Nightrise

somewhere called out an order. "This way!"
    It was Alicia who took control of the situation. As Jamie stood rooted to the spot, she grabbed hold of him and suddenly she was very close to him.

    "We have to move," she said urgently. 'You can't be found here."
    "But…"
    'You heard what they said on the news. That's what they all think. You've been set up! If the police get you, you're finished. We have to go."
    "Go where?"
    Jamie turned toward the front door but it was already far too late. He heard footsteps coming up the drive. The front patio had been laid with gravel, and the boots crunched against it. Alicia understood.
    That way was blocked. "Into the kitchen!" she commanded.
    Jamie was angry with himself. The situation was completely out of control. If Scott had been here, he would have known what to do. Once again Jamie was weak and helpless, allowing himself to be pushed around…this time by a woman he had met only a few hours before. Alicia had taken charge. A door led into the kitchen. She pulled it open and they went through. And that was when they realized that they hadn't been on their own in the house after all.
    Marcie was lying on the floor, and it was obvious — even without the pool of blood — that she was dead. Her arms and legs were spread-eagled almost comically and her cheek was pressed against the linoleum as if she was trying to listen to something in the cellar below. In life, she had been a short, stocky woman. Death had somehow compressed her even more, so that she didn't look quite human. A fat, stuffed doll. But somebody had shot her twice and let the stuffing out.
    Jamie tried to say something but the words wouldn't come. He heard the front door open on the other side of the living room and realized that the police were already in the house. They hadn't bothered to ring the bell. Somebody muttered something but it was impossible to make out the words against the noise of the TV. Meanwhile, Alicia was looking around. A pair of French windows led into the backyard but she didn't know if they were locked or not and she didn't have time to find out. There, was another door right next to her. Grabbing Jamie, she pulled him out of the kitchen and into a narrow utility room.
    There was a washing machine, a drier, a couple of shelves of canned food. She stopped and held up a hand, warning Jamie not to move. At the same moment, the police entered the kitchen.
    "Oh Jesus!" Jamie heard one of the policeman gagging.
    "That sure is a beauty." A second voice.
    "Looks like the kids came home last night."
    There was a way out of the utility room. Another door at the far end. Alicia signaled, and she and Jamie tiptoed over to it. There had to be at least three policemen in the kitchen, separated from them only by a thin, partition wall. The door was locked but the key was there. She reached out and turned it…
    …just as a policeman walked into the room behind them. He stood, staring at them, like something straight out of a Hollywood film, with his black, short-sleeved shirt and black shades that completely hid his eyes. He was young and white and he worked out. The ugly tools of his trade dangled from his belt: gun, CS gas canister, handcuffs, and baton. For a moment he didn't say anything. Then his hand dropped down to the gun.
    Jamie had been standing behind Alicia. But suddenly he stepped forward so that he stood directly opposite the policeman. She saw him look up and there was something in the boy's face that she couldn't recognize, a sort of intensity that seemed almost unworldly.
    "There's nobody here," he said quietly. "The room's empty."
    The policeman stared at him, as if puzzled by what he had just been told. Alicia waited for him to say something. But he didn't. His eyes were vacant. He nodded slowly and walked out again.
    Jamie and Alicia heard voices in the kitchen as the officer rejoined the other men.
    "Anything?"
    "No. There's nobody there. It's just an empty room."
    "Hey —Josh. Why don't you tell the coroner to get in here? They can start clearing up."
    Jamie glanced at Alicia, as if challenging her to ask questions. But this wasn't the time. Alicia opened the back door and the two of them passed through into the garage. It was empty, apart from a rusty lawn mower and a deepfreeze unit. Don had taken his car to the Reno Playhouse and, of course, it had never been driven back. The two doors were closed but there was a window at the back. Jamie opened it and they climbed out.