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Beth strained her ears for sounds of movement in and around the lodge over the rapid breathing in the room. She was still crouching with Mrs O’Doole at the base of the chest against the door, both of them on their knees. Directly after the potshots at the window, Tyler and Kevin had come over to their side of the bed and were lying on their stomachs next to each other. Three rods of daylight penetrated the wooden blinds and distressed glass, and Beth watched motes of dust rapidly moving through them.
Mrs O’Doole swallowed loudly and whispered. “I haven’t heard him come back up the stairs.”
“We didn’t hear him go down them, either. I don’t think we should move until we know where he is.” Her throat felt bruised when she spoke, and the tenderiser wound Mrs O’Doole had inflicted still pumped under the flow of adrenaline.
“Who the hell is he?” She looked squarely at Beth as if she were responsible for his presence. “I heard what he said to you in the cellar. I came down because Kevin said he was sure he was the man we saw collapsed in the park and I’d called an ambulance for the morning we left.”
“He’s been murdering every person who used their phones to record the crash site.” It felt like the first time she’d made eye contact with Tyler. He looked down at the carpet. “I came here to warn you.”
“Why is he killing them?”
“I wish I knew. But you’re the last people left.”
Mrs O’Doole closed her eyes briefly, as if silently remonstrating with herself.
“Maybe he’s gone.” Kevin hissed hopefully. The imprint from the gunman’s barrel was still in his cheek.
“Don’t be a cock. He’s not going to let us leave.” Tyler growled
“Tyler.” Mrs O’Doole shot him a barbed look.
Tyler realised his big-brother default setting wasn’t helping matters. “Maybe if he thinks he can’t get to us, he will, though,” he added lamely.
But it was too late. Kevin looked petrified.
“If he can’t get through the door then the window’s his only other way in.” Beth nodded towards it.
Tyler and Kevin started to raise their heads above the mattress to take a look.
“Keep down,” Mrs O’Doole snarled through her teeth.
“The shutters are sealed.” Beth could still see the hooks in place.
“Until he shoots off the locks.”
“He’ll need a ladder to get in. Is there one around?”
Mrs O’Doole rolled her eyes up briefly. “The cellar.”
“If he tries that, we’ll at least have warning and can pull these drawers away and escape down the stairs.”
“And go where?” Mrs O’Doole raised her eyebrows. “He’ll meet us coming up the side of the lodge or use us for target practice if we try to swim for it.”
“We could split up,’ Beth said. “Some of us could try getting back onto the track while the others jump in the water. He can’t chase us all at once. It might be the only chance we have.”
Mrs O’Doole lowered her voice. “I’m not letting the boys out of my sight. Besides, he could chase anybody to the track and still have time to return to the jetty before we’d gotten to the other side.”
Beth looked up at the ceiling. Over the bed, next to a smoke detector, was an attic door. “Can we get out through there?”
Mrs O’Doole followed her gaze. “There’s no window in the roof. It’s just for storage.”
“Is that the only door to it?”
“No. The second one is over the landing.”
“And that’s the only other one?”
Mrs O’Doole nodded.
“What about Dad’s hunting rifle?” Tyler interjected.
Beth turned to him and then looked back at his mother.
Mrs O’Doole didn’t reflect the hope in the three sets of eyes suddenly on her. “It hasn’t been fired for a long time. And we don’t have any ammo for it.”
“Um. We do,” Tyler said, semi-contrite.
Mrs O’Doole narrowed her eyes at her older son. “I threw the ammo away.”
“We found some of Dad’s old stash at home and brought a box the last time we were here.”
“You’ve been firing that thing unsupervised?” Her whisper could barely contain her mortification.
“You didn’t really think we were fishing, did you, Mom?”
Mrs O’Doole’s gaze panned to Kevin, and he looked shamefully down at the carpet.
“I don’t believe this. What did I tell you, Tyler?”
Beth held up her hand. “Forget the discipline. Where is it?”
“Locked up in the gun cupboard in the back den.” He avoided his mother’s glare.
“You’re sure?”
Tyler nodded. “It’s the only one in the rack.”
“At least we could use that to defend ourselves with. Who’s got the key?”
Mrs O’Doole fumbled in her jeans pocket and extracted a bunch. She started looking through them. “It’s missing.”
Tyler produced his own set and held up the key for Beth.
“Tyler. I should...”
“Kill me?”
