The Other Side - J. D. Robb [164]
“Oh for God’s sake.” Ryan turned to the door and began hammering with his fist. “Jimmy. Hang in there, buddy, I’m coming. Don’t be afraid. Daddy’s here. I’m coming for you.”
“Ryan. Ryan.” She dodged his fist even as she tried to catch it with both her hands. “That won’t help. She’s literally holding the house up. Mr. Brown backed his backhoe into it two weeks ago, and it barely unsettled the dust.” She stepped back and looked at them. “But there must be a limit to her powers, right? Do you think she can handle all four of us at once?”
“I should think that I have a good deal of strength, but I’ve never had the need to test it.” Odelia clenched and unclenched her fists experimentally. She turned to the large picture window behind her and, summoning every ounce of concentration she had, dealt it a blow that had the cracked glass wobbling back and forth as if it were made of Jell-O.
“Wow.” Ryan’s appreciation was short-lived with Jimmy uppermost on his mind. He instructed them not to move when he dashed off the porch, saying he’d be right back as he ran up the street and around the corner.
“She won’t hurt him, will she?” M.J. asked the sisters as soon as he was out of earshot. “He’s so little and trusting. He must be terrified if she’s not letting him loose. . . . I should never have lied to him . . . to either of them. This is all my fault.”
“How were you supposed to know he’d break into the house?”
“You were doing what you thought was best, dear.”
She sat on the top step in her favorite summer silk suit and put her head in her hands. Her chest felt over-full, and it hurt as if she’d been physically pummeled. It ached to breathe, and it was even more painful when she thought of Jimmy . . . and the hell Ryan must be going through.
It felt like forever but was only a matter of minutes before they heard Ryan’s quick steps jogging back toward them. He was carrying a long-handled sledgehammer. His jaw was set with a scary determination that only a parent of an endangered child could muster.
“You take that window,” he shouted to Odelia. “I’ll work on this one.”
“Wait a second.” She got to her feet and stepped back onto the porch. “Mother, you go up and do what you can to distract her. Tell Jimmy his dad’s here so he won’t worry.” Adeline disappeared. “I’ll do what I can with the door.”
She and Ryan looked to Odelia for a go sign, and after a second or two, she gave the nod. M.J. turned the old key in the lock and jiggled the knob and threw her body against the door, over and over, until her teeth began to rattle. Ryan took swing after power-packed swing at the window on her right, knocking out tiny shards of glass here and there. And Odelia plowed first one fist and then the other above her head against the window on M.J.’s left, causing ripple after ripple in the old, shattered panes.
She finally sagged against the door to catch her breath, and a few minutes later Ryan let the hammer thump on the porch to get his second wind. That’s when they heard the high-pitched ringing noise from Odelia’s window, like a shrill scream that grew louder and louder until they covered their ears and then suddenly stopped.
Odelia turned her head and looked at them in surprise, and then everything happened at once. There came a fine cracking noise like footsteps on fine ice; Ryan grabbed her arm, turning her away from the window, bent her low over the arm he had around her waist, and covered as much of her body as he could when the window finally exploded, blasting glass in every direction.
“My goodness.” Odelia sounded pleased and proud of her efforts, while they unfurled their bodies. Had there been more time, she would have taken a moment to relish the concern in Ryan’s eyes as they scanned her head to toe for injuries, but as it was, she set it aside for now with the tiny hope of his forgiveness and turned to follow him through the window.