After Midnight

arm.

And got it!

Tweezed the plug between two fingers.

But then it jumped free.

My hand struck the end of the pool. I reached up out of the water, pawing for the cord, but didn’t touch it.

Fast as I could, I got my feet under me and stood up.

Blinking water from my eyes, I saw Steve staggering backward away from the pool. He held the cord in his teeth. It swayed in front of him, its other end still attached to his ankle. His hands were almost finished tugging up his shorts. His penis vanished under the waistband.

I could’ve been on him in a couple of seconds, except for the saber.

It’s hard to climb out of a pool with a sword in your hand.

I wasn’t about to let go of it, though.

I guess I could’ve gone for the stairs, but that probably would’ve taken even longer than climbing out the awkward way I did, boosting myself over the edge with the saber clutched in my right hand.

Steve never took his eyes off me. He backed farther and farther away while he watched my progress. He even took a few seconds, after his shorts were up, to tighten his belt.

As I got to my feet, he took the cord out of his teeth.

Holding it in his left hand, he whirled around and broke into a run.

“Stop!” I yelled.

Of course, he didn’t stop. Why should he?

I went after him.

We sprinted over the warm dewy grass, Steve well ahead of me. I held the saber overhead, ready to strike him down.

If I could only get close enough.

Being built like “a brick shithouse” is never a picnic. But it’s a disaster when you’re trying to chase someone. You want to be tall and slim and lithe. You want to be flat. And quick.

I didn’t stand a chance of catching Steve.

The distance between us kept stretching.

I didn’t give up, though. I stayed after him, running as hard as I could, saber waving high and breasts leaping, until he vanished into Miller’s Woods.

54

WIRES

Lowering the saber until its tip met the ground, I slouched and huffed for air and didn’t go any farther.

My lungs ached from the hard run.

My legs felt heavy, as if loaded with granite.

My heart raced like crazy.

I was drenched. A combination of sweat and pool water, probably. It spilled down my body, dribbles sliding down my skin, all over, tickling me. Drops fell from the tips of my nose and chin and breasts. I used a hand to wipe my face, but it wasn’t much help.

I was worn out.

Vulnerable.

Saber or no saber, I would’ve been easy prey for Steve if he doubled back and jumped me. I was too exhausted. And much too close to the edge of the woods.

When I’d recovered a little, I trudged backward. I was too tired to move quickly, but I put more and more distance between myself and the woods.

I wanted to lie down on the grass.

The grass would make me itchy, though.

So I kept moving, and didn’t stop until I reached the apron of the pool. There, I eased myself down and stretched out on the warm concrete. It felt awfully hard against the back of my head. It didn’t feel that great under my heels, either. Otherwise, though, it felt okay. I liked that it was solid and dry.

I held on to the saber, my right arm on the concrete by my side, the blade resting across my thigh.

This isn’t so bad, I thought. This is pretty nice.

But what do I do now?

Steve got away.

I got away.

We both escaped from each other.

After such a close call, Steve probably wouldn’t be coming back. And he wasn’t likely to tell any tales, since he’s the one who’d murdered Elroy.

Just let him go. Call it even.

What about Judy? She’d promised to keep her mouth shut about me. I couldn’t completely trust her about that, but she would probably never get a chance to do any damage. If she wasn’t dead already (and I figured she might be, even though Steve claimed otherwise), Steve would almost certainly kill her sooner or later. She knew too much. He couldn’t just let her walk away.

Maybe I can rescue her.

Yeah, right.

For one thing, you can’t exactly rescue someone who’s already dead. For another, supposing she isn’t dead, why would I want to save her? Dead gals tell no tales.

Besides, I probably wouldn’t be able to find the campsite, anyway.

And if I did, I’d end up facing Steve again.

I’d been damn lucky to survive this encounter with him. Next time, he might win.

Forget it.

Forget both of them. They’re out of the picture.

And I’m almost home free. Just a few little matters to take care of…

Such as?

Elroy’s head was still in the swimming pool, and the rest of him was locked inside the trunk of his car.

I needed to get rid of them.

Fish out the head, take it around to the car and throw it into the trunk and…

Steve’s got the keys!

Out front by the car, I’d seen him drop them into a pocket of his shorts.

Without Elroy’s keys, I wouldn’t be able to open the trunk.

Or drive his car away.

When I realized that, I suddenly went all hot and squirmy inside. I sat up. And sat there, head down, groaning.

Doesn’t it ever end?

My God, my God.

Killing Tony had been an accident!

All I ever wanted to do was get out from under it—make it go away so I could get on with my life.

It had seemed so simple, at first. Clean up the mess and drop off the body somewhere else. So simple.

But some things aren’t simple, and some things can’t be undone.

Maybe nothing can ever be undone.

That’s probably more like the truth.

Once you’ve done it, it’s been done forever and there’s no making it go away.

Because too much is attached.

You might think you’re dealing with just one matter—like Tony’s body—but then it turns out that the body has