He pushed the knob.
Celia stared through the darkness. “Think we could get in?” she asked.
So easy. She
“I don’t know,” Jason muttered.
“Scared?” she asked. Her voice sounded a little shaky.
“Yeah. Aren’t you?”
She didn’t answer. She eased back into her seat. Looking at Jason, she lifted his hand and placed it on her bare thigh. “Can you feel the gooseflesh?”
He moved his hand lightly up her leg. Yes, he could feel the gooseflesh. She must’ve shaved, but the nubs of hair were standing and just a bit bristly along the top of her thigh. He curved his hand down the inner side. There, the skin was smooth, incredibly smooth and soft. The fabric brushed the edge of his palm. Another inch, he thought, maybe two…
She’ll let me, I know she will.
No. You can’t mess around with her, not if you’re going ahead with it.
So forget the plan. It’s a dumb plan.
What if Dana’s alive, maybe being kept somewhere, being raped and tortured by some maniac, and this is her only chance? You can’t just write her off.
Damn it, what’ll I do?
He took his hand away from Celia’s leg. “Yeah,” he said, “gooseflesh. Are you scared or cold?”
“I got the willies,” she said. Jason could see the white of her teeth. “You think that’s racist? The willies?”
“Why would it be racist?”
“Wasn’ Willy a black guy in the old movies, like in the thirties? He’d get in a haunted house and go all buggy- eyed and shaky?”
“Gee, I don’t know.”
“I think tha’s where the expression came from. The willies. But don’ hold me to it. Wherever it came from, I got ’em.”
“I’ve got just the thing,” Jason said, “for getting rid of the willies.”
“Not sure I wanna get rid of ’em. Kind of
“Well, maybe this’ll make you feel even more shivery inside.” Huddling down against the steering wheel, he reached under the car seat and pulled out a bottle of champagne.
“Well now,” Celia said. “That’s what I call class.”
He nodded and began to peel the foil off the top of the bottle.
The champagne had been Roland’s idea. Insurance, Roland had called it. Fill her up with bubbly, you won’t have any trouble at all getting her inside. With any luck, she’ll pass out. You can carry her in.
It was insurance that Jason didn’t need.
But he wanted time to think, to decide.
If we do go in, he told himself, it’ll work better if she’s totally smashed.
As he twisted the wire seal, Celia turned away from him. Reaching across her body, she used her left hand to roll the window down. She faced him again. “You can shoot the cork out my window.”
“Don’t want to hit you with it.”
“On a good day, I could catch the cork in my teeth.”
“This isn’t a good day?”
“It’s dark and I’m a trifle tipsy. So try to miss me.”
Jason pulled off the wire basket, clamped the bottle against his chest, and began to twist the knob of cork. It squeaked quietly. He aimed well in front of Celia’s face and gave the cork a final turn. With a hollow pop, it shot past her nose and sailed out the window. He heard her laugh as he rushed the erupting bottle to his mouth, spilling foam down his hand and shirt. He gulped the airy froth and choked.
“You okay?”
A few moments later, he was okay. He took a sip of the champagne, then passed the bottle to Celia. She raised it high and tilted back her head. He watched her throat work as she swallowed. With a sigh, she passed the bottle back to him. “That’s good stuff,” she said.
She faced Jason, sitting sideways and sliding her leg onto the seat. Her knee touched the side of his leg. The inner side of her thigh was turned upward. He followed the pale skin with his eyes and glanced at the patch of shadow beneath the edge of her gown. Then he raised the bottle. He took one swallow, closed his lips and pretended to drink more before handing the bottle back to her.
“Still feeling shivery?” he asked.
“Yessiree. More’n ever.” She took a drink. “Bring any cheese and crackers?”
“Afraid I didn’t think of that.”
“Maybe there’s some in there,” she said, and nodded toward the Oakwood. Then she took another drink. “It
“You can’t be hungry.”
“Hungry, all right.” From the way she said it, Jason knew that she wasn’t talking about food. She looked over the seat back. “That’s a blanket there,” she said.
Jason nodded.
“Grab it and follow me.”
Before he could object, Celia slid her leg off the seat, turned away from him, and opened her door.
“Hey, what’re you doing?” he asked as she climbed out.
“I’ve gotta go in there.”
“Are you nuts?”
“Yup.” She swung her door shut.
Jason threw his door open and jumped out. Over the roof of the car, he saw her standing in the moonlight, her back arched, the bottle high as she drank from it.
“I don’t want to go in there,” he said.
She lowered the bottle. “Come on, it’ll be a trip.”
“It might be dangerous.”
“The blanket,” she said. She waved the bottle at him, then walked unsteadily, limping slightly and weaving, to the porch stairs.
Jason grabbed the blanket off the backseat and hurried after her.
She waited for him at the door of the Oakwood. After taking a drink, she handed the bottle to him. “Ladies first,” she said in a trembling whisper. Then she opened the door. Taking hold of Jason’s elbow, she led him inside and shut the door. “Oh God, dark in here.”
“I’ve got matches,” Jason whispered. His heart was sledging.
“We don’ need no steenking matches,” she said with a Mexican accent.
“Don’t you want to see wh—?”
“I like zee dark.” Her left arm went around Jason. He let the blanket fall. He put his arms around her, the champagne bottle in his right hand pressing against her back.
She felt warm, but her body shivered. When they kissed, he realized that even her chin was trembling. Her tongue went into his mouth. Her right hand caressed his rump while her left untucked the back of his shirt and went under it and roamed his back.
He eased his mouth away from her. Her face was a vague pale shape with black holes instead of eyes and a mouth. He didn’t like seeing it this way. “I’ve gotta get rid of the bottle.”
“Polish id off.”
“I don’t want any more.”
“Give.” He brought it to the front. Her hand covered his, then took the bottle. A moment later, he heard her swallowing. He reached through the darkness to the area below her dim face. One hand found a shoulder, the other an armpit. Once he knew what he was touching, he had no trouble locating her breasts. He took them in his hands. Celia stopped swallowing and moaned. She took a quick breath when he gently squeezed her stiff nipples.
