Page 70 of Gideon

“And you think you being here increases our chances of success?”

“You know what they say. Two heads are better than one.”

“This is serious.”

“I know.” She blinked at him, and in the low light, he remembered her as a little girl.

“I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Noted. Now, have you seen Isabel?”

He took a deep breath, then focused back on the house. “I have. She looks okay, but…”

“But?”

“I didn’t see any injuries, but Fairfax isn’t treating her well. If she stays with him, things won’t get any better for her.”

“We have to get her out of there.”

“And do what?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes.”

“We’ll figure that out later. One step at a time. She has no one else.”

He was finding it hard to focus on what mattered with her so close in the dark. As a girl, he’d barely taken any notice of her, but now, the five-year age difference was nothing.

He scooted back a couple of inches. “It’s a huge farm, not to mention the house itself. The safest thing to do is wait. If we can find her away from the house, we avoid a lot of possible problems. Did she used to come into town much?”

“Not often.”

“Then she’ll probably come again eventually. We can wait.”

“Or we could get her out tonight.”

“What if she sleeps in Fairfax’s room? It would be impossible to get to her without anyone knowing.”

“She doesn’t. She told me once. Even when they were…together…she’d go back to her own bed before morning. I know where she sleeps. We just have to be careful.”

“I’m not comfortable with this. There are too many things that could go wrong.”

“You give up too easy.”

“I’m trying to be pragmatic.”

“Well, don’t.”

“We can’t go barging in there. It won’t save Isabel. All it will do is get us both in a lot of trouble. If we’re caught on his property, he could shoot us both as trespassers. And that’s exactly what we are, whether we’re trying to do the right thing or not.”

“Then come up with a better plan. You’re the one with all the experience.”

“I’m a mechanic.”

“But you’re here. You’re the only one doing something, and you’re not an idiot.”

“I came to observe.”

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