Spencerville

She noticed the gun belt on the small end table to the right of his chair. She thought she could grab it, roll away, and draw the pistol before he reacted. She could make him chain himself with the leg irons, and she could get away. That's all she wanted — to be away from him and this house. She'd only shoot if he made her, and then she'd only try to wound him. She waited for her chance.

* * *

Reluctantly, Keith moved away from the house, Billy behind him. About a hundred yards from the edge of the clearing, some two hundred yards from the house, they stopped.

Billy sat with his back against a pine tree and said, "The son-of-a-bitch could have nailed our ass with that infrared scope."

Keith nodded and looked at him in the dim light. "You don't have to stay. Go back to the truck."

"Hey, we got a deal. Right?"

"Yes, but..."

"Cool out, Keith. I know you saw somethin' that got to you, and I didn't see it. But I don't have to see it. I know him better than you know him. I been in his jail."

Keith got himself under control. "Okay. Thanks."

"We just sit here awhile. Let the dogs calm down. Let Baxter get settled in. We got him fixed. Remember that... how'd that go? Find 'em, fix 'em, and finish 'em." He added, "Fuck him."

Keith nodded to himself. He thought perhaps he should have taken the shot. But there were good shots and bad shots, sure shots and long shots. That definitely would have been a bad, long shot, and if he'd missed, or just hit Baxter's body armor, there was no taking the shot back. You just never knew. They told you in class that the first shot was not always the best you were going to get, but it might be the only one you'd get. You had to make a quick calculation, had to decide when to maintain fire discipline and when to go for it. Maybe if he had seen or foreseen what Baxter was going to do to Annie... but at least he knew she was alive and would stay alive as long as Baxter was getting some pleasure out of her. "Bastard."

"Yeah. But more than that. This guy needs a whole new word invented for him."

"I've got a word for him. Dead."

"I like that word."

* * *

Baxter went on verbally abusing her for a minute or two, and she kept eye contact with him as he'd ordered her to do, kneeling at his feet, but she wasn't listening, she was waiting for an opportunity to move. The gun was only about four feet away, but she had to distract him. She said, "I'm cold. May I get the blanket?"

"No, you can freeze your tits is what you can do." He went on to another subject and asked, "How many other guys did you fuck since we been married?"

"None."

"Don't lie to me. You got a hot twat, sweetheart. I see how you look at other men. All you think about is cock. Well, you're gonna get plenty of cock here, darlin'." He asked again, "How many guys did you fuck since we been married?"

"None."

"Bullshit. Before I'm through with you, you're gonna name every guy you fucked behind my back. There was other guys, wasn't there?"

She nodded.

"How many?"

"Just two."

"Oh, yeah? Just two?" He suddenly seemed interested. "Who?"

"You'll get angry."

"Angry? I'm pissed off now. Who?"

"Promise you won't hit me."

"I ain't promisin' you nothin', except another beatin' if you don't tell me. Who?"

She took a deep breath and said, "Reggie Blake and your brother, Phil."

He stood. "What?"

She put her hands in front of her face, mostly to keep him from seeing the smile on her lips.

"You... you're lyin'! You bitch, you're lyin'! Look at me!"

She lowered her hands and looked at him.

Cliff kneeled down on one knee and put his face to hers. "You think you're gonna fuck with my head, don't you?"

"Cliff, please, this isn't fair. I did everything you asked me to do. I answered all your questions about other men a hundred times. What do you want me to tell you?"

"I want the fuckin' truth."

"I never had sex with another man since we've been married... except him."

"You never fucked Blake?"

"No... but he comes on to me."

"Oh, yeah? That fuck... and my brother?"

"He comes on to me, too."

"That... I don't believe you."

"I'm sorry."

Cliff stared at her, then nodded. "Okay, we're gonna have the real truth. Maybe not today, but little by little, you're gonna tell me everything about other men. Right?"

She knew he was obsessed with this and other subjects like this, so as long as he was interested in the subjects, she was relatively safe. "Yes."

He didn't speak for some time, then, still kneeling on one knee in front of her, he took her chin in his hand and turned her face to him. He said softly and slowly, "You always knew you'd wind up here like this, didn't you?"

She looked into his eyes and thought about that. In one way, she thought she knew him, knew how crazy he was, but never did she think he was capable of this. Yet the thought haunted her that she did know.

"You knew, didn't you? I knew, so you must've known. So if you knew this was gonna happen someday, you must've wanted it to happen."

"No!"

"You love it..."