Creature

"Be careful," Ames told him. "From what you said, it sounds like Randy Stevens all over again. And if it is, JeffLaCo

Ke

Did Ames really think he was telling him anything he didn't already know?

Even now, nearly a year after it had happened, he could still remember the night Randy Stevens cracked up. It had been a quiet night in Silverdale, at least until around eleven o'clock, whenKe

And never caused so much as a hint of a problem for either his parents or anyone else.

But that night something had snapped in Randy, and whenKe

Inside the house it was apparent that a major fight was taking place.

WhenKe

Except that it wasn't really a struggle, for Tom was sprawled on his back, doing his best to fend off a rain of furious blows as his son straddled him, pounding at him mercilessly.

Ke

His mind was gone and he was simply lashing out at whomever was at hand.

It had taken three men to subdue the boy, and he was finally taken away from the house strapped to a stretcher. At TomStevens's request, Randy had been taken to the sports center and put under the care of Marty Ames.

The next morning Randy was transferred to the mental hospital at Canon City.

Though such a thing had never happened before in Silverdale, Marty Ames had explained that it wasn't all that uncommon. Randy, after all, had always been too perfect, meeting his parents' every expectation. But along with those expectations there had been pressure, and Randy never allowed himself to vent that pressure. And so, finally, he turned on his parents, his emotional structure collapsing in a shambles.

He had tried to kill them.

He had almost succeeded.

And now, tonight,Ke

Overachievers, both of them.

Neither of them ever in any trouble, neither of them ever showing signs of problems.

When Randy had finally blown, he'd come close to killing his own father.

Would Jeff have actually killed Mark Ta

So he would, indeed, take Ames's advice, and consider JeffLaCo

It promised to be a long night.

MacMacCallum smiled encouragingly at Mark Ta

Mark winced as the needle penetrated his skin once again. "Okay," he said between his clenched teeth. "Next to Jeff, this is a piece of cake."

Mac said nothing more until he'd taken the last stitch, tied off the thread with a neat surgeon's knot, then covered the stitches with a bandage. Mark started to try to raise himself to a sitting position, butMacCallum stopped him.

"Just lie there. I want to take some more X rays."

"How come?" Mark asked. "Nothing's broken, is it?"

"Not that I can see from the outside,"MacCallum agreed. "But judging by what happened to your face and your ribs, it seems a good idea to take a look." In fact,MacCallum was almost certain the boy's jaw had sustained a hairline fracture, and there was still a strong possibility of internal injuries, particularly to the boy's kidneys and spleen. He washed his hands, then picked up Mark's chart and began writing instructions on it. When he was done, he handed the chart to the night-duty nurse, Karen Akers. "Can you handle all that?"

Karen glanced quickly down the chart, then nodded. Disappearing into the corridor, she returned a moment later, wheeling a gurney in front of her. Holding it steady next to the examining table, she helped Mark transfer himself. Mark winced at almost every motion, but when he'd finally made it, he forced himself to grin at the nurse. "See? Nothing to it. I could run a ten-K if I had to."

"Right," Karen replied dryly. "But the question is, can you hold still while I take your picture?"

MacCallumfollowed them into the corridor, but as they turned right toward the X-ray room, he took the other direction. A few seconds later he entered the waiting room where the Ta

"Is he all right?" Sharon asked anxiously.

MacCallumglanced once more at ChuckLaCo

Sharon's eyes clouded. "Considering what happened?" she repeated. "What does that mean?"

"Considering it was JeffLaCo

"Now wait a minute," ChuckLaCo

The color drained from Sharon's face, and her eyes shifted quickly betweenLaCo

MacCallumnodded briefly.

Sharon's legs suddenly felt weak, but she refused to allow herself to drop back onto the sofa. Even angrier now, she turned to Blake. "I thought you told me the Ramirez boy was an accident victim," she said, a note of uncertainty in her voice, as if she were trying to put something together in her mind.

"He was-" Blake began, butMacCallum interrupted.

"He may have been," he corrected.

ChuckLaCo

Blake stared at his own wife in bewilderment. "His wife?" he echoed. "Honey, what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about JeffLaCo