Author(s): Richard Laymon

Fiction

AMONG THE MISSING At 2:32am a Jaguar roars along a lonely road high in the Californian mountains. Behind the wheel sits the beautiful wife of Professor Grant Parkington. She has left Grant behind. The man she wants is waiting for her on the roadside. Mrs Parkington stops for him. 'Where to?' she says. He suggests the Bend, where there's a soft, sandy beach - an ideal place for love. But in the morning a naked body will be found - a body missing more than its clothes...COME OUT TONIGHT It's the hottest night of the year so far, and it's also young couple Sherry and Duane's first time. Discovering they have no condoms, Duane throws on his clothes and makes his way down to the twenty-four hour Speed-D-Mart. Not a place anyone would want to visit at night, but these aren't usual circumstances. Suddenly she hears a noise from down the street. It might be the backfire of a car. But Sherry thinks it sounds more like a gunshot...