The lunging, cadaverous man was already too close, his demented murmur loud in Dani’s ears.
She jumped into the car and slammed the door. As she pounded the lock button down, he grabbed the outside handle. He jerked it, shaking the car.
Then he pressed his young face to the window. He grinned like a madman, his nose and chin mashed against the pane, his eyes rolling. His tongue darted out between his plastic fangs and licked the glass.
Jack reached for him, but he jumped back, whirled around and ran.
Jack dashed after him. They sprinted up the street. The boy had given up his weird, hunched gait. He ran, now, with amazing speed, his head tucked down, his arms pumping, his legs whipping out in long, quick strides. The gap between him and Jack slowly widened. He cut to the right and raced up a lawn. As he vanished behind the corner of a dark house, Jack wheeled around and ran back.
Leaning across the seat, Dani opened the door for him.
But he didn’t get in. He rushed by. Twisting around, Dani saw him crouch beside a front tire of the hearse. He removed something, flicked it away. The air cap? His hand shoved into a pocket and came out with a small object Dani couldn’t see. He pressed it to the tire.
She looked toward the house, studied the darkness at both sides. The boy was nowhere to be seen.
She turned around. Jack still crouched by the tire.
‘Hurry,’ she whispered.
Then she realised that she could help. She shoved the shift into first, swung the car into a driveway on the left, and backed out.
She stopped beside the hearse.
Jack stood up. He stepped away from the flat tire and slipped his key case into his pocket. Then he climbed in beside Dani.
In the dome light, she saw speckles of sweat on his forehead. He grinned at her, looking both angry and gleeful. ‘That’ll fix the little asshole,’ he said, and swung the door shut.
Dani sped toward the rushing headlights of traffic on Laurel Canyon.
5
DRIVING UP Asher Lane, Dani kept her eyes on the rearview mirror. Headlights pushed through the darkness on Laurel Canyon, but none swept onto the narrow road.
As a precaution, she killed her own headlights. The arc lamps along the lane were spaced far apart with dark gaps separating their pools of light, but they gave enough brightness to steer by.
‘I think we’re okay,’ Jack said. ‘Even if he had an air can, we got a big enough jump on him.’
‘Hope so,’ Dani muttered.
She pulled into her driveway and stopped beside Jack’s Mustang. She turned off the engine. Leaning against the steering wheel, she let out a shaky sigh. Jack’s hand stroked her back.
‘It’s all right now,’ he said.
‘Will you come in with me?’
‘Sure.’
‘I’m just . . . it really shook me up a bit.’
‘I know. Me, too. But I’m sure . . . the guy was probably harmless, just doing what he was paid for. Al or Michael – whoever’s behind this – probably dug him up at central casting.’
‘Or Forest Lawn.’
Jack laughed softly. His big, warm hand continued to rub her back. ‘I . . .’
Dani waited. ‘What?’
‘Well,’ he sighed. ‘I do think we’ve lost the guy, but we ought to play it safe.’
Dani raised her head off the backs of her hands and looked at him. His face was a pale smudge, his familiar features masked by darkness. Only the feel of his hand assured Dani that this was Jack and not a stranger.
‘What do you mean?’ she asked.
‘He might . . . I don’t think we should leave your car here.’
‘Oh Jack,’ she said.
‘Maybe I’m over-reacting, but we don’t want this guy to find out where you live. If we leave it here, it’s like a name tag.’
Her mind fought against the suggestion. Couldn’t she even park in front of her own house? What about tomorrow and the next day? ‘You could’ve gone all night without saying that.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘He doesn’t know which street we’re on.’
‘He’s only one away.’
‘Al knows my address. If he hired the guy . . .’
‘What if he didn’t?’
‘Oh shit. Then who is he?’
Jack shook his head. ‘Maybe we can get it into the garage.’
The garage was her workshop, crowded with shelves, a workbench and tables, lamps and stools, all the tools of her craft and the make-up appliances she’d created for a dozen different films. She considered trying to clear a space. ‘That’d take . . . no, forget it.’
‘Let’s park it up the street, then.’
‘In front of somebody else’s house?’
‘Got any obnoxious neighbors?’
She surprised herself by laughing. ‘That’s wicked.’ The laughter seemed to nudge her fear aside. When she finished, she found herself almost calm. ‘Look, let’s go inside. We’ll leave the car here. If this kid’s so goddamn determined to find my house, he’ll manage it one way or another, anyhow. Sooner or later. I’m not, for Godsake, going to spend the rest of my life hiding from him.’
Jack squeezed her shoulder. ‘Let’s go in, then.’
They climbed from the car. As they walked over the cobblestones toward the front door, Dani heard a car engine. Her knees went weak. Looking around, she saw a car gliding slowly up the street. It passed.
A pale Mercedes.
With a sigh, she hurried into the dark recess of the front stoop. Jack stood beside her as she unlocked the door. They stepped into the lighted foyer. She shut the door and secured its guard chain.
Jack’s hands curled over her shoulders. He turned her around, pulled her gently against him. She held him tightly. The strength of his body felt safe and comfortable.
‘Thank God you were with me tonight,’ she said. She tilted her head back, and they kissed. The pressure of his mouth soothed her. The tension eased out. She felt peaceful enough to fall asleep in his arms.
Then his mouth went away. ‘I think it’s time to call the police.’
‘Oh no.’
‘If the guy’s still in the neighborhood, they might pick him up.’
‘Yeah. All right.’ Reluctantly, she let go of Jack. He kept hold of her hand, and they walked away from the door. The living room was lighted by a single lamp. The black expanse of its picture windows, at the rear, made her nervous. Leaving Jack, she hurried across the carpet to the draw cords. She kept her eyes down, unwilling to look at the window, afraid of what she might see in the darkness beyond. As she closed the curtains, she heard Jack dialing.
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘We have a prowler . . . 822 Asher Lane . . . Laurel Canyon Boulevard . . . Okay, thanks.’ He hung up.
‘A prowler?’ Dani asked.
‘Close enough.’
‘How about a drink?’ she asked, and turned on a lamp by the couch.
‘Sounds good.’
She turned on another lamp while Jack walked down the long side of the L-shaped bar. He entered the kitchen and turned on a light. ‘Ten twenty-five,’ he said.
The doorbell rang at five to eleven, making Dani’s hand jump. She set down her vodka and tonic.
‘That was quick,’ Jack said. ‘Twenty minutes. Good thing we didn’t need them.’
She followed Jack to the foyer. He slipped off the guard chain and opened the door. Two uniformed patrolmen were waiting on the front stoop. ‘You reported a prowler?’ asked the taller man. The other, an oriental, tapped his night-stick against the side of his leg and seemed to be staring at Dani’s chin.
That’s right,’ Jack said. ‘He just took off, though. Two or three minutes ago. In a black hearse.’
‘Did you get the license number?’
‘Afraid not.’
‘Can you describe the man?’ he asked, raising a clipboard.
‘A Caucasian, maybe eighteen or twenty, very thin, bald. He wore a black turtleneck and jeans.’
>
Without a word, the other patrolman strode away.
‘Did he attempt an entry of the premises?’
Jack shook his head. ‘He was around back, looking at the windows. Scared the hell out of us. I yelled at him, but he wouldn’t leave. He stayed back there, walking around the pool and watching us. I wasn’t about to go out. You know? I figured he might be dangerous. So I phoned you people. He finally ran off, and we saw him get into the hearse.’
The patrolman nodded and glanced up from his clipboard. ‘May I have your names?’
‘I’m Jack Somers. This is Danielle Larson.’
‘Whose residence is this?’
‘Mine,’ Dani said.
‘All right.’ He jabbed the pen into his shirt pocket. ‘We’ll see what we can do.’
‘We appreciate it,’ Jack said.
‘Yes. Thank you.’
He aimed a forefinger at them, making a snicking sound against the side of his cheek, and winked. Then he turned away.
Jack shut the door.
‘Good grief,’ Dani said. ‘What’d you do?’
‘What, the fabrication?’
‘You lied through your teeth. To the police!’
‘I know. Naughty, huh?’
‘Jack!’
‘They’ll never be the wiser unless they catch the guy.’
‘Why not just tell the truth?’
‘The truth was too complicated. A prowler’s nice and simple – and ominous. I figured it’d be more likely to catch the interest of the officers . . . involve them.’
‘It’ll certainly involve us, if they nab the guy.’
‘They’ll understand.’
‘You’re crazy.’
‘Does that mean you don’t like me any more?’ His eyes widened slightly.
Dani gazed at him, suddenly feeling weak and shaky. ‘Doesn’t mean that,’ she finally whispered. She stepped out of her shoes, moved forward and began to open the buttons of his plaid shirt.
‘Guess not,’ he said.
Her fingers trembled. Her mouth was dry. She was surprised to be taking the lead this way. She didn’t understand it, but she couldn’t stop herself. She spread open Jack’s shirt, pulling sharply to untuck its front, then let her hands glide over the smooth warm skin of his belly, the soft mat of chest hair. She lingered over the firm mounds of his pectorals. Leaning forward, she found a nipple with her tongue.
Jack moaned. He pulled her blouse from her skirt, and she felt his touch on the bare skin of her back, bunching up the blouse as they moved higher. Its silken front crept up her belly, taut and rubbing. Its folds seemed to trap her breasts for a moment. Then it flipped over them, releasing them.
She eased her face away from Jack’s chest, and raised her arms. For a moment, their eyes met. Jack looked like a boy, full of hope and excitement but worried that he might somehow lose out. Then his face vanished behind a translucent curtain of green. The curtain lifted, tickling Dani’s back and breasts, sliding up her arms. She saw Jack’s belly, his bushy chest, his beard and gleaming eyes.
He flung her blouse aside and gazed at her. ‘You’re beautiful,’ he whispered. He touched her shoulders. His fingers trembled over her collar bones, down her chest. They traced the outlines of her breasts.
She sucked a deep, shaky breath, arching her back as his thumbs grazed her nipples.
She opened her skirt. It dropped to her feet and she stood before Jack naked except for her panties. Crouching, he kissed a nipple. He licked it, took it between his lips. Dani clenched his long hair, gasping as he sucked her nipple, as he slipped her panties down, as a hand eased upward between her thighs. It pushed against her. Every muscle flinched rigid. A ragged groan escaped her throat.
She forced Jack’s head away, bent over and kissed him. She thrust her tongue into his mouth, shuddering as his fingers slipped into her.
Her legs trembled. She fell to her knees, Jack staying with her. In a frenzy, she tugged open his belt, unbuttoned the waist of his trousers, jerked his zipper down. His trim belly sucked in as she clawed at the band of his shorts. She pulled the band toward her. The shiny head of his erection sprang out. In a fever, she tugged his pants to his knees. Her fingers encircled him, slid down, feeling the heat and thickness of his shaft.
Jack’s hand went away. It was slick on her back as he lowered her to the soft nap of the carpet. He braced himself above her, his open shirt hanging down, caressing her sides. She stroked his back. Her fingers dug in as she felt the touch of his penis. Then he was lower, pushing gently, easing into her, sliding in deeper and deeper.
Her fingers relaxed and she sighed, savoring the fullness. She felt possessed, as if the penis had penetrated her hidden center and made her somehow a part of Jack. Raising her knees high, she felt it move farther into her. She worked muscles, tightening herself around the shaft, wanting it to stay forever.
It withdrew, but only to push in again. And then it was thrusting, sliding almost out, plunging as if in need of a deeper connection, jolting her body as it rammed.
Jack lowered himself. His chest mashed her breasts. His mouth covered hers. His tongue shoved it. Dani felt it thick and wet in her mouth, probing while his erection filled her below.
It was suddenly too much. She jerked taut, gasping, and as her body quaked with release she felt Jack throb inside her, felt his spurting rush of semen.
He lay heavily on her as they both tried to catch their breath. When he tried to raise himself, Dani hugged him tightly and wrapped her legs around him. ‘Stay,’ she whispered.
‘Don’t want to crush you.’
‘It’s fine.’ She lay motionless, comfortable beneath his weight, feeling him still inside her where he belonged like a part of her own body.
She felt incomplete when he finally withdrew, but his presence remained like a warm imprint and she still held his fluid like a gift left behind.
She sat up carefully. It rolled inside her. It trickled down her thighs as she hurried to the bathroom.
The rest of the house was dark when she stepped out. She stood near the door, staring down the corridor. Fear crawled up her back.
‘Jack?’
A pale figure appeared near the foyer.
‘Is that you?’
‘I hope so.’
‘Did you turn the lights out?’
‘Do you want them back on?’
‘No. It just . . . gave me a little scare.’
He came up the dark corridor, and Dani was pleased to find him still naked. She raised her arms. He stepped into them and pulled her gently against her body. His hands glided down her back, held her buttocks.
‘Will you stay the night?’
‘If you want.’
‘I want.’
‘Good.’
She turned off the bathroom light. Taking Jack’s hand, she led him to her bedroom. Its curtains were open, letting moonlight in through the sliding glass door.
‘I’ll close that,’ she said.
They crossed the room. She started to pull her hand away, but Jack kept his grip. ‘Let me look at you in the moonlight,’ he whispered.
Dani nodded. They stepped close to the glass and faced one another. Though all she could see of Jack’s eyes were glinting specks, she felt his gaze like a soft caress. Her skin tingled. Her nipples rose erect. A warm rush surged through her.
She studied Jack. Naked in the moonlight, he looked like a bearded giant. His shoulders were broad, his arms and chest bulging with muscle, his belly lean. He stood with his sturdy legs slightly spread. His dark sac hung between them. His penis was pale and rising.
‘You’re quite a hunk,’ she said.
His laughter burst out. He lunged at Dani, grabbed her arms and swung her toward the bed. The mattress caught her behind the knees, and she sprawled backwards, laughing. She yelped as he nibbled her thigh. Then they both were rolling on the bed. Straddling him, she pinned his arms down. He raised his head, licked her breast. No longer laughing, she relinquished her
hold on his wrists and scooted down, rubbing his chest. She flinched with the shock of desire as her anus rammed the blunt stake of his erection. She raised herself, felt it slide along her other opening, and drove backwards, gasping as she impaled herself.
She pressed her face against Jack’s chest. She nuzzled the matted hair with her cheek, listening to the thunder of his heart and suddenly she felt her insides shrivel.
A dark figure was pressed against the glass door, staring in.
Him!
His fingers clawed the glass.
‘Jack,’ she whispered.
She scurried free, rolled aside, and Jack sprang for the door. Sitting up, she saw that the intruder had already vanished. Jack tugged the door. With a low curse, he clacked open its latch. Then he jerked it again. This time, it rumbled open. He stepped outside and looked both ways.
Dani raced forward. She stopped at the open door.
‘Gone,’ Jack said.
‘Come back in. There’s no point chasing him.’
‘Fuckin’ maniac.’
She stepped out, shivering as the cool night air wrapped her body, and placed a hand on Jack’s shoulder. ‘Come on.’
He suddenly flinched.
‘What?’
Raising an arm, he pointed toward the swimming pool. The black rippling water was dappled with bright specks of moonlight. ‘I don’t . . .’ Her guts knotted. ‘What is it?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe you’d better go inside.’
She shook her head and crossed her arms over the gooseflesh of her breasts.
Together, they walked alongside the pool toward the deep end and the thing on the diving board.
They reached the corner.
‘A paper bag?’ Jack whispered.
‘But what’s in it?’
‘Wait here,’ Jack said.
Dani waited, shivering. She pressed her palms to her rigid nipples and closed her legs tightly against a need to urinate.
Jack hesitated at the foot of the diving board. He turned around, scanning the darkness. Then he climbed up. He walked out over the water, the board vibrating slightly. Then he crouched down. He picked up the bag. The weight inside made its paper pull and crackle.
Holding it away from his body, Jack unfolded the top. He peered in.