Come Out Tonight 17 страница

Probably.

He stopped turning pages when he came to the heading BOLOTNICK-BOORN. The first column ended with Bonaz. Half the next column showed listings of people named Bond.

He looked for James Bond and found two.

Which is double-oh seven? he wondered.

Quit fooling around.

He continued down the column. After a couple of Bondys, he found the Bone Density Center. This was followed by several people named Bone, no “s. ” Then a Bonel, then a Boner.

Shit! There’s a Boner in here!

First name Randy.

Pete laughed.

Oh, man, how can somebody have a name like that? Randy Boner? How’d he survive grade school?

Still grinning, Pete shook his head looked at the name under Boner.

Bones BD. Then came Bones George, then Bones James & Sally, Bones Jill, Bones Norman, Bones Sidney and finally Bones Thomas.

After Bones Thomas came Bonette Darren.

Just to make sure he hadn’t overlooked Toby, Pete studied the listings again.

He hadn’t missed it.

Bones Toby wasn�

� t there.

He counted. There were seven different numbers for people named Bones.

Toby probably lives with his parents. Or parent. Or a relative of some sort.

Only way we’re gonna find him, Pete realized, is to start calling the numbers.

Seven. Not bad.

But he couldn’t do it now, not with Sherry waiting for her drink.

Have to go by Jeff’s plan and wait for her to conk out.

He tucked a paper napkin into the phone directory to mark his place, then shut the book and returned it to the drawer.

Before heading outside with Sherry’s Bloody Mary, he added another generous splash of vodka.

Chapter Forty-eight

Where the hell is everyone?

Take it easy, Toby thought. Just relax. They might not get back for hours.

What if they’re gone the whole weekend?

He roamed Brenda’s room, scowling.

I can’t wait forever. When the cops find Sherry’s body, they’ll come over. They could show up any minute.

They won’t, he told himself. Even when they do find her—and that might not be for days or even weeks—they won’t know who she is. She hasn’t exactly got her driver’s license on her. And she doesn’t exactly look like herself, either. More like how she’d look if she went a few rounds with Mike Tyson.

Thinking of Tyson, Toby remembered Sherry’s fingertips.

He’d intended to chew them off, but the AIDS had changed his mind about that.

He’d done his nibbling on Sherry before finding out she was infected. He’d bit her and fucked her and sucked her and swallowed some of her blood…

But that doesn’t mean I caught it!

Maybe he’d been lucky.

Anyway, he’d figured why take the extra risk of biting off her fingertips?

I should’ve chopped ’em off with a knife and put ’em down the garbage disposal.

Should’ve, but didn’t. Didn’t even think of it.

Doesn’t matter, he thought. There’s no way in hell anybody’s gonna identify her body today. After today, who cares? Let ’em. I’ll have Brenda, the rest of the world can take a flying fuck.

He stepped closer to one of the windows.

Down on the street, a car rushed by.

Maybe they went to the movies. A Saturday matinee.

He sat on an edge of Brenda’s bed and looked around.

I gotta find something to do. Can’t just sit here.

He supposed he could mess around some more with her clothes, but the idea of it didn’t seem very appealing.

Been there, done that. Time to hold off for the real thing.

He turned his eyes to her desk. She had her own computer.

That might be pretty interesting. Maybe she keeps a diary or something.

Then he noticed her bulletin board. The large cork board was attached to the wall just to the right of her desk. Pinned to it were post cards, notes, all sorts of—

A calendar! It hung near the center of the bulletin board. The large kind of calendar that shows a month at a time. Its top half was an illustration of Winnie the Pooh, twig in hand, standing on a bridge over a creek.

These gals sure like their Pooh, Toby thought.

The bottom half of the calendar had rows of dates, a square for each day. Some of the squares were blank. From where he sat on the bed, however, Toby could see handwriting inside most of them. He stood up and went to the calendar.

He found the square for today’s date.

CAR WASH 9–5 was scribbled in red ink.

“Ah-ha! ”

But what does it mean? he wondered. Is it just a reminder to get the car washed? Who in their right mind would put that on a calendar? If you wanta get your car washed, you just go…

She’s working at it from nine till five!

It’s probably some sort of fund-raiser, he realized. A bunch of kids get together and spend the day washing cars ’cause they need money for some dumb-ass project—like they want to buy a new set of hymnals for the church or maybe uniforms for the school marching band.

He pictured Brenda stretching herself over the hood of a car, swabbing it with a sudsy sponge, her skin wet and glinting in the sunlight.

Where the hell is this car wash? he wondered.

Probably somewhere nearby.

If I drive around, maybe I can find it.

He left Brenda’s bedroom and hurried downstairs. In the foyer, he turned his gaze to the telephone answering machine.

Maybe someone had left a message about the car wash. Might at least be some sort of clue about where she is.

Couldn’t hurt to give it a try.

He stepped over to the table and pressed the new messages button. After a couple of clicks, the tape began to rewind, quietly humming. More clicks. Then came a female voice.

“Hi, it’s me. Anybody home? If you’re home, please pick up. It’s important. Mom? Dad? Brenda? ”

Holy shit, is that Sherry?

Sure is.

After a moment of alarm, he realized she must’ve made the call before he got his hands on her.

Of course.

Should be interesting, he thought.

“I don’t want to upset anybody, but…there’s this guy who, uh…I made him mad and he threatened to go after my family. ”

That’s me! Oh, shit! When did she call?

“…where you live. Probably followed me when I came over last Sunday. I don’t know if he’ll really try anything, or when, but…he’s very dangerous. ”

Legs going numb, Toby sank into the easy chair and kept on listening.

After the message stopped, the machine beeped three times and went silent.

She’s alive.

How can she be alive? I killed her.

Apparently not.

Toby felt as if he’d been bludgeoned.

I’ve gotta get out of here!

He pushed himself out of the chair and staggered toward the kitchen.

Hold it, he thought. If she’s alive—if? —how come this place isn’t crawling with cops? She figured I’d come after her family, so the cops would’ve been waiting for me.

Wouldn’t they?

And where’s Sherry? he wondered. Where did she make the call from, the police department? A hospital?

She oughta be in a morgue!

He returned to the answering machine.

He stared at it for a few seconds, then picked up the handset.

Busy signal.

Why the hell…? Oh!

He let out a wild laugh, ran into the kitchen and hung up the wall phone. Then he raced back into the living room. Again, he lifted the handset. This time, there was a dial tone. He tapped the star button, then six-nine.

The feature was supposed to work just like redial, except that it called the last person who phoned you.

Maybe they don’t have it, but if they do…

He heard the quick beeps of a phone number being activated.

Yes!

From the earpiece came the sounds of a ringing telephone.

Chapter Forty-nine

Pete flinched when the telephone rang. He was confused for a moment, then saw the cordless remote phone on the table beside the radio.

“Gonna get it? ” Jeff asked.

“Maybe I’d better. ”

As Jeff reached over to pick it up, Pete wondered who might be calling.

What if it’s Mom and Dad and they’re coming home early?

Jeff handed the phone to him.

Pete put it to his ear, but it sounded dead. It rang again. Then he realized he needed to push the on/off button. Embarrassed, he smiled at Sherry and said, “Woops. ” Then he thumbed the button and said, “Hello? ”

“Hey, man, how’s it going? ”

Pete didn’t recognize the voice, but it sounded like a kid about his own age.

And the kid seemed to know him.

“Pretty good, ” Pete said. “How about you? ”

“Can’t complain. ”

Who is this?

“What’re you up to? ” the kid asked.

“Not much. ”

“Me either. ”

Gonna tell me who you are?

He looked at Sherry and shook his head.

“Who is it? ” Jeff whispered.

He looked at Jeff and shrugged. Then he asked into the phone, “Who is this, anyway? ”

The kid laughed. “It’s me, man. ”

“Me who? ”

“John. ”

John? Oh, that narrows it down.

“Which John? ”

“Give me a break. You don’t remember me? ”

“I don’t know if I remember you. I don’t exactly know who you are. ”

Frowning, Sherry lowered her glass and rested it on the arm of her chair.

“John from the eighth grade. ”

“Eighth grade? ”

“Yeah. I looked you up, man. I’m in town for the weekend and figured maybe we could get together, talk about the old days. ”

“I still don’t—”

“You still living at the same place? ”

“No, huh-uh, we moved the year I started high school. ”

“Really? What’s the new address? ”

Pete felt his stomach tighten.

Sherry and Jeff were both staring at him, looking worried.

“I’m not gonna be around, ” Pete said into the phone. “I’m leaving in a few minutes. For the day. ”

“Well, maybe I can drop in tomorrow. It’d be really cool to see you again, know what I mean? Anyway, I’ve got that money I owe you. ”

“You owe me money? ”

“Yeah. Fifty bucks. ”

“Why do you owe me fifty bucks? ”

“The bet, man. The bet. Don’t you remember? ”

“I don’t remember any bet. ”

“You don’t have much of a memory, do you? ” He laughed. “Anyway, you want the money, don’t you? ”

“I’m not gonna be around the house, so…”

“Guess I can always mail it to you. ”

“That might be better. ”

“Really like to see you, though. ”

“But I’m leaving in a few minutes. You’d better just go ahead and mail it to me. ”

“Okay. If you’re sure. Wanta give me your address? ”

“My address? ”

“Don’t give it to him, ” Sherry whispered.

“Maybe you oughta hang up, ”

Jeff whispered.

“Just a second, ” Pete said. “Can you hang on? Someone’s at the door. ” He leaned forward, rose out of his chair, took a step toward Sherry and handed the phone to her.

She raised it to her ear. Then she sat motionless, listening.

Pete watched her.

She was breathing hard. Her shoulders and chest were moist, shiny in the sunlight. He stared at the tops of her breasts. They were bruised and scratched like the rest of her, but so…She looked up at him and shook her head.

Pete bent down. With his face close to the side of Sherry’s face—so close he thought he could feel her heat—he said toward the phone, “Back. Sorry about that. ” Then he stepped away.

A moment later, Sherry’s face seemed to go slack. She reached toward Pete with the phone.

As he took it, she whispered, “It’s Toby. ”

“Holy shit, ” Jeff muttered.

Pete pressed his hand against the mouthpiece. “What’ll I do? ”

Sherry just looked at him. “I…I don’t…You said he’d been caught! ”

Pete grimaced.

“That was a little fib, ” Jeff explained. “Sorry. ”

“A fib. Great. ”

“I’m sorry, ” Pete said. “We wanted to know his name, that’s all. It was a dirty trick, but…”

“Tell him to come over, ” Jeff said. “We’ll waste his fuckin’ ass. ”

“No! ” Sherry gasped.

Pete took his hand away from the mouthpiece. “Sorry about that, ” he said. “My ride’s here, so I guess I’ve gotta get going. ”

“Wait, man. You want the fifty bucks, don’t you? ”

Heart suddenly thudding wildly, Pete said, “Yeah, go ahead and send it to me. Got a pen and paper? ”

“Hang on. ”

“Don’t! ” Sherry whispered, leaning forward and looking frantic. “Are you nuts? ”

“Okay, ” Pete said into the phone. “You can send it to 835 Chandler Court. ”

“Oh, my God, ” Sherry muttered.

“That’s LA. ” As Pete gave the zip code, he turned his head and saw Jeff grinning at him like a maniac.

“All right there, man, ” Toby said. “I’ll get that check in the mail to you right away. Oughta be showing up in a couple of days. ”

“No hurry, ” Pete said.

“Hey, it’s been great talking to you. Too bad we can’t get together. ”

“Maybe some other time. ”

“Right. Next time I’m in town, I’ll look you up. ”

“Great. Good talking to you. ”

“Same here. ”

“So long. ” He thumbed the on/off button and the phone went dead.

Jeff chuckled and shook his head.

Sherry, gazing at Pete with shock and disappointment, muttered, “I can’t believe it! First you guys lie through your teeth and say the cops got him…”

“That was so we could go after him, ” Jeff said.

“Now you told him where we are. He knows I’m here. Somehow, he figured it out and now he’ll be coming over. ”

“Fuckin’-A, ” Jeff said, grinning.

“I gave Toby the wrong address, ” Pete explained.

“You’re kidding! ” She looked appalled. “That’s even worse! He’ll go to that house looking for me and…God help whoever’s there. ”

“Nobody’s there, ” Pete said.

“It’s the house next door, ” Jeff explained. “It’s up for sale, been empty for months. ” Beaming at Pete, he said, “Brilliant work, dude. We’ll fuckin’ ambush his ass! ”

Sherry slumped back in her chair. Looking exhausted, she said, “We’d better call the cops right now. ”

“No cops, ” Jeff said. “No way. We’ll take care of him. Me and Pete. ”

“Or he’ll take care of you, ” Sherry muttered. “And after he gets done with you guys, he’ll take care of me. ”

“That isn’t gonna happen, ” Pete said.

“You just hope not. ”

“Just in case, you shouldn’t be around. I’ll give you the car keys, and…”

She let out a soft, tired laugh.

“Are you okay to drive? ”

“I’m not going to drive. God! How could you give him that address? ”

“It’s next door, ” Jeff reminded her.

“I know it’s next door, but Toby isn’t stupid. If you think he’ll walk into some kind of trap…”

“I had to tell him something. ” Pete said.

“No you didn’t. ”

“He didn’t just call here by accident, you know. ”

Sherry stared at him. “I know that. ”

“How do you think he found out you’re still alive? How did he know where to call? ”

“Oh, God, ” Sherry murmured. “He’s at my parents’ house. He heard me on their answering machine…and they’ve got some kinda call return thing on their phone. ”

“Star sixty-nine? ” Jeff asked.

“Yeah, that’s it. That’s how he called here. ”

“Oh, man. ”

“We’ve gotta get over there, ” Sherry said.

“He’ll be on his way here, ” Jeff said.

“But my mom and dad…Brenda…”

“Maybe they’re okay, ” Pete said. “Maybe they weren’t home. ”

“I’ve gotta find out. ”

“One of us could drive over and look around, ” Pete suggested.

“Not me, ” Jeff said. “I’m not gonna go off ’n leave you guys here. He’s gonna show up. Anyhow, I’m a little tanked. I’d problee get pulled over by the cops. ”

“I guess we could all go, ” Pete said.

“Who drives? ” Jeff asked. “We all been boozin’ it up. ”

“I’m okay to drive, ” Sherry said.

“You’re hardly okay to stand, ” Pete told her.

“My head’s pretty clear. I can manage. ”

“We’ll miss our chance at Toby, ” he said.

“How long’ll it take to get there? ” Jeff asked.

Turning her head, Sherry stared up at the bluff beyond the back wall. “That’s Mulholland? ”

“Yeah, ” Pete said. “About a mile from Coldwater. ”

“Guess it’d take twenty minutes, half an hour. To get there. ”

“Then the whole thing’ll take like an hour, ” Jeff said. “We’re gonna miss him. ”

“We’d better do it, ” Pete said, meeting Sherry’s eyes. “Make sure your family’s okay. We can worry about Toby later. ”

“Thanks. ” She handed her half-finished Bloody Mary to Jeff.

“Done? ” he asked.

She nodded. “Had enough for now. ”

He set her glass on the table.

Sherry grabbed the arms of her chair, leaned forward and started to push herself up.

Pete lurched out of his chair and hurried to her side. He gently took hold of her left upper arm.

“Thanks, ” she said as he helped her up. On her feet, she said, “Let me see if I can get along on my own. I’d better, huh? ”

“Okay. ” He let go of her arm, then watched her. She swayed slightly, but stayed up.

“Might be a good idea to put away all this stuff, ” she said. “Toby might come snooping while we’re gone. ”

“Snoopin’ at the house next door, ” Jeff pointed out.

“For five minutes, maybe, ” Sherry said. “Then he’ll notice it’s empty and figure out somebody pulled a fast one. Then maybe he’ll come looking over here. ”

“Let’s get everything inside, ” Pete said.

“I’ll go on in, ” Sherry said, and started hobbling toward the glass door.

“Y’all right? ” Jeff asked her.

“Peachy. ”

She made it into the house.

It took two trips for Pete and Jeff to carry everything in from the table. Then Jeff picked up his clothes and brought them inside. While he stepped into his jeans, Pete shut and locked the sliding door.

“You going like that? ” Jeff asked.

te closed the curtains. “Guess I’d better get dressed. ”

“How about me? ” Sherry asked from where she waited by the front door.

Pete hurried over to her.

“Maybe you can find me a shirt to wear. ”

“You wanta come along and pick something? ”

“I’d better wait here. Just grab me anything. We’ve gotta hurry. ”

“Yeah. ” He gave his trunks a pull, then started down the hallway toward his bedroom.

“Do you have any guns in the house? ” Sherry called.

“Yeah. ”

“We’d better take something with us, ’cause I know Toby’s armed. ”

Chapter Fifty

Standing in the kitchen to put on his shoes, Toby noticed a pink sheet of paper fixed by an Eeyore magnet to the refrigerator door. In both top corners were cartoonish drawings of cars. The car on the left looked filthy, while the car on the right seemed to sparkle—lines like sunshine rays radiating off it.

Toby stepped into his shoes, then rushed to the refrigerator. The message was hand-lettered, large and bold:

DIRTY CAR? YOU WANT A CLEAN CAR WE WANT A NEW COMPUTER FOR THE SCHOOL NEWSPAPER! COME TO US! IT’S A WIN WIN SITUATION!!! WHEN: SATURDAY, 9 AM TO 5 PM WHERE: PARKING LOT, FAIRVIEW HIGH SCHOOL 8321 FAIRVIEW BOULEVARD, LOS ANGELES HOW MUCH: $5. 00 DONATION IF NOT COMPLETELY SATISFIED, WE’LL REFUND YOUR DIRT!

In blue ink, someone had scrawled, “Too cute! ” underneath the comment about refunding dirt.

Did Brenda do that? Toby wondered. Probably.

He liked the idea that she’d scribbled a smart remark on the thing.

Perky kid. She’ll be a scrapper. It’ll be great.

Toby plucked the paper off the refrigerator, sending Eeyore flying. He watched the magnet hit the floor. It bounced but didn’t break.

He read the announcement again.

Fairview High. That won’t be hard to find. Can’t be too far away, either.

But should he go for Brenda? Or forget about her and go after Sherry?

A hard choice.

There’d been no choice before listening to Sherry’s message. It had been simple then; take down the parents, grab Brenda and drive her to his house for fun and games.

But he’d given up that plan after hearing Sherry on the answering machine. For one thing, there was no guarantee he’d be able to find Brenda at all. The car wash might be miles away in any direction. He could spend hours searching for it and maybe never find it. For another thing, it’d be crazy to go chasing after Brenda now that Sherry was alive.

How the hell did she live through all that? he wondered. She’s gotta be in awfully bad shape.

She didn’t sound so bad on the phone.

Keeping the flier, he left the house and headed for his car.

It all keeps changing, he thought as he walked along. Now I know where to find Brenda. I can go straight there. Can’t be all that far away, either. But Sherry’s alive. She knows who I am. She can send the cops after me.

Why hasn’t she?

“Good question, ” he muttered.

Realizing he’d spoken out loud, he looked around. He was at the bottom of the driveway. He saw no one nearby, just a couple of Sikhs walking along on the other side of the street. They were paying no attention to him. He looked down at himself. The fly of his shorts was open, he had the car wash announcement in one hand and he still wore the rubber gloves.

Not breaking stride, he clamped the paper between his teeth, pulled off the gloves and shoved them into the right rear pocket of his shorts. After glancing around again to make sure he wasn’t being watched, he pulled up his zipper.

He checked himself again.

“Lookin’ good, ” he muttered.

Where was I?

Gotta decide between Brenda and Sherry.

He sure knew who he wanted. Brenda. She was fresh and beautiful and unused.

He’d already done everything he’d ever dreamed of with Sherry. She was used up.

Oughta be dead.

Needs to be dead, he told himself. That’s the thing. She knows my name. All she has to do is tell the cops who I am…

But she hasn’t.

Not yet, anyway. If she’d told, I’d be busted by now.

Or dead.

As he approached his car, the notion scurried through his mind that maybe he shouldn’t let himself be taken alive. Might be better to have a shoot-out with the cops, go down in a blaze of glory.

It’s either that, he thought, or spend the rest of my life dying of AIDS in prison.

Feeling a little sick, he climbed into his car. He tossed the pink sheet of paper onto the passenger seat, then started the engine. And sat there.

Who says I’ve got AIDS? he thought. Just because Sherry has it…if she does…Who says she wasn’t lying? And even if she was telling the truth, you don’t have to necessarily catch it just because you mess around a little.

A lot. I messed around a lot.

He started remembering, reliving in his mind all that he’d done to her. He could see her slim, naked body under him; feel her hot slippery skin and her snug suction; taste her flesh, her juices; hear her grunts and whimpers; hear the thuds and smacks and whipping sounds of the beating; hear the wet sounds their bodies made together.

As he dwelled in the vivid memories, his sickening fear quickly faded away. His penis pushed upward against the front of his shorts.

Good thing I zipped up, he thought. It’d be sticking out.

He smiled.

Who do I want to stick it in? That’s the real question.

“Brenda, ” he said, “here I come. ”

He pulled away from the curb.

Just forget about Sherry, he told himself. I’ve had her.

Oh, God, yes! Best night of my life.

Now it’s time to move on and nail her kid sister.

Pretend I never heard that damn message.

But I know where Sherry is! I could go over there right now, fuck her all over again, eat her up!

The thoughts made him ache.

I’d end up with AIDS for sure.

Anyway, she isn’t alone. She’s got that guy with her. The one on the phone. Who the hell is he, anyway?

A cop?

No way. They’d have me by now.

She said they’d have me tomorrow, though. What was that about? They wouldn’t wait till tomorrow, would they?

She hasn’t told them who I am. Simple as that.

What’s she trying to pull?

Maybe nothing, he thought. Maybe it’s something really simple—like she can’t remember my name.

Is that possible?

Possible, maybe, but not likely. She’d sounded awfully coherent on the answering machine. Not at all like someone with a memory problem.

But she didn’t say my name.

“Everything but my name, ” he muttered.

She has to know it, he thought. Toby Bones? Who could forget that?

Let’s say she does remember my name, he thought. She’s alive and okay enough to make that call. She remembers everything about last night, but she hasn’t sicced the cops on me. What does it mean?

She doesn’t want the cops picking me up?

Why?

Makes no sense at all.

Maybe it has something to do with where she is now—and the guy on the other end of the phone.

Maybe he won’t let her call the cops!

Toby let out a laugh.

Wouldn’t that be rich? It’s a miracle I didn’t kill her—me or the fall—and somehow she lives through it all and ends up in the hands of another guy just like me.

Laughing again, Toby shook his head.

“Far out, ” he muttered.

Such things did happen. He’d heard stories of gals making narrow escapes—and fleeing straight into the arms of strangers who end up raping them.

The more Toby thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

Somebody found her. A guy, obviously. There she is, naked and helpless—maybe even out cold. He gives her a good looking over, sees she’s a great-looking babe under all the blood and stuff. Maybe he fucks her right on the spot. Or else he holds off till he can take her someplace safe.

Like his house on Chandler Court.

“Ah, yes, ” Toby said.

Where he cleans her up, patches her up and keeps her for some fun and games.

“My kinda guy, ” Toby said.

It would explain everything.

Whoa. Maybe not everything. What about the call she made to her parents?

That’s easy, Toby thought. He let her do it as part of a deal.

The sneaky bitch probably talked him into it.

He could just hear her. “Let me call my parents so I can warn them about Toby, and I’ll cooperate with you. Okay? Just let me make the call and I’ll do anything you want. ”

That’s gotta be how it went down, Toby thought.

This is great!

If Sherry’s being held prisoner, she won’t be making any calls to the police. Not in the near future, anyway. Probably never, because the guy almost has to finish her off eventually.

If I don’t get to her first.

But there’s no big hurry, Toby told himself. The guy might keep her alive for days, maybe even weeks.

I can take all the time I want with Brenda, then go on over to Chandler Court.

And rescue Sherry.

At first glance, he didn’t see Brenda. But there were eight or ten people gathered in the parking lot at the far end of the school. Some didn’t seem to be wearing much. Most were surrounding a couple of cars. He glimpsed buckets, rags, and a hose shooting a long flashing stream of water at a car.

This has to be it.

Eyes on the car wash, Toby hadn’t caught the name of the school. But how many schools on Fairview Boulevard would be having car washes today?

He slowed almost to a stop before turning. As he drove into the parking lot, he reached over to the passenger seat and grabbed the pink flier. He glanced at the inked-in remark, “Too cute! ” Smiling, he crumpled the paper and stuffed it into the right front pocket of his shorts.

Chapter Fifty-one

“Their car isn’t here, ” Sherry said, and steered into the driveway.

“I bet they aren’t home, ” Jeff said from the back seat.

I sure hope you’re right, Pete thought. If they are home, they’re probably dead.

Sherry stopped the car and shut off its engine.

“Why don’t you wait here? ” Pete suggested. “J

eff and I can run in and make sure everything’s okay. ”

She turned her head toward him, wincing as if the movement hurt her neck. “I’ve gotta go in. ”

“But he might be inside. ”

“All the more reason to stay together. ”

“She’s right, ” Jeff said. “We can’t just leave her sitting alone out here. Toby might sneak out…”

“We could leave her the gun. ”

“She might use it on us. ”

“Cut it out, ” Sherry said.

“See? ”

“I don’t care about your stupid little lie right now, okay? Forget about it. Let’s just pretend it never happened. ”

Looking at Sherry, Pete said, “Why don’t you stay here and we’ll leave the gun with you? ”

“I’m going in, ” Sherry said. She handed the keys to Pete, then opened her door.

Pete pocketed the keys. Bending down, he reached under his seat and pulled his revolver out of a towel. He set it on his lap while he opened his door. Then he reached inside his half-unbuttoned shirt. Holding the weapon out of sight against his ribcage, he climbed from the car.

Jeff shut the door for him.

Pete looked around. He saw nobody nearby.

Sherry waited in front of the car, her loose shirt fluttering and flapping in the wind. It was a Hawaiian shirt that Pete’s parents had brought back to him from Maui last year. He’d hardly ever worn it. Though he liked the slick, lightweight feel of it, it was just too gaudy for him. Bright red. All those flowers.

It sure looked great on Sherry.

You couldn’t tell she was wearing anything under it. Only when the wind picked it up could you glimpse her bikini pants.

“Jeff, ” she said, “why don’t you run up and check the front door? Just see if it’s locked. Then come back. Don’t go in. ”

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