‘Mmm, I could easily argue with that. Oh …’ She caught her breath, suddenly, because he tried to prove her right. He kissed her shoulder, then her neck, then her mouth, and then the lazy peace turned intense again, for a while. This time, though, they were truly exhausted, and it took at least another half an hour of sleepily murmuring to each other before Claire finally managed to convince him to get up, dress, and help her strip the sheets and pillowcases from the bed. Pete had one of those tiny little washer/dryer combo units tucked in the corner, and she put everything in with detergent, then showered and left her hair wet as Shane squeezed in after she stepped out. There wasn’t room for two, which was probably good, considering how sore her muscles already felt. A good kind of sore, but still.

They were both dressed, if just barely, when the door rattled, the lock turned, and Pete stepped inside. He flipped the deadbolt behind him, and stopped dead at the end of the hall. Claire and Shane were sitting innocently on the couch; she was reading one of Pete’s books, a science fiction classic by Isaac Asimov she’d been meaning to find, and Shane was flipping channels on the TV.

Pete said, ‘Why are the sheets off my bed?’

‘Just trying to help you out, do a little housework,’ Shane said blandly. ‘Hey, man. Thanks for letting us stay for a while.’

‘If by a while you mean until dawn, then yeah, cheers,’ Pete said. ‘You’ve got serious heat on you, man. I’m not just talking about the cops. Scary suit-wearing types, you know the ones, Claire. You’ve seen them before. They were looking for you, and they came looking for Shane, too. Whatever you’re in, you’re in deep. About my bed, did you two—?’

‘Look at it this way, we did laundry,’ Shane said. ‘If it was the couch …’

‘This is why I hate house guests,’ Pete said. ‘So. Pizza okay?’

They both nodded. Claire said, ‘I’m sorry about the bed, Pete. Thanks.’

‘I’m just messing with you. Hell, that’s the most fun that bed’s had in ages. If you’re about to ask if I’ve heard from Jesse, no, I haven’t. She never showed for her shift, which bugged the crap out of Mick, believe me; he was already stressed enough about you and your big bag of fun illegal weapons you were keeping on his property, Shane. Why the hell didn’t you tell me about that?’

‘What would you have done?’

‘Told Mick.’

‘That’s why I didn’t tell you. Look, man, it’s not that I’m some nutcase with a gun collection; everything I have in there goes toward keeping me and Claire safe from what you already know is out there.’