“So I ‘spect, since they’re meat-eaters, they must’ve kept going by eating each other.”
Though Gorman couldn’t see the girl’s face, he knew she must be Janice Crogan. He felt sick.
“You get that kind of thing happening a lot in your primitive cultures. Humans. They need their protein, you know. So they have wars with themselves, eat the ones killed in battle. Used to happen all the time.”
Gorman turned away from the window. Stunned, he dropped onto the edge of his bed.
Janice Crogan.
He’d sent those two bastards out to take photos, and they’d come back with Janice Crogan.
He lifted his glass off the floor and drank.
“So I figure,” Captain Frank said, “that what my father and the crew of the Mary Jane ambushed was maybe just one tribe of the hellish beasts.”
Maybe it’s not Janice, Gorman thought.
Who else could it be?
It certainly looked like her, but he couldn’t be sure without seeing her face.
“If I’m not wrong, there’s gonna be another tribe out there. Maybe two or three. Aye, who knows, the island might be…”
“I have to leave,” Gorman said. He stood up. “I’d like to have you stay and talk, but some friends of mine just showed up.”
“Well, I want to thank you for…”
“Here.” Gorman capped the gin bottle. “Why don’t you take this along with you?”
“Oh, I couldn’t take your bottle.”
“Please.” He thrust it toward the old man. “Have yourself a nightcap when you get back to your bus. I’ll be along in the morning and we’ll have a copy made of your scrapbook.”
“A’right, matey. Thanks.”
Gorman picked up his room key and opened the door for Captain Frank. He stood beneath his porch light and stared across the courtyard at Abe’s bungalow. His heart pounded furiously. In spite of the night’s chill, sweat dripped down his face.
Captain Frank stowed the scrapbook and gin bottle in the saddlebags of his motorcycle. He mounted the bike. He stood on the starter, and the engine grumbled awake. With a wave he turned the bike, gunned it past the rear of Gorman’s Mercedes, and sped toward the road.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Someone knocked on the door as Abe held the phone to his ear and listened to the faint ringing.
“Who is it?” Jack called.
“Gorman Hardy,” came the voice from outside.
Abe nodded. Jack pulled the door open and Gorman entered. The man, looking flushed and nervous, scanned the room. “What happened?” he asked.
Jack put a finger to his lips.
“Where’s everyone else?”
“The john.”
Gorman started for the bathroom, but Jack grabbed his arm. “Just wait,” Jack told him.
“Malcasa Point Police Department,” said the voice on the phone. “Officer Matthews speaking. May I help you?”
“I spoke to one of your people this morning.”
“Did you get the pictures?” Gorman asked Jack.
“Sure.”
“An Officer Purcell,” Abe went on. “I realize he’s probably off duty, but I’d like to speak with him. It’s urgent.”
Gorman stared at Abe.
“I’ll try to reach the chief at his home,” Matthews said. “Give me your name and number, and I’ll have him call you back right away.”
“Fine.” Abe gave his name. He read the Welcome Inn’s number off the phone plate.
“Very good, Mr. Clanton.”
“Tell him it’s extremely important. If you can’t get through to him, get back to me yourself.”
“I’ll do that.”
Abe hung up.
“What’s going on?” Gorman asked.
“We ran into your beast.”
“Wasted the sucker,” Jack added.
The man’s mouth dropped open. “You killed it?”
“Blew its fuckin’ head off,” Jack told him, grinning.
“Who’s the girl? I saw you come in with someone.”
“Janice Crogan,” Abe said. “Apparently, she was out near Beast House last night with your friend Blake. She was pretty fuzzy about it all, but somehow she ended up a prisoner in the Kutch place. Blake’s dead. So are the girl’s parents.”
“Brian? Brian’s dead? No!” He shook his head in disbelief. “It can’t be! He…he’s my best friend.”
“Janice says she found their bodies in the cellar of Kutch’s house while she was getting away…”
“With one of the beasts on her tail,” Jack added.
“One of the beasts?” Gorman asked.
“She said there’s supposed to be a second one.”
“Incredible,” Gorman said.
“She’s pretty beat up,” Abe told him. “Mostly superficial scratches and bites apparently. Tyler and Nora are cleaning her up, checking her over.”
“Will she be all right?”
“Considering what she’s been through, she seems to be in pretty good shape.”
The girl sat on the toilet seat, back resting against the tank, arms hanging at her sides, eyes staring ahead as if she were in a trance.
Tyler crouched in front of her, held her knees gently. “It’s all right, Janice. It’s all right, now.”
Janice shook her head.
Nora turned on the shower.
“We’ll help you get cleaned up now,” Tyler said. She spread the blanket open and moaned at the sight of Janice’s torn, bruised skin—the blood and the filth.
“Jesus,” Nora muttered.
Tyler slipped the blanket off the girl’s shoulders. “Can you stand?”
Janice leaned forward. Nora and Tyler, on each side, helped her up. As Nora held the girl steady, Tyler stepped behind her. The girl’s stringy hair was clotted with flecks of raw flesh. Bits of bloody matter clung to her back. Tyler gagged, eyes going wet. She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. Both Janice’s shoulders were raked and punctured. Lower down, her back was striped with claw marks. Her buttocks looked rubbed raw, as if she’d skinned them in a fall.
“The shower is going to hurt,” Tyler said.
“I’ve got it lukewarm.” Nora glanced at Janice’s back and cringed. “God Almighty.”
“One of us better get in with her.”
“Right.”
Nora quickly stripped while Tyler hung onto Janice’s arm. When she was naked, she pushed aside the shower curtain and stepped into the tub. Together, they helped the girl climb over the side. Janice’s mouth sprang open and she cried out as the spray struck her back. The water sliding toward the drain turned pink. Pieces of flesh floated in it. Tyler turned away. The toilet seat was smeared with blood. She shut her eyes and breathed deeply, trying not to vomit. Through the hiss of the shower, she heard the faint ring of a telephone.
“Abe Clanton.”
“Yes. This is Wallace Purcell from the police.”
“Thank you for calling. I’m the one who talked to you this morning about Beast House. My friend had been…”
“Oh yes. What seems to be the trouble?”
“We were out at the beach tonight,” Abe lied. “On our way back, we spotted a young lady who looked like she’d been in some trouble. She was over near the front of Beast House, just outside the fence. She was naked and pretty beat up. We drove over to give her aid. It’s Janice Crogan.”
“You found her?” Purcell sounded amazed.
“She had just escaped from the Kutch house. She said they took her there last night. Brian Blake and both her parents are dead. Their bodies are in Kutch’s cellar.”
Purcell said nothing.
“The girl’s with us. We’re here at the Welcome Inn.”
“May I speak to her?”
“She’s in the bathroom.”
“Did she describe her assailant?”
“Her assailant was the beast.”
“The beast?”
“It does exist. It apparently lives in
the Kutch house. Maggie and the others keep it as a pet, or something.”
“And Janice claims this beast attacked her and killed her parents and Blake?”
“That’s it. One more thing. Janice says she wasn’t the only prisoner at the Kutch place. A woman is being kept there against her will, and she has an infant.”
Abe heard a sigh. “Okay, Mr Clanton. Thank you for the information. We’ll take care of the situation, and be in touch with you later.”
“Are you going out there?”
“You bet.”
“Okay. Very good. Be careful.”
“I always am. Later.” He hung up.
“What’s the story?” Jack asked.
“The cavalry is going in.”
“Without us?” Jack asked.
“We weren’t invited.”
“Let’s invite ourselves.”
“I plan to.” Abe rushed past Gorman and knocked on the bathroom door.
Tyler opened it. Her face looked chalky.
“How’s the girl?”
“A mess. But there doesn’t seem to be much bleeding.” She glanced at Gorman. Looking back at Abe, she stepped out of the bathroom and shut the door. “What’s going on?”
“I just talked to the police. They’re on the way to Kutch’s. Jack and I are going to meet them there.”
Her mouth twisted. “Don’t go in.”
“We’ll see if they need us.”
“Oh God, Abe.”
“I want you and Nora to stay here and look after the girl. Come out to the car with us. I’ve got a first-aid kit out there. Patch her up the best you can. When we get back, we’ll see about getting her to a doctor or hospital.” He took Tyler’s hand and led her to the door.
Jack and Gorman followed them out. “Are you coming along?” Jack asked the man.
“Certainly. This may well be the climax of my story.” He slipped the camera strap over his head.
Abe opened the passenger door. Kneeling on the seat, he opened his glove compartment and took out a plastic box. He gave it to Tyler.
“Be careful,” she said.
“Don’t worry.”
Jack, standing beside her, fed cartridges into the magazine of his .45.
“Do you have a gun for me?” Gorman asked.
“Sorry.”
Tyler wrapped her arms around Abe and held him tightly.
“I wonder if we might make a quick detour to Captain Frank’s bus,” Gorman said. “It’s along the way. He has quite an arsenal, and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind letting me use one of his guns.”
“No time,” Jack said.
Abe kissed Tyler hard on the lips. “We’ll be back before you know it.”
“That’s what you said the last time.” Her voice sounded tight and shaky as if she might cry.
“And I did come back.”
“Took your time about it.”
“I’ll be quick.” He patted her rump through the soft folds of her skirt. “Get in there and take care of Janice.”
“Yes, sir.” Her chin trembled. She turned and rushed away.
“Let’s haul ass,” Abe said.
Tyler shut the door and leaned back against it. Tears rolled down her face. Through her sobbing gasps, she heard the car speed off.
Damn it, how could he go and leave her again?
Because he’s a man.
Because of his pride.
Because it’s in his nature to help out even if it means putting himself on the line.
If he weren’t that way, he wouldn’t be Abe and maybe he would lack whatever it was that made her love him so desperately.
Damn it.
She wiped her face with a sleeve of her sweater. Then she pushed herself away from the door and walked across the deserted room.
From the bathroom came the steady rushing sound of the shower. She opened the door and stepped inside. Nora and Janice were dim shapes through the plastic curtain.
With a handful of toilet paper, she cleaned the blood off the seat. She flushed the paper.
“How’s it going?” she asked, and skidded open the shower curtain enough to see inside.
Nora shook her head. Her lower lip was clamped between her teeth. She was sobbing as she gently slid a bar of soap over Janice’s back.
Janice stood under the nozzle, her hands flat against the wall, her forehead resting on the tiles. With the blood and grime washed away, her tan lines were visible—a pale strip across her back, a pale triangle on her buttocks. The sight of them made the girl seem more real, more vulnerable than before—a teenager who sunbathes and likes the beach and somehow got caught up in the horror.
The bruises and scrapes would fade away, in time. Tyler hoped the bite marks and claw scratches would leave no permanent scars. A shame on a girl so beautiful. But they looked shallow, as if the beast had been struggling with her, maybe trying to hold her still, not kill her. If she was lucky, they might go away, too.
Crouching, Nora soaped Janice’s legs.
“I’ve got a first-aid kit,” Tyler said. “Abe thinks we might take you to a hospital when he gets back.”
Nora looked up. “Where’d he go?”
“Back to the house. The Kutch place.”
Janice turned her head sharply and stared over her shoulder at Tyler.
“Jack and Hardy went with him. They’re planning to meet the police there.”
“Oh shit,” Nora said.
Janice frowned. Her eyes looked alert. “Police? They’re going in?”
“I guess so.”
The girl pushed herself away from the wall. She squinted as the spray struck her face, and turned around. Dropping the soap, Nora stood up. “What…?”
“I’m going.” She bent over and rubbed the backs of her legs to get the suds off.
“I think you’d better stay with us,” Nora told her. “You’re in no shape to…”
“I’ve gotta be there.”
Tyler grabbed a wet arm as Janice climbed over the side of the tub.
“I’m all right.”
The girl seemed steady on her feet. Tyler let go, pulled a towel off a nearby rack, and gave it to her. Janice started rubbing her hair furiously.
“The police will take care of it,” Nora said. “You ought to lie down in bed and wait.”
She shook her head. “It’s my parents. It’s me. I’ve gotta be there.”
Nora shut off the water. “You haven’t got any clothes.”
She dried her face. She winced, her face going tight with pain as she blotted water from a torn shoulder. “I’ve got clothes. In my room.”
“Or a car,” Nora said, climbing from the tub. “The cops impounded your parents’ car.”
“I’ll drive her,” Tyler said.
“Oh shit,” Nora said.
“You guys get dry. I’ll get Janice some clothes.”
She rushed from the bathroom. She grabbed her handbag off Abe’s bed and ran out the door. The cool breeze felt good as she raced across the courtyard.
This time, she thought, there won’t be any waiting, any stewing as she wondered if Abe was all right. In ten minutes, she would be with him. If he’d already gone into the house, she would go in, too. She would be at his side and know.
She shoved her key into the lock, twisted it, opened the door and swept a hand along the wall until she found the light switch. The lamp between the beds came on.
Her bed was still unmade from her afternoon with Abe, its coverlet on the floor where they’d kicked it down, the sheets rumpled. On the other bed was her open suitcase. Bending over it, she snatched out a neatly folded pair of blue jeans, the yellow blouse she’d worn on the tour, a pair of fresh pink panties and her sneakers. A bra? The straps might hurt Janice.
She considered changing herself. Not enough time. Clutching the clothes to her chest, she dashed from the room. The door smashed shut as she leapt off the stoop.
Except for Hardy’s Mercedes and her own Omni, the courtyard was vacant. She saw
no one wandering about. The windows of the other bungalows were dark.
Stopping at her car, she pulled open the driver’s door. A shoe fell as she reached inside to flip up the lock button. She opened the back door, flung the clothes onto the back seat, and tossed the shoe in after them.
Then she rushed to Abe’s bungalow. She twisted the knob.
Locked. Of course.
She pounded the door.
Nora opened it. Her hair looked dark and matted as if she hadn’t taken time to dry it enough, but she was dressed except for her blouse. “I thought you were getting Janice some…”
“They’re in the car. She can dress on the way. Let’s go.”
Holding the blouse to her breasts, Nora leaned out the doorway and glanced around.
“It’s all right. Come on.”
Nora turned away. “Come on,” she called into the room.
Janice didn’t pause to question her. Nora stepped aside and let her pass. “This car?” she asked, nodding toward the Omni. She fingered scratches at her side, but made no attempt to cover herself as if unaware of her nakedness.
“I tossed some clothes in the backseat for you.”
With a nod, Janice started for the car. She moved stiffly, wincing as she climbed down the stairs, limping a bit as she stepped to the car. Nora, hurrying ahead of her, opened the rear door.
Tyler rushed to the driver’s side and climbed in. The car wobbled as Nora dropped onto the passenger seat. Tyler twisted the ignition key.
“Let’s take it easy,” Nora said. “We’ve got an injured girl with us.”
“Hurry!” Janice blurted from the back seat.
Tyler rammed the shift into reverse and hit the gas pedal.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Abe eased off the accelerator as a pickup swung in from a sidestreet. It sped down Front ahead of them. It didn’t stop for the blinking red traffic signal, and neither did Abe.
“Five’ll get you ten that’s the chief,” Jack said.
Just the other side of Beach Lane, it swerved onto the shoulder. Its tires kicked up dust as it lurched to a stop. Abe steered behind it.
“You lose,” Abe said as a stocky woman leapt from the pickup. Linda? No, Lucy, he recalled. She was out of uniform. She wore jeans and a flannel shirt. The shirt tail hung out, drawn in around her waist by her gunbelt. She glanced toward Abe’s car, then turned and jogged past the front of her truck.