchair lift and started to hurry away. But then there was a faint tapping noise from the roof.
“Kyle?”
The child had fainted under the chill of the driving rain, and only now had come to. Shivering, he managed to knock a few times on the trapdoor.
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