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“How do you know? ”

“I read. ”

“Anyway…” She sniffed and wiped her eyes. “It doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t testify. They couldn’t make me. ”

“You’re already made, and what a mess. ”

She looked stunned. She blinked at him, tears sliding down her cheeks.

Toby laughed.

He heard the faint, sputtery hum of a distant helicopter.

“Can I go? ” Fran asked.

“I said you could. ”

“Okay. ” She turned toward the door and started to walk.

The sound of the helicopter grew.

“Hey, Fran? ”

She turned around and raised her eyebrows.

“Know what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna stay right here and hump the living daylights outa Brenda and have the time of my life. And when the house burns down, I’ll be right on top of her, fucking her, and we’ll burn up together. We’ll melt together, and be like one big clump. They won’t even be able to take us apart. Cool, huh? ”

Blinking her wet red eyes, she nodded slightly and said, “Yeah. ”

“Get outa here. ”

“You won’t…shoot me, will you? When I turn around? ”

“Nah. ”

“Promise? ”

“You’re too fuckin’ ugly to kill. ”

She turned around and resumed walking toward the door.

Toby watched her fat ass shimmy with each step.

She lowered her head and raised her shoulders as if getting ready for a bullet.

“Tub of lard, ” Toby said.

He aimed at her back.

She cowered and hugged the back of her head and trotted for the door.

Toby intended to shoot her down.

But his finger stayed light on the trigger.

A moment later, she was out the doorway and out of sight.

He thought about hurrying into the hallway and popping her.

It’d be easy.

It was a long hallway and the fat slob was so out of shape it’d probably take her forever to reach the front door.

Just let her go, he thought. She’s such a fucking loser. Give her a break. What’s she gonna do, anyway? Tell on me? ”

He laughed.

Then he remembered the cop he’d just killed.

And wondered if maybe the cop had a partner nearby, a partner wondering where he’d gone.

If Fran runs into him…

Toby rushed to his doorway.

Fran had already reached the foyer. She was squatting down beside the dead cop, picking up Sherry’s pistol.

“Good luck, you dumb twat, ” he called out. “Didn’t you see me empty it? ”

She pointed the pistol at him.

It fired!

As the blast resounded through the house, Toby felt as if his left hand had been struck by a hammer.

But I emptied the gun!

And I let her go!

You don’t shoot a guy who lets you go!

Fran let the gun fall and lurched for the front door.

Toby opened fire.

He pulled the trigger fast.

He missed and missed.

She got the door open.

But then a round caught her shoulder and spun her around, away from the door, and as she pranced backward, arms flapping for balance, Toby fired and missed again but then hit her in the middle of the chest, then missed, then hit her in the stomach and in the right breast, missed again, then put a slug through her right eye.

She slammed her back against the foyer wall, bounced off it, and fell forward.

Chapter Sixty-three

As Pete drove toward the barricade, the police officer raised a hand, signaling him to stop.

“Looks like we’ve had it, ” Jeff said.

“I don’t know, ” Pete mumbled.

“They probably closed off the road for the fires, ” Sherry said. “Try to talk him into letting us through. ”

“How do I do that? ” Pete asked.

“Come on, dude, ” said Jeff. “You’re supposed to be a writer, right? Make up a story. ”

With the back of her bare foot, Sherry nudged the towel-wrapped revolver a bit farther under the passenger seat.

The cop came to Pete’s door, ducked and looked in the window. “I’m afraid the road’s closed, ” he explained. “The area’s being evacuated. ”

“But Brett’s grandma lives up there, ” Pete said, and nodded toward Sherry.

The cop looked over at her. “Is that so? ” he asked.

Sherry nodded. “Her house is on Sunshine Lane. ”

“We’ll take care of her, ” the cop said. “We’ve got people going door to door. ”

“She’s bedridden, ” Sherry explained. “And she’s alone. She won’t be able to get to the door. She’s also hard of hearing, so she won’t even know if someone’s ringing the bell. ”

The cop frowned as if considering the situation.

“Can’t we just drive up there real fast and grab her? ” Sherry asked. She sounded as if she were trying to control her growing worry. “I’ve been staying with her, but I had to go to the emergency room this morning. ”

“How’d you get those injuries? ”

“Just lucky. I fell down the hillside behind grandma’s house. Anyway, when I left the emergency room, I heard on the radio that the fire was moving this way so I went to get a couple of my friends. They’re gonna help me carry her out. If you’ll let us go up. ”

“Just in and out? ” the cop asked.

“Quick as we can pick her up, ” Pete assured him.

“All right. I’ll let you through. But keep your eyes open. The fire’s closing in at a pretty good clip, so you don’t have a lot of time. ”

“How long do you think? ” Pete asked.

“Half an hour? Hard to say. Just make it quick. ”

“Thank you, officer, ” Pete said.

“Thank you very much, ” Sherry added from the passenger seat.

“Be careful, ” the cop said, then hurried over to the barricade and lifted it out of the way.

Pete gave the officer a grateful smile as he started forward.

After they’d passed the barricade, Jeff said, “You’re pretty tricky, dudes. Good job. ”

“What was that about Sunshine Lane? ” Pete asked, glancing at Sherry. “Toby’s place is on Shawcross. ”

“Sunshine’s just a couple of streets away from Shawcross. That’s where I went for the faculty party. Thought it’d be better not to mention Shawcross under the circumstances, you know? In case we do find

Toby and…commit an illegal act. ”

“Like kill his ass? ” suggested Jeff.

“Or whatever, ” said Sherry.

Chapter Sixty-four

Shaking badly, Toby sank to a crouch and set his pistol down on the hallway carpet. Then he picked up the middle finger of his left hand. Where the bullet had blown it off, it was a bloody mess. Some shreds of skin and tendon and muscle hung from it, swaying.

They can probably sew it back on, he thought.

Yeah, sure. If I get over to a hospital fast enough.

I’d have to leave now.

What’s it gonna be, my finger or Brenda?

Hand trembling, he eased the finger toward the raw place on his hand where it used to belong.

It seemed to be about half an inch too short.

Muttering, “Fuck it, ” he threw his finger away. It hit the wall. He heard the quiet thunk through the sounds of helicopters.

Must be a shitload of news choppers out there.

But they weren’t roaring overhead. Not yet, anyway. So the fire must still be a somewhere else.

Plenty of time.

He snatched up the pistol and rushed into his bedroom.

Brenda was stretched out on the bed. Above her, all along the length of the bed, the curtains were blowing, rising away from the window, letting smoky golden daylight fall on her body. Her eyes were shut. She was breathing hard, her sweaty chest rising and falling.

Toby stepped closer.

Her skin was blotched with ruddy places where she’d been hurt. She was also spattered and smeared with blood. Blood from her gunshot leg, he supposed. The T-shirt belted around her thigh had leaked plenty. But she probably wore blood from everyone else, too—Baxter and Quen and Fran, even some from the cop.

How many of them have HIV? he wondered.

“Who cares? ” he muttered. I already got it from her sister. I can wallow in blood till hell freezes over, won’t mean shit to me.

“Your fucking sister gave me AIDS, ” he said. “Did I already tell you that? ”

Brenda just kept her eyes shut, kept panting for breath.

But she jerked and gasped and looked up at him with eyes full of fear and pain when he jerked her legs apart.

He crawled onto the bed.

Knelt between her legs and jammed his gunshot hand against her groin.

She cried out. So did he.

She reached for his wrist.

He slammed the pistol against the side of her head.

Though the blow didn’t knock her unconscious, it seemed to knock the fight out of her. She lay limp, staring off to the side.

“That’s better, ” Toby said.

He took his hand away. Her pubic hair, no longer downy and golden, was painted red. So was the area below.

“I bet I just gave it to you, ” he said. “Think so? ”

She didn’t answer.

“Doesn’t matter anyhow, ” he said. “None of us’re gonna die from AIDS, you can bet on that. I’m gonna hump you to death. ”

Her eyes opened slightly.

Her gaze slid toward his groin.

She muttered, “Reality check. ”

He looked down, himself.

How’d that happen?

Getting my finger shot off maybe had a little something to do with it. And ramming my stump into her twat.

“I’ll be fine, ” he said.

“Sure. ”

Toby set the pistol on the sheet by Brenda’s left hip. He slid her arm up until her hand disappeared under the pillow, then placed his hand on her breast.

It felt like a soft, springy pad. The skin was warm and slick. As he caressed it, he felt the nipple stiffen and rise.

He felt himself stiffen and rise along with it.

He squeezed her nipple, making her flinch. Making himself harder.

“Check again, ” he said.

Brenda lifted her head off the mattress and looked. “Big whoop, ” she said.

“Big enough. Your sister sure thought so. ”

Her eyes opened a little wider. “Want me to suck it? ” she asked.

The suggestion gave him a sudden ache of desire. “No, ” he said. “You’d bite. ”

“Huh-uh. ”

He suddenly remembered last night, sinking his teeth into Sherry.

That had only been a little nip. He’d tasted some blood, but not much flesh. Nothing really to chew on, like he’d gotten from Duane.

I can eat Brenda! Bite her all over, taste her skin, drink her blood, chew her and swallow!

Right hand against the mattress, he eased himself lower. He licked her nipple. It felt big and rubbery in his mouth.

Eat it and work my way down.

As he licked and sucked, he realized that Brenda was moaning under him. Squirming, too.

She likes this?

He lifted his mouth off her breast.

“Don’t stop, ” she murmured. One of her hands went to the back of his head. Fingers pushing through his hair, she guided his head back down until his mouth latched onto her breast.

He sucked.

She moaned.

She’s faking.

It’s her left hand, he realized. Maybe she’s planning to work her way down and grab the pistol.

Long as she’s fooling with my hair, nothing to worry about.

“Yes, ” she gasped. “Suck. Suck. ”

She was thrashing beneath him, hand pushing at the back of his head, mashing his face against her breast.

“Oh, yes! ”

She clenched his hair.

“Yes yes yes! Now the other. ”

Why not?

Her hand remained on the back of his head, clenching his hair as he moved his mouth to her right breast and tongued the nipple.

It tasted fresh and somehow made him think of Santa Monica beach early in the morning before the crowds arrive…a mild breeze coming in from the ocean, gulls squealing and circling.

He could feel the ocean breeze on him now, blowing down gently from the windows alongside the bed.

If only she was my girlfriend, Toby thought. And we were at the beach right now…

Get real, he told himself. She wouldn’t go to the beach with a guy like me. Never in a million years. She wouldn’t be caught dead with a guy like me. Sherry, either.

None of them—none of the good ones—would ever go to the beach or to a movie or anything else with a tub of lard like me.

Maybe a pig like Fran. She’s the best I’d ever be able to get.

But I sure got Sherry last night.

And I’ve got Brenda now.

This is as good as it’s ever gonna get.

He slipped his lips down over Brenda’s nipple and rubbed it with his tongue. Flicked it. Thrust at it.

She moaned and writhed.

He sucked hard, drawing more of her breast into his mouth.

She bucked under him in a frenzy.

“Yes! ” she gasped. “Oh! ”

She clenched his hair and pushed his face more tightly against her breast.

He squeezed her breast with his teeth.

“Ah! Jack! Yesssss! ”

I’m gonna come! Better stop this and…

Something stabbed Toby in the left eye.

Squealing, he flung himself up.

“You fucking bitch! ” he shrieked. “What’ve you done to me? ”

Brenda glared at him.

His own leather belt dangled from her hand. She was clutching its buckle. The steel prong jutted out from between two fingers.

He glanced at her leg.

The bloody T-shirt bandage hung loose around her wound.

“I’LL KILL YOU! ” Toby shouted.

As she tried to strike at him again with the prong, he caught her by the wrist with his shot hand. Pain flashed up his arm, but it wasn’t much compared to the pain from his eye. He held on.

With his right hand, he slapped the mattress by her hip, trying to find his pistol.

“TOBY! ”

He jerked his head toward the sound of the voice.

Lurching through his bedroom doorway was a woman. A woman with a bandaged head and battered face. She wore a bright flowery shirt as if she’d just come back from Hawaii. She didn’t seem to have any pants on. Her bare legs were scratched and bruised and patched with many bandages.

Sherry?

She came into the bedroom with a guy on each side.

They looked like they were about sixteen.

A shrimp and a clean-cut looking jerk who probably made straight As…and had a revolver.

The revolver was aimed at Toby.

“Hands up, ” said the kid.

The hole in the muzzle of the revolver looked very small, as holes go.

“Shoot him, ” said the shrimp.

Ignoring him, gun-boy said, “Stick your hands up and get off the girl. ”

Toby found the pistol by Brenda’s hip. He snatched it off the mattress and swung it toward the trio.

Take ’em all down, the fuckers!

SHERRY FIRST!

Before he could bring the pistol around far enough, however, two things happened.

Brenda caught hold of his wrist.

And a bullet from the kid’s. 22 knocked into his chin and turned his head sideways.

Feeling as if his jaw had been blown apart, he spun away from the impact. His head pounded against the bedroom wall.

Brenda was twisting under him, trying to throw him off.

Then someone grabbed the hair on the back of his head and jerked as if trying to rip his scalp off. He fell backward, off Brenda, off the edge of his bed.

His back slammed the floor.

Sherry stood over him.

She had pants on, after all. Even with just one eye, he could see the thin strip of black fabric between her legs.

Too bad.

But I bet that teeny weeny fuckin’ bikini won’t stop a bullet.

He brought his right arm up off the floor to shoot her with the cop’s big pistol.

But the cop’s big pistol was no longer in his hand.

She stomped his face with her bare foot.

Through the daze of pain, he heard her say, “Brenda. You okay? ”

Brenda said, “Fine. ”

“Guys, ” said Sherry, “get her out of here. Wait, take this. She can wear this. ”

; A few seconds passed. Then he heard Brenda say, “Thanks. ”

“I’m Pete, by the way, ” a guy said.

“Hi. ”

“I’m Jeff. ”

“I’m Brenda. Nice to meet you. ”

“Chit-chat in the car, ” Sherry said. “I’ll be right with you. ”

“You’d better come now, ” one of the guys said.

“Yeah, ” said the other.

“Take Brenda out to the car, ” Sherry said. “I’ll just be a minute. ”

“The fire…”

“I know. Don’t worry. We’ve still got time. ”

“Not much. ”

“Go! ”

Chapter Sixty-five

“We meet again, ” Sherry said.

Toby, sprawled at her feet, his chin ruined, his nose mashed, his left eye gone, looked up with his right eye.

“You never should’ve messed with me, ” she said. “You shouldn’t have messed with my friend, Jim. And you really shouldn’t have messed with my sister. ”

He coughed, spraying blood from his mouth.

“They’d probably execute you for all the shit you did, ” she said. “But maybe not. Hell, this is Los Angeles. Maybe they’d just set you free. You never know. I’d better go ahead and kill you, just in case. ”

He shook his head, blood spilling from his mouth.

“You don’t want me to kill you? ”

He grunted and shook his head some more.

“Should I turn you in to the cops? ”

He nodded.

“Okay, ” Sherry said. “I guess that’s what we’ll do, then. I mean, you’ve probably suffered enough. Lost a finger, lost an eye, not to mention your chin’s messed up. We’ll get the cops and they’ll take you to a hospital. Maybe you can even have your finger reattached. ”

He nodded some more, somewhat eagerly.

“By the way, I didn’t give you AIDS. Just said that to mess with your head. ”

He almost looked relieved.

“So you’ll have plenty of time to enjoy Death Row—like about fifteen years—before they put the needle in you. ”

He nodded and grunted and coughed out some blood.

“Just kidding, ” said Sherry.

“Huh? ”

“Not about the AIDS. About your future on Death Row. ”

She showed Toby’s single eye what she’d been holding behind her back.

A Buck knife she’d found on her way into the house—near one of the bodies on the foyer floor.

“Does this belong to you? ” she asked.

He shook his head.

“Doesn’t matter, ” Sherry said. “Because I’m gonna give it to you anyway. ”

He made little whimpery noises as Sherry crouched over him.

Chapter Sixty-six

“Was that a scream? ” Pete asked, looking over his shoulder.

Jeff, in the back seat with an arm across Brenda’s shoulders, shrugged and said, “I don’t know, man. All I can hear are choppers and sirens. ”

“Me, too, ” said Brenda. She was slumped sideways against Jeff. Sherry’s gaudy shirt was buttoned almost to her throat and Jeff’s shirt draped her lap and thighs. “Who are you guys? ” she asked.

“I’m Pete. ”

“I’m Jeff. ”

“Reality check. I know your names. I mean, who are you? ”

“Friends of your sister, ” answered Pete.

“Yeah, ” said Jeff. “Just a couple of friends. ”

“Well, you’re my friends now, ” Brenda said. “Now and forever. ”

“All right! ” Jeff blurted. “Cool. ”

“Yeah, ” said Pete. “But you might change your mind once you get to know us. ”

“Real smart, dude. Cripes! He’s just trying to be funny, Brenda. We’re swell guys. ”

“I can tell, ” said Brenda.

“Sherry’s sure been in there a long time, ” Pete said.

“Long as we get out of here ahead of the fire, ” Jeff said, “she can take all the time she wants. ”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t wanta be sitting here if more cops show up. ”

“Hey, we didn’t kill anyone. ”

“Maybe not, but…” Pete suddenly saw Sherry hobble onto the front stoop of the house. “She’s out, ” he said.

“All right! And the fire nowhere in sight! ”

Leaving the shadows behind, Sherry limped into the smoky sunlight.

The black bikini, little more than strings and tiny patches, looked great on her. Its loose top wobbled and bounced a bit with the motion of her walking. Her tawny skin glistened. Though Pete could see numerous bandages, her scratches and abrasions and bruises were mostly invisible in the distance.

The way she looked made him feel good all over.

Even in his heart.

Especially in his heart.

He leaped out of the car and ran to her.

“Everything okay? ” he asked.

“Can’t complain. ”

Walking beside her, he put a hand low on her back. He felt the slickness and heat of her skin.

She met his eyes. A corner of her mouth tilted upward, trembling slightly.

“Did you take care of Toby? ” he asked.

“Oh, yeah. Been keeping an eye out for the fire? ”

“Hasn’t come over the ridge yet. We oughta be fine. ”

“Great. ” She put her hand on Pete’s back. He felt it just below his shoulder blade, but its touch seemed to spread all through him as they walked the rest of the way to his car.

RAVE REVIEWS FOR RICHARD LAYMON!

“I’ve always been a Laymon fan. He manages to raise serious gooseflesh. ”

—Bentley Little

“Laymon is incapable of writing a disappointing book. ”

—New York Review of Science Fiction

“Laymon always takes it to the max. No one writes like him and you’re going to have a good time with anything he writes. ”

—Dean Koontz

“If you’ve missed Laymon, you’ve missed a treat. ”

—Stephen King

“A brilliant writer. ”

—Sunday Express

“I’ve read every book of Laymon’s I could get my hands on. I’m absolutely a longtime fan. ”

—Jack Ketchum, author of The Girl Next Door

MORE PRAISE FOR RICHARD LAYMON!

“One of horror’s rarest talents. ”

—Publishers Weekly

“Laymon is, was, and always will be king of the hill. ”

—Horror World

“Laymon is an American writer of the highest caliber. ”

—Time Out

“Laymon is unique. A phenomenon. A genius of the grisly and the grotesque. ”

—Joe Citro, The Blood Review

“Laymon doesn’t pull any punches. Everything he writes keeps you on the edge of your seat. ”

—Painted Rock Reviews

Other Leisure books by Richard Laymon:

RESURRECTION DREAMS

ENDLESS NIGHT

BODY RIDES

BLOOD GAMES

TO WAKE THE DEAD

NO SANCTUARY

DARKNESS, TELL US

NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER

ISLAND

THE MUSEUM OF HORRORS (Anthology)

IN THE DARK

THE TRAVELING VAMPIRE SHOW

AMONG THE MISSING

ONE RAINY NIGHT

BITE

A LEISURE BOOK®

July 2005

Published by

Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc.

200 Madison Avenue

New York, NY 10016

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E-ISBN: 978-1-4285-0169-0

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Visit us on the web at www. dorchesterpub. com.

Richard Laymon, Come Out Tonight

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