Jason took a breath to steady his nerves. It wasn't the craziest thing he'd ever done, but it still felt stupid. It didn't matter. When had Charlie ever driven him to do the smart thing?
Just walk in and say it, he told himself. The man was deposed and they were on the same side now. His moods had evened out with the stress of command gone. There was nothing ridiculous about two brothers in arms having a drink. Jason could call him by his first name. It would be fine.
He quickly climbed the stairs to the classrooms now used as bedrooms on the second floor of the old schoolhouse, not caring that his boots echoed down the wide, empty hallway. Bass's room was dead center of the building with windows that gave a clear view of the front expanse of lawn. Miles had the room directly across the hall, his sightlines covering the rear of the building. Even now Jason could hear the quiet thwack of skin on skin as Miles plowed forbidden fields.
Jason knocked firmly on Bass's door three times. As the noise bounced in the overly large space, the sounds from Miles's room paused as if debating a response. Bass opened the door just as the pounding across the hall resumed.
"I'm going into town for a drink. You want out of here?"
Charlie's giggles crept out from under her door, followed by a lower, more animal sound presumably made by sheriff she'd recently "befriended." The thuds from Miles's room paused once more before resuming with frenzied gusto, as if trying to run up the mountain before the hallway noises could trip them again.
"Let me get my coat," Bass answered.