Hideaway Hospital Murders (25 page)

Greg tiptoed toward Jake. If he could grab
the gun without waking him up, he thought, then he could make him
release the women and they could get away in the van. He was two
feet from the couch when he heard something. It must be somebody
coming down from inside the house, he thought.

Greg turned and looked at Cynthia. She had
heard something too. He figured they would be seen if they tried
to escape the way they came in, so he motioned for Cynthia to go
off to the right, down the hallway. He had no idea what was down
there, but it was the quickest hiding spot.

They ran fast, but softly, into the hallway
just as Carnie opened the secret mirror door and walked in and
started talking to Jake.

Greg and Cynthia had not been seen, but now
they were worried the woman would walk to the other end of the
room, where Beverly’s bed was located. If she did, and then looked
down their hallway, she would see them. And probably shoot them. Or
stab them to death, like the poor woman in the parking lot.

Greg decided to take a big chance. They
could hide in one of the two rooms off the hallway. But what if the
door hinges were squeaky? He went for it anyway. It opened silently
and they rushed in and closed the door.

The room was dark, so Greg turned on his
flashlight. He planned to turn it off as soon as they—.

He stepped into a hole and fell down.
Cynthia shined the flashlight across the floor and saw the big
opening. A section of flooring had been pulled up and leaned
against the wall, exposing the dirt underneath, and a long wooden
box, mostly buried in the ground. They both prayed the noise had
not been loud enough to alert the man with the gun and woman who
had just joined him.

**********

Carnie couldn’t believe Jake had already
fallen asleep. She picked up the gun. “Wake up!” She shook his
shoulder violently.

“
What?” He sat so quickly
it made him dizzy.

“
We’ve got a change in
plans,” said Carnie. “We don’t need these women after
all.”

She walked over to Betsy and held the pistol
to her sleeping head.

Jake jumped up. “What are you doing?”

“
These women have seen our
faces, Jake. What do you
think
I’m doing?”

“
But you can’t just
murder
them.”

“
Why not?” she said in a
flippant tone, as though she was about to squash a cockroach under
her shoe.

He hurried to where she was standing. “Don’t
be crazy, Carnie.”

“
Are you saying I’m
crazy
?” She swung
around and pointed the gun at Jake’s face.

“
No, no. Of course not.” He
stepped back a little.

Carnie stepped toward him.
“Then what
are
you saying, Jake? That Carnie Slitherstone is a cold-blooded
killer? Is that what you’re saying, Jake?”

He was afraid to speak or to move.

“
Well, you know what, Jake.
I
am
a
cold-blooded killer.”

And Jake was now a
cold-blooded
believer
.

She cocked the pistol.

He cringed. He wasn’t ready to die. Sure, he
had killed a man—he was guilty of a hit and run. And he should have
gone to the police and let them throw him in jail where he
belonged, he thought. At least then he would have still been alive
tomorrow.

She squeezed the trigger, and the gun
clicked.

Jake opened his eyes in disbelief.

Carnie began to laugh at him. “You idiot.
You really think I’d trust you with a loaded weapon?”

His testosterone suddenly revved up a rage
in his belly and he lunged at her and her impotent gun.

But she took a quick step back whipped out a
big knife.

Where did she get that? he wondered. She had
seemingly pulled it out of thin air.

He struggled to catch himself and avoid the
outstretched knife, and barely succeeded.

“
Don’t you
ever
try anything
like
that
again,” she hissed.

He raised his hands in humble surrender.
“I’m sorry.”

**********

Greg and Cynthia were sitting on the floor,
against the wall. They had turned off their flashlights to conserve
the batteries.

“
We should call the
police,” whispered Cynthia.

“
But if they come knocking
on the front door, these people might kill the women and make a run
for it.”

“
Not if we warn them about
it and have them sneak in through the back way, like we
did.”

“
Yeah, I guess that might
work.”

Cynthia flipped opened her cell phone.
“Never mind—I’ve got no signal.”

Greg checked his phone. “Me either. We’ll
just have to wait until they go back to sleep. Then one of us can
slip out and call the police.”

“
Well, I’m not
staying
without
you,” she said. “And I’m sure not
going
without you.”

“
But you’d only have to get
to the barn. You’d have a signal out there.”

Cynthia glared at him.

“
Okay. We’ll both go,” he
said.

Chapter
32

Greg checked his watch. It was 11:55 PM. He
and Cynthia had been sitting in silence, waiting for the man and
woman out in the hospital ward to leave or fall asleep. They had
heard them yelling earlier, when the woman first came in. After
that, there had been only occasional mumbling.

If the man or woman walked in on Greg and
Cynthia, they would be caught. There was no place for them to hide
in their empty room. And the only weapons they had were plastic
flashlights.

“
How long have we been
sitting here?” said Cynthia.

“
About 45
minutes.”

“
What do you think is in
that box?”

“
I don’t know.” Greg turned
on his flashlight and walked to the front of the box.

“
What are you
doing?”

“
Now I
have
to know what’s in
here.”

“
I’m sorry—I shouldn’t have
brought it up. Maybe we’d better just leave it alone.”

Cynthia moved over to where Greg was
kneeling in front of the box. It was six or seven feet long and
about three feet wide. Except for the top, it was mostly buried in
the dirt, so there was no way to determine the depth.

Greg handed Cynthia his flashlight and
pulled up on the board. It was heavy. He had opened it just a few
inches when Cynthia directed the flashlight beam down into the
box.

She jumped back, hitting her head on the
wall.

Greg quickly lowered the lid and went to her
side. “Baby, are you okay?”

She was shaking—as though she’d seen the
Angel of Death. “Did you see inside?”

“
What?”

She gulped. “Skeletons.”

“
Are you sure?”

She grabbed his wrist and shook it hard.
“Yes, I’m sure. Get me out of here, Greg.”

“
Okay, but hang on a
second. Will you hold the flashlight for me?”

“
Do you really have to
look? Can’t you just take my word for it?”

“
Just stay back here and
hold the flashlight. Please?”

“
Hurry.”

Cynthia stood up and leaned against the wall
and turned the flashlight toward the box.

Greg lifted the lid a couple of feet and
studied the contents. There were several skeletons in the box. He
counted four skulls and lowered the lid. His skin began to crawl,
and he knew it wouldn’t stop until he was back above ground. “Let’s
go.”

**********

It was only a little after midnight and
Horatio was already making his first trip to the bathroom. He
couldn’t even remember what it was like to sleep through the
night. His enlarged prostate was a pain in the butt.

When he got back to the bed, Alma said,
“Ben’s talking in his sleep. Maybe you’d better go check on
him.”

“
Nah. He’ll settle down in
a minute.”

But his brother
didn’t
settle down.
He got louder.

“
Horry?”

“
Alright. I’m
going.”

Horatio walked to the guest bedroom and
stood in the doorway. He could see his brother clearly, thanks to
the moonlight coming in through the windows.

“
Ben?”

Hadley continued to mumble.

“
Ben, you’re talking in
your sleep.”

But he talked even louder. He seemed to be
angry with someone.

Horatio walked to the side of the bed.
“Ben?” He put his hand on Hadley’s arm.

Hadley jerked upright while grabbing
something at his right side.

Horatio flipped on the light.

Hadley woke up, still clutching an imaginary
object with both hands.

“
Are you okay,
Ben?”

“
Uh…yeah.”

“
What’s that you’re
holding?”

He looked down at his hands. “My M1
rifle.”

“
From the Korean War? So,
you were about to shoot me?”

“
Not
you
. I thought you were
somebody else,” he said sheepishly, as he lowered his
arms.

“
I didn’t know you were
still having those nightmares.”

“
I’m not. Hardly ever. I
just get them when I’m worried about something.”

“
Well, what are you worried
about? You came out here to take it easy. And we had a great time
fishing today. You didn’t seem worried then.”

“
I know.”

“
Just try to relax. And if
you feel the need to shoot something, just wait until morning and
take it out on the doves, okay?”

“
Look, I don’t know what’s
bothering me. It’s as though there’s a problem brewing at
home.”

“
Like what?”

“
I don’t know. It’s just a
feeling.”

“
A
feeling
. You sound like a girl.
Just be a
man
and shut up and go to sleep.”

“
Fine. Turn the light off
and get out of my room and just maybe I will.”

**********

What kind of people had skeletons in their
basement? Who had killed the four people, and when? Greg and
Cynthia wanted to leave those questions for the police.

Greg eased the door open just a crack and
listened.

Silence.

He opened the door enough to slip out and
tiptoed down the short hallway. He saw the four women, still out
cold. He couldn’t tell for sure whether they were breathing, but
they still had color in their faces—except the skinny one. But then
he remembered she had been that color when they first came into the
room.

Greg peeked around the corner, hoping the
woman was gone and the man had fallen back to sleep. But they were
both gone.

He motioned for Cynthia to come out and make
a run for it. She took a glance at her mother, and then they bolted
down the long corridor. He knew he couldn’t keep up with her, but
he would try.

Then Greg heard voices behind him. And he
knew he could still be seen from the hospital ward.

“
I don’t care if you
do
have to pee. You
should have waited until I got back. My grandmother’s coming
and—“

Carnie saw someone racing down the corridor.
All four women were still in their beds. But whoever it was, she
couldn’t let them get away.

“
Give me that.” She
snatched the pistol from Jake’s hand and ran. And she was a fast
runner—maybe even faster than Cynthia.
Definitely
faster than
Greg.

Cynthia made it to the stairs and took them
two at a time. When she reached the top, she opened the door and
turned around to wait for Greg.

Greg was running as hard as
he could—or least he
thought
he was, until he heard
somebody chasing him. Then he got a second wind. But his pursuer
continued to gain on him. And when he reached the stairs, he heard
a voice from behind.

“
Stop or I’ll
shoot.”

He didn’t need to be told a second time.

“
And you, up there—come
back down here or I’ll shoot him right now.”

When that didn’t get a
quick reaction, Carnie said, “Or maybe you’d
like
me to blow his brains
out.”

“
No, stop,” said Cynthia.
She came down the stairs slowly.

“
Let me guess. One of those
women in there is your mother,” she said to Greg. “Or yours.” She
nodded to Cynthia. “Right?”

“
Yes,” said
Cynthia.

“
Well, you two have just
gotten yourselves into a heap of trouble. “She followed them back
to the Hideaway Hospital. She had done it again—made somebody do
what she wanted by threatening them with an empty gun. The secret,
she thought, is
attitude
. That’s what fools
them every time.

“
Looks like we snagged a
couple of fish without even trying, Jake,” said Carnie as she threw
him the pistol. “One of our volunteers was the bait.”