The House on the Shore (23 page)

“It seems
okay
now.
Maybe there was a minor power outage.”

“I don’t think so,” Anna replied, her confidence slowly returning.
“The cable is buried.
My grandparents insisted on
that
because of the bad weather in winter.
It only surfaces again when it reaches the pole by the
cowshed
.
Even in the worst winter storm, the croft
rarely
loses
power
.
I
f
the
power
fails
,
the generator should cut in
automatically. Last night
it didn’t.”

“I’ll
take a look at it shortly, and
check with the power company
next time
we go to the village.
Keep talking to me about what happened last night.”

“Ensay and Rhona were frantic.
I couldn’t see anything wrong.
Someone pounded on the front door, and then there was this almighty boom
.
I
t sounded like a cannon.
I came in here for the poker and the carving knife, and sat on the stairs.
Then I saw…I saw the door handle start to turn…”

Luke swore heartily.
“What did I say about living out here on your own?”

Anna lifted her chin and boldly met his gaze, refusing to be drawn into an argument.
“When I saw the door handle turn, I pushed a chair under it, and waited.
Nothing happened.
After that, there was just silence.”

“I
t’s obvious you can’t stay here.
You’ll have to move into the village, at least until the police check things out.”

“But this is my home!”

“Anna,
sweetheart,
be reasonable,” he said, kneeling down in front of her and taking her hand
s
in his
.
“Someone tried to break in last night.”

“
T
hey tried, but they didn’t get in, did they?”

“A mere technicality.”
Something in her expression made him ask, “This isn’t the first time this
has
happened, is
it?
”

She looked away.

“Anna?
Tell me the truth.”

“No…yes.
I don’t know.
I’ve woken a couple of times with the feeling that something is wrong.
I assumed it’s because I’m not used to the peace and quiet.
Edinburgh
is a noisy city.”

He stood up and pushed his hands in
to
his pockets.
“But surely the dogs—”

“This is the first time the dogs have reacted in any
way.”

“You must
realize
that somebody made a conscious decision to come all the way out here.
So ask yourself why.
And while you’re at it, ask yourself if he might not just come back!”

She jumped to her feet.
The quilt fell to the floor.
“I’m perfectly ca
pable
of
looking after myself.”

“Really?
Look at you.
You’re half naked, and you’re a mess.
You just got through telling me you slept on the couch because you were too darned scared to go upstairs.
Ghos
ts have more colour than you do.
”

Suddenly conscious of her state of undress, she snatched up the quilt and wrapped it around her shoul
ders.
“The dogs protected me.”

“
This time
.
What happens if whoever it was comes back with a
knife or a
shotgun?
The dogs won’t be much protection then.”

Anna gasped at Luke’s words, and as much as she tried to deny it, he was right.
“I’ll…I’ll ask for police protection.”

Luke raised an eyebrow.
“Get real, Anna.
What’s the local Barney Fife
going
to do?
Camp out on your front lawn, waiting for the bad guys to show up?
The police aren’t going to bother about you.
They’ve got enough on their hands dealing with crime in cities to be concerned with a woman who’s stupid enough to live in the sticks.”

“I’m not stupid
—
” She
jumped to her feet.

“Oh
,
yeah?
Prove it.
Move to the village u
ntil this mystery gets solved.”

Anna hesitated.
If she agreed to Luke’s suggestion
,
she would lose her independence, yet part of her wanted to get as far away from the croft as possible.
Only
pride prevented her from giving in.

“I can’t,” she said finally.

Luke watched her collapse back into the chair.
She pulled the quilt tightly around
her shoulders
and rested her head in her hands.
H
e
briefly
contemplated picking her up, slinging h
er over his shoulder and
taking her to the yacht, and keeping her there until he could find out who was terrori
z
ing her.
T
he slam of a car door stopped him.

“Stay where you are.
I’ll see who it is.”
He ran into the hallway.

A tall, thin, brown-ha
ired woman met him at the door.

“Oh, hello.
I was wondering if herself was about, only she didn’t
turn up for work this morning.”

“If by ‘herself’ you mean Anna, she’
s freaking out in the kitchen.”

Morag’s eyes widened.
“I’ve been worried about her.
Now I
know why.
I need to see her
.
”

He stepped aside.
“Be my guest.
W
hile I’m walking the dogs and checking the generator, try talking some sense into her.
Anna, there’s a woman here to see you.”

“Morag?
Is that you?
I’m so pleased to see you!”
Anna said, holding the quilt more tightly to avoid tripping ov
er it
.

Morag gave her a hug
,
clicked her tongue and shook her head.
“Well, lass, it’s a fine state you’re in.
I think you’d bette
r tell me what’s happen
ed
and why that American is here.”

“It’s not what you think.”

Morag frowned.
“You have no idea what I’m thinking, lass.
I’ll put the kettle on
and we’ll have a wee cup of tea.
T
hen you can explain.”

Anna groaned.
“Would you mind if I got dressed first?”

“No, my dear.
You go and put some clothes on. Y
ou must be fair chilled.”

“Thanks, Morag,” Anna replied and kissed
her friend’s
cheek.
“Would you make me a piece of toast?
I haven’t eaten since yesterday.”

“No breakfast?
Tut-tut, it’s no wonder you’re so pale, lass.
I’m just surprised you haven’t fainted clean away.
Off you go.
By the time you come downstairs there’ll be a bowl of porridge waiting for you.
Toast indeed!
That’s n
o breakfast for a young woman.”

Twenty m
inutes later, Anna had showered and
dressed,
and eaten
under Morag’s watchful eye
. Morag’s frown deepened, as s
he recounted the events of the previous night.

“Wasn’t I only telling you the other day there was danger around you?”

“Oh, for goodness sake, Morag!”
Anna snapped.
“I’ve had just about as much as I can take.
I’ve already had a lecture from Luke.
I don’t need another one from you.
There’s probably a perfectly reasonable explanation for what happened.”

“
A
nd what might that be?”

Anna thought quickly.
“A hillwalker…a hillwalker could easily have become disorientated or
been
injured, and seeing the croft, thought it was a
bothy where he could shelter.”

“In the wee hours of the morning?
I don’t think so, lass.
Besides,
if he’d come from the hill, he woul
d have seen
your
Land Rover and
realized
the croft was occupied.”

“Nor does it explain why two of your tyres
are
slashed,” Luke added from the doorway.

“What?”
Anna gasped in surprise.

“I said—”

“I heard you the first time.
Slashed
,
as in cut with a knife?
Are you sure they’re not flat?”

“Trust me.
I know the difference.
The
generator’s been tampered with
,
too.
I’m guessing
someone contaminated the fuel
,
probably with a bag of sugar
.
It would be easy enough to do, even in the dark.
Now, will you take my advice
and go stay with a friend?”

“I’ve told you, I can’t!”

He slammed his palm on the
doorframe
.
“Wake up, girl!
You’re going way overboard with this independence thing.
It’s a cover and you know it.
You won’t accept help when it’s offered.
You shou
ld learn to trust people more.
”

“Now, lass, the man’s right,” Morag interrupted, “you shouldn’t be staying here on your own, not when there are such dangerous people about.”
She
smil
ed
at Luke,
and said
, “Anna seems to have forgotten her manners.
I’m Morag McInnes.”

“Luke Tallantyre,” he said, holding out his hand.

“Pleased to meet you, Luke.
It’s a terrible thing that’s happened.
I don’t know what the world is coming to, when a body isn’t safe in its own home, I really don’t.
It’s obvious Anna shouldn’t be left alone.”

“Stop right there!
Stop discussing me as if I have no more sense than a child
!
”

Luke’s eyes narrowed.
“Haven’t you been acting like one?”

“My grandmother lived in this house on her own, and so can I.”

“Yes,” Morag said, “but times have changed, lass.
It’s no longer safe to leave your house unlocked.
Why even Mrs
.
McPherson
locks and bolts
her door at night.
What about your parents?
Could
you no go and stay with them?”

“No, I can’t.
You know they’re in Beijing and not due home for another year.
Besides,
my father
went to a
great deal
of trouble arranging for the house to be opened up temporarily so I could store my furniture in the basement.
He’ll be very annoyed if I said I wanted to move back into my old room.”

“But it’s your home, lass.”

“Morag, you of all people know that’s not true.
My parents lost interest in me the day I started boarding school.
That’s why they sent me here for the holidays.
We haven’t seen each other in years, but all that’s beside the point.”

Morag glanced at Luke.
“You’d be welcome to stay with me as Lachlan is away, but
m
y hens don’t get on well with yon dogs.
And ever since Mrs
.
McPherson’s Jack Russell terrier chased my cat Jasper up a tree—”

“What about the hotel?”
Luke interrupted.
“Doesn’t it have a place where staff can sta
y?
An apartment or something?”

“Aye, it does,” replied Morag.
“But Ewan let the new chef have it for the season.
H
e’d never agree to have the dogs.
Besides, all the guest rooms are booked for the foreseeable future.
Well, lass, I don’t see what’s to be done, unless….”