“Looking for the fuse box. I’d told him you’d be taking possession of the house soon, so he was on the lookout for you. There’re a couple of outdoor lights on timers at your house and last night they’d come on. But just before you arrived, McBride was using his table saw and blew out all the breakers in his place. When he looked at your house and saw that it was dark, he knew that you must be on the same circuit, so he went over there to find the breaker box. He said the kitchen door was open, so he called out, but when no one answered, he used the little light on his keychain to try to find the electrical box. He was searching for a panel by the fireplace in the living room when he saw you. He said that when he walked toward you…well, you sort of went crazy.”
Pausing, he looked at Eden for confirmation, but all she could do was turn away. She didn’t want him to see her face.
Brad’s voice lightened. “I think McBride was glad when we showed up. When you phoned me, I panicked and called
both the sheriff and the rescue people. I was afraid of what could happen, so I wanted to make a lot of noise when we arrived.”
He squeezed her hand. She had her face turned away, still unable to look at him. “Eden, don’t be embarrassed. It could have happened to anyone. After all, you’ve been living in New York and—”
She looked back at him. “Is that what everyone’s saying?” She well knew that in a small town like Arundel this would be a big story. Everyone would be talking about it. “People are saying that because I lived in New York that now I attack anyone who tries to help me?”
Brad looked like he was going to tell her that, no, no one thought that, but then he grinned and said, “Pretty much.” When Eden groaned, he said, “Look on the bright side: No one within a hundred-mile radius is going to attack you. Hey! Maybe later you could give me a few pointers.” He put his fists up like a boxer and made a few mock thrusts.
In spite of herself, Eden smiled and tried to sit up. Brad put a hand behind her back and helped her, then gave her a sip of water from the glass on the table. “How is Mr. McBride?” she asked.
Brad raised his eyebrows. “He’ll live, but you banged him up pretty bad. As Clint said, he didn’t fight back. He let you hit him—and claw and bite him—while he seemed to have mostly tried to keep you from hurting yourself.” He gave her a crooked grin. “He’s a real hero. But then, I think he’s done that all his life. Clint said they received a fax of his record, and it showed that McBride was in a lot of fights when he was a cop. Shot, knifed. You name it. But he’d never met his match until he met you.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Did your wife like your sense of humor?”
“Hated it,” Brad said, grinning. “You know what the best thing about all this is? I was afraid that McBride was going to be my competition. You and him out there together. Alone. Him a big, virile-looking kind of guy, and you the best-looking thing to come to town since Susan Sarandon filmed a movie here. I was really worried.”
“But not now?”
“I think he may ask for a restraining order against you.”
“You are a truly horrible human being!” Eden said, but she couldn’t help smiling.
“There, that’s better.” He looked at his watch. “Unfortunately, duty calls and I have to go. They’re going to let you go home after the doctor sees you. You’re just tired from the workout. There’s not a dent on that pretty little body of yours.”
“You’re very fresh, aren’t you?”
Brad laughed. “Fresh. I haven’t heard that word in years. Don’t you watch reality TV? Don’t you know what people in the real world are saying to each other on the first date?”
“Not your generation and not mine,” Eden said primly.
Brad took her hand in his again and for a moment looked as though he was going to kiss it, but then he put her hand back on top of the sheet. “Young Clint gets off duty in two hours so I’ll make sure he drives you home. My housekeeper went out there this morning, gave the place a good cleaning, and”—he wiggled his eyebrows—“turned the breakers back on. I had to sign an affidavit swearing that you wouldn’t be there if she touched your, uh, breaker box.”
In spite of herself, Eden blushed. “You’re incorrigible. Go on, get out of here. I’ll be fine. It’s Mr. McBride I’m concerned about.”
“If I were you, I’d stay away from him. I doubt if he’s your biggest fan. Gotta go. I’ll see you at six tonight and I’ll bring dinner. You take a bath, wash your hair, make yourself pretty, and await my arrival.”
With that he was gone. As the door closed behind him, Eden grimaced. “ ‘Await my arrival’?” she said. “Who does he think he is?” But she smiled anyway and rested against the pillow until she had to get up.
“So help me, Bill,” Jared said into his cell phone, his teeth clenched, “if you don’t stop laughing I’ll remove two of your teeth the next time I see you—which will be soon.”
Jared listened, but his temper didn’t abate. “You didn’t tell me she was insane. None of you happened to mention that fact, and it was nowhere in the papers you had me read. I thought she was some poor woman who’d had a hard life. I thought—No, I’m not going soft on you. So help me, Bill, if you start laughing again I’ll…” Jared gave a nasty smile. “I’ll tell the whole department where I saw you last summer.”
Jared’s smile returned to normal. “That’s better. No, I’m fine. I’ve been a lot worse, but I look bad. No, I’m not being vain. I was sent here to seduce information out of a woman, wasn’t I? So tell me how I’m supposed to wine and dine her when I have a black eye, an arm in a sling, and bruises all over. I tell you, I’ve never seen anybody fight like she did! She was blind! Crazy.”
He listened for a few moments. “That’s nice that the house shrink has a rationalization for why she attacked me, but it doesn’t help any. I think you ought to send someone else out here to do this job. What about Lopez? He’s great-looking. So what if he’s fifteen years younger than she is?”
He paused. “I have no idea what she looks like! It was dark and she attacked me. I saw her snooping around, so I very calmly went to her, then she attacked me. I wasn’t expecting it, and I couldn’t very well attack her back, could I? I did everything I could to get away from her, but she’s an agile little thing, I’ll give her that. At one point, when I had almost scooted away from her, she bit me on the ankle. When I tried to push her head away, she bit my arm. And you should see the claw marks I have on me!”
Jared stopped talking and listened to his boss. He knew that Bill had been sent a full report of what had happened, but Jared wanted to exaggerate everything so, maybe, Bill would take him off the case. It was one thing to try to sweet-talk information out of a woman he was attracted to, but quite another to have to be around a woman whose brain cords didn’t connect properly. For all his undercover work, Jared was no actor. Maybe he could play the tough-guy parts, but not the romantic ones. That’s why he liked women who were reformed bad girls. They didn’t expect much from him—which is just what he gave. His professional life was difficult, so he didn’t want the same in his private life, what little there was of it.
“There’s something else that wasn’t in your reports on her,” Jared said. “She’s practically engaged to some lawyer in town. Yeah, I know she just got here, but they must have known each other before because they’re already a couple. Last night as I lay bleeding on a gurney, being sewn up and swabbed down, some kid of a deputy made it clear to me that little Ms. Palmer belongs to one of the town’s founding families—or whatever they are down here. Lord! Deliver me from the South. Everybody knows who everybody’s great-great-grandfather was and what his rank was in the war. Civil War, that is. No, I can’t calm down!” Jared said. “I’m in pain and I’m not the right man for this job. I think you should send a woman to befriend her. Maybe send an engaged couple, as I think Ms. Palmer is about two seconds away from being engaged herself. They’ll all talk to each other.”
Jared took a breath to listen. “No, nothing. I didn’t see anything in the house that looked out of place. Nothing. I only had about forty-five minutes and I had to use a penlight. I thought your people said she was spending the night in town.”