"Hang around town, I guess, and wait for them to release you. They say it'll probably be a few more days."

She's going to wait for me!

"Do you have a place to stay?" Owen asked.

"Lynn said I can stay at her house."

Owen remembered hiding in the bushes with John...spying on the three women...and he remembered the third spy, the one they'd heard but never seen.

What happened to John? Is be still hanging around near the house, or...?

"I've got a room at the Welcome Inn," Owen said. "That's where my stuff is. And my rental car. If you'd rather stay there, I could call and...you know, extend my stay."

"I have a better idea," Darke said. "If you'd like, I'll go to the room and pick up your things. I can take them with me over to Lynn's. That way, you won't have to pay for all those nights at the motel."

"Well...I'm just not sure you should stay at Lynn's house."

"Why not?"

He couldn't tell her about the mysterious prowler hiding in the bushes.

"Maybe it isn't safe," he said.

"It'll be fine. Dana'll be there, too. I think the three of us can handle just about anything. I mean, we killed the beast, didn't we? With a little help from Vein," she added, and tears again filled her eyes.

7. Tuck's Long Distance Call-Part IV

"Well, Warren was hanging around outside. You know how he wouldn't step foot in Beast House because of getting jumped that time? Speaking of which, I hear it wasn't teenagers. Thanks for the honesty, Janice...Oh, little birdies...You should be...Oh, because he was waiting for the tour to end. He and Dana happen to be madly in love. They can't stand to be apart."

Tuck grinned at Dana and Warren, who were sitting across from each other at the kitchen table. Blushing, Dana watched Warren's face turn scarlet.

"Anyway," Tuck continued, "he was out near the street and he heard Agnes's machine gun. Or felt it under his feet. So he figured shit was happening down in the tunnel. Fearing for the life of his true love, he cast paranoia to the winds and ran to her rescue...No, Dana did, but Warren busted the door open for us."

"Hey," Dana protested. "Warren distracted it. That's what saved me. Tell her."

"Dana says to tell you Warren saved her by distracting the beast." Tuck listened, nodding, then smiled at Warren. "Janice says she always knew you were a secret hero."

Warren blushed again. "Tell her thanks."

"He says thanks."

8. Sandy's Long Distance Call

Smiling at the sound of his voice, Sandy asked, "Am I speaking to the one and only Blaze O. Glory?...Yep, it's me. How've you been?...Yeah, I've been missing you, too...A very long time...Five years ... Well, I had to go looking for my son...No, nothing like that. I'm sure he just ran off on his own. He's always had sort of a wild streak... No, I'm afraid not. But I'm sure he's probably getting along just fine, wherever he is...The reason I called, I had a little accident. I'm going to be off my job for a couple of weeks, and wondered if you'd like to have a house guest...I don't know about modeling, I'm pretty banged up...Well, we'll see...I can probably be there day after tomorrow...That'll be great, Blaze." Her throat tightened, and she felt tears well up in her eyes. "I'm really looking forward to seeing you again, too."

9. Visiting Hour-Owen, Part III

Bending over the bed, Darke kissed him gently on the mouth.

Then she eased her lips away and whispered, "See you later, okay?"

"Okay."

"By the way, I'm Karen."

"Karen?"

"Karen Marlowe."

"That's a nice name," Owen said.

"I don't know how nice it is, but it's mine. Thought you oughta know."

10. Tuck's Long Distance Call-Part V

"Hi, Dad. How's the cruise?...I'm fine...Really Thanks to Dana. She saved my tail when the beast tried to nail me...Yeah, I know..." Tuck nodded as she listened. Though she was smiling, her chin began to tremble and tears filled her eyes. "I love you, too, Dad." She sniffed. She took a deep breath. Then she said, "So, have you knocked up Janice yet? I'm hoping for a little sister."

Chapter Sixty-three.

SUNDAY NIGHT.

Sitting with the gift on his lap, he flinched at the sudden brightness as lights came on behind the house and inside the big and little pools. Soon, three women came outside and walked toward the little pool. It was bubbling and steaming.

Last night, nobody at all had shown up.

He'd thought that maybe they stayed away because the one he liked best hadn't been pleased by the gift he'd left in her room.

But she was back, tonight. So was her friend, the smaller woman with the very long yellow hair.

With them was a woman he had never seen before. She was small and thin, with very short yellow hair. She had an injured hand that was wrapped in white.

His mother was not with them.

He felt glad about that.

The one he liked best looked a lot like his mother, looked so much like her that he always felt very strange when he saw her. But she wasn't his mother.

Mother had been here twice. The first time, he'd felt shocked and happy and frightened, all at once. He'd felt an urge to run up to her and hug her, but was afraid to do that because maybe she was still mad at him. She'd been very mad at him the day he hurt her and ran away. Maybe she was still mad, and looking for him because she wanted to hurt him back.

He knew that his mother could be very dangerous when she was mad.

He'd felt the danger of her both times when she was here and came hunting for him. If she'd caught him, she would've hurt him. Both times, though, he'd crept away and escaped from her.

Tonight, he wouldn't need to creep away.

Mother was gone, so there was no one to fear.

At the edge of the hot spa, Dana crouched and set down the bottle of wine. And remained in a crouch, aching too much to move. Earlier in the evening, she'd joined Warren for margaritas, then joined him for barbecued ribs, then joined him in bed. They'd compared wounds. They'd laughed and wept and made love. Because of her injuries, Warren had been very gentle with her. Though she'd wanted to spend the entire night with him, she'd finally asked for a ride home.

There'd been those troubles with the prowler.

Tuck and Darke were likely to use the pool or hot spa, and Eve, laid up in the hospital, wouldn't be around to protect them.

Still crouching, Dana watched Tuck place a stack of folded towels on the concrete within easy reach of the spa. Then Tuck took off her robe and let it fall. Wearing her doe skin bikini, she stepped down into the bubbly water. "Ahhh," she said. "Nice and hot."

Darke stood on the edge. Balancing on her left foot, she lowered her right foot into the water and dipped her toes in.

"It's clothing optional, you know," Tuck told her.

Darke nodded. She wore a skintight black tank suit, cut low in front and high at the hips. "I think I'll keep mine on for now," she said. She lowered herself into the water, keeping her bandaged hand high.

"You have a question?" Dana asked her.

Darke laughed.

"Are you getting in?" Tuck asked Dana.

Groaning, Dana stood up straight. "I don't think so. I doubt that hot, dirty water would do my wounds any good."

"Dirty water?" Tuck protested.

"You're in it."

Laughing, Tuck asked, "How bad are you hurt?"

"I'm pretty messed up."

"We'll be the judges of that," Tuck said. "Let's see."

Dana looked across the pool.

"Give our Peeping Tom a treat," Tuck urged her.

"What Peeping Tom?" Darke asked.

"Nothing to worry about," Tuck said.

Dana reached behind her neck, grabbed the Beast House T-shirt with both hands, and pulled it over her head.

Holding the shirt by her side, she asked, "What do you think?"

Tuck and Darke stared up at her.

She wore nothing.

She knew that she looked as if she'd been been thrown into a pit full of rabid cats. Most of her scratches were shallow. Only a few had been bandaged. In the several places where she'd been bitten, however, she was patched with thick pads of gauze.

"Well," Tuck said, "I guess you could soak your feet."

"More than that," said Darke. "You look perfectly fine, Dana-all the way up to the knees."

Watching from the bushes, he moaned.

The one he liked best was naked.

And hurt.

Confused for a moment, he wondered if be had done it to her.