You Only Die Twice (16 page)

Ted
looked at Kenneth, who seemed thrilled by the kills.

“Why do
I want to eat them?” he asked.

“Take
that up with God.
 
We need to hide
the car.
 
Now.
 
Your face is out there.
 
She obviously went to the police and
didn’t take your advice.
  
But
that’s fine.
 
We knew the
risks.
 
We want our cause out
there.
 
We want people on alert so
they’ll change their ways.
 
But
anyone could come by at any minute and recognize you, Kenneth.
 
So, move.”

But
Kenneth didn’t.
 
“Let me eat them,”
he said.
 
“Or just let me have a
taste.
 
Come on, Ted.
 
Let me eat the fat one.”

“Move
your ass, Kenneth.
 
I’m
serious.
 
We need to get them and
this car off the road before someone else comes along.”

After
they pushed the car into the woods, Ted stood in the middle of the road and
assessed the situation.
 

What he
saw made his stomach sink.

They’d
done their best, but he knew someone would see it.
 
He knew that as well as he knew God
Himself.
 
The LeBaron’s gold trunk
was sticking out like a massive gold brick.
 
Sunlight glinted on it.
 
Somebody would see it, they’d find the
men inside, the sheriff would be notified, then the state police would get
involved, and a search would commence, especially since their truck was parked on
the side of the road.

He
turned to Kenneth with a stone look on his face.
 
“Gather branches,” he said.
 
“Get them from the fir trees and cover
the car with them.
 
We’ve got to
make sure you can’t see any trace of it.”

“What
about the tire tracks going into the woods?”

“I’ll
rough them up with my boots and cover them with leaves.
 
You tend to the car, I’ll tend to the
tracks.”

When
they finished, it was just past sundown, but still bright enough to tell that
in daylight, you wouldn’t be able to see the car.
 

Still,
that didn’t stop Ted Carpenter’s worries.
 
Earlier, the men said that for them, hunting was a “yearly
tradition.”
 
He had no reason to
doubt that because he was certain that’s how they fed their families over the
winter months.
 
Someone would
eventually miss them.
 
Phone calls
would be made.
 
“Have you seen
Roy?”
 
“I haven’t.
 
Have you seen Jimmy?”
 
“No.”
 
Then the chaos would unspool.
 
Their families knew in which woods they
hunted.
 
The police would be called.
 
And if a police dog was brought anywhere
near here?
 
It would smell their bloody
bodies in an instant and the chase would ensue.

He
looked at Kenneth.
 
“Get the
goggles,” he said.
 
“We find Cheryl
Dunning now, we kill her and then we get the hell out of this state before it’s
too late.”

CHAPTER
TWE
NTY-FIVE

“At some
point, she’s going to be desperate for water, if she isn’t already,” Kenneth
said as they walked into the woods.
 
“My suggestion is that we go on the path until we come upon the
wetlands.
 
Then, we make a decision
to go left or right.
 
Maybe we split
up.
 
We’ll figure it out together at
that point.
 
She needs water to
survive.
 
Last night, she drank
nothing but alcohol, which dehydrated her.
 
If she hasn’t found water yet, she’s trying to find it now because she
needs it in order to live.”

“Agreed.
 
But I’ll warn you now.
 
It was in the wetlands that I came upon
that moose.
 
I don’t think they’re
nocturnal, but what do I know?
 
The
sun is down, but for the moment, it’s still reasonably light out.
 
We’ll need to be careful.
 
Do you know anything about moose?”

“I know
that the Lord created them.”

“That’s
not what I’m asking, Kenneth.”

He shook
his head.

“I would
imagine they bed down somewhere.
 
Like deer.
 
We’ll need to be
careful.
 
Bear also are in these
woods, and I know for a fact that they are nocturnal.
 
So are a host of other creatures, like
skunks and porcupines.
 
Keep your
gun at your side.
 
Be prepared to
shoot if you have to, but only if you have to.
 
We don’t give ourselves away unless we
have no choice.
 
Understood?”

“Understood.”

As they
started to move forward, Maria Fuentes, the stripper they strangled at the
Circus Circus in Las Vegas, stepped out of the thick of trees off to their left
and walked to the center of the path, where she stood with her hands on her
hips.
 
Kenneth froze while Ted
continued to move forward.

“Kenneth,”
she said.

“Ted.
 
Stop.
 
Don’t go near her.”

“Near
who?”

He
pointed at Maria, who was still in her stripper costume with the elaborate
pasties covering the nipples of her otherwise naked breasts.
 
Now, her pink feather boa was tied around
her throat, probably in an effort to hide the bruises they left when they
strangled her.
 
She smiled at him.

“What
are you talking about?” Ted said.

“Don’t
go near her.”

“You’re
hallucinating again...”

“She’s
real.
 
They’ve always been
real.
 
I told you that.
 
Why can’t you see her?
 
It’s Maria Fuentes.
 
I know you can see her.
 
Are you messing with me?”

“Kenneth,
you’re under a lot of stress.
 
You
need to take a breath and clear your mind.”

“What he
needs to do is give up on Cheryl Dunning,” Maria said.
 
She put her hands behind her head and
started moving in such a way that the tassels on her pasties started to whirl
around.
 
“It took me years to
acquire this skill.
 
People used to
throw me twenties when I did it, and believe me, I did it often.
 
Do you like it, baby?”

“I’m so
glad we killed you.”

“I told
you earlier that you won’t get her, but you refuse to listen.
 
So, I’ll say it again.
 
She’s too smart for you.
 
She grew up around here.
 
She knows these woods.
 
You’ll never get her.
 
This is a time suck for you both and
you’re going to get caught.
 
Finally, you’re going to get caught.
 
I can’t wait to watch it all go down.”

“You’re
wrong,” he said.

“You’ll
find out for yourself that I’m right.
 
Your face is everywhere.
 
The
police are searching for you.
 
Won’t
be long now.
 
And at last, you’ll
pay for what you’ve done to us all.”

“I
should have cut your fucking head off,” he said.

“Looks
like you screwed up there, too, Kenny.”

“I could
do it now.”

“I’m
afraid not.
 
If you tried, your
hands would slip straight through me.
 
You missed your chance, stud.”

“Kenneth,”
Ted said sharply.
 
“No one is
there.
 
You’re talking to a
ghost.
 
Get it together.
 
We don’t have time for this shit.”

But
Kenneth Berkowitz was transfixed.
 
Maria Fuentes was now lewdly grinding her hips.
 
“I can feel Cheryl’s energy,” she
said.
 
“She’s a strong one.
 
She has a real will to live.
 
More than ever, I know that you’re no
match for her.
 
I’ve been watching
her.
 
Helping her.
 
All of us girls have.
 
Most are with her now.
 
They’re ready for you two.”
 
She held up a hand to correct
herself.
 
“Wrong.
 
They’re ready for you two if you can
find
her, which I doubt that you can because she’s hidden herself real well.”

“We’ll
find her.”

“No, you
won’t.”

When Ted
grasped his arm, Maria Fuentes disappeared.
 
He blinked and, after a moment, he
seemed to come back into himself.

“We need
to move.”

“Where
did she go?”

“She was
never there.
 
You were hallucinating
again.
 
You need to accept that.”

“Don’t
tell me what I see, Ted.
 
She was
there.”

“Fine,
she was there.
 
Whatever.
 
It’s getting dark.
 
Put on your goggles and let’s go.”

“You
heard her.
 
She said we have no
chance in finding her.
 
And even if
we do, the other girls are there waiting for us.
 
They’re going to protect her.
 
Maybe we should cut our losses and
leave.”

“What
did you say?”

“I said
that maybe we should leave.
 
Someone
is going to come down that road and see our truck.
 
Someone is going to question it,
particularly if they come upon it at night.
 
They’ll think we’re poaching.
 
Is she worth it?
 
She’s one whore out of many.
 
She very well might die of exposure in
these woods if she can’t find a way out.
 
We may have to do nothing.
 
Maybe He will take care of her for us.
 
In fact, He probably will.”

“No, He
won’t.
 
That’s why we’re here.
 
This is our calling.
 
We work for Him.
 
We’ve been doing all of this for
Him.
 
We don’t back down.
 
We finish the job and then leave.”

“I
disagree.”

And Ted
Carpenter, who was nothing if not God’s servant, pulled back his free hand and
slapped Kenneth Berkowitz hard across the face.
 

Stunned,
Kenneth took several steps back while Ted aimed his gun at the man’s
forehead.
 

“What
are you doing?”

“Keeping
you in line.”

“Put
down the gun.”

“We work
for Him.
 
Do you understand
that?
 
Do you
get
that?
 
I’ll say it again and again if I have
to.
 
We work for Him and by working
for Him, that means we get the job done for Him.
 
Each job.
 
We don’t just back out when things
become difficult and hand everything over to Him.
 
Now, grow a pair, Kenneth, pull yourself
together, put your fucking goggles on and help me find Cheryl Dunning.”

Kenneth
fumbled with his goggles and put them on.
 

“Are you
able to see?”

“Yes.”

“Do you
see any of your women right now?”

“No.”

“Good.
 
We’ve wasted enough time because of you.
 
Let’s move.”

But as
they did, from behind a tree, Kenneth saw the outstretched leg of Maria
Fuentes, who started to laugh at him as they passed.

CHAPTER
TWE
NTY-SIX

When
they arrived at the wetlands, it was pitch dark, but because of their goggles,
they could see everything in harsh, bright greenish hues enhanced by the light
of the moon.
 

Along the
way, they came upon a few small animals―the skunk Ted mentioned they
might see, a cat with a mouse in its jaws, and also a fox, which slinked past
them in
a blurry flurry of red due to the heat the animal gave
off.