“But if they see you they’ll—”
“Ssssh,” he said. “I’ve done this kind of thing before.”
She moved to look up at him in question, but he put her head back down.
“When I’m sure it’s clear, I want you to follow me.”
She nodded in agreement.
“Stick to me as close as my own breath. I want you closer to me than that red thing you have on is to your glorious body. Understood?”
Again she nodded.
For a moment he didn’t move but stood there holding her, one hand in her hair, the other one on her back.
“Sophie, I’m sorry for this. Sorry for everything.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” she whispered.
“Sometimes my anger overrides my common sense and sometimes I don’t see what’s right in front of me.”
She had no idea what he was talking about, but it was obviously important to him.
He put his hands on her shoulders and held her away from him. There wasn’t much light in the closet, just what came through a transom above the door, but in spite of the mask, she could see the concern on his face.
“Forgive me?” he whispered.
“For what?”
“I’m about to take advantage of an unpleasant situation,” he said as he lowered his mouth onto hers.
Maybe it was what they’d been through together on the beam, or maybe it was the danger they were facing now, but there was a tenderness and a desperation in the kiss that neither of them had ever experienced before. It had the feeling of “the last.” The last kiss before a soldier went off to war. The last kiss before a patient went into surgery. The last kiss before the final breakup.
Reede was the first to pull away. “Get in the back and stay there,” he said, and she obeyed without question.
Slowly, soundlessly, Reede opened the closet door and peered out.
From behind the old coats Sophie watched him. The radio was so loud that they couldn’t hear where the men were. For all they knew they were standing just outside the door.
When Reede opened the door wider and looked out, Sophie drew in her breath and held it.
But Reede turned to her with a cocky grin that told her the coast was clear. When he hand-signaled for her to leave the coats and follow him, she didn’t so much as hesitate.
She got to the door, her hand outstretched to take his when, suddenly, Reede shut the door, leaving her alone in the closet. It was so fast she was almost hit in the face. Instinctively, she stepped back into the concealment of the coats. And all she could do was wonder what had happened. Had the men seen Reede? Were the three of them now standing just outside the door? Did Reede have guns pointed at him?
She listened but heard nothing. The music still blared, so she couldn’t hear voices. But if the men had seen Reede, wouldn’t there be shouting?
Cautiously, she stepped out of the coats and went to the door. Even when she put her ear against it, she heard nothing. She waited and listened, but all she heard was the blaring music. Some cowboy was singing that his third wife had run off with someone else. He couldn’t figure out why women today weren’t like his mother and put up with anything a man dished out.
Sophie put her hand on the knob. Maybe Reede had left her behind while he went for help. On the other hand, if he’d wanted to do that he could have left her upstairs. Her fear was that he was in trouble and needed help.
Slowly, with her heart pounding hard, she turned the knob.
When shouts came and the music abruptly stopped, Sophie was sure they’d seen the knob turn. She put her shoulders back in preparation for men-with-guns to burst in. But then she rethought the “shoulders back” idea. In that position too much of her popped up above the corset. To be caught while wearing such a ridiculous getup was going to be humiliating. She grabbed an old jacket off a hanger, pulled the mask from over her eyes, then stood up straight and waited.
But the door didn’t open. Instead, she heard a man’s angry voice. It wasn’t the first two men but a different voice. Someone new had come into the house. Was this man the reason Reede had shut the door so abruptly? She put her ear against the door.
Ten