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Enough was enough, Ford decided The cops had the doll; the cops would investigate And so far, the cops hadn’t been able to do dick-all about stopping the threats against Cilla
They weren’t pranks, they weren’t harass the da-if they could-what caliber of bullet had been used wasn’t going to solve the probles would prevent that look of shocked horror fro Cilla’s face the next time
Everyone knew there’d be a next time And the next time, at any tih was h
He pulled up in front of the Hennessy place It was soht Maybe it was soed on the door
"Wasting your ti hat walked over to stand at the picket fence that formed the boundary between houses "Nobody’s in there"
"Do you knohere they are?"
"Everybody knohere he is Locked up" She tapped her temple under the brim of the hat, then circled it "Tried to kill a woman over on Meadowbrook Road a couple hter-theone as the little girl in that TV show? You want to talk to him, you’ll have to try Central State Hospital, down in Petersburg "
"What about Mrs Hennessy?"
"Haven’t seen a sign of her the last couple weeks Selling the place, as you can see there" She pointed to the Century 21 sign, then slipped a s belt Settling in, Ford knew, for a little over-the-fence chat
"She’s had a hard life Her boy was crippled back when he was a teenager Died a year or so ago That husband of hers never had a good word to say to anybody around here Shouting or shaking his fist at kids for playing too loud, or telling people tohand Me, I’d’ve left him after the boy died, but she stuck Could be she’s taken off now he’s locked up, butDon’t know if anybody’s looked at the house yet I’hborly"
It was a haul to Petersburg and back, Ford considered "I guess you’d have noticed if she ht have, if I was hoave Ford a harder measure from under the wide brim of her hat "You’re not kin to them, are you?"
"No, ma’am"
"Well, I can tell you I haven’t seen her or heard a peep out of the house for days now In fact, I’ve taken to watering what flowers she put in I can’t stand to watch soe out of Ford’s book and look at the bright side The bright side could be that a defaced doll in thebut tiht side could be the police took the whole ugly business very seriously True, they’d had no luck tracing any of the dolls so far, not when they were sold regularly on eBay or in secondhand and specialty shops, or could have been taken out of soht her awhatever the hell the police did
And her creas pissed off on her behalf Having people in your corner, even if it was only to express outrage and support, was always a bright side
Plus her new countertops and backsplash kicked serious ass That knocked her level of stress down several notches The streaks and specks of warainst rich chocolate brown set off her cabinets And, Jesus, her copper hardould just pop She’d been right, so absolutely right, to go for the waterfall edging She couldn’t believe how long and hard she’d stressed over that It gave the counters such presence, such authority
Cilla ran her hand over the island as she ht a lover’s warm, naked flesh, and all but purred
"Pretty dark, especially with this half acre of the stuff you’ve got in here"
Cilla merely looked over, tipped her head and spoke in the tone she’d use to a naughty little boy "Buddy"
His lips twisted, but the atteht Cabinets are nice, anyway Got a forest of thelass fronts on soet your sinks mounted Be back to, the dishwasher and the faucets Don’t knohy anybody’d want copper for faucets"
"I’ to helplike the canary-eating cat?"
While they worked on the first underh his teeth A few bars in, Cilla caught herself hu with hirand"
"Guess the mind wanders to her in here Got that clamp on there?"
"It’s on"
"Let’s test the fit then Second time I put a sink in this place"
"Really?"
"Put in the one you’re replacing for your grand on forty, forty-five years, I expect Probably tiht," he ood one" Heclips
"Let’s lift her out"
Cilla gripped the two-by-four clamped to the sink "You and your father did a lot of the work around here back then"
"Still got plenty"
"You did a lot for Andrew Morrow"
"That’s a fact We did all the plu for Skyline Develop out his drill "That job made it so I could buy one of those houses Lived there thirty-seven years coot their homes because of Drew Morrow I’ve fixed the johns in most of them"
AFTER THE TWO sinks were mounted, Cilla went outside to hunt up her father She’d kept hi her a favor" and painting her shutters
It looked as if he was having asup three stories "Take a break?" she asked and offered a bottle of water
"Sure can" He gave her arot to work Better yet when I stand staring atoccurred towith Buddy How he and his father did so who else who’s working here now, or who I didn’t hire, or who’s retired, ht’ve worked on the place when Janet had it Maybe they’re pissed off because I’ to runthat happened before I was born"
"I’d have to think about it I was a teenager, Cilla I can’t say I’d have paid h his hair "There were gardeners, of course The grounds were a showplace I’ll ask Charlie if he remembers who she had for that I do remember she had what you’d call caretakers A couple who’d look after things when she wasn’t here, which was more than not They’d open the house up when she was expected, that sort of thing Mr and Mrs Jorganson They’ve both been gone for years"
"What about carpentry, electrical, painting?"
"Maybe Carl Kroger He did a lot of handyman work back then I’ll ask about that, but I know he retired soo Florida maybe I only rehter, and I ended up teaching her daughter I can’t see Mary Beth Kroger-that’s Marks, now-giving you this kind of trouble"
"It’s probably a stupid idea Just another straw grasped at"
"Cilla, I don’t ive you more to worry about, but have you considered that whoever’s doing this has a grudge directed at you? You, not Janet Hardy’s granddaughter?"
"For what? I’m a former child star, a failed adult actress who recorded a couple of moderately successful CDs My only ties to this area were to her, and you You, Patty and Angie were literally the only people I knehen I came here And let’s be honest, I didn’t know any of you that well I’ve dumped a few hundred thousand into the local economy I can’t see how that would piss anyone off"
"You’re right I know you’re right It’s the dolls It’s such a direct strike at you More than the vandalis those dolls, the child you were, seems so much more personal than the rest"
She studied him "Are you here to paint, or to keep an eye on me?"
"I can do both At least until school starts up The su past her "I’llaround here, the way I’ve been able to We’ve ress since June"
You and I She understood the words he didn’t say "We have Despite everything, it’s been the best su shutters her father had painted on the front s The scent of the paint hung in the air, along with grass, heat and the dianthus in a big blue pot on the veranda
"I just want to finish this off You don’t have to hover"
"I’ satisfying about sitting on a su solance as he sat, at ease "You know, I could teach you how to set a few screws"
"Why would I need to do that when I’ve got you?"
"I’ll ignore that since you bought me that very pretty planter And the steaks you’ve prorill I assembled"
"Corn on the cob, too, and tomatoes fresh from the roadside stand We’ll have ourselves a feast"
She tested the shutter, checked it with her level, then ," he continued, "let’s get less pleasant business out of the way I went by the Hennessy place this lanced back "Hasn’t been there, according to her neighbor, for a couple of weeks One supposition is she went down to Petersburg, to be close to the state hospital where they have him That’s proved out"
"How do you know?"
"I called the istered at the Holiday Inn Express"
"Aren’t you the clever detective?" she replied
"Taught the Seeker everything he knows Or vice versa Anyway, I considered driving down, but it struck me as a waste of time It’s better than a hundred miles one way, Cilla It’s hard to believe she’d drive more than two hundred ht, to pose a doll she’d shot in the daet at you, why ot a house twenty ether, Cilla thought Into panels that followed a logical line "I hate that that’s realistic, that it rings true for me Because it would be easier, simpler, if it was her If I can’t believe that, I have to know it’s someone else That someone else hatesone of his cats in the front yard "I’ one of , Hey, Buddy, did you happen to start a ht when you came by to fix a leak? Or, did she maybe reject your advances in a way that causes you to want to hurt h that same process with Dobby, who is, yes, entirely too old But he had a son, and his son has a son And I was just twisted up enough today to wonder if the very affable Jack was spending ti-that went on with Janet three and a half decades ago Or maybe ical dislike to Katie, and seeks to take revenge onthreatened by soested whoever’s doing this has soainst me, personally But that doesn’t hed, lowered the screwdriver "And because it doesn’taround in circles, which leavesto have dozens of people here in a few days And I know I’, even as I pass the potato salad, if that person’s the one If the person looking atme kindly for the potato salad, would like to shoot otten ularity as a boy, but that-as my mother liked to say-builds character The kind of character that means I can say to you, and you can believeto hurt you while I’ hurt hasn’t been anyone’s priority up till now Because of that, I do believe you I feel safer with you, Ford, than I ever have with anyone"
He kissed her very gently, eased back and said, "Well?"
"Oh, daave you a damn cue" She pulled away, picked up her screwdriver "Look, it’s been a really long day I just don’t want to get into this now"
He simply put a hand under her chin, lifted it until their eyes met
"I don’t know I don’t know I haven’t made the lists yet"