I never left the house the next morning. He came in through the front door wearing a green jumpsuit. Mary thought he was the UPS man.
"Charlie…?" I heard her call to me in a high, thin voice that wavered. I came around the hallway to see her standing straight up, as if stretching back, with a green arm around her neck and a small black gun pointing at the side of her head. But I wasn't looking at the gun; I was staring at the four-inch blade that extended down from the right fist of the green sleeve. The tip of the blade was pressed into the material of Mary's nightgown right over her left breast. The fist twitched. The knifepoint dipped into the soft fabric.
Mary gave a yelp and a high, whining shudder.
My knees began to shake and my mouth and throat felt numb and full of electric currents. My hair was moving.
And from around in back of Mary's head of long black hair crept a face.
I was expecting the black Gila-monster eyes, the black hair and wide face. But the face that glared at me with animal hate was not that one. And I was still rational enough to realize why: Mary would have recognized it. A blondish baby's face sat round and pink under the driver's cap.
"Listen real good," it said quietly. "We see three dogs out back. Two big ones and a little one. Any more in here?"
"No."
We. He'd said we…
"Now: anybody else in the house? Any kids, old folks? Anybody?"
"No. We're alone."
"Now you don't wanta lie."
"We're alone I said."
"Okay. Now where's the switch for those lights at the front door? Walk over to it but don't touch it."
I did, and he walked Mary along until he was directly opposite me. She was looking at me and at the ceiling. Her eyes weren't focused, and her breath was coming in little whiny pants, like a dog crying.
"Charlie? Ohhh…"
He silenced her by a short, hard rap on the head with the barrel of the pistol. It must have hurt terribly. She clenched her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut. Tears rolled down her face. I wanted to kill the man. But I knew better than to move a muscle.
"Now you flip it on while I count three, then you turn it off, hear?"
I nodded, and flashed the light on for three seconds. Almost immediately afterward I heard a distant car door slam. Then footsteps on the gravel walk, and two men dressed in street clothes came in. The door had been left open, and they were inside in a hurry, shutting the door behind them.
"Good morning everyone!" said the man with the wide hat. His right hand held an automatic. I couldn't see his face. Then his left hand went up and grabbed the hat brim. The hand was bandaged. The hat came off and we could all see him now.
It was Carmen DeLucca. He stared at me, smiling. Then suddenly the smile dropped. The lizard eyes bored into mine.
"Hear you been looking for me, Doctor Adams. Well, I saved you the trouble. You both do exactly as we tell you or you'll die."
He walked farther into the hall, and motioned the third man to bring the large carton that had been the ruse for Mary to unfasten the chain bolt. He turned and looked at both of us again.
"Matter of fact, you might just die anyway."