“Carmelo would have done worse, but I pretended to have a heart attack and pass out. Remember me saying he’s not as dumb as he acts? In some ways, he’s dumber because he’s greedy. What about the police?”
“Theo took my phone,” I said and went past him to check the ignition. “Do you have a key hidden?”
“Not in a rental vehicle. My hands… I lost feeling an hour ago. Untie me. I can’t take much more. Oh-and my glasses. I need my glasses. They’re somewhere on the counter.”
“Any idea where they parked my SUV?”
“It’s all a blur, dear.”
I retrieved the box cutter from the sack and knelt. As I did, Belton added in a sheepish way, “Sorry about the mess. They blew some kind of drug up my nose. My bladder turned traitor. Nothing I could do.”
Through the knees of my jeans, I could feel that the carpet was wet. “Hold still so I don’t cut you,” I said. They had used tie wraps on his wrists and ankles. Snip-snip and he was free. I helped him set up. “Can you walk?”
“Give me a second. What about my glasses?”
Two minutes later he got to his feet, hobbled from the back of the RV to the front but had to stop twice to steady himself. Then almost fell again when he pulled on a clean polo, even buttoned two buttons.
“I’m practically a cripple.”
“You’re better than when you started. It’ll take a few minutes.”
“No police, huh?”
“We need to get moving. Theo doesn’t know I’m loose. But he will. In fact, he probably knows already.”
“Then they’ll come looking. I’ll be fine now that I’ve got some blood circulating. The smart thing to do is, I stay here while you go get help.”
“Not a chance,” I said, although in truth that’s exactly what I yearned to do-run for my life. If I made it to the river, I could swim if there wasn’t a canoe or boat to steal. No point in telling him I’d been darted, that my mind was a jumble of fear, constantly scanning for new symptoms.
He sensed my distress and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Hannah, dear, I’ll be eighty-one in December. My wife is dead and… and my only child is dead. So-”
“Stop that kind of talk right now. We’re leaving together.” I went toward the door and peered through the frosted window. “What about weapons? I don’t suppose you have a gun or an axe or anything we could use?”
Up until then, the man had sounded coherent but feeble. My question changed that. “If I did, I’d send you on your way and kill both those sons of bitches.”
When he added, “It’s a long story,” I thought, He came here looking for revenge.
True or not, his story would have to wait. “Come on. You can use my shoulder as a brace.”
Belton, sheepish again, said, “I’ve got clean slacks if there’s time.”
There wasn’t, which I was about to tell him when I saw in the frosted window someone approaching: a black silhouette, hunch-shouldered and moving with an odd loping gait.
No… not someone, something. Our visitor had distinctive ears, like two clamshells tacked to his head-chimpanzee ears. Oliver or the other one, Savvy, was tracking me but hadn’t yet settled on the camper.
I whispered, “Don’t make a sound,” and stupidly felt for the broken latch on a door that couldn’t be locked.
“Is it Carmelo?”
I hushed him with a hiss while I took the box cutter from the sack. Placed it beside me and got a firm grip on the doorknob using both hands.
I felt the camper shift with Belton’s weight. “A fillet knife-I forgot. There’s a knife in one of these drawers.”
“Quiet.”
Too late. Outside, the silhouette stopped… turned… listened. At the same instant, a drawer full of silverware clanged to the floor. I heard a grumbled “Damn,” then Belton made more noise by searching through the mess.
“Find that knife,” I whispered. “You’re going to need it.”
I expected the chimp to sprint immediately toward us, but he approached warily, limping on one bad leg. Carrying something in his hands, too-a bag, possibly. The combination struck me as more humanlike than monkeylike, but it certainly wasn’t Theo or Carmelo. And even if it was, there was no way I could hold the door closed if a man was determined to get in. We had to try something else.
“Go to the front of the camper,” I told Belton and pushed him along. “Did you find the knife?”
“A steak knife. And not a very good one… Who’s out there?”
“I’m not sure. We’ll wait until he’s inside the camper, then you jump out the driver’s-side door and hide. I’ll get him to follow me out the passenger side.”
“That’s crazy. How?”
“I don’t know. I’ll outrun him. Don’t worry, I’m faster than most people.”
“Hannah, I won’t use you as bait-”
“Please don’t argue.” The RV’s cab had twin captain’s chairs that swiveled. I took Belton by the shoulders, backed him into his chair, and turned him so he was closer to the door. A fire extinguisher was mounted next to the console. I popped the straps and freed it.
He said, “I should have thought of that.”
I hefted the canister-it was full-and removed the safety pin. “Don’t do anything until I tell you. Then try to get to the river. Theo has a canoe. Or said he did. I’ll meet you, but don’t wait if I’m not there. Or go to the road, if it’s easier, and flag someone down.” As I whispered, my eyes were fixed on the camper door. In one hand, I held the box cutter, razor out. In the other, the fire extinguisher.
Belton started to protest, but I hushed him, saying, “He’s coming in.”
Not quite, but the chimp-or whoever it was-was close enough to blacken the frosted window that had been silver with moonlight. My hip was braced against a bulkhead while my heart pounded. “Get ready,” I told Belton and walked toward the door.
“What are you doing?”
Watching the doorknob, is what I was doing. Watched the knob turn while something in me decided which was the better weapon, a razor blade or a pressurized steel canister? I slipped the box cutter into my jeans and backed away, the fire extinguisher in both hands. First I would blind our intruder with spray, then throw the empty canister. After that, run for my life-if I was able.
Slowly… slowly… the door swung open. A black silhouette spilled in with a gusting breeze. I sniffed the air, expecting the worst, while the RV shifted with our intruder’s weight.
I took another step back and hollered, “I’ve got a gun and I’ll use it.”
A voice I didn’t recognize responded, “No, Hannah, you don’t. But I won’t hurt you.” More like a growl, the voice was so deep.
“Think what you want,” I said, while Belton yelled, “We’re both armed. Get the hell away.”
The shadow retreated while the camper leveled itself. The door closed but then opened a moment later. Along with the breeze, the shadow reclaimed the room. “Stay away from the campground. The Gypsies will call Theo and they’ll be watching the roads. Don’t trust anyone.”
I was stunned. “You’re willing to help? Call the police, if you want to help us. Or tell me where my car is.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why? Who are you?” I stepped toward the door. “Come in before someone sees you.”
The silhouette retreated. “No closer. And no lights. Head for the river. You’ll have to climb the fence. There’s a boat with a half a tank of gas. A little aluminum boat. Pull start with a kicker. Hike straight west if you can’t find the path.”
“How do you know my name?”
“Because I do. On the river, go north. The campground is south and Theo will find out. Remember-north. You saw what happened to that little girl?”
Krissie, he meant. “Then call the police,” I said. “At least tell them what happened. If we go north, there’s nothing for miles.”