Gatekeepers by Robert Liparulo Read Free Book Online Page A

fire. He said, “Probably. But what are they doing?”
    â€œMaybe they spotted something,” David said, thinking of the creaking floorboards.
    They stopped at the top of the stairs. The light was coming through the windows by the doors. Something moved in front of the beams, causing a bobbing shadow. It grew larger and darker. The porch stairs creaked.
    â€œXander?” David said.
    Xander sidestepped behind the wall. They both crouched low. Xander craned his head around the corner; David bent around Xander to see. The shadow took the form of a per-son: head, shoulders, arms. Footsteps clumped on the porch. The door handle rattled. The person moved to the side window and peered in. He was silhouetted with light radiating from behind.
    Xander pulled back behind the wall. He nudged David. “Get Toria,” he whispered. “We have to be ready to get out of here.”
    David looked down the hallway to the chair that they had replaced under the linen closet handle. “The closet?” he said.
    â€œThat’s the plan,” Xander said. “Now, go.”

CHAPTER
    thirteen
    W EDNESDAY,12.52 A.M.
    At the window, Sam cupped his hands against the sides of his face. The upstairs lights were on, but he didn’t see any-one. The rest of the house was dark. The door was still locked. Probably one of the kids had gone to the bathroom. He turned away from the window.
    The cruiser’s lights glowed at the end of the road like a four-eyed spider waiting to pounce. Mist snaked slowly from the side of the house, swirling around trees and billowing up against the bushes.
    He looked at the big clump of bushes Lance’s spot was on. From his perspective it was mostly a shaggy black mass. He went down the steps, treading softly. As he approached the bush, it shook.
    He stopped. “Who’s there?” He unsnapped his holster and moved closer. “Trinity County Deputy,” he announced. “Come out with your hands up.”
    The bush rattled. Something growled, low and guttural.
    Sam stepped back.
    A twig cracked, closer to the cruiser—no, no, not a twig. It sounded like something had smacked against glass. He squinted at the car. Had Lance got out? The thing in the bushes growled again.
    A loud crack! came from the cruiser, and Lance’s spotlight blinked out.
    What in tarnation?
    â€œLance?” he called.
    A screech made his blood run cold. He swung his head around. That blasted weather vane!
    The headlights and his own spot were pointed not at the bush, but at the house. The bush was now illuminated only by the backsplash of light bouncing off the ground and trees. Somehow that made it appear even darker, bigger, and a whole lot scarier than it had looked in only the moonlight.
    The leaves rustled. That deep-throated growl reached his ears, getting louder.
    He pulled his pistol. “I got a gun,” he said. “You hear me?”
    Movement drew his eyes to the side of the house. The mist drifted among the trees. Sam’s breath froze in his lungs. The clear shape of a man stood rock-solid near the rear of the house.
    â€œWho’s that?” Sam said. “Come here . . . slowly.”
    The figure didn’t move.
    Sam swung his gun toward it. “I’m not kidding, buddy!”
    The bushes shook. The growling continued.
    Sam held the gun on the unmoving figure and raised his free hand to shield himself from whatever might rush out of the bushes. He didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t going to shoot at the figure: Not when the guy wasn’t even moving. Not when there were kids around, and he couldn’t be absolutely sure the figure wasn’t one of them—though the man in the mist seemed a lot bigger, more solid than any kid he’d ever seen.
    Still . . . should he approach the creepy dude? That would put his back to the bushes—and whatever was in them.
    Behind him, he heard the car door open.
    â€œSam!” Lance said.