Adam's Thorn (19 page)

“Both.”  He took a deep breath. 
“Look, I came to thank you for paying for lunch at the café.”  At her disbelieving
look, he sighed.  “Barbie, come on.  I was an arse, I admit it, okay?”

“I know you don’t like me, Adam,
but try to refrain from expecting me to be a deliberate bitch every time I do
something wrong.”

He frowned.  “I don’t.”

“Yeah, you do.  You thought I’d
done it deliberately.”

“Which one?  Falling on me or
tipping food on me?”

“That’s not even vaguely funny.” 
Her chin went up.

Man, she could tilt a chin like no
woman he’d ever met.  It tickled his sense of humour, and he couldn’t stop a
faint grin.

Oh yeah, she saw his amusement all
right, and she reacted.  One hand on his chest, she actually shoved him, but he
didn’t move.

Silly little thing, didn’t she realise
bigger, stronger men had tried to shove him without success?  Her attempt was
just plain adorable.

He smiled.

“You are such an arsehole!”

“And you are such a spitting
kitten.”

Her mouth fell open in surprise. 
“I beg your pardon?”

Shit, what the hell was wrong
with his mouth?  His mind? 
Straightening his shoulders, Adam shoved his
ill-timed amusement down.  “Nothing.  Look, I’m sorry I reacted the way I did
at the café, you caught me by surprise.  Thank you for paying for the food, I
appreciate it, but it was unnecessary.  I’m happy to pay you back…”  When that
fire flared in her eyes once more, he wisely changed the subject.  “I also came
around for one other thing.”

“What’s that?”  She regarded him suspiciously.

Reaching into his top pocket, he
withdrew the yellow slip of paper and handed it to her.  “My phone numbers.”

She stared at it.

“Take it.”

She made no attempt, just looked
back up at him, her expression suddenly uncertain.  “Why?”

“Because I’ll feel better knowing
you have them, that’s why.”  Reaching out, he took her hand, turning it over to
drop the piece of paper in her palm, using his fingers to gently close hers
over the yellow slip.  “Just keep it, okay?  Call me.”

“I don’t-” she began.

“Call me,” he repeated, steel
underlying his tone.  “I mean it.”

She looked down at the paper, at
his hand still holding hers.

Focussing on the job at hand
brought back other things he’d noticed.  Releasing her, he glanced behind her
into the hallway.  “Is everything all right?”

“Um…”  Barbie glanced up at him,
the anger fading from her eyes.  “Yes, why?”

“Because you came running out of
there like a bat out of hell.”

“Oh.”  She gave a small laugh,
embarrassment plain in her tone.  “I just…it was nothing.”

He cut his gaze back down to her. 
“Barbie.”

“Honestly, Adam, it was nothing.” 
She shrugged.  “Just a moth or something.”

“You don’t run from moths.” 
Placing his hands on her shoulders, he firmly shifted her to the side and
walked past her into the hall, studying the interior, listening and looking at
the same time.

“Really, it’s - ” Her breath
caught at a muffled thump.

He looked up at the ceiling, one
arm coming back to keep her behind him at almost the same instant he felt her
shift closer, her hand wrapping around his upper arm.

“What’s that?” he asked quietly.

“I - I don’t know.”  She gripped
his arm tighter.

“Stay here.”  He started forward. 
When she didn’t release his arm but took a step with him, he stopped and looked
back at her over his shoulder.

Face pale, she was looking up at
the ceiling, but when he stopped moving, she dropped her gaze to meet his.

“Stay here.”  Gently but firmly
disengaging her hand, he held up one finger near her nose when she began to
object.  “If I have to cuff you to the door, I will.”

For a second he thought she was
going to start smart-mouthing him, but then another muffled thump sounded and,
biting her lip, she nodded.

He hadn’t taken more than two
steps before she touched his wrist.  “Be careful.”

He hadn’t expected her to feel
concerned for him, and he gave her a fleet, reassuring nod before turning and
walking down the hallway to the stairs at the end.  Steadily he climbed the
staircase, head up, eyes trained on the next floor, listening intently.

Another muffled thud.

Slowly he walked along the second
floor, noticing the closed doors to the rooms.  The thump came from the end
room, and he made his way along the hall, silently opening every door along the
way to check inside for intruders, not wanting to be surprised by a possible
attack from the rear while investigating the room at the far end.

The muffled thump sounded again. 
Oddly, it seemed to be more regular now - thump - silence - thump - silence.

Coming to a stop, he pressed his
ear to the door and listened.  Apart from the thump, there was silence.  Back
to the door, he slowly eased it open, widening the gap to peer inside the room.

It was empty except for an
armchair, huge bookcase, desk and a few other bits of furniture.  The window on
the far wall was open.

Moving across the room, Adam
watched as the curtain billowed in, a broken piece of frame work flicking
inwards to thump against the curtain and then the wall before drifting back to
its original place.

That explained that noise.  At the
window he peered out, studying the yard beyond.  The rose bushes caught his
attention.  Four rose bushes, four graves, one of those empty, the other a
mystery.  Just another intriguing piece to the puzzle that had been the
eccentric Penny Declan.  Only a few people in Peeron would remember her as a
young woman.

Maybe he should suggest to Barbie
that she ask Old Man Parker, he’d remember Penny Declan.  He remembered just
about everything and everyone in Peeron.  It’d be interesting, anyway, if Barbie
cared to follow up on it.

Coming back down the stairs, he
found her waiting with one foot on the bottom step, a broom clutched in her
hands.

“What did I tell you about staying
put?”  Annoyed, he plucked the broom from her grasp and leaned it against the
wall.

“I was worried, okay?”  She
glanced at the second floor then back at him.  “What did you find?”

“A broken piece on the window
frame in the room that has books in it.”  Seeing the relief on her face, he
softened.  “You just need to get it fixed so it doesn’t make thumping noises
when the wind blows.”

Her face paled.  “I didn’t open
any windows up there.”

His gaze sharpened.  “Are you
sure?  That window was wide open.”

“I’m sure.  I got home not long
ago, called the painters and they came right by.  I - wait.”  Relief showed on
her face.  “Wait a minute.  Henry and his men were checking out the rooms
upstairs, they must have opened the window when they were checking the old
paint in there and forgotten to shut it.”  Relieved, she nodded.

Taking out his phone, Adam
dialled.

“What are you doing?”

“Hang on.”  He listened to the
phone ring, then Henry’s voice answered.  “Hi, Henry, it’s Adam.”

“Hey, how you doing?”

“Yeah, good.  Listen, I’m at the
Declan house.  Did you or your men leave a window open in the room with the
books, up on the second floor?”  When Barbie opened her mouth to object,
shaking her head, he held simply looked steadily at her.  With a sigh, she
closed her mouth.

“Hang on.”  Henry called out to
whoever was with him at the other end, “Hey!  Either of you blokes go up to the
library, maybe leave a window open by accident?  Cops are asking.”  After a few
seconds, he came back on.  “Yeah, Bruce was checking the paint on the windows
and frame as he’s going to start in that room tomorrow.  He says he left it
open by mistake.  Everything all right, Adam?”

“Everything’s fine.  Just
checking, Henry.  Thanks.” He clicked off the phone and slid it back on his
belt.

“I told you, my imagination goes a
little wild in this house.”  Barbie sighed.  “That’s why I haven’t phoned the
police for every little noise I hear. I’m not wasting valuable resources for
foolish call-outs.”

“If you’re genuinely concerned,
it’s not a waste of time to call us,” he replied.  “And that is exactly why
I’ve given you my numbers, because I know you’re not going to call the
police.”  He cast her a steely look.  “Call me.  Understand?”

She snapped him  a fast salute. 
“Yes, sir!”  Almost immediately, she blushed.  “Oh - I…I’m sorry.  I didn’t
mean-”

“Yeah,” he said quietly, “you
did.”  And then, amused, he couldn’t help but smile a little.

She glanced away, picking up the
broom.  “Well, um…”

Hell, she was cute.  All quiet,
blushing, sweet.  And if he didn’t get out of here, he was going to start
drifting off into his disturbing head space.

Walking towards the door, he was
stopped by the big black and white cat that strolled out of the lounge and sat
right in his path.  It was either stop or step over him.

The cat looked at him out of big,
gold eyes, its one ear flicking forwards.

“Guard cat?” Adam queried.

Coming up beside him, Barbie
smiled down at the cat.  “This is Fred.”  Picking the big cat up, she cradled
him to her.

The cat gazed balefully at Adam.

“I’ve been thinking about getting
a cat.”  Adam studied the cat.  “This one is making me wonder, though…”

“Don’t be fooled.”  Barbie hugged
the cat close.  “He’s a snuggly-wuggly puss.”

Adam couldn’t see how the
hostile-looking cat could be considered vaguely ‘snuggly-wuggly’, until Fred
suddenly went limp in Barbie’s arm, his head slumping onto her generous bosom,
his eyes going all dreamy.

Personally, Adam couldn’t blame
Fred for being all dreamy-eyed.  If he had his head pillowed on those lush
breasts, he’d be all dreamy-eyed, too.

Or feasting on them.

Mentally shaking away the vision
that brought to his mind, Adam focussed on the cat.  Reaching out, he watched
as Fred sniffed his fingers before stroking around his one ear gently. 
Immediately he was rewarded by Fred’s purring.

“What happened to his other ear?” Adam
asked.

“When I found him banging around
my rubbish bins one night, his ear was badly infected.  I took him to the vet
the next morning but it was too late.  They had to operate and take off the
remainder of it.”  Barbie dropped a kiss on the big head.  “Poor baby.  I had
him neutered and micro-chipped, and now he’s a big snuggly-wuggly kitty.”

“And this one?”  Adam eyed the big
tabby who was happily rubbing cat hairs all over the bottom of his trousers.

“Barney.  He’s also a stray.  I opened
the door one evening to bring Fred in, and he’d brought a friend home.  Barney
was skinny, starving, half grown, and full of attitude.  I advertised him, but
no one came forward, so off to the vet for a snip and a chip.”  She laughed at
Adam’s wince.  “You men, always uncomfortable at the mention of a snip!”

“Let’s not go there.”  Watching
Barney spreading the hairs on his trousers reminded Adam that he was on duty. 
After giving the tabby a brief pat, he headed for the door.  Opening it, he
cast Barbie a look over his shoulder.  “Remember, any weird things happen, call
us.  Or me.”

“Sure. Okay.”

“I mean it.”

She nodded.

He wasn’t convinced, but all he
could do was hope she took notice.  He’d check the area now and again, have
Brandon drive by and check as well if needed.

Before turning the patrol car onto
the highway, he glanced into the rear view mirror to see Barbie still standing
on the veranda watching him leave.  She cut a lonely figure standing on the
veranda of the big, dark house with its faded paint and peeling wall paper.

He’d make sure those security
lights went up soon.

Chapter 6

After another restless night at
the old house listening for sounds that never happened, Barbie was glad to hear
from Bob Winslow.  By lunchtime he was out attaching the security lights to the
back and front of the house.

Climbing down the ladder after attaching
the last security light, he said, “Now, these lights will be triggered by
movement, so be aware that a stray cat or sometimes even leaves blowing across
them can set them off.”  Folding up the ladder, he placed it back in his van
before turning back to her.  “If you need to turn them off, say if there’s a
storm and lights keep going on because of the leaves and branches or anything
at all, or you just don’t want them activated for any reason, you just flick
those switches right inside your back or front door.  Okay?”

“Thanks, Mr Winslow.”  She handed
him a cheque for the full amount owing.

“Thank you kindly.”  Beaming, he
scrawled ‘paid’ on her invoice, signed it with a flourish, tore it out of the
book and handed it to her.  “Now, you have any problems, you call me,
understand?’

“I will, thank you.”  Smiling, she
folded the invoice in half.

Clambering up in the driver’s
seat, he shut the door with a bang, leaning his arm on the window as he added,
“Just remember, don’t turn off the lights if you don’t have to.  You want them
to come on as needed.  Besides which, your young bloke won’t be impressed if
you turn them off.”

Barbie blinked.  “Young bloke?”

“Yeah.” He winked and pressed one
finger to his mouth before laughing.  “Gotta go.  See you around, Ms Declan,
and don’t forget to call me if you have any issues with the lights.”

Puzzled, Barbie watched the van go
down the driveway and pull out onto the highway.  Okay, that was weird.  What
young bloke was he talking about?

Shaking her head, she went back
into the house to file the invoice with the other paid bills.

Henry’s two painters were busy in
the library stripping back the wallpaper on the walls and scraping off the old
paint around the window sill.  Henry was outside sanding down the wood of the house. 
The cats were safely ensconced in her bedroom.