One Millhaven Lane (13 page)

Over the past several days, they'd spent a lot of time talking, touching on every subject. They'd become so well acquainted it was as though they'd never been apart. If Nate had slept with Brittany, he'd have told her.

Asia pruned her face and mocked Brittany's snooty manner. Cocky witch. She should have lobbed a snowball at her. Too late now. She missed her chance, but they’d probably run into each other again.

Brittany had made the Grove her home. After graduating high school, she furthered her education and attended Boston University. From there, she returned to the Grove without a husband or any prospect of one and a marketing degree. She secured a position at Southern Co-operative. After completing the six-month initiation in four, she vaulted up the ranks of banking and secured the bank manager's position after Hank Jessop retired, a position she still held today. Asia didn't do business with the Co-operative. If she had, she would have taken her business elsewhere, not that she banked in the Grove.

Now that she would frequent her hometown on a weekly basis, Asia thought about doing something about Brittany. It wasn't that she threatened her physical or mental well-being or was an obstacle to her in any way. Brittany was more like an ant at a picnic, pesky but tolerable.

Still, after all these years, the woman could get a rise out of her for something that happened years and years ago. She thought she'd gotten past it, but maybe she hadn't. Some hurt and anger took up permanent residence in our hearts, sometimes without us even knowing.

The grandfather clock in the hallway chimed one o'clock.

Satisfied the slow cooker would cook their meal, Asia grabbed her coat off the peg in the front hallway and peeked through the window in the door.

 
She couldn't see anyone and rushed from the house.

That morning Asia had learned from Oswald of Ozzie's Meats that spinster Henrietta Hornecastle experienced trouble recovering from knee replacement surgery. The woman had no one and needed help with daily exercises and meals, but her pride refused to accept assistance from anyone willing to lend a hand.

Asia had some experience dealing with little old cantankerous ladies and decided to pay a visit on the woman.

Henrietta lived five houses down Millhaven Lane. Asia didn't bother with her car. She walked at a brisk pace and with a firm purpose, her breath forming a white cloud before her face. As Nate had instructed, she kept a fervent watch of her surroundings, particularly at her back. On her belt, she carried a cell phone, a walkie-talkie and a can of wasp spray, which Nate assured her was more effective than pepper spray. It sprayed farther, for one thing. She was certain Bobby wouldn't make a move on her again in daylight, especially now that his presence had been compromised and his identity revealed.

She arrived at Henrietta's and rang the bell, turning to look behind her. The street and the houses on the opposite side were quiet. She turned back when Henrietta yelled from inside the house.

"Go away. I have two of whatever you're selling."

"Henrietta, it's Asia McDevitt. I'm here to help you with your exercises." Last night, she'd researched post surgery regimens for knee replacement recipients. She missed nursing and looked forward to applying her skills.

"I told you to leave. Don't you understand English?"

"Say what you want, Henrietta, but I'm not leaving until I've done what I came to do."

"I'm calling the police."

"Go ahead, but I'm still not leaving. Just so you know, I have an in with the police department. May I come inside?"

"Go away."

Henrietta was still as sour as a lemon.

Asia turned the knob, not surprised to find the door unlocked. She peeked in and yelled, "Here I come. Get decent."

Henrietta didn't holler or shout obscenities, like Asia expected.

Asia didn't need a blueprint to learn her way around Henrietta's. With a few exceptions, the houses on Millhaven Lane were all two-story three-bedroom homes and basically laid out the same. At one time or another, she'd been in all the houses on the street, with the exception of this one. With good reason. Henrietta Hornecastle was not a pleasant woman. Strange, considering she chose teaching as a profession.

Nate's words of caution rang in her mind: Be careful, Asia. Bobby could be anywhere.
Anywhere, Asia. Particularly where you least expect him to be.

What could be more unexpected than old lady Hornecastle?

Standing on the Oriental rug in the foyer, Asia listened. Other than the ticking clock against the wall at her left, the house was quiet. She wondered where the old lady was.

"Mrs. Hornecastle?" Asia asked, taking tentative steps through the hallway.

It was early afternoon and sunny, yet the house was dark.

She reached the living room doorway and peered inside. Heavy drapes covered the front window.

She called to Henrietta again, giving her eyes a chance to adjust. Something whizzed past her ear and landed on the floor behind her. Asia wouldn't back down. She was there to help Henrietta and help her she would.

"Anything else you care to fire at me? Now's your chance." Asia's eyes had adapted but visibility was still negligible.

"Don't you listen, girl? I told you to go away."

"My mama always said I had a head like a turnip." Asia followed the sound of the old lady's voice and found her sprawled on the sofa, a blanket covering her legs. Empty food containers from The Haunted House littered the floor and coffee table. In times of joy, need and sadness, the citizens of the Grove banded together and helped, even those persnickety old ladies who wouldn't lend of themselves for anyone.

"Here you are." Asia walked to the end table and switched on the light. "Isn't that better?"

Henrietta harrumphed.

Asia patted Henrietta's hand. "It's nice to see you too." Henrietta had aged considerably since Asia had last seen her. A first-grade teacher, the kind who left a lasting impression on five-year-olds but not in a good way. Henrietta didn't frighten her. Asia knew how to handle bullies and nasty teachers now.

"Oswald at the meat shop said you're having a little trouble with your knee," Asia said.

Another harrumph.

"Fine. Don't talk to me." Asia took off her jacket and threw it over the arm of a chair. "I'm not leaving here without doing what I came to do." She tied her hair back and undid the drawstring on her backpack.

"What do you have in there?" Henrietta asked, bringing her sparse eyebrows together.

Asia wondered whether Henrietta thought her day of reckoning had come. "Rewards," Asia said, jiggling the bottles and grinning. "But only if you do your exercises."

"I'm too old for exercise."

"How would you have liked the doctor to say you were too old for a knee replacement?"

"Harrumph."

"Now, let me have a look at your leg." Asia rubbed her hands together to warm them.

"Are you a nurse?"

"Yes, ma'am, I am. It's fair you should know though I don't practice nursing anymore, but I keep up-to-date." Before Henrietta could change her mind, Asia lifted the throw and removed the bandage covering Henrietta's knee.

"How is it?" Henrietta asked, lifting her head from the pillow and squinting at her leg.

"It's healing nicely. When did you have the surgery?"

"Can't remember."

"When were you released from the hospital?"

"Can't remember that either. Besides, what business is it of yours?"

"Get this done in Boston, did you?"

"Yup. Horse doctors, they got up there." Henrietta folded her arms across her bosom and jutted her chin. "When they weren't sticking me with needles, they were shoving things up my unmentionables. Pin cushions and guinea pigs, that's what they think of old people. Never answered one of my calls. Don't know why they attach that buzzer to the bed if they have no intention of responding. I could have been dying, for all they knew. And the food," she rolled her eyes, "rank, is what it was. How'd they expect the sick to regain their strength feeding them crap like that? Stale bread and rotten fruit. I saw mold in a Jell-O cup, I did."

Asia sympathized.

Henrietta looked at her as though she only then recognized her.

"I know you. You're...you're..."

"Joanna McDevitt's daughter. We live just down the street. You taught me in first grade."

Henrietta narrowed her eyes. "Oh, I get it now. This is payback, isn't it?" She snatched the blanket from the edge of the sofa and threw it over her legs. "Well, you aren't going to get the chance, little missy. I remember you. Mischievous, little one. Always pulling pranks on the other kids. Set little Sissy Mersereau's hair on fire."

"Miss Hornecastle — "

"Get out. Get out now." She cowered in the corner of the sofa, her eyes widening with fear.

"You're confusing me with my twin brother, Bobby. You remember him, don't you?"

Henrietta looked into space awhile, then dipped her head and frowned. "He doesn't live in the Grove anymore. Bad seed, that one."

Asia couldn't argue. "He's back in town. Didn't you hear?"

She pruned her lips. "Seems I remember something about that. That Healy fellow brought a flyer around, asking for our help in apprehending him. Cops in this town couldn't find their ass with a magnifying glass. Harrumph."

Asia held back a smile. "You haven't seen Bobby, have you?"

"Naw. He'd have no reason to come here."

Asia heard a noise upstairs. Her pulse quickened. She looked at Henrietta. "Is someone in the house besides us?"

"Nobody wants to spend time with an old lady. It's probably a cat scratching at a window. They climb the tree out front, then leap onto the porch."

It sounded more like a two legged creature to Asia. She wouldn't rest until she knew for certain what caused the noise. "Is it all right if I take a look?"

"Suit yourself. It seems you do anyway."

Asia walked into the hallway and peered upward into the darkness. As she reconsidered her notion to investigate, something landed heavily with a resounding
thud
on the floor above her head.

Chapter Ten

Startled, Asia jumped in the air, landed and settled in place. She listened. Whatever caused the thud had stopped. With her mind telling her how bad an idea it was, Asia tiptoed up three steps and stopped. Everything was quiet. That didn't mean there wasn't someone or something up there though. She'd heard a noise. It wasn't her imagination.

"Is anyone up there?"

Her cell rang. She nearly jumped out of her socks. Keeping her gaze on the upstairs landing, she took the cell from her belt and answered. "Asia McDevitt."

"Where are you?" Nate asked.

"Henrietta Hornecastle's and I think someone's in the house."

"Barricade yourselves in the kitchen. I'll be there in five."

Asia closed her phone and hurried into the living room. "Time for those exercises, Henrietta," she said, keeping her voice soft. Without waiting for a response, Asia turned the woman's legs sideways.

"I don't want any exercise. I already told you that. You really do have a one-track mind."

"You can thank me later." She ducked under Henrietta's arm and pulled. Henrietta didn't budge. Asia turned and looked at Henrietta. "I can't do this alone. I need your help. Please."

Henrietta appeared to ponder Asia's plea.

She couldn't wait out the old lady. Asia glanced over her shoulder at the stairs before taking a different tactic. "How does a cup of coffee sound?"

"I prefer tea."

"Fine, tea then, but you have to earn it by walking to the kitchen." She looked over her shoulder again. All clear. She turned back. "All set?"

Henrietta nodded. "I'll try."

"Good."

Asia took hold of her again. This time when she pulled, Henrietta came forward. Asia helped her stand. "I knew you could do it."

"I'm not an invalid. I go potty without assistance."