Endless Night Part 66

"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 s.h.i.+eld?"

"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 a.s.s-couple of fruits-but I knew it'd perk up Clement and Tom.

"Soon as we were in the garage, I spotted Lisa. My fiancee. 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. p.i.s.sed me off. But they hadn't done any real mutilations, you know? They'd had fun with her, but they hadn't totally f.u.c.ked 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 s.h.i.+t 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 a.s.swipes.

"But then I've got this b.i.t.c.h Karen making a run for it. I was out of ammo. So I went chasing after her, meanwhile digging into my s.h.i.+rt 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 b.u.mped 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 b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

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 t.i.t? Come here. See how sweaty and s.h.i.+ny 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 c.o.c.k 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 b.r.e.a.s.t.s 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. n.o.body'll ever know about this. You've got a magnificent b.o.n.e.r, 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 s.h.i.+elded.

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 threw 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 splas.h.i.+ng her just below her neck.

Her mind seemed fuzzy, though. Dull and numb.

Before she could figure out anything at all, Andy's lips stopped pressing against hers. She watched his face glide away. As it moved, so did the drips. They pattered lower on her chest, down between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

And then she saw the hands against the sides of Andy's head, the raw and stringy stump of his neck.

Gimme a break, she thought.

Can't be.

But it is, oh yes. It sure is.

Then she heard herself start to scream.

She thrashed and squirmed. Someone was sitting across her hips. And someone had tied her down. Her arms and legs were spread wide, stretched out toward the four comers of her father's bed, bound at the wrists and ankles.

When she ran out of breath, she screamed again.

Andy's head moved aside and Simon grinned down at her.

Andy's bullet hadn't missed him. It had cut a b.l.o.o.d.y furrow straight back from the comer of Simon's right eye and across his temple, then knocked a hole through his ear. A fraction of an inch more to the right, and it would've missed him completely. A fraction more to the left would've put the bullet into his eye and killed him.

Even as Jody kept on screaming, a part of her mind remained rational enough to consider what a close shot it had been.

If Andy's aim had been just slightly better ...

If he'd fired a few more rounds yesterday ...

"Hey!" Simon yelled. "Quiet! What do you wanta do, wake the dead?"

When she didn't stop screaming, he shoved Andy's neck down against her mouth. It was wet and spongy except for the bone of the spinal column that sc.r.a.ped against the edge of her lower teeth. The neck m.u.f.fled her scream. And then the draining fluids choked her.

Simon lifted the head and smiled as she coughed.

"He was so hot for you," Simon said. "Missed his chance, though. I was gonna let him all over you. He would've had the time of his life, the stupid f.u.c.k." Simon turned the head around and brought it close to his face. "You stupid little f.u.c.k! You blew it! You were too f.u.c.kin' dumb to live!" Then he twisted sideways and hurled Andy's head. It crashed against the bedroom wall, bounced off, and thudded against the carpeted floor. It left a bright red smudge on the wallpaper.

Simon held his open hands toward Jody's face.

They were gloved with blood.

"You ever seen so much blood? Whose do you figure it is? Your dad's? Andy's? Mine? Yours? Like a multiple choice test, huh? Answer's gotta be E, all of the above." He turned his hands over. "A little blood from everyone, don't you think? Sort of a party mix." A grin spreading his mouth, he lowered his hands to Jody's b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

From the feel, he might've been rubbing lotion on her. His hands were slidy and sticky. They circled, caressed, patted, squeezed and tugged.

They made wet snicking sounds.

He was watching his hands at work. As he watched, he writhed against Jody where he sat on her.

And he moaned.