It was the longest ride he’d ever been on, and the most he’d prayed in a long time.
Chapter 12
Opening her eyes, Barbie looked blearily up at the ceiling. Her head ached. Glancing sideways, she saw a bag of some kind of clear fluid running through a sort of pump thing down into her arm.
Flexing her fingers slowly, she blinked. So thirsty.
There was a murmur of voices, a hand on her cheek. Someone leaned over her and she tried to bring whoever it was into focus. A light shone into her eyes, making her wince.
“Just look at the light,” a voice told her.
“Ow.” She closed her eyes.
“Open your eyes, Ms Declan.”
No way, it hurt.
A cool hand slid into hers. “Squeeze my hand if you can hear me.”
She squeezed.
“Good. Can you speak?”
“T…” She tried again. “Thirsty.”
The back of the bed went up a little, making her grab around, her eyes flaring open even though everything was still blurry. A warm, big hand took hers.
“Its okay, Barbie.” Adam’s voice, so deep, so reassuring. She latched onto his hand, gripped tight. “I’ve got you, baby.” Something touched her lips. “Take a sip.”
Cool water sucked through a straw, it was bliss.
After several sips, the water was taken away and she rested back against the pillow.
More voices.
Something around her arm pumped up, the sound of something else, and finally she was left alone. But not completely alone, because she had Adam.
Still clutching his hand, she slid back into sleep.
~*~
When she next awoke, it was dark, though a small light above her glowed softly. Outside the door came the sound of hushed voices. More orientated, she recognised that she was in a hospital.
Blinking, she was relieved when gradually everything came into focus. Her head ached a little, but she seemed okay.
Rolling her head sideways on the pillow, she found herself looking at Adam.
Slumped in the chair by her side, his head resting on the mattress and her hand cradled in his, he looked exhausted. Stubble covered his jaw, dark circles under his eyes. His shirt was rumpled, his hair almost standing on end.
It came back to her slowly. Spencer, being hit, dragged up the stairs. Spencer had been going to kill her. Bits she knew, some she wasn’t sure of, for his ranting hadn’t been clear ,and she strongly suspected she hadn’t been in any fit state to understand anything he’d said.
Adam and some other cop bursting through the door, Adam holding her, stemming the flow of blood from her head. Then she didn’t remember a lot of anything, just bits and pieces. The ambulance, lights, sunlight, sirens, waking up feeling thirsty.
Carefully she turned her head, spotting the glass of water on a table close by. Reaching out with a shaky hand she picked up the glass, almost spilling the water.
“What?” Adam jerked awake.
Barbie nearly dropped the glass.
He moved fast, reaching over and grabbing the glass before looking down at her. His eyes widened, his mouth dropped open. “Oh baby, you’re awake. Thank God.”
“Hi.” She cleared her throat at the croak. “Thirsty.”
Reaching up, he pressed something before leaning across her with the glass, placing the straw at her lips. “Sip, baby.”
She obeyed, the cool water sliding down her parched throat.
A nurse came in followed by a doctor. Adam moved back, letting the nurse take over, but Barbie grabbed for his hand. “Please stay.”
“I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart.” He squeezed her fingers gently, smiled reassuringly. “I’m waiting right here.”
True to his word, he stood near the door, his gaze on her though she lost sight of him several times due to the doctor and nurse moving around the bed.
The doctor claimed her attention, checking her pupils, asking questions which she was able to answer. The nurse took her vitals. It seemed like forever before they stood back, both smiling.
“Well, young lady,” the doctor announced, “looks like you’re on the road to recovery.”
“Good to know, thank you.” She eased up in the bed.
Immediately the nurse was there helping her, settling the pillow behind her shoulders.
“Is there anything you’d like?’ she asked kindly.
“A toothbrush.” Barbie wrinkled her nose. “A shower.”
The nurse laughed. “Once you’ve sat up for a little while, we’ll see about a shower, but the toothbrush side of things we can do right here.”
The doctor strode across the room and spoke to Adam while Barbie brushed her teeth and rinsed her mouth, spitting into a bowl the nurse held for her. Feeling a lot better, she rested back against the pillows.
Adam sat down beside her, his eyes crinkling in that engaging fashion that she just loved so much. “Hi.”
“Hey.” Taking his hand, she looked at him. “You look so tired. Did you get any sleep?”
He smiled. “Now that you’re okay, I’ll get plenty.”
The nurse left, leaving the door open behind her.
Leaning forward, Adam pressed his lips to her brow. “You have no idea how worried I’ve been. How worried we’ve been.”
“We?” She leaned into him.
In one move, Adam cradled her close, kissing her eyes, her cheek, before lifting his head enough to murmurer. “Your family.”
“They’re in the city, so they won’t know too much. Let’s not worry them, okay?”
Drawing back a little, he looked at her. “Barbie, we are in the city. You’ve been in and out of consciousness for several days.”
Her eyes widened.
“Your head injury wasn’t anything minor.” He stoked across her cheek with his thumb. “It’s been a horrible waiting game to see if everything was okay.”
“Oh.” She swallowed. “Everything’s okay, isn’t it?”
The relief in his dark eyes was very real. “The doctor said your repeat Cat Scans came back NAD, and you’re responding appropriately. Your vital signs are good. Yeah, everything’s okay.”
His eyes were suspiciously bright. “Adam, you’re not crying, are you?”
“No,” he replied gruffly.
Her heart melted. “Oh, baby…”
Tenderly hugging her into him, he continued just as gruffly, “Stop looking at me like that. I’m fine. You’re the problem.”
She snuggled in against his chest. “I’m sorry.”
“Thorn in my side.” He pressed a kiss to her head. “But you’re my thorn.”
“So romantic.”
“Enjoy being mouthy, because you won’t get away with it once you’re on your feet.”
The laugh felt a little husky, her throat still dry, but right then she felt content. Except - her eyes popped open. “Where are Fred and Barney?”
“Relax. They’re at your parent’s place.’
“But how-”
“I brought them with me when I drove down.”
Angling her head back, she gaped up at him. “You drove here to the city?”
“The RFDS wouldn’t let me come with you, as they already had another critical patient onboard. No room. So I packed the cats in the car and headed straight for here. Rang your folks on the way and, well…” He tucked her head gently back against his chest. “Anyway, you’re getting better.”
Resting against him for several moments, she finally had curiosity stirring as she thought about what had happened. “Spencer?”
Immediately tension rippled through his arms. “He’s in gaol.”
“Oh.”
“Just rest quietly, baby. We can talk about him later.”
More than happy to just rest in Adam’s arms, Barbie obeyed.
~*~
The headache had faded, the lump on her head gone down, she’d had no worrying reoccurrences of anything, and all precautionary Cat Scans had come bac
k NAD. The hated IDC was out, she was eating and drinking normally, walking around, and medically discharged by the doctor. Now she was waiting impatiently to go home and see Barney and Fred.
Her parents were waiting at home for her, Adam having won the argument of who was picking her up and taking her home.
Waiting in the room, Barbie looked out the window, watching the car park, though in an area so huge Adam could have parked anywhere and she’d not have seen him, though he’d told her he was parking close by come hell or high water.
Barbie took a deep breath. It was all over. Explaining it all to Laura on the phone had been something, however. How could one even begin to tell the weird, twisted story of Spencer, Great Aunt Penny and the MIA soldier?
It had been weird enough when Adam had told her.
She could still remember when he’d told her four days ago. Taking her hand, he’d sat down, looked her in the eyes and commenced.
Turned out the MIA soldier hadn’t gone MIA, but had instead married another woman he’d gotten pregnant over in France during the war. Honour bound to marry her, he’d allowed his family to inform Penny that he’d gone MIA so she’d never know the truth, ensuring she’d never discover him by shifting to the other side of Australia after the war.
Unfortunately, as he’d grown older, he’d spiralled into dementia, often rambling about a treasure he’d left behind in a little town called Peeron. A priceless jewel. It hadn’t taken much for an opportunist like his great nephew to do a little digging and realise that Penny was the woman his great uncle had mentioned in connection with the jewel. Spencer had tried to frighten Penny away by looking through the window, climbing on the roof, and banging on the veranda, so he could search the house without her there, but the elderly lady had more gumption than he’d anticipated.
When she’d died, he’d thought he had a better chance of finding the jewel and kept looking, but Barbie’s arrival had put a stop to it, until he’d heard her talking in the pub about an assistant from the antique dealer coming to value and sell the furniture and other things. It hadn’t taken much to come up with a phoney story of which she wouldn't have reason to doubt. Unfortunately, Barbie had chosen to stay in the house during the renovations, so he’d tried to scare her away, too, only to find it not going quite as planned.
The jewel, he’d become convinced, was buried under the roses, for he hadn’t been able to find it in the house, tossing through the books, searching everywhere he could find while under the pretence of studying the worth of the furniture and other household items and collectibles.
The police had found a hidden tunnel in the floor under the wardrobe in the girl’s room. The tunnel actually opened under the wardrobe, and the wardrobe itself had a fake bottom in it that enabled Spencer to use it as a convenient getaway after his scare tactics.
The dolls had been a bloody classic. She still had nightmares about them, and even though she knew there was nothing spooky about them or the toy monkey, she never wanted to see them again. Ever. Creepy things.
The whole thing had unravelled when Patrick had rung Barbie. Overhearing, Spencer had seen his chance vanishing and had planned to kill her, making his escape through the tunnel which led out to a stand of trees behind the shed. He’d planned to come back at another time and dig up the graves.
He wouldn’t be digging anything for a long time to come. Kind of hard to dig a tunnel when behind bars.
When Barbie and Adam returned to Peeron, they’d be in time to see the empty grave and the mystery grave opened, to lay to rest the rumours. The two children’s graves would stay intact, their exact location in the local church’s records. They had, indeed, been the two furtherest graves.
She also owed Shane a big thank you for saving her life by going to the police station.
Restless, not really wanting to think about it anymore, Barbie moved from the window, pacing across the room, wondering where Adam could be. Checking her watch, she saw that he was fifteen minutes late. Given the traffic, she wasn’t surprised.
Her mind turned to her sister. Things had gone okay there, too, though she hadn’t been certain at first. Her sister had been taken aback when Barbie had talked to her one day when they were alone in the hospital room. Telling Melissa that she was seeing her one-time boyfriend whose relationship to her Barbie had wrecked so long ago, had almost given Barbie heartburn. Guilt had surged up all over again.
Melissa had simply looked at her. “Really? Do you think I’m so dumb?”
“Um...”
“Any fool can see that Adam is in love with you. Any fool can see that you’re in love with him. In fact, dummy,” Melissa had glowered at her, “Adam has already told me.”
“Oh.” Nervously, Barbie had wrung her hands. “Are you…um…are you okay?”
“I’m fine. When I first saw him with you, I admit I was shocked. Mostly because I hadn’t expected anything like it. You’d never given any hint that there was anything between you two.”
“Yeah, about that. I’m sorry.”
Melissa raised both elegantly plucked eyebrows before she grinned suddenly. “Relax, sis. I’m not going to kill you. This time.” She waited for Barbie’s relieved expression before adding, “Mum and Dad know.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. I’m thinking you have a lot of explaining to do to them. They might kill you.” Melissa winked. “Besides, I have the hottest bloke around, remember? Sorry, sweetie, but while Adam is a hunk, he’s nowhere near as hunky as Bill.”
Personally, Barbie couldn’t see it, but she was relieved.
Her parents had welcomed Adam with open arms. He’d been staying with them when he wasn’t at the hospital, and her mother had spoiled him rotten.
Later her Dad had taken her aside and told her, “I trust you not to screw this up.” Her mother had smiled, then bolted to ring Melissa and talk to her, coming back with a relieved expression on her face.
Melissa and Adam spoke easily, Adam got on well with Bill, and there really was nothing between Adam and Melissa. No spark, no lighting up of the eyes. Nothing.
Melissa’s loss was her gain.
Frowning, she tapped the window. I mean, Melissa loving Bill and not Adam is my gain. Geez. She guessed there’d always be a little element of guilt for what she’d done, she was only human. But she wasn’t going to let it spoil the rest of her life.
Hearing voices, she turned to see Adam walk into the room. Smiling, she met him halfway, lifting her face for a kiss and hugging him close.
“Come on, baby.” He squeezed her. “Everyone’s waiting at home. And your dad said you owe him a new bedside clock.”
“What? Why?”
“Because Barney’s fat arse knocked it off.”
“Dad said that?”
“I may have ad-libbed.”
~*~
Standing to the side, Adam held Barbie’s hand in his as they watched the backhoe dig up the so-called empty grave. Her engagement ring that he’d given her upon their arrival home was cold, but her little hand was warm in his. He stroked his thumb over the back of her hand, enjoying the silky touch of her skin.
Standing beside him, her free hand wrapped around his arm, her soft, curvy body pressed against his, Barbie tilted her head back to smile up at him.
God, he loved her. His little thorn. He loved everything about her, her flashes of temper, her defiance, her sweet giving, her teasing, her laughter, her scented presence in every room of his house. The way she made him feel so complete.
He even had affection for her two damned cats that made every effort to push between them on the bed. It was the ultimate insult when Barney perched his furry arse on Adam’s hip and eyeballed him before giving up and flopping behind him. Every night. And Barney did it with a huff, too,
He never knew a cat could huff, but hey…he did now.
Fred didn’t have such flair. He just plopped on his back between them until Adam shifted him by scooping him up and dumping him in front of Barbie, where h
e curled up against her stomach and snored.
He never knew a cat could snore, but hey…he did now.
Leaning down, Adam brushed a kiss on her lips. “Okay, baby?”
“Yeah. Isn’t this a little exciting and creepy all at once?”
“I’ll take the creepy part.”
“Why, Adam Moor, are you creeped out by digging up a grave?”
“I’m a believer in not disturbing the dead.”
Her eyes widened. “You believe in ghosts?”
“No.”
Before she could reply, Sarge came over and shook his head. “Nothing in that grave, so it seems it really was a memorial.”
“So I wonder what the mystery grave holds?” Barbie watched the backhoe again start digging.
“Hopefully it’ll be empty as well.” Sarge went back to supervising the dig.
Minutes later, Sarge called out to the backhoe driver. “Hold up, Will! There’s something here!”
Barbie’s hand on Adam’s tightened. “Do you think there’s a body?”
“We’ll soon see.”
Sarge jumped down into the hole, bending over before straightening and wiping off what looked to be a bottle of some kind. “Found something. Looks like maybe a note?”
Adam led Barbie over to the hole, taking the bottle from Sarge and handing it to her.
“Wow.” Her eyes shone with excitement. “A mystery bottle.”
“From a mystery grave,” Adam said dryly.
“Ha ha.” She tried to unscrew the cap, only to give up. “It’s stuck.” She fluttered her lashes at him. “Would you help me, please? Big strong man like you?”
Giving her a wry look, he took the bottle and after using a bit of force, loosened the cap before handing it back to her. “Here, little weak woman.”
Sarge snorted a laugh.
Ignoring the Sarge, Barbie opened the jar and carefully took out the rolled piece of paper. With care she unrolled it.
“I'd say it’s been well preserved from the elements,” Adam remarked.
“The ink is faded but still readable. Maybe the dark kept it like that?” Barbie started reading aloud.
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