She shook her head. “I’ve got to get back. I’m sure Harv has been watching me from the house. I told them I was going to take my clothes off to get some sun. I think he’ll come after me.”
“He sure will,” exclaimed Loni. “That day he was there he kept...sweating. Sweating and looking.”
“So he’s attracted to you.”
“Probably to any woman. Did he come on to you, Cilla?”
“He made a pass at me on the way down.”
“How did you handle it?” asked Wally.
“Jabbed him with a nail file.”
Carver gazed into the distance. “If Harv were somehow separated from the others, we could subdue the other two and get Hudson out of there.”
“And into this car?” Cilla glanced at the raised hood. “Are there engine problems?”
“The car is fine. I needed a nap, and we needed an excuse to stay in this location. Loni has been waving off those who’ve stopped to help.”
“You have a plan.”
“It may not be a pleasant one.”
“Tell me. Whatever it is. I’m desperate.”
“Loni, are you desperate?”
“Yes, I want to get out of this desert and home.”
“You know you can’t go home. Not until the organization is disposed of.”
“Well let’s get out of here anyway.”
“You do understand they’ll spend the rest of your life hunting you down to kill you unless we stop them?” The sun glinted off Carver’s glasses giving him a sinister look.
Loni stared at him. “Why are you trying to frighten me?”
“You are the key to us subduing those criminals and rescuing Hudson.”
“Me? I can’t fight!”
“You are the only one who can, in the way that is needed. Listen. Cilla
“Yeah, so what do I handle?”
“Harv.”
“What! Me take on the big guy?”
“You...seduce the big guy.” Carver saw the horrified look on the faces of both girls and hurried on. “Look, you both say he has a thing for you. Loni, you get him up the hill and keep him occupied.”
“For how long?”
“Until we secure the house.” He glanced at Cilla who was looking at him with disgust.
“And then you come up and rescue me.”
Carver rubbed his chin.
“Hey! I said you come up and rescue me!”
“Loni, if we try to climb that hill he’ll see us. If he’s as big and strong as you both say, we need to catch him by surprise.”
“So?”
“We stand a better chance when he comes down.”
“How are you going to get him down?”
“When he’s...finished, he’ll come back down, and we’ll be waiting.”
“You mean I have to...?” Loni was having trouble breathing.”
“Wally this is low, even for you,” Cilla said with loathing. “You can’t ask that of a woman.”
“Within hours Hudson will be dead. Have you any other plan that stands a chance of saving him?”
“I’ll find a way. I’ve got to go.” She turned and started back down the road.
“No, wait!” Loni was shaking. “Mr. Carver’s right. You’re the fighter. You’re needed at the house. I’m the only one that can occupy Harv.”
Cilla turned. “No, Loni. I can’t let you do it. It’s despicable even to think of it!”
“Hey, come on. I’ll be all right. How long will it take you with Dora and Frank?”
Cilla came back a step. “Five minutes. They won’t be expecting violence from me.”
“So when you’re done you can pretend you’re Dora and call him back to the house.”
“Can we be sure you can lure Harv up there?” asked Carver.
“Of course. Hey, if there’s one thing I know it’s men. Give me, say twenty minutes, ten to get up on the hill and ten to get Harv.” She smiled at Cilla. “Don’t worry. I can handle him.” She walked to where Cilla had stopped. “Where do I go?”
“I came out by that rock,” said Cilla slowly.
“Good. And how far do I go up the hill?’
“There’s a blanket about a hundred feet in.” She paused. The snake will be long gone, was there any point mentioning it? “Keep on a straight line from where you go off the road to the blanket until you’re right above the house.”
“Sounds easy.” A new thought. “How about our clothes? Shouldn’t we exchange them?”
“No,” said Cilla. “I need to be you a little longer. I’m just going to walk in on them.”
“You’re going to take yours off once you get up on the hill, Loni,” said Wally. “Put them under that blanket. You have got underwear on, don’t you?”
“Yes, but...”
“You’re supposed to be getting sun, anyway.”
Loni drew a breath. “Okay. Wish me luck.”
Cilla grabbed both her arms. “You don’t have to do this.”
“I know. Hudson came all the way out to Olympia to rescue me. It’s my turn.” Two pairs of gray eyes locked. “We look so much alike I’m beginning to think of you as my sister.” Cilla rubbed the grease off Loni’s cheek. Loni gave her a hug and was gone. Cilla watched her off the highway at the right rock, then turned to Carver.
“Thanks to you we now have a second person to rescue.”
Wally saw no purpose in a response.
After twelve minutes by his watch, he opened the trunk and took out the wrench. “It’s time. You start, I’ll stay out of sight until you’re in the house.”
The walking was easier on the road than in the bush. It was more than a driveway, as Carver had discovered from the map. It ran south through the canyon, eventually connecting with another road that continued south and ended in the desert. Cilla had made it all the way up to the villa’s front walk when it came. It rebounded off the bleak Arizona hills, though its origin was obviously the one Loni had climbed. The scream froze Cilla as though a blast of polar air had encircled her chest.
Loni found the blanket without difficulty and looked back at the road. She could just see the rock where she’d come off. Another five minutes and she was directly above the house. She could see no signs of life. She took off her blouse and skirt. God, it was cold! Could she actually pretend she was doing this to get a tan? She unfolded the blanket and lay down on it. The cool breeze wasn’t so noticeable there. Cilla for all her toughness was pretty naive. About a lot of things. A man like Harv coming on a girl in bra and panties on a remote hill isn’t going to be called off by anyone. Mr. Carver knew. She was going to be raped, for that’s what it will be. She wondered what would prolong it more, if she fought him or flirted with him. Sammy Gardner was dead. Cilla and Mr. Carver hadn’t said so, but she knew it. The thought added more tremors to her already shaking body. What had she gotten herself into? For the first time in her life she wished she’d learned to fight. Her only weapon was the face and figure that came
