grate. 'He's your brother.'
The first of the bullets had plowed into the outer walls with a sound like hail, and now particles of glass iced the floor.
In the heavy silence, the boy seemed to concentrate. 'He went away,' he whispered at last.
'What makes you so sure?'
'I...just think so.'
'Yeah?' Steve watched him. 'What else do you think?'
The boy's lips pressed tight.
'Never mind. Don't have another seizure. You said you knew where he took Kit.'
'There's a place.'
'No bullshit now.'
Perry shook his head. 'I mean it--I'll take you there, if...'
'If what?'
'If you promise to kill him,' he said. 'If you promise.'
'Easy to tell you're brothers.' Steve swallowed hard. 'Why do you hate each other so much?'
'...didn't used to. When I was little, he...tried to help me, take care of me.'
'But you're afraid of him now?'
Perry drew back.
'Just so we understand each other, kid--and so you don't try anything--there's something else you ought to know. He has the girl too. He's got Stella Marie.'
'No! No, you're lying!'
'Shut up! Let go of my arm. Stop that, I said. I'm telling you, he's got her. Stop that or I'm gonna deck you, so help me. That's better. I found that apartment of yours. Finally. Place looked like it'd been torn apart by baboons.'
The boy trembled violently.
'There's no time for that now. Snap out of it. If you really know where they might be, you'd better talk fast. There's no telling how much time they've got or if they're even alive still. Because you know as well as I do, sooner or later, your brother is gonna do what he does best.'
'No, across--use the point. Slash back and forth. That's it. Oww! No, don't stop! Is it cutting?'
The door banged open, and a wave of freezing air flooded the room. The screwdriver fell to the floor, but any sound it might have made faded into the rumble of the surf.
'Ah! Sorry I took so long, ladies.' He stomped and splashed into the room, bolting the door behind him. 'Stella, dear, stop whatever it is you're doing there at once, and come away from that woman. There's a good girl.' The parka dripped copiously as he dumped a duffel bag on the floor. 'I experienced quite a difficult time getting back. The waves have commenced coming up over the boards again. We shall have to leave now, Stell.' He patted the girl gently on the shoulder, and she whimpered faintly. 'I'm afraid I couldn't get to our Perry. But--never fear-- we'll find him later.' His expression went vacant, as though he'd withdrawn to consider his own words. 'See? I've brought some things from your apartment.'
As the girl shuffled toward the bag, Ramsey turned to Kit. Carefully, he removed his glasses.
She glimpsed something dark snaked around his hand. 'No.'
'Don't worry.' He unraveled the extension cord. 'You know I'd never harm you.'
He moved fast, like a big animal. He jumped up, his knees on either side of her, and the chair teetered, groaning. His stomach crushed her, suffocated her, and the rough fabric of his jeans scraped her face. He shifted down. She could barely moan. She'd expected his hands to burn damply on her flesh, but they felt dry as corn husks. With a surprisingly gentle efficiency, he wrapped the cord about her throat.
'No, no, don't move, dear. That's it now. Almost done.'
She writhed, twisting against his bulk, as he jerked the cord tight.
The room splintered into clattering fragments. A damp hiss emerged from her mouth, and he smiled tenderly.
'That's it.' Saliva stringed his lips as they parted. 'Just another moment.'
A mumbling shriek shook the room. He jumped up, and Kit gasped brokenly, throat bulging against the cord, as the room throbbed like blood. The cry went on, shatteringly, as though it would never end, a scream of horror and outrage and suffering.
'No, no, Stell, no.' Prone on the floor now, he cradled her. 'It's all right. I won't let anyone hurt you. Stop. I promise. Oh no, Stell, no, baby, no.' He rocked the girl in his arms, while shrieks rattled through her contorted mouth. Her whole clenched body reddened, muscles twitching, as she screamed until at last all the breath poured out of her. It wouldn't stop; the convulsion shook her. The cords of her face and neck swelled, while her fingernails ripped splinters from the soft wooden floor. 'Perry used to get like this too.' Piteously, he looked up at Kit. 'When he was just little.' The girl's feet pounded the boards.
Kit jerked her head desperately from side to side, scraping her head against the back of the chair until the cord slackened. She sucked a burning gulp of air and savored the agony of it. Slowly, her vision cleared.
He crouched with the girl in his arms, and tears streaked his face, mingling with beads of sweat. 'Can you help her?' With his open hand, he wiped froth from the girl's mouth. 'If I untie you, can you...?' His face went white with terror. 'What was that? Did you hear it?' His chest heaved. 'Who said that? Stop that! Don't! Stop it, I said!'
She attempted to tell him she heard nothing, but her vocal cords wouldn't work.
'No, Perry, not like this!' Ramsey shouted. Behind him, a shuttered window exploded. Shards of glass scattered against the far wall, and a bullet gouged wood from above the door.
'Chandler! Let her go, Chandler!' The voice boomed on the wind. 'Let her go now, or you'll never get out of there.'
When he dropped his sister, the girl rolled once, then put her hands out and lifted her face from the floor, shaking her head numbly.
'I won't let him,' Ramsey yelled. Yanking Kit's revolver from his belt, he rushed to the window. 'Not now.' He fired twice, fragmenting what remained of the glass.
The explosions obliterated Kit's hearing, and a blueblack cloud singed her lungs.
'He can't hurt us now.' He peered between the slats.
The shout seemed to come from a different direction. 'I've got the boy, Chandler.'
Ramsey jerked around. Beyond the walls, the ocean howled.
'If you want him, I'll trade.' The cry sounded nearer. 'You hear me, Chandler? Isn't that what you wanted?'
'Lying. Trying to trick me.' He mumbled rapidly to himself. 'He wants her.' And his fingers scraped the side of his face, as though trying to scratch away the sweat. 'He wants her for himself.' In his hand, the revolver trembled. 'Don't worry, Stell. I'm here.' He crouched beside her again. 'Ramsey's here. I won't let him touch you.' Staying low, he scrambled to the far corner of the room, pausing only to push her down again. 'No, Stell--stay there.' He shoved the ancient card table, sent it collapsing against the wall. 'Wait.' Frantically, he clawed at the floor.
Kit stared.
Beneath his fingers, a section of flooring pulled up with a squeal of rust. The trap crashed open, and a burst of freezing air filled the shack with a thick, fetid stench of waste and rot and dead things churned from the depths. Grabbing Stella by the hand, he yanked her upright. 'It's not very deep.' He dragged Stella to it as she struggled feebly, glassy panic in her eyes. 'Truly. See, dear? It goes down under the pier.'
Softly, the sea rumbled below.
'Ramsey?' Another voice probed, thin, urgent. 'Ramsey, it's me, Perry. Don't hurt her. Ramsey, please, don't hurt her. You can do anything you want to me. Okay? Stella, can you hear...?' Wind swept the voice away.
'We'll be all right.' Ramsey jumped down, splashing to his knees. 'Just stay with me, Stell.' He sank to his waist, still tugging at her. 'There's just a few steps here. Don't be afraid. I'll take care of you.' A wave slapped him, sloshing up into the room, drenching the floor. 'Always. I will.'
Though the girl pulled back, he steadied himself against the edge of the trap, holding her with one hand and
