The Beast House Read Online Free PDF

Wet Ones from the glove compartment. She crawled out. Plucking one of the moist towels from the pack, she scrubbed her face. The paper came away smeared brown-red. “Did I get it?”
    “Most of it.”
    “God.” She gave the pack to Nora.
    They went to the rear of the car. While she opened the hatchback and unfastened her suitcase, Nora cleaned herself. Her arms were dirty and grass-stained and scraped from her fall into the ditch. The knee she’d driven into the man’s face was smudged with his blood.
    Tyler waited for a car to pass, then took off her blouse. She stuffed it into a corner of the trunk. “Damn,” she muttered, seeing the blood spots on her white bra. Well, she couldn’t change into a clean one—not here by the road. Her skin, too, was stained as if sunburnt in splotches. Taking a towelette from Nora, she cleaned most of it off her shoulders and chest and belly. She turned to Nora. “Is that it?”
    “Under your chin.”
    “God.” She rubbed.
    “That’s got it. Shit, he bled like a stuck pig.”
    “Pig is right,” Tyler said. She made sure her hands were clean, then took a fresh yellow blouse from her suitcase and put it on.
    “How am I?” Nora asked, turning round.
    Tyler brushed some dirt and bits of weed from the back of Nora’s T-shirt. “Okay,” she said.
    She shut the suitcase and hatchback. They hurried to the front and climbed in. A van sped by. Then the lane was clear. She pulled out and glanced at the pickup as they passed it. The cab was low in the ditch, blocked from view by the tailgate. She was glad she couldn’t see the man inside.
    “Asshole’s gonna need a tow truck,” Nora said. “Not to mention a new set of nuts.” She waved at the Mustang as they drew alongside it.
    Abe nodded. He was at the wheel. He pulled out behind them.
    “Not bad, huh?” Nora asked. “An escort.”
    Tyler picked up speed. The blue Mustang kept pace, staying several car lengths back.
    Nora rubbed her shoulder.
    “Hurt?”
    “Not like the knee in the guts, the bastard.”
    “You got him pretty good.”
    “We both did. Scares me, though. If Jack and Abe hadn’t come along, he would’ve had our asses on a plate.”
    “Yeah, probably.”
    “That Jack’s a hunk, isn’t he?”
    “He must lift weights,” Tyler said.
    “You suppose they’re gay?”
    “They’re nice guys, regardless.”
    “Yeah. Well, there’s nice and there’s nice.”
    “I don’t think they’re gay. I mean, I sort of wondered at first…”
    “Yeah. But that Abe sure looked you over.”
    Tyler felt heat rise to her skin.
    “Still, two guys travelling together.”
    “We’re traveling together.”
    “Right!” She snorted. “They’re probably wondering right now if we’re a pair of dykes. Ha ha.” She rubbed her belly. “How about that Abe? I wouldn’t kick him out of bed, either. Did you hear how he talked to that bastard? ‘Now here’s the plan. First you apologize…’ Sounded like Dirty Harry, didn’t he? More to that guy than meets the eye, I tell you that much right now.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “He’s a way you don’t get in ballet school. Hard eyes. They both had hard eyes, did you notice that? Except when old Abe was checking you out. Then they got very soft.” She chuckled. “And maybe someplace else got unsoft, if you know what I mean.”
    “Nora.”
    “You’re right. I don’t think they’re fags. God, I hope not.”
    “I don’t see what difference it makes,” Tyler said. “It’s not like we’ll be dating the guys. We’re just gonna buy them drinks, right? We’ll probably never see them again.”
    “You never know, hon. You just never know.”

CHAPTER FOUR
    “Wonderful! Fabulous! Swing over, Brian, get some shots. Too good to be true, wouldn’t you say? Beast House. What do you think?”
    “Nice,” Brian said.
    “Nice? It looks positively dripping with evil.”
    The Mercedes moved slowly past the small, roadside shack that appeared to be a ticket booth. On