Endless Night Part 65

Must've hidden somewhere.

Couldn't run away and leave me to this b.a.s.t.a.r.d.

Came to save me.

To save me with an empty gun.

The Smith & Wesson in Andy's hand was the same pistol that Simon had used on Dad.

Simon had dropped it-almost in the same place where Andy now stood-after running out of ammo.

But its slide was forward as if it were loaded and c.o.c.ked.

Andy's arm stiffened, "I said FREEZE! I mean it! I'll shoot!"

"Not with that, you won't."

"You wanta bet?"

"Fire away."

Andy shook his head. "You just want me to waste my ammo.

"You don't have any ammo," Simon said. "Have you ever seen Jody naked before? Look at her. Look at her lovely legs." Hands clutched her ankles. "Wouldn't you like to do this to her?"

Andy watched, his eyes very wide, his mouth open.

Jody twisted her head around and saw Simon, on his knees, sink down and kiss the calf of her left leg. He kissed it only once, then began to lick up her blood. He worked his way higher, his tongue darting out and stroking her. It felt slimy. She supposed a snail would feel like this. Or a slug. A leech, a blood sucker.

When he came to the back of her knee, he sucked hard on the gash.

Jody flinched and swung her head around and looked up at Andy.

The boy seemed transfixed.

"Don't let him!" Jody gasped. "Shoot him!"

Right. Shoot him with an empty gun.

"You'd like to do this, too, wouldn't you?" Simon asked, his voice soft and sweet. "Look at her lovely a.s.s. Mmm."

Jody felt him kiss one b.u.t.tock, then the other. Then his tongue slid down her crack.

"For G.o.d's sake, Andy!"

The front of Andy's pajama pants now jutted out.

"Don't let him. Please."

"Stop," Andy said. He didn't sound as if he meant it. His voice was a quiet monotone. "You'd better stop, mister."

Simon bit her right b.u.t.tock.

The pain was odd and familiar. She knew it from sliding into bases. A pain that hurt but also made you feel like giggling. She felt a thickness in her throat. Tears blurred her vision. She lowered her head and started to cry.

Simon's teeth clamped her other b.u.t.tock.

Bam!

She jerked. Simon's teeth released her, this time without biting.

Jody blinked tears from her eyes and raised her head. Andy had the pistol pointed at Simon. She twisted her head around.

Simon, on his knees between her legs, was straightening himself up from the waist. His hands were by his sides. The knife was in the sheath hanging from his belt. He had a surprised look in his eyes. His face was all b.l.o.o.d.y-the tip of his nose, his lips and cheeks. Blood even dripped off his chin.

He's shot through the mouth!

Wait, she thought. No. He couldn't have been shot through the mouth. Not with my b.u.t.t in his teeth.

Then where ... ?

Nowhere, that's where.

If he'd been shot, he probably wouldn't be grinning.

His front teeth were b.l.o.o.d.y.

"Told you it was loaded," Andy said. He didn't sound so strange, now. Almost like normal, but not quite. "I was here before. I was here when you had Jody on the bed. That's when I got the gun. But it was empty, so then I had to go to Jody's room for the other magazine."

"Very clever," Simon said. "You know, I could use a smart young man like you. We could team up. How would you like that? Just imagine."

"Shoot him, d.a.m.n it! What'd you do, fire a warning shot? You should've blown his head off!"

"I was afraid I'd hit you," he mumbled.

"You won't hit me now! Shoot him! He killed my dad! He killed your mom and dad. And Evelyn. He ..."

"That isn't true, Andy. I'll take some blame for shooting Jody's old man, but he didn't give me any choice. It was a pure and simple case of self-defense. As for your family, I had nothing to do with it."

"That's a lie!" Jody blurted. "We saw you. You're one of the guys that chased us. You had me on the gra.s.s."

"I'm not saying I wasn't there," Simon explained. "But I was there to stop the others. I wanted to prevent them ..."

"Liar!" She swung her head around and looked up at Andy. He still had the pistol aimed at Simon. He was frowning. He looked befuddled. The front of his pajamas still stuck out, but not so far as before. "Don't listen to him, Andy. He's trying to mess up your head."

"The fact is, I killed the men who murdered your family. Did you know that?"

"And you know why he killed them, too," Jody said. "He didn't do it for you. It had nothing to do with that."

"But I did kill them, Andy. I made them pay. I killed every last one of them."

"Shoot him, d.a.m.n it!"

Andy shook his head. "I wanta know where he took the bodies, first."

"Whose bodies?" Simon asked.

"My mom and dad and sister."

"I didn't take them anywhere. I was left behind to deal with you and Jody. But I know what was usually done with bodies. I know where we buried the parts we didn't want anymore. I can take you there. Not if you shoot me, though."

"Do it!" Jody blurted.

Andy again shook his head. "I wanta know how he did it, too."

Simon grinned. "How I did what, amigo?"

Jody shoved at the floor to push herself up.

Simon gave her rump a single, hard spank. The swat landed where he'd bitten her. The blast of pain made her whole body spasm. She gave a huge gasp. She was suddenly limp on the floor, panting for air, weeping.

G.o.d, Andy! Andy! Are you gonna let him do that to me?

"You didn't have to do that," Andy muttered.

"She was interfering with us. Sometimes, you have to be a little rough with these b.i.t.c.hes. You know? And do you know what else? They like it. Turns 'em on. Now. What else is it that you want me to explain?"

"You were supposed to be dead. That's how come we came back. So how ... one of the burned guys wasn't you, huh?"

"Five of the burned guys weren't me." Simon sounded very cheerful.

"Who was it that was supposed to be you?"

"Guess."

"I don't wanta guess. And I don't want you hurting Jody anymore, either. So just don't move. Talk, but stay still or I will shoot you."

"Wouldn't you like to have Jody turn over? Wouldn't you like to see ... ?"

"Shut up. How did you trick us?"

"How much do you know?"

"Sergeant Fargo heard your tapes. He told us all about them."

"Did he? I knew he was rambling on and on about something, but..."

"What do you mean? You were here?"

"In the attic. Sitting quiet as a mouse. Ever since ... oh, some time before sunrise this morning."

"You were here all day?"

"Oh, yes. Sitting up there in the dark and the heat, all by my lonesome, all day long and into the night."

"How'd you get in the house?"

He chuckled. "Why, I came in through the kitchen window. The same way I entered when I paid my first visit. Pretty smart, don't you think? n.o.body even considered the possibility that I might be in the house today. Did you?"

"They all said you were supposed to be dead."

"Just as I planned it. You see, I was very careful to point out on my tapes that there would be four fellows in the garage. You didn't hear the tapes, though. Right?"

"Right."

"If you had heard them, you might remember a point soon after I left Indio-and before I kidnaped my fake Jody-when I mentioned wis.h.i.+ng I'd thought to grab Dusty's bulletproof vest."

"Didn't hear about that," Andy said.

"Well, it's there. Now, here's one of my little tricks. Paying attention? Just after talking about how I wished I'd taken Dusty's vest, I turned off my recorder. And I found a freeway exit. And I turned around and drove all the way back to Indio. I went straight back to the house where I'd killed Dusty and Ranch and the kid."

"Henry?" Andy asked.

"Right. Henry. Henry the kid, not Henry the hound. Well, everything was just the way I'd left it. Only hotter and stinkier." He chuckled. "Anyway, here's what I did. I took Dusty's bulletproof vest-which I later wore underneath my s.h.i.+rt when I went into the garage to kill Tom and the rest of them. Not only that, but I also took Henry's body out to my car and locked it in the trunk. Right in broad daylight. Very risky, very exciting. A little risk spices things up, you know-makes things tastier. Risk is the mustard on the hot dog of life.

"He was in my trunk all the way back to L.A. But he had some company after I grabbed the girl. You should've seen her, Andy. She sure didn't enjoy being shut up in the trunk in the dark with that boy. Talk about freaking out! You should've heard her screams! When I pulled her out to f.u.c.k her in the desert, she was all covered with blood and s.h.i.+t from the kid. It was incredible. I'd probably have to give her a ten, when it comes right down to it.

"Of course, she wasn't anywhere near as hot as our Jody here. Have you ever seen a better-looking girl than our Jody?"

"Don't talk about her like that."

"It turns you on."

"Does not. Shut up. What happened at the garage?"

"Oh, it was choice. It was choice, Andy. First off, I made sure the tapes were just right-really hammed it up so it'd look like I went in expecting to bite it. And of course I never mentioned one word about wearing Dusty's vest or having an extra stiff in the trunk. The whole idea was to trick the cops into thinking I was dead along with the other guys. So you'd come back to L.A. Not you. Jody. It was all for Jody.

"I wanted her, pure and simple. Well, maybe not quite so pure, huh? But I had to have her, that's the thing. She's spectacular. So gorgeous and sweet... and innocent. But you know that, Andy. You want her as much as I do, don't you?"

Andy didn't answer.

Jody knew the answer.

Andy wanted her. She had no doubt at all about that.

Yeah, he does. Sure, he does. But he's not like this guy. He's just a kid, a h.o.r.n.y kid. He wants me, but he won't go for this sort of stuff.

Not Andy.