Alarums

  She was sprawled belly-down on the floor, her cheek itchy against the carpet. She pushed herself up to her hands and knees, squeezing her eyes tight as pain surged through her head.

  You're lucky you didn't kill yourself, the way…

  Sounds from the front door. Someone trying the knob? A scrape and click of metal against metal.

  Pen unhooked her feet from the trip cord and thrust herself up. She leaped it, rushed across her room and snatched the knife off the nightstand. Her head pounded. The back of her neck had burning steel rods that rammed into the base of her brain with each step as she ran, jumped the cord, and sprinted down the corridor to the living room.

  The front door was open!

  Only a few inches, but enough to admit the hand.

  The hand was clutching the back of the chair, shaking it, trying to work it out from under the knob.

  CHAPTER SIX

  'Hurry!'

  'I'm trying.'

  'Let me try.'

  'I'm getting it.'

  'Come on.'

  With his left hand on the outside knob, Bodie pulled the door tight against his right arm. The chair inside slipped down a bit. He tugged at it. He was pretty sure he could get it out of the way, but he wondered what Melanie would ask him to do about the security chain. Kick the door open and rip its mounting from the wall?

  Then came a thud of footfalls. Someone charging toward the other side of the door.

  'You bastard!'

  He lurched back against Melanie, jerked his arm from the gap. A long blade jabbed out. He stumbled backward as fast as the blade approached him. Almost. Its point nicked his side.

  His feet tangled with Melanie's. He fell against her. The. bars of the balcony's guard rail rang as Melanie hit them.

  An arm in the blue sleeve of a sweatshirt waved the knife, blindly slicing the air.

  'Pen!' Melanie blurted.

  The arm stopped. The blade tilted upward. The arm withdrew from the opening. A moment later, half a face appeared in the gap, a single eye staring out through strands of blond hair. And lower, one breast in the same blue sweatshirt worn by the knife-wielding arm.

  'Melanie?'

  The half-face and breast went away. The door shut. Bodie heard the chair bump the door, heard the security chain rattle. Then the door swung open wide.

  This is the Playmate of the Year? Bodie thought. This is the Weird Sister. Double, double toil and trouble…

  At least she had put down the knife. Trembling fingers parted the hair away from her face. She muttered, 'My God, I could've killed you.'

  'Just a flesh wound, ma'am,' he drawled. Holding his side, he got to his feet.

  Pen bent forward and looked around as if to see whether anyone had witnessed the assault. 'Come in,' she whispered.

  Bodie held back and let Melanie enter first. Pen shut the door behind him. She leaned against it. She looked haggard, distracted. 'I don't… I'm so sorry. I don't know what to say.'

  'What's going on?' Melanie asked.

  She shrugged. Her jeans were open, smooth skin showing above a triangle of white panties. She seemed to realize this at the same moment as Bodie. She raised the zipper and buttoned the waist. 'I had some trouble,' she murmured. She rubbed the back of her neck. 'Come on, we'd better get a bandage.'

  They followed her into a short corridor. Passing a bedroom, Bodie saw an electrical cord stretched across the bottom of the doorway.

  What the hell is going on? he thought.

  In the bathroom, she asked him to sit down and take off his shirt. He lowered the toilet cover and sat on it. As he removed his shirt, Pen took disinfectant and a tin of Band-aids out of the medicine cabinet. She moistened a washcloth at the sink.

  'I'll do that,' Melanie said.

  Crouching beside him, she cleaned away the blood and pressed the balled cloth to his cut. With his arm raised, Bodie watched. She took the cloth away. There was a quarter-inch gash below his last rib. Blood welled out. Melanie covered it again.

  Pen unwrapped a Band-aid. 'I don't understand,' she said in a haggard voice. 'What are you doing here?'

  'I had a vision,' Melanie explained.

  Pen frowned. 'Of me?'

  'I'm not sure.' She lifted the washcloth and squirted disinfectant onto the wound. The cool spray made Bodie flinch. As blood began to trickle out again, she took the bandage from her sister and pressed it firmly in place. 'There,' she said.

  'Thanks.'

  'You came all the way from Phoenix… because of a vision?'

  'That's right.' Melanie stood up. This is Bodie, by the way.'

  'I'm sorry I hurt you, Bodie,' she said, looking so sorry that he feared she might begin to cry.

  'No'sweat.'

  'I thought you were… someone else.'

  'Who?' Melanie asked.

  'I don't know. I got these calls last night. Obscene calls.' She turned away. She reached into the medicine cabinet, took down a bottle of prescription pills, apparently realized her mistake, put that bottle back and slipped her fingers around the plastic bottle beside it. Aspirin. After filling a cup with water, she swallowed four of the tablets. 'I'm such a wreck,' she muttered. 'I smashed my head up.'

  Melanie met Bodie's eyes. 'See? Didn't I tell you?' She turned to Pen. 'I knew you were in some kind of terrible trouble. My vision - it was like the one I had when Mom drowned.'

  'Well, I'm not dead, anyway. Though that might be preferable, the way I feel right now.' She made a smile that was very much like a grimace. Rubbing her face, she said, 'Have you two eaten?'

  'We drove straight through,' Bodie said. Except for an hour parked on a desolate road - a stop, he suspected, that had to do with Melanie wanting him properly satisfied before his encounter with the gorgeous sister. 'Why don't I get us some breakfast?'

  As they headed for the kitchen, Melanie noticed the cord across the bedroom entrance. 'What's that?' she asked.

  'A precaution. I was… I managed to convince myself he'd break in. Last night.'

  'The caller?'

  'Yeah.'

  'Was it someone you know?'

  'I don't think so.'

  They entered the kitchen.

  'Just an anonymous obscene phone caller?'

  'Just?'

  'They're usually harmless,' Melanie pointed out.

  'So I've heard.'

  'How did you get hurt?' Bodie asked.

  'I tripped on the wire. Hoist on my own petard,' she added, a wry smile lifting a corner of her mouth. 'Bacon and eggs?'

  'Great. I'm starving.'

  Melanie nodded, crouched, and took a pan out of the cupboard.

  Pen took out a coffee filter.

  'I can make the coffee,' Bodie told her. 'Why don't you sit down and relax?'

  'Sitting down won't help, I'm afraid. What I need is about twelve hours of sleep.' Her trembling hand spilled some coffee grounds onto the counter as she dumped scoopsful into the filter. 'I'm so wasted.' She frowned. 'You two must be exhausted. You drove all night, and…' Her voice just stopped as if the rest of her sentence wasn't worth the effort.

  'Let's get some food in us first,' Melanie said. She started peeling off strips of bacon and arranging them in the skillet. 'Why don't you tell us what happened?'

  Pen emptied a container of water into the top of her coffee machine. Then she leaned against the counter. She rubbed the back of her neck again. 'Like I said, I got these obscene phone calls.'

  'What did the guy say?' Melanie asked.

  Pen glanced at Bodie, and lowered her eyes. 'Never mind what he said. It was pretty bad.'

  'What did you say?'

  'Nothing. He was on my answering machine.'

  Melanie lit up. 'You've got him on tape?'

  'Yeah.'

  'Fabulous. Let's hear what he had to say.'

  Pen shook her head.

  Bodie frowned. 'We called you last night. Mel did.' He looked at Melanie. 'You didn't get the answering machine, did you?'

  'No.'


  'What time was that?' Pen asked.

  'Around ten, your time.'

  'Ten?' She moaned. That was you? I'd turned off the answering machine by then. I was taking a bath. I thought you were him. So I got out and disconnected the…' She frowned. 'Did you call twice?'

  'Just once,' Melanie said.

  Pen's lip curled up.

  Melanie turned on the burner under the skillet. 'So what happened after you disconnected the phones?'

  'That's when I got to thinking he might come over.'

  'What made you think that?'

  'Why shouldn't I think that? He made it pretty plain that he wanted to… mess with me.'

  'But that kind of guy almost never…'

  'Almost. I know. But maybe this guy is the exception. I mean, he had my phone number so he obviously had my address. Anyway, I decided to be ready for him. That's why I blocked the door and strung that damn cord. Just to be ready, you know? Just in case. That's why I had the knife. So in the middle of the night I forgot about the cord and took a header into the wall.'

  She looked sideways at the coffee machine. The glass pot was full. She took mugs down from a cupboard. Her hand trembled badly as she filled them. She gave a mug to Bodie.

  'Do you still think the guy might come over?' he asked.

  She shrugged. 'What's to stop him?'

  'We're here now. I guess Mel's vision paid off.'

  'Yeah,' Pen said. 'It was right on target this time.'

  'We'll keep watch for you,' Melanie said. 'You can sleep all day if you want.'

  'I may have to.'

  ***

  When breakfast was done, Melanie and her friend both insisted that she get some sleep. She went into the bathroom and drank a glassful of Alka-Seltzer. When she came out, Bodie was kneeling in her bedroom doorway, removing the cord.

  'Don't worry about anything,' he told her.

  She thanked him. Then she turned to Melanie and hugged her tightly. 'It's great to see you again, kiddo.' She ruffled Melanie's hair.

  ***

  Alone in her room with the door shut, she turned back the covers of her bed. The sheets looked wonderful. There was no need any more for the confining, protective clothes. She took them off. Because of Bodie being in the apartment, however, she put on pajamas before crawling into bed.

  She eased the pillow over her eyes to block out the morning light. Her neck felt stiff, but her head no longer ached badly. The food and aspirin had helped. She took a deep breath. She felt pretty good, considering.

  Her ordeal was over, at least for now. Maybe it was over for good.

  She had over-reacted, that's for sure.

  Damn near cracked her skull. Damn near broke her neck. Damn near stabbed Bodie.

  I did stab him.

  He was very nice about it.

  Nice guy.

  Lucky Mel.

  Lucky me, having them both here.

  But how long would they stay? She hadn't asked. They'd have to go back to school soon, maybe even tomorrow.

  Don't worry about that now.

  Nothing to worry about now.

  She rolled over, the pajamas sliding against her skin, the covers up around her neck, and fell asleep.

  ***

  'Do you think we can both fit on the couch?' Bodie asked.

  'Who can sleep?'

  'Me,' he said. 'I'm beat. I didn't sack out in the van for the last half of the trip, remember?'

  'I don't know about you, but I want to hear the tape.'

  'I don't think Pen would want us to.'

  'She doesn't have to find out.'

  Bodie sat on the couch. He patted the cushion beside him. 'I'll talk dirty to you.'

  'Not funny. Whatever the guy said, it scared the hell out of her. I've never seen her like this.'

  'I thought maybe she was always maniacal.'

  'Come on.'

  Bodie stood up. His heart pounded fast and he stood motionless, waiting for a light-headed feeling to pass.

  'You okay?'

  'My body's telling me to sack out.'

  'So sack out,' Melanie told him, sounding a trifle annoyed. 'I'll listen to the tape alone.'

  'That's all right. I'm up.'

  He followed her. She wandered around the apartment, searching for the machine. Apparently, Pen hadn't owned it when Melanie was living with her. Finally, she led the way into an office next to Pen's bedroom. The answering machine was on the desk. Empty.

  Melanie scowled at it. 'The cassette's gotta be around here someplace,' she whispered.

  She searched the waste basket.

  Bodie found the cassette on the carpet at the far end of the room. He turned it in his hand. It didn't look damaged.

  'Close the door,' Melanie whispered.

  He quietly shut the door and returned to the desk. Melanie slipped the cassette into the up-tilted holder and snapped it into place. She rewound the tape. And played it.

  'Hello, honey. Sorry you're away…'

  Melanie turned the volume lower.

  The voice sounded nasty. It would've sounded nasty reading a McDonalds menu, Bodie thought. But the things it said… He pictured Pen listening, imagined how she must have felt. Alone in the apartment. Exposed to the sick mind of a stranger, violated and scared.

  The tape only permitted a brief message. But the bastard had time to tell her what he wanted to do before a beep cut him off mid-sentence.

  'I don't see what she was so upset about,' Melanie muttered. 'Just your standard obscene…'

  'How'd you like it if I stuck my…'

  'This is really sick,' Bodie whispered over the continuing voice.

  'It's not that bad,' Melanie said. 'Pen's gotta be nuts to let this stuff upset her so much. I've had some bad calls. They never freaked me out like that.'

  The guy's time ran out, but he called again. 'Suck me, honey. Open up wide. Suck me off. I want to come in your mouth. I want to shoot my load down your throat. Come on, open up. Open wide, you whore. Yes, yes. Take me in, swallow my cock and- beeeeep.'

  Three down, one to go.

  Bodie took a deep breath.

  The fourth message started.

  'Pen, it's Joyce. Your father's been in a terrible accident. I'm at the emergency room of the Beverlywood Medical Center on Pico. You'd better get here as soon as you can.'

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Pen struggled awake. Someone was knocking on her door. Why was her door shut, and who…? She remembered. Melanie's here. And her boyfriend, Bodie. The guy I stabbed.

  What if I'd killed him?

  She seemed to shrink inside.

  The door opened and Melanie's face appeared in the gap. She looked hurt and confused. 'You'd better get dressed.'

  'What's wrong?'

  'We listened to the tape.'

  Pen's throat went tight. 'Well, damn it, thanks a bunch. You and Bodie both?'

  'Joyce was on it.'

  'Huh?'

  'On your tape. Dad's been hurt. They took him to an emergency room. Joyce didn't say how he was, just that he'd been in a terrible accident.'

  'God. Oh, no.'

  'We'd better get over there.'

  'Yeah. Yeah. I'll just be a minute.'

  The door shut.

  Pen sprang from the bed. She flung her pajamas off.

  An accident. Dad.

  In a daze, she took panties from her drawer and stepped into them. She was still pulling them up as she rushed to her closet. She tugged a pair of white slacks off a hanger, put them on, and grabbed the nearest blouse. It was burgundy, silken, too dressy for the slacks. She didn't care. She put it on and pushed her feet into sandals while she fastened the buttons. She let the blouse hang out. She zipped her pants on the way to the door.

  '… call her,' Bodie was saying as she entered the living room. 'She could tell you how he's doing.'

  'I guess.'

  'Call Joyce?' Pen asked. 'Yeah.' She turned back and went into the kitchen. Her disconnected telephone was still on top of the refr
igerator. She pulled it down and plugged it into the wall. With a shaky hand, she dialed. Melanie appeared beside her.

  A busy signal.

  She hung up. 'It's busy.'

  Melanie, closing her eyes, let out a long breath as if having the news postponed was a blessing.

  Pen drew the girl gently against her. Melanie's arms went around her and she rested her forehead against the side of Pen's neck. Her breath felt hot through the blouse. 'Don't worry, okay?'

  'I'm scared.'

  'So am I.'

  'What if he's dead?'

  'He's not. Joyce would've said so.' But my phones were unplugged, Pen thought. Joyce might've tried to call back. 'Come on, Mel. Let's go.' She eased the girl away.

  'Do you know where they took him?'

  'The Beverly wood Medical Center.'

  'Okay. It's not far.'

  They hurried down to the front of the apartment building. Bodie offered to drive. His blue van was parked at the curb. Pen rode in the passenger seat and gave directions, while Melanie crouched behind the gap and hung onto the seat backs.

  The numbness in Pen wouldn't pass. None of this seemed real.

  'Make a right on Pico,' she said.

  ***

  When Pen finally saw the hospital at the end of the next block, she felt as if she were in an elevator and its floor had dropped out from under her feet.

  'That's it,' she gasped.

  Bodie swung his van to the curb. 'Is this close enough?'

  'Fine,' Melanie said.

  It's as close as I ever want to get, Pen thought.

  They climbed out. Bodie fed the meter. Melanie took his hand, and Pen led the way.

  The morning sky was deep blue. The mild breeze, smelling fresh after last night's rain, drifted Pen's blouse against her skin. She noticed that it felt good, and she wondered how anything could feel good at this moment with her stomach clenched and her shaking legs barely able to hold her up - with her father in the building up ahead…

  He has to be alive. He has to be. Please.

  A woman approaching, pushing a baby stroller.

  He always wanted a grandchild.

  Only a week ago, he'd said, 'I'm not getting any younger, you know. Why don't you go out like a good daughter and get yourself knocked up?'