Free The Dark: A Collection (Point Horror) by Linda Cargill Page B

grabbed the
phone from her and shouted, "What business is it of yours when I
get Bianca home?"
    Doc replied so loudly
that Bianca could hear him, though she wasn't holding the phone.
"I'm deeply concerned about Bianca's welfare, which seems to be
more than I can say for you. You're keeping her out late after
she's experienced severe trauma at the theater. I've talked with
her senior doctors at the hospital, gotten them all out of bed. They
want to see her first thing in the morning. They're as concerned as
I am."
    "Why are you fancy
doctors filling Bianca's head with crap? You make her think she
can't pee without your permission," Harry snapped.
    "What do you know
about it, Fellini?" Doc remarked coldly. "You and your brother
weren't brought up by a mother who cares about you the way Bianca's
parents care about her. Your mother let you both run wild. You were
allowed to commit murder, mayhem and—"
    "So I'm a bad
influence, huh?" Harry drove with one hand on the wheel.
    "The worst possible
influence!"
    "Suppose we let
Bianca decide that for herself!" Harry fumed.
    "In her condition
she is not fit to decide much of anything, and—"
    "Look, I don't
know who hired you to butt into Bianca's business. She's got me
to look after her now. You're fired! Get it, buddy? Fired! You're
the bad influence — not me. In fact, you sound like poison."
    "Oh no, Harry, no!"
Bianca reached for the phone. She couldn't let him talk like that
to Doc.
    Harry pressed the end
button and tossed the cell phone at Bianca.
    "But — but that was
Doc!" she protested. "Doc Ernie McCollough. He's so educated.
His father's a history professor. His mother's an Aubrey, one of
those blue bloods whose family goes back generations. They live
across the street from us, next to the Shipleys."
    "I don't care if
he's rich. I don't like him putting you down." He chucked her
chin.
    "I don't know
what I would have done without Doc for the past two years. At first I
was in complete denial about the murder. He helped me live with my
memory loss. I consult him all the time, and—"
    "You don't need a
crutch like Doc. He seems more like a pain in the ass." Harry said
with a wave of dismissal.
    "But—"
    "You're strong,
not some ten-pound weakling." He pulled her against him until her
head was resting against his shoulder. He rubbed the top of her head
with his cheek.
    Bianca felt an
invigorating sense of power flowing from his hand and cheek into her.
She'd never imagined that she could survive for the rest of her
life without Doc's help since she'd been psychologically crippled
by the horrific experience. At least Doc had always said she'd been
crippled. Harry gave her a new self-image. For a magical moment, with
Harry's arms around her, she imagined that anything was possible.
    Her eyes started to
close. She might have drifted off for a second. The next thing she
knew Harry had stopped the car. She felt for him, and he was gone.
Now very much awake, she peered into the darkness behind her. There
stood Harry, next to the bumper, staring down the road the way they'd
come. He seemed alert, listening for the smallest sounds.
    Finally he climbed
back into the car.
    "Harry, is somebody
following us?" she asked straight out.
    He started the car
up. "Those owls must be going crazy tonight making that racket. A
few alligators are swimming around in the swamp near the edge of the
road. This time of year they sleep during the day and come out at
night."
    Bianca felt uneasy.
She wondered if Harry was trying to conceal something from her.
    Br-r-r-r-ring!
    "Don't answer!"
Harry warned. "It's that Doc pest again. I can smell him the way
I can smell a skunk."
    She didn't want to
displease Harry. But the shrill ringing sound was getting to her. She
fiddled nervously with Doc's turquoise earrings.
    "Maybe it's my
parents. I'm out late, you know." Bianca couldn't keep herself
from answering. "Hello?"
    "Ditch Fellini as
quickly as possible," Doc hissed very low. "I've just heard the
most