She heard Marlin's eerie voice coming from out of the darkness. 'Hey, you're awake. Good. It took you long enough, but my daddy said I was just too excited to be patient. Marty, listen to this.'
Hannah's scream ripped through the silence.
'I've got her here, Marty, at the center of the maze. This was just a little demonstration. Don't panic on me. I just hurt her a little bit. She must have a real low threshold of pain to scream when I just jerked her arm up. Now, if you don't get here, she won't be quite whole really soon. You start moving now or I'll start cutting off her fingers, then her nose, then her toes. Hey, that rhymes. I'm good. Now, I'll work up from there, Marty, and you'll get to hear her scream every time I take my knife to her. I won't cut her tongue out until last. You'll hear everything I do to her. Too, if she just gargles when I cut her, that wouldn't be any fun.'
She stood up, the string in her hand. 'I'm coming, Marlin. Don't hurt her. You promise?'
There was silence. She knew he was talking to Erasmus. Good, they were together. She didn't have to worry about Erasmus watching her from a different vantage point.
'She'll be fine as long as I know you're on your way. Move, Marty. That's right. I can see you now.'
But he couldn't, at least not all of the time, just at those intervals where he'd managed to place mirrors. She began wrapping the string around her hand. No, this wouldn't do it. She had to double the string and knot it every couple of inches. She redid it as she walked, clumsy at first, gaining in proficiency and speed as she tied it again and again. She was nearly to the beginning of the maze and the string would run out. She prayed she'd have enough.
'I'm coming, Marlin. Don't touch Hannah.' 'I'm not hurting her now, Marty, just keep walking toward my voice. That's right. You using the string, Marty? That's part of the game, you've got to use the string.' 'I'm using the string.'
'Good. You're a smart little bitch, aren't you?' She drew a deep breath, then called out, 'Oh yes, Marlin, you fucking little bastard, I'm so smart I'm going to kill you. Count on it. And no one will miss you. Everyone will be glad you're in hell where you belong.' She stepped into the maze. 'Don't you talk to my boy like that, gal, or I'll take a whack at you myself after he's through.'
She heard them talking but couldn't make out any words. Marlin said, 'I just told my daddy I was right. Yes, I was right all along. You have a dirty mouth. He heard that bad word you said. You deserve my kind of punishment.' He laughed, a full, deep laugh, but there was something in it, something that sounded vaguely like fear. Was that really fear she heard? She'd hurt him once, surely he hadn't forgotten that, but she couldn't imagine why he'd be even faintly afraid now. She was alone. She didn't have a weapon. Still, she had no other options. She decided to push. 'Remember how it felt to have a bullet in your gut, Marlin? Remember all those tubes and needles they stuck into you at the hospital? You even had one in your cock. You remember that? Remember how you just lay there whimpering, all gray in the face? You looked so pathetic. You looked like a beat-up little boy. I looked at you and I was really glad I'd shot you. I hoped you'd die, but you didn't. You'll die this time, Marlin. You're a crazy fucker, you know that?'
'I'll pay you back for that, Marty.'
'You little bastard, you couldn't pay back anything. You're a coward, Marlin, and you're afraid of me. Aren't you? I can hear it in your voice. It's shaking. You're worthless, Marlin, you're nothing but a loser.'
'No!' He was heaving now, she could hear him, heaving from rage. 'I'll kill you, Marty, and I'll enjoy every minute of it. You deserve to die, more than any of the others.'
'Let me take her out, boy.'
'No! She's mine, and this one too. I want both of them. You know this other one cusses all the time. Yes, I want both of them. Just you wait and see how well I slice them up. You'll be proud of me, Pa.'
He was screaming and pleading with his father, both at the same time. He was really close to the edge. 'I'm the best slicer in the world, not you! I'm the best!'
Lacey walked very quietly, the knotted string wrapped around her hand. He'd built the maze very well. She hit two dead ends and had to retrace her steps.
She called out, 'Marlin, it looks like you finally learned how to build a proper maze. I just hit the second dead end. Too bad you're so fucking stupid that your daddy didn't teach you how to build a really good maze way back when you were young. It took you long enough to learn, didn't it, you pathetic little fucker?''
'Damn you, bitch, shut up! Don't you talk like that! I know you're doing it on purpose to make me mad, to try to make me lose control, but I won't. I know you don't talk like that all the time. Do you? Damn you, bitch, answer me.'
'That's right, you little jerk. It's all just for you, Marlin, you miserable stupid fuck.'
'Damn you, shut up!'
His voice was trembling. She could imagine him nearly frothing at the mouth with rage. Good.
Her voice rang out cold and calm. 'Why the tuck should I?'
'I'll kill you now, Marty. I've got my Magnum right here, all ready to go. You walk faster or Hannah's going to lose her pinky finger.'
'I'm coming, Marlin. I told you I would. Unlike you, I keep my word. Only a coward would hurt her and you've been swearing to me you aren't a coward, right?'
He was breathing really hard now. She was close enough to hear his rage, nearly taste it. It smelled sweet, coppery, like human blood. 'No, I won't hurt her. Not yet anyway. You're first, Marty, just you. I want you, then I just might be satisfied.'
She walked into a narrow pool of light. She carefully held the string at her side. 'Where's your daddy, Marlin? Is he lurking around one of the corners of the maze? He's a coward too. You got it all from that precious father of yours, didn't you?'
'I ain't lurking no place, girlie,' Erasmus shouted out. 'I'm just letting my boy do what will make him happy. You just do what he wants, and I won't skin you.'
'Did you skin your wife, Erasmus? After you slit her throat or before?'
'Ain't none of your business, girlie. You just come along now, you hear me? I want to get out of this place, it ain't comfortable. It makes my skin crawl.'
'Yes, I hear you.' He was on her left, some thirty feet away. Marlin was only about ten to twelve feet away, at about ten o'clock. Imagine anything making Erasmus's skin crawl. She'd wrapped about six lengths of string around her hand. String, she thought. All she had was a handful of string to take out two killers with three guns. She loosened the string, making it into a large enough circle so she could loop it over Marlin's head. No, it had to be even bigger. It took time.
She felt the bile of terror in her throat and swallowed. She couldn't, wouldn't give up until he killed her. She thought of Dillon. He'd go nuts if Marlin killed her.
He'd already had one woman he loved leave him. She wasn't about to let Marlin kill her.
36
THE LIGHT WAS SEADY now, becoming brighter with each step she took. It was from a narrow beam of light that he'd strung some eight feet overhead. She was nearly to the center of the maze now. She heard Hannah moan. She heard Martin's breathing. Hannah moaned louder. The moans weren't from pain. Hannah was giving her directions. Yes, both she and Marlin were at about ten o'clock. She could picture him standing there over Hannah, the Magnum in his hand, a big smile on his face. Waiting for her. He couldn't wait. Where was Erasmus? Had he moved at all?
'Hannah? Can you hear me? Are you all right?'
'I'm all right, Sherlock.' Then she moaned again, a nice lusty moan. 'The bastard just kicked me.'
'Hang in there, please, just hang in there.'
And she knew that Hannah was thinking frantically. She knew whatever she tried, Hannah would help her if she could.
There was no sound now except for Marlin's jerky deep breathing.
Had Dillon found her message? Had he even gone to her house yet? Of course he had. She swallowed. Nearly there. Nearly to Marlin.
She walked into bright light, two spotlights shining directly into her face. She shaded her eyes with her right hand. In her left hand was the string, ready now, if only he didn't see it, if only she had time and opportunity.
'Hello, Marty,' he said, nearly gasping with pleasure. 'You're here.'
He was standing beside Hannah, his chest puffed out, looking very proud of himself. He looked happy. His
