She yelled David's name. With her ear still pressed to the floor she could just barely hear David answer, calling her by name. Angela scrambled to the cellar stairs.

She found the light and headed down, still clutching the shotgun. She began to hear David's voice more clearly, but it was still muffled.

Once she was down in the basement, she yelled his name again. Tears sprang to her eyes when she heard his reply. Weaving her way through the clutter, Angela followed the sound of his voice. There were two doors. By this time David was pounding so hard Angela knew immediately which one he was behind. But there was a problem: the door was padlocked.

Angela shouted to David that she'd get him out. Leaning the shotgun against the wall, she scanned the basement for an appropriate tool. Her eyes soon came to rest on the pick.

Swinging the tool in a short arc, she hit the lock several times but with no result. Trying a different approach, she inserted the end of the pick beneath the hasp and used it as a pry bar.

Pushing with all her might, Angela was able to snap the hasp and its mounting screws out of the door. She then pulled the door open.

David rushed out and embraced her.

"Thank God you came!" he said. "Van Slyke is the one behind all this. He's killed the patients and he killed Hodges. Right this minute he's in a psychotic panic and he's armed. We've got to get out of here."

"Let's go," Angela said. She snatched up the shotgun. Together they hurried to the stairs.

Before they started up, David put a hand on Angela's arm. He pointed toward the cement slab next to the hole he'd been digging. "I'm afraid Calhoun is under there," he said.

Angela gasped.

"Come on!" David said, giving her a nudge.

They started up the stairs.

"I haven't learned who is paying Van Slyke," David said as they climbed. "But it's clear that's what's been happening. I also haven't learned how Van Slyke has been able to kill the patients."

"Van Slyke is also the one who was at the house last night," Angela said. "I found the reptile mask upstairs."

As David and Angela reached the kitchen, headlight beams suddenly filled the room, playing across their horrified faces. Van Slyke had come back.

"Oh, God, no!" David whispered. "He's back."

"I've turned on a lot of lights," Angela said. "He'll know something's wrong."

Angela thrust the shotgun into David's hands. He gripped it with sweaty palms. They heard the car door close, then heavy footsteps in the gravel of the driveway.

David motioned for Angela to step back through the cellar door. David followed and pulled the door partially closed behind him. He left it open a crack so he could see into the kitchen.

The footsteps came to the back door, then abruptly stopped.

For a few terrorizing minutes there was no sound whatsoever. David and Angela held their breath. They guessed Van Slyke was wondering about the lights.

Then, to their surprise, they heard the footsteps recede. They listened until they couldn't hear them anymore.

"Where did he go?" Angela whispered.

"I wish I knew," David said. "I don't like not knowing where he is. He knows this place too well. He could get at us from behind."

Angela turned and looked down the cellar steps. The idea that Van Slyke could suddenly jump out at them made her skin crawl.

For a few minutes they stayed put, straining to hear any noises. The house was eerily silent. Finally David pushed the door open. Stepping back into the kitchen warily, he motioned for Angela to follow.

"Maybe it wasn't Van Slyke," Angela whispered.

"It had to have been him," David whispered back.

"Let's get the hell out of here. I'm afraid if I'm in here too long Nikki will get out of the car."

"What!" David whispered. "Nikki's here?"

"I couldn't leave her at your mother's," Angela whispered. "She insisted on coming with me. I couldn't fight with her. And there was no time to explain the situation to your mother."

"Oh my God!" David whispered. "What if Van Slyke has seen her?"

"Do you think he might have?"

David motioned for Angela to follow him. They went to the door to the yard, opening it as quietly as they could. It was completely dark outside. Van Slyke's car was twenty feet away but the man was nowhere to be seen.

Now David motioned for Angela to stay where she was. He sprinted to Van Slyke's car, keeping the shotgun ready. He looked in the passenger side window, just in case Van Slyke was hiding, but he wasn't there. David waved for Angela to join him.

"Let's skirt the gravel of the driveway," David said. "It's too noisy. We'll stick to the grass. Where did you park?"

"Right in back of you," Angela said.

David led with Angela right behind him. As they reached the street their worst fears were realized. In the light of a street lamp next to Calhoun's truck, they could see Van Slyke's silhouette in the driver's seat of David's mother's Cherokee. Nikki was next to him.

"Oh, no!" Angela said as she impulsively started forward.

David restrained her. They looked at each other in horror. "We have to do something," Angela said.

"We have to think," David said. He looked back at the Cherokee. He was so tense, he thought he might pass out.

"Do you think he has a gun?" Angela asked.

"I know he has a gun," David snapped.

"Maybe we should get help," Angela suggested.

"It would take too long," David said. "Besides, Robertson and his crew wouldn't have any idea how to handle a situation like this-if they even took us seriously. We'll have to handle this ourselves. We've got to get Nikki far enough away so that we can use the shotgun if we have to."

For a few harrowing moments they simply stared at the car.

"Let me have the keys," David said. "I'm worried he might have locked the doors."

"They're in the car," Angela said.

"Oh, no!" David exclaimed. "He could just drive off with Nikki."

"Oh, God," Angela whispered.

"This is getting worse and worse," David said. "But have you noticed: the whole time we've been standing here looking at the car, Van Slyke hasn't moved. Last time I saw him he was in constant manic motion, unable to hold still for a moment."

"I see what you mean," Angela said. "It looks almost as if they're having a conversation."

"If Van Slyke isn't watching, we could slip behind the car," David said. "Then you could go to one side and I to the other. We'll open the front doors simultaneously. You pull Nikki free and I'll aim the shotgun at Van Slyke."

"Good Lord!" Angela groaned. "Don't you think that's taking a lot of chances?"

"Tell me a better idea," David said. "We have to get her out of there before he drives off with her."

"Okay," Angela said reluctantly.

After crossing the street a good distance back from the Cherokee, David and Angela approached the car from behind. They remained crouched down as they moved in hopes of remaining undetected. Eventually they arrived at the very rear of the vehicle and squatted in its shadow.

"I'll first slip alongside to see if the doors are locked," David whispered.

Angela nodded and took the shotgun.

David crawled along the driver's side of the car until he was even with the rear door. Rising slowly, he saw that none of the doors were locked.

"At least something is going our way," Angela whispered once he came back and told her the good news.

"Okay," David whispered. "Are you ready?"

Angela gripped David's arm. "Wait," she said. "The more I think about your plan, the less I like it. I don't think we should go up on separate sides. I think we should both go to her door. You open the door, I'll pull her out."

David thought for a moment, then agreed. The main idea was to get Nikki away from Van Slyke. With Angela's plan there was more chance they'd succeed. The problem then would be how to handle Van Slyke once Nikki was safe.