14.

Glenn watched Geoff get angry, then calm. He made a lunge for her, and she screamed.

"Sh," he said, pulling her to him. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"You're just saying that."

"No, otherwise I would have grabbed you when I was furious. Now I'm just feeling kinda mean, but if you don't fight me I'll be able to control it." He pulled her onto his lap. His arms crisscrossed her, and rested on either side of her neck. "I assume we're talking about miniature microphones?"

"Remember the overnight case I had with me that night? I put a microphone in the kitchen phone, you know, inside the mouthpiece. I didn't want to go upstairs, because I was afraid you'd catch me, so I only bugged the downstairs. You know that thermostat on the wall of the family room? There's one in there. And, one in the front room. They think it's important to keep an eye on your visitors." She turned her head so she could see his face. "You know that overhead light in the dining room? Light fixtures are risky, because you're counting on the light bulb not needing to be replaced, but that was the only place high enough."

Geoff stared past her, at the car door. "Up high?"

"That one is a small video camera, with a fisheye lens."

"Camera." Geoff closed his eyes.

Glenn decided not to apologize. She laid her head on his shoulder, and focused on the upholstery of the car roof as she waited for what he was going to do to her.

"Anything else?" He bent his knee, and she felt the strength of his thigh against her ribs.

"I really am just a photographer. All I agreed to do was take pictures of the front and back of the house, but they needed pictures of the interior, to show the exits, all the doors and windows. For protection. Like I said. The AFIB was afraid your family is the target of Arab extremists."

"So, why didn't they tell us? We would have cooperated."

"You're asking me to explain government logic. All I know is what they told me: if they had a blueprint of your house, inside and out, they could protect you without alarming you. I agreed to take pictures, that's all. Then, at the last minute, they handed me this overnight case, and told me the rest."

"Wait a minute. If my mom hadn't invited you to stay... how did you know she was going to do that?"

"I didn't, but there wasn't time to formulate a complicated plan. So, once she asked, I had to go for it. That was supposed to be the end of it. I don't know how it came to this." She rolled her eyes across the interior of the car, then closed them. "I have to pee."

"What?"

"Let me out, I have to go to the bathroom." She fastened two shirt buttons, and climbed over him, stepping into the frigid water with her bare feet. "Come with me. To keep watch. I'm scared."

She pulled him around the edge of the concrete culvert to the dew-drenched grass.

"The dome light," she said.

"What?"

"The light, the light, the light." She took his arms, and shook him. "The dome light in the car. There's a camera in it."

Geoff glanced over his shoulder. "Naw, couldn't be."

"Think about it. What if they let us get away?"

"We got away because we were smart."

She made a face. "Smart? Dressing me up like a cop?"

"You thought it was smart at the time."

"That's when I thought we had outsmarted them. What did that guard say? Something about them having your car."

"But, he was lying," Geoff said.

"What if he wasn't?"

Geoff thought about it. "You mean they bugged my car, and let us get away?"

"Think about it."

"That would mean that they," his eyes met hers. "Oh, Glenn, they've been watching us?"

She pulled the fabric of her shirt together at the neck. "I'm not saying that. Just suppose. I was thinking. When we get back in the car, I'll check the dome light. See if there's a shadow."

"Can they really make cameras that small?"

"Look at the tiny ones they snake through your intestines to look for polyps. No bigger than a pencil eraser."

"This is really creepy. Okay, suppose there is a shadow? What do we do?"

"We have to act like we're not conscious of it," Glenn said.

"Fat chance. We're gonna have to ditch the car, no question," Geoff said.

"One more thing. I was going to ask you this before, but I thought it was silly. Did you do something with the tapes? The bag of tapes. I threw them in the back seat. But, when we went back there they were gone. I figured you put them in the trunk when I wasn't looking. You did, didn't you?"

"I didn't put them anywhere. Didn't we take them to the dorm with us?" he asked.

"No. Tell me you're joking. You put them in the trunk," Glenn said.

"You think they took the tapes, and left a camera? Man. We have to go back inside."

"So, we go back. Get dressed," she said.

"Our shoes are soaked. How about we drive to my grandparents', and put our things in the dryer? Then, I'll take Gramp's car. While they're watching my car on the street, we'll get away."

"And, go where?" Glenn asked.

"We'll worry about that later."

They got in the front seat where he started the engine.

"I'll get us some heat," he said. "Our shoes and socks are never going to dry like this. We'd better get to a clothes dryer." He touched her face. "Come here, I'll warm you up."

Geoff's hands went under her shirt, and pushed her down on the seat so she was staring at the ceiling. He leaned toward her, and nuzzled her ear.

"See it?"

She grabbed two fistfuls of his hair, and positioned his face in front of hers. He read her lips as she mouthed the words, "Too dark."

He pressed himself down on her. He scooped her head in one hand. The fingers of his other hand caught the door handle, and he opened it. The light came on, and she looked at it through his hair. He buried his face in her throat, and eased her head back. His kisses made a path over her chin, and stopped at her lips.

"Let's go someplace more comfortable," she said.

He sat up. "Give me a minute."

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and breathed out. When he took hold of the steering wheel, he looked dazed. Glenn fumbled into her clothes while he drove. In two minutes he braked in front of a brick, two-story colonial.

He looked sad as he turned to her. "Let's go."

Colesville Road had swollen up over the last 50 years from a tree-lined suburban two-lane to a major six-lane highway. Any other time of day there would have been a string of traffic, snarled and knotted, and frayed at the ends. But, the sky was beginning to whiten, and there was a feeling of post-apocalyptic nothingness in the air. It took Glenn a while to gather her shoes. One of them was shoved under the front seat, and the laces were stuck on something. She had to put her cheek on the carpet to jiggle it loose. In the meantime, Geoff had gone to the front door, and returned.

"We'll have to go in the back way," he said. "What are you doing?"

"Checking your transmission fluid, and brake pads, Sir. Need anything else while I'm under here?" She pulled the shoe out, and handed it to him. "Gimme a minute to make sure there's nothing else hiding under here. Nope."

Her hand passed over something flat and square. She slipped it under her coat. Geoff stood staring at his car. She put her arm around him.

"We'll get it back," she said.

He nodded, and made his way around the house. In back, down three cement steps, was a white-washed wooden door with a rusted knob.

"It's locked. Hand me that file over there."

She picked the tool up off a pile of dirt. "This?"

Geoff braced himself against the door, lifted the knob in his right hand, and inserted the point of the file between the wood doorframe and latch. He sprung the lock, and went inside.

Glenn slid her bare feet across the basement floor. It was as cold as it was outside, and twice as dark. She felt for his jacket, found it, and clung to the cotton waistband. She stubbed her toes, but kept hopping along until he stopped abruptly. He snapped on a lamp in the laundry room.

"What if my shoes shrink?" she asked.

"I don't think we'll be here long enough for that to happen. Better take off your jeans, they're soaked at the cuffs."

He'd already stripped his off and put them in the machine. She stared at his legs, long and muscular like a soccer player. For an instant, she relived the experience of being captured between them.

"You just want to see my butt again," she said.

"Ain't it the truth."

He helped her unzip her pants. As he bent over, she leaned on him as she stepped out of them. He turned on the dryer, and it began spinning. The shoes went thump, the laces went click. Thump-click, thump-click.

"Upstairs," he said. "I'll find a blanket and wrap you up."

"That's making a terrible racket. Won't it wake your grandparents?"

"They're on the other side of the house, two flights up. Plus, they're practically deaf."

They came up in the kitchen, crossed a dining area, and ended up in a living room. Glenn saw a wood stove insert on the fireplace hearth and made a run for it, but it was cool to the touch. Geoff got an afghan off a wing chair. He wrapped it around her waist, and pulled her to him.

"This shouldn't be turning me on, should it?"

"What shouldn't?"

"Being chased, spied on, everything we've been through. I'll tell you a secret. Ever since we found your friend floating in the tub, I've been more or less aroused. At first I thought it was fear, you know."

"Itis ."

"Then I've discovered the ultimate aphrodisiac," Geoff said.

"You didn't discover it. Everybody knows about it. We just didn't tell you."

"Everybody? Like who? I want names."

"People who jump out of planes, race cars, bungee-jump. Life-and-death professions like ambulance drivers, firemen, soldiers. Why do you think they do it? Because it turns them on."

"Then, I'm not a pervert. I was afraid something was wrong with me. After I knew there was a camera in the car, it made me so hot."

"That is sick," she said.

"Aw, come on. You can't say it didn't get to you. There's something about the idea of being watched. That any minute you might be caught, it heightens all your senses."

She ran her hand across his cheek. "You need a shave. And, I really do have to pee."

He waited for her outside the bathroom, and ambushed her when she came out. He grabbed her from behind, and carried her to a couch. She curled up on his lap.

"What are we going to do about your grandfather's car? Are we going to borrow it? And, where are we going?"

"I've been thinking. If we can make it back to Hagerstown, there are some places I know to hide out. What about that phone call you were going to make?"

"I shouldn't use your Gramp's phone," she said. "It's not procedure. You know, SOP. I'm supposed to use a pay phone."

"Even in an emergency?"

"Is this an emergency?"

He patted her thigh. "I think having your butt about shot off qualifies as an emergency."

A knot the size of a fist formed in her stomach. "Okay," she said. "I'll do it."