Night Show (25 page)

‘You watched?’

‘Oh yes. You were so beautiful. You were far away, though. I couldn’t see as well as I wanted. But the way you slowly undressed him and touched him . . .’ Tony lowered her feet to the floor. ‘And then later, when he made love to you in the whirlpool . . .’

‘Did it excite you?’ Dani asked, standing up.

‘Oh yes. But it made me mad. It should’ve been me.’

‘Tonight, it will be you.’ Stepping close to him, Dani shrugged the robe from her shoulders. She stood
motionless
while his eyes wandered over her body. He licked a speck of blood from his cracked lips. Then he raised his hands. They felt like ice on her shoulders. The cut hand was slippery. His fingers trembled as he caressed her. He was breathing hard.

Slowly, Dani unfastened the buttons of his shirt. She untucked it and spread it open. His chest was white and hairless, bony as if the skin had been stretched taut over a skeleton. Reaching up, she slipped the shirt off his shoulders. He lowered his arms to let it fall away.

As she pulled at his belt buckle, his hands slid down to her breasts. She went rigid and shut her eyes.

It’s all right, she told herself. Don’t try to stop him.

The fingers curled around her breasts, squeezing and writhing like snakes.

She jerked his buckle open. It pulled from her hands as Tony crouched. Caressing her buttocks, he kissed her left breast. She looked down at him. He licked her nipple, sucked it into his mouth, opened wide as if trying to draw in her entire breast. She felt the painful pulling, the scrape of his teeth, the push of his probing tongue.

‘You’re hurting me,’ she said.

Obediently, he slipped his mouth off the breast. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. He gave her an apologetic glance, then moved his face to the other breast. It was smeared with blood from his hand. His tongue circled it, lapping the blood away. Clutching her buttocks, he rubbed it with his face. She felt his whiskers, the stiff touch of his scabs. He pushed an eye against her nipple, and she felt
its
quivering lid. His head turned slightly, and he slid the nipple across his other eye. Then he took it into his mouth.

Dani stroked his head. ‘Now,’ she whispered. ‘I want you now.’

He stood up. He held her breasts as she unbuttoned his waist band.

‘This is . . .’ He swallowed. ‘Better than I ever imagined.’

‘Me too.’ Dani slid his zipper down. His erection sprang out. Crouching down, Dani lowered his pants. She held them at his knees. Her right hand eased up his thigh.

Tony moaned.

He bellowed when her fist smashed into his scrotum. He staggered backwards. The pants tripped him. He dropped to his rump and fell sideways, curling up and clutching himself.

Dani scrambled for the knife. She spotted it under the coffee table. Dropping to her knees, she reached under and grabbed it. Then she hurried back to Tony.

He was still curled up, writhing and groaning.

She knew she could get away while Tony was helpless. In another couple of minutes, though . . .

She raced into the kitchen, threw open the workroom door and slapped the light switch. On a hook near the window hung a coil of rope, the remains from what they’d used to tie up the Sandra Blaine mannequin for
Carrion
. She ran for it. The edge of the workbench gouged her hip. She winced and gritted her teeth
against
the pain, but didn’t stop, Stretching up, she grabbed the rope and yanked it free.

She dashed into the kitchen. Her sweaty feet slipped on the linoleum, but the dining room carpet gave good traction and she sprinted for the living room.

Tony was gone.

D
ANI STOOD
on the carpet where, less than a minute ago, the boy had been squirming in agony. Now, only his trousers and a few smears of blood remained to mark the place.

She looped the rope over her head to free her left hand. She scanned the living room, turning slowly. The only light came from the foyer. It reached the area where she stood, casting her shadow over the pale carpet, dimming a short distance beyond and leaving much of the room murky.

Tony would be there. Maybe hiding behind the curtains that stretched across the sliding door and picture windows. Maybe crouched by the sofa or easy chair. Maybe hunched down next to the stereo console. Waiting. Ready to spring at her.

She backed away. Standing under the light, she glanced down the long corridor.

He might even be down there. Waiting inside the guest bathroom or her bedroom.

The knob of the front door pressed cool against her rump. In seconds, she could be outside, racing
to
a neighbor’s house. But that wouldn’t help Jack.

Buried alive.

My God,
buried alive!

How long could he last?

Dani shoved away from the door and walked straight forward. Her shadow moved ahead of her, faded as she left the light behind. She went up the middle of the room, turning, sidestepping, walking backwards, never pausing as she checked the dark places where Tony might be hiding. In the corner, she kicked an armchair against the wall. She ducked to peer under a lamp table. She climbed onto the sofa and walked the length of it, her feet sinking into the soft cushions, her hand trailing through the curtains behind it. At the end, she stepped onto the coffee table. A long stride took her to an overstuffed chair. She leaned over its back. Nobody there. She jumped down. With her back pressed to the wall, she used one hand to pull the draw cord. The curtains slowly skidded open, revealing an expanse of window and the shimmering blue surface of the lighted pool.

Her gaze swept through the room.

‘Tony!’

No answer.

She made her way back, pivoting, ducking, peering into shadows behind furniture. In the dining area, she squatted low and scanned the space under the table. There was darkness and a forest of oak legs. She straightened up. She turned around. She stepped to the long side of the bar, planted a knee on a stool cushion
and
crawled onto the counter top. Inching forward, she looked over the edge and found him.

The coil of rope around her neck stopped swaying.

Tony jerked it hard.

Crying out, Dani braced herself on stiff arms as pain hit the back of her neck like a club. Her head snapped down. The rope scorched her ears, burnt a swath up the back of her head and was gone. Before she could move, Tony whipped it across her face. She threw herself backwards, eyes squeezed shut with pain, and felt another vicious lash. Her right knee left the counter. The oak edge hammered her hip, scraped along her ribs, tore at her breast, caught her under the arm and seemed to shove her away. Her knee knocked a stool over. The side of her ribcage hit another, flipping the stool sideways. She fell on it, her body slamming against the seat edge, the legs and rungs. In a daze, she rolled off it.

She pushed herself to her hands and knees. The knife was gone. She lurched forward, scuttling over the carpet, digging in her toes, shoving away with her fists, trying to stand. With a
whish
and smack, the rope seared her rump. Then she was on her feet. She dodged around the corner of the bar, and ran.

Footfalls and harsh breathing close behind.
Whish!
The rope cut across her back.

She raced past the front door, into the corridor. Then a hand rammed against her back. She flew forward, legs flinging out wildly to stay under her. But it was no use. She hit the carpet chest-first and skidded to a halt.

‘You’re mine now,’ Tony gasped. ‘You should’ve been nice.’

He stepped on her.

He stood on her buttocks with both feet.

‘I loved you, Dani.’ He bounced, grinding her pelvis against the carpet. ‘I never loved anyone else. I think I’ll skin you. I’ll tie you up and cut your skin off a piece at a time. No. No, I’ll use my teeth. Would you like that?’ He bounced again.

Dani thrust herself up. The feet shot off her rump. Glancing back as she scurried over the carpet, she saw Tony hit the wall with his shoulder and sprawl backwards, arms flailing.

She dashed down the corridor. Grabbing the door frame, she hurled herself into her bedroom. She slammed the door. Her thumb jabbed the lock button down.

‘You can’t get away from me!’ Tony kicked the door, but it held. ‘I’m gonna get you! I’m gonna rip your skin off!’

He stepped back, ran at the door and smashed his shoulder against it. The impact hurled him back.

‘I’ll
get
you!’ he yelled.

Then he raced to the guest bathroom. He flicked on the light, tugged open a drawer under the sink. A fingernail file. It was metal and pointed. He ran to the bedroom door. His hand trembled badly. Then the point scraped into the key hole. He twisted the file and heard a soft, ringing
pop
.

He threw the door open, stepped inside, and shut it.

Except for the flames of two candle stubs on the dresser, the room was dark.

‘Where
are
you?’ he sang. ‘I’m gonna
get
you.’

He stared at the bed: the coverlet heaped at its foot, the top sheet thrown back, the pillows crooked. She must’ve been on it earlier with Jack. Making love. By candlelight.

Rushing forward, he dropped to his knees and peered into the darkness under the bed.

Not there.

He stood up, turned around. The door to the master bathroom was shut.

‘Well well, Dani.’ As he took a step toward it, he heard the sound of a heavy splash.

He whirled. He charged past the end of the bed and batted the curtains aside. The glass door was open. The water in the lighted pool still trembled from the impact.

He ran to the pool’s edge.

He stared.

The body was face-up in the deep water near the diving board, rigid as a corpse, sinking slowly toward the bottom.

‘Dani!’

Her eyes gazed up at the surface as if entranced by the view. Her mouth was wide open.

Tony sidestepped along the rim of the pool.

God, she looked beautiful, the lights shimmering on her naked body, her hair drifting as if stirred by a strange wind.

Tony wanted her so badly.

But he couldn’t go into the water, not even for Dani. Suppose it was a trick, and she grabbed him and held him under . . .

If it’s a trick, she’ll come up for air.

But she didn’t.

She sank to the bottom.

She blurred and streaked as tears filled Tony’s eyes. ‘Oh Dani,’ he whispered.

Then pain split his head.

Tony winced. His head throbbed. He wanted to hold it, but when he tried to raise his hands, they wouldn’t move. He opened his eyes.

He was outside, facing Dani’s house, lashed to the aluminum frame of a patio chair.

His head pulsed as he looked from side to side. At first, he saw no one in the darkness. Then a pale figure stepped out from behind the distant barbeque.

It walked slowly toward him.

It was a naked woman, her skin pale in the moonlight.

She held a machete in one hand, a canister in the other.

‘Who are you?’ Tony gasped.

‘You know me.’

She was near enough for the pool lights to flutter dimly on her face.

‘Get away!’

She shook her head. She tossed the machete aside, its blade clattering on the concrete. ‘I almost used the
blade
,’ she said. ‘I would’ve, but I need some information.’

She shook the canister in her left hand. Tony heard sloshing liquid.

Charcoal lighter!

She flicked up the plastic cap. Without another word, she squirted the fluid onto him. It came out in a thin stream, splashing over his shaven head, running down his face. It felt cold except when it touched his wounds, and then it burned.

‘You can’t do this!’

She said nothing. The stream stopped for a moment. The can made a hollow, buckling sound, and squirted again. She moved it back and forth, criss-crossing his chest, his belly.

‘What do you want?’

The can made another popping sound. She aimed the fluid between his legs. It matted his pubic hair, splattered his limp penis, trickled down his scrotum.

She walked away.

‘Where’re you going!’

‘To get the matches.’

‘No! Please! Oh my God, don’t! I’m sorry! I was just kidding about skinning you! Honest! I’m sorry! I’ll leave you alone, I promise! I’ll do anything! PLEASE!’

She stopped and turned.

‘Tell me where to find Jack.’

S
HE LEFT
Tony tied to the chair. Rushing across her bedroom, she tossed the machete to the floor. She grabbed her handbag from the dresser and blew out the candle flames.