The house was the whole problem. She had to conquer that house, because by doing so, she’d conquer him. And then she’d be free of both of them.

Or would she? Would she ever be free?

TUESDAY

TUESDAY

1.

1.

“It’s going to be okay,” Jack said as they drove east on Twenty-third in his rented white Chevy. He glanced over at Alicia sitting straight and silent in the passenger seat. “Don’t worry. We won’t get caught.”

“What makes you think I’m worried about getting caught?” she said.

“Because you look like you’re ready to jump out the window.”

She’d been like an overwound spring since he’d picked her up.

She’s afraid of that house, he thought. That empty house.

As he reached Broadway, the traffic light went amber. Good. He’d been waiting for this opportunity. Instead of speeding up, he held back until the light turned red, then he gunned it and yanked the wheel to the right, turning downtown.

“Maybe it’s your driving,” Alicia said, and made a poor try at a smile, as if to let him know she was kidding—maybe. “And if we’re going to Thirty-eighth Street, this is the wrong direction.”

“I know,” he said, pulling over and studying his rearview mirror.

“And how come we’re not taking a cab?”

“Because I wanted to make sure we weren’t followed.”

He watched the street behind them, waiting to see if anyone ran the red to keep up with them. Since leaving Alicia’s place, he’d had this vague feeling of being watched, usually a good indicator that somebody was following him. Or maybe someone was following Alicia.

But nobody else turned off Twenty-third.

“Well?” Alicia said. “Are we?”

“Not that I can see.” Or if we are, whoever’s dogging us is damn good. “I also figured the car’s a good idea because we don’t know what we’ll find in the house. Maybe it’ll be something we can’t carry out and load into a taxi. And besides, I needed a place to store a few props.”

“Props? For what?”

“All in good time, my dear. All in good time.”

He made a couple of lefts to put them on Third Avenue, and took that uptown. In Murray Hill, they cruised past the house and saw the security car out front.

“We’ll never get past them,” Alicia said.

Jack got the distinct impression she didn’t want to get past them.

He checked out the exhaust pipe on the guard car as he passed and saw it smoking. No surprise. The temperature had dropped to about 40 degrees, and they had the heater running.

He smiled. Good.

“Let me worry about that,” he told her.

He pulled around the corner and found a barely legal spot near a fire hydrant on Thirty-ninth.

“There’s not going to be any fighting is there?” Alicia said.