Part 3 (2/2)

Carli's brown irises seemed to have grown larger, and, when she spoke, her voice was soft and unsure. ”I was up all night last night. I gotta go to bed.” And she got up and climbed the stairs.

I looked at Susan. ”You're right. She's not stupid.”

Susan nodded slowly. ”More there than meets the eye.”

”Yeah, but well-adjusted she's not.”

Susan shrugged. ”Who is?”

It was past one in the morning, and suddenly I was bone tired. ”It's been a long day. We better go and let you get to bed too.”

Joey said, ”I don't know where you're going, hoss. But I'm tired, and I'm staying right here if it's okay with Susan.”

Susan said, ”It's perfect. If you're as bushed as I am, you don't have any business driving anyhow. I was up most of the night last night with Carli. And I know Tom's wiped out, because I called and woke him before sunrise.”

”And he woke me up to tell me about it,” Joey said.

”Well then,” Susan said, ”I suggest we all hit the sack and think this through in the morning.”

The house had exactly four bedrooms, which was exactly how many we needed. Upstairs, Susan showed us past Carli's closed door to the empty rooms. Joey said good night and walked down the hall to find the bathroom. Susan walked me to my room, clicked on the bedside lamp, and turned to look at me.

She sounded tired and a little hoa.r.s.e when she spoke. All she said was, ”Thanks.” I looked down into her upturned face. Missed sleep and tension showed around her eyes, but they were still beautiful eyes. Very quickly, Susan rocked forward onto her toes, kissed me lightly on the lips, and left the room, closing the door behind her. I stripped down to boxers, switched the light off, and stretched out on top of the covers. I smiled up at the ceiling. My mouth still tingled where her lips had brushed against mine.

I didn't think I had been asleep when Joey shook me awake. He was whispering. ”Wake up, bubba. Wake up. We need to look around.”

I rubbed my eyes and looked at my watch. I was too groggy to focus on the glowing dots and lines that were supposed to show me what time it was.

”Whatsa matter?”

”I thought I heard something a couple of times, then the bedroom clock went out.”

I was too tired for this. ”What're you talking about?”

He sounded exasperated. ”The power's out. You understand that?” I sat up. He went on. ”The phone's dead, too. Something's going on, and I'm gonna go look around a little. I need you to keep an eye on Susan and Carli.”

I swung my feet onto the floor and felt for my pants. I said, ”Go,” and Joey moved silently through the door and down the hallway. I managed to pull on pants and loafers. My s.h.i.+rt and socks had disappeared on the dark carpet, and I left the room bare-chested.

Out in the hall, I found Carli's door and stuck my head inside. A shadowy shape, surprisingly small and childlike, breathed beneath the covers. I eased the door shut and moved to Susan's door, which swung open without a sound. On the wall opposite her bed, open double windows welcomed moonlight and a cool breeze into the room. I crept over and looked outside, wondering who might be out there in the dark with Joey. When I turned to look at Susan, she was looking back.

She still sounded tired but wide awake. ”You scared me.”

I walked over and stood by the bed. As I approached, Susan sat up, holding the sheet against her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She appeared to be naked beneath the covers. I held my index finger against my lips and then leaned down to whisper. ”The power and phones are out. Joey's outside checking on it.”

To her benefit, Susan hesitated only a few seconds before saying, ”Turn around. I need to get dressed.” I walked back over and looked out through the open window. Night air flowed into the room, sprinkling chill b.u.mps across my chest and shoulders and making me wish I had been able to find my s.h.i.+rt. I scanned the sh.o.r.e and the sand dunes and listened for strange voices or the sound of feet on the wooden deck or... something. Everything just looked and sounded and smelled like a spring night at the beach. Behind me, I could hear Susan walk barefoot across the carpet and open dresser drawers. She asked, ”Have you checked on Carli?”

”Yeah. She's fine, but I wanted to get you first.” I heard Susan slipping her legs into jeans.

”Afraid you'd scare her?”

”I though it'd be better if you woke her. But we need to hurry. If somebody's out there, she needs to be up and ready to move.”

Susan told me I could turn back around. When I did, she was sitting on the bed in jeans and a dark T-s.h.i.+rt, pulling on running shoes. She made loops and knots in the laces and stood up. We moved down the hall. Carli's door was closed. Inside, the delicate shape I had seen breathing under the covers was gone.

chapter six.

Fine lines of moonlight angled through miniblinds and faintly streaked Carli's empty bed with light. Visibly shocked, Susan said, a little too loudly, ”Where is she?”

I shushed her and made a quick search of the closet and the floor beneath the bed, thinking, hoping the girl had heard something and tried to hide. I looked at Susan and said, ”I don't know. Come on.” The hall was preternaturally darka”no windows, no electricity, just black. I ducked into my bedroom and Joey's and then checked the bathroom. Back in the hallway, I leaned in close to Susan. ”She probably heard something and got up to look around. I think we would have heard some kind of scuffle if something worse than that had happened.”

”Maybe she heard Joey.”

”Where's that thirty-eight you told me about?”

”In my purse. I think it's on the kitchen table.” I looked at her. She said, ”You know, downstairs.”

I wasn't that sleepy. I knew d.a.m.n well where the kitchen table was. I just wasn't happy about it. I thought about asking Susan to stay upstairs, but decided I didn't want to take a chance on losing someone else. I also realized that, with Carli missing and probably in trouble, Susan wasn't likely to take instructions from me and hide in the closet while I ran around doing manly things.

I said, ”Stay with me, okay,” and led the way to the circular aluminum staircase. Three steps down, I heard a soft hiss and froze. Susan heard it too. She stopped as still as death.

A sharp whisper from the kitchen, ”Tom!” The gla.s.s wall along the front of the living area allowed a diffused fog of gray light into the room. Joey stepped out from a shadow and whispered, ”Carli's here.”

Thank G.o.d. I started down the stairs and was quickly stopped by another hiss. I looked down and back toward the kitchen where Joey stood in the shadows. He appeared to be holding up three fingers, waving them back and forth like a kid saying bye-bye. Then he pointed at the gla.s.s door leading out onto the deck. I looked but saw nothing. I looked back toward Joey and still saw nothing. He had disappeared. I glanced at Susan. She was looking past me toward the deck.

I whispered, ”What?”

She held up an index finger, telling me to wait. I watched her pale eyes scan back and forth and stop. She tapped my shoulder and pointed. The gla.s.s wall overlooking the Gulf was made of ten-foot squares of tempered gla.s.s separated by thick cypress beams. Silhouetted against the outside of one of the vertical beams was a very human shape. I held up one finger. Susan nodded. She shook her head when I held up two. I pointed to where Joey had been and held up three fingers. She nodded and raised her palms in the air.

We agreed. Joey said three. We saw one. Another hiss.

Joey's hand and arm materialized out of kitchen shadows and motioned us back upstairs. We watched the silhouette outside run from one beam to the next. He held a long, thick gun at an angle across his midsection. Maybe a shotgun. When he flattened against the second beam, Susan and I tiptoed back up to the hallway.

She asked, ”Has Joey got a gun?”

”Joey's always got a gun. But one pistol against three rifles or shotguns is a real bad idea. And Joey's got a scared fifteen-year-old girl to take care of.”

”Can't we help him?”

I tried to slow my breathing and think.

She was scared and talking fast. ”What do you think he wants us to do?”

”Joey waved us up here, so it's probably safe in the house for now. But if there are three of them with guns and they come inside, there won't be much we can do but hide. Look, everybody but you and me and Carli has a gun, and Carli's with Joey. We've got to trust Joey to look after her. He's going to expect me to do the same for you.”

”I'm not fifteen, Tom.”

<script>