Carnal Innocence

Bones—and was pushing herself to her feet when she saw Austin Hatinger.
    For an instant she thought it was her imagination. There could be no man walking across her backyard with two guns hitched in his belt and a knife in his hand. There could be no man crushing her newly plantedpansies under his heel and smiling at her, smiling through frozen lips, smiling out of crazed, red-rimmed eyes.
    She was still on her knees when he spoke.
    “God led me to you.” The smile seemed to tear his face, like a rip through tattered burlap. “I understood His will. You were with him, I saw you with him, and you’re to be sacrificed.” He turned the knife blade in the sunlight as he approached the porch. “Like Edda Lou. It has to be just like Edda Lou.”
    Like a runner coming off the mark, Caroline pushed herself from her knees and slammed through the back door. She shoved it to, turned the bolt. The oven timer went off with a buzz that made her scream. Then Austin’s weight rammed against the wood and set her numb legs free.
    She didn’t think. Fueled by instinct, she snatched up her grandfather’s Colt on her flight from the kitchen. She needed to get to the car, but even as she raced through the house, she heard the old kitchen door give way with a splinter of wood.
    And she remembered that the gun she held in her slippery hand was empty.
    Sobbing, she barreled through the front door, digging in her pocket. Bullets sprayed out of her sweaty fingers and she nearly lost her footing on the steps. She stumbled, righted herself, and saw that all four tires on her car had been slashed.
    Austin swung open the screen door. “You can’t run from the will of God. You are His instrument. An eye for an eye, saith the Lord.”
    But Caroline was already fleeing toward the swamp. Another bullet squirted out of her fingers like wet soap to be lost in the grass. Her scream was no more than a harsh breath of air.
    “Stop it, stop it!” she ordered her shaking hands as she fought to get one bullet, then two into the chamber. “Oh, God, please.” She was nearly to the trees, nearly there, and there was shelter and terror behind them. One desperate look over her shoulder, and he was lessthan two armspans behind her. With tears blurring her vision, she turned and fired.
    The gun clicked on empty. And he smiled.
    “Today you are the lamb of God.” The knife arched up, glistening silver death. Caroline saw more than madness in his eyes. She saw a terrible glory.
    Then Useless shot out like a small gold bullet and latched his puppy teeth into Austin’s calf. Austin howled more in fury than pain. It took only one kick to send the dog lying bonelessly on the grass.
    “Dear God,” Caroline prayed, and with the gun braced in both hands, fired again. This time the kick knocked her limp body back. She lay stunned staring at the horrible red stain that bloomed over Austin’s dirty white shirt.
    His smile was back, a rictus of a grin. He took another step toward her, the knife held high.
    “Please, please, please,” Caroline whimpered as the gun jerked in her hand again. With numbed horror she saw his face disappear. His big, brawny body twitched. To her terror-frozen brain, it seemed he was still coming, still walking implacably toward her. She scrambled back, screams hitching in her throat, heels digging furrows in the grass.
    The knife fell at her feet, and Austin followed it.
    Tucker skidded to a stop on the gravel drive. While his heart slammed in his throat, he watched Caroline weaving across the lawn, carrying the puppy. Beyond her he could see Austin sprawled facedown, and the blood staining the grass.
    “He kicked my dog,” was all she said, and moved by him into the house.
    “Jesus Christ, Burke.”
    “I’ll take care of this out here.” Burke holstered his gun and exchanged it for his walkie-talkie. “Go on in with her. See that she stays inside until this is done.”
    Tucker found her in the parlor, sitting in the rocker with the dazed dog across her lap.
    “Honey.” He crouched down beside her, stroking her face, her hair. “Honey, did he hurt you?”
    “He was going to kill me.” She kept rocking, afraid if she stopped she’d go mad. “With the knife. He could have shot me, but he had to do it with the knife. Like Edda Lou, he said.” The dog began to stir and whine in her lap. Caroline lifted him up against her breast like a baby. “It’s all right now. It’s all right.”
    “Caroline, Caroline, look at