Out Comes the Evil

by Stella Cameron

  Something moved.

  On the left side of the road. He was almost upon it and slammed on the brakes. A figure, limping and holding onto walls and plants turned to back against a tree and his headlights picked up her face.

  ‘Alex,’ he yelled and stopped hard enough to slew the back wheels. Throwing open his door, he shouted, ‘Alex’ again as he ran to grab and lift her up. ‘My God, where have you been? Why are you limping? We’re all out of our minds worrying about you.’

  EIGHTEEN

  Her ankle throbbed but she didn’t complain. She had already decided never to mention that Harry punched her shoulder or that it was bruised. Tony seemed furious with her. No, he was furious with her. There had been an instant after he’d ignored her protests and lifted her into her car when she thought he would shake her. Instead he pushed her trembling hands out of the way and fastened her seat belt before slamming the door on her.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she said when he joined her and straightened the Land Rover at the side of the road. ‘I’ve worried you. I was going to call as soon as I was sure I was safely away.’

  He crossed his hands on the wheel and rested his forehead on top. ‘You couldn’t walk and talk or … Alex, I don’t understand. Call your mother now. Tell her you’re with me and you’re safe. She’ll spread the word.’

  Hardly able to hold her phone still, she did as he told her and listened to Lily cry – she didn’t remember hearing her cry. Lily said she had people to reassure and she’d see Alex in the morning when they’d all slept.

  Tony turned the key in the ignition. ‘Why are you limping?’

  She found a tissue in her pocket and blew her nose. ‘I didn’t know what would happen. Nothing could have prepared me.’ He didn’t say anything. ‘I fell down some steps.’

  He steered onto the road and accelerated. Alex dared to look sideways at him in the dash light. His hair was wild and even now his face bore lines of anxiety … and anger.

  ‘Where should I take you? My wheels are at my place so I had to bring yours up from Folly.’

  She fought back tears, tears of self-pity and tears of longing for him to smile at her and understand what she would have to tell him.

  ‘I haven’t been home for a couple of nights – it’ll be cold at my house, and, and I don’t want to go there. I want to be with you,’ she finished in a rush. ‘Mum will take Bogie home with her.’

  ‘Alex—’

  ‘I would have called you hours ago,’ she broke in. ‘Take me to your house, please. Light a fire and just listen to me. You’re going to be mad – even madder with me – but then you’ll understand why I did what I did and why I couldn’t call sooner. When I was finally out of there and trying to walk to Folly, I was too scared to think straight. I just wanted you there.’

  The look he gave her brought more tears.

  ‘You’re important to me, don’t you understand?’ he said. ‘I’m mad because I’m still frightened out of my skull. I feel like a parent whose child ran into the street.’ He paused, glancing at her frequently, and frowning while they drove straight through Folly. ‘Where did you have to get away from? Where have you been?’

  ‘I got locked in the Strouds’ house. It was horrible, Tony. They’re not right. If they aren’t mad, they’re close. Something is very, very wrong there.’

  He drove too fast but she didn’t care. Hunched over the wheel, he shot up into the hills, past her house and on until he turned in at his own gates.

  ‘The Strouds’ house,’ he muttered, leaping out when he had screeched to a stop at the front door. ‘The Strouds’ house? Till this time of night? You fell down steps. Damn it all, Alex, you sound unhinged.’

  He got out, slammed his door and went to the back to let Katie out of a kennel. Alex opened her door and swung out her legs. When she slid to the ground she couldn’t avoid a sharp intake of breath. Sharp pain racked her shoulder and arm. She longed to take off her shoe but feared she would never get it on again if her foot and ankle were as swollen as she expected.

  Katie arrived to sniff at her and Tony put an arm around her waist, all but carrying her into the house. He didn’t speak, but his rigid body gave off waves of frustration.

  In his sitting room next to the kitchen he took off her jacket. ‘This isn’t warm enough for this kind of weather, is it?’ he said but she didn’t think he wanted an answer.

  With pillows slapped at one end of the couch, she was propped, fairly gently, with a big afghan stretched over her. He pulled the blanket back enough to look at her feet. ‘What did you fall on? A pile of rocks? I want my dad to look at this but we’ll manage till morning.’

  Alex looked up at his tight face and he looked back, his blue eyes black with intensity. She was grateful he hadn’t noticed how she favored her left arm.

  ‘This will hurt,’ he said, starting to slip the shoe from her injured foot. She pushed her fists into the couch cushion and bent forward, hissing against the pain. The shoe was off and his cold fingers prodded her ankle – as carefully as possible, she supposed although it hurt like hell.

  Her shoulder ached with each tiny move.

  Damn, Harry Stroud!

  Alex felt tears squeeze free but swallowed and didn’t make a sound.

  ‘Do not move from there,’ Tony said, all flat efficiency. ‘If we’re lucky, the ankle’s badly sprained and there’s nothing broken, but a sprain can be about as much trouble as a break.’

  He took off her other shoe and turned the blanket down again. Alex didn’t complain that the weight of the wool was too much.

  Finally he took off his coat and lit the fire. Katie came to sit beside her and rest her head on the edge of the couch. The big dog’s eyes watched her mournfully.

  ‘I’m going to strap that,’ Tony said, ‘and pack some ice around it. Then you’ll go through whatever foolishness you got into – step by step.’

  Alex pressed her lips together. Telling him to back off wouldn’t achieve anything positive, not from a position of weakness.

  He went into the kitchen and things banged out there. Within minutes he returned with a steaming mug in one hand and a large plastic box in the other. ‘Horlicks,’ he said. ‘You like it, right? It’ll settle you or so they’ve always said.’

  She nodded although she hadn’t tasted the milky, malty drink in years. He put down the box, moved a small table beside her and put the mug down. ‘That might feel good in your hands. Comforting.’

  From the box he produced a wide elastic bandage and began at her instep, winding quickly and efficiently until she had a tidy, herringboned effort wrapped well past her ankle.

  ‘Thank you, Tony,’ she said.

  He clipped the bandage in place and didn’t answer. Once the box was closed, he set it aside and pulled an armchair close to the couch where he could look straight at her. He sat down, forearms on thighs, his fingers laced between his knees.

  Alex remembered the Horlicks, already cooled, and took several swallows.

  And Tony remained silent and watchful.

  ‘I made a mistake,’ she said when she couldn’t stand the waiting anymore. ‘But that doesn’t mean you were right and I was wrong when I told you I make my own decisions. This turned out badly, but my motivation was good. It doesn’t seem like anyone’s got a clue what happened to Pamela and I feel … we found her and that makes me feel responsible. The dead can’t help themselves and this needs to get sorted out fast, for her and because unless we find a motive, we’ll always be expecting another unnatural death.’

  ‘The police are on the case, Alex. Let them do their job.’

  ‘And what have they accomplished so far?’

  ‘They’ve only been here a couple of days. And we can’t know exactly what they’ve found out.’

  ‘What happened to it being OK for us to do our own gentle poking around?’

  ‘You scared the hell out of me, that’s what happened. I thought I’d lost you once before, remember?’

  She remember
ed, but she wasn’t buying it that she had to be wrapped in cotton wool.

  ‘Why did you go to the Strouds’? What happened there?’

  He was going to blow his top a few more times before she finished explaining.

  ‘I walked up there this afternoon and asked to see Harry.’

  ‘You, what? My God.’

  ‘He wasn’t in but his mother was. Venetia Stroud. She was the one who locked me in his flat – if you can call it that. It’s the whole top wing over the garages at the back. Garages that are big enough to have stables incorporated when Harry and his brother were younger.

  ‘If she was questioned about everything from today she’d deny it, and although Harry knows the truth, he’d back up his mother.’

  He pulled his chair closer and never took his eyes from her face. ‘Why did you go there? What did you expect to gain?’

  She reached to set down her mug and winced. Even moving the right arm pulled the left. ‘I wasn’t completely sure but—’

  ‘Your arm hurts.’

  ‘It’s nothing.’

  Tony took hold of her left elbow and hand and straightened the arm. Alex kept her face impassive. He took the arm gently to the side, horizontal to her body, brought it back and slowly lifted it into the perpendicular extension. She moaned, couldn’t help it, and supported her own upper arm. Tony carefully put her arm down and pulled her shirt away from her shoulder.

  She looked away, hoping there was nothing to see. All she needed now was some sort of altercation between Tony and Harry.

  ‘Your shoulder’s got a large, single bruise.’ He felt around. ‘There’s a hematoma from the look of it, and your shoulder is swollen. What happened?’

  ‘It probably happened when I slipped downstairs.’

  His stare made it impossible for her to look back.

  ‘Did you turn upside down and land head first?’

  ‘Just leave it, Tony? Stop pestering me.’

  He got up, went to the kitchen and returned with several ice bags and some cloths. The one he strapped to her shoulder with a towel underneath was miserable. The others he packed around her ankle.

  ‘I don’t want to be accused of pestering you again so just give me chapter and verse, from the beginning until I found you beside the road.’

  Crying uncontrollably might stop him for a minute or two, but then he’d start in again. ‘Do you have brandy?’

  Wordlessly he got her some but didn’t bring a glass for himself.

  The dulling warmth felt delicious … for a few seconds. ‘I walked up there and asked to see Harry. He was out. I talked to Venetia Stroud who’s a piece of work. She asked off-the-wall questions, accused me of being a meddler, asked me if I had designs on Harry, reminded me what an unworthy friend I’d be for him and generally told me off in a beastly snide way. When I told her I thought Harry was being treated badly she turned into sugar and spice and half pushed me upstairs to his flat. I think that’s when I dropped my phone. I discovered it was gone after she left me there and if Harry has a phone up there it’s locked in his bedroom.’

  ‘This is unbelievable.’ With his elbows on his knees, Tony massaged his forehead. ‘We don’t know who the murderer is, but there is one, Alex, and you choose this time to play amateur sleuth – on your own. Go on.’

  ‘Eventually Harry came back and I got out.’ She clamped her teeth together and willed Tony to stop digging, at least for now.

  Tony stood up. He was still very close and she had to strain her neck to see his face.

  ‘Why are you covering for Harry?’

  ‘What?’ She crossed her arms and sucked in another painful breath. ‘I’m not covering for Harry. I made every mistake in the book today and I’ve paid for it. I’m still paying for it.’

  When he continued to glower at her she had a rush of self-pity. ‘The next person I’m going to track down for a private talk is Vivian Seabrook. She was Pamela’s closest friend here and I think she knows more than she’s admitted to so far. I’m going to pursue this in a logical and sane manner.’

  ‘Really? How sensible you sound. Now I’d appreciate your giving me a detailed description of exactly what happened after Harry got there. You were gone far too long for what you’ve said to cover it.’

  Katie whimpered softly and Alex went to scratch her head – pain shot from her shoulder and into her chest. ‘Could I have more brandy, please?’

  Without a word, he did as she asked and sat down again, silently waiting.

  All the fear and desperation she’d felt in Harry’s flat crowded in and Alex felt tears slide down her cheeks. She didn’t try to wipe them away but she did start talking.

  She left almost nothing out, including Harry’s suggestion that she go to stay with him. ‘He sounded crazy,’ she said at that point. ‘He had accused me of victimizing Vivian. He said I made up some story about her and told the police. In the end I was really scared. I thought he would hurt me.’ And he had.

  ‘What made him let you go?’ Tony’s voice was flat with anger. ‘I need to know everything because I’m going over for a little discussion.’

  Taking a gulp of breath, Alex said, ‘No, you’re not. This is bigger than what happened to me today. We’ll work it out together like we promised,’ and her tone climbed the scale with every word.

  ‘How did you get away?’

  Lifting her chin, she snapped out to him, ‘When I thought he was going to do something to me, I told him it wasn’t fair he was being suspected. I said I just wanted him to know that. He said I’d always been one of the nice kids and I still am. And he’s going to be watching me, whatever that means. Maybe he means, he’ll be protective or something.’

  ‘I’ll kill him,’ Tony said.

  ‘Don’t say that.’

  ‘Fine, I’ll scare him out of Folly and he’ll never come back.’

  ‘Testosterone,’ she muttered, swinging her feet to the ground and struggling to stand. ‘Get over it. We need to keep all avenues open to see what we can find.’

  ‘Sit down—’

  Her skin turned icy and prickly, her stomach turned over.

  The lights faded out. Faintly she heard, ‘Alex!’

  NINETEEN

  Whatever they had shot her full of had done a good job of putting her out. A mild sedative, they’d said. He smiled. The hospital had Dr Harrison of Folly-on-Weir on file but they hadn’t checked the first name and discovered he was Tony, the DVM, not James, the MD!

  Tony paced back and forth around the bed, watching Alex’s sleeping face. A two-hour snooze was long enough. It was late evening by now, but the hospital staff shouldn’t let her sleep through the night without checking on her.

  He was a damned idiot not to have taken more notice of the shoulder. Bruised and swollen, big deal, that ankle might be sprained. So he’d missed the scapula fracture.

  ‘I’m a fool!’

  ‘Why?’

  He stopped pacing and stared at her. She must have asked the question without opening her eyes, but her lids rose slowly as if they were being held down.

  ‘You’re waking up. Finally.’

  ‘You noticed.’

  He sucked back a grin. ‘You will do just fine, my satin-tongued one. If you are concussed, which the people around here think you could be, it hasn’t dimmed your rapier wit. How do you feel?’ He sat on the bedside chair. ‘Sorry. You bring out the worst in me … and the best. You’ve got a hairline fracture on that left clavicle. I’m sorry, Alex, I was too focused on the ankle and didn’t look long enough at the shoulder. I was too tied up with my own shock and my reaction and that was unforgivable.’

  ‘S’not. I’d be mad at you, too.’

  Could you hold someone to a comment they made while partially drugged? ‘The good news is there’s no other fracture, just a sprain.’ He’d let her find out for herself how much of a nuisance a sprain could be.

  ‘I want to leave. Don’t like hospitals.’ She raised her head a couple of inches to look aro
und. ‘Yes, this is a hospital. Thought so. Get me out.’

  ‘I want to take you away from here, too. Someone will be round to check you soon enough. Unless they’ve come up with something else, we’ll go. I want to know something, Alex. Did Harry do anything to you … like give that shoulder a good whack?’

  She blinked several times. ‘No.’

  That wasn’t a ringing denial. ‘You didn’t say anything about your shoulder until I saw it was hurting.’

  Her green eyes stared into his and seemed well focused now. ‘It was all pretty emotional. You were angry and you had a right to be. I should have got myself together and called as soon as I was out of that house. Then I was nervous. Just a mess, Tony. Hang in here with me. We’ve got enough trouble without making more.’

  He would lay odds that she was holding something back but he couldn’t figure out why.

  ‘Knock knock.’ Hugh from the Black Dog poked his head into the room. He smiled at Alex. ‘You’re verra lucky. At least you aren’t in one of those damn wards, Alex. What’s going on with you?’

  ‘Cracked clavicle and sprained ankle,’ Tony said. The man was a bit too good looking, gave off too much male self-assurance for comfort. ‘How did you know we were here?’

  And what was his story anyway. He looked like someone who already had the world at his feet and didn’t need to manage a pub in an English backwater. He looked relaxed and confident – and concerned about Alex.

  ‘Are you doing all right, Alex?’ Hugh asked, frowning. ‘What happened to you … ah, no, I shouldn’t press you on that, not tonight. And I better be quick before they chuck me out of here. I had to use my Scottish charm to be allowed to visit you at all.’

  ‘You didn’t tell Lily,’ Alex said, using her right hand to push herself up. ‘It would be better if she saw me back in Folly—’

  ‘No, I didn’t tell her.’ He looked around the plain room. ‘At least it’s a bit quiet in here at night, hm?’

  ‘Yes,’ Tony replied for Alex. ‘You didn’t say how you knew to come.’

  ‘A reporter told me – at the Dog.’

  Tony saw Alex gape.