light there too. The guy came on in, followed by the woman, still carrying the kid. Pete followed them with the shotgun trained on the woman's back. She looked like she was about to shit her pants she was so scared. The guy looked scared, too, but he was better at handling it. Max wondered whether he'd been in a tight squeeze of some sort before. He told himself again that this was someone to watch.
'YOU got any rope in this place?' Max asked.
'No.'
Max came in fast and drove the butt of the rifle into the man's gut. The guy was hard as rock, and he only doubled. Most men would have gone down. He almost looked like he was going to come back at Max for a moment, but Max was already out of reach, and he had the rifle leveled at him again.
'Don't forget about the little woman, friend,' he said. 'If you try anything, Pete there won't swing the gun on you. He'll cut your family to pieces with the first shot, and then he'll worry about you. It's just good sense to eliminate as many as possible when a magilia starts.'
The guy looked at Pete and glanced at his wife, who was crying by this time. The baby was still asleep, though it had stirred at bit at the noise when Max hit its old man. 'Now I'm going to ask you again for some rope. I know you got some. No one keeps a farm with no rope.'
The guy could hardly talk yet, and he looked like he was going to be a little stubborn. Max got ready to convince him some more, but the woman chimed in.
'There's some clothesline under the sink,' she said.
Max got the line out. It was thin nylon rope, strong enough to hold a bull. He gave it to Pete, laying his rifle against the wall and taking the shotgun.
'Tie the hero up.'
Pete yanked the guy's hands behind him and tied them together. He did a good job, of course. That was one thing about Pete. He always did a good job. The guy winced a little at the tightness of the ropes, and Max laughed.
'Cut off the circulation? Well, that's good. That way you won't be so tempted to try something.' Pete got a knife out of one of the drawers and cut the rope and used another piece to tie the guy's ankles together. Then he started toward the woman. 'Don't tie her up yet,' Max said. 'I have plans for her.'
The guy twisted his head around so fast he almost fell down. 'You touch my wife and I'll…'
'You'll stand there and watch,' Max said. 'Because that's all you can do. You're in no position to make threats, buddy.' He walked up to the man and hooked the butt of the shotgun behind his feet. One little tug and the guy went down, landing hard on his ass and then bumping his head on the linoleum floor. The woman screamed, and the baby woke up and started to howl.
'Please,' the woman said, 'don't hurt him. Please.'
'Well, I'll go easy on him just for you,' Max said over the baby's crying. 'Considering how much you and I are going to be to each other.'
The woman's husband swore and pulled stupidly at the ropes on his wrists, and Pete laughed.
'Shut that little bastard up,' Max said. 'Or I'll shut him up for you.' She started to rock the baby in her arms and croon little sounds to it, and after a moment the crying stopped. Then the woman looked up and almost screamed again. She had to bite her lip to cut it off. Max followed her gaze to the door and saw Butch standing there with a dumb grin on his face. 'Don't worry, sweets,' Max said. 'He won't hurt you. Unless I let him off the leash. Then he'll probably eat that kid of yours between two pieces of bread.'
'Don't talk like that to her,' the guy said from the floor, where he was sitting up now. 'We know you're in the driver's seat. You don't have to scare her to death.'
'That's where you're wrong, Farmer Brown. I do have to scare her, because I don't want any trouble, and the more scared you two are the less likely you are to pull something stupid. As long as the two of you do as you're told and don't try something, we'll get along. But the first time either of you tries anything at all, no matter how little a try it is, I'm going to kill the kid first, and then the woman and then you. Now I hope you've got that straight.'
He didn't answer. He just looked at Max for a moment, and then looked at the floor. 'Get him in the living room,' Max said to Butch. Butch bent over the guy and hauled him to his feet with no trouble at all. Max could see the effect that had on the two of them. The guy was big, and it was an impressive demonstration of strength on Butch's part.
'I can't walk with my feet like this,' the guy said.
'You can hop.' Max jerked his head toward the hall, and the guy started to hop in that direction. He almost fell down three times before he got there. Max told Butch to carry him. Butch picked the man up like a baby in his arms. He didn't even grunt. The woman looked more frightened than before.
'He was the one who opened your locked door,' Max said with a grin. 'He didn't have to use his shoulder at all. Just his hands. And he can break your legs just as easy.'
They got the guy into the living room and put him on the floor against the front wall. 'Now, you, sweety,' Max said. 'I want you to show me around the place. We'll start with the master bedroom.'
'Goddamn you,' her husband shouted, really losing his cool now, 'you leave her alone, you son of a bitch! I'll kill you if you so much as…'
Max walked up to him and kicked him in the side, good and hard. His wife let out a gasp that would have been a scream if she hadn't bitten it off. The guy rolled away just as the kick landed, but it was still solid enough.
'Put something in his mouth,' Max said. 'I'm tired of listening to him. Now, cutie, let's go.'
'Please,' the woman said. 'I…'
'I'm tired of listening to you, too, cunt. Now move!'
She started off, her legs a little wobbly under her. Max gave the shotgun back to Pete and told Butch to go get the rifle. 'If he shows any signs of getting loose, or I yell at you from the bedroom, kill him.'
He looked at the woman as he spoke. She bowed her head, as though resigning herself to what was about to happen. Something in the gesture excited Max more. He hadn't seen a woman since they'd locked him up, three years ago, and this was where he did some catching up.
She led him to the bedroom and put the baby into a crib. It was still asleep. The trim on the crib was pink, 'A girl?' he asked. She nodded. 'I wouldn't hurt a baby. No sense to it. But the geek in there likes to hurt people and things, helpless things. Did they say over the radio what he was up for?' She shook her head, and he had the feeling that she didn't want to be told. Max smiled. 'Torture murder they called it. Rape, too. He got a hold of a young girl and held her in a drain pipe for two days while he had his fun with her. He'd love to do the same thing to your baby, except for the rape, of course. He'd just like to make her cry. And he knows all kinds of ways to do that.'
'Oh, sweet Jesus,' the woman said, and started to cry again.
'Now, don't get to worrying about it, baby, I'm not going to let him hurt the little bastard. As long as you and I are friends, why should I?'
'All right,' she said. 'I understand. You've made your point. If I don't do what you want, my baby will be tortured to death.'
'You get an A for the day's lesson. Just keep it in mind.'
'HOW could I possibly forget it?' He, words were hard to understand, she was crying so hard. Her body shook with sobs. Parts of it jiggled very nicely. Max stepped forward and took her in his arms. She felt better than he had thought possible. He had forgotten, in three years on death row, just how great it felt to hold a woman. Her body warmth and fragrance were incredibly exciting. Max felt a sudden urge to throw her on the bed, rip her clothes off and pop the dick to her right now. But he held back. After a three year wait it made sense to do it right.
He let her go and stepped back to look at her. Her face was smeared with makeup, and her eyes were red from the tears, but she was still a beautiful thing to look at. He couldn't believe his luck in walking into the one house where this woman lived. It was an encouraging omen. The break had to work out all right with luck like that going for him.
'I'll bet you've got the prettiest little pussy in the county,' he said. She didn't look at him, but there was a stiffening of her shoulders. Max grinned. He was enjoying her discomfort. 'That right?' he prodded. 'Do you have the prettiest pussy in the county?'
'What do you want me to say?' she cried. 'I don't know.'
'Well, then, I'll just have to judge for myself. Undrape it.'
She bit her lip again, and her body began to tremble more violently, but she raised a shaky hand to the back
