The 9th Judgment

The spacious room was dimly lit from the light in the hall. Sarah took in the heavy, Queen Anne-period maple furnishings, evidence of an inheritance as well as the bazillions the Morleys had made in sporting goods. There were little oil paintings near the bed, a huge plasma-screen TV in the armoire, photos along the walls of the handsome Morley clan in sailboats-walls that now thrummed with a pounding rock-and-roll beat.

Sarah was on her mark and ready to go. She crossed the long, carpeted room, then shut the door leading out to the hallway and locked it. Now, except for the blinking blue light of the digital clock, she was completely in the dark.

It was 9:15.

Sarah felt along the wall, found the closet door, opened it, and threw on the switch to her headlamp. The room-sized closet was fantastic, and she wouldn't have expected less from the Morleys. There were racks and racks of clothes, hers on one side, his on the other; a triple-paned floor-to-ceiling mirror at the back wall; everything you could ever ask from a closet-except a safe. Where was it?

Sarah worked quickly, looking behind evening gowns and running her fingers along baseboard moldings and shelves, feeling time whiz by as she inventoried the Morleys' frickin' closet.

She would have to leave. Empty-handed.

Sarah had just turned off her light and exited the closet when she heard footsteps on the hardwood. They stopped outside the bedroom. The doorknob twisted back and forth, then a man's voice shouted, "Hey! Who locked the door?"

Sarah froze. Should she hide? Break for the window in the dark?

The man called out again: "It's Jim. I need to use the can." His laugh was sloppy with drink. He put on a high-pitched, fruity voice. "Hello Kitty? Is that youuuu?"

Sarah's heart nearly stopped. It was Jim Morley, and he was pounding on his bedroom door.

"Hey. Open up!"

Chapter 47

SARAH RAN TO the window, whatever might be in her way be damned. She had her hand on the sill when a door opened into the room and light poured in. Morley had entered the bathroom from the room next door, and his hulking frame was silhouetted by the bathroom light.

He called out as he fumbled for the switch on the bedroom wall. "Is someone here?"

Sarah's mind did a backflip. Without the light, she could see him better than he could see her. She had to brazen it out. "Jim," she said, "can you give us some privacy, please?"

"Laura? Laura, is that you? Jesus. I'm sorry. You and Jesse, take your time. Take all the time you need."

The bathroom door closed. The darkness returned. Take all the time you need, Morley had said, but when he got back to the party, he'd see Laura and Jesse, and he'd sound the alarm.

It was 9:20.

Sarah had a foot up on the sill when an image appeared in the corner of her mind's eye. She'd been in a rush to get to the closet, but she'd half noticed a particular painting of a wheat field right next to the bed. Had it been hinged to the wall?

Thirty seconds, no more, but she had to check it out.

Sarah found the four-poster by the pale blue light of the clock and used it to guide her. Her fingers ran across the edges of the small picture frame, and then she pulled it toward her.

She exhaled as the painting swung open. Behind it was a cool metal box with its padlock hanging open. Sarah moved quickly. She pulled the box from the wall, set it down on the bed, and flipped back the lid. Then she opened the empty duffel bag she'd brought for the loot and began to transfer small bulging envelopes and boxes out of the safe.

When her bag was full, she zipped it closed and returned the empty box to its sleeve in the wall.

Time to go!

Sarah peered out the window and saw a man walking his rottie. He stopped to talk to the valet, then continued up the street. Sarah vaulted onto the sill and turned so that she faced into the room. She placed her hands on the ledge between her bent legs and then let herself down and over the side. She jammed her climbing shoes against the wall of the house, then dropped.

Her foot hit a hollow in the lawn, and her ankle turned.

She stifled a yelp, clenching her teeth in a grimace. Then, hidden by clouds crossing the moon, Sarah hobbled through the dark toward her car.

Chapter 48

SARAH ALMOST CRIED out in relief when she saw her red Saturn parked along the street not far from the Morleys' house. She got inside, whipped off her lamp and knit hat in one movement, and stripped off her gloves. She stuffed them into the duffel with the jewelry cases and slid the bag under the front seat.

She sat in the comforting dark of night, gripping the steering wheel, her ankle throbbing as she marveled at her minutes-long, heart-stopping escapade.

It was unbelievable.

Jim Morley had called her "Hello Kitty."

He'd opened the bathroom door and stared right at her. And still she hadn't gotten caught.