He slapped her shoulder gently. She smiled back, trying to display a courage she did not feel, and tiptoed out into the hall that led to the other rooms. Lowry followed her and stood in the doorway, listening.

23

23

Terry walked quietly forward, through the attractively furnished house. Her heart pounded. What if he had a gun? What if he seized her and somehow killed Lowry? She pictured herself alone in this house with Carrol, way out here at the edge of nowhere, as the big ugly man ripped off her clothes and savagely wrought his will on her naked body, grasping with his filthy hands at her flesh—

There he was. The door to the bedroom was open, and, looking in, she could see him. It was a large room like the other with a wide maple bed and a floor that was bare except for an Indian scatter rug. Terry saw Carrol lying on the floor, half under the bed, only his legs sticking out. She hadn’t made any noise coming in and Carrol apparently hadn’t heard anything.

She waited.

After a moment Carrol began to wriggle out from under the bed. He stood up, holding a tiny green object in his hand. Then, realizing he was not alone, he wheeled suddenly and faced her. The astonishment in his face quickly gave place to the nasty scowl she had seen once before.

“What—you—” he grunted.

“Looking for an old maid under the bed?” she asked flippantly.

“You little bitch, you’ve been following me around,” he said thickly. Carrol’s hand went to his pocket and came out with a short-barreled revolver.

“Your nose is in it this time for fair, sister,” he said. “Get away from that door.”

He gestured with the gun. Trembling a little, Terry moved slowly into the room. Carrol kept the gun leveled at her and walked watchfully to the place where she had stood. His eyes were hard and bitter, and seemed to be undressing her. Once again, brutish animal lust was radiating from him.

“I’m gonna leave you here, sister,” he said. “And nobody’ll ever know the difference. I’ll have the fun I didn’t get the other time, and then I’ll make sure you can’t cry to the cops about it. It’s all right with me if you like McKay enough to risk your neck, but you’re steppin’ out of bounds tanglin’ with me.”

Terry’s throat was dry with terror. But her eyes were on the green object in Carrol’s hand. She forced herself to be calm, telling herself that she had to stall until Lowry could help her.

“That’s a lovely earring,” she said with a mirthless smile. “But they sell for about a dollar a pair and that’s only one of them. Doesn’t seem worth making a fifty-mile trip for, really.”