Diane heard slapping sounds and more yelling.
‘‘Mr. Delaflote... Mrs. Delaflote?’’ Diane called out. ‘‘Is that you?’’
‘‘Who is that? Who knows our name? Get away from here. You’ll make them mad. Don’t make my flowers mad. Tell them I didn’t let him get away.’’
Diane heard a rattling coming from her bedroom door. She stepped out of the closet and grabbed one of the curtain rods. She slipped the other one under the bed. She turned out the lights in the room and stood off to the side, ready to strike.
The door opened an inch.
‘‘Diane?’’
‘‘Kingsley?’’ she said.
Diane turned on the light. Kingsley slipped in and Diane closed the door behind him.
‘‘How did you get in here? For that matter, how did you get out of your room?’’ she asked.
‘‘I picked the lock. These old locks are easy for a clever fellow like me. Granted, it’s not as clever as putting a cell phone under a dresser.’’ He grinned at her. He looked better than he had at dinner.
‘‘How are you feeling?’’ she asked.
‘‘I’ve had better days, but I’m all right,’’ he assured her.
‘‘I think I’ve found Ma and Pa Delaflote,’’ she said.
‘‘Really? Are they alive?’’ he said.
‘‘Alive, but payback is definitely a bitch. He hasn’t aged gracefully.’’ she said. Diane told him about the encounter. ‘‘They are right behind that wall.’’ She pointed into the closet.
‘‘Damn. Did the girls lock them both up, or . . . or what?’’ he said.
‘‘I think so,’’ said Diane. ‘‘I’m not really sure. It looked like only Mr. Delaflote wanted to escape.’’
‘‘I like your weapon, by the way,’’ he said.
Diane fished out the other side of the curtain rod and gave it to him.
‘‘I had curtain rods. I should have thought of this,’’ he said.
‘‘You picked the locks,’’ said Diane. ‘‘We have weapons and I have a lot of false bravado. So now what’s the plan?’’
‘‘See if we can find a way out. My windows are nailed shut, are yours?’’
‘‘Yes,’’ she told him.
‘‘Let’s see if we can find a back stairway,’’ he said.
They peeked into the hallway. Empty. They stepped into the corridor, closed the door behind them, and walked gently to a door across the hall and tried to open it. It was locked. They tried another one. Locked as well. They made their way to the stairway they had originally come up with Iris. The two of them stopped and listened. Diane wondered if they could hear her heart pounding. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath.
They heard voices, but none near. They were muffled and sounded heated. The triplets were having an argument. Good, thought Diane.
‘‘Should we try to get out the front door? Back door?’’ whispered Diane.
‘‘Do you remember if the steps squeaked as we came up?’’ he asked softly.
Diane thought for a moment. ‘‘Yes, but maybe if we stick close to the wall they won’t squeak as much. The house must make noises all the time. I don’t understand why they didn’t hear Ma and Pa just now. Maybe they won’t hear us.’’
Diane led the way. Kingsley followed close behind. They hugged the wall with each step. So far, so good. When Diane entered the house she had been relieved to find it bright and well lit. Now she wished it were dark. Each time the steps creaked, a tremor of fear went though her. The lightheartedness she felt when she first saw Kingsley was giving way to dread.
As they descended the staircase the voices grew louder and clearer.
‘‘None of this is his fault, Iris. He made the best decisions he could. It isn’t his fault he ran across that Diane person. She figured this out. I think she would have anyway, even if Joey had made no mistakes. She knew too much about you... about us.’’
‘‘That doesn’t matter now,’’ said an identical voice. ‘‘We need to get out of here and quickly. Whatever we do with them, the marshals are going to come anyway.’’
‘‘This has gone so wrong.’’
‘‘You did this, Iris. This is your mess.’’
‘‘You don’t mind spending the money.’’
Diane couldn’t distinguish the voices; they all sounded like Clymene.
The triplets were in the dinning room and the door was closed. Diane motioned to the back of the house. Kingsley nodded. They tiptoed past the door and down a hallway to the back, where Diane hoped to find the kitchen and a knife along the way out.
Through a set of double doors they walked into the kitchen. It was a modern kitchen with a large island in the middle. There was a breakfast nook in the corner. Joey was sitting with his back to them, eating a bowl of ice cream.
He heard the noise, turned around toward them, and looked startled at the sight, but he was slow to react. Diane ran at him, using her curtain rod as a lance. She didn’t think it would do much more than stun him, but she put her momentum behind it. She aimed for his chest. He dodged, and the point of her improvised spear punched into his throat and he fell to the floor gagging on ice cream. She and Kingsley rushed past him for the door.
‘‘Can you run?’’ asked Diane as they went down the outside steps.
‘‘What does it look like?’’ he said. ‘‘Do you know where we’re going?’’
‘‘Head for the woods,’’ she said.
They ran across the field that Diane had seen when they drove up. It was bordered by a tall wire fence she might be able to climb over, but it was too tall for Kingsley in his condition. She spotted a gap under the fence where it crossed a shallow ditch. They ran for it. It was a low opening, big enough for animals to get through, but was it big enough for them?
They made it to the fence. Diane kicked at briars that grew into the wire. She lay down on her back and wiggled into the opening, pushing at the fence, trying to make the hole larger. After what seemed like too long, she pulled herself out the other side of the fence. She turned to help Kingsley. That’s when she saw the triplets running across the pasture after them. Joey wasn’t with them. Two were carrying guns.
Kingsley lay on his back and wiggled from side to side under the fence as far as he could. He reached for Diane with his good arm. She locked arms with him and pulled hard as he wiggled and pushed with his feet. She knew he was in pain but they both ignored it as he strained to get under the fence. Finally he slid through and stumbled to his feet.
‘‘Run like hell,’’ said Diane.
They ran. Diane heard shots and saw the ground spit out a piece of turf several feet from her. The stand of trees she was aiming for wasn’t tall and thick like Georgia woods, but it would have to do.
Diane ran faster and realized she was leaving Kingsley behind. She slowed down and grabbed him by the arm.
‘‘Go on,’’ he said.
‘‘No, come on. Run as hard as you can. They can’t get under the fence easily in those dresses. We have to get out of range of their guns. You can rest up when we’re safe; now, get the lead out,’’ she said.