Blood Games

    Abilene shook her head. She rubbed the sore backs of her hands.

    ‘Didn’t think so,’ Finley said. ‘Besides, it was my idea from the start - sticking around to bag the bastard. I wanta do the honors.’

    ‘Fine,’ Abilene told her. But she didn’t like the idea. Finley had shown herself, more than once, to be a hothead. With the shotgun in her hands, no telling what she might do. The weapon should be kept by someone with better self-control.

    Who, though? Cora was right. With her ankle broken, she wouldn’t be able to maneuver worth a damn. Vivian didn’t want to shoot Hank or anyone else, and neither did Abilene.

    Certainly can’t give the shotgun to Jim, even if he does claim to hate his brother.

    That leaves Finley. Like it or not.

    ‘What else did I miss while I was snoozing?’ she asked. ‘Any other major decisions?’

    ‘Don’t get so huffy,’ Finley said. ‘You were zonked. We didn’t want to wake you up.’

    ‘You know the balcony that overlooks the lobby?’ Cora asked. ‘We figured we’d position ourselves up there. It’ll give us a good field of vision, and we’ll be hard to get at. Hank would have to come upstairs.’

    ‘He couldn’t possibly sneak up on us,’ Vivian added.

    ‘Jim’ll be our bait,’ Cora said. ‘He’ll be down in the lobby in plain sight. When Hank goes over to him…’

    ‘Bang!’ Finley blurted.

    ‘It sounds like a good plan,’ Abilene admitted. She liked, very much, the idea of being above it all. Out of reach. Even if Finley should miss, she’d have plenty of time to reload before Hank could climb the stairs and get to them - especially if they were all the way at the far end of the balcony.

    ‘The trick,’ Finley said, ‘will be getting Hank into the line of fire.’

    Cora nodded. ‘We’ve got no idea where he might enter the lodge. He might come in anywhere; through the pools or even on the second floor. But we want to get him down there in the lobby area.’

    ‘I’m gonna call out to him,’ Jim explained. ‘Soon as I figure he’s around, I’ll start callin’ out. I’ll get him to come on over to me.’

    ‘And then it’s adios, asshole.’

    ‘Sounds really good,’ Abilene said. ‘If it works.’

    ‘It’ll work,’ Finley said.

    ‘What if he has a gun?’ Vivian asked.

    The question stunned Abilene. She hadn’t even thought of that.

    From the looks on the faces of her friends, they hadn’t either.

    After a moment, Finley said, ‘I’ll just have to nail him before he brings it into play.’

    ‘Will he have a gun?’ Abilene asked, frowning at Jim.

    ‘Maybe. We got us some rifles. But he didn’t take one along last night. Just went out with his knife, is all.’

    ‘And he left that in Helen,’ Cora said, her voice grim.

    ‘Oh, he’s got more. He’s got lotsa knives. That’s what he likes… to cut on folks. I don’t spect he’d wanta ruin all his fun by shootin’ any of ya.’

    ‘Isn’t that charming,’ Finley muttered.

    They were silent for a while.

    Thinking about Helen? Abilene wondered. Or wondering how it might feel to have a knife blade shoved into them?

    A hot, shocking thrust into the belly.

    Or maybe it’d feel cold. Ice cold.

    And maybe it wouldn’t be your belly he stuck it in.

    ‘We’d better get at it,’ Cora said, and Abilene was glad to have her thoughts interrupted. ‘The sun’s down. He might already be on his way.’

    The lodge was much darker than the evening outside. Abilene, entering first, halted and swept her flashlight across the lobby. Here and there, support posts blocked its beam and cast shadows that flitted over the floor. She felt goosebumps scurry up her spine and the nape of her neck. Her scalp prickled.

    ‘Don’t just stand there,’ Cora said.

    ‘Pretty sure he ain’t here yet,’ Jim said.

    Abilene hurried to the left, shining her light on the stairway. It looked clear. But she didn’t like the shadows thrown by the banister. She sidestepped and looked at the others. Jim was close behind her, Cora riding on his back. Following them was Finley with the shotgun. Vivian entered with the second flashlight and eased the door shut.

    Abilene started to climb the stairs backward, lighting the way for Jim.

    ‘Are you doing okay?’ she whispered as she made her way higher.

    ‘Ain’t bad.’

    ‘Just don’t fall.’

    ‘I’ll second that,’ Cora said.

    They were several stairs below her when she reached the top. She wanted very badly to swing her light away and check the balcony, imagined herself doing just that and imagined Jim tripping in the sudden darkness. A gasp and he’s falling backward, Cora screaming, both of them colliding with Finley and the three of them tumbling down the stairs, taking out Vivian, all four coming to rest in a broken heap at the bottom of the stairs.

    Just because I was scared somebody might be up here.

    She managed not to check behind her. Even after Jim made it to the top of the stairs, she kept her light trained on the floor in front of him while she backed her way along the balcony.

    Hoping no one would grab her.

    Then the balcony rail was there for Jim, so she whirled around.