Moonlight Masquerade Read online

  He looked at her. “If they’d seen the horse, they wouldn’t be so quiet. Sophie, I won’t leave you here alone, and the only way out without being seen is for both of us to cross that beam and go down the ladder. But you couldn’t possibly do that.” He put his head back and acted as though what he’d said was the end of it and he was going back to sleep.

  Sophie stared at him for a moment before she spoke. “What does that mean? Why can’t I do it?” She was curious as much as anything else.

  With his eyes closed, Reede smiled in the most superior, patronizing way that he could manage. “Because you’re so short. You can’t possibly reach the overhead beam, so you can’t hold on, and besides, you’re so top-heavy you wouldn’t be able to balance. You’re not exactly aerodynamically sound.”

  Sophie blinked at him a few times as she took in what he’d just said. Not aerodynamically sound? What human body was? And just who did he think he was to say such a thing? An airplane engineer? “I’m not—?” she began, but her tongue tripped over itself so much that she couldn’t complete the sentence. She glared at him. “I’m top-heavy? You know something, Dr. Aldredge, you’re a jerk. A top-of-the-line, first-class jerk. I’ll have you know that I can balance perfectly well and I can assure you that my arms are long enough to reach the overhead beam.”

  With anger surging through her, she got up and was only vaguely aware that Reede was right behind her. As she stepped out onto the square beam, she didn’t look down, she just put one foot in front of the other. For the first steps she could reach the overhead support. It was high above her head, and if she tripped she could never use it to hold her, but touching it gave her balance. She inched along, her mind full of all the rotten things men had said to her in her life. They’d leered at her, followed her places, made passes . . .

  She stopped thinking when she got halfway across the beam. Below them, the men were talking over the radio. She became fully aware that if they looked up and saw her, she’d be a target. Panic nearly overwhelmed her.

  “I’m here,” Reede whispered in her ear, “and you’re doing great. Just a few more steps and you’re done.”

  She turned to look at him. His eyes behind the mask were bright and alert, not at all sleepy. “You said all that on purpose, didn’t you?” she whispered.

  He gave a little smile and said, “I think you’re aerodynamically perfect and if you pop out of that thing I’ll probably fall backward and break my neck.”

  Her fingers were like claws on the wood above her head, but she still managed to smile. “Couldn’t have that, could we?”

  “No.” He nodded toward the safety of the wall, then put his hand on the small of her back.

  Reede looked down and saw that the two men had moved into the kitchen. They could only see the two people above them if they came around the corner. And they’d turned up the radio, which had started an argument between them.

  When Reede looked back at Sophie he could see the fear growing in her eyes. Yet again he knew he needed to distract her. “Sophie,” he said softly, “sometimes good people do bad things.”

  She turned her head slightly to look at him. Had he found out that she’d stolen the Treeborne cookbook? How could he? Maybe he’d assumed it, since she wanted to mail it back to Carter. Maybe—

  “Not that a person intended to do anything bad,” he said, “but it sometimes happens. Here, put your foot next to mine. There, that’s good. Now go a little bit that way. Great. So a person should be forgiven, shouldn’t he?”

  He? Was he talking about Carter? “I think he should have been honest with me,” she said, then her foot slipped. Reede grabbed her about the waist with his left arm and kept her from falling backward.

  Sophie’s heart was pounding in her chest, but Reede seemed unperturbed by her near fall or even by the fact that they were balancing on a four-inch-wide chunk of wood with nothing below them.

  “Honest?” he said, sounding as though nothing had happened. “Maybe he would have been honest if he’d had a chance.”

  “Are you talking about . . . ?” She had to think to remember the name she’d used. “Earl?”

  “Earl? Your ex-boyfriend who is profoundly stupid? Why in the world would I talk about him?”

  In spite of the circumstances, Sophie gave a little smile. “I don’t know.” She was moving along the beam by quarter inches and she didn’t dare look down or at the end. She kept her eyes on Reede. It was better to think about what he was trying to say.

  “But sometimes we need to walk away,” Sophie said. Her hands were hurting and her feet were aching. It seemed that she’d been on that blasted beam for days.

  “But sometimes a person should be forgiven no matter what,” Reede said emphatically. “Walking away isn’t always the right thing to do.”

  She had no idea what he was talking about and she was so frightened, so jittery, that she couldn’t think clearly. When her shoulder touched the wall, she almost gave a yelp of relief.

  But Reede bent forward and kissed the side of her mouth. Not exactly on her lips but close enough to startle her into silence.

  He kept his face close to hers. “Sophie,” he said, and his lips were touching her skin. “Be still. They’re walking around, and we need to stay out of sight for a few minutes.”

  Her feet may have been on the beam, but her back was against the safe, secure wall. As for the front of her, that was covered by Reede’s big body.

  “I need to hide the red,” he said, referring to her silk corset as he put his hands on the wall on either side of her head. He was so much larger than she was that she was completely hidden by him. If either of the men did look up he’d see only the back of Reede. But the wall was covered with dark wood paneling, so maybe Reede’s all-black clothing wouldn’t be noticed.

  She didn’t know if her heart was racing because she was high above two men with guns, or if it was due to feeling Reede’s beautiful body pressed against hers.

  “I can take your pulse from here,” he said, his lips against her ear.

  “I think maybe you’re close enough to read my blood pressure.”

  “Don’t make me laugh or we’ll both fall.”

  “I heard a door close. Do you think they’re gone?”

  “Who?” Reede asked.

  “Them! The bad guys.”

  Reluctantly, Reede turned away from her just enough to look down into the living room. When he saw no one, he turned more fully away. The room was empty. He lost the languorous look he’d been wearing. “We have to go!” he said, then stepped back so Sophie could see the ladder.

  It may have been a ladder and should have represented safety, but to Sophie it looked like an invitation to death. The step out into thin air just to get onto the top rung was enough to make her feel faint.

  “We don’t have time to hesitate. We have to—” Reede began, then said, “Oh hell!” He stepped back, unfastened the whip from his belt, and slung it over the top beam. He pulled on it to make sure it was secure, then to Sophie’s shock, he swung out on it to stand on the ladder. He hooked one booted foot over a rung and reached up his arms to her.

  “You want me to jump?” she asked, incredulous.

  “No. You need to fall,” he said and his tone was no longer teasing. It was an order.

  Sophie couldn’t take the time to think about what she was doing or if he could hold her or all the other things that shot through her mind. It was a matter of trust, and this man deserved it.

  She put out her arms toward his shoulders and fell forward. As she’d been sure he would, Reede caught her. Instantly, he twisted her around and she grabbed the iron bars.

  Reede didn’t give her time to think as he started down the tall ladder, Sophie in front of him. Her foot slipped once, but Reede steadied her. When they reached the floor she wanted to cry in relief, but they heard the doorknob turn. Reede shoved her into a coat closet and was right behind her.

  The area was tiny and full of old coats so smelly she c