She was just zipping her coat up and pulling her hat over her head when Theo trotted back down the stairs and retrieved his own jacket. She pulled out a beanie and handed it to him.
‘Here, you’re going to need this, we’re almost into winter and it’s getting real cold now.’
Helping him to put it on she tilted her head as she watched him. Damn it, he looked good enough to eat as he watched her with those dark inscrutable eyes, his inky coloured hair curling at the ends and poking out from under the woollen hat.
Smiling at him she hooked her bag over her shoulder and lifted Beau into her arms.
‘Have you got your keys?’
She nodded before heading down the porch steps and leaving Theo to close the door behind them.
There was a thin layer of frost on her car as she pulled out her keys and unlocked it. Handing Beau to Theo she climbed into the driver’s side.
‘We really need to teach you to drive,’ she mused idly as Theo climbed in the other side.
‘Really?’ he grinned like a little boy.
‘Really,’ she laughed as she turned the keys in the ignition, listening as her poor car spluttered reluctantly to life, ‘although you might be better off if Jake teaches you, I’m not known for my patience.’
Leaving the heater running for her boys, she climbed back out and scraped the thin layer of ice from her windshield. By the time they actually pulled out of her driveway and hit the main road into town she noticed the telltale shadow in her rear view mirror.
‘I guess the mayor hasn’t dealt with Chief Walcott yet.’
Theo turned to look behind them and noticed the squad car tailing them.
‘To Hell with them,’ Olivia told him, at the murderous glare on his face. ‘I’m not going to let them upset me, after all at the end of the day there is a murderer on the loose and a demon in my woods about to break free. I’d say they’re a hell of a lot scarier than those misguided idiots.’
‘I wish I could feel that way,’ he growled, ‘right now I’d love nothing more than to plant my fist in Chief Walcott’s face.’
‘And I am small enough to enjoy that,’ Olivia laughed, ‘but we’re going to head into town and ignore them. We’re going to go the Bailey’s store and get Beau everything he needs.’
‘Beau?’
‘Yes,’ she nodded, ‘don’t you like it?’
He held the puppy up and studied his adorable face as he tried to lick Theo’s hands.
‘I think it suits him,’ he said after a moment.
‘So anyway after we’ve got him a leash we can take a walk down Main Street and stop by the bank. I’ll show you how to use an ATM; we haven’t had a chance to do that yet.’
‘What’s an ATM?’
‘It’s an automated teller machine,’ she told him, ‘you remember I explained to you about your bank account and bank card?’
‘Yes,’
‘You use your card to get cash from the machine, that amount is then deducted from your bank account.’
‘Okay,’ Theo stroked Beau’s coat absently, ‘why do I need cash? I thought you said I could pay for what I wanted with the card.’
‘That’s true, you can but you need to practice handling modern money. So we’re going to go to the coffee shop and you can have a go.’
‘A coffee shop?’ he turned to Olivia in interest.
‘Yes,’ she laughed lightly, ‘it sells lots of different types of coffee. You can even try an espresso if you like.’
‘What’s an espresso?’ he asked curiously.
‘It’s a tiny cup of really, really strong black coffee.’
‘I see, maybe we should go there first?’ he asked hopefully.
‘Nice try,’ she smiled, ‘but Beau is hungry and he needs a leash.’
She pulled into a parking space along Main Street, and stepping out of the car she watched to make sure Theo was out before she locked it. Rounding the car she took Beau from him, snuggling the pup into her jacket.
‘What are those?’ Theo asked, looking up as two town workers on ladders strung Christmas decorations between the street lights.
‘They’re Christmas decorations.’ She looked back at Theo her eyes narrowing thoughtfully, ‘I forgot that as a Puritan you wouldn’t have celebrated Christmas.’
‘My father considered the day an abomination, he said there was no justification for it in the scriptures and that it was associated with pagans and devil worshipers.’
‘It is true that modern day Christmas is a culmination of many different folklore tales and religious festivals. But it’s fun to celebrate it; it’s a time for goodwill and love.’
He looked at her sceptically.
‘You’ll get used to it,’ she laughed as he put an arm around her and pulled her closer.
They walked contentedly down the street together until they reached the Bailey’s store. Pushing the door open to a merry jingle of bells they found the sweet little Mr Bailey decorating a Christmas tree.
‘Why does he have a tree indoors?’ Theo whispered.
‘It’s a Christmas tree,’ she laughed delightedly, ‘just go with it, its tradition.’
‘Olivia dear,’ he spotted her and climbed painfully to his feet.
‘Are you alright Mr Bailey?’ Olivia asked in concern.
‘Just the old knees playing up and my back is not what is once was.’ He smiled as he caught sight of the wriggling ball of fur in Olivia’s arms, ‘well who do we have here?’
‘This is Beau,’ Olivia held him out so Mr Bailey could pet him.
‘My goodness he looks just like your Truman doesn’t he.’
‘Yes he does,’ she replied quietly, ‘I guess I’m just sentimental.’
‘Nothing wrong with that.’ he patted her hand affectionately, ‘well what brings you by today?’
‘Beau here was a bit of an impulse and I don’t have any supplies for him,’ she replied, ‘I was hoping you might stock what I need.’
‘Certainly,’ he beamed, ‘we have a whole pet range, what exactly do you need?’
He picked up a basket and handed it to Theo and beckoned them to follow him.
‘I need bowls, food, treats, a leash and some chew toys before I lose every pair of shoes I own.’
‘Goodness,’ he laughed.
He helped her pick out a food and water bowl in bright blue. She also got him a bed and several padded cushions, treats, food and toys.
‘We carry a nice range of collars as well,’ he handed her a blue one that matched his leash, ‘but if you want a tag we have some temporary ones and we also have a made to order range which are very popular.’
She pulled the price tag off the collar and added it to the basket before wrapping the collar around Beau’s neck.
‘We’ll take a temporary one for now but I’d like to order a more permanent one.’
Nodding he picked up a catalogue from a nearby holder and pulled his reading glasses from his shirt pocket, flipping them open and slipping them onto his nose.
‘We have a rather nice silver one in the shape of a bone which you can have his name engraved on, or you can go with a circular or oval shape.’
‘Actually I like the bone shaped one,’ Olivia peered over the edge of the page.
‘Excellent choice,’ he beamed, ‘is that everything then?’
‘I think so,’ Olivia nodded glancing over to Theo who was laden down with everything, ‘is there anything else Theo?’
‘Have you anymore of Liddy Mayberry’s strawberry tarts?’ his eyes brightened.
‘Enjoyed that did you?’ he chuckled.
‘Enjoyed it,’ Olivia rolled her eyes, ‘I barely got any of it, Theo practically inhaled it.’
‘I know the feeling,’ he patted his rounded belly, ‘Unfortunately I think we sold the last tart last night but we have a lovely chocolate fudge cake.’
‘Now you’re talking,’ Olivia smiled, ‘we’
ll take it.’
‘Alright then,’ Mr Bailey smiled, ‘let’s ring all this up for you.’
By the time they left the store it was getting on for mid morning and Beau was beginning to whine.
‘We really need to feed him before we go anywhere else,’ Olivia told Theo as they approached the car.
Theo nodded and as Olivia popped the trunk Theo loaded the bags, rummaging through them to pull out the food bowls a bag of dried food and a bottle of water. While Theo fed him she pulled out his new leash and removed the tags. A sudden chill ran down her spine and a feeling she was being watched. Turning to glance at the street behind her she couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Rolling her shoulders and trying to shake the uncomfortable feeling she locked the trunk and moved around to where Theo was crouched down beside Beau.
‘I think he’s done,’ Theo tapped out the bowls to make sure they were empty and placed them inside the car, taking Olivia’s keys and locking it.
‘Come on then Beau,’ she smiled as she bent down and clipped the leash to his collar.
They barely got two steps down the street before Beau flopped down on the side walk, rolling himself up in the leash as he laid on his back chewing on it.
Laughing at him Olivia scooped him up and untangled him.
‘Theo, walk a couple of steps ahead until he gets the hang of it.’
Theo set off as Beau watched with interest, wriggling frantically in Olivia’s arms as he watched Theo walk away.
‘Okay boy,’ she set him down on the ground, ‘Where’s Theo? Go find him.’
Happy to play the new game Beau scrambled after Theo, dragging Olivia by his leash.
They made it to the bank mostly without incident if you discount Beau getting tangled up around a street light and nearly tripping up several people. After showing Theo how to use the ATM they headed towards the coffee shop with Theo almost as excited as Beau.
‘God, you two are cute,’ Olivia picked Beau up as they headed inside and up to the counter.
Theo deeply inhaled the strong aromatic scent before throwing her a smile.
‘I’ll have a vanilla Latte,’ Olivia told the woman behind the counter, ‘Theo?’
‘I don’t know,’ he frowned, ‘what do you think?’
‘Knowing your sweet tooth a caramel Macchiato would probably go down well,’
‘A caramel,’ he turned back to Olivia.
‘Macchiato,’ she repeated helpfully.
‘Yes,’ he smiled at the woman, ‘one of those please.’
They waited patiently while the barista prepared them; Olivia watched patiently as Theo took out a bill and handed it to her telling her to keep the change. Sipping her Latte she wandered outside closely followed by Theo and placed Beau back down on the ground. Theo took a sip of his coffee and almost purred.
‘What?’ she smiled as he stared down at his cup.
‘Perhaps I should get another one to take home?’
Olivia laughed and slipped her arm through his.
‘One is quite enough for now.’ Tugging him gently away from the shop she glanced at him after a moment, ‘you know you gave the woman in there a fifty for two coffees.’
He shrugged. Her husband has just lost his job, things are tough for them at the moment and although she doesn’t know it yet, she’s pregnant.’
Olivia stopped dead in her tracks and turned to look at him.
‘How do you know that?’
‘I see things, you know that.’
‘What you had a dream?’
‘No,’ he shook his head, ‘sometimes I see things, it’s a bit hard to explain. It’s like impressions, it doesn’t happen with everybody.’
‘So you knew things were tough for her and her husband?’
He nodded, a little embarrassed.
‘That was very generous,’ she murmured as she stretched up on her toes and impulsively pressed her lips to his.
Beau went nuts and started barking, running in circles around them and jumping up trying to get in on their embrace. Laughing again, Olivia handed Theo her Latte and bent down to untangle Beau’s leash from their legs. When she looked up Theo was taking a sneaky sip of her coffee.
‘What?’ he said innocently, ‘I just wanted to try a little.’
‘Hand it over,’ she shook her head, ‘or I won’t have any left.’
He laughed and dropped his arm around her shoulders as they headed back to her car. Draining the rest of his Macchiato he dropped the cup in the trash and scooped up Beau. Olivia moved round the car back to the driver’s side, but as she went to open it she frowned, the door was unlocked. She could’ve sworn she saw Theo lock it. She shrugged to herself maybe he just didn’t do it properly. Opening the door she went to climb in but noticed a book on her seat. She reached in with trembling hands and turned it over to look at it. It had been her favourite when she was a child, her father used to read it to her almost every night. That feeling of being watched prickled between her shoulder blades again, causing her to turn around.
Vaguely aware of the door clinking closed behind her, her eyes swept across the road to the opposite sidewalk and the man that stood watching her calmly. Her heart gave a solid thump in her chest and her eyes filled with tears as she gazed upon the man she hadn’t seen in twenty years. A maelstrom of emotions crashed through her, from hate and anger through confusion to longing and love.
Her father watched her with unreadable eyes. She didn’t know what she’d expected; she’d spent the last two decades hating him for what he’d done. In her mind he was cold and cruel and twisted but standing there in the middle of the street the years fell away and he was the man she had loved. She didn’t realise that tears rolled slowly down her face, her attention was locked on him alone. She took a step towards him and flinched at a sudden horn blaring in a screech of tyres.
Theo grabbed her and yanked her back as the car skidding to a halt in front of them. The driver jumped out and headed towards them.
‘Christ, I’m sorry man I didn’t see her, is she okay?’
But Olivia wasn’t listening her gaze scanned the sidewalk but her father was gone.
Her heart pounded wildly as Theo checked her for injuries.
‘Olivia?’ he shook her to get her attention, ‘are you hurt?’
‘No,’ she answered numbly, ‘I’m okay.’
‘Christ Olivia what were you thinking?’ he breathed heavily.
‘I saw my father,’ her eyes were raw and filled with pain.
‘Where?’
Her gaze tracked mutely back to the opposite side of the road.
Theo scanned the surrounding area but the truth was he didn’t actually know what Charles Connell looked like.
‘Is he still there?’
She shook her head silently.
After satisfying himself that she was okay the driver of the other car left. Theo managed to get her back to the car but she was still pretty shaken up, she sat in the driver’s seat just staring out the windscreen.
‘Do you want me to drive?’ Theo asked.
She turned to look at him blankly.
‘How hard can it be?’ his lips twitched with the ghost of a smile.
She laughed weakly and scrubbed her hands over her face.
‘Are you alright?’
‘Yes,’ she sighed, ‘no…I don’t know, it just took me by surprise. I guess I expected him to look different but apart from the grey hair he just looked like my dad.’
‘Do you want me to call Jake?’
‘No,’ she shook her head, ‘we’ll call him later, let’s just go home.’
Taking a deep breath she started the car and reversed out carefully. Beau was burrowed into Theo’s lap and watched her quietly with big brown eyes, as if he sensed something was wrong. She didn’t even bother to check to see if she was still being tailed by the police, she just knew she was tired and emotionally wrung out and all she wanted wa
s to go home.
She turned into her drive with a relief but it was to be short lived. As she pulled up to the front of the house she could see something was wrong. Switching off the engine she climbed out slowly and a hot ball of misery filled her throat, as tears filled her eyes.
Her porch was covered in shots of what could only be egg and scrawled across her front door in giant grotesque red letters was the word ‘MURDERER.’
Chapter 20.
Jake’s jaw clenched angrily as he took in the dripping red letters on Olivia’s door. Knocking loudly he stepped back and surveyed the damage to the porch. Pieces of egg shells crunched under his boots and smears of yolk and egg whites streaked the walls and windows. The door opened abruptly and Theo appeared, his expression almost perfectly mirroring Jake’s.
‘I suppose I should be grateful you’re actually dressed this time,’ Jake said dryly.
The corner of Theo’s mouth twitched.
‘You’d better come in.’
He stood back and allowed Jake to pass him.
Hanging his jacket up in the hallway he wiped his boots on the mat and made his way into the library where he was met by a very enthusiastic ball of golden coloured fur.
‘Hey buddy,’ Jake knelt down and stroked the puppy, his gaze scanning the room and as it fell on Olivia his expression was unreadable. ‘He looks just like Truman.’
‘Yes he does,’ she replied.
‘I have something I need to show you,’ Jake got up and took a seat next to her on the sofa, ‘then we can talk about that mess on your porch.’
He opened the folder he held in his hands.
‘I traced the package that was sent to you containing Grady’s case files, back to Salem. I checked some of the hotels, motels and B&B’s and came across this.’
He handed her a surveillance photo of her father leaving the lobby with the pale haired man.
‘Where was this taken?’
‘The Hawthorne,’ he told her, ‘but they checked out yesterday evening. They could be anywhere by now.’
‘They’re in Mercy,’ she replied quietly.
‘What?’
She glanced up as Theo entered the room.
Mercy (The Guardians Series 1) Page 34
