Endless Night

  When he came to the back of her knee, he sucked hard on the gash.

  Jody flinched and swung her head around and looked up at Andy.

  The boy seemed transfixed.

  “Don’t let him!” Jody gasped. “Shoot him!”

  Right. Shoot him with an empty gun.

  “You’d like to do this, too, wouldn’t you?” Simon asked, his voice soft and sweet. “Look at her lovely ass. Mmm.”

  Jody felt him kiss one buttock, then the other. Then his tongue slid down her crack.

  “For God’s sake, Andy!”

  The front of Andy’s pajama pants now jutted out.

  “Don’t let him. Please.”

  “Stop,” Andy said. He didn’t sound as if he meant it. His voice was a quiet monotone. “You’d better stop, mister.”

  Simon bit her right buttock.

  The pain was odd and familiar. She knew it from sliding into bases. A pain that hurt but also made you feel like giggling. She felt a thickness in her throat. Tears blurred her vision. She lowered her head and started to cry.

  Simon’s teeth clamped her other buttock.

  Bam!

  She jerked. Simon’s teeth released her, this time without biting.

  Jody blinked tears from her eyes and raised her head. Andy had the pistol pointed at Simon. She twisted her head around.

  Simon, on his knees between her legs, was straightening himself up from the waist. His hands were by his sides. The knife was in the sheath hanging from his belt. He had a surprised look in his eyes. His face was all bloody—the tip of his nose, his lips and cheeks. Blood even dripped off his chin.

  He’s shot through the mouth!

  Wait, she thought. No. He couldn’t have been shot through the mouth. Not with my butt in his teeth.

  Then where ... ?

  Nowhere, that’s where.

  If he’d been shot, he probably wouldn’t be grinning.

  His front teeth were bloody.

  “Told you it was loaded,” Andy said. He didn’t sound so strange, now. Almost like normal, but not quite. “I was here before. I was here when you had Jody on the bed. That’s when I got the gun. But it was empty, so then I had to go to Jody’s room for the other magazine.”

  “Very clever,” Simon said. “You know, I could use a smart young man like you. We could team up. How would you like that? Just imagine.”

  “Shoot him, damn it! What’d you do, fire a warning shot? You should’ve blown his head off!”

  “I was afraid I’d hit you,” he mumbled.

  “You won’t hit me now! Shoot him! He killed my dad! He killed your mom and dad. And Evelyn. He ...”

  “That isn’t true, Andy. I’ll take some blame for shooting Jody’s old man, but he didn’t give me any choice. It was a pure and simple case of self-defense. As for your family, I had nothing to do with it.”

  “That’s a lie!” Jody blurted. “We saw you. You’re one of the guys that chased us. You had me on the grass.”

  “I’m not saying I wasn’t there,” Simon explained. “But I was there to stop the others. I wanted to prevent them ...”

  “Liar!” She swung her head around and looked up at Andy. He still had the pistol aimed at Simon. He was frowning. He looked befuddled. The front of his pajamas still stuck out, but not so far as before. “Don’t listen to him, Andy. He’s trying to mess up your head.”

  “The fact is, I killed the men who murdered your family. Did you know that?”

  “And you know why he killed them, too,” Jody said. “He didn’t do it for you. It had nothing to do with that.”

  “But I did kill them, Andy. I made them pay. I killed every last one of them.”

  “Shoot him, damn it!”

  Andy shook his head. “I wanta know where he took the bodies, first.”

  “Whose bodies?” Simon asked.

  “My mom and dad and sister.”

  “I didn’t take them anywhere. I was left behind to deal with you and Jody. But I know what was usually done with bodies. I know where we buried the parts we didn’t want anymore. I can take you there. Not if you shoot me, though.”

  “Do it!” Jody blurted.

  Andy again shook his head. “I wanta know how he did it, too.”

  Simon grinned. “How I did what, amigo?”

  Jody shoved at the floor to push herself up.

  Simon gave her rump a single, hard spank. The swat landed where he’d bitten her. The blast of pain made her whole body spasm. She gave a huge gasp. She was suddenly limp on the floor, panting for air, weeping.

  God, Andy! Andy! Are you gonna let him do that to me?

  “You didn’t have to do that,” Andy muttered.

  “She was interfering with us. Sometimes, you have to be a little rough with these bitches. You know? And do you know what else? They like it. Turns ’em on. Now. What else is it that you want me to explain?”

  “You were supposed to be dead. That’s how come we came back. So how ... one of the burned guys wasn’t you, huh?”

  “Five of the burned guys weren’t me.” Simon sounded very cheerful.

  “Who was it that was supposed to be you?”

  “Guess.”

  “I don’t wanta guess. And I don’t want you hurting Jody anymore, either. So just don’t move. Talk, but stay still or I will shoot you.”

  “Wouldn’t you like to have Jody turn over? Wouldn’t you like to see ... ?”

  “Shut up. How did you trick us?”

  “How much do you know?”

  “Sergeant Fargo heard your tapes. He told us all about them.”

  “Did he? I knew he was rambling on and on about something, but...”

  “What do you mean? You were here?”

  “In the attic. Sitting quiet as a mouse. Ever since ... oh, some time before sunrise this morning.”

  “You were here all day?”

  “Oh, yes. Sitting up there in the dark and the heat, all by my lonesome, all day long and into the night.”

  “How’d you get in the house?”

  He chuckled. “Why, I came in through the kitchen window. The same way I entered when I paid my first visit. Pretty smart, don’t you think? Nobody even considered the possibility that I might be in the house today. Did you?”

  “They all said you were supposed to be dead.”

  “Just as I planned it. You see, I was very careful to point out on my tapes that there would be four fellows in the garage. You didn’t hear the tapes, though. Right?”

  “Right.”

  “If you had heard them, you might remember a point soon after I left Indio—and before I kidnaped my fake Jody—when I mentioned wishing I’d thought to grab Dusty’s bulletproof vest.”

  “Didn’t hear about that,” Andy said.

  “Well, it’s there. Now, here’s one of my little tricks. Paying attention? Just after talking about how I wished I’d taken Dusty’s vest, I turned off my recorder. And I found a freeway exit. And I turned around and drove all the way back to Indio. I went straight back to the house where I’d killed Dusty and Ranch and the kid.”

  “Henry?” Andy asked.

  “Right. Henry. Henry the kid, not Henry the hound. Well, everything was just the way I’d left it. Only hotter and stinkier.” He chuckled. “Anyway, here’s what I did. I took Dusty’s bulletproof vest—which I later wore underneath my shirt when I went into the garage to kill Tom and the rest of them. Not only that, but I also took Henry’s body out to my car and locked it in the trunk. Right in broad daylight. Very risky, very exciting. A little risk spices things up, you know—makes things tastier. Risk is the mustard on the hot dog of life.

  “He was in my trunk all the way back to L.A. But he had some company after I grabbed the girl. You should’ve seen her, Andy. She sure didn’t enjoy being shut up in the trunk in the dark with that boy. Talk about freaking out! You should’ve heard her screams! When I pulled her out to fuck her in the desert, she was all covered with blood and shit from the kid. It was incredib
le. I’d probably have to give her a ten, when it comes right down to it.

  “Of course, she wasn’t anywhere near as hot as our Jody here. Have you ever seen a better-looking girl than our Jody?”

  “Don’t talk about her like that.”

  “It turns you on.”

  “Does not. Shut up. What happened at the garage?”

  “Oh, it was choice. It was choice, Andy. First off, I made sure the tapes were just right—really hammed it up so it’d look like I went in expecting to bite it. And of course I never mentioned one word about wearing Dusty’s vest or having an extra stiff in the trunk. The whole idea was to trick the cops into thinking I was dead along with the other guys. So you’d come back to L.A. Not you. Jody. It was all for Jody.

  “I wanted her, pure and simple. Well, maybe not quite so pure, huh? But I had to have her, that’s the thing. She’s spectacular. So gorgeous and sweet... and innocent. But you know that, Andy. You want her as much as I do, don’t you?”

  Andy didn’t answer.

  Jody knew the answer.

  Andy wanted her. She had no doubt at all about that.

  Yeah, he does. Sure, he does. But he’s not like this guy. He’s just a kid, a horny kid. He wants me, but he won’t go for this sort of stuff.

  Not Andy.

  “This gal was naked, the same as Jody. Only like a dumpy version of her. She wasn’t any dog, but she wasn’t a fox, either. You know? What do you say we turn Jody over? I know you wanta see what’s up front.”

  “Don’t,” Jody said. She didn’t look up, didn’t move at all, just lay stretched out, arms crossed under her face, and spoke her word at the carpet.

  She hoped the small protest wouldn’t cause Simon to smack her again.

  She waited for the blow.

  “She doesn’t need to turn over,” Andy said.

  “A little later, maybe.”

  “You went in the garage with Karen in front of you for a shield?”

  “Was that her name, Karen?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Hmm. Anyway, yes. And they were waiting for us. Mitch opened the door and stepped back to let us in. I had my left arm across the gal’s neck. Karen? My right hand was behind her back, where the guys couldn’t see it. I had a .45 automatic in it. And I had Dusty’s magnum shoved down the front of my skirt. And like I said, she was naked. Not that Mitch or Chuck could give a rat’s ass—couple of fruits—but I knew it’d perk up Clement and Tom.

  “Soon as we were in the garage, I spotted Lisa. My fiancée. She was hanging by her wrists. You could see they’d done a few things to her. She had a lot of welts and stuff ... clothes pins clipped to her nipples ... They’d shaved her, burned her with cigarettes. Matter of fact, they’d done a lot to her. A lot of really cool stuff. Pissed me off. But they hadn’t done any real mutilations, you know? They’d had fun with her, but they hadn’t totally fucked her up.

  “When she saw me come in, she gave me this really nasty look. Like I was to blame, or something.

  “Anyway, I told the guys that this gal I had was Jody. She couldn’t claim she wasn’t, since I’d busted her jaw back there in the desert. Then I said I had Andy’s body out in the trunk of my car.”

  “Me?” Andy muttered.

  “Sure, they wanted you dead. And I could’ve killed you, Andy. I had my chances. I had you and Jody both in my rifle sights when you were at that motel in Indio.”

  “You did?”

  “Sure. But I didn’t fire. I liked you, so I decided to give them Henry’s body instead of yours. Anyway, everything went along slick as snot. When I told about having you in the trunk, Mitch and Chuck were all set to go out and get you. The thing is, they were pretty sure to know Henry wasn’t you. These guys were with me Friday night, chasing you and Jody around. They hadn’t seen you up close, but they weren’t likely to be fooled by this kid in the trunk, who was pretty big and husky. So I figured I’d better go into action while they were still in the garage.

  “I gave that gal Karen a shove, sent her flying. She hadn’t even hit the floor yet before I had guns in both my hands. Man, I took those suckers totally by surprise. They didn’t know whether to shit or go blind. None of ‘em even got their hands on a weapon. I just blew them all down. It was choice, Andy. Took me about two seconds, and all four of ’em were spread out dead on the floor. Not even Eastwood could’ve done a sweeter job on those asswipes.

  “But then I’ve got this bitch Karen making a run for it. I was out of ammo. So I went chasing after her, meanwhile digging into my shirt pocket for my Derringer. I hadn’t used it yet, so it had two shots in it. I missed with the first shot, so then I waited until I was right on her heels. She was way out on the driveway by then. I plugged her smack in the back. Man! It was great. You ever kill a gal, Andy? It’s a trip. Nothing like it. You’ll see.”

  “You didn’t kill her,” Andy said.

  “Shut up,” Jody said.

  “What do you mean, I didn’t kill her?”

  Jody raised her head. Andy still had the pistol aimed toward Simon. He still had a jut in the front of his pajama pants, too. “Don’t say another word, Andy. Do you want him to go and try to finish ... ?”

  Simon swatted the back of her head.

  “Hey!” Andy blurted.

  “Come on, let’s do her!” Simon clutched Jody’s upper arms and pulled, hoisting her off the floor. As she came up onto her knees, they skidded on the carpet until she bumped his body. He hooked his left arm across her throat and jerked her tight against him.

  “Look at her, Andy. Look at her.”

  He didn’t need any urging. His gaze was already fixed on Jody’s breasts.

  Simon’s right arm reached around in front of her. Reached all the way across to her left breast. Cupped its underside. Squeezed it.

  Jody tried to struggle, but quit when he tightened his choke-hold.

  “I’ll hold her still for you,” Simon said. “Come here and feel her. Have you ever touched a tit? Come here. See how sweaty and shiny it is? Come here. Touch. It’s all slick and hot and springy.” Simon squeezed it a few times quickly. “You want to do that, don’t you? How would you like to kiss it? How about sucking it? You could suck this baby into your mouth, fill your mouth with it, flick the nipple with your tongue, chew on it. Wouldn’t you just love to chew on it, Andy? Suck and chew while you shove that cock of yours way up...”

  “You’re strangling her. Quit it.”

  The arm across Jody’s throat eased off slightly. “Sorry. You’re in charge, Andy. You’re totally in charge. I’ll do anything you say. Consider me your servant. I’ll hold her still while you do anything you want. Okay?”

  Keeping the pistol aimed at Simon’s face, Andy used the back of his other hand to rub his lips. His eyes had stayed locked on Jody’s breasts except for a few times when they glanced lower. From the moment she’d been pulled to her knees, he hadn’t looked once at her face.

  “Come on, Andy,” Simon said. “There’s no reason to hold off. Nobody’ll ever know about this. You’ve got a magnificent boner, there. You don’t wanta let it go to waste, do you? How would you like to have Jody suck on that for you? Easy as pie. Just drop your PJs and take two giant steps forward. She’ll be happy to open up wide for you. Show him how you open up wide, Jody.”

  She clamped her teeth together.

  “Is that any way to behave?”

  Simon twisted her nipple. Her mouth sprang open.

  Andy fired.

  Chapter Forty-four

  Jody and Simon both cried out in pain through the crack of the gunshot. Abruptly, Simon quit twisting her nipple. His left arm jerked hard against her throat.

  It had to be a head shot.

  With his chin on Jody’s right shoulder, his head was the only part of Simon that wasn’t shielded.

  He’d been shot, so he must’ve been hit in the head.

  But instead of falling away behind her, he slammed her forward straight at Andy’s legs. Andy gasped. Jody thre
w her arms out to catch herself. Her hands pounded the floor. She tried to prop herself up but Simon’s weight on her back was too much for her. Her arms buckled. He drove her down hard against the floor as he scurried over her.

  Why wasn’t Andy still firing?

  Afraid he’ll hit me?

  “Shoot him!” Jody gasped. “Shoot! Shoot!”

  Simon’s shoe scuffed her cheek.

  Raising her head, she saw him plow headfirst into Andy’s stomach. Though lifted off his feet by the blow, Andy kept hold of the pistol.

  Its muzzle was pointed at Jody.

  It swung toward Simon’s side as Andy was rushed backward out of the bedroom.

  “Shoot him!” Jody yelled.

  Simon slammed Andy against the hallway wall and the pistol dropped to the floor.

  Jody scrambled for it.

  Eyes on Simon.

  And couldn’t believe her eyes.

  No!

  Andy, pinned against the wall by Simon’s forearm across his throat, bucked and twitched as Simon’s other hand punched the hunting knife into his belly again and again.

  Blood washed out over Simon’s thrusting hand.

  Jody slapped her right hand down on the pistol.

  Simon, whirling around, kicked her in the forehead.

  “Wake up, babe. Wake up, now. It’s all over. Everything’s fine.”

  Jody felt soft, moist lips against her mouth.

  She felt a bed beneath her back.

  Opening her eyes, she saw that it was Andy kissing her. Had it been Andy’s voice?

  She wasn’t sure. But it was definitely Andy kissing her.

  This isn’t right, she thought. He shouldn’t be kissing me like this. He’s only twelve and ...

  And I saw Simon kill him.

  No, that must’ve been a nightmare, because this is Andy for sure.

  Something funny about him, though.

  About the way his weight was pressing down on her. Something not quite right about that. And something very wrong about how a whole lot of drips were splashing her just below her neck.

  Her mind seemed fuzzy, though. Dull and numb.