The Cellar

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN 1.

Over the sound of the television, Donna heard a car drive up. Sandy looked at her, worried. Putting down the newspaper, Donna climbed off the bed and went to the window. A dark green Chrysler pulled to a stop just outside the door. “It’s Jud and Larry,” she said. She opened the door for them.

“Any sign of him?” Jud asked.

Donna shook her head. “No. How’d you do?”

“Not too bad.”

“Not too bad, indeed!” said Larry. “We got away scot-free, slick as thieves, and cast your eyes on this.” He waved a leather-bound book. “This is the diary of Lilly Thorn. Her own words. Good heavens, what a find!” He went to the edge of the bed and sat down beside Sandy. “How was your afternoon, my little lady bug?”

Donna turned to Jud. “Did you find the beast

suit?” “No.” “What about Mary Ziegler’s body?”

“Not that, either. There were a couple of places we couldn’t search, though.”

“Did someone come back?”

“No. One of the rooms was already occupied, and we didn’t check the cellar because there was a light down there.”

“Then somebody was home?”

“Several somebodies, by the looks of it.”

“There’s only Maggie, Axel, and Wick,” she said.

“And two were over at Beast House running the tours.”

“So who was in the house?”

“Axel, I suppose. And at least two others.”

“But who?”

“I don’t know.”

“That’s a little spooky.”

“Yeah. I wasn’t too happy about it, myself.”

They sat on the side of Jud’s bed. “What was the house like?” Donna asked.

She listened closely, intrigued by what he told her of the blue lights, the living room with no furniture except pillows, the bathtub with its strange handles. Most of all, she was fascinated by the bedroom.

“You wouldn’t think Maggie Kutch was the type. And Hapson! That guy’s an old weasel. It’s hard to picture them making love at all, much less under mirrors. The bondage part I’ll buy, though. The sadism. Did you see the look on his face when he went after Mary Ziegler with his belt?”

Jud nodded.

“I always thought they were a bunch of sickoes. I mean, you have to be, don’t you, living off tours of a place like Beast House?” 2.

Except for a half-hour walk up a hill that overlooked the ocean, they spent the afternoon in Cabin 12. Larry read the diary in less than an hour, at times shaking his head in disbelief, and muttering. Sandy watched television. Donna sat next to the window with Jud.

At four-thirty, Donna mentioned that she’d like to find out about her car. The four of them walked to the Chevron station. As they approached it, she saw her blue Maverick along with three other cars parked beside the garage. “I bet he hasn’t touched it yet,” she said.

Jud walked with her to the office, where the bony mechanic was busy on the telephone. They waited outside until he was done.

“All set, lady,” he announced, coming out.

“You mean it’s ready?” Donna asked, unwilling to believe the surprising news.

“Sure is. Radiator came in around noon.” He walked ahead of them to the car and raised the hood. “There she is. I test-drove her, and she runs sweet as a pie.”

They returned to the office. He showed her the bill, pointing out the cost of parts and labor. “That be cash or charge?”

“Charge.” She searched her purse for the proper credit card.

“Where you staying?” he asked.

“Over at the Welcome Inn.”

“That’s what I figured. No place else to stay.” He took her credit card. “That’s what I told the fella looking for you.”

The words hit her hard. She stared at the man, stunned, until Jud’s firm grip on her elbow brought her back. “Who?” she asked.

“A fella come driving up in a ’76 Rolls, says he knows your car. He find you?”

She shook her head.

“Do you always give out information about your customers?” Jud asked.

“Don’t come up that often.” His eyes narrowed. “You folks in some kind of trouble?”

“No,” Jud said, “but you may be.”

The man handed the credit card back to Donna, then gave her the charge slips to sign. Slowly, he turned to Jud. “Piss off, mister, before I kick your fucking ass from here to Fresno.”

“Shut up!” Donna shouted into his face. “What right did you have to tell that man anything…anything…about me?”

“Hell, lady, I didn’t tell him nothing. He had your name. He was gonna find you. Like I say, no place to stay but the inn. He was gonna find you, anyway.” The mechanic flicked a hard glance at Jud, then looked back at Donna. “Gonna step out on your husband, lady, you gotta be more careful.” He grinned and walked away.

“Let’s go!” Donna called to her daughter and Larry. They were across the street looking in store windows. As they started back, Donna said, “I don’t want Sandy to know, okay?”

“She’ll be more careful if she knows.”

“She’s terrified of that man. And after what she’s already been through, today…”

“We won’t tell her. But we’ll have to be damned careful from now on. Especially back at the inn.”

Donna took his hand, and found confidence in his eyes. She met Sandy and Larry with a smile. “Miracle of miracles,” she said. “The car’s fixed.” 3.

On the way back to the Welcome Inn, Donna watched for a Rolls-Royce but didn’t see one. There was no Rolls in the parking lot, either.

“Park in front of your cabin,” Jud said.

She did. Then Jud led them across the asphalt to his cabin. He entered first, and made a quick search before allowing them inside. “I need to go to the office,” he said. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

He was back in less than five. With a slight shake of his head, he let her know that nobody had been asking about her at the office. “Why don’t we have supper now,” he suggested.

“I’m starving!” Sandy blurted.

“You’re a bottomless pit,” Larry told the girl. “An abyss.”

“You’re the pit,” she said, laughing.

“Sandy,” Donna warned, “don’t use that kind of language.”

“He did.”

“That’s different. He didn’t mean ‘pit’ the way you did.”

“I most certainly did not.”

As they walked to the motel restaurant, Donna put her arm around Jud’s back. Her hand touched a hard, jutting object just above his belt. She fingered the outline.

“So that’s why your shirttail’s out.”

“Actually, it’s out because I’m a slob.”

“A well-armed slob, at that.”

The dining room was nearly deserted. As the hostess led them among tables, Donna checked every face. Roy wasn’t here.

“We’d like a corner table, please,” Jud said.

“How’s this?” asked the hostess.

“Just fine.”

Jud took a seat, Donna noticed, that would give him a wide view of the dining room.

A young, blond waitress came. “Cocktails?”

Donna ordered a margarita.

Sandy asked for a Pepsi.

“I’d like a double martini,” Larry said. “Very dry. Bone dry. In fact, dispense with the vermouth entirely.”

“So that’s a double gin, straight up, with an olive.”

“Precisely. You’re a gem.”

“And you, sir?” she asked Jud.

“I’ll have a beer.”

“Budweiser, Busch, or Michelob?”

“Make it Bud.”

“An incorrigible snob,” Larry muttered.

Donna laughed. She laughed very hard, harder than the remark deserved, but it seemed like a long time since anything had struck her as funny, and the laughter felt good. In a moment, a giggle escaped from Larry. That triggered Sandy. Soon the three of them were convulsed with mirth. Jud grinned at them, but his eyes kept sweeping the room.

During the whole dinner, Jud kept watch as if he weren’t part of the group, but their guard. Then he insisted on paying the bill.

When they were leaving, Donna caught his arm and stopped him from following Sandy and Larry outside.

“What’s…?”

“Thank you for dinner.” She hugged him tightly and kissed him. She could feel him begin to relax, to open, to let emotion into his kiss. Then he forced her away.

“We’d better stick close to Sandy,” he said, tearing down her good feeling so that she wanted to cry.