promise I'll make it quick.'
Tucker moved restlessly through the crowd as the colorful bombs burst overhead. He hadn't seen Caroline for the past half hour. Women. As if he didn't have enough on his mind with Dwayne and the FBI, she'd pick this time to wander off.
He shook his head at the offer of a beer, and continued to wend his way through the clutches of people.
'It's a right good display,' Cousin Lulu said from her director's chair.
'Umm-hmm.'
'How would you know? You've hardly looked at it.'
To please her, he looked skyward and admired an umbrella of red, white, and blue lights. 'Have you seen Caroline?'
'Lost your Yankee?' Lulu cackled and lit a sparkler.
'Looks that way.' He raised his voice to be heard over the cheers of the crowd. 'I haven't seen her since she finished playing a while back.'
'Plays right well.' Lulu wrote her name in the air with the sparkler. 'Guess she'll be going along soon to play for the crowned heads of Europe.'
'Something like that.' With his hands in his pockets, he scanned faces. 'I don't see how you can find anybody out here in the dark.'
'Ain't going to find her here anyway.' Lulu pouted a moment when her sparkler fizzled out. She wanted to wait until things quieted down before she set off her pocketful of firecrackers. 'I saw her heading for the house around twilight.'
'Why would she-oh, probably wanted to put her violin away. But she should have been back.' He turned to study the white ghost of the house in the distance. He'd always thought the best way to figure a woman was not to figure at all. 'I'll go take a look.'
'You'll miss the finale.'
'I'll be back.'
He started off at a lope, annoyed at having to hurry. For the life of him he couldn't figure out why she'd be holed up in the house. It nagged at him that maybe he'd pressured her into playing. She could be upset, or the whole business might have brought on one of those headaches. On an oath he quickened his pace and nearly ran over Dwayne.
'Jesus Christ, what're you doing sitting back here in the dark?'
'I don't know what to do.' Dwayne kept his head pressed to his knees and rocked. 'I have to clear my mind and figure out what to do.'
'I said I was going to take care of it. Burns is just blowing hot air.'
'I could say I did it,' Dwayne mumbled. 'That might be the best way for everyone.'
'Goddammit.' Tucker reached down to shake Dwayne's shoulder. 'Don't start that shit on me now. We'll talk about it later when I've got time. I've got to go up and see if Caroline's in the house. Come on with me. It'll be better if you don't talk to anybody tonight.'
'I told her I wouldn't.' Dwayne dragged himself to his feet. 'But something's got to be done, Tuck. Something's got to be done.'
'Sure it does.' Resigned, Tucker put his arm around Dwayne and took his weight. 'We'll do it, too. I know all about it.'
'You know?' Dwayne staggered to a halt that had Tucker cursing and pulling. 'She said you didn't. When I said that we had to tell you, she said not to.'
'Tell me what?'
'About the knife. Daddy's old buck. I saw it under the seat of her car. Christ, Tuck, how could she do it? How could she do all those things? What's going to happen to her now?'
Tucker felt his blood slow. He felt it slow and stop until it seemed to hum in his veins. 'What the hell are you talking about?'
'Josie. Oh, Jesus, Josie.' Dwayne began to weep as the weight of it pounded at him. 'She killed them, Tuck. She killed them all. I don't know how I can live with turning my own sister over to the law.'
Slowly, Tucker backed up, leaving Dwayne swaying. 'You're out of your fucking mind.'
'We have to do it. I know we have to. Chrissakes, she meant it to be Sissy.'
'Shut up.' With rage and fear blinding him, Tucker plowed his fist into Dwayne's face. 'You're drunk, and stupid. If I hear you say another word, I'll-'
'Mr. Tucker.' Eyes wide, Cy stood on the verge of the driveway. He'd heard, heard all that they said, but he didn't know what to believe.
'What the hell are you doing there?' Tucker demanded. 'Why aren't you down watching the fireworks?'
'I-you said as I should keep close to her.' Cy's insides were shaking with the kind of fear he hadn't known he could feel again. 'She went on in, but she told me to stay outside. She said I shouldn't come upstairs.'
'Caroline?' Tucker said blankly.
The blow had shocked Dwayne back to reality. As Cy's words sunk in, he grabbed Tucker by the shirt. 'Josie. She took the knife with her. She took the knife and went into the house.'
Tucker's breath came in pants. He wanted to fight, wanted to fight out the horror that was settling inside him. But even as he balled his fists, he saw the truth, in Dwayne's eyes. 'Let go of me.' With a strength born of fear he shoved Dwayne back to his knees. 'Caroline's in the house.'
He began to run, hurtling toward Sweetwater, chased by the roar of the crowd and the cold breath of terror.
'I won't make it easy for you, Josie.' She wasn't afraid of the gun, wouldn't let herself be afraid. But she had a deep primal fear of that sharp length of steel. 'You know it has to stop. No matter what you feel, no matter what your mother did, you can't fix it by killing.'
'I wanted to be like her, but people always said I was like my father. They were right.' Her voice took on a curious, almost musical calm. 'They didn't know how right-and they won't. It's my secret, Caroline. I'll kill you to protect it.'
'I know. And after you do, Dwayne and Tucker will suffer for it. Dwayne because he'll know, and it'll eat him alive. Tucker because he has feelings for me. And because you love them, you'll suffer, too.'
'There's no choice here. Now, turn around, Caroline. Turn around or it'll be so much worse.'
With the last echoes of celebration ringing in her ears, she started to turn. She didn't dare close her eyes, didn't dare, but she offered one quick and fervent prayer. When her body was three-quarters turned from Josie, Caroline threw out a hand to smash the lamp to the floor. Blessing the dark, she tucked up her legs and rolled across the bed.
'It won't matter.' Excitement sharpened Josie's voice. Now there was a hunt, and with a hunt there was hunger. 'It'll only be easier for me now. I won't have to look at you, and I can think of you like the others.'
Her feet whispered across the carpet as Caroline hunched beside the bed and strained to see. If she could only get to the door. If she could only get quickly and soundlessly to the door.
'I like the dark.' Holding her breath, Caroline inched away from the bed, feeling her way with her fingers.
'I never minded hunting in the dark. Daddy used to say I had cat eyes. And I can hear your heart beat.' Quick as a snake, she pounced on the spot where Caroline had crouched only seconds before.
Caroline bit her lip to hold back a scream. As she tasted blood she forced herself not to move. Her eyes were adjusting, and in the pale moonlight she could see Josie's silhouette, and the edge of the death she held in her hand. Only a turn of her head, and they would be face-to-face.
And she did turn it, slowly. The moonlight glinted in her eyes. Her lips curved. Caroline remembered how Austin had looked when he had loomed over her filled with murder and madness.
'It won't take long,' Josie promised as she lifted the blade.
In a last plunge to cheat death, Caroline rolled away. The blade caught the skirt of her dress, pinning it to the floor. On a cry of terror, she ripped it free and stumbled to her feet. She raced toward the doorway, waiting to hear the whistle of steel through the air, the heat of the blade as it cut into her back. The light in the hall flashed
