Hoaley Ill-Manored (7 page)

Adam shivered in anticipation of being alone
in the big house with Dirk. A thought occurred and he laughed.

“What is it?”

“I was just thinking. The upside is that I
now know the house isn’t haunted. Last night I wasn’t so sure.”

Dirk smiled. “Yeah, at least a human-type
invader can be clocked over the head.”

“Exactly.”

“So. Let’s go down and watch for the
locksmith. He said he’d be here in about twenty minutes. We need to
figure out what kind of locks you need.”

DS

“Are you fucking crazy?”

Adam frowned at Dirk and lifted his wine, a
surprisingly decent Cabernet for a restaurant in an artist colony
in Southern Indiana. “I need to get that plot plan and Teddy Worth
is a complete dick.”

“You’ll get yourself shot, Ads. From what
you’ve told me the guy will probably shoot first and ask questions
later.”

Adam doubted that Teddy Worth actually
wanted to shoot anybody. He’d certainly had his chances to do so
and he hadn’t. But regardless, Adam wasn’t ready to give up on the
idea. “All I need is a few minutes in that barn. Maddy has her
portable scanner. We can scan the plan and put it back.”

“You have to find it first, and Worth isn’t
going to ask who you are or what you want before shooting you.”

“Do you have a better suggestion?”

“Yeah, you could just wait for your
surveyor.”

“I can’t wait a month for my plot plan,
Dirk. That’s out of the question.”

“Can you get another surveyor?”

“Believe me, Bud’s tried. They’re all booked
for the summer. We were lucky to get this one.”

“How about if I talked to the surveyor?
Maybe I could use my star power to get him out here sooner.”

“Yeah, good luck with that. I’ve met the
guy. I doubt he’d even know who you are. I’d lay money on the fact
that he’s strictly a
Pawn Shop
and
Bait Car
kind of
guy.”

Dirk’s slow grin made Adam’s pants feel
tight. “You sure you don’t want me to try talking to him?”

No. Adam didn’t. But Dirk had given him
another idea. “How about you try talking to Worth instead?”

Dirk frowned. “The guy with the gun?”

“Yeah. You wouldn’t even need to get out of
the car. He probably won’t let you out anyway, unless he recognizes
you. He has this big assed dog…”

Dirk thought about it for a minute. “You
think he might listen to me?”

Adam tried really hard not to let the
excitement show in his face. Shrugging, he lifted his wine glass
again and said as nonchalantly as he could, “It’s
worth
a
try I guess.”

Dirk’s perfect fingers caressed his own
glass as he smiled, sending heat spiraling through Adam with hardly
any effort at all. “Okay, Ads. If you think it will help.”

Adam let his smile burst free. “Thanks,
babe. I definitely think it will.”

DS

“Are you fucking crazy!”

“Shhh!” Adam grabbed Maddy’s arm and pulled
her outside.

The door had barely closed before she turned
on him. “You want to send the man you love into harm’s way while we
slither on our bellies into Deliverance and try to rip off the
madman with the shotgun?”

Adam frowned. “It doesn’t sound like nearly
as good an idea when you put it that way, Mads.”

“Well, sorry!” Glaring at Adam, she crossed
her arms over her chest and blew her bangs away from her eyes.

“I was planning on having CC go with him,
you know.”

“CC? Isn’t this just a little outside his
jurisdiction?”

“Of course. But he wouldn’t be there in an
official capacity. He’s just down here looking for a hunting cabin
to rent. I was thinking his presence would keep Worth from sniping
Dirk in a fit of pique.”

“Nice of you.” She continued to glare. Adam
figured it was because he wanted her to be part of the slithering
on the belly into the barn thing. “What makes you think CC would do
it?”

“Because I already asked him. And because
Dirk got him passes to the after-premier party for
Indianapolis
Jones Rides Again
and CC’s girlfriend was
really
grateful.” Adam waggled his eyebrows and Maddy couldn’t resist
laughing. “You suck. Okay. I’ll help you. But we have to take
Walter with us. Just in case.”

“Deal. CC’s supposed to arrive in an hour.
We’ll go right after Dirk and CC leave for Worth’s cabin.”

DS

They took Maddy’s dark blue Explorer so it
wouldn’t glow in the dark like Adam’s white truck when they drove
it off the road into the trees. Before hiding the Explorer, they
drove past Worth’s cabin to make sure CC and Dirk had arrived. They
watched the tail lights for CC’s elderly Crown Vic bounce down the
rutted gravel of the drive before moving on.

“There’s a place a little past the barn
where you should be able to pull in and hide the car,” Adam told
Maddy.

In the backseat, Walter had assumed the
position and was happily watching things flash by his window. When
Maddy stopped the car and turned off the engine, he jumped up and
barked, wagging his tail.

At least Walter was excited about their
adventure.

Dressed in black, with her chin length dark
hair pulled back into a high ponytail and a small but powerful
flashlight clutched between her teeth as she locked the car, Maddy
looked like a reluctant cat burglar. “I’m killing you if we get
caught, Adam.”

Walter jumped down from the car and started
running in circles, nose down, as his doggy senses were immediately
inundated by a thousand different, intriguing smells. He was so
excited it took Adam several tries to clip the leash onto his
collar. “We’ll be fine. I figure we’ve got at least ten minutes
before Worth throws CC and Dirk out on their asses. If we’re really
lucky he’ll cross some CC line and Detective Clandestine will clap
him in irons.”

Maddy snorted. “You watch too much cop TV,
Adam.”

Adam reached into the backseat to retrieve
the item he’d purchased earlier that day when he’d gone to the
hardware store for paint. He closed the door and headed into the
trees, Walter dancing excitedly around him. “This way.”

“What’s that?”

“The thing that’s gonna help us keep to our
ten minutes.” Adam kept Walter on a short lead as they headed back
in the direction of Worth’s barn. Adam’d had Mink check property
records to verify that the barn did indeed belong to Teddy Worth
before he’d instigated their current outing. Fortunately for him,
Mink was still emotionally scarred from the haunted cabin episode
and didn’t even want to know why Adam had asked.

The last thing they needed in their current
venture was a hysterical gay man wearing urine soaked rubbers and a
dumb-fuck hat dancing around increasing the tension.

If nothing else it would upset their watch
dog.

The dark shape of the red barn loomed up
before them. Adam followed the skeletal form created by the white
trim around to the front, heading for the giant white X in the dark
that marked the barn’s front sliding doors.

He took a moment to glance up and down the
road, looking for cars, before he pulled one of the doors open a
few inches. He and Maddy slipped through and Walter followed. His
energetically wagging tail brushed both sides of the opening as he
came through.

Once inside, Maddy turned her flashlight on
and Adam pulled the door shut and unclipped Walter. He pulled his
own flashlight out of a front pocket of his jeans and shone it
around the space. The barn was tidy, but full of stuff.

An ancient, once red tractor sat to one
side, near the doors, and various pieces of lawn and farm equipment
surrounded it. Bags of fertilizer, their identity clear from the
chemical stench that filled the space, were piled against the far
wall, along with several bales of old hay and some bald tires. A
long tool bench filled most of the back wall. A pegboard of
matching length hung above the bench, holding a variety of
implements.

Adam spotted the coil of rope neatly placed
on one end of the bench. “Mads, go see if you can get a piece of
that rope.”

“What for?”

“I have an idea. Just help me out here,
okay?”

“We need to get those damn papers and get
the hell out of here, Adam.”

Adam hit the “On” switch of his metal
detector and started running it over the ground. His movement was
accompanied by a low level robotic sound with nearly constant
higher tone blips. “I’m working on it.” Adam adjusted the frequency
to limit finds to larger objects and returned to his search.

Maddy sighed and headed toward the back
wall.

A moment later the sound flared into the
higher pitched tone. Walter barked, running over to see what was
making the strange noise. Adam looked at his screen and saw that,
whatever it was, it was buried about six inches deep. “Got
something, Mads.”

He pulled a small gardening trowel out of
his back pocket and started digging. Walter hopped into the air,
gave a quick bark, and then went butt up to help Adam dig. “Good
boy.” Adam laughed. “I knew it was a good idea to bring
Walter.”

Shoving the piece of rope into her shirt for
safekeeping, Maddy gave him “the look”. “Yeah, ’cause bringing the
dog was your idea.”

Adam’s trowel hit metal. He abandoned the
trowel and started pulling dirt away with his hands. Expecting to
find the smooth, metal surface of a box, he was disappointed when
his fingers scraped across an uneven surface. Adam kept digging,
until he uncovered what looked like a metal cylinder. “Shit.” Adam
sat back. “This isn’t our box.”

The sound of the sliders rolling open
immediately preceded the barn bursting into light and Adam jumped
to his feet.

Beside him, Maddy said, “Oh shit.”

Walter yipped and continued to dig, butt up
and tail wagging as Adam looked into the furious gaze of his
ex-lover, the cop who hated him, and the big angry man with the
ever-present shotgun in his hands.

“You son of a bitch!” Teddy said, right
before he started to lift the gun.

CHAPTER EIGHT

CC’s hand snaked out and clamped around the
barrel of the shotgun. “Not so fast, Mr. Worth. I’ll handle
this.”

Adam’s gaze slid away from the gun to Dirk,
who radiated anger, his fists clenched at his sides and his body
taut with it. “Dirk, I…”

“Save it, Adam.” He turned and stalked
out.

CC’s gray eyes flashed under their overlong
lashes. His lips were tight, and his arm bulged with the effort it
took to hold the shotgun muzzle toward the ground. In jeans and a
tight-fitting white tee shirt instead of his usual suit, he looked
buff and a little hot.

The big cop shook his head. “You just can’t
stay out of trouble can you, Hoale?”

Adam shrugged, there wasn’t much he could
say. “Sorry. All I can say for myself is that I’m a desperate
man.”

“I’m within my rights to shoot his ass,”
Teddy Worth informed the room at large.

“Not with an officer of the law standing
right here, sir.” CC slid a warning glare toward the barn’s hostile
owner. “I’ll handle this.”

Adam hoped it didn’t occur to Worth to ask
CC if he was a local cop.

“You’ll throw him in jail for
trespassing?”

CC’s face split in a smile that made Adam
distinctly uncomfortable. “It would be my pleasure, Mr. Worth.”

Something in CC’s gleeful expression must
have convinced Teddy that Adam would get what he deserved. He
nodded and, finally, lowered the shotgun. “If you need me to
testify that he’s a flight risk I’d be happy to.”

That was just too much for Adam. “Now how
the hell would you know what kind of risk I am? You don’t even know
me.”

Worth slid a glare toward Adam, his upper
lip curling with distaste. “I know you’ll run if you get loose,
’cause I’m gonna be chasin’ ya with this shotgun.”

Adam swallowed hard and slid a horrified
gaze toward CC. The cop barely managed to force the smile from his
lips to chastise Worth.

Fortunately for all involved, Walter picked
that time to announce his discovery. He trotted over to Adam and
dropped something that looked like a muddy water pistol at Adam’s
feet, barking his pleasure as Adam looked down.

“What’s that?” Maddy asked in a husky
whisper, as if CC and Teddy Worth hadn’t seen the huge dog drop the
item he’d dug up from the dirt floor in front of Adam.

“Don’t touch that!” Worth started forward
and CC grabbed his arm. Worth tried to wrench himself free but
quickly found himself at the business end of CC’s Glock 9mm.

“Just stand right there, sir. I want to see
what the dog found.”

Adam realized as soon as he picked up the
small object that it wasn’t a toy. It had heft and something else.
The tiny derringer had a jewel encrusted handle. He brushed mud
from the jewels and whistled. He was no gemologist but they looked
real to him. “It’s a jewel encrusted pistol.”

“Let me see.” Maddy grabbed it, her eyes
widening as she examined the tiny pistol. “It’s adorable. And it
looks like it’s worth a lot of money.”

“Give it to me, please. And be careful. It
probably wouldn’t fire after all this time in the dirt, but it
could be loaded and you never know.” CC took the pistol and
scrubbed at the grip. “Custom made muff pistol. It’s a beauty.”

Maddy frowned. “Muff pistol?”

CC looked up. “It’s a derringer pocket
pistol. These were popular with the ladies in the 1800s. They fit
easily in a pocket, a small purse, or a muff.”

“Ah. Got it.” Maddy grinned. “I don’t
particularly like guns, but I wouldn’t mind a cute little thing
like that.”

“Don’t underestimate it, Maddy. This little
gun is very accurate and can do real damage.”

He pointed the muzzle toward the ground and
pivoted the barrel sideways to check the breech. “Single barrel.
Probably fired a .40 caliber cartridge, but it’s empty now.” He
glanced at Teddy. “You have any idea what this is doing here?”