He was big and rough-looking, like the solitary tree in the meadow across from the Gas and Grocery, grown tall and wild in the prairie wind. He had a shiny rifle slung over his shoulder. She felt vulnerable and exposed. She was worried about her baby. But she wasn’t going to show him she was scared. If only she had some pants instead of this dress.

But he wasn’t even looking at her. Instead he stared down the center aisle toward the doors, then up toward the ceiling. “They’ll be coming, soon as they get themselves organized.”

“Why’d they stop shooting?”

“They don’t know where I am,” he said. “But if they have to guess, they’ll figure I’m with you. And they probably won’t want to hurt you or the baby. So as long as we stick together and I’ve still got ammunition, we’re both okay.” He flashed the smile again. “Unless they get close enough to put a bullet in my head. Then it’s over.”

She didn’t know anything about this Peter guy. If she left with him and Roy caught her again, it would be very bad. Worse than if she stayed now.

“What if I don’t want to go?”

He looked at her now. “Your call,” he said. “I can’t make it for you. But I’m getting out of here.”

“How are you going to do that?”

The smile grew wider still. As if he were actually enjoying himself. “Good question. You got any thoughts on that?”

She made a decision. “The big doors are locked from the outside. But there’s a Jeep on the next level. And I think you probably have a key.”

“Well, hell. That sounds remarkably like a plan. How do we get up there?”

She pointed. “The ladder’s right around the corner.”

He backed up to give her room to leave. “Ladies first.”

She shook her head. “You first. I’m wearing a dress.”

“Oh, sure,” he said. “But stay close and keep moving. Those assholes won’t wait forever.”

The ladder was just a series of narrow wooden crossboards nailed between two posts, much like the one in Bogaloosa’s barn that she’d climbed many times, to fetch hay bales for his cows. Peter vanished up the rungs and left her alone in the dark. Then the red glow shone down, lighting up the way. It was a harder climb than it used to be. She was climbing for two, after all.

She followed Peter to the Jeep. He opened the door and flipped through the keyring in the dome light. Then stopped, slid one into the ignition, and turned it far enough to get the dash lights on. He put down the windows. “We’re in business. Better buckle up.”

She hustled to the passenger side, but he’d left the Jeep. He’d gone to the pair of four-wheelers and bent over the first machine.

“What are you doing?” she hissed.