Jack frowned. “Holy shit,” he said. “What are you doing here? Tyler? What happened?”
“They ran into another beast,” Abe said.
“Holy shit.”
“I laid it low,” said Captain Frank. “Blew it to kingdom come, matey.”
“Where’s Nora?”
“She’s okay,” Tyler said. “I think.”
“Where’s that girl?” Abe asked. “The one who tried to shoot us?”
“She’s my daughter, Sandy,” said the woman with the baby.
“We looked for her.” Jack shrugged. “Don’t know where she went.”
“Okay. Well, let’s get out of here.”
“The door’s still locked,” Jack said.
“Let’s shoot the lock.”
“I know where the key is,” said the woman with the baby. “I’ll get it. It’ll only take a second.”
“Okay,” Abe said.
She held out the baby to Jack. “Would you hold him? I’ll be right back.”
“Sure.”
“He’s Jud. Judgement Rucker Hayes.” Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke the name.
Jack took the baby and smiled down at it.
The woman started up the stairs.
“The key’s up there?” Abe asked. He sounded worried.
“No sweat,” Jack said. “Maggie’s out cold. She’ll be lucky if she makes it.”
“Okay. But don’t go close to her.”
The woman hurried up the stairs. At the top, she turned left and disappeared down the corridor.
“We’ll be out of here in a minute,” Abe said, and patted Tyler’s back.
The baby in Jack’s arms made gurgling sounds.
“He’s a cute little fellow, isn’t he?” Jack said. Smiling, the baby reached up and clenched his cheek. “You’re a toughie,” he said, and tickled Jud’s belly.
The mother appeared at the head of the stairs.
“Get the key?” Abe asked.
She nodded. She started down.
The front of her nightgown was dark and matted to her breasts. Her face was spattered and dripping.
“My God,” Abe muttered. He rushed up the stairs. Her arm stretched down to him. From her fingers dangled a thin chain.
“The key,” she said.
“What happened? Are you hurt?”
“No. I’m just fine. Just fine. She…Maggie…she murdered Jud. Jud. My…the father of my child.”
Abe stepped onto the stair beside her. He put an arm around her back.
“I used the knife.”
He led her down.
“Maggie used a knife on Jud, and I used a knife on her.”
“It’s all right,” Abe said.
“It felt right.”
“Maggie came to and attacked you when you went to get the key.”
“No. No, she…”
“That’s the story.”
“Oh.”
Abe unlocked the front door and opened it slowly. “We’re coming out,” he called to the policewoman on the lawn. “It’s all over.”
The woman holstered her weapon.
Tyler followed Abe onto the porch, and took a deep breath of the night air. The ocean smelled good. The moon was high.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Sandy, huddled in the darkness of the storage area beneath the staircase, waited.
Hugging her knees to her breasts, she had listened to the gunshots and wanted to help. But she had already tried helping: the two men with the guns were too smart, too quick. And so she stayed hidden.
There were more gunshots.
Feet racing down the stairs, pounding down them so hard that dry flecks sprinkled her shoulder.
Then more footsteps making the planks squeak and groan over her head.
Then the voice of her mother calling out to her: Sandy, where are you? Please. Are you here? I still love you, honey. Everything will be all right, now.
She didn’t move. She hardly dared to breath. Someone walked very close to the staircase panel but didn’t open it—probably didn’t realize it could be opened.
Soon afterwards, she heard other voices. She couldn’t make out the words. Someone went upstairs. Someone else went part way up.
Then everyone was gone.
Still Sandy waited. She wondered what had happened: who had been shot and who survived? The thoughts made her feel sick.
Wick was probably dead. He was a creep, anyway. And Maggie and Agnes wouldn’t be any great loss, either. But Seth and Jason and little Rune—if they’d been killed…She sniffled quietly in the darkness as tears trickled down her cheeks.
Later, more people came into the house. Sandy stretched out on her back, listening and waiting. The people stayed and stayed. She thought they might never go away. She was very tired, but her mind swirled, unsettling thoughts keeping her tense and awake.
What if they found her? No, they won’t.
What had happened to Seth and Jason and Rune?
What would become of her? She was only fourteen. Wick was probably dead. Maggie had shot that cop and murdered Jud last year with Mom as a witness, so even if she had been taken alive she would never come back.
Agnes might come back. If they couldn’t pin anything on her. If they didn’t send her to the loony bin. Agnes was slow in the head, but not crazy so they might let her go. She would inherit the house—and Beast House.
Yes.
If Agnes came back, it wouldn’t be so bad. Sandy could run things herself. She could start up the tours again.
And Agnes knew about babies. She’d helped in Mom’s delivery.
She’ll help me.
Sandy slid her hands over her belly. The turmoil in her mind subsided.
The voices outside her hiding place went on. Footsteps moved up and down the stairs.
She wondered, for a while, what name she should give the child? Seth? Jason? She didn’t know which was the father. Besides, those were old-fashioned names. Nerdy. Maybe Rich or Clint or…
Then she fell asleep.
EPILOGUE
Tyler twisted her finger free of the baby’s tight grip, and knocked on the cottage door.
“Who is it?”
“Me,” she said.
“Just a sec, hon. I ain’t decent.”
“When has that ever stopped you?”
A moment later, Nora opened the door. She wore a yellow bikini that looked brand-new and covered very little.
“You aren’t losing any time,” Tyler said.
“I spotted Jack down at the dock. He didn’t see me. I’m gonna surprise him. Hand over the kid.”
Laughing, Tyler held out the baby. He flung out his arms and legs as if afraid of being dropped, and grabbed a strap of Nora’s bikini. Wrapping her arms around him, she held him close. “I think I’d like to keep you, Scotty.”
“Get your own. I’m sure Jack would accommodate you.”
“I’m sure he would.” She sat on a side of the kingsized bed. “So, how’s life in the boondocks?”
“Couldn’t be better. How’s life in the urban sprawl?”
“It’s getting to me. I spent the whole year thinking about this place. I guess it sort of grew on me. So did Jack.”
“He must’ve. You haven’t unpacked yet.”
“I don’t plan to stay.”
“But…”
“I’m gonna cajole Jack into letting me stay with him. Smart, huh? You can rent out this room to a paying customer. I saw the no vacancy sign out front.”
“He’s got an A-frame just down the…”
“I know, I know. I haven’t been exactly out of touch with him.” She flopped backwards across the bed and hoisted Scotty high. He gasped and started to cry. She lowered him quickly. “Oh shit, now I did it.” Sitting up, she handed him back to Tyler.