Time Thieves (12 page)

“I’ll need the rest of today to get caught up and go shopping.” She stood up and walked him to the front door.

He walked out into the bright sun, smiling.

Life was good.

S
ari walked back
inside, closed and locked the door behind Ward. First thing tomorrow, she needed to get that security system functional.

She picked up the watch she’d brought home, desperate to see what that marking had been. Back in her shop, she turned on the lights over the desk and sat down. Her hands were almost shaking as she took pictures of each layer as she carefully took it apart, carefully documenting each step.

Inside were similar markings to the original. Similar but unique.

She photographed everything then locked it all away in the safe. She’d thought the process would only take a few moments, but it ended up intense and detailed. Of course she got caught up in her work and lost hours.

A yawn caught her by surprise.

Jet lag was catching up. She secured the shop then grabbed her bag and headed up to her room.

Everything appeared undisturbed. And yet someone had been inside the house…and could have been several times before for all she knew. It made her uneasy. Even though she’d walked the house with Ward and there’d been no one hiding in it, she couldn’t shake that sense of violation. She hadn’t mentioned anything to him, but now that she was alone again, the feeling was amplified.

She crawled into bed and tried to sleep. But although she was tired, her mind couldn’t stop spinning. She thought she drifted off to sleep, at least her clock said hours had passed. It wasn’t enough though. She needed more. She dozed.

Until she heard something…off.

Her breath caught in her throat, she waited. And there it was again. She sat up. What could it have been? Finally, she realized she had to know.

Standing beside her bed in her pajamas, she realized there was one place she hadn’t checked with Ward. As the shop had been locked, she hadn’t considered an intruder up in the attic. Then again, no one knew about the attic.

Unless the two contractors had said something.

It’s not like people cared about her old house, but the attic was a curiosity that could have been mentioned in passing. And pricked someone’s interest. Shit.

She stepped into her slippers, grabbed a housecoat, and walked back downstairs. She unlocked the shop and entered, heading straight for the attic door. Using the long pole she’d left close by, she pulled open the door and climbed up the staircase. It was dark inside. She should have grabbed her flashlight, damn it. She carefully made her way over to the light switch and flicked it on.

Sari turned to look around and gasped in shock.

An old woman huddled in the far corner of the attic, her eyes closed, her shoulders trembling. How she got into Sari’s home – and the attic, no less – Sari had no idea.

“Jesus.” Sari took a quick look around, realizing that the woman might not be alone. But it appeared that she was.

“Who are you? And how did you get here?” She wanted to know why she was there, but from the sounds of it, the woman wouldn’t be able to say much, being on the edge of collapse.

“Hiding,” the old woman whispered, her voice shaky and thin. “Please…hide me.”

“Huh?” Sari rushed over to her. “I can’t imagine any place you’d be better hidden than here.”

The woman clutched at her clothing, “Not safe. Help me, please.”

“Hush, of course I’ll help you.” Sari wrapped an arm around her tiny body, worried at the shivers wracking the bone-thin frame. “Let’s take you back downstairs and get you warm.”

“No, no. I can’t be seen.”

“Why not?”

“Scared. Can’t go back.” She started to cry and buried her face in her hands. “Please help.”

“Shh. We’ll take care of it.” Looking around, Sari found a blanket folded up on top of a box. She snatched it up and shook it free. Returning to the woman, she wrapped it up snug around her. “That should help you to warm up.” She couldn’t leave the woman. It was freezing up here. The heat didn’t reach into the room. “Please let me take you downstairs. Or to one of the bedrooms. You can’t stay here.”

“No, no. They’ll find me.” The woman hunched up smaller and tighter into a ball. “Please help me.”

“Sure. Okay, don’t get upset.” Only what was she to do with her unexpected and unwelcome visitor?

“What’s your name?”

“Madge.” The lady lifted her head and looked up slightly. “My name is Madge.”

“Well, hello Madge. I’m going to go downstairs and make you a cup of tea, okay?”

Madge nodded slightly, her face losing some of its pinched look. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Tea would be lovely.”

Hating to leave her, Sari slipped down the ladder and ran into the kitchen. She put on the teakettle and grabbed up the phone. She called Ward.

The phone rang, then rang again.

She shifted on her feet then peered out in the direction of the hallway. She didn’t want Madge to come down and panic at Sari talking to someone else.

“Come on, hurry up and answer,” she muttered. She glanced at the clock on the stove and winced. It was two a.m. No wonder he wasn’t answering.

“Hello,” Ward said, his voice deep, husky. He cleared his throat. “Hello?”

“Ward, it’s Sari.”

“Sari?” Suddenly he sounded wide-awake. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, thank God you’re there. I don’t know what to do.”

“Whoa, hang on. First off, are you in danger?”

“No. Not now. I mean, I thought I was but now it’s fine. Except I don’t know if it’s fine because she says she has to hide, so maybe it’s not all good.” Sari blew a stray strand of hair out of her face, taking a deep breath. She was babbling, for Christ’s sake.

“Calm down and talk to me. I’m getting dressed and I’ll be there in five, but don’t hang up.”

She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I’m making a mess of this. Yes, please come over. I don’t know what to do with her.”

“With who?” he damn near shouted through the lines.

“Madge! Didn’t I say that already?”

“Who in the blazes is Madge?”

“She’s the woman I found hiding in the attic.”

Silence.

In the background, she could hear doors opening and closing and the sound of an engine starting up. Then he took a deep breath and asked very quietly, “Sari, are you telling me there is a strange woman in your attic and you didn’t let her in there?”

“Yes, exactly.” Sari grinned, her shoulders sagging with relief. He did understand.

“Jesus. Get out the house right now until I get there, do you hear me?” His voice roared across the sound of the engine.

“I can’t do that. I’m making her a cup of tea.”

Shocked silence filled the line. “Sari! Stop. Please go out in the backyard until I arrive. You don’t know who this woman is. You don’t know what she wants or where she came from.” His voice turned pleading. “Please leave right now. I’m almost there. Just stay outside until I get there.”

He was serious. Something in his voice had her turning nervously to look again in the direction of the shop. Was she dangerous? Surely not. Then again, how had she gotten there and had she come with someone? That made her spin around and look outside.

“Sari?”

“I’m going.”

“You should be out already,” he snapped.

She let the kitchen door slam behind her. “Did you hear that? That was the kitchen door slamming behind me.”

“Good. I’m almost there.” He hung up.

Standing outside in the cool night air, she realized how late it was. There’d be no sleep for her this night. Damn. She could really use it too. The sound of squealing tires had her racing around the outside of her house.

Ward.

Grinning, she picked up her feet and ran around her house to the front door. He opened his arms. She rushed in and they closed tightly around her. She soaked in his loving concern like a sponge then reared back and hit him lightly on the shoulder.

“That’s for scaring me half to death.”

He rolled his eyes. “
I
scared you? But a person hiding out in your attic didn’t?” He reached out and shook her shoulders lightly. “Do you even think about that? How did she get in? Did she come alone? Or is she a distraction?”

“A distraction? For what?” But she did understand. She stared at him in amazement. “Wow, I don’t think I like the way your mind works.”

He shook his head and gave her shoulders a second shake before dropping his hands. “Too many years on the force.”

“That’s got to be tough.” Her smile sobered. “Come on. Now that you’re here, we’ll take a cup of tea up to Madge. Then you’ll see that she needs our help, not our suspicion.”

She led the way around the back of the house and in through the kitchen. While he waited, tapping his toe on the linoleum floor, she made the tea. “I forgot to ask her if she takes anything in it.”

“I don’t think that’s the issue right now. Let’s go talk to her first before we worry about her comforts.”

She shot him a hard look. “You do realize she could have just wandered into my house because she’s lost? Confused, even?”

“Then I can apologize. Right now I doubt her story.”

Shaking her head, Sari picked up the mug of hot tea and led the way. As they came to the shop door, Ward asked, “Was this door locked?”

“Locked?” Sari stopped to consider. “I’m not sure. I usually do, but I can’t remember if it was this time or not.”

He nodded his head at the front door ahead of him. “What about the front door? Have you touched it?”

She shook her head. “No.”

He walked over to see if it was locked. He didn’t touch it, just noted that the bolt on top had been locked up tight. “And you locked it last night?”

“I’m sure I did. I always do.”

Ward searched her face for a moment, then as if satisfied, he motioned for her to lead the way. Inside the shop, he walked along the front wall, checking that all the windows were secure.

“What are you looking for?”

He spun around, surprise on his face. “How do you think this woman got in?”

“I figured she broke in. That I must have left the door unlocked.” She shrugged. The how wasn’t bothering her as much as trying to get back and make sure the woman was still there. If she’d disappeared as suddenly as she’d appeared, Sari would be frantic with worry. The poor dear hadn’t been in good shape.

“Madge? I’m coming up with a cup of tea. Sorry it took so long to make and return.”

Ward, his voice low, asked, “And the stairs – were they down?”

She frowned and shook her head.

There wasn’t a sound from above their heads. Madge hadn’t answered.

“Shit.” Sari knew she should have made it back faster. She handed the mug to Ward and clambered up the ladder. At the top, she spun around, looking for Madge. Ward came up the stairs, mug in hand, right behind her.

Madge was gone.

*

Ward climbed the
last few steps, handing the mug over to Sari. He didn’t doubt her word; it bothered him more that the woman might have taken off and hidden somewhere else in the house. Or that she’d run out the back door when they weren’t looking. Sari’s house had a chaotic layout. Nothing made any sense or logic. The last set of renovations made a mockery of the floor plan.

He carefully searched the small space. There was no sign of the supposed nocturnal visitor. He walked forward. At the crumpled blanket, he stopped and sent a questioning look at Sari.

“That’s the blanket I wrapped around her.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “Where could she have gone? It doesn’t make sense. I knew I shouldn’t have left her alone.”

“It’s not your fault.” He straightened without touching the blanket. After he walked the rest of the small space, he said, “Let’s check the rest of the house.”

Silently they went down to the shop and made their way through every room in the house. They turned up nothing on the ground floor. Sari led the way upstairs to the left wing. The first bedroom was empty, as were the closets and bathroom. “This is useless. She’s not here.”

“Until we finish the search, we don’t know that.” He nudged her forward slightly. “Let’s keep looking.”