Help Wanted (18 page)

“Claudia?” He frowned and rubbed his chin with one filthy hand. “Claudia … hmmm … poor little helpless Claudia … Poor crazy little thing.” He slapped one hand against his thigh and faked surprise. “Why, I don't know! Maybe you better ask my boss!”

“Boss?” And Robin could see his lips spread apart in a sleazy grin, and the thunder rumbled overhead, as deep and dangerous as the laugh in Skaggs's chest.

“Why, sure.” Skaggs took a step toward her and prodded her with the toe of his muddy boot. “My boss. But, wait. You wanna see Claudia? Then I'll take you to see Claudia!”

“What have you done to her? No!” Once more Robin tried to scoot away from him, but this time he grabbed her and yanked her to her feet.

“In fact, I'll take you right now, whatcha say?”

He was laughing and laughing, and as Robin screamed and tried to break away, he pinned her arms behind her back with a grip of steel. He half dragged, half carried her through the woods, and as they came out into a small clearing, Robin saw a wooden shack ahead of them cleverly camouflaged by the surrounding trees.

“Won't you come in?” Skaggs laughed, and with one thrust he flung Robin through the open doorway. She skidded hard across the floor and slammed into a corner, lying there dazed while Skaggs shut the door and stood over her.

The room spun crazily. It took Robin several seconds to fight off the dizziness, and as she did so, the contents of the shelves around her—shovels, hoes and spades, clippers and pointed shears—came slowly and unsteadily into focus.

“Where's Claudia?” she mumbled. “What have you done with her?”

“Why, haven't you heard?” Skaggs put his hands on his head and widened his eyes. “She's insane!”

Robin pulled her legs up to her chest, as if she could huddle herself into an invisible ball. Skaggs reached down and ran one hand slowly across her head.

“Nice girl. Nice … little girl.” He grinned. “Nice you could drop in and see me today. But hey—sorry. Gotta go. You have an appointment with an accident.”

Robin stared at him through a haze of confusion and terror. She could see his narrowed eyes inspecting her, going slowly over her body, and suddenly he squatted down on his heels beside her.

“You know … I was just thinkin',” he said, and he put his hand on her shoulder. “There might still be time for you and me to be friends. Before you have to go. What do you think—you like that idea?”

Robin shoved out at him. Her sudden movement caught him off guard, and he tumbled back onto the floor. As she flattened herself into her corner, he staggered clumsily to his feet and yanked his shirt halfway open.

“You shouldn't have done that. That other one—she did that, too—tried to get rough with me. And I took care of her—I took real good care of her.”

“You took her picture down, didn't you?” Robin murmured, and she saw the slow, pleased nod of his head.

“My collection.” Skaggs grinned. “She was my first. But you know what they say about hobbies … once you start, it's so easy to get hooked.” His shoulders shook in a silent laugh, and his eyes gleamed at her through the shadows.

“Where's Claudia!” Robin screamed at him.

“I like the feel of it now. The feel of soft, bare skin … and cold, hard fear …”

“Where is she!”

“Well, we're not gonna worry about her right now. We're gonna worry about you. 'Cause you're gonna be next. And you know what? I think I like you even better …”

Skaggs gave a fiendish grin. He reached inside his shirt and slowly pulled out a knife.

“No,” Robin whispered. “Oh, God, please help me.…”

And then she noticed the figure in the doorway.

It was silhouetted there against the raging storm, and in the dim light of the cabin, it seemed just another shadow, hazy and indistinct. Robin's heart leapt into her throat, and her eyes went wide. She hadn't heard it come—didn't know how long it had even been there—but as Skaggs took a step toward her, the shadow moved stealthily along one of the shelves and floated up behind him.

“You might as well relax”—Skaggs grinned—“and enjoy it.”

He knelt down beside her.

He held the tip of the blade to her throat and leaned in close to her neck.

Robin could smell his foul breath.

She could feel his hand on her jacket, and the zipper starting down.

She heard his laugh …

And then she heard his scream.

The knife grazed the side of her neck as Skaggs made a horrible choking sound …

And as his whole body went suddenly rigid, he fell on top of Robin, pinning her to the floor.

R
obin!” Claudia cried. “Are you all right?”

And someone was pulling on Skaggs, pulling at his heavy, twisted body, trying to get Robin free—

“Robin—oh, Robin—”

“Claudia,” Robin murmured. “What are you—how—”

“Please get up, Robin! Did he hurt you?”

At last Robin was able to roll out from under Skaggs's weight, and as she stumbled to her feet, Claudia threw her arms around her, hugging her tightly.

“I thought you were dead,” Claudia said tearfully.

“I thought you were, too!” Still somewhat dazed, Robin clung to her. “But what happened? Are
you
all right?”

“Yes, but …”

As Robin pulled away and held her at arm's length, Claudia stared down at the body on the floor. She stared and she stared, and as her eyes slowly began to widen, she pressed her hands to her mouth and swallowed a sob.

“Oh, my God,” Claudia whispered. “Oh, my God, what have I done?”

Robin grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the doorway. “You had to do it, Claudia—you didn't have any choice! You were only trying to save me!”

But Claudia's horrified gaze was fixed on Skaggs, and without warning she reeled into a corner and got sick.

Robin watched her helplessly and then turned her attention back to the body. He was twisted at a crazy angle, and a pair of shears protruded from his back, propping him off the floor as if he were still trying to struggle to his feet.

Robin felt as if she might be sick herself. She swallowed hard and reached out for Claudia, pulling her gently back to the doorway.

“Come on, we've got to get the police.”

“We've got to hurry,” Claudia said softly, and her eyes had that distant clouded look again that Robin had come to recognize. Quickly Robin grabbed the girl and shook her roughly by the shoulders.

“Claudia, you've got to tell me what happened,” she insisted. “Where were you? What happened back there in the house?”

“We've got to hurry,” Claudia monotoned again, and as her eyes reluctantly drew back to Skaggs's lifeless figure, Robin shook her again.

“Claudia!”

“Yes … yes …” Claudia's brow furrowed, as if she were finding it too difficult to remember. “He'll be back soon. We can't let him find us here.”

“Who'll be back?” Robin demanded. “Talk to me, Claudia!”

“You were right, Robin. I didn't want to believe you, but …” Claudia's eyes lifted, filmy with tears. “You were right about Parker. Only he's been using Skaggs to do most of the work.”

“Skaggs …” Robin turned loose of her and took a step back, shaking her head in amazement. “Skaggs.”

It made perfect sense, of course. Skaggs at school, having access to the locker rooms, the showers … He'd know locker combinations, too, or he'd know where to find them—it'd be easy for him to slip threatening notes into someone's books … to push someone down the stairs and slip quickly out of sight into some empty room or some closet …

“So easy,” Robin mumbled. “So simple and so easy.”

Skaggs could drive a black car, and Skaggs would have access to Manorwood. He'd worked the property for years—he'd know all about the house, where to turn the electricity on and off. It'd be easy for him to rig up a floating body in the storage room using Winifred's curtains … and Parker had covered for him perfectly.

“He used the flashlight, so I couldn't really see the floor,” Robin mumbled. “If the lights had been on, I'd probably have noticed the floor was still wet, but in the dark I couldn't tell.”

“What?” Claudia seemed to rouse herself. She wiped at her tears and looked blankly at Robin.

“Don't you see, Claudia? It was there all the time, and we never even guessed! Parker and Skaggs made the perfect team.”

Parker had even admitted to Robin that he knew where she lived … so he wouldn't have had any trouble leaving the note on her door that night … or sending Skaggs to do it.…

“We've got to go,” Claudia said again, breaking into Robin's thoughts. “When he comes back and finds what's happened—”

“Who?” Robin reached out for her, but Claudia's arms were wrapped tightly around herself and she was trembling.

“When … when Skaggs brought me here,” Claudia whispered, “Parker was waiting in the woods. He—he told Skaggs to take care of what had to be done. And that … that he would be back later. After it was over.”

Robin stared. She felt strangely frozen and faraway.

“I saw him leave the house as I was coming in,” she said. “He was in a real hurry.”

The air was thick with danger. Claudia put one hand out behind her, groping for the door.

“Come on,” Robin whispered, but Claudia shook her head.

“What are we going to do with him? When Parker comes back, he'll find him here.”

“It doesn't matter,” Robin insisted. “We're going to the police. It doesn't matter if we leave him or not.”

Claudia couldn't seem to stop shaking. Her voice quivered so violently, she could hardly speak.

“It—it does matter. Don't you see? If the police—if the police don't believe us about Parker—then—then—they'll see Skaggs and we're—
I'm
—the one who killed him!”

Robin felt her heart go cold.
Yes, he planned it. He planned it right down to the last detail. Drive Claudia crazy … no one's going to believe that Parker Swanson could ever be mixed up in something sordid or messy. “He's brilliant … has the brains … knows how to work people … that's how you survive …”

And Claudia will be gotten rid of after all
.

“Crazy old Claudia …”

“We need to wipe off the fingerprints,” Robin said dully. Her voice sounded foreign to her, and very faraway. She stared at the shears sticking out of Skaggs's back, and then she stared at Claudia.

Claudia looked horrified. “I … I can't touch them.”

Robin glanced wildly around the room.

“We'll hide him,” she said.

“What?”

“At least till I can talk to Walt.”
Yes, Walt
. He knew everything that had been going on—he'd know what to do.

“Oh, Robin, we can't!” Claudia went paler, but Robin shook her head and took a step toward the body.

“Just till I can find out what to do!” she said, more sharply than she intended.

It seemed an eternity that Claudia stood there, gazing down at the pool of blood spreading out from beneath Skaggs … the thick dark stain spreading out across the dirty floor. Finally she whispered, “I know someplace,” and reached out to squeeze Robin's hand.

Robin thought she would faint when she had to touch him.

As she tried to lift his legs up, Skaggs flopped sideways, and she gave a cry and jumped back.

“That thing's sticking out of his back—we can't lay him down,” Claudia said, her voice lifting shrilly, and Robin nodded.

“You're right. We'll have to drag him this way. On his face.”

She could see the shears buried clear up to their handles, and she wondered how Claudia had ever found the strength to plunge them in. Fighting down a wave of nausea, she worked her way around to Skaggs's other end and wrestled his limp arms above his head. Claudia groaned and got hold of his boots.

“What about the blood?” she whispered.

Robin straightened up again, one hand to her forehead, trying to think. Quickly she scanned the room, but there was nothing they could use to wipe up the floor.

“Here,” Robin said and began pulling off her sweater.

Claudia looked at her, horrified. “What do you think you're doing? Put that back on!”

“We've got to do
something!”
Before Claudia could say anything more, Robin dropped to her knees, pressing her sweater into the growing puddle.

“Then put on my sweatshirt.” Claudia peeled it off and handed it to Robin, even as Robin was trying to push it back at her.

“Forget it! You'll catch pneumonia!”

“Not any more than you will!” Claudia insisted. “And I have a flannel shirt on underneath—you've only got a T-shirt.”

Nodding, Robin took the sweatshirt and wriggled into it. As she scrubbed fiercely at the floorboards, she watched the dark red stains soak into her favorite sweater and tried not to gag.