Latham's Landing (22 page)

Ice was forming from the far shore of the
lake, the waves freezing in mid curl. Whomever was in the boat
tried to avoid the rapidly forming ice, swerving to the narrow part
of the lake, heading for Lease’s truck and boat trailer. But the
ice encroached, trapping the boat in a small opening of water. A
figure stood in the boat, as the ice grasped the boat with a vice
grip. The boat stopped suddenly as if it had hit a wall, the figure
falling forward to catch itself. Then the figure got out onto the
ice, and began to run.

“
That has to be Chung Lai,” Mac said
with respect. “She’s got balls, that one.”

There was a howl from the island. Lease
looked down the shore with horror, seeing a wolf pack there ten
strong, all looking out onto the iced over lake.

“
Are they going to go after her?” Lease
asked.

Mac didn’t answer, he pointed. “Would you
look at that?”

Snow was coming, the sudden blizzard
obscuring the shore, and the vehicles in the lighted night. Out of
the snow was coming a monster of white fur and red eyes, its fanged
mouth emitting a roar of primal hunger.

Chung Lai stopped, staring. Then she held up
her hand, making a fist.

“
She must have a knife or something,”
Mac said, in amusement. “But she’s got no chance against that
thing.”

Lease shifted uneasy.

The beast attacked, swiping and connecting,
blood flying in an arc from the woman. She screamed, and
staggered.

There was a gunshot from the lake. The white
beast faltered, then howled in pain. An answering howl broke from
the wolf pack, as they turned and ran toward where the shot had
come from.

“
Those missing girls?” Lease said to
Mac, making it a question.

Mac nodded, hefting his rifle. “And the man
that shot at me. Come on. Let’s go say hi.”

Mac headed off in the direction the wolves
had gone, Lease reluctantly following him.

Helter set the last charge in the main house,
then set the timer, clocking it for two hours. He turned it on,
then destroyed the controls, looping the gold cross chain around
the wire, with the cross itself over the timer. He’d left the rings
at the other charges he had placed in the basement, then left a few
blessed bullets at the other charges on the two floors above.
They would either go off or they wouldn’t. It was all they had
left to try.

Helter took stock of his weapons. Those few
moments in Mac’s room had given him a bounty. A compound bow with a
quiver of razor head arrows, three boxes of rifle bullets, two
boxes of .44 bullets, two serrated knives, and the bounty, a new
.44 that looked fresh out of the box.

He’d taken them all in the bag with the bow.
Helter couldn’t use that, but at least, Mac wouldn’t be able to
shoot anyone, beyond the bullets he had right now for his
rifle.

Helter headed for the stairs, setting his
foot on the bottom one as he looked up into bemused red eyes. A man
in a cloak waited for him at the top.

“
Come up,” he said in a low tone. “You
and I have much to discuss, Harold Skelt, a.k.a. Helter
Skelter.”

Helter drew Caroline’s gun, bringing it up.
Before he could, a bright light exploded in his vision, and he lost
consciousness.

“
Why did you shoot that thing?” Barb
screamed at Caroline, dropping her digital camera.

“
Because I couldn’t stand here and just
watch as someone got killed,” Caroline shouted back. She lit the
last bundle of incense herbs, and tossed her last powdered incense
on the fire. With her gun in her hand, she ran out onto the ice
towards a woman hobbling toward her, leaving a trail of blood. The
white monster bear was still out on the ice where it had fallen,
howling and thrashing, its blood staining the ice bright
red.

Caroline reached the struggling woman. “Can
you walk?”

“
Yes,” the woman panted, her face
contorted in pain. “Chung Lai.”

“
Caroline,” Caroline said, handing her
the incense. “Put your arm around me.”

Chung Lai smiled, then grabbed onto her.
Together they hobbled toward the shore.

Barb stashed her camera, then went to help
them. Carefully they settled near the fire.

“
Why are you here?” Barb asked, as
Caroline cleaned up Chung Lai’s wound.

“
Mac brought me here,” Chung Lai
answered with loathing. “He hates women. He disposes of used up
girls at the brothel.” She spat on the ground. “He brought me and
Delilah here in his helicopter.” She snorted. “I’m too much
trouble. All for trying to get out of that life.”

“
What did you do?” Barb
asked.

“
I turned in a cop,” Chung Lai said
bitterly. “He helped the brothel stay in business, alerted my boss
to raids, and took a payoff.” She spat again. “His name is Hawk
Lease.”

A howl sounded. Cooper growled. The three
women turned, horrified.

The wolves were back, twice as many as
before. They circled the fire, staying well out of gunshot
range.

“
What’s keeping them back?” Chung Lai
asked, her wide eyes afraid.

Caroline eyed the burning bundle of herbs.
There was maybe fifteen minutes left, tops.

“
Why aren’t the wolves attacking?”
Lease asked, looking down with Mac from the hill far
above.

“
Don’t know,” Mac said, shouldering his
rifle. He took aim at one girl, then another, then the last,
pretending to shoot them. “I can get them all from here, but it
doesn’t feel right.”

Lease shifted his feet. He’d known Mac was a
sadist, and he’d figured him for a killer. But it was one thing to
kill women who wouldn’t be missed, and another to kill women that
would be, especially two that police knew were here on the island.
Lease had to extricate himself from this somehow. But before he
did, he had to cover his tracks.

“
Kill Chung Lai, at least,” Lease
urged. “She’s already injured, probably bleeding out. Let’s get the
girls moving. They’re dug in where they are. That’s probably why
the wolves aren’t attacking.”

Mac looked at him, considering.

There was a crack of ice suddenly
breaking.

Both men looked out to see the ice breaking
up, rapidly disintegrating. The white bear’s body slid off the ice,
sinking into the depths. The trapped boat broke free, bobbing in
the waves as it floated back to shore.

The women stood, clearly watching the boat as
it floated toward them. Closer and closer it came.

“
Aren’t there rocks there in the
shallows?” Lease said to Mac.

“
Not tonight,” Mac answered, raising
the gun to his shoulder and taking aim.

Caroline paused, watching Barb’s boat float
in. The temperature was warming.
Dare she risk getting wet to
grab the boat? Was it even worth it, after she’d just seen what had
happened to Chung Lai?

Chung Lai pushed past her, wading into the
water and grabbing the bow. “Hurry,” she said, beckoning to Barb
and Caroline. “We have to—”

A shot rang out, knocking Chung Lai backward
into the water, a spray of blood falling like rain behind her. Barb
let out a scream. Caroline whirled and fired wildly. There was a
second rifle crack. Another shot whistled down, hitting Barb in the
shoulder. Caroline fired back again, then grabbed Barb, pulling her
down behind the wall.

Chung Lai thrashed in the water, clinging to
the boat, her right shoulder bloody. Another bullet tore into the
boat’s side and out the other, the exit hole much bigger. The boat
listed, and began to sink.

“
Bastard!” Caroline yelled.

Barb hugged Cooper, then undid his collar,
sliding her cameras onto it and refastening it. Then she took the
cross from around her neck, fastening it around Cooper’s neck. She
hugged him again. “Home,” she said urgently, drawing back. “Time to
go home.”

Cooper looked at her uncertainly, then out at
the lake.

“
Home!” Barb commanded. “Now,
Cooper!”

Cooper turned and launched himself into the
water, paddling frantically. He quickly cleared the boat wreckage
and the struggling Chung Lai, heading for the far shore, toward the
parked vehicles.

“
What are you doing?” Caroline
said.

“
It’s his signal for going to the car,
at the dog park,” Barb said, blinking back tears.

“
He’ll be killed,” Caroline
said.

“
Not if we distract the shooter,” Barb
said with a lopsided smile. She stood and ran for the long
staircase on the hill, clutching her shoulder.

The incense bundle went dead, the last wisp
of smoke trailing up and disappearing. The wolves let up a howl,
then several launched themselves into the water, swimming after
Cooper. Two more went for the struggling Chung Lai, turning the
churning water red and frothy in seconds. The rest of the pack came
for Caroline.

She picked off the first wolf, her chest shot
lifting the beast up and back. The others crept closer, feinting,
and snarling. Caroline looked at Cooper, a good two hundred yards
out, more than halfway. But the wolves were gaining on him, several
already less than ten yards away.

She pointed and aimed.
God, make this one
count.
She fired, the slug hitting the lead animal square,
blowing his head apart. Cooper started, briefly went under, then
resurfaced, and kept swimming. The other animals paused.

A wolf slammed into Caroline from the side,
knocking her down and going for her throat.

God where was she? Why did her shoulder feel
on fire? Why was she in cold water?

Delilah sat up in the half-submerged boat,
blinking. She felt her shoulder, her hand coming away covered in
blood. She struggled to stand, then screamed as Chung Lai’s ruined
face grinned at her from beneath the water. A wolf raised its gory
muzzle from shredded muscle and flesh, baring its teeth at her in a
bloody smile.

Caroline grunted and fought, pushing at the
attacking wolf’s head with her left hand. It tried to shake her,
tearing her clothes and getting a mouthful of material. She grabbed
the gun from her immobile right hand and fired into the wolf’s
body. It let up a howl and fell over, convulsing.

A scream sounded. Caroline looked up, fresh
horror etching her face.
There had been another girl in the
boat. Chung Lai had called her Delilah. She’d still been
alive.

Delilah was in the sinking boat, struggling
to get out, her shoulder a mass of blood. The wolf pack left
Caroline, moving to attack the bloodied woman with the two wolves
who’d killed Chung Lai. The first wolf knocked Delilah back into
the boat, the others converging on her. As her screams cut off, the
unnatural light that had lasted so long faded swiftly back to
night, covering everything again in darkness.

Mac clapped, then let out an appreciative
whistle as night fell once again.

There was a loud rumbling growl that seemed
to come from everywhere around them, a warning inherent in the
dangerous tones. The sound faded slowly, lingering.

Lease shut his gaping mouth, closing his
eyes.
At least Chung Lai was dead now. No one would be telling
anyone about his role in the brothel business.

Mac snapped on his flashlight, then handed it
to Lease. “I winged that one that ran off. We need to go after her
and her friend.”

“
What about the guy?” Lease
asked.

Mac shrugged. “He wasn’t at the fire. My
guess is that he’s already dead. Otherwise he’d have come running
with all the screaming the girls were doing.” He smiled. “Are you
ready to have some fun?”

Lease nodded, relieved. “Lead on.”

Caroline ran after Barb, both of them making
it to the stairs, where they crouched low to the ground.

“
That guy is between us and the boat,”
Barb said. “Any ideas?”

“
Cooper made it,” Caroline whispered.
“He was near the far shore.”

“
You don’t have to lie,” Barb said,
closing her eyes. “I saw the wolves after him, how fast they
were.”

“
They turned back,” Caroline uttered,
swallowing hard. “That second woman in the boat was unconscious,
not dead. They turned back to kill her. And I shot the wolf closest
to Cooper.”

Both women were silent.

“
There wasn’t any way we could have
known,” Caroline said regretfully. “And nothing more we could have
done for Delilah if we had.”

“
I know,” Barb said guiltily. She
sighed. “At least the world will know about that dirty
cop.”

“
What?” Caroline asked.

“
I hit record when Chung Lai was
telling her tale,” Barb said. “I got video of it. It’s short, but
it’s enough for someone to ask questions. There are pictures of the
water turning to ice on the other camera, too. Both are
waterproof.” She forced a smile. “Maybe I’ll be famous
posthumously.”

Hope swelled in Caroline’s heart, making her
scramble to her feet. “Hurry,” she said, extending her hand. “If
that guy is coming after us, we need to beat them to the other
boat. We’ll have to go the long way around the island, though.”

Barb took Caroline’s hand. “He’s coming. He
purposely winged me, instead of shooting me dead. We’re being
hunted.”

Caroline nodded, pushing away her fear and
reloading her gun with shaking hands. Then she also loaded Helter’s
with the last of his bullets, and handed it to Barb. “That guy who
shot at us is no ghost, so these should work against him.”