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Sara hadn t considered that. She leaned back against the wall, trying to come up
with a plan. She closed her eyes, struggling to concentrate. And the next thing she knew
she was opening her eyes to find herself in the bed. Morgan lay beside her, awake.
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She brushed the hair from her face. What happened?
You fell asleep so I brought you to bed.
She pushed herself up, noting that the drapes were securely closed and that she was
wearing only her blouse from the day before. Are things& moving?
Yeah, the minute you went to sleep it all started back up.
She didn t even want to consider what that implied. Did you sleep?
No.
Did the police come?
No.
That alarmed her. Morgan, something s really wrong. The windows were shot out!
Surely someone heard called the police.
Apparently not.
It doesn t make sense.
Not much does these days, he said and changed the subject. I ve been thinking. I
have an idea.
What?
We order a new couch.
His answer was not something she expected. In fact, she wondered for a moment if
lack of sleep had robbed him of his faculties.
A& couch?
Yeah. We find someone who will deliver a couch today. The delivery truck will
have to use the delivery entrance. When it arrives, we ll be waiting. I ll pay for the
couch and send it back to the store. And pay the driver to let us hitch a ride back to
wherever he s going. No one will think anything about a furniture delivery. Once we
reach the furniture store or warehouse, we find a way out of the city.
Yes, she agreed. That s good. But we ll never find anyone to deliver something
on such short notice.
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With enough money you can get people to do just about anything, he said in a
bitter tone. Believe me.
Sara wasn t about to argue or to question his bitterness. Everyone had baggage.
One day she would want to know all of his. But today all she wanted was to get out of
Washington. Morgan wouldn t be safe here. She wasn t sure where he would be safe,
but she had to do whatever it took to find that place.
Then let s get busy, she said. I ll get the phone book and we ll start calling.
Ahead of you, he said and rolled over to lift the phone book from the nightstand.
Gotta get my pho
She stopped short when he tossed her phone to her.
Mr. Johnny on the spot, she said with a slight smile. Okay, rip out some of those
pages and hand them over.
It took them two hours to find a furniture store that would agree to deliver a sofa
the same day. But then Morgan offered an astronomical amount, along with a ludicrous
tale about how he d been smoking a cigar and inadvertently set the couch on fire and
now his wife would be home that evening and his life was going to be hell unless he did
something fast.
Sara had a hard time believing anyone would fall for that tale, but a small mom-
and-pop furniture store did. They promised to be there by mid-afternoon.
So now what? Sara asked when Morgan finished making the arrangements.
Now we wait.
We could get killed waiting. You don t think that killer s just going to sit around
and wait, do you? He s going to figure out a way to get to us.
We don t have a choice, Sara. We have to wait on the truck.
Well, I m not the world s best at patience, she said and started to get up from the
bed. He pulled her back down.
Then maybe we should keep your mind off the wait, he suggested.
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Sara s eyes popped open wide. You ve got to be kidding? People are trying to kill
you and you want to
No one s trying to kill me now, he interrupted in a teasing tone, pulling her
closer.
Morgan! she exclaimed, pushing away from him and turning to get off the bed.
Don t you realize what s going on here? Someone wants to kill us! We can t just act
like it s another normal day.
It s been hours since the attempt, he pointed out. Nothing happened all night
and I don t think there will be another such attempt. Especially not in broad daylight. It
would be too risky, too much of a chance of being spotted. Trust me, whoever it is may
be watching but they won t make another move on us until we try to leave.
You can t know that!
Yes I can.
How? How can you know what that killer is thinking?
Because that s what I d do, he replied. If I d attempted an assassination with a
high-powered rifle through a window and failed, I wouldn t try it again. The target
would be on the watch for it. Just like we are now with drapes drawn.
And I wouldn t try breaking in on them in a place like this. There s too much
security guards and cameras. Again, too risky.
But what I would do is wait until the target left, and pick them off on the street. In
the resulting confusion there would be cover to get away.
But, Morgan, just because you have it reasoned out that way doesn t mean
Sara, he whispered. I know. But it doesn t matter. Not now. All that matters now
is that I want you. I need you, Sara.
No other argument would have swayed her as effectively. But her fear kept her
rooted in place. Her mind filled with the image of the man in the window, that rifle
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pointed at their apartment. He could be out there now, waiting for a chance to kill
Morgan.
Nooooo, she put her hands to her head. She couldn t let that happen. They
needed time. Time to make their escape. Just a few short hours. If only they could be
safe for just a few short hours.
She lost track of her surroundings, was unaware that Morgan had gotten off the bed
and was shouting her name, shaking her. Her mind was focused on only one thought.
Staying safe until Morgan s plan could be set into action stopping any more attempts.
Sara, look! Morgan exclaimed, Please. Look at the clock!
She snapped to, hearing only the word clock. She looked at it. Stared at it. Counted
to one hundred. Time did not change.
You did that! Morgan exclaimed. You stopped time.
She shook her head. That s impossible. If time was stopped then wouldn t we be
stopped too?
Who knows, Morgan replied and went to look out of the window. But this much
I can tell you. Nothing is moving out there.
What should I do? How do I make it start back? She paced back and forth,
hugging her arms tight around herself.
Maybe we don t want it to start. Sara, if you can keep time frozen then this might
be our chance to get away. We ll have to travel on foot but in just an hour we could be
miles from here.
You re right! She started gathering up things but he stopped her. Just get your
purse.
But my computer
It can all be replaced. Come on, let s go.
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They hurried through the apartment and into the hall. Morgan punched the
elevator button. Nothing happened. No lights, no sound. Nothing. He punched it a few
more times and they waited. Still nothing.
I guess it s like the clocks stopping time stopped the elevator, she suggested.
Then we take the stairs.
When they reached the lobby level they stopped and gawked. The man at the front
reception desk was frozen, his mouth open as he held the telephone receiver to his ear.
A woman was halted in mid-stride, looking over her shoulder at the man on the phone.
This is a little creepy. Sara reached for Morgan s hand and they hurried to the
glass doors.
And found them immovable. The automatic opening function had frozen. No
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