Off Season - Jack Ketchum [43]
“Will cool a lot slower. And scald hell out of them. That should get them hollering and bring the others on a run. Give us time to get to the cars.”
“And the Magnum,” said Dan.
They stood there smiling. Nick was not as surprised as he thought he should have been to find the thought of murder so very appealing.
“We’ll only get one try,” Dan said. “It better go down like clockwork. The oil isn’t gonna do too much harm except to make them a lot more anxious to get in here. You have any idea where Carla keeps the keys to her car?”
“No. But I’d be willing to bet they’re not in the dashboard. It’s not like her to leave them.”
“Let’s look around, then.”
“Or we could take the Dodge,” he said.
Dan scowled.
“I know what you mean,” Nick said. “I guess it’s not all that reliable. But the gun will be in the Dodge.”
“Yeah.” That would mean they’d have to split up. He didn’t like it but there was nothing else they could do. It just wasn’t safe without the pistol. “Here’s what we do then,” he said. “You go for the trunk and get that gun. I’d do it myself but you know where it is and what the bag looks like. If we can find Carla’s keys, I’ll get her car started and get Marjie and Laura inside.”
“Laura will be a problem.”
“No kidding. I’ll handle it.” He fell silent a moment. Could he handle it? He didn’t know. Walking out there with a hysterical woman on his hands, it was a rotten situation. But if they left her behind she was dead meat. These bastards were crazy. They had to stay together as much as possible.
“Let’s find the damn keys,” he said.
“Marjie may know where they are,” Nick suggested.
“I’d just as soon not ask her. I figure the less about Carla the better, right? Let’s just start with her clothes and take it from there.”
It didn’t take long. The keys were on a ring in the right-hand pocket of her jeans. Dan turned to Nick. “Okay,” he said. “You set with the trunk key for the Dodge?”
“Right here,” he said. He patted his shirt pocket. “I guess we’d better try to rouse Laura”
He started for the bedroom just as Marjie emerged from the bathroom, carrying a stack of towels. Dan selected four of them and threw the others into a corner.
“I think we’d better hold up on Laura a minute,” he said. “We’ve got to discuss this, the three of us. It’s got to be fast.”
His face looked strained and anxious. “I’ll be the one to go upstairs and dump the oil,” he said. “Check out the front window and you’ll find there’s a small peephole there, so you’ll be able to see them when they start to move. When they get out of your line of vision, open that door and, Marjie, get to your sister’s car. Do it as quickly and quietly as you can. No slamming doors. Check to see if there are any windows open and if there are, roll them up. I’ll be right behind you with Laura. Make sure you get into the backseat and close and lock both back doors. Again, be real quiet.
“Nick, get that pistol out of the trunk and head for the right front door. Got that? Right front door. I’ll have it open for you and the car started and ready to go before you hit the seat. Sound good to all of you?”
Nick shrugged. “Best we got.”
“We don’t have much in the way of weapons so I suggest that everybody tuck a knife in their belt and carry out a pan of that water. I hope to shit that nobody gets close enough to even see, but if they do, use the water and use the knives and everything you got, because I got a feeling that if anybody fucks up he’s dead and probably the rest of us with him. If anything goes wrong—anything—we haul ass back inside and bolt up again. Fair enough?”
Marjie nodded. “Fair enough.”
“Okay. Let’s go get Laura.”
She was still huddled in her bedroom. She barely even knows who we are, thought Marjie. She turned to the men behind her. “Let me get some clothes on her,” she said. They went back into the kitchen and left them alone together.
Marjie went through Laura’s closet and took an old plaid shirt off a