sister, you'll either be free of your possession—or you'll be dead. I guarantee you, Jeanne. One way or the other.'
'You goddamn bitch!' the teenager cursed Mille. 'You got all the pecker you wanted, then you turned righteous on us. If you had all the cocks sticking out of you that you've had stuck in you, you'd look like a fucking porcupine.'
'Shut your filthy mouth,' Mille warned her.
'Lousy two-bit whore!' Jeanne popped off.
Mille balled her right hand into a fist and the girl shut her mouth.
'A crowd gathering out in the front yard,' Father Le Moyne told them. 'And they're armed and ugly.'
Joe grabbed Pete LaMeade by the arm and jerked him to the front door. He stuck his .357 in the small of the man's back and jacked back the hammer. 'We're goin' through that crowd, LaMeade. Now you tell them godless bastards to clear us a path—a wide one—or I swear before God Almighty, I'll kill you, Pete.'
LaMeade believed the smaller man. Sweat formed on his face. 'All right, Joe. I'll do it. But we'll meet again. Bet on that.'
'I can't hardly wait, partner,' Joe told him. 'But for right now—move it!'
The crowd of people, teenagers to middle-aged men and women, parted at Pete's orders. But they did so reluctantly, with open hate shining in their eyes, and with filth rolling from their tongues.
'Farther back!' Joe told them, shouting at them. 'I mean make a wide path and do it now! Between Mille and me, I can guarantee you ten of you will die if we have to start poppin' caps.'
The crowd gave them room. In the safety of the car, driving away from the scene of ugliness, they relaxed just a bit.
Jeanne LaMeade asked Mille, 'What are you gonna do with me?'
'Drive the demons from you,' Mille told her. 'Or kill you. Those are your only options, sister. And I'd think about that if I were you.'
In the front seat, beside Joe, Father Daniel Le Moyne rubbed suddenly sweaty hands together. He silently prayed for God to give him strength. 'Joe,' he said, 'take me to the church. 1 have to get some things.'
Joe wondered if he was going to have to be a part of this spooky business of driving out demons. He sure hoped not.
'Yes, sir,' Joe said.
Monty rushed to his wife's side, colliding with her in the darkness of the den. He smashed his fist into the white evil-looking face of a man who was trying to drag Viv from the house. Again and again he hit the man, smashing his nose. Blood squirted. Monty felt the man's teeth break off under his hard blows. The man finally fell to the floor, stunned, bleeding and hurt. Monty drew back his right foot and kicked the man on the side of the head.
Sam jerked his pistol from his waistband and ran out the front door in time to see Noah fighting several men, his .357 empty and useless on the sidewalk. Desiree was crouched in the cab of the pickup.
Whatever the trio of men expected from the small man, it was not the fury and skill now being shown by Noah. The man was fighting like an enraged tiger. And holding his own against the three bigger men.
Sam shoved his .41 mag back behind his belt and waded into the melee, fists swinging. The fight was over in seconds, the men moaning and bleeding on the sidewalk. Sam knew none of them.
'Two over there I shot,' Noah panted, resettling his beret on his head. 'They're either dead or dying.' He pointed toward the darkness beside the Draper house.
But the men were gone.
'What—' Noah asked, looking at Sam. 'But I
'The Beasts will feast this night,' Sam said.
'I hope they get sick and die,' the writer said, considerable heat in his tone. 'What about this rabble?' he asked, pointing to the men on the ground.
'Leave them. Unless you want to shoot them in the head. We don't have the space nor the inclination to jack around with a bunch of prisoners.'
Noah looked at the tall young man. 'What would you do with them, Sam? If I weren't standing here, that is.'
'I'd shoot them,' Sam replied. Without waiting for a reply, he turned and helped a badly shaken Desiree from the pickup. A plan was forming in Sam's head as he walked her up to the house.
Nydia and Viv took over the job of trying to settle down a hysterical Desiree. Sam sat in the den with Monty and Noah. Monty had dragged his wife's attacker out the back door and threw him in the alley. He then found the breaker box and turned the lights back on.
The phone jangled the nerves of all present.
'I thought it was out of order.' Monty said.
'Only for us,' Sam told him.
Monty jerked the receiver to his ear. 'Yes?'
Sheriff Jenkins. 'Heard about your bad news, Monty. Thought I'd call and see how you people were getting along.'
'What bad news, Pat?'
