“What the hell happened,” she demanded. “Hepromised he’d be home early. You think I like stayingup this late waiting for him t...o fall in the door?”I shrugged. “He drank too much.”“Again.”“Again,” I agreed.“But he promised.”Pete took a step forward, trying to be helpful. “It wasa pretty big night,” he said. “I guess he got carriedaway with the excitement.”I winced. Pete was inexperienced. You. “No. No weapons and nothing in my pockets.”He frisked me, then stepped back.“Hands on your head, then stand up and move past the back door of the cruiser.”I did as he said and he followed close behind, and although I couldn’t see it, I was sure he had his hand on the butt of his service revolver. When I was past the door, he opened it, I got in, and he shut the door. I put my hands in my lap and waited, looking through the heavy wire screen that separated the backseat from the front, and. I mean, she was trapped – and I mean that pretty literally – in a Hell of a situation. Gary, at the height of her despair, you snatched her from the one kind of escape that she was able to think of. In its place, you've presented her with an unimaginable, ungraspable, way out. She's in limbo right now – she can't process what's happening."Having run out of words for the moment, I stopped talking and looked up at Gary. His expression was serious, as he thought about what I'd said.He started to. The curious, heightened look on his face just made my heart quicken. I went out to the front hall and got that thin, blue scarf that hung there with his trench coat. Then, I came back to the kitchen, crossed the room, and straddled his lap facing him, sitting down slowly until he supported most of my weight. "Do you want to try something with me?" I asked. His breath was faster than mine. His eyes were dilated. He didn't try to touch me. "Very much," he whispered. I held up the scarf. "You rely.