performance on Franklin Street.
“You bitch!” Marty grabbed the woman’s wrist, but Tim merely smiled. He looked unsure of himself, though, as if he’d gotten in over his head. It scared CeeCee to see him that way. She needed him to be certain that what they were doing was right. Certain enough for both of them.
“Let go of me!” Genevieve tried to twist her wrist out of Marty’s grasp.
“Let go of her,” CeeCee agreed. She was not trying to protect the woman as much as ease her own discomfort. She didn’t like physical conflict, always fearing it might escalate into something worse. The woman was a massive and imposing figure in the fur coat. She could do some damage if she chose to. “She’s okay,” she said. “She can’t go anywhere.”
Marty let go, and the woman rubbed her wrist.
“Take off this animal you’re wearing,” Tim said. He helped her as though he was helping his girlfriend in a restaurant. When the coat slipped from Genevieve’s shoulders, it was clear she was not fat after all.
“She’s pregnant,” CeeCee said.
“Well, at least one of you can face reality,” the woman said. She was wearing a long, navy-blue sweater and pale blue slacks. “I’ve been telling these jerks that the whole way here. I’m thirty-seven weeks and this is a high-risk pregnancy.” Her voice broke as she rested one hand on her belly. “Please take me back,” she said to Tim.
“Did you know she was pregnant?” CeeCee asked Tim, but Marty answered.
“It’s no big deal,” he said.
It was a big deal, CeeCee thought. This was a human being they were dealing with. Two human beings.
“If your husband does what he’s told,” Tim said, his eyes were on the woman’s huge belly, “you’ll be home before you know it.”
“Thirty-seven weeks,” Genevieve repeated to him. “That’s more than eight months. Do you understand?”
“I’ve got it,” Tim said. “That’s all the more reason the gov should want you back safe, and soon.”
“If anything happens to this baby,” Genevieve said, “you two will be in worse trouble than you are now, I can tell you that.” She leveled her eyes at CeeCee. “You three,” she said. “My husband will never give in to blackmail.”
“This ain’t blackmail, bitch,” Marty said to her. “It’s a kidnapping. Much more elegant than blackmail.”
Genevieve reached behind her to rub the small of her back. “If you take me home now,” she said to Tim, obviously guessing he was the softer of the two men, “I can make sure they go easy on you.”
“No way,” Tim said. “I’m not crapping out on Andie.”
“You’re a fool,” Genevieve said.
“Look.” Tim touched her arm, and she snapped it away from him. “You sit here with Marty and I’ll get you some tea and something to eat.” He looked at CeeCee, nodding toward the kitchen.
“Sit down,” Marty ordered her. CeeCee felt a little afraid to leave her in his care. The woman lowered herself to the old couch, looking defeated and suddenly very tired.
In the kitchen, CeeCee lifted her mask. “Oh, God, Tim, please don’t leave me alone with her!”
“Put the mask down,” he snapped, and she dropped it over her face again. Tim filled a pot with water and set it on the stove. “She’s going to be fine,” he said. “She’s really a pussycat.” The red mark on his cheek suggested otherwise. “Don’t get too close to her, though. She might try to grab your mask or something.”
“I just … I …” CeeCee stammered. “She’s so much taller than me.”
“Babe.” He held on to her shoulders. His smile was meant to reassure her, but it was tight and uncertain. “I’m sure this isn’t going to last long. It’s actually good that she’s pregnant. It makes her less able to cause you any problems, right?” He waited for her to answer and she offered a reluctant nod.
“You’re doing a wonderful thing for me,” he said. “For my family. Whatever you need, anytime, I’ll be there for you. I owe you.”
Be there for me how, she wanted to ask? How could he be there if he was going underground? But she knew better than to bring up that subject again.
“Now look.” He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a gun, and she backed away.
“It’s not loaded, right?” she asked.
“Actually, it is,” he said.
She took another step backward until she was up against the pantry. “You said it wouldn’t be. Take out the bullets.”
“I think it’s better if it’s loaded. Just in case. I don’t mean you would shoot her.” He looked suddenly worried. “Whatever you do, don’t shoot her. She’s all we’ve got to trade with. But you might need to shoot the ceiling or something to keep her in line. She’s feistier than I anticipated.”
“Oh, Tim, I don’t want a gun!”
“The safety is on,” he said. “Let me show you how this thing works.”
She watched carefully as he toggled the safety back and forth. She supposed he was right. It would give her more confidence if she had a weapon. It didn’t matter that Genevieve was taller or bigger or stronger if she was the one with the gun.
She took the gun from him, her gloved hands trembling.
“Man, you haven’t stopped shaking since we got here,” he said.
“Not since you left me here, actually,” she admitted. “I can’t stop.”
“It’s all going to work out, I promise,” he said as he took a tea bag from the box in the pantry. “That asshole governor will want to keep this quiet and get her back before anyone’s the wiser. He’s that way. Very private. So I want you to stop worrying, okay?” He lifted her mask a couple of inches and planted a kiss on her cheek.
She poured boiling water into a mug, spilling some of it onto the worn wooden counter.
“You get the cookies,” he said, taking the mug from her. “And try to calm down. Don’t let her see how rattled you are.”
She was worrying him, she thought, as she put a few sugar cookies onto a plate. Disappointing him.
Genevieve was still sitting on the old sofa when they walked back into the room, and Marty stood at the window, looking less confident than he had a few minutes earlier.
“I heard something out there,” he said. “A thud or something.”
“It’s nothing.” Tim set the mug on the coffee table.
“I heard it a lot while you were gone,” CeeCee said. “I think it’s just a branch brushing against
