‘It’s all right, Holly.’ He backed out of the cottage, taking her with him. ‘It’s just a stupid practical joke.’
She gave him a hard shove, her heart still racing with the aftermath of fear. ‘How could you?’
He looked at her incredulously. ‘You think I did that?’
She gave him an accusing glare. ‘Didn’t you?’
‘Of course not! For God’s sake, what sort of man do you think I am?’ He ran a hand through his hair distractedly.
‘Who else has a key to this cottage?’
He frowned down at her. ‘No one, apart from me.’
‘So can you explain why a decapitated chicken is lying in my hall, because if you can’t there must be someone else in town who has a key and an equally sick sense of humour.’ She gave another shiver and rubbed at the still prickling skin of her upper arms.
‘Holly, surely you don’t think—’
‘I don’t know what to think!’ she cried, her eyes wide with fear. ‘I’m not a vegetarian but if I have to see that sort of thing again I might very well turn into one. Who would do such a thing?’
‘I don’t know.’ He pulled her towards his cottage next door. ‘But we need to get you out of the way of whoever is behind this.’ He unlocked the front door and ushered her in, closing the door behind him.
Holly felt a shiver pass through her at the grim look on his face. She tried not to cry but she felt perilously close to it. ‘Y-you think someone is trying to scare me?’
‘It looks that way.’
She suddenly recalled the man at the bar and his thinly veiled warning.
Cameron frowned as he saw her expression. ‘What is it?’
‘There was a man in the bar…He spoke to me about Noel Maynard.’
‘What did he say?’
‘He said there were people in town who would make things unpleasant for me if I went around claiming Noel’s innocence.’
‘Who was it?’
‘I think his name was Fred.’
‘Did Geoffrey hear the conversation?’
Holly gave him a shamefaced look. ‘Geoffrey wasn’t there.’
‘He’d already left?’
‘He wasn’t there at all,’ she confessed with a little sigh. ‘I guess he got tired of waiting for me. The barman said he’d left for Sydney half an hour or so earlier.’
Cameron quietly processed what she’d just told him. Geoffrey Cooper was hardly more than a passing acquaintance but he certainly had been very angry about Holly’s visit to his father that afternoon. Sally had told him how he’d come to the clinic and torn strips off Holly, not caring who heard him. But surely with Geoffrey’s legal background he wouldn’t go as far as to leave such a grisly warning in her cottage. Of course, it could have been Fred Blaney himself, but then why would he go out of his way to warn her when by doing so the finger of blame would immediately point to him? It just didn’t make sense. Fred liked a drink and had a bit of a temper at times, but he wasn’t a total fool.
‘Look, you’ll be safe here,’ he said, doing his best to reassure her. ‘I’ll give Rob Aldridge a call and get him to take a look. But in the meantime, you’d better stay with me overnight.’
‘Here?’ Holly looked around at the half-finished sitting room. There were paint tins and splash sheets all over the floor and a ladder propped against the wall.
‘I know it’s not quite your usual five-star standard but at least there are no slaughtered chickens under the bed.’
She disguised another shudder and asked, ‘And exactly where is the bed?’
‘Where do you think it is?’ He pressed rapid dial on his phone. ‘It’s in my bedroom.’
‘Is that another one of your stupid jokes?’
‘I’m not joking, Holly. I only have one bed but it’s big enough for both of us.’
‘I’m not sleeping with you!’
He held up his hand to shush her as he had a brief word with the local cop. ‘Yeah, Hi, Rob. I’ve got a situation here you might want to take a look at.’ Holly listened as he gave a cut-down version before he added, ‘It’s not a pretty sight…Right, I’ll meet you there in five minutes.’ He clipped his phone back on his belt. ‘Rob’s on his way. Come through and I’ll show you where the bathroom is and once Rob and I have cleaned up next door I’ll take you back for some of your things.’
‘Do you really think this is necessary?’ she asked, desperately trying to put on a brave front but not sure she was being very successful. Her heart was still thumping irregularly and her stomach felt cold and hollow. ‘I’m sure whoever did that is hardly going to risk being caught having another attempt to scare me at this time of night.’
‘Listen, Holly. Whoever did this is very determined to unnerve you. Rob agrees you should stay with me tonight. It could just be a joke but what if it isn’t? Who knows what else this sick person has in their repertoire?’
Holly couldn’t quite suppress another little shudder. It just didn’t bear thinking about.
‘I’ll just have a quick run through in here to see that everything’s secure before I meet Rob next door.’
‘Wait!’ She bolted after him, almost cannoning into his back in her haste. He turned and steadied her and, slipping his warm fingers around hers, gave her hand a little squeeze. ‘Come on then, stay close while I make sure no one’s added to the colour scheme here.’
Holly stayed by his side as he inspected each room but, apart from the kitchen, the place was such a mess she couldn’t see anyone wasting their time adding to the mayhem.
She said as much to Cameron. ‘This place looks as if a bomb hit it. Do you have a thing about tidying up after yourself?’
‘I know exactly where everything is.’
She gave a cynical little grunt as she stepped over a pile of unfolded clothes on the floor when he pulled her with him into his bedroom.
‘What?’ He looked down at her.
‘What is it with men and housework?’ she asked. ‘Or are you waiting for some poor woman to come along and take over where your mother left off?’
‘What is it with women and obsessive tidiness?’ he clipped back. ‘I’m a busy man. I don’t have time to fold and iron clothes ahead of time. I only do them as I need them.’
Holly’s eyes went to the bed. The white Egyptian cotton linen certainly looked very clean but the quilt and pillows looked as if he’d thrown them haphazardly back on the bed after tumbling out that morning. She could even see the creases on one of the pillows where his head had lain.
A funny sensation made its way across the bottom of her belly at the thought of him lying sprawled in that big bed, his long tanned limbs stretched out, his naked body unashamedly on show…
She pulled away from where her traitorous thoughts were leading, more than a little shocked at herself for allowing her increasing attraction to him to take over her common sense. What was she thinking? It wasn’t as if she really even liked him.
Well, maybe a bit…
She thought about the way he’d tried to protect her from seeing that ghastly chicken, his clean male smell filling her nostrils, his arms strong and steady as they held her trembling figure.
Mmm…Maybe she liked him more than a little bit, more like a lot…
‘Make yourself comfortable and I’ll be back as soon as I’ve finished with Rob,’ he said. ‘And don’t answer the door.’
Holly let out a little sigh once he’d gone. Was it crazy to be in love with someone after only four days? It had taken her months to fall in love with Julian and even then…Well, of course she’d been in love with him…a bit.
Her frown increased as she tried to push the truth away but it just wouldn’t go. The truth was she had been in love with the idea of being secure in a relationship. She hadn’t truly been in love with Julian at all. Not the sort of love that would last. Not the sort of love that would make her think about spending the rest of her life in the country with a man who had convictions so strong they only made her admire
and love him even more.
But so far her foray into the country was turning out to be a total nightmare. And she’d thought the inner city streets of Sydney were dangerous! At least no one had ever sacrificed a hapless hen on her doorstep.
For something to do other than brood she started to straighten the bed. She was a neat-nik from way back, ever since her parents had divorced. She’d had two houses to move between so it had become somewhat of an obsession to have things super-organised to avoid the panic of not having what she needed for the next day at school. Cameron could scoff all he liked, but she liked order around her. It made her feel secure when other things in her life were not. And right now things weren’t feeling too secure.
Once the bed was made she started on the pile of clothes on the floor, folding each article into neat little piles—socks, shorts, jeans, shirts and…Her stomach did another little shuffle when she picked up a pair of his underpants. She quickly folded them and put them beside his socks.
She chewed the end of her finger when all the clothes were sorted. What was she supposed to do now?
Her gaze went to the cluttered surface of a chest of drawers. It was littered with papers and receipts, loose coins and a collection of framed photographs. She went closer to inspect the photos, picking up the first one.
It was a childhood shot of Cameron and his family, his older brother and younger sister on either side of him and his parents at each end. Her heart tightened at the liveliness, mischievousness and affection that shone from each family member’s eyes. She couldn’t help wondering how they had coped with the subsequent loss of their son and brother. How indeed did anyone cope?
It seemed ages before she heard the sound of Cameron’s voice calling out to let her know he was back. She carefully put the frame down and came out to the kitchen where he introduced her to the close-to-retirement police officer who had followed him in. Once the introductions were out of the way Rob Aldridge began to take a statement from her. After she’d told him what she could, including what Fred Blaney had said, he looked up from his note taking. ‘So you have no idea of anyone else who would want to threaten you?’
She shook her head in bewilderment. ‘I’ve only been in town three days, four if you include Sunday afternoon when I first arrived.’
‘What about Noel Maynard? He’s your patient now, right?’
‘Yes, but I don’t think…’ She stopped when she saw the hardened cynicism in his eyes.
‘He’s killed before, Dr Saxby, and only this afternoon he attacked a teenage girl. Don’t be fooled by him. It’s clear he’s fooled the prison psychiatrist who assured the authorities he had zero likelihood of reoffending. I was unable to bring him in for an interview. He’s flown the coop, so to speak.’
‘Oh…’
‘I’ve asked for someone from Jandawarra to come up and help me track him down, but until we find him I want you to stay with Dr McCarrick.’
‘There are probably other people besides Mr Maynard who could just as easily have done this to scare me,’ Holly said. ‘It might not be him at all.’
‘Perhaps, but whoever it is, it certainly seems you’ve made an enemy in town,’ he observed. ‘That is unless someone has followed you here.’
She looked at him in growing consternation. ‘What do you mean?’
‘You’ve just moved down from the city, right? Have you had a recent break-up with a boyfriend that might have caused him to try and get back at you?’
‘You mean like stalking me or something?’
‘Yeah, it happens all the time, ex-partners who just won’t let go. It’s a real problem these days.’
Holly almost laughed out loud at the thought of Julian Drayberry stalking her in an attempt to get her to come back to him. ‘I don’t think my ex-fiancé’s new wife would allow him out of her sight long enough for him to make a phone call to me, let alone orchestrate a terror campaign.’
Cameron frowned as he listened to the exchange. He hadn’t realised her ex-fiancé had married someone else so quickly. No wonder she was so uptight and lacking in confidence. Her self-esteem had taken the biggest knock of all. He should know—it had taken him this long to get over his own relationship disaster.
‘Well, if you think of anything significant, let me know,’ Rob said. He turned to Cameron. ‘I’ll see myself out. I’ll have another look around outside before I head off.’
‘Thanks.’
Holly rubbed her upper arms again once the police officer had left. ‘This is really creeping me out. I thought the country was supposed to be quiet and boring. What is it with this place?’
‘It’s normally the quietest place on earth but for some reason ever since you turned up everything’s gone haywire,’ he said.
‘So you think it’s my fault?’
‘Rob’s right, Holly. I know you’ve only been here a short time but you’ve certainly upset someone. The question is, who would be at the top of that list?’
She rolled her eyes in disdain. ‘You’re making me sound like some sort of social misfit, as if I can’t make a single friend.’
He gave her a long and thoughtful look. ‘You have made a couple of friends but the rest of the townsfolk don’t approve.’
‘You mean Noel Maynard and his mother?’
He nodded. ‘I warned you that people wouldn’t take too kindly to you springing to a convicted killer’s defence. Sally told me about Geoffrey bawling you out in reception about your visit to his father. What on earth did you say to him to bring his son down here in such a tearing hurry?’
‘He thought I’d made accusations of malpractice against his father. But once I’d apologised and told him I hadn’t actually said that at all, he calmed down. That’s why he asked me to meet him for a drink—to make amends for shouting at me.’
‘But he didn’t turn up as arranged.’
His contemplative tone brought Holly’s eyes back to his. ‘You think Geoffrey’s responsible for the chicken?’
He gave a non-committal shrug and asked, ‘Who phoned him and told him you had visited his father?’
‘I don’t know…One of the nurses, perhaps.’
‘Did anyone overhear your conversation with Neville Cooper?’
‘It was hardly what I’d call a two-way conversation,’ Holly said. ‘The poor man can barely say a word. He got upset when I mentioned Noel Maynard’s name and when I had a chat with the nurse on duty, someone called Meg, she said it was because he’d been at the autopsy on Tina Shoreham and even after all this time it still upsets him.’
‘That stands to reason,’ he said, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully. ‘It was a particularly gruesome murder, especially in a place as quiet as this.’
‘I know…I read the newspapers from the archives in the library.’ She gave a little shiver.
‘Come on,’ he said. ‘Let’s get what you need from next door so we can hit the sack. I don’t know about you, but I’m bushed.’
Holly followed him back to the cottage next door and as quickly as she could she gathered a few bare essentials for the night and began to pack them into one of her cases.
Cameron watched her from the door of her bedroom where he was leaning. ‘Do you really need such a big bag for one night?’
She looked up from what she was doing. ‘I’m only bringing the basics.’
He left the door and came over and looked inside her bag. ‘What are you bringing these for?’ He held up her winter-weight pyjamas with pink baby elephants all over them.
She snatched them out of his hand and stuffed them back in the case. ‘If you think I’m going to share a bed with you with less than two millimetres of fabric to cover me, think again.’
‘You think I might make a move on you?’
Holly pursed her mouth at the twinkle of amusement in his blue-green eyes, not trusting herself to reply. What was he saying? That it was totally out of the question? That he wasn’t the least bit attracted to her?
‘Of course, if you’d like
me to make a move on you I’d be more than happy to oblige,’ he added with a sexy smile.
She closed her case with a little snap and, picking it up, shoved it towards him to carry, her eyes slipping away from his as his fingers brushed against hers.
‘Holly, look at me,’ he commanded gently.
She brought her eyes slowly back up to his, her stomach tilting at the darkening of his gaze as it held hers.
‘I know this may surprise you, but for once I’m not joking,’ he said.
Holly moistened her suddenly dry lips. ‘Y-you’re not?’
‘No.’
‘Oh…’
‘Why do you find it so hard to believe I’m attracted to you?’ he asked.
‘We’ve only known each other such a short time…’
‘That’s true, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that we’ve been firing sparks off each other from the very first moment we met. If that isn’t full-on sexual chemistry I don’t know what is.’
Holly had to look away from the sudden heat of his gaze. ‘It doesn’t mean we have to give in to such base impulses. We’re both sensible adults with, one hopes, some measure of self-control.’
‘Perhaps you’d better remind me of that in the middle of the night when you start to throw off those thermal pyjamas when it gets a little too hot in my bed,’ he said with a wry grin as he opened the door for her to go through.
Holly didn’t respond. She was already feeling a little too hot with him standing at least half a metre away. God only knew what it would be like sharing his bed for the night…
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
IT WAS impossible to sleep with a man beside her who was snoring, Holly decided an hour or so later. Well, maybe not exactly snoring…It was more of a cute little snuffling sound but after the events of the evening she was far too restless to settle. She longed to straighten out her legs but Cameron had flung his limbs far and wide and she was on the very edge of the mattress as it was. And, as much as she hated admitting it, she also longed to rid herself of her thick pyjamas, which were starting to stick to her in all the wrong places.
A Doctor Beyond Compare Page 15