The Bone House Part 41

'I wish there was some other way,' Pete said.

'Hit me. Hard. You only get one try.'

Pete reared back with the rock and swung his gloved hand into his friend's forehead. The frozen spikes cut through Reich's skin, erupting in blood. Reich stumbled back at the force of the blow and nearly fell. He staggered. Pete dropped the rock and reached for his friend, but Reich shrugged him away.

'Get the h.e.l.l out of here.'

'Can you make it to the bar?'

Reich touched his hand to his cheek, where the warm blood was already freezing. He felt his words slurring as he tried to talk. He tasted copper on his lips. 'Just go. I'll join you as soon as I can, and we'll finish this. It's for Nettie and the boys, remember?'

Reich stayed where he was, bleeding in the field, until Pete climbed the shoulder and drove away. The car disappeared, its tail lights winking out, leaving Reich alone. He was losing blood fast. He took two clumsy steps toward the bar, which looked impossibly far. Briefly, he wondered if it would be better to lie down among the broken cornstalks and give himself up to the winter. He had a vision of his future, and it wasn't pretty. He had been the one to cross the line tonight, and there was no going back.

Even so, he quashed his doubts and marched for rescue like a wounded soldier.

'I saw what was left of him, Sheriff,' Cab said. 'The two of you didn't just kill him. You tortured him.'

'Torture is burning to death,' Reich replied. 'I've seen it happen to people I considered my enemies, and I didn't even wish it on them.'

'I saw the broken bones. The bullet holes.'

Reich shrugged. 'I don't regret what I did. Sometimes you have to take justice into your own hands.'

'Peter Hoffman regretted it, though, didn't he?'

'Pete got soft,' Reich said. 'He got old. The booze took over.'

'Or maybe he finally realized the two of you had become the monsters you were trying to destroy.'

'We did what we had to do,' Reich said.

'If you're so sure about that, why kill Hoffman to cover it up? Why not tell the world?'

'People like you don't understand,' he snapped. 'They don't appreciate the tough decisions that others make for them.'

Tresa pulled away from Cab and marched toward Reich through the wet ground. She swept the red hair from her face. 'You son of a b.i.t.c.h,' she hissed.

'Tresa, stay out of this,' Reich told her.

'All this time I thought Harris was alive. That made it OK. And now I find out you killed him. You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!'

'This doesn't concern you.'

'Who else knew?' she demanded. 'Did my mother know?'

'No one knew. Look, Tresa, you were a kid. Your father was dead, and Harris was there for you. That doesn't change what he did.'

Tresa pushed in close enough to spit in Reich's face. 'You're always right, aren't you? You're right about everything. You didn't believe me about Mark either. You wouldn't listen when I told you that nothing happened between us. Instead, you had to go about ruining his life.'

Reich wiped his face with his free hand. 'I'm sorry you had to find out about Harris, but if there's one good thing to come out of this, at least now you know what kind of a man Mark Bradley really is.' He jabbed a finger at Mark across the dark s.p.a.ce between the graves. 'He wanted you to think Harris Bone killed your sister, didn't he? Now you know that's a lie. He was the one out on the beach with her. He was the one who killed Glory.'

Tresa shook her head. 'You stupid macho jerk. All of you. You. Troy. Peter Hoffman. Everybody.'

She walked toward Mark. Reich shouted to stop her, and Mark put his hands up to warn her away, but Tresa put herself squarely between Mark and the sheriff, in the path of his gun, and spread her arms wide, if you want to kill him, now you'll need to kill me, too.'

Reich's face pulsed with fury and frustration. 'He's as evil as Harris was, Tresa. Don't be fooled.'

'You're the evil one,' Tresa said. 'You're the one who murdered an innocent man.'

'What the h.e.l.l are you talking about?' Reich growled.

'Don't you get it?' Tresa screamed at him. 'Harris Bone didn't kill his family. It wasn't him. He didn't start the fire.'

Chapter Fifty-One.

Gary Jensen heard Katie in the hallway.

His shoulders swiveled, and his eyes flicked away. That was Hilary's chance. She charged from her knees and leaped across the s.p.a.ce between them, driving Jensen backward into the wall. Her knee spiked into Jensen's groin, and he doubled over. She dove for his gun hand, but he swung the b.u.t.t of the gun and caught her on the bottom of her chin. The impact of metal on bone ricocheted in her brain. She staggered backward, tripping on the bed and falling as her left leg gave way beneath her.

Jensen, still bent over, aimed the barrel at her chest. Hilary was dizzy, but she saw his finger slide over the trigger. Just as he fired, she heard a shout and saw a blur of motion. Amy threw herself into Jensen's body, and as they collided, the gun went off with a deafening blast. The bullet tore into the wall over the bed, blasting through Sheetrock and kicking up a cloud of white dust. Amy and Jensen toppled on to the floor. They rolled over each other into the doorway, and Amy clutched Jensen's gun arm with both hands, holding it down. Jensen pummeled the girl's kidneys with his other fist, and Amy, who was still weak, lost her grip. Hilary climbed to her feet as Jensen broke free. She dodged sideways just as a second bullet narrowly roared past her ear, so close she felt a searing heat on her hair.

Jensen tried to get up, but Amy threw her dancer's leg backward, landing her heel on his wrist. His fingers went numb. The gun spilled from his hand and twirled as it skidded down the hallway. It landed in front of Katie, who picked it up. The coach threw an arm around Amy's neck and yanked the girl into his chest, squeezing off her air.

'Stop!' Katie screamed. Katie screamed.

She stood over them, the gun in her hand. Jensen loosened his grip. Coughing, Amy crawled away and pushed herself to her feet. Jensen stood up too, and fell heavily against the bedroom wall. He looked bruised and beaten.

Amy limped for Katie and threw her arms around her neck. She hugged her roommate with a smile of relief and then turned back toward Hilary.

'The two of you saved-' Amy began, but she never finished.

Katie lifted the gun and brought the b.u.t.t down solidly on to the back of Amy's skull. Amy took two shaken steps in confused disbelief, crumpled to her knees, and pitched forward on to her face, unconscious.

'Katie!' Hilary screamed. Hilary screamed.

The girl quickly aimed the gun at her.

'Don't move. Stay right there.'

Katie slid an arm around Gary Jensen's waist as he stretched his stiff muscles and twisted his neck. She pressed a quick, pa.s.sionate kiss on his lips. 'You OK?'

'I'm fine.'

'Katie, you're being a fool,' Hilary warned her. 'Don't trust this man. I don't know what he's told you, but he's dangerous.'

The girl gave her a peaceful smile. 'You've got Gary all wrong.'

'He's using you.'

'No, he's protecting me,' she said.

'Protecting you from what?'

Katie stared at Amy on the floor, and the smile washed away from her face. 'From who I was.'

Jensen checked his watch and tugged Katie's arm. 'The police will be here soon,' he said. 'We should go.'

'There's something we need to do first,' she told him.

Jensen stiffened with unease, and Hilary tried to read his face. She realized for the first time that she had it wrong. Jensen wasn't the one in control. He was in thrall to this girl. It was Katie whose eyes betrayed a terrible detachment. It was Katie who looked like fragile china, riven with cracks, ready to break apart.

'Katie, we don't have to do this,' Jensen said. 'Not now.'

'We don't have a choice.' 'Yes, we do. Forget about them. We can run.'

The girl's lips tightened into an angry line. 'I've been running my whole life. I'm done with it.'

'Give me the gun. I can protect us.'

'No, you can't.' Katie kissed Jensen again and pushed him toward the bedroom door. 'Don't lose your nerve now. We've come too far. Go downstairs and grab every alcohol bottle you can carry.'

'Katie, stop.' stop.'

'You know what we've been through. It's just one last thing. Then it's over. Then we're free.'

Hilary saw something in Jensen's eyes. Self-awareness. Self-hatred. He couldn't say no to this girl. A man who had destroyed his first marriage seducing teenagers had been seduced and manipulated himself.

'Hurry,' Katie told him, her voice insistent.

Jensen vanished toward the stairs without further protest. Amy remained motionless on the floor. Hilary was alone with Katie. The girl cradled the gun loosely in one hand and chewed a fingernail on her other hand. Her gla.s.ses slipped down her nose, and she stared at Hilary through the rain-dotted lenses.

'What's this all about?' Hilary asked.

Katie shrugged. 'Glory saw me in Florida.'

'Glory saw yow?'

Her head bobbed. 'She started to remember everything. I knew she wouldn't let it go. She'd tell someone. Gary didn't want me to do it, but I couldn't take the risk. I had to stop her.'

'You killed Glory? Katie, why?'

The girl got a faraway look in her eyes. 'Everyone used to call me Jen back then, but my father always called me Katie. That was my grandmother's name. I was Jennifer Katherine. That's the only part of me I have left from those days.'

Hilary's throat went dry with despair. 'You're Jen Bone. Harris's daughter.'

'I was. I stopped being that girl that night in Door County. I thought I would never have to be her again. Really. It was over and done. But then Glory saw me, and it all came back to her. She remembered being in the garage that night. She saw me light the fire.'

Chapter Fifty-Two.

'I never wanted to believe it,' Tresa said. 'I convinced myself I was wrong, you know? Everybody said Harris did it. He confessed. The thing is, I knew he would have done anything for Jen. He must have known she did it, but he took the blame. To protect her.'

Cab drew closer to the three of them, conscious of the gun in Reich's hand. He didn't know how far Reich would go to save himself. When he studied the sheriff's heavily shadowed face, he saw someone who was staring into the maw of a black hole, the way Cab himself had done in the storm cellar. He wondered whose face Reich saw looking up from the darkness. Harris Bone, screaming in agony for his life. Or Peter Hoffman, staring into the eyes of his friend as Reich shot him to death.

'Sheriff, put the gun down,' Cab said.

Reich ignored him. 'I don't believe this s.h.i.+t. Harris Bone was there. there. He admitted it. This is another of your fantasies, Tresa.' He admitted it. This is another of your fantasies, Tresa.'

'Jen was with me that night,' Tresa went on. 'We were up late writing our stories together. She was really keyed up. I'd never seen her so out of control. When I woke up in the middle of the night, I saw that she was gone. I figured she couldn't sleep, you know? Then I heard her come in. She was naked. She'd taken a shower, and her hair was wet, but I could still smell it.'

'Smell what?' Reich asked.

'Smoke.'

Reich's arm slowly sank, as if under a great weight. The gun slipped downward. He ran a hand over his bottlebrush hair, and his eyes were wide. 'Jesus,' he whispered.

'I didn't tell anyone. I mean, by morning, I wondered if I'd dreamed it. Everyone was saying Mr Bone was the one. I wanted to be wrong, you know? I did just what Mr Bone did. I protected Jen. Even after what Glory told me.'

'Glory?' Bradley asked her. 'What about Glory?'

Tresa nestled closer to him. 'We were in the hospital. Glory and me. She told me what she saw. It was Jen, through the window of the garage, lighting a cigarette. That was the only thing she remembered. And I knew she'd seen her. She'd seen Jen starting the fire.' The girl bowed her head and stared at her feet. 'I convinced Glory she'd imagined the whole thing. We never talked about it again. Not ever. Glory never talked about the fire or told anyone what she saw. It was like it had never happened, you know?'

'What about Florida?' Cab asked.

'Jen must have been there,' Tresa said. 'I never thought that was possible. I mean, she's not a dancer, you know? I never dreamed she would do something like that. I still don't know why.'

She saw someone she knew, Cab thought. Cab thought.

Jen Bone. Through the window at the hotel. The memories must have stormed back, carrying Glory away like a tsunami. He felt sorry for the girl, coming face to face with everything she'd spent six years trying to escape. Remembering what had really happened at the Bone house.

'When Mark said Hilary was in Green Bay, I knew,' Tresa murmured, 'I just knew. Jen goes to Green Bay. That man Gary Jensen, she wrote an article about him for the school paper last year. Peter Hoffman sent it to me. He thought I'd want to see it because it was about dancing. He told me Jen's roommate was a dancer just like me. It must be this girl Amy. The one you said disappeared.'

Bradley picked up Tresa under her shoulders and lifted the girl away from him, protecting her with his body. He was inches from Reich. 'Are you going to shoot me, Sheriff? If so, you better do it now, because if not, I'm leaving. I have to get the police to find my wife.'