Richard Laymon - Blood Games

‘Her form really sucked,’ Cora said. ‘Five-point-nine.’

Finley came up, puffed out a spray, and wiped her face. ‘Hardy-har-har-har,’ she said.

When she climbed out this time, she quickly dodged past Cora and hurried close to the wall — Abilene taping her.

‘Okay, okay,’ she said. ‘Enough is enough.’

Abilene stopped recording. She held onto the camera while Finley used the sock-bound bundle of clothes to dry her face and arms. Then she handed over the camera.

Vivian, out of the water, stamped her feet and shook her arms. ‘Now don’t you wish we had towels?’ she asked.

‘We’ll be dry pretty soon,’ Cora said. ‘Let’s just check things out down here.’

‘I don’t want to go exploring in the raw.’

‘Then get dressed.’

‘I’m soaking.’

‘Then don’t.’

‘I’m sure not,’ Abilene said. She didn’t want to get her clothes all wet. And she liked the feel of the air against her skin. Though warm and humid, it seemed almost cool after the heat of the pool.

‘Just pretend you’re at Hefner’s,’ Finley said, grinning at Vivian.

Cora wandered toward a recessed area beyond the pool’s apron.

Following her, Abilene found a short hallway. Stairs in the center led upward. On each side of the staircase, and just in front of it, were doors with signs that read GENTS and LADIES. ‘Must be dressing rooms,’ she said.

‘Let’s take a look,’ Cora said, and headed for the door marked LADIES.

‘Forget that,’ Finley said, and went for the GENTS to the right of the staircase.

‘I doubt you’ll find one in there,’ Cora told her.

‘I can always hope.’

‘Boy, would he be surprised,’ Helen said.

‘Boy, would I jump on him.’ Hinges squeaked as Finley thrust open the door. She halted. ‘Maybe not,’ she muttered.

Except for faint gray light from the doorway, the room was totally dark.

‘Must not have any windows,’ Abilene said.

‘Anybody here?’ Finley called.

Abilene cringed. ‘Don’t do that.’

‘Let’s go,’ Cora said. ‘We can always come back when we’ve got flashlights with us.’

Finley shut the door, and they returned to the pool. They walked alongside it, heading for its south end. There, beyond a broad expanse of empty floor, a U-shaped bar extended out from the far wall. Behind the bar were rows of empty shelves for bottles. Around its front, a dozen swivel stools stood mounted to the floor. The clear space, Abilene thought, must’ve been for tables and chairs.

‘They had a cocktail lounge down here?’ she said.

‘Neat,’ Finley said.

‘We’ll have to bring our stuff down for Happy Hour,’ Cora suggested.

Abilene grabbed the wooden back of a stool. She pushed it sideways. It resisted at first, then turned slowly, groaning on its rusted swivel.

The worn, varnished seat looked clean.

She rubbed a hand across it. Her hand looked pink, unsoiled. With a sinky feeling, she boosted herself onto the stool. The wood was slick under her wet rump.

While others climbed onto stools and Cora went around one side, Abilene looked at the polished granite floor in front of her. No leaves, no debris of any kind, no dirt or moss or mold. The walkway beside the pool also looked spotless. She remembered that, striding along it, she’d felt no grit under her feet.

‘This place should not be so clean,’ she said.

‘It’s that maid service,’ Finley said.

‘I mean it. This is serious.’

‘The maid was here all right,’ Cora said. ‘And she left her mop and bucket.’

Abilene twisted her squawking stool around. Cora, behind the bar, raised a mop. Its thick, gray strands swayed from side to side.

Abilene leaned forward. One elbow on the bar top, she reached for the mophead. She fingered its strands. They were damp.

She met Cora’s eyes.

Cora looked worried. ‘The bucket’s empty,’ she said. ‘But it’s still wet inside.’

‘It’s humid in here,’ Finley pointed out. ‘Things probably never get dry.’

‘Christ,’ Vivian muttered.

‘Hey, come on, guys,’ Finley said. ‘Don’t get your balls in an uproar. We know somebody cleans the place. We’ll just have to remember to leave a tip before we leave.’

‘The upstairs wasn’t like this,’ Abilene told her. ‘It was clean, but this is spotless. Someone really…’

‘And there he is,’ Cora said. From the tone of her voice, the look on her face, she wasn’t joking.

Abilene swung her stool around in time to glimpse the head and bare shoulders of someone in the pool’s archway. Shaggy dark hair, wide eyes, a young and startled face. In the next instant, the stranger vanished, lunging for the outside pool.

‘Oh my God!’ Helen gasped.

‘Shit!’ Vivian blurted.

‘Let’s get him!’ Cora snapped, scrambling over the bar top.

‘Are you nuts? We’re nakedl ’

Abilene was already dashing for the pool, her feet smacking the granite floor.

‘Wait for me, Wild Bill!’

She dived. In midair, she heard Vivian yell, ‘Don’t go out there!’

She hit the hot water. It smacked the front of her body, stinging. Then it engulfed her. As she darted along beneath the surface, she wondered what the hell she was doing. Did she hope to catch the intruder? Not hardly.

She came up for air, heard others splashing behind her, saw the archway straight ahead. She swam through it and got to her feet. In spite of the porch’s shade, the brightness hurt her eyes. Squinting, she spotted the kid.

A lean, tanned teenager in cut-off jeans, shirtless and barefoot, dashing straight across the overgrown rear lawn.

Finley and Cora came up beside Abilene. They were panting for air.

‘I’m not going after him,’ Abilene said.

‘We’d never… catch him anyway.’

‘And what would we do with him if we did?’

‘I could think of something,’ Finley gasped.

‘I thought you’d sworn off guys.’

‘Is it a he?’ Cora asked.

‘I think so,’ Abilene said. ‘Not sure.’ As she spoke, she saw the stranger rush into the forest at the far end of the grounds and disappear.

‘What’d he wanta run away for?’ Finley said.

‘We probably scared the crap out of him.’

‘I wonder how long he was there.’

‘God only knows,’ Abilene muttered.

‘Long enough to enjoy the view,’ Cora said. ‘Vivian’s probably thrilled to death.’

‘She’ll want to leave,’ Abilene said.

‘We’d better get back inside.’ Cora turned around, slipped forward into the water, and swam through the archway. Abilene went next, followed by Finley.

Stroking her way across the inside pool, Abilene saw Vivian and Helen straight ahead. They had abandoned the bar area and returned to the place where they’d left their clothes. Vivian, already in her panties, shot her arms through the shoulder straps of her bra and pulled the flimsy red cups over her breasts and fastened the hooks. Helen was zipping the fly of her Bermuda shorts. ‘Did you see him?’ Vivian asked.

‘Yeah,’ Cora said, climbing out. ‘He took off into the woods.’

‘Was he alone?’

‘Yeah.’

‘With any luck,’ Finley said, ‘he’s running home to fetch his older brothers.’

‘God, this is awful! We’ve gotta get out of here.’

‘Relax,’ Cora said. ‘I told you, he’s gone. Besides, he’s just a kid. He couldn’t have been much older than sixteen, seventeen. What’s he gonna do? There’re five of us.’

‘He got a free show, that’s all,’ Finley said. ‘It’s no big deal.’

‘At least he didn’t videotape us,’ Abilene said.

She and Finley climbed from the pool.