“Don’t go,” he said, but it rang more like a request than a command. The gun was still trained on Eliza, but his eyes met mine sideways. “Stay and help me look for that book. You may not know it, but your life depends on us finding it.”

I stood still and thought about it for a second. He knew how to get a girl’s attention, that’s for sure. “What do you mean?” I asked, not wanting the answer but probably needing it, regardless.

He waved the gun towards the top of the stairs. “Bring her up and let’s get her secured. I’ll explain while we start hunting.”

Eliza’s eyes were a dare, but I met them anyway. “You heard the man,” I said. “Let’s go. Get those little legs moving.”

“And if I refuse? I don’t think he’ll shoot me, and I don’t think you’ll hit me, either.”

“If you refuse, then you’ll look mighty strange slung over my shoulder like a gunnysack. And don’t think for a second that I won’t do it. For that matter, don’t be so sure I wouldn’t hit you. If I were you, that’s not a bet I’d take.”

She sniffed, then stuck her nose in the air and started up the stairs once more.

Harry was waiting for us at the top.

III

Harry affixed Eliza to one of the dining room chairs with an extension cord. I watched from the other side of the room, still uncertain what I should make of this shift in alliances. He did not speak until he had her wrists and ankles tied, and then it was to offer her one last chance to be helpful.

“Tell us where the book is.”

“No. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He wadded up one of the cloth napkins and held it up to the side of her face. “Is that your final word on the subject?”

“Yes.”

“Fine.” He stuffed the napkin into her mouth and strapped one of the curtain ties around her jaw to hold it there. “Then you’ll at least be out of the way.”

“Harry, I don’t know . . . we’ve got to let her go sometime, and she’s going to run straight to the police. I don’t need that, Harry. I really don’t.”

“She isn’t going to the police,” he assured me. “She can’t tell them anything about us without her harboring Malachi coming into it. And she has been harboring him, you can bet on that. Furthermore, you can bet she’ll continue to do so once we’re gone. He’s gone off to lick his wounds, but he’ll come back. He’s got nowhere else to go.”

“But he’s hurt. Maybe badly. Didn’t you see him when you came downstairs? He’s bleeding like a stuck pig.”