“
“I had to. Daddy was gonna kill him.”
They started walking across the parking area.
“I told Daddy, if he killed Larry, I’d scream. He said he’d kill me if I did, and I said I didn’t care. I said, if he didn’t kill Larry, I’d do anything he wanted. He wanted me to pretend so he could make you open the door.”
“How did he get
“He pretended to be a policeman.”
“Great,” Donna muttered, wondering how Larry could be that stupid. She tried the door of Cabin 12. It wasn’t locked. She pushed it open.
“Where is he?”
“In the bathtub. It was Daddy’s idea.”
She found Larry facedown in the empty tub, a shirt tied around his mouth for a gag. His hands were bound together behind his back, and knotted to the ankles of his upraised feet.
“We got him!” Sandy announced.
Larry answered with a grunt.
Sitting on the edge of the tub, the girl leaned forward and picked at the knots. In a few moments, she had them loose. Larry pushed himself to his knees. He tugged the knotted shirt down from his face, and plucked a black sock out of his mouth. “Dreadful man,” Larry muttered. “A total barbarian. Are both of you all right? Where’s Judgment? What happened?”
Donna explained what Jud had done, and that she didn’t know how badly he’d injured Roy.
“Perhaps we should find out.”
They crossed through the darkness to Cabin 9 and found Jud sitting on the bed. On the floor between the beds, Roy lay facedown. His hands were tied behind his back. A pillowcase covered his head, strapped tightly around his neck with a leather belt. Except for his breathing, he was motionless.
“I see you have matters well in hand,” Larry said.
Sandy, looking down at her father, squeezed Donna’s hand tightly. Donna sat down beside Jud. They moved sideways to make room for the girl.
“What shall we do with the cad?” Larry asked, lowering himself daintily onto the empty bed.
“He’s not a cad,” said Jud. “He murdered Donna’s sister. He murdered her brother-in-law. He sexually abused Sandy. God knows what else he’s inflicted on Donna and Sandy. But we all know what he intended to do. That’s not a cad, in my book. In my book, that’s a beast.”
“What do you propose we do with him?” Larry asked.
“Put him where he belongs.”
“In jail?” Sandy asked.
Donna, feeling a chill scurry up her back, said, “No, honey. I don’t think that’s what Jud has in mind.”
Larry suddenly understood. Shaking his head, he muttered, “Oh dear God.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Donna started the engine of the Chrysler. Beside her sat Sandy. Roy, his head still hooded by the pillowcase and his hands still bound, sat in the back between Jud and Larry. Jud held a .45 against Roy’s chest. Larry held a machete across his lap, its curved head pressing Roy’s side.
“Once you let us off,” Jud said, “I want you to drive back to the motel. Give us half an hour, then come back for the pick-up. If we’re not waiting, don’t stick around. Take off, and come back every fifteen minutes until we show. Any questions?”
“Can’t I just park somewhere close, and wait? Then I can signal if someone comes.”
“The car might attract notice.”
“Are they really going in Beast House?” Sandy asked, as if it were a joke everyone was in on except her.
“I guess so,” Donna answered.
“That’s crazy.”
“It certainly is,” Larry agreed. “I concur 100 percent.”
“You don’t have to come,” Jud said.
“Oh, but I do. You are planning to rid the world of Lilly’s beast, I take it?”
“I’m planning to.”
“Well, if I’m to bear the expense of the operation, I certainly want to see it carried out. Besides, you may need a hand with our friend here.”
“Are you taking Daddy in there, too?”
“Yes,” Jud said, and didn’t explain.
“What for?”
“Punishment.”
“Oh. You’re gonna give him to the beast?”
“That’s right.”
“Wow! Can we go in too?” she asked Donna. “I want to see.”
“No, we can’t.”
“Why not?”
“It’s dangerous.”
“But Jud and Larry are going in.”
“That’s different.”
“I want to. I want to see the beast get Daddy in its claws and rip him up.”
“Sandy!”
“I want to see it!”
“Take my word for it,” Larry said. “You don’t want to see the beast do that to a man. I know.”
“We’re almost there,” Donna said.
“Okay. Drive on past it, then hang a U.”
“Here?”
“Go a bit farther, so we’re past the bend.”
Donna slowed.
“This’ll be fine.”
She tried to swing the big car into a U-turn, saw that she couldn’t make it, and had to back up before finishing the turn.
“Okay,” Jud said. “Now kill the lights.”
She pushed the headlight knob, and the road ahead went dark except for patches of moonlight. The road was less dark than the woods on either side, so she had little trouble staying on it. Around the curve, the woods ended. The moon spread pale, creamy light over the road.
“Pull up in front of the ticket booth,” Jud said, his voice a tense whisper.
Donna stopped.
“I’ll need the keys for a second.”
She switched off the ignition. Turning in her seat, she handed the key case to him. “Jud?” she said.
His features were barely visible.
“Shouldn’t we just take him to the police?”
“No.”
“It’s not that I…Can’t we shoot him, or something?”
“That’d be murder.”
“It’ll be murder giving him to the beast.”
“Then the beast is the perpetrator, not us.”
“I don’t want you going in that house again. Not at night. Christ, Jud!”
