The Devil's Touch

now.

'You want to take me home now, Miss Nydia?' Janet asked shyly.

Nydia turned around, her eyes red from holding back tears. 'Sure, Janet. Let me get my coat.'

Several times Monty had put his hand on the phone in the den, and several times he had pulled his hand away. If he called for help—would anybody believe him? He was sure something very odd was going down in Logandale. But worshipping the Devil? Now that day had dawned, he had doubts. But what about the ungodly appearing creature Balon had shot in the orchard? The strange way a lot of people were behaving? Nearly his entire force quitting without notice? Bodies disappearing? People and animals tortured to death in strange and bizarre ways? Again he put his hand on the phone. Again he pulled it away.

He'd give it another day, max, before doing anything that might prompt the men in white coats to come drag him away, kicking and screaming to the funny farm.

'Honey,' his wife spoke from the hall.

He looked at her and smiled. He never tired of looking at her. She was that beautiful. And had been on her way toward becoming a very successful fashion model when she elected to marry him. Monty could never understand why she made that move. But was ever so grateful that she did.

He noticed the frown on her face. 'Something wrong, honey?'

She tapped her foot when she was angry. And she was tapping her foot now. 'Very definitely wrong, Monty. We're being watched.'

'By whom?'

'Two men in a car, parked out front. I don't know how long they've been there. Take a look.'

He walked to the drapes and narrowly parted them. There they sat. Dan Evans and Phil Curtis. Two local ne'er-do-wells that were constantly in and out of all sorts of mischief and minor brushes with the law. Monty had arrested them both a dozen times over the years. But…

Then it came to him: The most successful lawyer in the county always was there to represent them, and he was the most successful lawyer in the county because he worked almost exclusively for…

Norman Giddon.

Coming together. And it was not a pretty package.

Monty turned from the window and started down the hall to the front door. His wife's voice stopped him. He looked over his shoulder at her.

'Don't go out there, Monty. Don't. For my sake. I'm getting frightened, Monty. Let's pack it up and in and get out of here. Just get the hell out!'

He could not believe what she was saying. 'Honey, I'm the chief of police here. The law. The man. I've—I took an oath to uphold the law. I can't just cut and run. I won't cut and run.'

'I felt it last night, Monty,' she blurted. '1 know it's real, now.'

'Felt what, Viv?'

'Evil.'

'Now just hang on, baby. Just—'

'Don't go out there!'

He took his hand off the doorknob. 'All right,' he told her. 'If it will make you feel better, I won't go outside. But we're going to have to face this—thing— whatever in the hell it is, sooner or later.'

'Let it be later. Hell with it.'

Something thumped on the back porch. A subhuman shriek came to the man and woman. Viv paled and backed against the wall for support. Monty found his pistol and walked down the hall, into the kitchen, and paused at the back door. He jacked back the hammer of his .357 and jerked open the door. He almost puked up his breakfast.

'No,' Joe said. 'I'm so keyed up I wouldn't be able to sleep none. Let's go on over to the chiefs house and hash this thing out. We got to do something. This standin' around without a plan is gettin' to me.'

Sam glanced at Mille. 'You must be exhausted, Mille.'

'I'm tired, but like Joe, I want to find out just what is going on around here.' She shook her head, then brushed back a lock of dark hair. 'Too much is coming at me all at once. All this business about the Devil and cults and covens—I—I'm just confused and don't know what to think or believe. I don't know whether to be scared or think this entire thing is one great big joke. Then I think about Marie Fowler and those horrible things that were done to her. Judith disappears. Joe tells me he and Chief Draper lost radio contact with Will when he went down in that hole after Judith. The rope is untied—by somebody—and Joe and Monty believe Will is dead. Then he reappears and Ginny tells me he was acting strange.'

'Ginny?' Sam asked. 'Who is Ginny and what's this about Will acting strange?'

'Ginny Potter. She's a friend of mine; we share an apartment. Yeah. She saw Will late yesterday afternoon. He was walking kind of—well, funny. Ginny said he lurched, kind of. He was pale, and something was the matter with the way he talked. Ginny said his tongue was—all swollen and real red.'

Sam knew what the problem was. The walking dead.

Joe shrugged. 'I don't know what's goin' on neither. Look, let's go on over to the chiefs house. I got something to tell you all.'

Will and Judy slept under a blanket in the woods where Will had attacked her. The blanket was not to protect them from the cool air but to keep the sunlight from touching them. They had found they could not tolerate the light.