'Lieutenant, do you want to talk to that woman now? The one who says she saw an animal?'
Karyn looked up sharply.
'No,' MacCready said shortly. 'You take her statement, that's all we need.'
'What's that about an animal?' Karyn asked.
David gave her a warning look.
'One of your neighbors said she thought it looked like a big dog that jumped through the window and ran away from the house when the people came in.' MacCready dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand. 'People sometimes see things like that in moments of stress.'
'But is it possible,' Karyn persisted, 'that it was an animal?'
The detective shook his head. 'There are no dogs anywhere around here as big as the one she says she saw. And besides — ' His eyes flicked toward the archway beyond which lay the blood-spattered tarpaulin. 'There's no dog I ever heard of would do that to a human being.'
'What about a wolf?' The question was out before she could think about it.
'Karyn, please,' David said.
Lieutenant MacCready answered her question seriously. 'No way. Wolves need wilderness. The only wilderness around here is that patch of trees over beyond your house, and nothing bigger than a ground squirrel can exist in there. No, what we're looking for here is a man. A big, powerful man. Probably a psychopath.'
'I hope you get him, Lieutenant,' David said fervently. 'Mrs. Jensen was like part of the family.'
'Don't you worry, Mr. Richter,' said the detective, 'we'll get him.'
Karyn turned away from the men. Through the window she could see the moon shining intermittently through the broken clouds. No, you won't, Lieutenant, she thought. Not this one.
14
AFTER THE POLICE and the television people and the neighbors and the sightseers left, David picked up his son from the neighbor's house and took Joey and Karyn to spend the night in a hotel. The next day they took Joey to stay with David's sister, who lived across the lake, in Bellevue. Then they went down to the police station and answered more questions for Lieutenant MacCready. Finally, late in the afternoon, they went back to their house.
David strode around briskly, talking in a very businesslike manner. 'We'll have to get the window replaced first thing. And new carpeting in the hall. The stairs and the wall will need a thorough cleaning.'
'Do we have to settle it all right now?' Karyn said.
'The important thing,' said David, 'is to get on with our lives. Get Joey back home and everything back to normal as fast as possible.'
'No, David,' Karyn said softly. 'It won't work. Things will never be back to normal. Whatever that is.'
'Please, Karyn, I know this is a terrible blow. I feel it too, believe me.
But it won't do any good to dwell on it.'
'Don't you understand?' she said. 'Don't you know what it was that killed Mrs. Jensen? No, it was not a dog, and it was no psychopathic killer, either.'
'You don't seriously believe — '
'I do. The wolves of Drago are here. The werewolves. They've come for me.'
'You're upset. I'll call Dr. Goetz. He can prescribe something for your nerves.'
'Dr. Goetz can't do me any good now. No one can. They've found me, and there will be no rest now. What happened to Mrs. Jensen is my fault.'
'That's crazy talk. It was a prowler, more than likely.'
Karyn took both his hands in hers. 'It was no prowler, darling. I know that, and I think in your heart you know it too. As long as I stay here, there is danger. Not only for me, but for you and Joey, too.'
'What are you saying?'
'I have to go away, David.'
'No!' he cried.
'I have no choice.'
'But — where will you go? How long will you stay?'
'I'll stay until this thing is over, one way or another. And I think it's better if I don't say where I'm going right away.'
'I can't agree to that.'
'Please, David. I promise you I'll let you know as soon as I can. Meanwhile, the fewer people who know where I'm going, the harder it will be for anyone to follow me.'
'I'll go with you,' he said. 'We'll fight this out together.'
Karyn shook her head. 'No, darling. Joey will need at least one of his parents with him. He'll need your strength.'
'Karyn, I can't let you just — walk out this way.'
'I have to,' she said. 'It would be too dangerous for you and for Joey if I stayed here. If you love me, David, don't try to stop me.'
He put his arms around her and pulled her tight against him. 'If I love you? My God, Karyn, I love you more than anything in the world.',
Karyn let her head rest on her husband's chest. She heard a sound she had never heard before. David Richter was crying.
The next morning Karyn bought a ticket to Los Angeles at the Western Airlines counter in the
Seattle-Tacoma Airport. She did not notice the old woman, bundled up in scarves, who sold paper flowers nearby. The old woman, however, paid close attention to Karyn.
15
WHEN HER FLIGHT was announced, Karyn hurried to the loading gate, trying not to look at all the people saying affectionate goodbyes. She could still see the puzzled and hurt expression in Joey's eyes as she tried to explain that Mom had to go away for a while. She had hugged him very tight and promised to come back soon. It was a promise Karyn hoped she could keep.
She found her seat on the plane and sat looking out at the rain-slick runway as the jet rolled into position for takeoff. She wished she could be sure this was the right thing to do. Running away, she knew, was never a solution, yet if she stayed to fight she would surely lose. If it were only herself she might have tried, but there were Joey and David to think of. Karyn was sure now that the wolf had been after Joey, and that only Mrs. Jensen's courage and the arrival of the neighbors had saved the boy's life. As long as Karyn was there, the people she loved were in danger.
At last the Western Airline jet received clearance from the tower and thundered down the runway and into the air. In a little while the stewardess came down the aisle, passing out plastic sets of earphones. There was no movie on the short flight, but several channels of recorded stereo music were available. Karyn chose a program of light classics and settled back in the seat, hoping the music would push the troubled thoughts out of her mind, at least temporarily.
But it was no use. Every time Karyn closed her eyes she would see the elusive face of the woman with the white-streaked hair. Or Roy Beatty, who was supposed to be dead, watching her from above. Or the impersonal gray tarpaulin spread over the floor where Mrs. Jensen had died.
How had they found her, Karyn wondered, the wolves of Drago? She was certain now that it was vengeance that had brought the horrors from the past so explosively into her present. Vengeance for her part in the destruction of Drago and most of the unnatural creatures that lived there. Most of them. But not all. Roy had survived. Roy and
