Alarums (24 page)

    Or maybe not.

    They might've caught her. God only knows what Harrison would've done.

    It was the right move.

    What's their next move? They know the three of us are onto them. What'll they do about it? Maybe nothing.

    
Harrison's an attorney, he knows we haven't got any evidence.

    
Maybe it's too much that we suspect them.

    
So what's he going to do, kill the three of us?

    That would bring down an awful lot of heat. He wouldn't risk it unless he was feeling mighty desperate.

    Melanie and Bodie will be gone tomorrow. Once he finds that out, it'll relieve the pressure. And once I've gone to the cops, I'll have done my share of the damage. He won't have any motive, then, to shut me up.

    
We just need to get through the night.

    In her mind, Pen saw Harrison kick open the apartment door and rush in, his.38 blasting. A slug smashed Melanie in the chest, slamming her down. She and Bodie ran, but a bullet caught him in the back. She made it to her bedroom, whipped the shotgun around and cut Harrison in half when he lunged through the doorway. She hurried into the living room. Melanie was dead, but Bodie still breathed.
You'll be all right,
she told him.
You'll be fine.

    
Real nice,
she thought.
I kill off my sister and let Bodie survive.

    Pen knew she wasn't psychic. That was Melanie's department. But she recognized the value of daydreams. What she had imagined was a possible scenario. Unlikely, but possible.

    Just in case, she would brace the door with a chair and keep her shotgun within reach.

    
Harrison
,
she told herself,
would have to be insane to barge in shooting.

    But he does have the gun.

    And those handcuffs.

    A former private eye. How come he didn't have to give back the badge and ID when he stopped working for that agency? Maybe he claimed he lost them. A couple of items like that could be very useful, especially if a guy is into rape.

    Not as useful as the handcuffs.

    
Don't start thinking about that,
she warned herself.
Get off it quick.

    But something he'd said that night… something about the job. What was it? Ever shoot someone? No, but he'd drawn his gun a couple of times. Said it was a boring job.

    Except for the repos.

    
Holy shit!

    She flinched as someone rapped on her window. Melanie looked in at her. Pen climbed out of the car.

    'Been here long?' Bodie asked. He had sacks of food in his hands.

    Pen shook her head. 'Just a few minutes.' Should she tell them about Harrison, that he'd had experience stealing cars and might even own the tools for it?

    Might just set off Melanie.

    A midnight search for the tools?

    Let's not rock the boat. Save it for the police.

    She took out her suitcase and led the way through the front gate. Heading for the stairs, she swept her eyes across all the apartments surrounding the pool. Did he live in one of them? Pen knew only a few of the tenants. He might be one she didn't know.

    
But he knows me.

    
He has my panties.

    
He'd like to fuck my brains out and…

    
Stop it!

    She hurried up the stairs, telling herself to stay calm.

    The creep wouldn't try anything tonight, not with Bodie here.

    
And this is my last night here, you filthy scum. Tough luck.

    She opened her apartment door and looked down at the carpet. No message had been slipped under the door during her absence.

    

    

    While she and Melanie set the kitchen table, Bodie went down to get the rest of the luggage.

    'Are you really going to leave tomorrow?' Pen asked.

    'I guess so. I'll come back if Dad… changes.'

    'Do you want to go over to the hospital tonight?'

    'What's the point? He's just… it's like he's dead. I can't stand to see him that way.' Melanie sank into a chair and held her head. 'I just want to forget everything. I want to sleep.'

    'How do you feel?'

    'I've got an awful headache.'

    'I'll get you some aspirin.' Pen went into the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet. As she reached for the Excedrin, she saw a bottle of sleeping pills. They were Quaaludes, 150 mg, a drug she had been prescribed by her doctor when she complained of insomnia during a bad period following the rape. The expiration date had passed. But the pills shouldn't cause any harm. Even if they weren't quite as strong as they had once been, a couple of them should certainly knock out Melanie for the night. And put a stop to any plan she might have for sneaking out, later on.

    Pen's hands trembled as she shook two of the tablets onto her palm.

    
It's a dirty trick,
she thought.

    
They'll wipe her out. Bodie and I won't have to spend the night standing guard over her.

    She put away the bottle. With the two pills in her hand, she left the bathroom.

    Bodie was sitting down at the table when she entered the kitchen. She took a tumbler from the cupboard and filled it with water. 'I got Mel some aspirin,' she said.

    Bodie nodded.

    She set the glass in front of Melanie and dropped the pills into her palm. 'It's a new brand,' she said. 'They're extra-strength. They may make you a little drowsy, but…'

    'Fine,' Melanie said. She cupped them to her mouth and drank half the water.

    'You don't have blurred vision or nausea, do you?' Bodie asked her.

    'No. Just a headache.'

    'Better lie down after you eat,' Bodie said.

    'Yeah.'

    Pen got a bottle of beer for Bodie and poured wine for herself and Melanie to drink with the meal. Sitting down, she took her tacos from their paper envelopes and put them on her plate. Bodie and Melanie unwrapped their bacon cheeseburgers. Bodie had bought an order of nachos for each of them - tortilla chips smothered with melted cheese and green chilis.

    'All we're missing is a mariachi band,' Bodie said.

    'I should've whipped up some margaritas,' said Pen. It was just as well that she hadn't, she realized; she wouldn't have dared give Melanie the sleeping pills. Some wine on top of the pills might not cause a problem. Tequilla and triple sec, though…

    'Why don't you tell Pen what happened this afternoon?' Bodie suggested.

    Melanie raised a shoulder. 'Not much to tell,' she said, and took a bite of her burger.

    'Apparently,' Bodie said, 'they had quite a lot to say about the three of us. None of it very flattering.'

    ' Harrison really tore into you,' Melanie said, looking rather gleefully at Pen. 'He used names on you that'd make that caller of yours blush.'

    'Sweet of him,' Pen muttered, and bit into a taco. 'Yeah. He thinks you were the brains behind my phone call and breaking into his garage. Said you're out to get him.'

    'Did he happen to say why?'

    'Told Joyce it was because he dumped you.'

    'Is that so.'

    'Said he'd fix your wagon.'

    'My wagon isn't broken.'

    'Said he'd like to ream your ass,' Melanie added. Bodie set down his beer. 'I should've laid waste to that prick when I had the chance.'

    'What did he say about the accident?' Pen asked. 'They know we know. First thing Harrison did when they got back was check the garage. He had it figured out even before he found the broken window that the call was a trick to get rid of him so we could check out his car. When he came back in, he said to Joyce, "I knew it. Those fucks are onto us." Then he told her not to worry, we'd never be able to prove anything.'

    'He was probably right about that,' Bodie said.

    'Joyce is afraid Dad saw Harrison driving. She thought maybe they should inject air into his veins.' Pen stiffened. 'At the hospital?'

    'Yeah. But Harrison told her they'd be idiots to do anything that risky since Dad probably wouldn't ever come to, anyway. He said they should wait and see. Even if Dad does revive, there's only a slight chance he'll have any memory of the accident.'

    Bodie nodded. 'It's very unlikely that he would remember. I fell off a roof when I was a kid, and I still can't remember falling.'

    'What were you doing on a roof?' Pen asked.

    'I don't know. I ate lunch about an hour before it happened, but the rest of it's a blank until I woke up in an ambulance.'

    'That's how Peter Hurkos became psychic,' Melanie said. 'Fell off a ladder or a roof or something.'

    'Well, it didn't make me psychic. Thank God. One around here is…'

    'One too many?' Melanie supplied, and raised an eyebrow.

    Bodie looked annoyed for a moment, then just somber. 'I was going to say, "One is enough." '

    'I bet.'

    'Cut it out,' Pen told her.

    Melanie fixed Pen with a knowing gaze. 'I'm sure you can't wait to get rid of me.'

    'Hey, look, we're on your side.'

    'Then how come you're both so eager to get me back to Phoenix?'

    'It's for your own good,' Bodie told her.

    'Oh, sure.'

    'Look what you did today,' Pen said, trying to keep her voice calm. 'You broke God knows how many laws…'

    ' Lot of good the law is.'

    'Christ, you went ape, you actually assaulted Joyce.

    'She tried to kill our father!'

    'Maybe so.'

    'No maybes.'

    'On top of that, you put yourself in real danger. Bodie, too. You both could've ended up killed because of that dumb stunt you pulled.'

    'And you were safe in the car.'

    'Hey,' Bodie said, 'somebody had to stay out to get help in case the shit hit the fan. Pen wanted to go in instead of me.'

    'Sure, stick up for her.'

    'Damn it!' Bodie slammed his bottle down on the table. Pen flinched. Melanie jumped, then burst into tears and rushed from the kitchen.

    Bodie watched her go. He looked at Pen, shook his head, and muttered, 'Sorry.'

    'She was asking for it.'

    'I know, but…' With a sigh, he pushed back his chair and stood up. 'I'd better apologize to her, or something.'

    

    

    Bodie found her in Pen's room, lying on the bed with a pillow hugged over her eyes. He sat beside her.

    'Leave me alone,' she mumbled.

    'Hey, I'm sorry I lost my temper. Why don't you come on back and finish eating?'

    'I'm not hungry.'

    'Don't you want to grow up to be big and strong?'

    'Ha ha ha.'

    'Come on, Mel.'

    'I just want to sleep. I'm tired and I've got a headache.'

    'You'll feel better if you come out and finish your hamburger.'

    'No, I won't.'

    Bodie put his hand on her belly. Her skin was warm through the blouse. 'I don't like seeing you upset.'

    She sniffed. 'You're both against me.'

    'No we're not. Maybe we were a little quick to snap at you, but it's been pretty tense. We didn't know what was happening to you while you were in that house.'

    'I was fine.'

    'We didn't know that. We were really worried, and the only reason we worried is because we love you. Nobody's against you. Well, maybe Joyce and Harrison.'

    Her mouth trembled into a smile. She pushed the pillow away from her face and drew it down beneath her head. With fingertips, she brushed the tears from her face. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. 'I didn't mean to cause you so much trouble.'

    'It's all right. Hey, it was kind of exciting.'

    'Did Pen really want to go in and get me herself?'

    'Yeah. I had to threaten her bodily harm to keep her in the car.'

    'I shouldn't have talked to her like that.'

    'I'm sure she understands. The past couple of days have been tough on all of us.'

    'Would you close the curtains for me?'

    Bodie got up. He found the draw cord and pulled, shutting out the late afternoon light.

    'I'll come out as soon as I feel better.'

    'I'll stay.'

    'No, go ahead and finish eating.'

    'Are you sure?'

    'Yeah. Just don't eat up the rest of my burger. I'll be but a little later.'

    Bodie bent over the bed. He kissed her gently on the lips. 'Sleep tight,' he whispered.

    Leaving the room, he started to pull the door shut. Then he realized that Melanie might get the wrong idea, so he left it wide open.

    He returned to the kitchen. Pen, still at the table, looked over her shoulder as he approached. 'How is she?'

    'Fine. She wants to take a nap.'

    'That's probably a good idea.'

    'She warned me not to polish off her dinner.'

    'I guess she is feeling better.'

    Bodie sat down across the table from Pen. He felt relieved to have Melanie out of the way, and guilty about the feeling. His bacon cheeseburger was no longer warm. It still tasted good. He washed down a mouthful with beer.

    'She doesn't seem very happy about going back tomorrow,' Pen said.

    'I'm not overjoyed by the prospect, myself.'

    'I'd think you might be glad to get out of this.'