“I want out!” Lacy said. “Let me out! He’s crazy!” She let go of Bell’s hand and reached for the car’s door handle but it was locked.

“Honey, you can’t go out there. They’re out there. Shit. Don’t act crazy,” Sue Ling said. The girl’s pretty young face wore a look of honest concern.

She might only be sixteen or seventeen years old, Bell realized.

“Your call,” Johnny said. He turned and looked at Bell. “I’ll let your bitch out if she really wants out.” He reached for the Land Rover’s armrest and they heard the mechanical sound of all four doors unlocking together. “Go on ... get!”

Lacy looked at Bell, her hand on the door’s lever.

“We can’t get out here,” Bell said. “We’ll die. I promised your father I’d look after you.” Bell turned and looked at Johnny. “Why don’t you turn on the radio, see what you get. It’s satellite, so we should be able to get some news. Like you said.”

“So are you in, or are you out, bitch?” Johnny asked Lacy directly, ignoring Bell. He tilted the black porkpie hat back in frustration.

Lacy stared at him. “In,” she said finally.

“Right. Okay.” Johnny hit the latch and Bell heard all four door locks snap shut. “Now let’s go see what kind of goodies we can find.” They drove through the portals and turned down a long new-looking driveway passing a well-lit sign: “Sierra Ranch—a Four Seasons Luxury Resort and Spa.” Johnny turned on the satellite radio and instead of the news, tuned in a country and western station that was playing “Rawhide.” He and his girlfriend started singing along with the famous Frankie Lane tune: “Don’t try to understand ’em ...  just ride, rope, and brand ’em ...”

It was while they were driving down the driveway, Johnny making the cracking motion of a whip, playing along with the song, that Bell decided he would probably have to kill them both, and soon, or he and Lacy would be murdered by the two drug-fueled lunatics before the night was over.

The Howlers had already visited the hotel, and probably not that long ago, Bell thought, as they pulled into the elegant well-lit turn around, a majestic pine tree in the center of it. A bellman—his head pulled off his shoulders, exposing a blunt-looking spinal column—lay in the middle of the driveway. Expensive suitcases were scattered everywhere. Some had been opened and their contents scattered by the mindless creatures. Guests had been unloading, it seemed, as an extra-long stretch limousine was parked in front of the Bell Captain’s station, with all its doors left wide open. The limo’s back window was smashed in. The limo driver was hanging out of the driver’s side door; a large stone had split his skull wide open, the stone still protruding from the dead driver’s head.

“Je-e-sus,” Sue Ling said. “Look at all those clothes, babe!”

“Bonanza!” Johnny said. He pulled the Land Rover directly behind the limo. “Okay. Let’s see what we got here.”

Bell watched Johnny pocket the car’s electronic key, lifting it from a tray on the armrest.

“I’m staying here,” Lacy said.

“No. Everyone out,” Johnny said. “No fun otherwise. And, I don’t trust you.” He waved his pistol at them. “O—U—T, spells out. I’ve got an idea.”

“At least give us a weapon,” Bell said. “They could still be here, the things.”

“Well, just give us a shout if you see one,” Johnny said. Sue Ling stepped out of the car, the huge Smith & Wesson held in her left hand.

A man pushed through the doors of the honey-colored, log-cabin style lobby. He was in his forties, wearing smart ski gear. He looked terrified. “Thank God. Can you help us? My wife is sick. Please. Can you help us? We need a doctor. I’ve been trying to call out for an ambulance, but my cell phone doesn’t work.”

Johnny walked around the front of the Land Rover and lifted the Desert Eagle and pointed it at the man. “Hold on there, Sport. How many people are in there with you?”

The man stopped walking, stunned that the help he’d expected had turned into something else. “We were in our room—asleep. They came. We could hear the screaming in the lobby. We kept our door shut. It was terrible—what’s wrong? I’m not one of those things!”

“Any cops here?” Johnny asked.

“What?”

“You know, security? Guys with fucking guns?” Johnny asked.

“I didn’t see any,” the man said.

“Where’s your wife?” Johnny asked.

“Room 214. She’s very ill—I don’t know what’s wrong with her. I need help—the things. It’s terrible what—”

“Help?” Johnny said.

“Can you take us to a doctor?” the man asked. He glanced at Bell and Lacy, looking to the two of them for help.

“Oh, a doctor. Sure.” Johnny said.

“Thank you. I told my wife that—”

A loud shot rang out. The high-velocity bullet hit the standing man dead in his face. It blew the back of his head off, knocking him backwards as if he’d been hit by a bat. The shot reverberated around them.

Lacy screamed and Bell grabbed her, turning her away from the awful sight of the man’s skull broken open and his jerking feet. The contents of his skull spilled across the ground behind him.

“See if he’s got a wallet,” Johnny said to Sue Ling.

The girl ran over to the dead man, rifled his jacket pockets and came up with a wallet and a cell phone.

“Bingo,” Johnny said. “It’s dog-eat-dog out here, baby. Now, you two want to live, go get some wallets. And meet us back here in in the lobby in an hour. And I’d watch out for the guy’s bitch. No doubt she’s one of them by now.”

“You’re a murderer,” Lacy said in a quiet, horrified voice, turning toward Johnny.

“You figure that out on your own?” Johnny said. “Damn, you’re a smart bitch.”

“Can’t do it without a weapon,” Bell said. “Those things could be anywhere around here.” He tried to keep the anger out of his voice.

“Go,” Johnny said. “Go now! Go and get me SOME FUCKING MONEY!”

Sue Ling ran over to her boyfriend and tossed him the dead man’s wallet. “One,” the girl said, smiling and seemingly unaffected by the brutal murder. The two hugged.

Bell saw the girl had a diamond belly button piercing when she reached up to kiss her boyfriend. She’s a psychopath, Bell thought.

“You’re both insane,” Lacy said.

“You get us ten thousand dollars cash, and we’ll take you to that ranch. That’s how insane we are,” Johnny said. “We’ll wait for you in the bar.”

Bell wondered why they’d been kept alive, and now he understood. It was dangerous going into the hotel. Why not send them in to do the dirty work? If they were killed, what would it matter?

“How do I know you won’t just kill us?” Bell said.

“Well, you don’t. Do you, Sport?” Johnny said.

“Give me a weapon and I’ll do it,” Bell said. “I’ll get you the money.”

“Okay. Give him the shotgun we got from the old guy’s place,” Johnny said.

Sue Ling looked at her boyfriend, thinking it might not be such a good idea.

“Go on! He’ll do it. I know his type. Military boy, he’ll do it. And he’ll wave the fucking flag while he’s doing it.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t let him kill you,” Sue Ling said, going to the back of the Land Rover. She ran with a semi-auto style shotgun over to Bell and smiled. “I think you’re cute, and I’ll get mad at him if he shoots you. Maybe we could have sex sometime?”

“Give him a whole box of shells—might as well,” Johnny said. Sue Ling dug out a box of shotgun shells and tossed them to Bell. Johnny hit the door lock on the Land Rover; its horn honked, signaling it was locked. Johnny motioned with his pistol for Bell and Lacy to walk in front of them and into the lobby.