Adam's Thorn (23 page)

“So what miracle had you out on
the dance floor?” Brandon asked Adam.

“No miracle,” Adam replied calmly.

“And with the woman who tried to
drown you with my milkshake, no less.”  Brandon grinned widely.  “You failed, I
might add, Barbie.”

“You think?”  She grinned back.

“Yep.  Oh wait.”  Brandon held up
one finger.  “Instead of arresting you for assault with a sloppy weapon, is
Adam dancing with you as punishment?”

“I don’t think it’s punishment,
he’s a pretty good dancer.  Better than me, actually.”

“Oh, I doubt that.  I saw you
cutting up the floor with that painter until Adam muscled his way in.”  Brandon
punched Adam on the arm.  “Jealous much?”

“Big mouth much?” Adam returned.

“I’m a cop.  I observe things.”  Brandon
tapped his temple.  “I know things.”

“I think you’re starting to short
circuit.”  Adam glanced around.  “Where’s Tessa?”

“She’s getting the drinks.”

“You’re all class.”

“Hey, she offered.”  Brandon
looked at Barbie.  “Settling in all right?”

Not really wanting to repeat yet
again that she wasn’t moving to Peeron permanently, Barbie simply smiled. 
“Yes.  Everything is getting done.”

“Good, good.  Liven the place
up.”  Brandon grinned widely at Adam, who simply looked levelly at him.  “Ah,
here’s Tessa now.”  Brandon turned to a redheaded, slim woman who handed him a
glass of beer.  “Tessa, this is Barbie.  She’s staying at the old Declan
place.”

Introductions were made,
pleasantries exchanged for several minutes before Adam looked down at Barbie.  “Ready
to go?”

  “Yes.”  She smiled at Tessa and
Brandon.  “Nice to meet you both.”

“Same here,” Tessa replied.  “I’ll
see you around.”

Adam steered her over to the table
where Ghost, Ali, Lori and Matt getting ready to leave.

“Work in the morning,” Ali explained. 
“Unlike Ghost, I can’t work in my pyjamas.”

“And I’ve just got a call to
inform me that Hamish is unwell, so I’m pulling early shift on the ambulance instead
of late shift.”  Matt sighed.  “I was looking forward to a sleep in.”

“Never mind,” Lori said.  “I’ll
snuggle with Dougie instead.”

“Lucky fur ball.”

Barbie expected Adam to release
her as they walked, but he kept his arm around her, only shifting it when they
went through the door, though he kept his hand on the small of her back right
up until they got to the cars.  He stayed with her until everyone was gone and
she had started her car.

She looked up at him standing
quietly by the window. “Thanks for the rescue job.”

“Anytime.”  His deep voice slid through
her like warm chocolate.

It had to be the lingering effects
of having him so close to her.  “You’re a good dancer,” she offered, wanting to
say something as he continued to just watch her, the shadows making his
expression unreadable.

Bending down, he placed one hand
on the window sill and looked in at her.

Unsure what to expect, she could
only look back at him, startled when he reached out suddenly, his thumb
trailing down her cheek before he suddenly straightened abruptly.  “I’ll follow
you home.”

Of all the things she thought he
might have been going to say, this caught her off-guard.  “What?”   

“I’ll see you safely inside.”

Tyring to gather her scattered
thoughts at his unexpected touch, she started to object.  “Oh, Adam, no need. 
I have the security lights and-”

“I’ll follow you.”  He strode to
his car.

Totally bemused, she could only
shake her head and drive off, his headlights in her rear view mirror.  True to
his words, he followed her all the way home, his car idling in the driveway as
she parked the Laser in the garage and unlocked the door.  When she glanced
back at him, he still waited, so she gave him a quick wave, not really knowing what
else to do, before closing and locking the door behind her.

Fred and Barney were sitting in
the doorway of the kitchen like two disapproving fathers awaiting an errant
daughter’s arrival home.

“Hey.” She dropped the keys onto
the hall table.  “Something really weird happened tonight.”  They didn’t look
impressed.  “Adam touched me.  On the cheek.  For no reason.”

She couldn’t stop the little grin
that curved her mouth.  Call her a sap, but that touch following his protective
embrace had struck a cord deep inside her.

Barney shot his leg up and proceeded
to wash his manly bits.

“I know you’re not impressed, but
I’m- ”
What?
  She blinked.  Actually, she didn’t really know.

Now that she thought about it, did
Adam maybe feel sorry for her?  Maybe - and this was a bit of an ick factor -
see her as Melissa’s kid sister?  Oh no.  That made her wonder why he’d even
bothered to save her from Bruce’s intent to press a date on her.

Because he’s a cop.  He’s a
naturally protective man.  He’s always been a gentleman when it comes to women.

Basically, she wasn’t sure what to
think of the whole evening.  Maybe he was just ensuring that Bruce would see
his gesture and not bother her further.  Yeah, that was probably it.

With a sigh she had no business
heaving, Barbie went to bed.

While her brain told her Adam was
just being Adam, her body told her that he was a hunk that left her thighs damp
when she awoke the next morning from some really erotic dreams.  The fact that
the dream involved handcuffs and a really strong hand was something she refused
to contemplate.

A cold shower was pretty effective
at taking away any lingering heat.  Or so she told herself as she readied the
massage room for her first client of the day.

A thump sounded from upstairs and
she shrugged.  Once that window frame was fixed, she’d be a happier person.

Her hand froze on the appointment
book. 

Oh shit, there was no frame to
thump, because the frame had been replaced by the carpenters.

Swallowing, she looked up at the
ceiling.  Another sound this time, a scraping.  Cold prickled down her arms.

Chapter 7

Grabbing the trusty broom, Barbie
edged up the stairs.  All was quiet, nothing stirred.  At least it wasn’t dark,
the sound of the birds outside, the morning sunlight streaming though the
window at the side, the sound of a car passing, all combined to give her
courage.

Ridiculous to feel fear in the
middle of the day.

Taking a tighter grip on the
broom, she went up the stairs, treading firmly.  At the top, she strode from
room to room, flinging open the doors and walking inside.  Yep, daylight made
her braver, and refusing to think while she did it, pushing back any irrational
fear, had her acting with confidence.

Until she opened the door to the
girl’s room, then her heart almost stopped.  One of the dolls was lying on the
floor, its eyes closed.  Looking around, she barely repressed a shiver.  The
window was shut, nothing else was disturbed on the shelves.  Then she spotted
the wardrobe with its partially open door.

Hadn’t she closed it after looking
through it the first time?

Her hold on the broom grew sweaty
as she swallowed.

Don’t freak out.  Don’t give in
to fear.  Just check inside, see that there’s nothing in there but some mouldy
old clothes, and shut it securely this time.  Be an adult.

 
Taking a deep breath, she
marched over to the wardrobe and flung the door open.  Half of her expected it
to be empty, the other half of her expected a horrendous wraith with black
holes in place of eyes to come flying out at her.

Neither happened and she sagged in
relief, only to shriek when something landed on her shoulder.  Whipping the broom
up, she swung around to confront a startled Henry.

“Whoa.”  Holding up his hands, he backed
away.  “It’s just me.”

“Oh shit.”  Lowering the broom,
she placed one hand on her heart, right about where her heart threatened to
pound it’s way out of her ribcage.  “You scared me.”

“Not like you did me.”  He glanced
from her to the broom.  “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just heard something,
came up to investigate.”  Closing the wardrobe door, she gave it an
experimental tug, finding it locked firmly in place.

“No one here but you, the cats, me
and the boys.”  Henry scratched the back of his head.  “Want us to have a look
around?”  Before she could stop him, he called out, “Shane! Bruce!”

The painters appeared at the
doorway, Bruce greeting her with a smile, Shane with his usual impassive
expression.

“’Morning, Barbie,” Bruce said
cheerfully, making it more than obvious that he wasn’t bothered by Adam’s
intervention the previous evening.

“Hi Bruce.  Shane.”  She looked at
Henry, “There’s no need to-”

“How ‘bout you take a look around
outside, Shane.  Barbie thought she heard something, gave her a bit of a
fright.  I’ll check downstairs.  Bruce, you take up here.”

Feeling foolish, Barbie tried to protest,
only to have Henry take the broom from her and  herd her downstairs.  “Now,
girlie, you sit and have a cuppa, steady those nerves of yours.  I’m sure
nothing is here, but old places creak a lot, old furniture becomes unstable.  We’ll
check around, make sure, okay?  There.”  Hand on her shoulder, he pushed her
down into a chair at the table. “You sit right there while me and the boys
check around.”

Barbie blinked.  Was it her
imagination or was Henry treating her like a child?  A helpless woman?

Shane went past the kitchen
window, and she could hear doors opening and shutting upstairs.  Henry’s boots
sounded in the hallway.  Minutes later, he walked back into the kitchen with Bruce
and Shane on his heels.

“No one here.”  He plugged in the
kettle with a fatherly air.  “Let’s get you a cuppa, love, settle those
nerves.”

Now she felt like a real dill. 
“Henry, honestly-”

“Big old house like this makes
sounds,” he continued, pulling out four mugs and dumping a tea bag in each,
completely at home in her kitchen.  “Only natural, but it can sound spooky,
especially when you’re alone.”

Shane leaned against the wall,
crossing his booted ankles, while Bruce stood with legs slightly apart, his
arms folded across his chest.

“Old furniture sometimes becomes
warped,” Shane stated.  “Doors don’t shut properly, things fall off when you
least expect it.”

Regardless of feeling a little
stupid, Barbie couldn’t take the image of the doll lying on the floor of a
closed room.  “What about the doll?”

“Probably the shelf is starting to
come loose from the wall.  The carpenters can fix that.”

“Oh.”  Geez.  But still… “The
scraping noise?”

“Probably the wardrobe door
opening.”

“Really?  Would I hear it?”

“Where were you when you heard
it?” Bruce queried.

“My work room.”

“Massage room?”

“Yes.”

He smiled.  “You’re right under
that bedroom.”

“Okay, but if the wardrobe door
was going to fall open, it wouldn’t scrape, would it?”  When they just looked
at her, she added, “Scraping means it isn’t coming easily, so why would it
scrape enough to open?”

“But it was only partially open,”
Shane pointed out.  “Which means it did catch and stop.”

The men all watched her, Henry
with a slightly indulgent smile on his face, Shane and Bruce with barely concealed
amusement.

Great, they thought she was a scared
female, weak and frightened.  No freakin’ way.   She started frowning, only to
catch the kind light in Henry’s eyes, and with a sigh stifled her irritation. 
The men hadn’t hesitated in checking the house out for her, and to get
irritated because they thought she was a little scared wasn’t a nice way to
repay them for their kindness.  Definitely not worth getting her knickers in a
knot.

“Okay.”  With a shrug, she
smiled.  “I’m letting my imagination get carried away.”

“It happens.”  Henry poured
boiling water into the mugs.  “Unless you’re used to old places, they can play
tricks on your imagination.  Especially a place as big and gloomy as this one.”

“Won’t be gloomy for long.”  Shane
took the mug Henry handed to him.  “Old wall paper gone, fresh paint, it’ll
make a big difference.’

“Not to mention the carpenters
fixing up the wobbly frames,” Bruce added.  “Old furniture gone and whatever
else you’re going to do to the house.  It’ll be good as new and a great place
to raise a family.”

Henry glanced at the clock. 
“Speaking of which, the carpenters will be here soon, so we better get a move
on.”  Holding his mug of hot tea, he preceded Shane and Henry out the door.

Bruce smiled at Barbie as he
passed.  Shane gave her a long look, a slight frown on his brow as he followed.

Left alone in the kitchen, she
listened to the men tramp upstairs and shook her head. 
Way to start the
day.

Getting up, she poured milk into
her tea, added one sugar and walked out onto the back veranda, cradling the hot
mug in her hands as she looked around.

Quiet, deserted, as though waiting
for the sound of people to break the silence.

A creak had her jumping, only to
then shake her head and laugh to herself as the sound of the radio drifted from
above.  One of the men had opened the window of the room in which they were
working.

She really had to get a grip.

Turning, her attention was caught
by the rose bushes.  Without the flowers they didn’t look so cheerful.  Sipping
on the hot tea, she studied the buses, thinking that she really had to come out
and finish trimming them.

Which bushes were the real graves,
which the empty one, and which the mystery one? Angling her head to one side,
she decided that either the two furtherest or the two nearest had to be the
real graves, the other two having been added later.