‘We… just wrestled.’ She wanted to tug her skirt down to cover her panties, but she couldn’t bring herself to move. ‘I think… all he wanted was to get away.’
‘What’ll we do with him?’ Finley asked.
‘Let him go,’ Vivian said.
‘That doesn’t seem like such a hot idea,’ Finley said. She crouched and picked up the knife she’d dropped. ‘No telling what he might do.’
‘I won’t do nothing,’ Jim said, his voice high and shaky.
‘He’s hurt,’ Abilene explained. ‘I got him in the leg with my knife. And bit his head.’
‘Are you all right?’ Vivian asked her.
‘I’ll live. But my back. Itches like crazy.’ She knew it must be scratched some and littered with bits of field debris clinging to her skin. Vivian crouched, wadding the blouse. Figuring what she had in mind, Abilene shoved at the ground and leaned forward. Vivian began to rub her back with the blouse.
Abilene moaned as the itching faded to mild soreness.
‘Hey!’ Cora’s voice.
Abilene looked up and saw her at the edge of the field, standing on one leg, propped up by the shotgun.
‘What’s going on?’ Cora yelled.
‘Everything’s okay,’ Abilene answered. ‘We’ll be over in a minute.’ Vivian gave the blouse to her. Putting it on, she looked over at Jim. He still had his head down. She picked up the knife. ‘You can leave if you want. I’m sorry about… going after you. Hurting you.’
He wiped his eyes and looked at her. ‘I don’t blame ya none.’
‘All the same… I thought you’d killed our friend.’
‘How do we know he didn’t?’ Finley said.
‘I believe him,’ Vivian said.
‘He could’ve cut my throat,’ Abilene explained. To Jim, she said, ‘If you want to come along with us, that’s fine. We’ve got a first-aid kit at the car. We can bandage you up.’
‘Okay,’ he muttered.
Abilene stood up. She straightened her skirt. She slipped her feet into the moccasins that Vivian had brought for her, then took a drink from the water bottle.
Jim got slowly to his feet. He winced when he put weight on his left leg. Bending over, he clutched the back of his thigh.
‘Can you walk?’ Vivian asked him.
He gave it a try. Hand clamped to the wound, he took a few hobbling steps. The back of his injured leg was sheathed with blood. Some had gotten onto his good leg as well.
Abilene expected to find blood all over his hair and neck and back, but there was none. Apparently, she hadn’t bitten his scalp hard enough to break the skin.
Of course not, she thought. I would’ve gotten it all over my face.
Finley took over the lead, walking backward, holding the knife at her side and keeping her eyes on Jim. Abilene and Vivian walked behind him.
Cora, up ahead, had lowered herself to the ground. When the others got to her, she asked Abilene, ‘Are you okay?’
‘The blood’s his. I got him in the leg.’
‘He didn’t hurt you?’
‘No, I’m fine.’
Finley gave her the water bottle and she took a long drink.
‘He says his brother’s the one who killed Helen,’ Finley said.
‘A likely story,’ Cora said.
‘He could’ve killed me, but he didn’t.’
‘He knows I would’ve nailed him,’ Finley said.
‘I think he told the truth,’ Vivian said. ‘He admitted throwing our stuff in the pool last night. He said it was to scare us away so his brother wouldn’t get us.’
‘Where was this “brother” then?’ Cora asked.
‘Back home,’ Jim explained.
‘The thing is,’ Abilene said, ‘the brother apparently didn’t know we were at the lodge until later last night. He caught Jim with Vivian’s bra.’
‘Fuckin’ pervert,’ Finley said.
Jim stood there with his head down, his hand clasped to the back of his leg.
‘I never even noticed it was missing,’ Vivian said. She sounded apologetic, as if she blamed herself for luring the killer to the lodge.
‘The brother took it from him,’ Abilene continued, ‘and made him tell where he’d gotten it. Apparently, he beat Jim up.’ She flapped a hand toward the dark blotches on Jim’s stomach. ‘That’s how you got those bruises, isn’t it?’
‘Yeah,’ he murmured.
‘How do we know Helen didn’t do that to him?’ Finley said.
‘I never hurt nobody.’
‘That’s what you keep telling us.’
‘What were you doing at the lodge in the first place?’ Cora asked him.
‘Isn’t that obvious?’ Finley said.
‘It’s… I just like to go there. It’s quiet ’n nice ’n… I go there all the time. Just to swim and stuff. Ain’t nobody ever there. Till yesterday.’
‘And you liked what you saw,’ Finley said, ‘so you came sneaking back last night.’
‘That ain’t it. Figured ya’d be gone. But when I seen ya was still there, I tried to scare ya off. Hank, he goes there sometimes. He’s crazy. He’ll go and stay the whole night, sometimes. It’s ’cause he done stuff there when he was just a kid… killed some folks ’n… done stuff to gals. He likes to… stay in the lodge ’n run it all through his head. Ya hear him, ya’d think it was just the finest thing ever… what he done that night. So I knowed what he’d do if he come across ya. That’s how come I thrown your things in the water. Just to spook ya off.’
‘If you were worried that way,’ Abilene said, ‘why didn’t you just come out and talk to us, explain the situation?’
‘I don’t know,’ he muttered.
‘He was having too much fun,’ Finley said.
‘Were you afraid of us?’ Vivian asked.
‘Not much. I… liked ya.’
‘I’ll just bet you did.’
‘Quit it, Finley.’
‘Oh, come on. The kid’s a voyeur. He was getting his jollies spying on us.’
‘That may be,’ Abilene said, ‘but I think he’s telling the truth about his brother.’
‘Brother or not, he got Helen killed. If he hadn’t been spying on us and decided to fuck around with our stuff, we never would’ve lost the car keys and we would’ve gotten outa this shit-hole last night and Helen’d still be alive. If he hadn’t swiped Viv’s bra, his fucking brother wouldn’t even’ve known we were here.’ She suddenly lunged at Jim. Arms outstretched, she rammed her hands against his chest. He staggered backward, dropped, and landed on his rump. As he looked up with surprise and pain in his eyes, Abilene sprang at Finley. She grabbed her friend’s arm and tugged, but not quick enough. The toe of Finley’s sneaker punched Jim under the chin. The kid flopped backward, his head bouncing off the ground.
‘Christ, Fin!’
She yanked her arm free of Abilene’s grip, but didn’t go after Jim again.
Vivian hurried over to him. She crouched by his side. His eyes were shut. For a moment, Abilene thought he might be dead. Then she detected the rise and fall of his chest. Vivian looked up at Finley. ‘Good going,’ she muttered.
‘He had it coming.’
‘You could’ve killed him.’
‘Tough. Serve him right.’
‘You didn’t have to do that,’ Cora said, ‘but maybe it’s just as well. Let’s tie him up before he comes to.’
‘What the hell for?’ Abilene protested.
‘So he doesn’t run off.’
‘He came with us on his own.’
‘But I don’t think he’d want to stick around for what I’ve got in mind.’
Finley didn’t need any more urging. She dropped to her knees beside Jim and plucked at one of the ropes that was knotted to a belt loop at the front of his jeans.
‘What do you have in mind?’ Abilene asked.
‘We keep him till we’re outa here.’
‘Keep him prisoner?’
‘I believe “hostage” is the appropriate term,’ Finley said. ‘Good plan, Cora. Wish I’d thought of it. Nobody’s gonna fuck with us as long as we’ve got the kid. Give me a hand,’ she told Vivian. Together, they rolled Jim onto his stomach. He moaned quietly, but didn’t struggle. Finley picked at the other knot.
‘I’m not sure it’s such a good idea,’ Abilene said.
‘Sure it is,’ Finley said. She got the knot loose and started to bind Jim’s hands behind his back.
‘He’ll be our insurance,’ Cora explained.
‘The brother might come looking for him.’