Double Jeopardy (Stone Barrington #57)(63)

Ed was momentarily transfixed by the sight of the two women on the upper porch, stark naked and, apparently, doing stretching exercises.

Ed took a long strap from a pocket, handed it around the tree, fastened it to his belt, and started climbing the tree, using his gloved hands and the barbs strapped to his ankles.



* * *



—

Stone trudged on up the road toward Rawls’s house. Then he came around a corner and caught a glimpse of what appeared to be naked flesh on the upstairs porch of the Jackson house. He wasn’t sure what he was seeing, so he ran across the road and continued slowly toward the house. A little winded from his exertions, Stone leaned against a tree and mopped his brow with his handkerchief. Then he heard a voice.

“Stone, don’t move. Freeze right there!” said the voice in a loud whisper.

It took Stone a moment to realize that the voice was Rawls’s. “Ed?” he whispered back.

“Shut up, and stay on the side of the tree away from the twins’ house.”

Stone froze for a moment. “Where are you?” he whispered.

“In a deer blind,” Rawls whispered back. “In the tree above your head.”

Stone looked up. “What are the girls doing on that porch?” Stone asked.

“Sun bathing,” Rawls said. “Now shut up, or they’ll hear you and ruin everything.”





56

Eben Stone stood on a ladder in the master bedroom of their house, securing the mount for a ceiling light fixture, while Enos held the ladder for him.

“Holy shit!” Enos said. “Do you see what I see?”

“Where?” Eben asked.

“Across the road.”

Eben drove the screw home and attached the chain from the fixture to the beam, then he turned and looked across the road. “Holy shit!” he said.

The two of them watched, transfixed, while the women did slow-motion stretching exercises.

“They’re just asking for it,” Enos said.

“I believe you’re right,” Eben replied, sliding down the ladder to the floor. “Can they see us?”

“I think we’re in shadow,” Enos replied.

Eben walked quickly to the window, staying out of the women’s sight line, and looked up and down the road. “One car there, Barrington’s MG, but no sign of him or anybody else.”

“I think we should visit them,” Enos said.

“Maybe that’s what they’re hoping we’ll do.”

“Where are those plastic ties?”

“In a bag, just outside the door, in the hall,” Eben said. “While you’re at it, bring that tube of petroleum jelly from the bathroom.”

Enos retrieved those items and put them into a tote bag.

“We’d better pack weapons, as well,” Eben said, “in case they’re reluctant.”

“They don’t look reluctant to me,” Enos replied. “In fact, they look very welcoming.”

“Let’s see if we can get across the road without being seen,” Eben said, “then we can come in the back way and give them a nice surprise.”

“Good idea.” Enos peeked up and down the road. “It’s clear. If we leave through the back door, we can walk uphill about forty feet, then cross without their seeing us.”

The two strapped on handguns, one grabbed the tote bag, and they went downstairs and out the rear door of the house.



* * *



—

Ed Rawls caught a glimpse of them as they crossed the road from his perch in the deer blind. “Heads up!” he whispered to Stone. “The boys are on the move.” He sighted through the scope to be sure he had coverage of the whole porch. This was going to be a delicate shot, if he could pull it off, and if he couldn’t, he was going to have to get a second shot off quickly.

“I want to come up there,” Stone said.

“No, it won’t support the weight of both of us. And anyway, one of us should cover the porch from the ground.”

“Oh, all right,” Stone said, “but I can’t see anything from here.”

“You’re missing quite a show,” Ed said. Then he heard a cracking noise—and what was more, felt it. “Oh, shit!” he muttered.

“What?” Stone quietly called back.



* * *



—

The twins crept up the back stairs of their old home, then stopped and listened for movement in the house. They both heard a faint cracking noise. They looked at each other and shrugged, then, on Eben’s signal, they began making their way through the house to the front.



* * *



—

The women finished their exercises, then stretched out on a double-width folding cot.

“This clearly isn’t working,” Primmy said. “Is it time for phase two?”

“If that doesn’t do it, then they’re just not receptive,” Carly replied. “I’m game for phase two, if you are.”



* * *



—

The twins reached the master suite and tiptoed across the carpeted floor toward the windows. Eben held up a hand, then started to strip off his clothes and his weapon. Enos followed suit, then reached for the bag with the ties and the lubricant.