Chapter 14
Welcome to the party," he said with a twisted smile. "I'm sorry you missed our little gathering in San Miguel. But of course you weren't invited."
"Where's Brenda?" Elaine said hoarsely.
"Your sister Brenda is in good hands, my dear," Warren Lasswell said.
He blinked his dark eyes, which more than ever reminded her of the eyes of a snake. And then he parted his lips and gave a cynical laugh.
Elaine looked beyond Warren's head into the room, but she couldn't see any sign of Brenda. There was a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.
What if they were too late?
"Brenda!" she called.
For a moment there was no sound in the room, and then footsteps shuffled slowly across the floor. Elaine waited for Brenda to appear in the door, but the sound of movement stopped.
The room remained empty behind Warren Lasswell.
"Are you all right, Brenda?" Elaine called, her heart pounding furiously within her chest.
"Go away-"
Brenda's voice came from somewhere in the room. There was a lifeless quality in it, a sound of utter dejection. Like a voice from the tomb.
Elaine knotted her hands in panic. Her mind was suddenly blank. She had to do something to save Brenda, but nothing came to her.
The gun in Warren Lasswell's hand looked deadly and menacing. He held it nervously, though his eyes were steady, glancing from her to Kenny. The barrel of the gun was pointed directly at Kenny's chest.
Elaine wanted to rush Warren Lasswell, but she didn't dare for fear Kenny would be killed.
"Do you really think you could use that thing on a man?" Kenny spoke up at last.
"I'd feel no regret whatsoever," Warren Lasswell replied coolly.
"I think you're bluffing," Kenny said, taking a step forward through the open door.
Warren Lasswell moved back, still holding the gun aimed at Kenny. His eyes glinted fiercely for an instant, and then he spread a bland smile on his lips.
"I hope you don't try me, young man. You're standing on a very valuable Persian rug, and I'd hate to discolor it with your blood."
For a moment they stood silently facing each other, Warren Lasswell and Kenny. Elaine move slowly up to Kenny and clutched his arm for fear he might foolishly try to jump Warren Laswell. Elaine knew him better than Kenny did, and she had no doubt that he would shoot at the slightest threatening movement Kenny might make.
"He's dangerous," Elaine murmured, clinging desperately to Kenny's arm.
Kenny stood motionless for a moment, the muscles in his body twitching with anger.
Warren Lasswell wove a little circle with the point of the gun, which was aimed at a spot near Kenny's heart. His other hand slithered with a serpentine movement into the loose sleeve of his Chinese robe.
Kenny edged a few inches closer.
Warren Lasswell stiffened and his hypnotic eyes followed the movement.
"Do you want to become a dead hero?"
"Let the girl go," Kenny muttered. "Haven't you done her enough harm already?"
"Brenda goes with me," Warren Lasswell said with a weary sigh. "Wherever I go, she will accompany me-in life or in death."
"You're a madman," Kenny gasped.
Warren Lasswell gave him a superior smile.
"On the contrary, I'm the sanest one among us. Only fools would struggle against death. Such a beautiful thing-a dream within a sleep. The closest thing to it on this earth is an injection in the veins...."
"Mainline," Kenny muttered. "To use a crude expression of the streets...."
"You're sick in the head," Kenny said contemptuously. "A two-bit junkie with delusions of grandeur."
A world-weary sigh came from Warren Lasswell's lips. As he eyed Kenny, he ran his hand delicately across the round black topknot of hair that rested in the center of his skull, giving him a strangely oriental appearance.
"Young man, I don't know you at all, except that you happen to be with Brenda's sister. But I want to warn you, I dislike insults of the type you have been making. And I just might decide to shoot you whether you make another move toward me or not."
Kenny knotted his fists at his sides in nervous frustration. Elaine clung to him, sorry now that she had brought him here. Brenda was almost beyond hope now. She didn't want Kenny to get hurt trying to help her.
"You let that girl go," Kenny muttered threateningly. "Or I'll bring the law on you...."
"Really?" Warren Lasswell replied, blinking his black, deepset eyes. "I'm sure the law will be here soon enough without your help. But on another matter entirely. You see, I killed a woman last night. Not intentionally, of course. The fool crossed in front of me, even after I blew my horn. It was very messy, and I dislike that sort of thing. She put an unsightly dent in my automobile..
"And it doesn't bother you that she's lying on a slab in the morgue?" Kenny said with amazement.
Warren Lasswell shrugged wearily and pulled with his pale white fingers at the knot tied in the black sash of his Chinese robe.
"Why should it?"
"You sick beast," Elaine said huskily, choking back tears of rage.
Warren Lasswell fixed her with his dark eyes like a snake hypnotizing a bird.
"Think what you like, my dear, with your stunted peasant's mind. I'm sorry for you. You had talent, and I could have done so much to help you realize something from it."
"The way you helped Brenda?" she screamed hysterically.
Something writhed within her stomach until she thought she was going to be sick with anger and disgust. She jerked her hands up, the fingers clawed, ready to spring on Warren Lasswell and tear out his maddening eyes. But Kenny caught her by the wrist and held her back.
"Easy, Elaine," he whispered.
"Let me go-" she cried, struggling to free herself. "The slimy beast. Can't you see what he's done to my sister?"
"We'll think of something," Kenny said soothingly. "But he'll only shoot you if you try to jump him...."
"Very wise counsel," Warren Lasswell said blandly. "I hope you can keep her under control. If there's one thing I abhor, it's a hysterical woman."
"You pig-you swine," Elaine screamed at him. "If you touch my sister once more, I'll kill you...."
Her heart was pounding inside her like a triphammer, driving a wild pulse into her brain. She gasped for breath and clenched her fingers convulsively.
"What are you going to do to her sister?" Kenny asked grimly.
Warren Lasswell gave him a bland smile with his small puckered mouth and took two quick steps backward into the room. Still holding the barrel of the gun pointed at Kenny's chest, he gave a low courtious bow.
"If you'll be so kind as to step inside, I'll permit you to watch...."
Elaine shot a quick, questioning glance at Kenny. He gave her a smile of reassurance and, taking her by the elbow, led her into the room.
She glanced around quickly and saw that the apartment was furnished much like the house in Sausalito, with oriental furnishings and prints on the wall, along with a few garish paintings in red and yellow that were the kind of nightmare things Warren Lasswell did.
Then she saw Brenda.
She was completely nude, sitting on the floor by a low black lacquered oriental table, her knees drawn up under her chin.
"Brenda-" Elaine gasped fearfully. "What has he done to you? Are you all right?"
Brenda stared at her for a moment without recognition, and then glanced coolly away. There was still a trace of her youthful beauty, her round lovely face beneath the golden blonde hair. And yet there was a haggard look about her eyes. They seemed like the eyes of someone much older, a dissolute woman twice her age.
The full impact of what Warren Lasswell had done to her sister hit Elaine suddenly like the blow of a fist in her middle. She caught her breath, and then she sobbed loudly, a deep coughing sob that shook her entire frame.
She was hardly aware of Kenny's arm as it slipped around her shoulder, comforting her.
Brenda sat alone, hugging her knees, looking blandly about the room as if she were in a dream. For a moment her eyes rested again on Elaine's face, and then they darted away nervously.
As Elaine stared more intently at Brenda, she saw a constant twitch that seemed to ripple over all her body. Brenda sniffed now and then at her runny nose. She clamped her arms tighter around her knees as a violent, convulsive pain seemed to stab at her insides.
"Brenda-" Elaine murmured hoarsely.
Brenda ignored her, showing no indication at all that she had heard her.
Elaine caught her breath, trying to hold back the sobs that were building up inside her, threatening to burst out and overwhelm her with uncontrollable grief.
"Brenda," she said again. "Don't you know what he's doing to you?"
"She knows, the dear child," Warren Lasswell said calmly, standing beside Brenda and facing them with the gun still level in his hand. "She's priceless. I've never had a better subject than your sweet sister."
Elaine moved forward across the room, struggling to free herself from Kenny's restraining hands. She twisted her shoulders, but he held her tighter.
"He's going to kill you, Brenda," Elaine sobbed frantically. "Just like he killed that man in Mexico."
Brenda turned her drooping eyes once more on Elaine, and a violent shudder ran through her body.
"Go away."
"I won't-" Elaine cried hysterically. "Can't you understand what I'm saying?"
"I don't care...."
"You've got to care. Don't you want to live? He's going to kill you with an overdose...."
Brenda's eyes flickered and began to water. She had seemed calm as she sat upon the floor, but now, without warning, she let out a wild, frenzied scream.
"I've got to have it now," she cried. "You've got to give me a fix! Now, damn you! Now! Can't you see I'm coming apart? I can't stand it...."
Brenda was on the floor, crawling on her hands and knees. Reaching up, she caught hold of Warren Lasswell's long robe and clung to it desperately as though it were a raft supporting her in a barren sea.
Elaine sobbed, clutched her hands to her mouth at the sight of what had happened to Brenda.
She sensed a movement beside her and glanced up at Kenny, who was breathing fiercely. His eyes were on Warren Lasswell, blazing with unconcealed anger and hatred.
Elaine sensed what he was going to do, but she was too late to stop him. She grabbed for his arm to hold him back, just as he leaped.
Warren Lasswell's arm straightened like a striking snake and the gun went off. Kenny stopped just a step from him, grabbed for his hip and fell as his legs went rubbery and refused to support him.
He dropped to his knees and continued to move toward the man who had shot him, his arms reaching out to encircle his legs.
Warren Lasswell raised the butt of the gun and brought it down in a wide arc. There was a sound of cracking bone. Elaine screamed. Kenny toppled over in a lifeless heap upon the floor.
Warren Lasswell stood above him with a smirking grin on his cold lips. With the point of his toe he gouged Kenny in the ribs. There was no response.
"I think that will hold him for a while. A rash young man. I expected him to try something sooner or later."
Brenda was still clutching at the robe, making hoarse sounds in her throat. A dribble of mucous ran out of her lips and across her chin.
"Please, Warren, please," she begged. "Give me a jolt now. I've got to have it. I'll do anything you say. Can't you see I'm dying?"
Elaine dropped to her knees and rolled Kenny over onto his back. A cold anguish tore at her insides. She leaned close to his face and detected a faint sound of breathing. His eyes fluttered weakly.
"Kenny-" she sobbed.
She felt his pulse. It was beating lightly. She looked down at his leg, where a large circle of blood was spreading, oozing through his pantsleg just below his hip.
She held his head in her lap and stared coldly at Brenda, who was groveling at Warren LasswelTs feet, kissing his shoes and clinging to his robe.
"Please ... please ... please...." Brenda cried desperately. "I can't stand it...."
Her voice was shrill and frantic. She tossed her head from side to side, flinging her tangled hair Her face was wan and distorted.
"Patience, my dear," Warren Lasswell said softly. "It's time now. You've waited long enough."
Slowly he walked across the room, deliberately turning his back on Elaine, though he still held the gun in his hand. He stopped at the still revolving phonograph and switched it off. Then he leaned over to remove the two decks of heroin from the round table.
"Hurry-hurry," Brenda pleaded, stretching her hand out to him like a beggar asking for alms.
"Patience, my dear," Warren cooed to her. "Can't you see how well I'm fighting it? And I haven't had a fix since the last shot we had together...."
Brenda crawled across the floor toward him, whimpering and clawing at the rug.
"Hurry ... before I go crazy."
"It won't be long now, my dear."
Brenda stood up weakly, clinging to his arm.
"Let me help-"
"You'll only get in the way, dear. Best to sit down and wait patiently while I prepare the hypos."
"Give me mine first," she cried desperately. "No, my dear. That's part of the game." He held
W the two small plastic bags in his hand. "They're so completely mixed up nobody could possibly know which one is the key to everlasting sleep."
There was a sinister hush in his voice as he peered down at the heroin. For the first time Elaine realized how really mad he was. A maniac who had taken advantage of Brenda's innocence and led her to this.
Warren Lasswell glanced down at Elaine on the floor and flourished the gun threateningly at her. Then he went across to the couch and sat down. He opened a lacquer box that stood on the low table in front of the couch and took out a candle in a brass holder.
Brenda hurried over and leaned close, her heavy breathing clearly audible throughout the room.
"Stand back, my dear," Warren Lasswell said. "I want to have a clear view of your sister, in case she gets ideas about trying to stop us."
Brenda moved around the table quickly and sat down on the couch beside him. Her eyes were fixed hungrily on his hands, watching every movement he made.
The gun was on the table now, close to his right hand. Too close for Elaine to consider making a dash for it.
As Elaine watched, numb with helpless dread, Warren Lasswell struck a match with deliberate calm and held it to the candle until it flickered with a steady yellow flame.
"Hurry," Brenda whined, wrapping her arms around her breast, clutching herself tightly.
"It won't be long now, my dear."
Warren Lasswell reached into the lacquer box and took out two hypos. He fitted them together and held the needles in the flames for a moment.
Then he took out two bent spoons and, moving with slow deliberation, emptied a packet into each of them. After that he held them one at a time over the flame until the white powder melted, dissolving with the water.
He filled one hypo from each spoon, adjusted the plungers until a dny bead appeared at the end of the needle. Then with a triumphant glance at Elaine, he held one of the hypos in each hand and turned to Brenda.
She had already taken a small rubber hose from the lacquer box and tied it around her arm above the elbow. She balled her fist, working it until the vein stood up hard and blue in the bend of her elbow.
"Hurry," she begged. "Hurry-"
Warren Lasswell presented Brenda with both hypos, holding them before her.
"Which do you prefer, my dear?"
"Either one-" she fairly screamed at him. "I don't care. Just give me a jolt...."
"I insist that you chose one, dear girl. WTe must play the game properly."
Quickly Brenda nodded her head to the hypo that Warren Lasswell held in his right hand. He laid the other one down on the table. Then, taking the hypo Brenda had chosen, he pushed the tip of the needle against the vein in her arm, calmly and expertly.
Elaine gasped. She felt utterly lost and defeated, sitting on the floor with Kenny's head in her lap. She couldn't have moved an inch at that moment. She was frozen with dread.
Brenda watched Warren Lasswell's hands as he shoved the plunger slowly and emptied the tube. She sighed as he removed the needle from her vein.
"Now, my dear," Warren Lasswell said with a twisted grin. "Pleasant dreams."
Brenda's eyes rolled up, then down again. There was a faraway look in them as her face suddenly took on a new color, an appearance of peaceful calm. She turned to Warren with her mouth slack.
"Thanks, darling," she whispered. "I needed that. Now I feel better...."
"Lie back, my dear," he said softly, taking the rubber hose from around her arm.
Expertly, using only one hand, he tied the hose around his own arm as though he had been doing it for years. He knotted his fist as Brenda had done, pumping up the vein until it was bulging enough to receive the needle.
Then, with a quick jab, he punctured the vein and emptied the hypo. Removing the needle and setting the tube carefully down on the table, he leaned his head upon the back of the couch with a deep sigh of relief.
Brenda's head was back too, and she rocked slowly from side to side, lazily, as though she were in a deep trance. Then her head fell back limply.
Elaine screamed.
Warren stirred drowsily and looked over at Brenda with fluttering eyelids. He smiled a vicious, animal smile and leaned back his head.
They both seemed to be sleeping. Elaine felt her whole body growing cold as she tried to remove Kenny's head from her lap and stand up.
Kenny's eyes came open as his head touched the hard floor. Elaine leaned over him.
"Kenny," she whispered. "Are you all right?"
He tried to sit up, rubbing the back of his head. She pushed him back to the floor.
"Lie still."
"I'm all right," he mumbled dizzily.
But when he tried to sit up he found that he was weaker than he had thought. Elaine grabbed a pillow from a chair and put it under his head.
Then she went over to the couch and looked down at Brenda. She seemed to be in a trance. There was no trace of breathing, no movement anywhere in her body.
Warren Lasswell's eyes fluttered open and then closed. All at once a serene, almost childish smile spread upon his lips, and he pitched forward, sliding across the table, banging heavily upon the floor.
Elaine caught her breath. She went quickly to Brenda and, grabbing her by the hair, began slapping her face.
Brenda's eyes came half open like the eyes of a doll.
"Leave me alone," she muttered thickly. "Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?"
A wild sob caught in Elaine's throat as she sank weakly to the couch beside Brenda.
"Thank God," she cried. "Oh, thank God-"
She had her little sister back; everything would have to be alright now that the monster was dead. She would take care of Brenda, she would bring her back to life, to health.
But what about Kenny?