“ You said it was a matter of life and death,” the young woman said, “did it end up life?”
“ No.”
“ I’m sorry.” She slid behind the wheel of the Porsche and slowly drove down the hill.
“ Is he dead?” Rick asked.
“ He wasn’t there. He was never there.”
“ Maybe he meant my bathroom.”
Judianne ran across the clearing to the other house with Rick on her heels. They flew through the kitchen, dining and living rooms and up the steps to the second floor. She pushed the door open and saw J.P., tied by the neck to the water faucet, naked, with his hands covering his private parts and a sheepish grin on his face.
“ It was easy,” he said, “once I figured it out. I pulled the plug.”
“ I’ll get a knife, honey.” Judianne dashed from the bathroom to the kitchen below.
She was back in an instant, handing Rick the knife and Rick sliced through the noose that bound J.P. to the tub, and then he handed him a large bath towel, which the boy wrapped around himself.
“ Where’s the Ragged Man?” J.P. asked.
“ Dead.”
“ Did you kill him?”
“ I hurt him, but your mother finished him off.”
“ He killed my birds.”
“ I know.”
“ Did he kill ’em all?”
“ Yeah.”
“ Dancer, too?”
“ I’m afraid so.”
“ He was a bad man. He killed my dad.”
“ He killed a lot of people.”
Judianne couldn’t take it anymore. She held her arms out for a hug, but before he could fall into her embrace, she heard the meow of a small kitten.
“ Oh, look!” J.P. darted past his mother. For a second he could have sworn the kitten’s dark eyes flashed red, but he paid it no mind as he scooped it up and snuggled it to his face.
He turned and smiled at Rick and Judianne and asked, “Can I keep him?”