by Anna Jacobs
Phil had retired early too, but not by choice. It had been a form of redundancy. Consequently there wasn’t as good a superannuation package as he’d hoped to earn by a few more years’ work, even though the company had stuck to the letter of the law about what they paid him.
It was hard to be successful at work with a wife like Phil’s. Kath had never gone with him to social events and her health crises had forced him to need time off every now and then. It was a triumph really that he’d managed to stay employed and climb up the lower echelons of the promotional ladders.
He stared blindly at the phone for a few moments till the sight of it reminded him that he hadn’t even rung the hospital today to see how Kath was. Not that she’d know whether he did that or not. But he’d know and feel bad about it if he didn’t do it every day.
He picked up the phone. It was all he could do for her now, keep in touch till what the doctors had predicted happened. They’d told him gently that it would be a complete waste of time him going into the hospital, because she’d not be aware of his presence. And he’d seen the sense of that because he was definitely run down and the hospital was an unpleasant drive through heavy town traffic.
He’d been hoping for a few years that Mara would marry and give him grandchildren. He was surprised she hadn’t done so already because she was such a lovely lass. But then young people all seemed to marry later these days than they used to in his day.
He wished suddenly that he’d said yes when Mara offered to come straight home. No. That’d have been selfish. She couldn’t do anything to help even if she were here. Let her enjoy as much of her unexpected holiday in the sun as possible. She deserved it after the way that Darren creep had treated her.
He’d be able to play golf again soon, which would cheer him up no end. It would only be a week or so at most before that was allowed, surely? He could stick to nine holes at first. His friends had phoned once or twice to ask how he was, which was nice, and they’d tentatively fixed on a day next week for a game together.
But none of them had tried to call round to see him, because that had been one of the things Kath refused point-blank to allow. ‘They’re just coming to gawp and I’m not having it.’
Gawp at what? A house bare of ornaments and so rigidly tidy it felt unwelcoming, even to him.
He opened the book again but fell asleep reading and didn’t wake up again till teatime. The first thing he saw was the book lying on the floor near his feet. Eh, Kath would have gone mad at that. He laughed at himself when he picked it up because he couldn’t remember a word he’d read and didn’t know which page to put the bookmark in.
Thank goodness there was one of his favourite programmes on TV tonight. And there was still some of Sally’s latest casserole left. He’d just walk round the nearby streets first. He was determined to get better.
The fresh air tasted lovely and he stopped to chat to another neighbour.
See. He was coping.
Well, what else could you do when your life changed abruptly?
The next day, Emma suggested that Mara accompany her to the hospital for the second brief visit allowed each day. The staff were still watching Peggy carefully, but she wasn’t giving them nearly as much trouble. Emma felt her daughter had turned a corner, thanks to Mike’s stupidity.
‘After we’ve seen Peggy, we can go out for dinner. There’s a really nice café nearby. I’ve been neglecting you, I’m afraid.’
Mara didn’t like to refuse, so when Hal once again suggested they go out for a meal, she had to turn him down. ‘Sorry.’
‘That’s all right. Tomorrow, perhaps?’
‘Yes, tomorrow would be lovely.’
Aaron had texted to say he was probably coming back in a couple of days, so she would be spending more time with him then. She was going to be torn between him and Hal.
She wondered if she would ever get to the stage of feeling utterly comfortable with Aaron as she did with her dad in England.
She felt comfortable with Hal already, though, had done almost from the beginning. Strange, that.
Hal didn’t feel like going out to a café on his own, so got a packaged dinner out of the freezer, something his mother must have bought.
He followed the heating instructions carefully but the finished result bore no resemblance whatsoever to the photo on the outside, or to what he thought of as real food. It was so tasteless he couldn’t be bothered to finish eating it. There was more gravy than meat, accompanied by a few teaspoonfuls of overcooked vegetables and a splodge of nearly liquid mashed potato. He felt cheated.
After a few forkfuls, he looked at the rest in disgust and scraped it into the kitchen bin, vowing never again to buy another so-called ‘ready dinner’ of that brand, or any other brand either. He’d buy a cookery book instead. He was still hungry, so made himself a cheese and chutney sandwich, which had far more flavour. He finished off with a fresh nectarine.
Feeling at a bit of a loose end, he went outside and strolled up and down the patio, watching the occasional boat circle slowly past his garden and away back to the main canal, their lights twinkling in the early dusk. It might be summer but there was no daylight saving here in Western Australia. And on a hot day, who’d want it when darkness brought lower temperatures and relief from the sometimes searing heat his mother had described very graphically in her emails?
It hadn’t officially been what locals would consider a scorcher today but it had felt hot to him after he’d come so recently from a wintry climate. Thank goodness for air conditioning! He’d set it at his favourite temperature of 25 degrees centigrade, the one he used when he could in hotel rooms in hot countries. He didn’t need it icy cold.
One small boat caught his eye suddenly. It had no lights at all, which was dangerous as well as against the law. And what was it doing lingering near a jetty just a little way along the other side of the canal to him?
It looked like the same boat that had been around yesterday. Why? There didn’t seem to be anyone resident in the nearby houses at the moment, so there weren’t any lit-up gardens and homes for tourists to gape at, only a slightly wider circle of dark water to turn round in, with his house and the Buchanans’ occupied.
Perhaps the boat’s lights had failed and that was why it had stopped? Only that still didn’t explain why no one was tinkering with them. Two men were simply sitting there. Had the would-be buyer sent someone to spy on him? Or was he getting paranoid about that?
He shook his head at how boring the evening was. He was missing Mara’s lively company, loved trading ideas and opinions with her. He would need to make friends if he was going to live here permanently but he doubted he’d find anyone as easy to get on with as her. Or as attractive.
He wasn’t madly sociable and loathed big parties but he certainly didn’t share his mother’s reclusive nature either.
He didn’t feel like drinking wine on his own, so went into the house to make himself a cup of coffee. Then he went outside again with his book. The trouble was, he’d already guessed ‘who done it’ and the story wasn’t very well written.
When he heard a car driving along the street, he assumed it was Mara and her stepmother coming back. He heard the vehicle stop nearby but it didn’t sound to be outside their house and there was no sound of a garage door rising. Pity.
Then he stiffened. Was that the front door opening and shutting in the Buchanans’ house? It had a latch that made a particularly sharp sound. He’d not have noticed it if he hadn’t been outside, listening intently.
Could it be Aaron returning from the eastern states in a taxi? No, his neighbour would have switched the lights on straight away.
Then he realised that someone had definitely gone into the house next door, because though it was still dark he could now see a faint light moving about inside. No, two faint glows. Torches?
That could only be intruders! What the hell next?
He moved across the patio to stand close to the dividing wall, hoping he’d
be able to keep an eye on the house next door without being visible to the intruders. He wasn’t taking any risks and would be able to get back inside his own house quickly if they spotted him. Why hadn’t the alarm system next door sounded?
He turned to and fro, trying to locate what or who had made a faint sound, but couldn’t see anything untoward. Then pain and light exploded in his head and he felt himself spiralling helplessly down into darkness.
As Kendrell tumbled down some steps and lay there without moving, the older man from the boat turned on his companion, who had come out of the next house to join him. ‘You didn’t have to hit him so hard. You’d better not have killed him.’ He bent over to feel for a pulse. ‘Thank goodness. It’s beating strongly.’
‘So it should be. I only tapped him to keep him quiet. You surely didn’t want him to see us? He must have a thin skull, that’s all I can say.’
‘Well, you’re lucky this time. He’s still breathing steadily. You don’t know your own strength sometimes, you don’t. But you’re good at dealing with security systems, I must say.’
The other man grinned. ‘I sat outside and let my special equipment listen as they entered their code yesterday. The owners here have a rather old-fashioned system.’
There was the sound of a car from the street and both men jerked to attention as they heard the garage door of the house they’d broken into begin to rise.
‘Oh, hell! They must have come back early. We’d better get away quickly.’
His companion didn’t need telling twice. He led the way through the house, reaching the front door as the car stopped inside the garage and someone switched off the engine. The garage door began to roll down again and the first man rushed across to the car. The second one cursed under his breath as the door didn’t shut properly behind him but he didn’t go back to close it.
He raced across the street to where his companion was already starting their car. He had to fling himself into the front passenger seat and it set off immediately he got there. He had trouble closing his door, then had to fumble around before he could find the end of his seat belt and fasten it.
‘You could have waited till I got in properly.’
‘You were in and that’s all that mattered. If you lost a bit of weight you’d not be so slow at buckling up. I’m not risking getting caught. How come those two women returned so soon? You told me you saw them leave the hospital and go into the nearby café at half past seven, which was why we came straight here.’
‘I did see them go into the café. I even watched them sit down at a table.’
‘Well, they can’t have stayed there. I wonder what brought them back so soon? They haven’t had time to get a meal or even a takeaway.’
‘Who cares? He isn’t going to be pleased about this. When they see they’ve been broken into, they may upgrade their alarm system. A child could break into this place.’
Chapter Twenty
As soon as she’d switched off the car engine, Emma unfastened her seat belt, clapped one hand to her mouth and rushed towards the downstairs cloakroom, leaving her car door open.
Mara could hear the sound of retching and vomiting as she too got out of the car. She didn’t go into the kitchen, stopping dead to stare sideways through the door Emma had left open into the hall. She was certain Emma hadn’t left the front door of the house open. In fact, she’d seen her switch on the security system.
When she heard a car drive away along the street, she felt suspicious, so rushed outside to find out who it was. Unfortunately all she could see were the tail lights of a large, dark vehicle, which was accelerating away dangerously fast. Was that someone who’d broken into the house?
There was the sound of a toilet flushing and Emma came out of the cloakroom, patting her mouth with some tissues. ‘I don’t know what did this to me. I must have eaten something bad without realising it. I’m sorry to spoil your—’ She too stopped to stare at the front door. ‘Did you switch the security system off and open the front door?’
‘No. The security system was already off and the door open.’
‘That’s strange. I definitely didn’t forget to turn on the security system and I’d never have left the front door open, never in a million years. We hardly use that door anyway because we mostly come and go by car.’
‘You should have told me you weren’t feeling well. I’d not have minded staying at home. I’ll lock the door again now. You go and sit down.’
‘Not yet. Someone must have broken in so I’d better check the rest of the house. Let me go first. I know what it should all look like better than you do.’
Emma closed and locked the front door and hurried into the kitchen, switching on all the lights as she went. ‘Oh, hell! Someone’s definitely been in here. The chairs have been disturbed. They must have bumped into them in the darkness.’
She ran across the living area into the office. ‘I don’t think they came in here, but look, this side patio door is open. Why do you think they went outside?’
‘If there’s no damage, we must have disturbed them before they could take anything. There’s something on the ground outside. Could you switch the rest of the patio lights on, please?’
Whatever was on the ground was half-hidden by a table and chairs, so Mara moved sideways. It looked like – it was a figure. ‘Oh, no! It’s Hal and he’s just lying there. I’m going outside to check him. He must have disturbed them.’
Emma rushed across to stop her opening the door. ‘Wait a minute. Take something to defend yourself with, just in case anyone is still lingering nearby. I’m going to call the police. Here.’ She grabbed the knife-sharpening steel from the magnetic knife panel in the kitchen and held it out to Mara.
After grabbing her meat tenderising mallet, just in case, Emma snatched up a phone and dialled triple zero, keeping the mallet lying on the counter nearby and her back against the wall. ‘Hello. I need the police and an ambulance. We’ve just had a break-in. We disturbed the intruders and our neighbour is lying outside unconscious.’
She picked up the mallet and moved across to the half-open door, worried about Mara, as she answered a couple more questions from the emergency services phone responder.
It was quiet on the patio, with no sign of anyone else lingering. Mara edged round to the side of Hal so that she could keep her back turned to the house and watch the garden and canal for anyone approaching her from that direction.
As she bent over him to feel for a pulse, he groaned and stirred.
‘Thank goodness,’ she muttered. She could see blood on the side of his head, though, where they must have hit him.
His eyes flickered open and shut, then opened again but he didn’t seem to be seeing clearly.
‘You’ve been injured, Hal. Lie still. We’ve called an ambulance.’
He blinked at her. ‘Mara? You back already?’
‘Yes. Emma was feeling ill, so we didn’t stay out for a meal after all.’
‘I can’t remember – falling. And my head hurts.’
From the kitchen came an exclamation and the sound of someone vomiting then a tap running.
‘Emma seems to have a stomach bug.’ Mara kept her eyes on Hal, really worried about him.
He blinked and tried to shake his head, letting out a soft ‘Ouch’ as if this hurt him.
‘Lie still. You shouldn’t move till the paramedics have checked you. Do you hurt anywhere else or is it just your head? Wiggle your arms and legs one at a time.’
He started doing this and winced suddenly, his words still a bit slurred. ‘Left ankle hurts.’
‘I can’t do anything to help you till the police come except watch out in case the intruders return.’ She couldn’t resist touching him as she repeated, ‘Please lie still, Hal.’
‘You go inside. I’ll wait here. Too dizzy to stand up yet.’
‘No way am I leaving you. I’ll whack them if they come back.’ She brandished the knife sharpener and saw his lips curl into a near smile. B
ut he didn’t try to get up, thank goodness.
A few moments later there was the sound of a siren coming closer.
‘I’ll let them in,’ Emma called from the doorway. ‘Scream if you need help.’
When Hal stretched out his hand, Mara took hold of it, but still kept her eyes open.
It was one of the police officers who found the piece of paper that had fallen off the kitchen surface. ‘What’s this?’ He held it up and Emma stared at the big black letters, which must have been printed on a computer.
TELL YOUR NEIGHBOUR HE’S NOT WELCOME HERE. YOU’RE NOT WELCOME EITHER IF YOU ASSOCIATE WITH HIM.
She was shocked. ‘Who could have sent such a message? I’ll make friends with whoever I want.’
‘Has anyone tried to buy your house lately?’ the older officer asked. ‘In my last posting we had trouble about attempts to drive people out because a builder wanted to redevelop the area.’
‘No, but—’ She looked up as one of the paramedics helped Hal limp into the house and sit on a chair. He was so pale, she was worried he might faint.
She realised the officer was waiting for her answer. ‘Actually, someone’s made an offer for the house next door, which Hal Kendrell, the new owner, turned down.’ She broke off to listen as Hal insisted that he wasn’t going to hospital. Hopefully that meant he wasn’t badly hurt.
‘I’m sure my ankle is only sprained.’
‘We’d prefer to make certain it’s not broken, sir.’
‘Well, I sprained the other ankle a couple of years ago and it felt very similar, so I’m not going to waste hours in an emergency department. I couldn’t walk on it if it was broken.’
‘But, sir—’
‘I am not leaving my mother’s house unoccupied.’
‘Can’t you lock it up?’
‘No. I’m staying.’ Hal’s mouth had a stubborn set to it that reminded Emma of his mother during a TV interview she’d seen with a tactless fellow asking stupid questions.
