“Right.” Elle pulled herself together and put her arm around Rune, and her voice was now as comforting as Rune’s had been to her. “Where can we move to? Madame Rune?” She shook the fortune-teller to get her attention.

It worked. “We can do that. See that velvet drape?” Rune pointed toward the wall where they had entered. “Behind that is my home—living room, kitchen, bedroom and bath. The drapes are closed, so we won’t be seen. But the walls there are no thicker than here.” Her composure fell away, and she shook as if suffering a hard chill.

“Bathrooms and kitchens have thicker walls for the pipes,” Adam said. “Important in cases of earthquake and gunfire.”

“How do you know this stuff, man?” Rune shouted.

“I watch PBS,” Adam said.

“Rune, you go first,” Elle instructed.

“Me? Why do I have to go first?” Rune was decidedly testy.

“The first person will take the shooter by surprise.” Adam sounded as if he knew what he was talking about. “The second and the third will be the targets.”

“When you put it that way...” Rune stared at the velvet curtain and gathered her skirts in one hand.

Elle instructed, “Dash to the door and open it, leave it open for us and get inside to the bathroom.”

“Bathroom. Exactly. Interior room.” Rune cleared the table, ran low and fast and, pushing the curtain away and opening the door, rushed into the shadowy interior.

“You next.” Elle took Adam’s hand and pressed it to the T-shirt on his wound.

“You next,” Adam answered. “You have injuries that make it difficult for you to move.”

“Right now, I can’t feel my injuries.” Weird, but true. “The longer you argue with me, the greater likelihood that we’ll both be shot. You’ve lost blood. You might need help making it to the door. I’ll be hot on your heels and ready to assist. Now, go.”

In Adam’s eyes, she caught a glimpse of the immensity of what drove him to dwell in bleak solitude, and for a moment, she thought Adam was going to shake her.

Or kiss her.

Or something.

Then, like a man unimpaired by injury, he slipped from beneath the table and vanished into the waiting open door.

She didn’t hesitate. Even pumped full of adrenaline, she wasn’t as coordinated or as swift as Adam, and the eight feet to the door seemed to stretch forever. She ran, and at last she was inside Rune’s apartment.

Adam pulled her into his arms and held her, and he was breathing hard as if he had just finished running a marathon.

Well. This was more like it.

32

ELLE COULD HAVE STAYED right there, nestled in his arms, but Adam picked up the bloody T-shirt, turned her and urged her toward the bathroom.