“Shhh! Listen!”
They heard more conversation. Carole sounded scared, and it seemed to Rolf that she was even pleading.
“I’m going in there now,” Rolf said, yanking on his boots, “before your friend and my friend are dead friends.”
“No!” Teresa lowered her voice. “Just let me finish pulling on my dress and stockings and patching myself up a little, and I’ll find out what is wrong. If I can, I’ll talk the man outside and you can get the drop on him in the hallway.”
“And if you can’t?” Rolf asked.
Teresa thought about that a moment, then said, “I’ll kick the wall or the door or something. That will be the signal for you to come in with your six-gun ready.”
“You’re taking a big, big risk.”
“Carole is worth it,” Teresa said, “and you must think that your friend is too, or we’d still be humping in bed.”
“Yeah,” he said, “I guess that’s true enough. But I think you are awfully brave.”
“Brave?” Teresa smiled. “In my business, you had better be a little brave or you’ll soon be dead.”
Rolf watched her finish dressing. He had an overpowering desire to tell Teresa that he’d fallen in love with her and wanted her to be his bride. But Rolf was so nervous that he couldn’t get all that out just then so instead, he just grabbed and kissed Teresa.
“Hey!” she cried, pushing him back and staring at him as if he’d gone crazy. “What’s the matter with you anyway? This is no time for that!”
“I know,” he said, feeling real stupid. “But I couldn’t help myself. I’m in love with you and … if I was to get killed in a few minutes, I wanted you to know my heart.”
Her anger melted and Teresa’s face softened. She came over, put her arms around his neck, and said, “Rolf, you really mean that, don’t you?”
“Dam right! I love you, Teresa, but I’m no kid.”
“I believe it. And I almost believe that I could love you too.”
Rolf almost dropped his gun. “Then you’ll marry me!”
Teresa didn’t know whether to weep or to laugh. She did neither. “Rolf, honey,” she said, “this has been one of the strangest nights of my whole sorry life. And I don’t know what kind of trouble is going on next door or what will happen to us now. But trust me, I’m far more experienced in these matters than you are, and I should try to get into that room and find out what we’re up against.”
He kissed her again. “But what if you get shot?”
“Then I would either die or survive.”
“But-“
“Shhh! Don’t ask any more questions. Just be ready in case I can’t handle the trouble.”
“All right,” he heard himself tell her. “I’ll be ready and I won’t miss if it comes to shooting. I’m a dead shot, Teresa. I may look harmless, but I’m not.”
“Okay,” she whispered, breaking free of his arms. “Let’s get this over with.”
Rolf gripped his six-gun so tightly that his hand ached and his fingers started to go numb. Aware that his hand might actually lock up, he tried to relax as Teresa stepped out into the hallway and then knocked on the broken but closed door to Nathan’s room.
“Who is it!” Clyde roared.
“It’s Teresa!”
“Go away! I already got a whore!”
“I need to speak to Carole!”
“We’re busy!”
Teresa took a deep breath and banged harder on the door. “Carole! Carole, are you all right!”
“I said to go away!”
“I have to see my friend!”
Rolf heard Carole cry out in pain, and then he actually felt the floor shake under the feet of whoever it was that had barged into Nathan’s room. Rolf stepped back into his own room, gun up and ready to fire as Nathan’s broken door was yanked open. Out in the hallway, Teresa also took an involuntary step backward and her hand flew to her lips. Rolf could see Teresa, but not the man she faced, although he must have been pretty threatening, because Teresa suddenly looked very frightened.
“Clyde?” she whispered.
Rolf knew at once that she was facing Clyde Zolliver and had every reason to be terrified.
Clyde’s laugh filled the dim hallway. “Yeah, Teresa, baby. I knew you’d never forget old Clyde and that long night we had together.”
Teresa visibly shivered and then attempted to look past the giant whose form was blocking the doorway. Please, can I see Carole now?”
“Why, sure! If I knowed it was my little spitfire out here, I’d have come running. Join our party! I got plenty of
