Night Prey

by Carol Davis Luce

  Jake ignored his question. “Any idea yet who he is?”

  “His name is Joseph Eckker. He escaped from prison four years ago. We’ve got every law enforcement agency in a seventy-mile radius, California included, looking for him. If he’s hiding out in a church somewhere in the forest, we’ll have him in no time. A guy like that can’t be invisible.”

  Invisible? Invincible? Why not? Jake thought ironically.

  “Where are you two?” Clark asked again.

  “At the moment we’re safe. That’s all you need to know,” Jake said through chattering teeth. As he talked, Robbi stood close behind, trying to warm him by vigorously rubbing the gooseflesh on his arms. “We have a better chance on our own. Avondale led him to us.”

  “That’s bullshit, Reynolds. Come on in. We’ll protect you, you have my word.”

  Jake chuckled humorlessly. “You ever see the movie Terminator, Detective?”

  “Yeah. But what the hell does—”

  “Well, as far as I’m concerned, there’s not much difference between that character and the one we just tangled with, except that one’s real and one’s not. This Eckker character is injured again. He stopped a flare with his hand.”

  “Dammit, Reynolds, that’s all the more reason to come—”

  “I’m freezing my ass off out here. We’ll keep in touch.” Jake hung up. Returned to Robbi, hugged her. “C’mon, let’s get a room with a fireplace.”

  FORTY-SIX

  When Eckker had scrubbed away the dirt and sand on his hand, with it went the peeling black shriveled skin. The weeping burns concerned him little, but the raw stumps plagued him. He felt physically lacking, defective. And it was all her fault.

  He poured hydrogen peroxide over the hand and fingers, and watched, fascinated, as the wounds erupted into a bloody froth. The stinging intensified his rage.

  Lifting the ragged flaps of skin over the raw stumps, he smeared a tallow-colored salve over the wounds, then wrapped his entire hand in clean gauze. Blood seeped through the bandage.

  When he finished, he pulled her handbag onto his lap and opened it. He lifted out each item, inspected it painstakingly before putting it aside and selecting another. He found her driver’s license and examined the picture in the upper corner. Then from one of the accordion sleeves of plastic that held her credit cards, he carefully lifted out a color snapshot of Tobie sitting bareback on her horse.

  He studied both pictures. The two sisters were so much alike.

  His pulse raced. He wanted them both. One would be his to have and hold. The other one would die.

  At noon, Jake and Roberta left Lakeside Lodge and walked to a diner on the main street. Sitting at a table near enough to a window to see outside clearly yet back far enough to not be seen from the street, they ate ham and eggs, drank cup after cup of coffee, and read the newspaper. The composite of the killer, with and without the beard, looking every bit the monster he was, stood out starkly on the front page.

  “For the time being we’re probably safe where we are. But we have to rent a car. We’re too damn vulnerable on foot.” He picked up the check and stood. “Ready?”

  Robbi absently reached for her mammoth shoulder bag, forgetting again that she’d had to leave it at Jake’s. Something worried at her ... her purse, its contents, left at Jake’s.

  “Omigod,” she whispered.

  “What?”

  “My purse was inside your house. If he took it, he’d have my address book. It has the names and numbers of everyone I know. Friends, coworkers, family ...” She let those words die away. Her family. They lived nearby. And naturally the first place he would expect her to go would be home.

  “Jake, I’ve got to warn my family.”

  He dug in his pocket for change, handed her an assortment of silver. “There’s a phone by the register.”

  In the foyer, she fed coins into the pay phone and jabbed at buttons. She was relieved to hear it ringing. It rang and rang. Answer please, she said under her breath. She was about to hang up when the line was picked up.

  “Paxton residence.”

  “Hanley, it’s Robbi. Is my mother or sister there?”

  “Hello, Robbi. How are you?”

  “Is everything okay there?”

  “Why, sure. It’s a good thing you called when you did, else you would’ve got no answer. I just came in to tend to your daddy. Your mama’s down again with one of those bad headaches and your little sis is out wearing out the hooves on that black beast of hers.”

  “Has anyone been out to the house today? Any strangers?”

  “No one’s been out as far as I know. ‘Course, I’ve been outdoors all morning. Like I said, I came to see to your daddy.”

  Robbi buckled under the relief. “Hanley, listen to me. Listen carefully. Someone ... a man, is after me. I think he might go out to the ranch, looking for me.”

  “What man, Robbi?’

  “He’s dangerous, extremely dangerous.”

  “Why’s he after you?” The tone dubious.

  “It’s a long story and I don’t have time. Hanley, I want you to call the sheriff or whoever it is that’s law out your way. Tell him to contact the Reno Police Department, a Detective Clark. Have him mention my name.”

  “Hold it a sec. Reno police ... Clark,” he repeated. “Okay.”

  “Clark will fill him in on this man, the killer—”

  “A killer?” Hanley cut in.

  “Yes, a killer. Do you have a gun or a rifle?”

  “The place is full of them. You know that. Your daddy has about every kind they made.”

  “Load one and carry it. When my sister comes home, get her and my mom in the car and tell them to go straight to the police.”

  “What about your daddy?”

  “Yes, of course, him too.”

  “Your sister just left. I don’t ‘spect her back for a while.”

  “Any idea where she went?”

  “Not a clue.”

  “Dammit,” she said under her breath. “Just make sure they all leave the house, okay?”

  “I’ll see to it personally. What’s this man look like?”

  “Dark hair and ... he’s big. Very big. Don’t take any chances, Hanley.”

  “Robbi, I don’t understand any of this. It’s all crazy stuff. What’s going on? Why is this killer after you?”

  “Later, just call the sheriff.” There were more questions, but she ignored them and hung up.

  Jake had paid the check and was standing behind her.

  She ran trembling fingers through her hair.

  “They’ll be all right.” He put a hand to her face. “C’mon, let’s get that car.”

  They stepped out into the bright, warm mountain air.

  On a scratch pad before him, Hanley Gates had scribbled sheriff, Reno police, Clark. The number for the local sheriff was attached to a sticker on the base of the telephone. He lifted the receiver again, dialed the number. Two rings later a gruff voice identified himself as Deputy Barr.

  Hanley lowered the receiver and let it gently slip back into the cradle. He buried tremulous fingers into his wispy gray hair. “Lord, oh. Lord, what have I done? What have I done?”

  He absently brushed his hands on the back pockets of his dusty Wranglers, then he sighed and, with a weariness befitting a man of advanced years, he walked out of the room.

  Robbi and Jake took the boat back to Crystal Bay. They put in at the public dock and walked to the Hyatt Lake Tahoe. At a Hertz booth just inside the door they rented a car.

  “I want to check in with Clark,” Jake said.

  “I’ll get the car.”

  Clark come on the line. “He was right where you said he would be. Dead.”

  Jake knew he meant Avondale.

  “Anything?”

  “No,” Clark said. “We’re chasing our damn tails.”

  “Last night you said you knew who he was. Give me some background.”

  “Joseph Eckker. Thirty-five. Il
legitimate. Childhood a real horror. Abusive, prostitute mother. He took to the streets early, stealing, fighting, drugs. At eight he was sent to live with grandparents after his mother was beaten to death by her crazy live-in boyfriend—which, incidentally, he was a witness to.”

  “Go on.”

  “Couldn’t stay out of trouble. One correctional institution after another. At sixteen he was incarcerated for abduction and assault with intent to commit rape. A model prisoner he wasn’t. He got additional time for repeated violence and breakouts, at which he was quite adept. And hard time for brutally killing a cellmate.”

  The receiver in Jake’s hand became slippery with moisture. “Escapee?” Jake asked.

  “Four years ago from maximum security.”

  “Christ.”

  After promising to check in again later, Jake signed off.

  She had pulled the beige Buick Skylark under the portico of the Hyatt where Jake was waiting. He climbed behind the wheel, then drove around to a lot overlooking the lake and a playground. He parked and shut off the engine.

  Jake told her what Clark had said.

  Roberta rubbed her temple. Nothing he had said surprised her. She knew the man in her visions was capable of anything.

  A hundred feet in front of them, at the private beach of the hotel, the sounds of children carried to where they sat. From out of nowhere Robbi detected the sweet scent of watermelon and coconut. Then melodious humming filled her head. Joy enveloped her, a feeling of peace and innocence. Shimmering water cascaded over her arms. She felt the coolness of it, felt her body light and buoyant, felt smooth pebbles under the soles of her feet and spongy mud between her toes. A horse snorted. She saw trees, quivering aspen leaves. All around her the forest danced with speckled sunlight.

  A deadly calm clutched at Roberta’s heart.

  FORTY-SEVEN

  He listened to the splashing sounds and cautiously crept forward, avoiding twigs and pine cones in his stealthy advance to the pond. The horse, sensing his approach, whinnied and pranced nervously. A pair of shorts, T-shirt, and worn athletic shoes lay at the edge of the flat rock. The girl, humming, intent on her water acrobatics, was unaware of his presence or the horse’s agitation.

  He stopped between two fir trees and crouched down. He watched her, unable to take his eyes from her sweet essence. She was so beautiful. So much like Celia.

  She was in his pond. Everything had a purpose. Nothing was mere chance or coincidence. The sound of a helicopter over the ridge broke into his reverie. They were getting too close. He couldn’t stay here anymore. It was time to move, to find another mountain and start again. This time he would do it right. Tobie loved the mountain. She would want to live in the wilderness no matter where the mountain was.

  But what of the other one, her sister? He rubbed his bandaged hand. When he found her he would kill her.

  Jake felt Robbi’s fingernails dig into his wrist. He watched her staring trancelike through the windshield. Her body was beside him in the rented car, but her mind was somewhere else. There was nothing he could do but watch and wait.

  She sat stiff, gaze fixed straight ahead, then in a cracked voice she said, “Tobe ...”

  She blinked, sighed heavily, seemed to visibly sag, then she was looking around frantically.

  “Let’s go,” she said abruptly.

  He started the car, turned to her. “Where?”

  “My parents’ place. I just saw my sister, Tobie.”

  It was late afternoon. With the summer tourist traffic it seemed to take them forever to go the eight miles from Incline Village to Kings Beach. They turned northwest toward Truckee.

  On the two-lane highway, Robbi reflected on the last vision. She had gone into Tobie’s mind, had felt her mood and experienced the sensory sensations around her, just as she had done all those years before when her brother was in the river, drowning. Her sister was the first person other than Ronnie that she had been able to link with this way. Why? What did it mean? Was her sister to be his next victim? Tobie, in the pond, had perceived no danger. But Roberta had.

  Ten minutes later they arrived at the house. Jake headed to the stable to see if Tobie’s horse was there.

  Roberta rushed inside.

  In her mother’s dark bedroom, Robbi used the diffused light from the open door to find her way to the large canopied bed.

  “Mom? Mom, are you asleep?” she whispered, forcing herself to speak calmly. “It’s Robbi.”

  “Hmmm? Oh, hello, darling,” she answered weakly, and started to sit up. “I was just napping.”

  “Mom, Jake and I have come to help you leave.”

  “Leave?” Lois said quietly, matching her daughter’s hushed tone. “Leave for where?”

  “It doesn’t matter. We’re all in danger here. I don’t mean to scare you, but I want you to get up, dress, and pack a few things. We’re leaving as soon as Tobie gets back.”

  “Roberta, what’s going on?” Her eyes showed confusion.

  “I’ll explain later.”

  Her mother took her hand. “This isn’t one of your strange notions, is it?”

  “Later.”

  She quickly made her way back to the kitchen.

  Pomona stood at the sink, filling a copper tea kettle.

  “Pomona, have you seen my sister?”

  “She ride off like every other day,” the woman said without turning around.

  “Where’s Hanley?”

  The woman looked at her now, frowning. “Something not right?”

  “Hanley, have you seen him?” Her voice betrayed her impatience.

  “He out there someplace fooling ‘round.”

  Robbi crossed the room, flung open the back door, and ran toward the stable, calling both names. Jake was just leaving the stable. He shook his head.

  “Hanley!” She pulled up, pivoted uncertainly. She called out Hanley’s name again, her voice nearly a shriek.

  The caretaker stepped out of the tack room and quietly stood facing Robbi.

  “She hasn’t returned?” Robbi asked Hanley.

  “No, Miss.” He stared out toward the woods. “It’s not unusual for her to be gone a couple of hours.”

  “What’s going on here? Why aren’t my mother and father ready to leave? Where’s the gun I asked you to carry?” she said accusingly.

  He shrugged, looking helpless.

  What was wrong with Hanley, Robbi wondered. Always so strong and virile, he now seemed old—old and feeble and evasive.

  Roberta’s chest constricted. Why was he acting so strangely? What the hell was going on?

  “Did you call the sheriff?” she asked.

  The man continued to avoid her eyes.

  “Dammit, Hanley, did you?” she shouted.

  His gaze finally met hers. “No, Miss.”

  Eckker had worked his way around the pond until he was near enough to the horse to stroke it. The animal cast him uneasy glances, fidgeted. The girl was out of the pond and lying on her back on the large flat rock five yards from where he stood.

  Excitement pounded in his veins. He’d waited so long for this moment. Thought that it could never be. But everything was changed. He could do as he pleased now. No one could stop him. He’d have to do things differently. There wasn’t time to try to gain her trust. That would all come later when they were far away from here ... on their own mountain.

  He moved around the horse and started toward her, no longer mindful of his footsteps. He had nearly reached the rock when she turned her head lazily and opened her eyes.

  Shock and terror registered on her face. She sprang upward like a jackknife, quick, yet uncertain what to do or where to go. She attempted to cover her nakedness with her hands.

  He advanced on her, saying nothing.

  She scooted backward on the rock and tried to make it to the pond. He reached out and grabbed her by the foot. She cried out.

  He bent, picked up her clothes, and held them out to her.

  She snatched th
em and held them in front of her.

  “Get dressed.”

  She quickly slipped the T-shirt over her head. He released her foot and she anxiously pulled her shorts on. When he reached for her again she tried to run. She fell on the rock, cried out when she scraped her knee, then she turned and lunged toward the water. He caught her, swung her around. His bandaged hand circled her throat. He squeezed, willing himself to go easy. He didn’t want to lose her after so long.

  “Shhh, shhh,” he crooned softly in her ear. “Don’t be afraid, sweet Tobie . .. beautiful Tobie. I won’t hurt you. I’d never hurt you.”

  She struggled, her arms and legs merely jerking in reflex now, then she collapsed.

  “Why?” Roberta asked, staring at the caretaker in disbelief.

  Hanley shook his head.

  In confusion she turned to look at Jake, who was moving her way. He covered half the distance, then suddenly it wasn’t Jake walking toward her, it was him, the killer. The look in his eyes induced sheer terror like she had never felt before.

  The massive, broad hand came toward her face and wound into her long hair. The other hand, wrapped in soiled, bloody strips of gauze, closed around her neck. Her breathing became labored, torturous. She heard harsh gasps and screams that came out mere squeaks.

  Robbi gripped Jake’s arm, struck numb by the horror of what she was seeing. The killer’s face pressed close to hers. His black eyes seared into hers, his foul breath made her sick as bright lights exploded before her eyes.

  Then he was gone.

  “He has her,” Robbi, filled with despair, whispered.

  Jake held her, a soothing hand in her hair, stroking.

  Her mother stood in her robe in the doorway to the kitchen. “Robbi, what is it? What’s happening? Someone tell me what’s going on here?”

  “Mama,” Robbi said, shaking all over. “Tobie’s in trouble.”

  “What kind of trouble? How do you know this?”

  “I know it. Just like I knew Ronnie was in trouble. I see it.”

  “Oh, darling ...” Lois began sadly.