Spencerville

Baxter said, "You just sit tight and everything's go

"Yes, sir... uh, you mentioned..."

"Check's in the mail."

Baxter went outside to the patrol car and leaned into the window. He said to Blake, "Call the boys. We got him."

"Jesus..."

Chapter Thirty-four

Keith Landry and A

He was fighting off sleep, and he suspected she was doing the same. Finally, she turned on the lamp and rolled over on top of him, nestling her head beside his neck, and bit his ear. She said, "Am I getting on your nerves?"

"No. I like that." He put his hands on her buttocks and massaged.

"Feels good." After a minute, she said, "Keith, I can't sleep."

Try.

"I can't." She reached between them and fondled him until he got hard, then put it inside her. "That's my pacifier. Can you keep it hard until I fall asleep?"

He smiled. "I guess. Never tried it before."

"I love you."

"I adore you."

"I snore."

"Me, too."

"I drool. I absolutely drool all over everything. I'm going to drool on you."

"You're fu

"I eat barbecued chicken and potato chips in bed, and I wipe my mouth on the sheets, and I burp."

He laughed. "Stop it."

"I have wet dreams and screaming orgasms all night."

"Good..."

She moved her hips up and down. "I'm about to have one now."

"Oh, that feels..." He heard something at the door, then, before he could react, he heard the door crashing in, the bolt splintering through the wood.

A second later, Cliff Baxter was charging into the room with a shotgun in his hands.

A

Baxter rammed the rubber-padded butt of the shotgun toward Keith's face, and Keith deflected it with his forearm, but it grazed his forehead and left him momentarily stu

Keith, still dazed, his right arm hanging limp at his side, retrieved the knife with his left hand. His vision was blurred from the blow to his head, but he could see A

Baxter bellowed in pain, A

Keith stood unsteadily, the knife still in his hand, and one of the cops — Keith thought it was Ward — swung his nightstick, catching Keith's wrist, and the knife flew out of his hand.

Baxter had disengaged himself from his wife, and A

As Keith moved toward A

Keith was aware of the two cops leaving, then felt the shotgun butt hit him again, this time on his back, sprawling him forward on the floor. He heard Baxter's voice, "So — fuck me? No! Fuck you! Fuck you!" Keith felt Baxter kicking him in the ribs, he heard A

There was a silence in the room, and Keith fought to remain conscious. He could see Baxter's legs in front of him, blood ru

He heard Baxter's voice again. "Get off him! Get off of him or, so help me God, I'll kill you."

"No!"

Keith heard the pump-action shotgun cocking, and he caught his breath and said to her, "Get off... A

"No!"

A voice from outside the door called into the room, "Chief! We got to get moving! Got people out here now. Police on the way!"

Baxter stuck the muzzle of the shotgun under Keith's nose. "I'll count to three, and if this bitch isn't up and getting dressed, your fucking brains will be laying on your ass. One..."

"A

"Two..."

"It's okay... remember what I said..."

"Three."

He felt her arms loosen around his chest, then felt her weight lifting off him.

Baxter gave her a shove, then stepped back, but kept the shotgun pointed at Keith's face. Baxter said to him, "When I get through fucking her, there's not go

Keith tried to raise himself up, but Baxter kicked him in the head, and he fell forward on his face. He heard someone shout from the doorway, "Chief. State police on the way!"

Keith kept passing in and out of consciousness. His vision was blurred, and sounds seemed to reach him from far away. He could see A

He heard Baxter's voice more distinctly, and the voice said, "Look at you, lying there, naked as a ski

He opened his eyes and saw that Baxter was kneeling in front of him and that Baxter had the K-bar knife in his hand. Baxter said, "You're mine now. All mine."

"Fuck you."

Baxter spit in his face and brought the heavy pommel of the knife down on Keith's head.

Keith was vaguely aware of hands on him, then his body rolling so that, when he opened his eyes, he saw the ceiling. He saw Baxter squatting over him, the knife in his hand, and he heard Baxter saying in a soft voice, "I'm just go

Keith jabbed two fingers into Baxter's right eye, and the man howled and tumbled backward, covering his face with his hands.

There were hurried footsteps in the room, the sound of urgent voices, and the image of Baxter being half dragged, half carried away by Ward and another policeman.

Keith couldn't feel any pain, except for the heavy pounding in his head, and the feeling that his eyes wanted to burst out of their sockets.

A wave of nausea came over him, and he was on the verge of blacking out, but he knew he had to get on his stomach so he wouldn't drown in his own vomit. Somehow, he managed to get on his side, then got sick and felt well enough to let himself go, slipping into unconsciousness.