Page 61 of The Other Lady Vanishes

“Excellent choice of a weapon to use against monsters,” she said, trying to sound enthusiastic.

She tightened her grip on the pistol. She knew how to use the weapon, thanks to Raina, but she had never shot any living creature in her life, let alone a human. The thing that scared her the most was that she might kill some hapless individual who had stopped to help. But unless the new arrival was Conrad Massey or Dr. Gill, how could she tell the difference between an innocent passerby and one of the real monsters? And what about Paxton? How did he fit into the situation? She decided that, for now, at least, she would have to classify him as a bad guy.

With luck, an innocent person would be easily frightened off. Who, in his or her right mind, wouldn’t run from a certifiably crazy woman holding a gun?

She listened closely, hoping to hear the muffled rumble of an accelerating car engine telling her that whoever had stopped had left the scene. A Good Samaritan would likely take off once he realized theoccupants of the car were gone. But if the driver of the car was the person who had drugged Jake, he might decide to conduct a search of the beach.

A searcher looking for a hallucinating man and an escaped mental patient would probably use a flashlight, she thought.

She peered back through the narrow tunnel. She glimpsed the weak beam of a flashlight sweeping back and forth. The searcher was still up on Cliff Road.

She knew the roar of the surf would drown out the sound of their voices; nevertheless, she went up on tiptoe and spoke directly into Jake’s ear.

“The person who drugged you is searching the beach. He’s looking for us.”

“For you,” Jake said with great certainty. “The monster is looking for you, isn’t he?”

“Yes, I think so. I’m hoping he won’t come down to the beach. If he does, we must be prepared. He might have a gun.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Jake said, blithely unconcerned now.

He held up the fountain pen. The handsome barrel gleamed in the moonlight.

“Let’s hide behind those rocks,” she whispered.

The boulders offered some concealment, she thought. They were the only hope if the searcher came through the tunnel.

“No,” Jake said.

“Jake, please, this is important.”

“I’ll take care of you,” he said.

Without another word he turned and walked to the mouth of the rock tunnel.

“Jake, where are you going?” she hissed.

“Stay here,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to kill the monster.”

“Jake, no. We can talk about killing the monster later. Right now we have to stay here on this side of the tunnel. You might get hurt.”

“Nope,” he said. “The monster can’t see me. The moonlight makes me invisible.”

“Damn it, Jake, come back here.”

She rushed forward and grabbed his arm again, but he gently pried off her fingers and disappeared into the tunnel. She reminded herself that she was the one with the gun. All Jake had was a fountain pen.

Unable to think of anything else to do, she followed him.

When they reached the far side of the opening in the rock, there was no sign of a flashlight beam. She heard the rumble of an accelerating car engine. Up on Cliff Road headlights lanced the darkness. The vehicle drove off in the direction of Burning Cove. Relief left her feeling oddly weak.

“It’s all right, Jake,” she said. “The monster is gone.”

“Good.” He put the fountain pen back inside his jacket. “Now we can follow the moonlight road and find the answers.”