Rampant

The way he looked at it indicated how fascinated he was by her legend, as was everybody.

“She’s quite the mystery,” she commented.

Cain shrugged.

“All we need to know is this.” He nodded at the painting and for a moment he looked as if he were in love with the image. Pathos and yearning seemed to surround him as he stared up at Annabel’s likeness. Could you be in love with a ghost, she wondered? When she’d first met Cain she’d thought him arrogant and far too full of himself, and yet now he aroused pity in her.

“Does Grayson Murdoch know you have this painting?”

“No.” His reply was quite curt, and he stiffened.

His eyes altered and the emotion she’d seen there was gone. Had she imagined it?

“He’d be interested to see it.”

“I’m sure he would.” Cain’s mouth tightened into a thin, hard line.

Zoë remembered the tension between the two men that first night. “You don’t approve of his research here, do you?”

“It’s meaningless,” he replied, rather obtusely.

“Perhaps, but he does seem keen to get into the cottage, Her Haven.” She was fishing for information, because her curiosity was growing about the animosity between the two men.

Cain snapped. He turned to face her, gripping her around her upper arms with viselike hands, his eyes dark with warning. “Don’t let him in.”

His expression was so sinister that it made her think about the young woman who had died in London, the weird circumstances of her death and the police investigation. Whether there was any truth in his involvement or not, Zoë decided that she didn’t like him, nor did she trust him.

With some effort, she pulled free.

“Why,” she said, forcing herself to stand up to him, “why do you think I should keep him out of the house?”

His eyes grew shuttered. “If he gets enough information about sightings and so on he can write a bloody book about it, that’s what it’s about. Some of us don’t want him writing a book about our village and our traditions.”

His tone was so disparaging that Zoë decided there had to be more to it than that. His mood had changed in a flash when she brought up Grayson’s name, and his control was gone. He was angry.

“I see,” she responded.

Cain forced a smile, but she could tell it wasn’t natural. He could turn on the charm, just like that. “Don’t let him spoil your time here. He can be a very intrusive person and you mustn’t let him get his way.”

Was she letting Grayson spoil her time? She didn’t think so, in fact quite the opposite. It was far from what she was planning to do, but she had grown rather curious about Annabel herself. However, she wasn’t going to write a book about it at the end of her stay. Was that the only reason he’d latched on to her? The very thought made her heart sink, which was worrying in itself.

Yesterday she’d been able to face up to the fact that Grayson was motivated by his research. She’d been able to get past that and have fun with it. But today—or rather, after last night, which had felt very special and intimate—it made her decidedly grumpy. Was all of that fake? Could Grayson muster up special attention for anyone—like Cain here—just to get the information he wanted? Was he back there at his house now, hammering away on his laptop, making notes about what she said after the vision the night before?

“Come, let me give you a guided tour of the portraits.” Cain encouraged her to move to the next painting, and began to tell her about the person depicted.

But Zoë could barely focus on what he said, because her thoughts were with an entirely different man.

Grayson was striding up the hill to the Tide Inn when Zoë appeared and headed down the pavement toward him. He was glad of it, because he suspected that Cain would be up to his usual tricks and he was ready for a confrontation.

Relaxing somewhat, he took a moment to admire the way she looked as she approached. There was something about her sparky attitude that got to him, in a good way, and it made him wonder what it would be like to observe her on her own patch, organizing a bunch of busy city solicitors.

She gave him a terse smile. “So my time is up, huh?”

“Are you okay?” He turned to go back down the hill with her, when he realized she wasn’t going to stop to talk.

“Yes, I am. I want to go back to Her Haven. I had another vision on the way up here.” She shot him a curious look.

“Really?” How intriguing.