She was referring to the fact that he was naked except for the towel.

'Everything I own is in the washing machine,' replied Finn, 'even my shoes. I thought about wearing some of your stuff, but none of it fitted.'

Finn followed her and stood in the doorway of her bedroom. Marie was looking right at him.

'You get my note?' she asked.

'Yeah!' replied Finn.

'Both of them?'

'Were there two?' said Finn, holding her stare.

Marie was studying his face, looking to see if he was messing with her.

'What?' asked Finn, his voice a little higher than he'd have liked.

'You didn't get the second note?'

'No.'

'You didn't have a rummage around in my top drawer?' said Marie, holding his gaze. 'I'll know.'

'I certainly did not,' said Finn, trying to get the indignation level just right.

'Yeah, yeah!' said Marie, taking off her jacket and throwing it on the bed. 'It's the first thing everyone does when they're left alone in a stranger's apartment. Sniff their underwear and check for porn.'

Finn changed the subject.

'Did they make you go to court?'

Marie looked round at him. 'How d'you mean?'

'Where I come from you only ever wear a suit if you're up in court.'

Marie screwed up her face. 'I know! What was I thinking? I've still got it in my head that you need to dress up for authority. I look like I work in a bank, don't I?'

'Or the Salvation Army.'

'That bad?' she frowned. 'No point putting it back in the wardrobe then. Next time you see this suit I'll be polishing the silverware with it.'

Marie sat on the end of the bed and slipped her skirt over her hips, then stooped to pick her jeans up from the floor. As she bent over Finn couldn't help but stare at her perfectly formed bottom. She was wearing a more sensible pair of cotton briefs than the ones he'd seen in her drawer, but the effect on him was the same. There was nothing overtly sexual in her actions. If anything, it was the casualness that Finn found so arousing. As she sat back on the bed and started to pull her jeans over her slim brown legs Finn wished he had more than just a thin towel hanging between him and the rest of the world.

He turned away and headed back into the lounge.

'You hungry?' called Marie.

'Yeah,' replied Finn, trying to think of anything other than her arse. 'What about Granny's?'

'Eh?'

'Carlo's, I was thinking of Carlo's,' he said, correcting himself. 'I hear they do the best breakfast in Tuscaloosa.'

Marie came into the room dressed in a pair of jeans and a black fitted T-shirt. On her feet she wore a pair of battered old trainers. Even dressed down she looked great.

'Now I look like I rob banks. We're too late for breakfast, but their brunch is even better. You going like that?'

'Sure! Why, is there a dress code?' replied Finn.

'Towels are fine, just not in that colour.'

'You know, it's probably not a good idea for us to be seen together. Maybe we should just have something here, then . . .' he hesitated, not really wanting to say the next bit '. . . I'll leave you to get on with your life.'

'Oh! Sure!' said Marie, unable to disguise the disappointment in her voice. She hadn't really considered he'd have to leave. 'Sure! I wasn't thinking. Why don't I run across the road and get some stuff from the deli?'

'Fine, yeah,' said Finn.

Marie bent over to pick up the fifty dollars she'd left on the floor earlier in the day, then turned as she opened the front door. 'I don't know what you like.'

'I'll just have a bit of whatever you're eating and a double espresso,' said Finn.

Just as she reached the door Finn had a thought.

'Marie.'

'Yeah?'

'No granola.'

She smiled and left the room.

Finn made his way over to the window and waited for Marie to leave the apartment block. He watched her walk across the parking lot and out through the large wrought-iron security gate at the far end. She strolled across the street like a catwalk model, her movements full of subtle grace, natural and elegant: very feminine. When she reached the far side of the road she turned and looked up: almost as if she knew Finn would be watching.

She didn't do anything dumb, like wave, but even at this distance Finn could make out the smile on her face. He saw her mouthing something. He couldn't be sure, but it looked like 'Shame on you.'

Finn hoped she could see him smiling too.

When the washing machine finished its spin cycle Finn transferred his clothes into the drier, then made his way back to the window.

As he waited for Marie to emerge from the delicatessen he noticed the car. It was parked right outside the front gates. The two men sitting up front were staring up at the window. Finn ducked out of the way, but it was too late. They'd seen him.

The sound of the car doors slamming shut echoed across the lot. Finn could hear muffled voices, then the whirring and clanking of the main gate sliding open. Finn glanced out of the window and caught sight of both men's heads disappearing under the sandstone ridge that ran the full length of the apartment's faade. A moment later the buzzer by the front door of the apartment let out a shrill, metallic squawk. Finn could see Marie: outside the deli now, waiting to cross the road.

He prayed that she would look up.

The buzzer sounded again.

Marie was waiting for a car to pass before crossing the narrow road: she hadn't noticed the guys at the entrance to the building. Finn wanted to open the window and shout, tell her to stay where she was, but he couldn't.

He needed to get dressed and out of there.

Whoever was downstairs had their finger pressed firmly on the buzzer, determined to keep it there till someone answered.

Finn saw Marie set off across the road then suddenly stop and turn back on herself. She was on the grassy verge staring anxiously up at the window.

Finn held his hand up to the side of his face and mimed a telephone.

Marie nodded and quickly headed back into the deli.

A few seconds later the telephone started ringing.

Finn snatched it up.

Marie sounded scared. 'Who are they?'

'I don't know,' replied Finn urgently. 'They're not the Feds you talked to this morning?'

'No!'

'Where's your car?'

'There's an underground car park,' replied Marie. 'Take the stairwell at the other end of the balcony.'

'You got the keys with you?'

'They're next to the lamp on the bedside table . . . or on the bed maybe. Who are they, Finn?'

The buzzing stopped.

'The front door's open,' said Marie, struggling to control the fear in her voice. 'I can see them. They're in. Finn, they're inside.'

'Go to your car, I'll see you there in a minute.'

Finn slammed down the phone and ran through to the bedroom. He wrenched open the top drawer of the dresser and pulled out Marie's Colt and the box of cartridges. A second later he was back in the lounge tugging at the door of the drier, but the door wouldn't open. He tried forcing it, but it wouldn't budge.

'Shit!'

Finn had no option: he had to get out of the apartment.

The door to the apartment slammed closed behind him as he ran along the balcony towards the fire exit. He was naked except for the towel wrapped around his waist.

The landing doors at the far end of the balcony clanked open and the two guys were in the hall.

'Hey!'

One of them was already sprinting towards him.

Finn reached the other end of the balcony and burst through the fire-escape door.

He had barely cleared the first landing when he heard the door above crash against the wall.

The two men were leaping the stairs three at a time, catching up fast.

In desperation Finn leapt the last remaining set of steps, but as soon as he jumped he knew he wasn't going to make it. His foot caught the edge of the bottom step and he tumbled painfully onto his ankle, hitting the concrete floor hard. The impact knocked the gun from his hand and sent it spinning along the ground out of reach. There was blood seeping from cuts in his knees and elbows.

The two guys were now less than six feet away. Finn scrambled over and grabbed the gun. In one swift movement he was back on his feet.

'One more step and I'll blow your fuckin heads off.'

It was a risky strategy: he had no idea if it was loaded or not.

There was such ferocity in Finn's tone that even if he hadn't been holding a gun neither of the men would have dared move.

'I swear to God, I'll shoot you in the head . . . and you in the fuckin heart.'

Finn got the reaction he was hoping for, the flash of fear in their eyes. It was slight, but Finn had been in enough scraps in his life to know that for the moment at least he was in charge.

'I'm going through this door: if either of you feels brave enough or stupid enough to follow me, that's fine, cause I don't give a shit if I kill you here or through there. It's up to you.'

Finn fumbled behind his back until he found the door handle then slowly backed out into the car park.

Just as the door closed Finn saw the unopened box of shells he'd been carrying lying at the foot of the stairs. He had sixty seconds before they realised the gun wasn't loaded.

The rolled-metal shutters started cranking open on the other side of the underground car park. Marie was running down the ramp.

'Jesus, Finn, who the hell are they?'

As Finn approached he tossed her the car keys.

'You'd better drive.'

Marie got in first and turned the key in the ignition, but the two guys were already through the door and sprinting towards them.

Suddenly the car spluttered into life.

Marie flipped the gearshift into reverse and jammed her foot hard to the floor. She had to fight to control the car for a few seconds as it screeched backwards, only narrowly missing a concrete support pillar. Marie pushed it into drive and shot forward in a cloud of blue exhaust fumes. The sump crunched hard against the ground as the car sped up the ramp, out into the bright Alabama sunshine.

Neither of them spoke until they reached the Black Warrior River on the outskirts of town.

'Where we going?' asked Marie, staring straight ahead. 'I'd suggest my mom's, but she hasn't seen a naked man in over twenty years, the shock would kill her.'

Finn didn't look round. 'Yeah, better stop at a mall and buy some clothes first.'

'You okay?' asked Marie.