“Did he get her bad?”
“I guess she lived through that, but we heard some shots back there. This creature must’ve popped in on them before it come for us. Gave me a nasty wallop, but I’m okay. Come to my senses in time to blast it up.”
Abe finished wrapping Tyler’s hand. “Let’s get out of this place. Get you to a hospital.” Gently, he pulled the tattered front of the sweater across her breasts.
She groaned as she sat up straight.
Captain Frank picked up the remains of her skirt. He looked away as he handed the garment to Abe.
Abe helped her stand. He wrapped the skirt around her. Captain Frank provided his belt to hold it up, then searched for her sandals. He found one half hidden under the first stair, the other near the head of the beast. Abe held her steady while she stepped into them.
The old man picked up the revolver he had let Tyler borrow, shoved it into a front pocket of his Bermudas, and slid his Luger into the other pocket. “Guess we’re all set,” he said.
He started up the stairs. Abe put an arm around Tyler’s back, and together they climbed out of the cellar.
They entered the kitchen of the Kutch house. They walked down a narrow, blue-lighted corridor. A group of people was standing in the foyer. Jack had his gun aimed at a fat woman with a bandaged face who looked a lot like Maggie Kutch. A thin, pale woman in a nightgown stood with her back to the door. She held a baby to her chest.
Jack frowned. “Holy shit,” he said. “What are
“They ran into another beast,” Abe said.
“Holy shit.”
“I laid it low,” said Captain Frank. “Blew it to kingdom come, matey.”
“Where’s Nora?”
“She’s okay,” Tyler said. “I think.”
“Where’s that girl?” Abe asked. “The one who tried to shoot us?”
“She’s my daughter, Sandy,” said the woman with the baby.
“We looked for her.” Jack shrugged. “Don’t know where she went.”
“Okay. Well, let’s get out of here.”
“The door’s still locked,” Jack said.
“Let’s shoot the lock.”
“I know where the key is,” said the woman with the baby. “I’ll get it. It’ll only take a second.”
“Okay,” Abe said.
She held out the baby to Jack. “Would you hold him? I’ll be right back.”
“Sure.”
“He’s Jud. Judgement Rucker Hayes.” Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke the name.
Jack took the baby and smiled down at it.
The woman started up the stairs.
“The key’s up there?” Abe asked. He sounded worried.
“No sweat,” Jack said. “Maggie’s out cold. She’ll be lucky if she makes it.”
“Okay. But don’t go close to her.”
The woman hurried up the stairs. At the top, she turned left and disappeared down the corridor.
“We’ll be out of here in a minute,” Abe said, and patted Tyler’s back.
The baby in Jack’s arms made gurgling sounds.
“He’s a cute little fellow, isn’t he?” Jack said. Smiling, the baby reached up and clenched his cheek. “You’re a toughie,” he said, and tickled Jud’s belly.
The mother appeared at the head of the stairs.
“Get the key?” Abe asked.
She nodded. She started down.
The front of her nightgown was dark and matted to her breasts. Her face was spattered and dripping.
“My God,” Abe muttered. He rushed up the stairs. Her arm stretched down to him. From her fingers dangled a thin chain.
“The key,” she said.
“What happened? Are you hurt?”
“No. I’m just fine. Just fine. She…Maggie…she murdered Jud. Jud. My…the father of my child.”
Abe stepped onto the stair beside her. He put an arm around her back.
“I used the knife.”
He led her down.
“Maggie used a knife on Jud, and I used a knife on her.”
“It’s all right,” Abe said.
“It felt right.”
“Maggie came to and attacked you when you went to get the key.”
“No. No, she…”
“That’s the story.”
“Oh.”
Abe unlocked the front door and opened it slowly. “We’re coming out,” he called to the policewoman on the lawn. “It’s all over.”
The woman holstered her weapon.
Tyler followed Abe onto the porch, and took a deep breath of the night air. The ocean smelled good. The moon was high.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Sandy, huddled in the darkness of the storage area beneath the staircase, waited.
Hugging her knees to her breasts, she had listened to the gunshots and wanted to help. But she had already tried helping: the two men with the guns were too smart, too quick. And so she stayed hidden.
There were more gunshots.
Feet racing down the stairs, pounding down them so hard that dry flecks sprinkled her shoulder.
Then more footsteps making the planks squeak and groan over her head.
Then the voice of her mother calling out to her: Sandy, where are you? Please. Are you here? I still love you, honey. Everything will be all right, now.
She didn’t move. She hardly dared to breath. Someone walked very close to the staircase panel but didn’t open it—probably didn’t realize it could be opened.
Soon afterwards, she heard other voices. She couldn’t make out the words. Someone went upstairs. Someone else went part way up.
Then everyone was gone.
Still Sandy waited. She wondered what had happened: who had been shot and who survived? The thoughts made her feel sick.
Wick was probably dead. He was a creep, anyway. And Maggie and Agnes wouldn’t be any great loss, either. But Seth and Jason and little Rune—if they’d been killed…She sniffled quietly in the darkness as tears trickled down her cheeks.
Later, more people came into the house. Sandy stretched out on her back, listening and waiting. The people stayed and stayed. She thought they might never go away. She was very tired, but her mind swirled, unsettling thoughts keeping her tense and awake.
What if they found her? No, they won’t.
What had happened to Seth and Jason and Rune?
What would become of her? She was only fourteen. Wick was probably dead. Maggie had shot that cop and murdered Jud last year with Mom as a witness, so even if she had been taken alive she would never come back.
