Spencerville

for your own actions. That’s what’s wrong with you women. Always lookin’ for a free ride, a pass, a way out with no sweat on your part. You pulled that shit in Spencerville. You ain’t gettin’ off so easy here.”
    “Neither are you.”
    “What the fuck do you mean by that?”
    She didn’t reply.
    “You want another strappin’?”
    “No.”
    “I’ll bet not. So you don’t love me. But you will. And when you finally say it, you’re gonna mean it. Really mean it, from deep down inside of you. You’re gonna say, ‘Cliff, I love you.’ And I’ll tell you what—if I had my lie detector machine here, it would tell me that you’re tellin’ the God’s honest truth. But I don’t need the machine, sweetheart, ’cause when the day comes, I’ll know it, and so will you.”
    “Never.”
    “Remember you said that. Meantime, be thankful I still love you, ’cause the minute I don’t, you’re dead. When you say your prayers tonight, pray that I still love you in the mornin’.”
    “When I say my prayers tonight, I’ll pray for your soul, Cliff, and ask God to forgive you. I can’t.”
    He didn’t like that and said to her, “Go lock yourself to the floor.”
    She turned and walked out of the kitchen, into the big living room, and knelt near the rocker by the fire. He came in behind her and watched as she put the shackle of the padlock around the chain and through the eyebolt and snapped the lock shut. She wrapped the blanket around her and under her buttocks and sat.
    He poked the fire and added another log, then stood watching the flames awhile. One of the dogs barked again, but he didn’t seem to notice. Finally, he turned around and looked at her. He said, “I told you, when I’m through with you, you ain’t gonna be you. When that happens, you won’t
want
to go back to Spencerville. Get used to this, sweetheart. This is it, forever.” He pointed to the gray timberwolf head, mounted above the mantel “Just me, you, and these guys for company.”
    Annie turned away from him and looked into the fire. A tear ran down her cheek.
    He turned on the small table lamp beside his chair, then shut off the floor lamp. He sat down and began reading a hunting magazine. After a few minutes, he looked up and spoke in a normal, almost conversational tone of voice. “Tell you what, though. There’s a guy out there someplace who fucked you, and if my boys get him and bring him here, or if he somehow comes here and I get him, then after he’s dead, I might reconsider things. But meantime, you’re stayin’ here with me. You can think about that cock all you want, but you’re never gonna see it again unless I got it in my hand and I’m feedin’ it to the dogs.”
    Annie wiped the tears from her face with the blanket.
    “Don’t cry, sweetheart. I know you’re worried about me, darlin’, but I can take care of myself. You found that out, didn’t you?” He laughed and went back to his magazine. “Bitch.”
    Annie sat in the rocker, feeling cold, hungry, violated, in pain, and exhausted. It had been a bad day, and there would be more of them. She looked at him, then closed her eyes and thought of Keith. She felt his presence inside her and tried to imagine that he was close by. She remembered what he’d said…
even if we’re separated for a short tim
e,
remember that I love you, and know that we’ll be together
again…
“I promise.”
    “What?”
    “Nothing.”
    He went back to his magazine. He said, “I bet I know what you’re thinkin’ about, and it might surprise you that I’m thinkin’ the same thing. I hope he comes, too.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
    K eith found it difficult to sit and wait, but he knew that the later the hour, the more chance of catching Baxter with his guard down. The attacker, he reminded himself, always had the advantage of surprise and mobility, not to mention being psyched up for a fight. The defender had the advantage of having picked the place and prepared it to his liking, and, not inconsequentially, the advantage of creature comforts. But it was this last thing that sometimes lulled the defender into a fatal sense of security.
    Billy took a cellophane bag out of his pocket and ripped it open. “You want some peanuts?”
    “No.”
    Billy munched on the peanuts. He said, “Maybe we don’t have to kill the dogs. Now that I seen his setup there, I think we can take him from a distance. We just set up firing positions at the edge of the clearing, make a