The Babysitter Murders - By Janet Ruth Young Page 0,53
his feet.
“You’re going back to your car, aren’t you?” Dani says. A spi-der walks across her thigh, but she doesn’t care. “Now that you know.”
“Actually, no,” Gordy says, grabbing the small pack he brought with him. “Remember when I said that I don’t care if I end up getting hurt? When I say something like that, I generally mean it. I’m going to patrol the perimeter and make sure you’re still safe.”
Dani lies back and closes her eyes. In a few minutes Gordy returns. He stands over her, drinking from a Boy Scout canteen.
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“Dani,” he says, more emphatically this time. “Do you know what I used to say to myself when I saw you on the tennis court?”
“What?”
“Man, that girl isn’t afraid of anything.”
“Nice pep talk,” Dani says. The answer seems obvious. She can’t get away from what she’s afraid of, because she’s afraid of herself.
“Look, I’ve discussed it with my dad. You can stay at our house if you want. He’ll get you a bodyguard, or a doctor or a lawyer or anything else you need. We have a place in Maine, too. You can stay there if you want to get away.”
Gordy is lingering too long. Dani doesn’t care if the camouflage people find her, but she doesn’t want them to find Gordy.
“You should get out now,” she tells him. “You’re too nice a guy to get messed up in this.”
Gordy doesn’t appear to listen. He sits on a nearby granite ledge for a long, quiet moment. He studies the stars, the way Nathan did. Dani is already sick of the stars.
“Did you know your mother was on TV?” Gordy says finally, without looking at her.
“She was?” Mom on TV. How truly strange life was becoming.
“She was begging you to come home.”
“I didn’t know that,” Dani says.
“She looked like the living dead. There’s more than one way to hurt someone, you know.”
Dani gets up. She squeezes her hands together, thinking about her mother’s distress. She shakes the blanket and starts stuffing it into one of the grocery bags.
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“You’ll come with me, then?” Gordy asks.
“Yes.”
“You should leave all this,” he suggests.
“Why?”
“To throw them off track. Let’s make it look like you plan to say another night. Keep them busy while we get you out of here.”
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National Envestigator News Online
SICKO SITTER SMILED WHEN FESSING KILL
THOUGHTS
“Made My Skin Crawl,” Declares Tot’s Mom 94
“Put me in, Coach,” Dani says to Gordy as they arrive at her house before sunrise. She hid on the floor of the Lexus while Gordy drove back to town.
“I feel really rude not coming in to meet your mom,” Gordy says. “Is that stupid?”
“She’d love to meet you. But this isn’t the time.”
“Good luck,” Gordy says, watching the rearview mirror in case the camouflage people have seen them. Dani climbs over the pool fence. She crosses the patio. On the back door is a sign: no press
no gawking
no kidding
trespassers will be prosecuted
A new, heavier door covers their old screen door. Dani bangs.
Sean opens the door.
“Beth,” he says, staring at Dani with a stony face. “Your daughter is home.”
“Dani!” Beth screams, coming up behind him. “You made it home!” In the kitchen, Beth presses into Dani so forcefully, Dani feels like she might become part of her. She cries so hard that it’s T H E B A B Y S I T T E R M U R D E R S
a minute before she can talk. “I thought I might never see you again. My God, you look so filthy! Your friend from the music group told me you were all right.”
“Nathan,” Dani says. “I hid in the woods. He helped me.”
“I went into the woods myself to look for you. Did anyone touch you, Dani? Did anyone hurt you? I can take you to the hospital. You might be dehydrated.”
“No one hurt me. I got out in time. I need food and a bath and a bed, but I don’t think I should stay.”
“We’ll take care of you, Dani. Sean and I will. But you’re right.
You’re not staying.”
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The Dogg House
Sniffing Out That Babysitter
She’s Ba-a-ack!
Your host: Sheepdoggy
There’s no place like home for Miss Mayhem the Blade Babe.
Increased activity around the heavily vandalized home suggests that this predator has returned to the nest. BetSo made a rare trip to the town shopping center for provisions, and a delivery was made from DD’s favorite Thai restaurant. Who will