Page 105 of Back in Black

Audrey peered through the darkness in dismay. “I can’t reach it.” The fire escape ladder was raised and well out of her reach.

But that didn’t slow down the young man.

Huckman dragged over a trash can, upended it without remorse, and, using it for added height, jumped up and snagged the ladder.

It came down in a clatter that, to Audrey, sounded like gunfire, adding to her jumpiness.

Even here in the back alley, the smoke was horrible enough to burn her throat and eyes. Poor Spice. She had to be frantic.

It was tricky, but Audrey managed to climb up the rickety metal ladder to the kitchen window. Never in her life had she deliberately broken glass. She tried opening the window first, but Brett had it secured.

She looked down and found Huckman still there, looking up at her, watching with a bemused and awed set to his face. “How do I do this?”

He said, “Use your elbow,” and demonstrated with a quick jerking move of his arm.

Audrey nodded. Aligning her elbow with the window, she closed her eyes and mimicked his move. The glass shattered. Even as the sirens grew closer, she climbed over the jagged sill and into the apartment. She tried a light switch, but the electricity was out. Maybe the wires had burned. She could smell the stench of scorched fabric, wood, and paint. Smoke billowed around the room.

Making her way over to the kitchen doorway, she called out, “Here, kitty, kitty, kitty,” as loudly as she could. “Here, Spice. Come on, kitty.”

Audrey heard meowing seconds before Spice ran to her and twined around her legs. Luckily, the smoke wasn’t as bad low to the floor. Scooping up the cat and hugging her, Audrey said, “Thank God you’re okay.”

It was even trickier going down the ladder while holding a cat, but Spice cooperated. At the very end, she leaped out of Audrey’s arms, but Huckman grabbed her before she could get away. He held the cat in one arm and reached the other up to assist Audrey in getting down.

Once her feet were on solid ground again, Huckman asked, “You know where to find Brett?”

She hoped so. “I’ll take the cat to my apartment first. I think she’s been through enough.”

Spice’s eyes were huge and reflective in the darkness, filled with wariness. When Audrey took her back from Huckman, Spice sank her claws into Audrey’s arm. She just hugged the cat in relief, grateful that she was able to do this one small thing for Brett.

“If Brett shows up here, ask him to call me. Tell him that Spice is at my apartment and that I’m going to Roger’s to look for him.”

Huckman grinned. “You’re all right, lady. You know that?”

After the night she’d had, his kindness brought tears to her eyes. Of course, he didn’t know that she was a part of WAVS, and Audrey wasn’t about to tell him. She’d had enough hatred spewed at her already. “Thank you.”

“Brett’s a lucky guy.”

Smile sad, Audrey turned away. “Somehow, I don’t think he sees it that way.”

CHAPTER 18

DREW looked at Gillian and saw the dark shadows under her eyes. Tendrils of her sleek black hair had loosened to frame her face. Even the bright blue of her eyes seemed faded.

Exhaustion pulled at her, obliterating her edge of sharp wit, dulling her vitality. Beside him in the car, she was half slumped, lost in thought, all but asleep.

And still, she was the most beautiful, sexy woman he’d ever known.

What she’d said to Fran and Loren . . . did she mean it? Could her opinion of him still be so complimentary?

“Your apartment,” he said, drawing her attention. “Is that your only place?”

His question amused her. “Unlikesomepeople I could name, most of us don’t have multiple residences to choose from.”

“Should I take that bit of sarcasm to mean yes?”

“Yes, it’s the only place I live.” She put her head back against the seat. “I travel a lot with my job, so I’ve been all over the country, and on a few occasions, outside the country. But at the end of each assignment, I like to have one place to call home. The familiarity, the comfort of having everything just as I want it, that’s whathomemeans to me.”

Her answer frustrated Drew. “So . . . you wouldn’t want to live anywhere else?”

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