Carnal Innocence

began to weep as the weight of it pounded at him. “She killed them, Tuck. She killed them all. I don’t know how I can live with turning my own sister over to the law.”
    Slowly, Tucker backed up, leaving Dwayne swaying. “You’re out of your fucking mind.”
    “We have to do it. I know we have to. Chrissakes, she meant it to be Sissy.”
    “Shut up.” With rage and fear blinding him, Tucker plowed his fist into Dwayne’s face. “You’re drunk, and stupid. If I hear you say another word, I’ll—”
    “Mr. Tucker.” Eyes wide, Cy stood on the verge of the driveway. He’d heard, heard all that they said, but he didn’t know what to believe.
    “What the hell are you doing there?” Tucker demanded. “Why aren’t you down watching the fireworks?”
    “I—you said as I should keep close to her.” Cy’s insides were shaking with the kind of fear he hadn’t known he could feel again. “She went on in, but she told me to stay outside. She said I shouldn’t come upstairs.”
    “Caroline?” Tucker said blankly.
    The blow had shocked Dwayne back to reality. As Cy’s words sunk in, he grabbed Tucker by the shirt. “Josie. She took the knife with her. She took the knife and went into the house.”
    Tucker’s breath came in pants. He wanted to fight, wanted to fight out the horror that was settling insidehim. But even as he balled his fists, he saw the truth, in Dwayne’s eyes. “Let go of me.” With a strength born of fear he shoved Dwayne back to his knees. “Caroline’s in the house.”
    He began to run, hurtling toward Sweetwater, chased by the roar of the crowd and the cold breath of terror.
    “I won’t make it easy for you, Josie.” She wasn’t afraid of the gun, wouldn’t let herself be afraid. But she had a deep primal fear of that sharp length of steel. “You know it has to stop. No matter what you feel, no matter what your mother did, you can’t fix it by killing.”
    “I wanted to be like her, but people always said I was like my father. They were right.” Her voice took on a curious, almost musical calm. “They didn’t know how right—and they won’t. It’s my secret, Caroline. I’ll kill you to protect it.”
    “I know. And after you do, Dwayne and Tucker will suffer for it. Dwayne because he’ll know, and it’ll eat him alive. Tucker because he has feelings for me. And because you love them, you’ll suffer, too.”
    “There’s no choice here. Now, turn around, Caroline. Turn around or it’ll be so much worse.”
    With the last echoes of celebration ringing in her ears, she started to turn. She didn’t dare close her eyes, didn’t dare, but she offered one quick and fervent prayer. When her body was three-quarters turned from Josie, Caroline threw out a hand to smash the lamp to the floor. Blessing the dark, she tucked up her legs and rolled across the bed.
    “It won’t matter.” Excitement sharpened Josie’s voice. Now there was a hunt, and with a hunt there was hunger. “It’ll only be easier for me now. I won’t have to look at you, and I can think of you like the others.”
    Her feet whispered across the carpet as Caroline hunched beside the bed and strained to see. If she could only get to the door. If she could only get quickly and soundlessly to the door.
    “I like the dark.” Holding her breath, Carolineinched away from the bed, feeling her way with her fingers.
    “I never minded hunting in the dark. Daddy used to say I had cat eyes. And I can hear your heart beat.” Quick as a snake, she pounced on the spot where Caroline had crouched only seconds before.
    Caroline bit her lip to hold back a scream. As she tasted blood she forced herself not to move. Her eyes were adjusting, and in the pale moonlight she could see Josie’s silhouette, and the edge of the death she held in her hand. Only a turn of her head, and they would be face-to-face.
    And she did turn it, slowly. The moonlight glinted in her eyes. Her lips curved. Caroline remembered how Austin had looked when he had loomed over her filled with murder and madness.
    “It won’t take long,” Josie promised as she lifted the blade.
    In a last plunge to cheat death, Caroline rolled away. The blade caught the skirt of her dress, pinning it to the floor. On a cry of terror, she ripped it free and stumbled to her feet. She raced toward the doorway, waiting to hear the whistle of steel through the air, the heat of the blade as it cut into her back.
    The light in the hall flashed on,