“So would I,” Tony said, for once in agreement with him. But that didn’t cause Bertelli to thwart Rory’s order to help Zeke climb into the gondola.
Two other lads rushed forward, looking astonished, but they scrambled to ease Zeke’s weight from Rory’s shoulders. Zeke never knew quite how, but he found himself standing beneath those billowing yards of silk, clutching the side of a wicker basket.
Rory scrambled in beside him. “Cast off, Tony,” she cried, her voice shrill with urgency.
The warehouse beyond echoed with shouts and trampling feet. Zeke realized the police must have broken through the door and were coming through to the dock.
The three young men worked frantically to cast off the lines. Zeke felt the basket shudder and begin to rise. He took one look down as O’Connell and the other coppers came barreling onto the dock.
Then Zeke was aware of nothing but the solid earth falling rapidly away. His stomach clenched, his head reeling, but not from his wound. He let go of the edge of the basket, sagging to the floor of the gondola.
Rory peered downward, chortling with satisfaction. “Zeke, you should see O’Connell. He looks mad enough to eat his hat. Zeke?”
She glanced around, suddenly aware of his prone position. She hunched down beside him, her eyes, anxious.
“Zeke, what is it? Are you passing out? Is your wound bleeding again?”
He shook his head, gritting his teeth. It was worse than being shot again to have to tell her, but somehow he got it out.
“No, damn it. I’m afraid of heights.”
Twelve
Rory tugged at the valve line to ease the Seamus’s rapid ascent. A loud hiss sounded as though the great balloon itself had shuddered in disbelief. Afraid of heights? It was difficult to imagine Zeke being afraid of anything.
She could tell what the admission had cost him, as an angry, shamed look darkened his eyes. He no longer appeared in danger of passing out, as though having a fresh peril to contend with had roused all his senses to peak alert. Tension corded his entire frame; his jaw clamped rock hard. Reaching one hand upward, he gripped the basket’s side but made no move to raise himself and risk another look below. He closed his eyes briefly as the balloon dipped downward.
“It’s all right,” Rory said. “All I have to do is release some ballast, get the balloon to level off.”
“Do whatever you have to do,” he snapped. “And don’t waste time explaining.”
Bending over the side, Rory sliced into one of the sandbags. Far below her, the city fell away, the tightly packed buildings and the busy streets diminished to the size of some cunningly wrought miniatures. Working between the valve andthe sandbags, she managed to bring the Seamus to a state of equilibrium.
Wisps of clouds drifted by. Rory knew they would soon be lost in the midst of a comforting blanket of white, making it difficult for anyone to track them.
Her gaze shifted back to Zeke. “You can hardly see the ground for the clouds. Does that make it any better?”
He grimaced. “Nothing will make it any better until I get my feet back on solid earth. Just land this thing on my lawn and try to do it more gently this time.”
Rory squirmed, not sure how to break it to him. “Um, I can’t exactly do that.”
“What! You can’t land safely?”
“No, I mean I can’t land on your lawn at all. There’s no way to steer a balloon. You just go where the wind takes you.”
“And just where the hell is the wind taking us?”
“I caught a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty awhile ago. That was off to the right, so I think we’re heading more in the direction of the Hudson, toward Jersey.”
“You think? Don’t you even carry a compass in this blasted thing?”
Rory flushed. “I don’t have any instruments on board. This flight wasn’t exactly planned, Mr. Morrison.”
The irritation faded from Zeke’s eyes. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Rory. I don’t mean to sound so damned ungrateful after the risk you’ve taken for me.”
“Oh, hush,” she said. Balancing carefully, she hunkered down to sit beside him on the basket’s floor. “Considering what you’ve been through, I guess you’ve got a right to be surly.”
“No, I don’t. Not with you.” He caught her hand, brushing his lips against her fingertips. “I owe you my life, you and your friends back there. I just hope Tony and those other boys don’t get arrested for helping me escape.”
