Page 59 of Calder Country

OUTSIDE, THE SNOW WAS STILL FALLING. RUBY AND MASON HAD dressed and remade the bed. It was time to prepare for whatever was to happen next.

They had stolen a few precious moments in each other’s arms. But there was no more time to spare. They needed to act decisively. But now it appeared they’d reached a stalemate.

Mason had tried once more to talk Ruby into leaving on the midnight train. But Ruby had been adamant. She would not go without her father.

Standing at the window, Mason listened as Ruby made the phone call to the government agents. Earlier, she’d explained why she never made calls from her own room, but the reason no longer mattered. She’d be safer here, with him, behind a locked door.

While she told her story to the agents, Mason checked his .38 Smith & Wesson, making sure it was loaded and ready. He wasn’t expecting to need it, but Taviani’s goons could be anywhere. So could Colucci’s, even in the storm. And Mason didn’t trust the so-called government agents Ruby was counting on to keep her safe. Anything could happen.

Ruby hung up the receiver, set the phone on the nightstand, and turned to face him. “I spoke with Agent Hargrave,” she said. “He and Agent Jensen are coming right over. They’re close by. It shouldn’t take them long to get here.”

“Did you tell them you had company?”

“No. If you leave now, they won’t have to know you’ve been here.” She raised a hand to his chest, as if trying to push him toward the door. “Go on, Mason. Don’t worry about me now. I’ll be fine.”

He stood his ground. “I’m not leaving you, Ruby. Not until I know what they’re planning to do.”

“Just go. Please,” she pleaded.

“I’m not leaving you.” He weighed the plan that had come to him—a desperate plan that involved playing the one ace he possessed. It could be his only chance of saving them both.

She sighed. “Then at least stay out of sight. Wait in the bathroom or the closet when they come. If I don’t need you, they won’t have to see you.”

“All right.” It was a sensible option. “But I’ll want to hear what’s going on. And you should have a password to use if you need my help. Choose something I’ll recognize.”

“I understand.” She was silent for a moment, thinking. “De Havilland,” she said. “After that beautiful plane that crashed. I know how to use a password, but I don’t expect to need it.”

“I hope you’re right.” Ruby was too confident and too trusting, Mason thought. To cover their own reputations, the federal agents might be capable of throwing her to the wolves.

With uncertainty looming, only one thing was sure. He loved her as he’d never loved a woman before in his life. He would keep her safe at any cost.

* * *

Tension-laden minutes crawled past, marked by the ticking wall clock. It was eleven-fifteen when Ruby heard a bold rap on the door. She glanced at Mason. He slipped into the closet, leaving the door slightly ajar. If only she could have convinced him to leave. As it was, she was more worried for him than for herself. She’d come up with the password to satisfy him, but she couldn’t imagine using it.

The rap on the door became more insistent. “Mrs. Weaver, are you in there?” Hargrave’s voice had an irritating, metallic quality.

“Yes, I hear you. I’m coming.” Ruby, now dressed in a skirt, a woolen sweater, and boots, crossed the room to open the door. Her heart was pounding but she willed herself not to hurry.

The two agents strode into the room, brushing snow off their coats and shaking it from their fedoras. Hargrave was tall with a hawkish face and a scarecrow-like body. Jensen, apple-cheeked and blond, looked like a schoolboy next to him.

“Have a seat,” she said. “There’s only one chair and the dresser bench, but—”

“We’ll stand,” Hargrave said. “So you say you’ve been found out, Mrs. Weaver. How did it happen?”

“My father. He told someone in prison.”

“And how do you know this?” Hargrave demanded. “Who told you?”

Ruby groped for an answer. Why hadn’t she thought this through? “It doesn’t matter how I know. I meet people in this business. One of them heard it through the grapevine and cared enough to let me know. Now I need your help.”

“So why are you here? Why not just leave town?” Hargrave’s tone was sarcastic, his expression cold.

“You know I can’t leave my father in prison. Please, I’ve done everything you asked me to do. You promised to get him out of there and send us somewhere safe.”

Hargrave’s expression could have been chiseled in stone. “Things have changed, Mrs. Weaver. The warden called us this morning. Your father was found dead in the prison library. His neck was broken.”

“No!” Ruby’s knees buckled. She staggered, struggling to breathe as her body contracted like a fist. Behind her, a door opened. Mason’s strong arms caught her, holding her upright until she could get her breath. Together they faced the two agents.

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