Picking up the paper, Del studied the dresses. “Give me today to scout around my usual haunts, I’ll let you know by tomorrow. I’m ninety nine point ninety nine percent certain I can get them.” And if not, for the price the dresses were selling for, she’d sew the damned things up herself.
“Lovely!” Penelope daintily draped her handbag over her wrist. “Thank you, Delia.”
“No worries, Penelope.” Del watched her leave the shop and head over the road to the bookstore. “But Penny and Del would be so much easier to say.”
Putting in several phone calls finally netted her the dresses in Penelope’s size. Luckily thin was in and high fashion warehouses stocked plenty of dresses in her size. Del ordered what was requested and sat back with a sigh of contentment. The sale of just those dresses would make her bank balance preen.
Glancing at the clock, she realised it was nearly lunch time and decided to shut the shop five minutes early and go next door to Dee’s for lunch. She’d just locked the door when she felt someone behind her.
Heart stuttering at the thought that it might be Moz, she swung around only to find Pierce Harding and Brand Dawson.
“Hi,” she said. “Did you want something from the shop?”
A sale was a sale, even if it was to snakes.
Pierce leaned his hand against the wall next to her ear, his smile a touch unpleasant when combined with the hardness of his eyes. “I’m not sure we’re welcome in your shop, Del.”
“I’ve never kicked your arse out, so I’m not sure why you would think that.”
Brand stood almost sullenly, his hands in the pockets of his dirty, ripped jeans. The sneer on his face was as unpleasant as his friend’s smile. “Oh, I know we’re not welcome in your shop.”
Del folded her arms. “And why would that be?”
“Got yourself a new boyfriend, I see.”
“A what?”
“Boyfriend. You know, muscle-head.”
“Yeah, you’re going to have try a little harder than that, Brand. Give me another hint.”
“Your boyfriend, the interfering inspector.”
“The interfering - oh.” Enlightenment dawned on Del. “You mean Moz?”
“Know anyone else built like a brick shithouse with an attitude problem?”
For one wild second Del thought they’d seen the kiss, until commonsense kicked in. No one could have seen them at the back of the shop. Relaxing, she shrugged. “Moz isn’t my boyfriend.”
“He sure acts all territorial.” Pierce leaned closer. “You like men walking all over you? ‘Cause that’s not how I remember you being, Del.”
“No, I don’t like men walking all over me.” She looked at him coolly. “And I don’t like blokes crowding me, so I suggest you back off.”
His gaze slipped over her, lingered on her bosom before sweeping back up to her face.
If Moz had looked at her like that she’d have had the wobbly-knees disease all over again, but Pierce’s gaze just made her feel disgust. “Get a good look?”
“I could get a better one if you’d come out with me.” Lifting his hand, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ears.
In a flash Del grabbed his hand, twisting it back while digging her thumb into the web between his thumb and forefinger.
With a yelp of pain, he half bent over as she twisted his arm around and up.
Brand just stood there shaking his head in loathing. “You always were a hard arse.”
Using her grip on Pierce’s hand, Del shoved him away, sending him staggering back as he clasped his hand in his other one.
“Always have been.” Del kept her gaze on Pierce. “Always will be.”
Straightening, Pierce cradled his hand to his chest. “You bitch!”
“Next time you touch me without an invite, Harding, I’ll break your wrist.”
He hissed in pain and anger.
Brand looked past him. “We gotta go.”
“Not before I teach this bitch a lesson,” Pierce snarled.
“Really?” Del drawled. “Here in the street in plain daylight?”
“And with him coming?” Brand nodded in the direction he was looking.
Del and Pierce looked over to see Moz crossing the road from further up, a scowl on his face, big fists bunched as his long legs ate up the distance. He was forced to stop to allow a farm truck to pass, but then he resumed striding.
He might have been a distance away but he was covering ground fast.
“You’ll get yours,” Pierce hissed at her before hurrying for the car parked not far off.
Brand followed him, getting quickly into the driver’s seat. Revving the engine, he backed out and took off down the road.
Heart beating a little quicker from the encounter, Del watched Moz draw near. Now her heart was tripping for an entirely different reason. Moz’s gaze was fastened on her, concern evident on his face.
Oh boy, and he’d kissed her. Now what did she say to him?
“What the hell?” Dee stepped out of the newsagent. “Did I just see the pair of local dickheads pulling out in a hurry?”
“You did.” Partly relieved to have her cousin as a buffer, Del turned to her.
“Who are they running from?”
Del pointed at Moz who was now stepping up onto the footpath. Dee switched her attention to him.
“Are you all right?” He was completely focussed on Del.
“Of course.” She shrugged.
“Did he hurt you?” Reaching out, Moz brushed his thumb across her cheek.
Yep, her knees went a little wobbly. Cripes, he was bringing out some odd reactions in her today.
“Not at all. Pierce is all strut and show, little achievement and determination.”
“You can’t be sure of that.” He frowned. “You need to report it to the police.”
“That he tucked my hair behind my ear? Are you kidding me?”
“Del, even I could see what you did to him.”
Dee flicked her interested gaze from Moz to Del. “What did you do?”
“Made him think twice,” Del answered. “He might actually file a complaint against me for assault.” Like she was worried.
“He wouldn’t want to,” Moz growled.
Whoa, man, he full-on growled. Like a big bear, and not a koala bear, either. Nothing as cute as that. Nope, he looked majorly pissed. His eyes were narrowed and a muscle jumped in his tightly clenched jaw.
Becoming aware of Dee’s uncharacteristic silence, Del glanced sideways at her, only to find her cousin watching her and Moz speculatively. Okay, that never boded well. Time to defuse this situation. “Look, Dee, nothing major happened. Pierce decided to tuck my hair behind my ear-”
“He what?”
“And I took his hand and politely removed it.”
Dee scowled. “Why the hell was he getting amorous with you?”
“He wasn’t. He…” Del stumbled to a halt. Why had he done it?
She glanced at Moz to find him watching her steadily, anger still simmering in his eyes but also a touch of curiosity. “I don’t know, all right?”
“What a jerk,” Dee said. “He ever tries anything like that again, you yell out and I’ll come and kick him up the arse. The weight I carry on my arse will travel right through my foot and have his balls ringing in the hour on his tonsils.”
“Wow, I’m touched.”
“Not as much as that drongo is going to be.”
“Don’t you worry about him,” Moz said. “I’ll take care of it.”
“What?” It was her turn to be surprised. “Wait a minute-”
“I’ll have a word to him.” Moz turned and started striding away.
Del was right behind him. “Wait! You can’t do that!”
“It’s done.”
She grabbed his arm. “Damn it, Baylon, you don’t have to do this!”
“Yeah, I do.” Moz turned and faced her, his hand coming around to cup her elbow. His voice gentled. “No man places a hand on
a woman who doesn’t want it, and he damned sure isn’t going to put his hands on you.”
“I took care of him. You saw that.”
“You did, but you shouldn’t have had to in the first place. Now I’m taking care of him.”
“Are you insane?”
“I’m as sane as you.”
“Then that throws the whole thing open for debate,” Dee commented.
Ignoring her cousin, Del glared up at Moz. “Look, this is my business and-”
“I know it’s your business.”
“Then you don’t-”
“And I’ve made it my business.”
“Holy heck! How can you-”
“Don’t stress.”
About to give him a scathing reply, Del suddenly became aware of Jill from the bookshop and Freda from the estate agent across the road standing on the footpath watching her. Even Ian from the furniture store beside the newsagent was heading their way.
Great. Just great.
Quickly, her hand still on Moz’s arm, Del went up on tiptoe. Obligingly, he leaned down.
Fiercely she whispered in his ear, “Don’t you dare do anything, Moz. I’ll come looking for you and give you a taste of what I can do to hurt you.”
He straightened just enough to look down into her face. A sudden glint lit up his eyes, and it certainly wasn’t anger. His lips curved. “Is that a promise?”
Her mouth fell open. Geez, his voice wasn’t just deep, it was husky, too, and it held a wealth of carnal meaning. Her knees almost gave out then and there.
He winked at her before straightening, the humour swept away by controlled anger as he said quietly for her benefit alone, “You got a problem with what I’m doing, you come and see me.” With that, he strode away.
Del could do three things. Run after him for everyone to see, yell at him for everyone to hear, or beat a dignified retreat into the newsagent. Calling in back-up was also an option.
Turning to Dee, she smiled brightly. “Lunch?”
Retreat and back-up it was. She’d kill him later.
~*~
Dawson and Harding had done a runner.
Driving around town, Moz couldn’t find them. Wherever they’d gone, they were keeping their heads down.
Turning off into a side street, he headed back to the office. Sooner or later they’d pop up on his radar. There was only so long they could hide in a place like Gully’s Fall.
He spotted the cop car parked in front of the office, Kirk leaning back against the boot with his arms folded across his chest, long legs crossed at the ankles, identical mirrored sunglasses to those Moz wore perched on his nose. Nonchalantly, he watched Moz pull in beside him.
“Hey.” Moz nodded to him as he slid out of the driver’s seat and locked the door.
“G’day.” Kirk angled his head slightly.
“Problem?” A thought occurred, one that soured his stomach. “Another dog body?”
“No bodies. Problem? Depends.”
Moz gazed hard at him. Hmmm, kind of hard to tell what the cop was thinking with his deadpan face and the mirrored sunglasses hiding his eyes. “Depends on what?”
“Let’s take this inside. I’m dying for a cup of coffee.”
Okay, so nothing too serious. Maybe.
With a jerk of his head, Moz led the way to the office, unlocking the door and entering. The keys he placed on a hook near the filing cabinet. Going into the back room, he filled the kettle half way and plugged it in, flicking on the switch.
Hooking an arm of his sunglasses into the top of his shirt, Kirk leaned against the doorjamb. “I hear you want a word with Harding and Dawson.”
Ahhh. Moz spooned coffee into two mugs. “Someone’s been telling tales.”
“I hear a lot of things.”
“Has to be from one of two blondes.”
“Like I said, I hear a lot.”
Moz spooned two sugars into his mug and looked at Kirk. “Sugar?”
Kirk shook his head.
“Milk?”
“A little.”
“So who snitched? Dee or Del?”
“Is it true?”
“Seriously? You’re not going to tell me?”
Kirk looked at him.
The kettle flicked off and Moz poured hot water into the mugs. “You know Del sits on her roof.”
“Yep.”
“She sees a lot.”
“Yep.”
“She was on the roof yesterday when I went to check if Harding had been following a directive I’d given him in regards to some of his stock. He, Cutter and Dawson saw Del on her roof. That’s dangerous.” He added milk to the mugs before handing one to Kirk. “I told them outright that I was friends with Del. I thought that might stop them doing anything stupid.”
“Such as go after her if she sees something?” Kirk frowned slightly. “Or they think she’s seen something.”
Moz nodded. “Then this morning I saw Harding and Dawson with Del. Harding touched her and next thing she’s got his arm twisted back and up and is shoving him away.”
Kirk’s eyes narrowed.
Moz leaned back against the small bench. “By the time I got back to Del, both blokes had taken off. I was just going to have a word to them, warn them to lay off her.” Blowing on the steaming liquid, he watched the cop through the heat swirls.
“Del was worried you’d get into a fight.”
Moz smiled a little. “I don’t get into fights unless my back is to the wall.”
“So you wouldn’t rip Harding’s head off?”
“Not his head. His nut sac, maybe, if he tried anything with her again.”
Kirk gave a small smile of his own, fleeting but definitely apparent before he grew serious again. “How about I have a chat to him instead? It’d be more acceptable from the local cops.”
“You can chat to him, sure.”
The cop looked knowingly at him. “You still intend to anyway, right?”
“Bet your arse,” Moz replied calmly.
“Just don’t do anything rash.”
“I learned to keep my temper a long time ago. I’m not about to let two drongos get me into trouble.”
“Just so we understand each other.”
“I’d say we have a good understanding.”
Kirk took a tentative sip from the mug. “I’ve spoken to the cops in Ellor’s Loop. They’ve heard whispers of a dog fighting ring operating in their area.”
“Got any names?”
“Not yet, but they’re working on it. You might want to go see them.”
“I’ll do that.” Moz did a mental run-through of his schedule. “I’ve got to swing past the abattoirs three hundred kilometres from here, I’ll be staying at a motel as it’ll be too late to leave by the time I’ve finished there. But I can do a round journey on the way back tomorrow and hook up with the Ellor’s Loop cops. Plus I’ll check in with the city rangers at the same time.”
“Busy time.”
“Mate, it’s always a busy time. Too many miles to cover.”
“And yet here you are.”
Moz shrugged. “I always did like animals, basically anything that can walk, crawl, fly or swim. Someone has to watch out for them.”
Kirk’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “You softie.”
“Not so soft when I find people mistreating animals. No mercy then, I’ll dig up everything I can to make sure the book is thrown as hard at them as I can make it go.”
“I hear you.”
“Speaking of which, I hear your pet rat and the baby get on well.”
Kirk grinned. “Sparkles knows to keep out of hands reach of Lily.”
Moz shook his head. “I’m always surprised that Molly doesn’t mind the rat near Lily.”
“We’re sensible. We’d never leave the baby and the rat alone together. Sparkles is loose only when we’re in the vicinity. It’s like any pet with a baby, it’s commonsense.”
“True.” Moz took a sip of hot coffee. “I guess yo
u haven’t heard of any rentals around?”
“Sorry, no. Still looking?”
“Can’t stay at the boarding house forever, and Mozart needs to be with me in our own place.”
Kirk scratched his jaw thoughtfully. “No one around who would let you share a house and be happy for Mozart to stay there as well?”
“Apparently not. No rentals or flatmates wanted.”
“Bugger.”
Moz looked down at the coffee. “I may have to take Julia up on her offer of bringing Mozart to stay at the boarding house.”
“Why? Isn’t he happy with Elissa and Simon?”
“Arthur hasn’t been happy with Mozart in the house, and he certainly won’t tolerate him walking around. I can understand that, Arthur’s set in his ways. Simon and Elissa haven’t said anything, they’re happy for Mozart to stay, but it’s not fair to them or either cat. Plus Mozart gets anxious, he’s already chewed through a wool blanket.”
“Oh yeah.” Kirk’s eyes twinkled. “I heard that Simon was frantic and ready to head for the vet even though it was midnight, but you talked him out of it on the phone.”
“Mozart’s done it before when he’s been anxious. It didn’t affect him then and it didn’t affect him this time, either. I took him to see Grant the next day for a check-up but he was fine.” Moz grinned. “Simon panics a little when it comes to the cats.”
Kirk laughed.
Moz watched the steam swirl up from his mug. “Mozart needs company. I’d like to have him with me at night. During the day he can occupy himself while I work, but he’s always had me at night since I got him.”
“You’ve had him since he was a kitten?”
“No, I got him about eight months ago. Was doing an inspection on a breeder who had been reported. She bred a variety of cats - Siamese, Persians, Sphinx, Exotics. A buyer dobbed her in for the appalling conditions of her cattery, I was one of the investigating officers.” Moz grimaced. “Those poor cats. They were all neglected, suffering from malnutrition, and the conditions they lived in were disgusting. The kittens she kept in the house, kept them well fed and looking good, but the adults no one saw. The buyer had some kids who ran out the back and spotted them, and from there it was on.” Moz paused, thinking back. “We got a court order, had the cops out there, took all the cats. Some had to be put down, most we were able to re-home. She’s prohibited from owning animals for six years and paid a hefty fine.” A scowl grew on his face at the memory of the cats’ conditions. “I’d have preferred a gaol sentence and a lifetime ban, but you know the courts.”
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