“The cover story will be a little more complex than that, Cleo.”

“Okay. But you think no one is going to notice that they took off the day after the story ran in the Las Piernas News Express?”

“Circulation is down in Las Piernas itself, Cleo. I doubt anyone on that street in Huntington Beach reads the Express.”

She shrugged.

“Another reason for me to be there with you today,” he said, “is that it will reduce suspicion if I let you in. I’ve been seen entering that house on any number of occasions.”

“Getting into places has never been a problem for me,” she said.

“It will take less time to load the body in the van if I help you,” he persisted.

He had a point. “You might not like it much. Have you ever touched a dead body, Giles?”

“No,” he said.

She glanced at his crotch. “Christ. And now the very thought of that gives you a damned hard-on. Next thing, you’ll be fucking corpses.”

“No, I like my women warm. In fact-”

“Forget about it. Where did you park?”

“Two streets away from this one.”

“Anybody see you and your big pokey Johnson come sauntering down the street to my house?”

“No.”

“So you hope. You brought gloves?”

He showed them to her.

“Okay, get in the Beemer-”

“You borrowed Dexter’s car?”

“Dexter’s? Hell, no. I bought one of my own.”

His look of surprise cheered her.

“Why?”

“Do you think anyone in Roy’s neighborhood will think twice about seeing a BMW pull into Roy’s garage? Dex’s has been over there fairly often, especially lately, right?”

He was wary now, she could see. Time to reassure him. She ruffled his hair. “As I was saying, get in the Beemer. It’s in the garage. I’ll be there in a minute. I’ve got to make sure I’ve got coveralls and booties for you, too.”

He kissed her and walked toward the garage.

The kiss was a tolerable annoyance. She didn’t like that he knew where the entrance to the garage was without being told.

What mattered to her most, though, was something that made her smile to herself: He obeyed her.

CHAPTER 41

Tuesday, May 2

9:56 A.M.

HUNTINGTON BEACH

IT was dark in the bathroom, even though the bathroom door was open, because the hall light was off. Genie had thoughtfully turned it off as she supposedly looked for Carrie. The darkness would make it less likely that the boys would come this way. Carrie stood behind the shower curtain, glancing at the glowing dial on her watch. Dad was usually fussy about being on time.

She heard Genie moving around the house, calling out to the boys that she was going to get them. Genie went up and down the stairs, in and out of the garage.

Carrie knew Genie was up to something, but it took her a while to realize that she was stalling until it was time to leave. Carrie mentally reviewed her own plans again, looking for possible problems.

She’d wait until Dad left with all the other kids to go to Grandfather’s house. She’d sneak out. She’d meet Ms. Kelly and talk to her for a few minutes. Then she’d hurry back home. With luck, Mom wouldn’t be out of bed yet. Mom could take her over to Grandfather’s later.

She heard Dad calling from upstairs. “Kids! Get in the car!”

“Which one?” Genie called back from somewhere in the kitchen. Obviously, she wasn’t looking very hard for the boys.

“The SUV,” Dad called back. “Hurry up. We’re leaving now.”

Carrie thought his voice sounded strange, as if he was upset.

“Olly, olly, oxen free!” Genie called.

The boys squealed with delight as they came out of their hiding places. “We won! We won!”

“Yes, you won.”

“Get in the car now!” Dad yelled, and they fell silent.

Carrie heard Genie hurrying the boys down the hall, and caught a glimpse of them as they passed the darkened bathroom. If Dad was so angry, maybe she should come out of hiding and join them. Maybe she should try this on some other day.

She heard Genie say in a low voice, “Boys, will you help Carrie and me?” and their quick assurance that they would.

“Good! Now, it’s just a game of pretend…”

Carrie didn’t hear the rest-the door to the garage had closed behind them.

Dad came down the hall, although his footsteps sounded strange, almost as if he was stumbling. Carrie had to suppress a gasp of surprise as he turned the bathroom light on. She thought he must have seen her. He went out of her narrow range of vision, and she cowered, waiting for the curtain to be pulled back.

Instead, to her shock, she heard him throwing up.

Long moments passed. The toilet flushed and water ran in the sink. She heard him sobbing as he washed up.

She nearly stepped out then, to comfort him. But she worried that he would be embarrassed about throwing up and crying, and angry that she had not made her presence known before now.

He turned out the light and left the house. She heard the SUV’s engine start up as the garage door was raised. The car drove off quickly.

She stood in the shower in the dark for a few minutes more. She was shaking. She tried to calm down, to make sense of what was going on.

She suddenly decided that she needed to get out of the house no matter what. Even if her dad came roaring back down the street and saw her walking down the sidewalk, and got really, really mad at her for not being in the car, that was better than staying in this crazy place.

For a moment she considered going upstairs, but if her mom was awake, she might be mad to find Carrie still here, or insist that she stay home. No, Genie had worked so hard and risked so much for this chance, Carrie had to do her part.

She went to the alarm keypad, thinking she would need to disarm the alarm, then reset it. Dad always set it when he left the house so that they would be safe. But when she reached the keypad, it showed the alarm wasn’t activated. Thinking of how distracted he had been, she wasn’t surprised. She set it now, then quickly went out the door within the time frame it allowed.

She looked at her watch. Ten-twelve A.M. She should hurry.

Once she reached the sidewalk, she had to force herself to walk slowly so that she didn’t attract attention. She found she could not do this for long. Out in the air and light, away from the house, she was a creature freed from its cage. This was the farthest she had been away from home on her own. She was terrified and thrilled all at once. She walked faster and faster, and before long she was running to the corner. It seemed to her that at any moment an adult in one of these silent houses would stop her, would order her to go back.

She glanced at her watch again. Ten-fifteen. What if Irene Kelly never heard the message? Wasn’t coming here today?

Then she would just go back home.

She was looking for a good waiting place when a Jeep Cherokee turned onto Playa Azul. She felt a spike of panic. She should find a hiding place, a place where she could observe without being seen. There were bushes along the side of the house on the corner, but there was also a dog in the yard. How could you hide if a dog was telling everyone right where you were?

The Jeep slowed, and Carrie saw that it was being driven by a woman with dark hair. When the car stopped and the passenger window was rolled down, Carrie could see that this was the reporter. She looked a little different from the small photo that was next to her story in the newspaper, but not that much.

“Hi,” she said. “I’m Irene Kelly.”

“Hi.” It came out more like a croak than a greeting.

“Are you the one who called me?”

Carrie hesitated. “I’m the one you’re supposed to meet.”

“Oh. Okay…”

She waited. Carrie liked that, that she gave her time.

“I don’t want anything bad to happen to my family,” Carrie said in a rush.