Grabbing John’s arm, squeezing it, Owen blurted, ‘Come on!’
And John didn’t try for the shot. ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘Let’s book.’
Side by side, they scurried backward.
We’ll be okay, Owen told himself. They’ll never see us in here. Not without a flashlight.
He was nearly certain they had no flashlight.
As he crawled backward, he kept his eyes forward and watched for them. He ought to be able to see their legs through the bushes when they got to this end of the pool. Probably a few seconds from now.
Rustly sounds came from the bushes to his left.
Oh jeez, somebody IS over there!
The cough, a few minutes before Dana’s arrival, had frightened him badly.
But he’d heard nothing more from over there.
With Dana’s arrival, he’d been able to push his worries aside. Awestruck, he’d watched her remove her clothes. He’d been stunned to discover, when she pulled off her T-shirt, that she wasn’t wearing a bra.
‘Ah, look at them titties,’ John had said, inspecting her through his telephoto lens.
Owen had resisted an urge to hit him. He’d learned his lesson about that sort of thing. Besides, a blow might’ve jiggled the camera and ruined a shot.
The camera had clicked and buzzed again and again as Dana drew the T-shirt over her head, dropped it, and stepped down into the spa.
Then John had said, ‘Show’s over. Ready to go?’
‘No way.’
‘What, you don’t want to leave? I thought you couldn’t wait.’
‘Blow it out your ass, Cromwell.’
‘Think maybe they’ll have an orgy?’
‘Shhh.’
‘A three-way babe orgy.’
‘Shut up.’
‘How’d you like to get in the middle of that?’
The mere thought of it excited Owen. ‘Just shut up, okay? You want them to hear you?’
‘They can’t hear shit . . . those bubbles and everything.’
‘Maybe. But I’m not so sure we’re the only ones over here.’
‘What, your phantom cougher?’
‘It sure sounded like a cough.’
‘Why don’t you go investigate, offer him a lozenge?’
‘I haven’t got a lozenge.’
‘What’re they gonna do, just sit in there and drink all night? Come on, babes, let’s have some action.’
‘Would you please be quiet?’
Not long after that, the beautiful stranger had climbed out of the spa.
‘Oh man, oh man,’ John had murmured, his camera clicking and buzzing.
‘Oh shit,’ Owen had said. ‘She’s getting the guns! She heard you, you asshole!’
‘Take it easy.’
Then Dana had stood up and climbed out, followed by Lynn.
‘Oh man,’ John had said, snapping shots rapid-fire, ‘look at Lynn, look at Lynn. Oh man, she shaves it!’
I see, I see!
‘We’ve died and gone to heaven, man!’
Except that Dana, down on one knee, had just pulled a pistol out of her purse. And Eve had just handed the giant silver revolver to Lynn.
And then they were all together, coming around the pool like a bizarre version of the Earps on their way to the O.K. Corral.
Side by side, Owen and John kept crawling backward. Owen watched for the legs of the women.
‘I meant to bring a flashlight,’ he heard one of them say. Her voice came from the left and sounded as if she was still down by the deep end.
‘Want me to run in the house and get one?’ He recognized Lynn’s voice.
‘No, don’t bother. Let’s get this over with.’
‘What was that?’ Dana asked.
Bowels going cold, Owen stopped crawling. John stopped, too.
‘Did you hear something?’ the stranger asked.
‘I thought I did. In there.’
‘What?’ Lynn asked.
‘Like leaves.’
‘Probably just the wind,’ Lynn said.
‘Maybe.’
‘I’m a police officer,’ the stranger said suddenly in a loud, hard voice that made Owen flinch. ‘Come out of the bushes. We know you’re in there. Come out slowly with your hands over your head.’
Owen turned his head. John, on hands and knees, seemed to be looking at him.
Softly, Owen went, ‘Shhh.’
‘I’ll give you five seconds. Then I’m in coming after you. If you make me do that, I’m gonna be pissed.’
Owen counted slowly to five, then to ten.
‘Here I come,’ she announced.
‘You’re not really . . . ?’ Lynn’s voice.
‘You two wait here. Keep your weapons ready, but try not to shoot me.’
‘If you go in, I go in,’ Dana said.
‘Me, too,’ said Lynn. ‘All for one . . .’
John suddenly whispered, ‘Let’s get the fuck outa here.’
They resumed crawling backward.
Fast.
For a few seconds, Owen heard talk about getting scratched by the bushes.
Then the stranger announced in a loud voice, ‘Here we come, ready or not.’
Chapter Forty-Three
Here They Come
Scurrying backward, Owen heard something shaking the bushes to his left.
The gals?
No. They were tromping through the foliage in the same direction, but farther away.
It’s that other guy.
No longer trapped in the thick shrubbery, Owen turned himself around, scrambled to his feet and dashed into the woods. John ran close behind him. They were both gasping for air. Their shoes pounded the ground, crunching the undergrowth and snapping twigs.
The woods were awfully dark. Owen could see nothing except dim shapes of gray and black and a few pale speckles of moonlight.
He was risking a bad fall. Or a collision with a tree.
But at least he was putting distance between himself and the heavily armed women.
As the ground began to slope downward, he slowed his pace slightly.
They won’t follow us this far, he thought.
Still running, he glanced over his shoulder.
Nothing back there except a dark, wooded hillside.
We left ’em in the dust.
Hell, they probably never did more than take a little stroll through the shrubs.
If we give them a few more minutes, he thought, they’ll be back in the water.
How about going back for a return visit?
Not a good idea. That’d really be pushing our luck.
Better not mention it to John. He’ll have us going back there for sure.
John?
Slowing down to an easy jog, Owen again looked behind him.
He saw the dark, wooded slope, but he didn’t see John.
Or hear him.
No thudding of shoes, no huffing of breath.
Where’d he go?
Probably couldn’t keep up with me, Owen thought. The fat slob. Must’ve stopped to rest. Or maybe he tripped or something.
Owen walked over to a tree, turned around, then leaned back against its trunk to wait for John. He was out of breath, himself. His clothes were clinging to him, and sweat trickled down his face. He wiped his face with a sleeve of his shirt.
Okay, Cromwell, where are you?
What’d you do, decide to take a nap?
Owen gazed at the hillside rising above him and expected to see his obnoxious friend come chugging down it at any second, shirt flapping, camera swinging by its strap.
Tuck, holding her .44 magnum high, climbed down into the steaming water. ‘I got pricked so many times,’ she said, ‘I feel like a two-dollar whore.’
‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you.’ Eve crouched and placed her pistol on top of the towel.
She’s not taking it in with her, Dana noted. Even though the weapon would still be within easy reach, it seemed like a good sign that Ev
e was willing to let go of it.
So Dana squatted down over her purse and slipped her pistol inside. Then she followed Eve into the spa. The water, she supposed, was every bit as hot as before. But it didn’t seem to burn her this time.
Its heat took away her shivers and seemed to soften the tightness of her muscles. It even made her scratches feel better.
‘Think he’ll be back?’ Tuck asked.
‘You never know,’ Eve said. ‘I bet we gave him a hell of a scare.’
‘Also gave him a hell of a show,’ Dana pointed out.
‘He probably won’t be back tonight, anyway,’ Eve said.
‘Took off like a scalded monkey.’ Tuck set her revolver on the ledge and picked up her wine glass. It was nearly empty.
‘Too bad he waited so long,’ Eve said. ‘Could’ve saved us from getting scratched all to hell in those bushes.’
‘You would’ve gone in anyway,’ Tuck said, then drained her glass. ‘You’ll go in anywhere.’
‘Maybe not anywhere.’
‘I was afraid you might take off after him.’
‘I gave it some thought,’ Eve admitted.
‘He sounded big,’ Dana said.
Eve shrugged her bare shoulders. Dana noticed a few red scratches on them, and some faint scars as if she’d done this sort of thing before. ‘I wasn’t worried about that. But I didn’t want to go chasing him through the woods and leave you two behind. He might’ve circled back . . .’
‘If you’d tried to chase him,’ Tuck said, ‘I would’ve tackled you.’
‘Fat chance.’
‘Okay, maybe not. So I would’ve told my big buddy Bullwinkle to do it.’
Eve looked at Dana. ‘Bullwinkle?’
‘That’s me.’
‘Well, you’re about my size. I’m sure you could tackle me if you set your mind to it.’
‘That’s why I keep her around,’ Tuck explained. ‘Now, everybody stay put. The night’s still young. I’ll get us a new bottle.’ She set her glass out of the way, then hurled herself out of the spa. Dripping, not even bothering to grab a towel, she ran naked into the house.
Eve said to Dana, ‘You actually broke your evening short so you could come back and watch out for Lynn?’
‘Afraid so.’
‘That takes some real loyalty.’
‘I knew she’d come out here.’
‘I had my suspicions, too.’
‘Glad you came by,’ Dana told her.
‘I messed up, though. I should’ve scouted around first thing . . . with my flashlight.’
‘Oh, well, no harm done.’
‘I’m not so sure of that. We really did give the guy an eyeful. He’ll be back for sure, sooner or later.’
‘You’ll have to keep coming back to protect us.’
‘You mind?’
‘Not at all.’
‘Maybe I’ll use some of my comp time, take a few nights off and keep coming over till I manage to nail him.’
‘Really?’
‘Sure.’
‘That’s a lot of trouble.’
‘No big deal. Hey, I don’t have enough friends to let stuff happen to them.’
Staring into Eve’s eyes, Dana nodded.
‘I look out for my friends,’ Eve said. ‘And I destroy my enemies.’
‘Glad you’re on our side.’
‘I’ll get this guy. Maybe tomorrow night . . .’
‘Tomorrow night, we won’t be here.’
Eve looked puzzled. Then her face seemed to light up. ‘Oh! Of course not. The Midnight Tour. You’re going, too?’
‘I thought I’d give it a try.’
‘That’ll be fun.’
‘Have you ever done it?’
‘A few times. It’s terrific.’
‘Here comes the vino,’ Tuck announced, hurrying toward them. She held a bottle of red wine in one hand, a corkscrew in the other. A few strides from the edge of the spa, she stopped, bent over slightly and clamped the bottle between her thighs. ‘Ah! That’s cold!’
‘Don’t do anything obscene with it,’ Eve said.
Laughing, Tuck wrapped her left hand around the neck of the bottle. ‘I’m not that kinda girl,’ she said. With her right hand, she started twisting the screw into the cork. ‘So what did I miss?’ she asked.
‘I was just telling Dana that I’ll take a few nights off work and try to catch this guy.’
‘Good deal!’
‘And I mentioned about tomorrow night,’ Dana added.
‘Ah. Yeah.’ Tuck twisted the screw deeper. ‘Dana’s gonna try the tour.’
‘So she tells me.’
‘How about you, Eve? Wanta come along, too?’
‘Wouldn’t mind. You sure there’s room?’
‘For you, there’s always room. Just make sure you wear your uniform.’ She grunted and tugged, legs squeezing the bottle hard, tremors shaking her body. ‘The guests . . . love it.’ With a sucking pomp! the cork sprang out. Tuck’s arm leaped high. ‘Got it!’
‘Bravo!’ Eve said.
Dana clapped.
Climbing down into the spa, Tuck asked, ‘So you’ll come?’
‘If you really want me to.’
‘Sure. It’ll be great.’ To Dana, she said, ‘The guests love it when Eve’s on the tour. You’ve seen her in uniform.’ She started to fill a glass. ‘We make like she has to come . . . You know, for safety reasons. In case the beast shows up.’
‘But so far it hasn’t?’ Dana asked.
‘So far.’ Tuck handed the glass to Eve, then filled her own. ‘But who knows? Maybe one of these nights . . .’
‘That’s what Warren’s afraid of,’ Dana said.
They both looked at her.
Oh, no! What’d I say?
‘Maybe I’ll have a little wine, after all.’
‘Glass?’ Tuck asked.
Dana shook her head. ‘That’s all right.’ She accepted the bottle and took a swig from it. The wine was cold and not too sweet. ‘He just thinks the Midnight Tour is dangerous. He’s afraid somebody’ll get hurt one of these times.’
Tuck sat down, the bubbly water rising to her shoulders. ‘He’s been spooked,’ she said, ‘ever since he got jumped that time.’
‘What’s that?’ Eve asked. ‘Warren got jumped? When?’
‘A couple of years ago.’ Eve shrugged, then sipped wine from her glass. ‘He got beaten up one night by some teenagers.’
‘Inside Beast House?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Did you report it?’
‘To the police? Nah. It was no big deal. He got some bruises and cuts, that’s all. He didn’t even need a doctor.’
‘What else has happened in the house?’
‘Nothing much,’ Tuck said.
‘Such as?’
‘Just little stuff.’
‘Such as?’ Eve repeated.
‘You know. The usual. Cassette players not getting returned. Kids trying to stay overnight.’
‘Assaults? Murders?’
‘Nah, nothing like that.’
‘Disappearances?’
‘Not really,’ Tuck said. ‘They just turn out to be false alarms. Like that kid today.’ She nodded at Dana.
‘Some mother flew off the handle this afternoon,’ Dana explained. ‘She thought her kid had vanished.’
‘Turned out to be a false alarm,’ Tuck said.
‘He’d gone sneaking up into the attic.’
‘You got him back all right?’ Eve asked.
‘Oh, yeah.’ Dana chuckled, then took a sip from the wine bottle. ‘I wasn’t halfway up the stairs before he let out a scream and came running down in a panic. He claimed something was up there . . . and chasing him.’
‘Was anything up there?’
Dana shrugged. ‘I never got to . . .’
‘I went up and checked it out,’ Tuck interrupted.
‘You obviously didn’t run into a beast,’ Eve said.
‘Nope. But I did f
ind something interesting.’ Leaning forward, she looked at Dana. ‘Remember Thursday morning? How Ethel’s gown was all torn up?’
‘Yeah.’
‘What’s that about?’ Eve asked.
‘Somebody’d gotten into the parlor overnight and messed around with the Ethel dummy. Her gown was torn. More so than usual. I mean, everything was showing. I think the guy must’ve been a pervert or something. Fooled around with her, you know? Anyway, when I was searching the attic this afternoon because of the kid, I found a piece of Ethel’s gown.’
Dana stared at her. ‘You’re kidding.’
‘Nope.’
‘What was it doing in the attic?’
‘Not much. Just lying on the floor.’
‘Are you sure it was fabric from Ethel’s gown?’ Eve asked.
‘Oh, yeah, pretty sure.’
‘When you found the tampering with Ethel, did you look for signs of forced entry?’
Tuck grinned. ‘Into Ethel?’
‘Into the house.’
‘Weren’t any,’ she said. ‘But you know how it goes. Somebody hides while we’re open for the tours.’
‘And this kid today claimed someone else was in the attic with him?’
‘Yeah, but nobody was.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘I looked.’
‘Everywhere?’ Eve asked.
Tuck shrugged. ‘You’ve been in the attic. It’s a huge mess. Would’ve taken me an hour to look everywhere.’
‘Has anything else happened in the past few days?’
‘A couple of disappearing cassette players.’
‘And there was that car on Front Street,’ Dana pointed out. ‘It’s been there since Thursday.’
‘What sort of car?’ Eve asked.
‘An old blue Ford Granada.’
‘Is it still there?’ Tuck asked.
‘I think so,’ Dana said. ‘I’m not sure. It was still there this morning, but . . .’
‘I’ll stop by and take a look tonight. Where exactly was it parked?’
Dana thought for a moment, then said, ‘On the east side of Front Street, just about half a block north of Beast House.’
‘If it’s still there, I’ll run a check on the plates and see what I can find out about the owner.’
‘If you find out he vanished without a trace,’ Tuck said, ‘make sure and let us know.’
The Complete Beast House Chronicles Page 93