Midnight Jewels

down the carpeted hall toward the back stairs.
    They encountered no one en route, but when they slipped out into the cold night air two sleek, dark shapes materialized in front of them.
    "The dogs," Mercy whispered, halting immediately. "I thought they'd be in their pens."
    The Dobermans made no sound, but their small, pointed ears were held stiffly alert. They moved closer. Mercy shrank back.
    Croft didn't move. Instead he extended a hand to the closest Doberman. "Easy boy," he said softly. "We just came out for a little fresh air." He kept talking quietly to the animals in a voice that was so soft Mercy could barely hear the words.
    The dogs cocked their heads to one side, listening attentively. Whatever questions they might have had in their canine brains seemed laid to rest by Croft's quiet words.
    "It's okay," Croft finally said to Mercy. "They won't bother us."
    "Are you sure?"
    "I'm sure."
    "I never did like Dobermans," Mercy whispered as she eased past the watching animals. "They always look like they're ready to attack."
    "That's because they are always ready to attack."
    "That explains it. How did you get to be such good friends with these two?"
    "Dogs and I get along well. We. understand each other."
    "Maybe you're in the wrong business. Maybe you should be raising dogs."
    Mercy and Croft threw their bags into the back seat of the Toyota. Mercy slide into the driver's seat. She turned the key in the ignition as Croft got in beside her and closed the door. As she started backing out of the drive, Croft leaned over to peer at the gas gage.
    "Well, we got lucky in two respects."
    "How's that?" Mercy's attention was on her driving as she started toward the compound gate.
    "No one emptied the gas tank and I know how to open the gate."
    Mercy's fingers tightened on the wheel. "You mink maybe that's a combination of too much luck?"
    He leaned his head back against the seat. "It's a possibility."
    "Croft."
    "Don't get cold feet. This was your brilliant plan, remember?"
    She brightened. "Maybe it's working because it was a spur-of-the-moment thing. After all, no one expected us to sneak off tonight."
    "That's true. They expected me to end up face down in a pool. As for you——-"
    "Yes, what about me?"
    "I don't know, Mercy." Croft spoke wearily. A deep tiredness seemed to be replacing the alternating episodes of drunken euphoria and sickness. "I can't think straight yet. Let's just get out of here."
    "How do you feel. Croft?"
    "Exhausted." He held his hands up in front of him, examining them in the glow of the dashboard. "But I think I can still handle the gate."
    A few minutes later he proved himself right. The lights of the big house faded as Mercy eased the Toyota through the compound gates and started to descend the steep road. They reached the outer gate a few minutes later without incident.
    "You could probably have driven through this one if you'd had to." Croft observed matter-of-factly when he climbed back into the car after unlocking the gate. "But it looks like our luck knows no bounds tonight. We must live right."
    The huge bus that had brought the crowd of guests stood in the starlight looking for all the world like a slumbering dinosaur. Mercy edged the Toyota around it and started into the first of the endless curves that shaped the mountain road for miles. Tires squealed as she came out of the first curve.
    "I take it you haven't had a lot of experience driving mountain roads?" Croft noted after a few minutes.
    "Don't worry. I'm a fast learner."
    "Good." He closed his eyes again.
    The isolation as well as the sharp, never ending switch-back, curves were enough to give anyone an anxiety attack, Mercy told herself as she concentrated on her driving. She had only gone a couple of slow, torturous miles when she noticed the brief flash of headlights in the rearview mirror. They disappeared almost immediately, cut off by a bend in the road behind her, but she was sure she had seen them. She shoved her foot down on the gas.
    "Croft!"
    His eyes snapped open, focusing instantly on the hairpin turn she was approaching at high speed. "Uh, Mercy, you want to slow down a bit? Even my Porsche can't take turns like this at this speed."
    "Someone's following us."
    "Well, whoever it is won't have to worry about finding us if you go off the edge here, will he? We'll make a nice, big hole in the guard rail."
    "Maybe mat's what he wants. Maybe he wants us to go over the edge." Nevertheless, Mercy reluctantly slowed