She was about to continue on down when, out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed a second line of less dense shadow in the wall to her left. The wall that separated the library office from the staircase.
That explained why she had heard Julie and Travis going up and down the servants’ steps so clearly through the wood. There was another door off the landing that had, at one time, been used to service the library.
She continued down the steps, moving cautiously, not just for reasons of safety but to avoid making noise. The last thing she needed was for someone passing by in the hall on the second floor to hear her and come to investigate the strange sounds emanating from the staircase. Explanations would be awkward.
At the foot of the stairs, she paused to aim the flashlight at the second panel door. She summoned up an image of the layout of the little office. The card catalog was positioned directly on the other side of this wall. Years ago someone had evidently concluded that the servants’ stairs were no longer practical and that there was, therefore, no reason not to shove the heavy wooden catalog up against that wall.
She was about to switch off the penlight and let herself out into the hall when she caught the faint glint of gold. A chill went through her. She lowered the beam of light to the crack that marked the base of the narrow door that had once opened into the library.
Approximately half an inch of what looked like the trailing end of a bracelet or a necklace stuck out below the edge of the wooden panel. It was almost invisible in the shadows. If she hadn’t noticed the second door and aimed her flashlight in that direction, she would never have seen it.
How could anyone lose an item of jewelry in such an odd location? Perhaps it had been placed on top of the card catalog years ago. It could have fallen off the back and landed on the floor behind the catalog.
But in that case, how had a tiny section of it ended up under the old servants’ door?
Curiosity laced with an inexplicable sense of dread drew her toward the bit of gold. She stopped in front of the panel door, searching for a way to open it.
The sound of rustling movements on the other side of the wall made her go cold. Someone was in the library office.
She listened to drawers being opened and closed in the desk. Whoever it was, he or she was moving quickly, as if afraid of being caught.
A moment later the rustling sounds ceased. The faint echo of footsteps hurrying away through the bookstacks announced that the intruder had departed.
She waited until she heard the footsteps go past the hall door before she went to it and opened it very carefully.
She stuck her head out in the corridor just in time to see Julie Bromley turn the corner and disappear down the main staircase.
She thought about that for a moment and then went back to the other servants’ door.
With the card catalog hard against the wall on the opposite side, it was impossible to push the wooden panel inward toward the office. She had to pull it toward her.
She had almost decided to go into the library to find a ruler or some other object she could use to pry the door open when she noticed the small depression in the wooden panel. It was just the right size to allow her to set her fingers into it.
She tugged gently. The door groaned, reluctant to move on its aged and rusty hinges. But in the end she got it open.
She found herself looking at the solid wooden back of the tall card catalog. When she aimed the flashlight at the floor she saw the bracelet.
With trembling fingers she reached down to pick up the slender band of gold links. She didn’t need to see the name inscribed on the small gold plaque to identify the bracelet. She recognized it immediately.
She tightened her fingers around the strand of gold and closed the panel. She went to the other door and let herself out of the dark stairwell into the hall.
A moment later she was back in the library office. She looked around, examining things closely. A few items were askew on the desk. Nothing obvious. She probably wouldn’t have noticed the new position of the pen and the pad of paper if she hadn’t been looking for trouble.
She pulled open the bottom drawer in the desk and removed her satchel. When she undid the clasp and looked inside she saw at once that the contents had been disturbed.
She took out her wallet, opened it and quickly counted the cash inside. It was all there. So were her credit cards.
But if Julie Bromley had not come in here to help herself to some easy money, why had she searched the office?
The restlessness drove him out of his workshop late that afternoon. Wrench looked up from his empty food dish.
“Want to go for a ride?” Thomas said.
Wrench trotted briskly toward the front door. Thomas picked up his keys, the binoculars and his jacket and they left.
Outside, Wrench bounded up into the passenger seat of the SUV and took up his usual position, riding shotgun. Thomas got behind the wheel and fired up the engine.
They drove to the abandoned cottage near Alex Rhodes’s house, parked the SUV behind the old structure, got out and locked up.
Together they made their way through the wet trees to the vantage point Thomas had discovered yesterday with Leonora.
Wrench amused himself investigating scents and smells while Thomas settled down with the binoculars.
He wasn’t sure what he expected to discover today. He had just needed to get out of the house for a while. Spying on Rhodes was as good a way to pass the time as any.
An hour later he was about ready to head back to the SUV with Wrench when a small, battered Ford drove into the front yard of the cottage.
A young woman dressed in jeans and a red leather jacket got out of the car. Her long hair was caught back in a ponytail.
“Not his usual kind of client,” Thomas said to Wrench. “Judging by that old beater she’s driving, I don’t think she can afford his antistress formula. So what’s she doing here?”
He heard her car in his driveway just as he was about to check the living room window for the twelfth time to see if the lights had come on in her cottage on the other side of the cove.
The realization that she had come here on her own volition sent a rush of pleasure through him. The uneasy sensation that had been worrying at him all day faded beneath the onslaught of anticipation.
“Okay. All right. This is good, Wrench. This is a very positive sign.”
Wrench was already on his feet, heading toward his pile of personal possessions.
Thomas opened the front door. Leonora came up the steps looking tense, not like a woman who wished to engage in acts of wild sexual abandon. She clutched something in her hand.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I found this today.” Leonora dropped a gold bracelet into his palm as she went past him into the hall. “It belonged to Meredith.”
Wrench appeared, a badly gnawed leather chew-toy in his mouth. He sat down on his haunches in front of Leonora and dropped the imitation bone at her feet.
She stooped, picked up the toy and patted Wrench on the head.
“Thank you, Wrench. It’s lovely.”
Wrench was satisfied with the response.
Leonora handed Thomas her jacket, went into the living room and stood at the window, arms folded tightly around herself.
He examined the bracelet. There was a small gold plaque inscribed with Meredith’s name.
“I gave it to her when she graduated from college with a terrific grade average.” Her mouth curved in a wry smile. “Of course, that was before I discovered that she had fiddled with the computer database in the college records office to adjust her final grades.”
He studied the gold links coiled in his palm. “Where did you find it?”
“Behind the card catalog in the library office. There’s a door there. It opens off a flight of servants’ stairs. Do you know, I never saw Meredith without that bracelet after I gave it to her. She even had it on the day I found her in bed with Kyle.”
Thomas looked up suddenly, his attention caught by the grimly resigned inflection of her voice. Leonora’s face was angled away from him. She appeared to be fascinated by the view of the cove.
The light of the flames on the hearth gave her khaki-green silk sweater a soft sheen. The garment had a rolled neckline and long sleeves. It fit snugly across her elegantly sculpted shoulders and skimmed over her small, high breasts. The trousers she wore were also green, a hue that was several shades darker than the sweater. Her hair was caught up in its customary sleek knot.
He forced his attention back to the broken bracelet.
“I remember seeing it on her wrist,” he said, not stopping to think.
Leonora looked at him over her shoulder. The icy irritation that glittered in her eyes made him tighten his fingers around the bracelet.
“What do you want me to do,” he said, “pretend that I didn’t have an affair with her?”
“Of course not.” She turned back to the window. “What would be the point? I already know the truth. There are enough lies and half-truths floating around as it is.”
Anger sparked, catching him off-guard. He crossed the room in three strides and came to a halt directly behind her. Close enough to catch her scent. He did not touch her.
“That’s the real issue here, isn’t it?” he said. “You want me as much as I want you but you can’t handle the fact that I had a brief affair with Meredith.”
“Let’s stick to the problem at hand, okay?”
“Hell, no, it’s not okay. There’s something we need to get settled first. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I get the feeling that you see me as just another one of Meredith’s dumb-as-a-rock conquests.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is true and I don’t appreciate your low opinion of my intelligence, maturity or self-control.”
“I never said you weren’t intelligent or mature or self-controlled.”
“You didn’t have to say it. You’ve made it clear in a thousand other ways. For the record, I’m not some nineteen-year-old, hormone-driven kid who follows his balls wherever they lead him.”
“There’s no need to get angry about this.”
“Too late. I’m already angry. You know what? It really pisses me off that you assume I was powerless to resist Meredith. You think she was some kind of succubus? A siren who was totally irresistible to weak-minded men like me and your ex-fiancé?”
“I never said you were weak-minded.”
“I’m not your ex-fiancé, either.”
“I know that.” She took a jerky step away and swung around to confront him. “You’re not anything like Kyle. You’re very different.”
“Thanks for that much, at least.” He closed the space between them. “While we’re on the subject, I’d like to clarify a couple of other issues here. Meredith and I had a very short-lived relationship. You want to know who ended it?”
Leonora took another step back and came up against the window ledge. “I’m sure it was Meredith who ended it. She was always the one who ended things. There’s no need to go into the details.”
“Tough shit. We’re already into the details.” He planted one hand on the windowsill behind her head and leaned in close, wanting her to get the point. “I’m the one who called a halt to the relationship, if you can call it that. Want to know why?”
She blinked and then cleared her throat. “I’m sure you had your reasons.”
“Damn right I had my reasons. I ended things with Meredith because I got bored. That’s why.”
“Bored? With Meredith?”
“Yeah. Bored. That overgrown, sexy cheerleader routine wears thin fast. At least it did with me. I knew it was time to call it off when I realized I was a whole lot more interested in finishing the tile work in the bathroom than I was in enduring another dinner with Meredith. You got any idea how hard it is to talk to a woman who is always watching you to see if you’re responding to her?”
“Tile work, huh?” She pursed her lips. “I’ve never heard of any man getting that bored with Meredith.”
“Meet one.”
He took his hand off the window, straightened and turned away. He realized that he still held the gold bracelet. He tossed it lightly in her general direction and watched her snatch it out of the air with a quick, reflexive movement.
“I can’t figure out why I’m bothering to explain myself to you,” he said. “Probably a complete waste of time.”
She looked at the bracelet in her palm. “I wouldn’t say that.”
“I would.” He went to the counter, leaned back, crossed his arms and took a grip on his temper. “You’re right. We’ve got more important things to discuss.”
“Just one thing before we change the subject.”
“Yeah? What would that one thing be?”
“You should know that I never thought of you as just another one of Meredith’s casual conquests.”
“Like hell you didn’t.”
“No. It’s true. I knew from the first moment I met you that you weren’t her usual type.” She closed her hand around the bracelet. “I couldn’t figure out why she had gotten involved with you in the first place. Later, when I found out about the money, I assumed she made a play for you because she thought you might be useful. It was the only thing that made any sense.”
“If that’s your not-so-subtle way of telling me that I’m not as sexy or interesting as her standard seduction targets, you can stop right there. Leave me with a few shreds of masculine pride.”
Her quick laugh came out of nowhere, momentarily dazzling his senses. He was transfixed. Probably looked like some stupid deer caught in the headlights.
“I certainly wouldn’t want to put any dents in your ego,” she responded. “Look, since we’re setting the record straight, it’s my turn to clarify a few issues. The reason I said you weren’t Meredith’s type is because she wasn’t in the habit of spending a lot of time on men who would probably turn out to be difficult.”
“You think I’m difficult?”
“In a word? Yes. What’s more, Meredith would have sensed that straight off.”
“You think?”
“The thing about Meredith was that she didn’t go after men because she liked a challenge. She didn’t even enjoy sex. She told me once that, at its best, she considered it a form of exercise. Sort of like jogging.”
He hesitated, thinking of how things had been with Meredith. Not great.
“I wondered about that,” he said finally. “Figured it was me.”
“It wasn’t you.”
“Did she prefer women?”
“No. She didn’t like any kind of sex. Remember me telling you about all the men who came and went in her mother’s life?”
“Yes.”
“One of them assaulted Meredith when she was ten.”
“Shit.”
“Yes. In some ways she never got past the trauma. Oh, sure, she knew she had a body that men found attractive and she took advantage of that fact. But she never learned to enjoy the experience.”
“Explains a few things.”
The room grew quiet except for the crackling of the fire.
“You really think I’m difficult?” he said eventually.
“Uh huh. Interesting, but definitely difficult.”
She sank down onto the curved and padded arm of the sofa. One leg swung gently. She dropped the bracelet on the coffee table and watched him intently.
He shoved his fingers through his hair. “You know, I’m not the only one here who could be labeled difficult.”
To his surprise, she gave him a slow smile.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” she said. “I’d rather be difficult than easy.”
“There is nothing easy about you, Leonora Hutton.”
“And nothing easy about you, Thomas Walker. Where does that leave us?”
He walked to where she sat and lifted her gently to her feet. She made no move to resist.
“
They say two negatives make a positive.” He put his hands on the curve of her shoulders. Testing. “Maybe two difficult people would find it easy to have an affair.”
She slid her arms around his neck. “I doubt that it would be easy but it’s bound to be interesting.”
“Oh, yeah.”
He covered her mouth with his own.
Chapter Twelve
Her response was immediate and electric in its intensity, just as it had been last night when he had kissed her in her kitchen. She gave a soft, husky little moan and tightened her arms around his neck. Energy exploded in the air around them.
The sense of urgency that swept through him made his blood pound. He had some vague goal of carrying her into the bedroom but it seemed too far away. He fell with her onto the sofa instead.
She ended up on top, her legs tangled with his, fingers splayed across his chest. He shoved one hand through her hair, pulling it free of the pins that had anchored the sleek knot. A curtain of dark silk tumbled over his fingers and brushed his jaw. He gripped her head with both hands and deepened the kiss until she opened her mouth for him.
There was a soft thud at the back of the house. Loud enough to break the spell. Leonora flinched.
“What was that?” she whispered urgently.
“Wrench,” he muttered, pulling her close again. “Dog door.”
Wrench had opted to discreetly disappear in the face of this display of uncontrollable human lust. Thomas did not blame him. If he hadn’t been personally involved in this wildfire, he would have stepped outside for a while, too.
But he was involved. Completely and totally.
When he slid his hands down the length of Leonora’s spine and up under the silk sweater, she shuddered against him. He felt the tremor go through her from head to toe. Her back was warm and elegantly contoured beneath his palms.
It took him a frustrating minute or two to unfasten the waistband of her trousers, lower the zipper and get his hand inside where he could feel her warm skin against his palm. When he finally succeeded, he stroked the firm, rounded curves of her buttocks and moved his fingers lower still. The crotch of her panties dampened at his touch.
Smoke in Mirrors Page 15