Devil Moon (23 page)

Reba broke in on the pose, speaking through frightened tears. "Mr. Bailey! My Pa's done taken your wife in his truck! He's been talking funny about her ever time we pass her house. He's just plumb crazy nowadays and I don't know what he might do to her."

Phil and Randy exchanged a wordless communication and then Phil said, "I'll drive," and they both broke into a run.

Phil took the baseball bat for a weapon and yelled at Reba over his shoulder. "Call the police."

As the men jumped into the seats of the trusty 1981 Skylark, the truck fishtailed out of the parking lot. Fred Flintstone and Harry Potter took off in hot pursuit of the kidnapped Morticia Adams.

And the spirits of Halloween laughed in the howling autumn darkness.

When the hurlyburly's done,

When the battle's lost and won

Second Witch from Macbeth

Maddie came to as she jostled around the backseat of the extended cab.
Where in the world?...

Light and shadow flickered across the torn vinyl seat. A heavy panting sound beside her drew her attention. She swiveled her head to see the undeniable outline of a canine sharing the back bench seat with her. She jerked back and scrunched as far away from Lucifer as possible.

He rested on his haunches and stared at her like a gargoyle from the castle in
Beauty and the Beast.
His fetid breath filled the cab with a sickening doggy stench that threatened her stomach's equilibrium. A blanket lay at her feet and she pulled it up to cover her nose and cut down on the offensive odor.

Maddie began to gather her wits and assess her situation as she forced herself to look forward and ignore the black hound. Wade's skinny neck and shaggy hair was silhouetted in the blue light. He drove with one hand casually resting on the steering wheel.

Be logical, be assertive. Don't show him you're scared
.

She rested the blanket in her lap and spoke calmly into Wade's ear. "Mr. Finn, I think you've carried this joke just a little too far. There are laws against kidnapping, you know, and there's a whole school of witnesses who saw you abduct me. Now just pull into that McDonald's and let me out before this situation gets any worse."

Surely the key to bringing sanity to the moment lay in simple reason and logic. Then she glanced into the rearview mirror and met Wade's crazed stare. His eyes nearly twirled in their sockets. He smiled a jack-o-lantern grin.

I've been abducted by the Hillbilly from Hell
.

Wade's gaze seemed to glow red with evil. Hopped-up nervous lunacy rattled his voice. "We're going to a special place I know. It's so deep in the hills a pack of coon dogs couldn't find us, let alone a bunch of dumbass cops. You're going to be my private guest for our personal Halloween party. Yessiree, Wade is gettin' some tonight! I've seen the way you look at me. You want it
bad
."

Maddie's eyes widened indignantly. "What!? I certainly don't want you in any way, shape or form. You're severely mistaken, Mr. Finn. Now, I am ordering you this very moment to stop this vehicle and let me disembark."

Wade laughed in demented delight. "Shit, I love the way you talk with all them big, fancy words. I can't hardly wait to hear the long words you'll use when I'm screwing your brains out."

Frustrated beyond fear, Maddie began slapping the back of Wade's head. "Stop… and…let me out!"

Wade jerked his head to get away from her assaults as Lucifer sprang into action. His loud barks blasted the inside of the cab as he thrust his hot body upon Maddie and forced her against the side of the truck.

"Grrrr," the dog growled in her ear as he held her pinned beneath him.

Maddie emitted a high-pitched plea. "Please get him off of me!"

"Sit, Lucifer," Wade ordered in a guttural tone. "If you try that shit again, I'll let him tear your skinny throat out. You got that, teacher lady? Now lean back and enjoy the ride. I think we got us some company, so we're gonna have us a game of chicken." He emitted a country whoop. "Damn, this is my lucky night."

With that, Wade swerved the truck, tossing Maddie against the hard side again. She moaned and pulled the blanket about her for protection.

Suddenly, Grammy's face appeared in the window. "Don't worry, I'll take care of this pissant."

Oh great,
Maddie thought,
what a time to completely crack up.

* * *

Phil slammed on his brakes to keep from hurtling over the side of the mountain road when Wade swerved the truck, trying to run them off the road.

"Son of a bitch!"

He stomped on the accelerator again, determined to keep the truck in his sights. The lights of Beaver Cove disappeared behind them as they headed out of the valley onto the curvy mountain road.

Randy spoke up. "I'm sure I saw her in the back seat and I think there's a dog back there with her."

"Great," Phil said as he took a fast turn. "She's scared to death of dogs."

"How do you know that? She doesn't share her weaknesses with just everybody."

"I've got news for you, pal. I know a lot more about her than you ever imagined. In fact, I think your wife is having my baby."

Randy's eyes popped behind his Harry Potter glasses. "What?"

"That's right, buddy. I'm the guy that walked off with her quilt last summer."

* * *

Wade kept an eye on the rearview mirror, figuring a way to lose his pursuers.

"Those jerkoffs think they can keep up with me, but I'm gonna lose ‘em, just you wait and see. Nobody can handle a rig like Wade Finn. So, just wrap up cozy-like in your pretty quilt and sit tight. You do recognize it, don't you? Since I grabbed it out of your bedroom, I've imagined the two of us lyin’ on it and doin’ you good."

His words crashed in Maddie's brain as if he'd bludgeoned her with a club. Had she understood him correctly? She slowly lifted the edge of the blanket against the cab window and tried to get a better look at its detail. Her fingers traced the outlined stitches of a homemade quilt. At that moment a beam of yellow moonlight illuminated the material in her hands, causing it to mysteriously glow, and she unequivocally recognized Grammy's quilt stolen from her bedroom.

"Oh good lord,
you
were the intruder in my house? You stood in my bedroom and ran your dirty fingers across my comforter and photographs?"

She imagined a slimy trail left behind like snail residue marking a clean window. He'd probably dropped vermin in his wake. "I'm calling an exterminator the minute I get home."

The truck jerked wildly as Wade yelled, "Hee-ha! Take that, assholes!"

Maddie attempted to sit upright in the swaying cab as Wade's revelation swirled in her mind. "Wait a minute. Phil told me
he
took the quilt. If
you
took the quilt, then how could…"

Maddie's attention was drawn to the full orange moon that appeared to be following them across the autumn sky. She blinked as a grinning jack-o-lantern face materialized on the surface of the sphere. "OH…MY…GOD!"

The summer night came back to her in sharp detail. She'd felt utterly wretched, lonely beyond description. The sentimental movies, the wine and chocolate had only served to deepen her mood. When the moon called her toward the lake, her body and soul ached for relief and fulfillment.

Come to me
, he'd whispered. Every fiber in her being yearned for contact and comfort. She must have drifted into a fitful, teary sleep on the quilt because she remembered dreaming of Thomas and suddenly being in his arms. But then the image of Thomas shifted into someone else. The smell was different, so much better. His feel so different, so much warmer. And his touch, oh Lord, his touch inflamed and soothed her at the same time. Yes! She'd longed for this passion to end her lonely torture.

Come on, Dream Man, fly me to the moon
. And he did, beyond her wildest imaginings. The unity had been physical, emotional and spiritual, an all-encompassing life-altering event buried in her subconscious until this moment of awakening.

Maddie focused again on the mischievous moon, whose face appeared to be laughing at his own cosmic prank. "Think you're pretty funny, don't you?"

She shook her head in amazement. The attraction in the light of day had been almost as strong as the midnight encounter, but she'd been utterly blind. It had been Phil all along.

Phil was the Dream Man
.

* * *

Randy whipped off his fake glasses. "Let me get this straight. You took the quilt from the beach last summer and you broke into her house two weeks ago and made off with another one? What are you doing? Starting a collection?"

Phil pressed the accelerator as far as it could go, but the sharp incline of the road stressed the car's engine and the truck pulled farther away from them. "Damn…What the hell are you talking about? I've never broken into her house. I'm not some perverted thief."

"I told her it didn't sound in character to me, but she convinced herself you were the culprit." Randy banged his elbow into the car door as they took a wild curve. "Ow! I hope your insurance is paid up."

Phil tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. "Okay, this is actually beginning to make a little sense to me. Some joker breaks into her place, makes off with her quilt and she automatically thinks I've gone off the deep end and did the deed. That explains all the comments about cat burglars, sneak thieves, and kleptomaniacs. It also brings her speech in the locker room tonight into focus. Randy, I've gotta know.
Am
I the father of Maddie's baby?"

Randy sighed. "If you're the Dream Man, then, yeah, you're the guy." He went into a Perry Mason persona. "Where were you on the night of August 26
^th
from approximately two to four am, Coach Wilcox?"

Phil's memory darted back to that incredible night, even as his eyes stayed on the road. "I was in the arms of a Moon Goddess on a sandy lake beach."

Flapping his hands in resignation, Randy said, "Well, heck, there goes my shot at fatherhood. I guess I'll have to settle for 'Uncle Randy.'"

The truck lights disappeared behind a hillside bend in the road. "Damn," Phil muttered. "So someone broke into her house and took a quilt. Did he take anything else?"

"No, only the quilt. That's why she thought it was you and not a real thief. She couldn't think of anyone else who might be interested in just taking a memento."

Phil grunted. "Well, I'd wager the whacko driving the truck is your man. Christ, the way this guy drives, he must be completely nuts. And the way Maddie talks, she'll be making him even nuttier. We can't let them get out of sight."

When they made it around three more winding twists in the road, a long expanse of highway lay before them exposing a clear view into the distance.

The truck had completely disappeared.

* * *

Maddie gasped as Wade cut a sudden left and bounced off the main highway onto an unpaved country road. She splayed her arms wide and spread her fingers against the window and the back of her seat.

"Good grief! You're a complete lunatic!"

Adrenaline rushed through Wade's system and the earlier drugs made him higher than a kite. He felt like the king of the world. "We're almost there, baby! It won't be long before those creamy tits are in my hands. Jeez, I'm getting a boner harder than concrete."

Maddie looked out the window and, to her dismay, saw they were heading deep into the hills on the rutted road. The earlier winding race was a day in the park compared to the insane bouncing speed Wade maneuvered over washouts and fallen limbs. She moaned as she banged around the cab, alternately hitting against Lucifer, the back of the front seat, and the hard truck interior wall.

The dog didn't enjoy the ride, either, and began to whimper. In an amazing switch of mood, the fierce guard dog turned into a helpless pup and plopped his big body across her lap. Their combined weights actually stabilized their movement somewhat. Maddie jammed into the corner with the heavy dog keeping her bottom and legs in place. She patted the big black head and found his fur actually comforting.

Oh my, this night is certainly making strange bedfellows.
She stared at the back of Wade's head and knobby shoulder blades.
I'd better figure out a way to avoid becoming his bedfellow.

* * *

Phil banged the steering wheel. "Shit!"

Randy gazed into the empty yawning expanse. "They must have gone off the road somewhere."

Phil stomped the brakes and made a quick u-turn. "Yeah, but where? Keep your eyes out for a turn off."

The brush and hillsides raced beside them as they retraced their tracks. Phil fought to keep down the rising feeling of panic. If that son of a bitch hurt Maddie, he would break the jerk’s neck. Hell, he would break his friggin' neck no matter what. The sides of the road seemed impenetrable. Where had they gone?