Family Murders: A Thriller by Henry Carver

You have to stop, because we didn't do anything to you. My husband didn't do anything to you."
    She summoned the courage and took a step closer to him.
    "Come with me. We can go somewhere and get you some help."
    "Where does he go on all those trips?" Eric asked.
    "Those are for work."
    "Then why can't you contact him?"
    Angela wasn't sure how he knew about that. She had to stop herself from asking, prevent herself from playing into whatever fantasy he had constructed.
    "That doesn't matter. He's home now, so don't try anything."
    "Look at you, still protecting his every little move."
    "He's my husband."
    "That's the worst part. That's what makes me more sick than anything. You and the girl, you're a part of it. Without you, maybe he wouldn't be able to pull it off. Traveling the country, slicing up little girls and their families, people might get suspicious."
    "Listen to yourself; he wouldn't do that."
    "But no one ever does get suspicious. Why? Because when they look at him, all they see is Ted Gray, the gardener. Charming Ted, the guy down the street. Ted the husband. Ted the father."
    Eric clenched his fists into two tight, white little balls.
    "Don't you see? He's hiding in plain sight! And you're helping him! You're letting him do it! Without you, without Julie, he couldn't even exist!"
    Tears started to roll silently down his cheeks.
    "You were right—he is invisible, and you're his cover. You are. You ."
    He was visibly shaking now, rocking back and forth, and filled with some smaller scale vibration that seemed to emanate from his core. He was a slow-motion explosion, with waves of danger rolling off him and towards Angela. Rocky felt it. His lips pulled back from his teeth and the low rumble of a growl started again, like someone had pull-started a leaf blower. But he didn't yank against his collar this time. He waited.
    For a second Eric did nothing. Then he screamed, and started forward.
    Angela meant for her next words to come out a yell, to be commanding. Instead, they barely escaped her lips. She rasped it, breathed it out into the world so quietly it was barely there. Just two words.
    "Get him."
    She let go of Rocky's collar, and he understood perfectly, launched himself across the space. She had expected that to be louder too, but the growling had stopped. Rocky wasn't wasting any time or energy on sound. He was doing only what needed to be done, no bark, all bite. It scared her, just how silent a big animal with lethal intentions could be.
    And then Rocky was there there, across the space between them in a flash. At this distance his bad leg made no difference at all. Strangely, Eric was bowing, almost kneeling, coming down to meet the approaching teeth head on. At the last second, he offered his right forearm, pushing it out toward the dog's open jaws.
    Rocky's teeth snapped shut on the out-stretched arm. Angela expected a kind of crunch, but instead it sounded squishy, like flopping down on an over-stuffed pillow.
    She expected a scream and a yank from Eric as he tried to get away. Instead, he made no sound at all. Rocky started to pull back and forth, whipping his head from side to side, just like he would do to shake the life out of a squirrel or a rabbit. The new angles this created let Angela see the arm.
    It was thicker than it should be, wrapped in some kind of protective foam. But Rocky had latched on, and didn't look like he was going to let go any time soon. It was a comforting thought: Eric might not be injured, but he was trapped.
    "You know why I wanted to meet you out here?" Eric was smiling again.
    "Because we're miles from anywhere?"
    Eric laughed again. "Sure. That, and I knew you'd bring Rocky here along with you. He was really giving me trouble last time I visited. People I can deal with, but dogs are tough to handle." He smiled again. "At least without a plan."
    Rocky jerked back and forth and back, three times as hard as he could. It didn't seem to have any effect.
    "Now, I want you to