CHAPTER NINETEEN
The night was sweet and long, spent in front of the fire and between the sheets. No lights or laughter from outside disturbed them. Michaela went to the kitchen for water during the early hours and stood to look out the window towards the lake. Darkness shrouded the world outside, clouds curtaining the stars from view. The air smelled sweet and damp. Michaela thought it would be raining by morning. She went back to bed.
Sure enough, rain drummed against the cabin roof when she woke in the morning. She lay back and listened to it, tucking her hands behind her head and staring up at the ceiling in her favorite thinking position. They were smack bang in the middle of a mystery, for sure, she decided. The visit from Officer Friendly only confirmed it. Mr. Gardener made a miscalculation there. She rolled over and looked at Trisha sleeping next to her. It was turning out to be an eventful vacation in more ways than one. She wondered, with some satisfaction, if Allison was enjoying Paris half as much.
Sighing, she pulled herself from the bed, tucking the blankets back around Trisha, who slept on, her warm breath purring into the pillow. It was cold out of bed. Michaela pulled on jeans and jersey and padded out into the main room. It was a mess. They needed to do a bit of housework. She picked up the glasses and bottles and put them in the kitchen. The fire had to be lit. She wasn’t going to be able to type with frozen fingers. Coffee needed to be made. She wasn’t going to be able to think with no caffeine lighting up her circuits.
Essential jobs are taken care of, Michaela settled in front of her computer and turned it on. ‘Let’s see who we’re dealing with,’ she said, thinking out loud.
The rain fell steadily on the roof as she worked, and the fire crackled in the grate like New-Age music, cocooning Michaela as she waded through her Internet searches, blessing the Mr. And Dr. Curran under her breath for setting up the little log cabin so well. She doubted the town she’d driven through the other day had either a public library or Internet café. She paused and stretched, lifted her coffee mug only to discover it empty. Again. She pulled a face and went to refill it.
She stood in the kitchen sipping at the fresh mug of coffee. Staring at the screen on her laptop. Interesting, she thought. Did what she’d found explain things, or just make them more complicated? She pulled the cabin door open and stepped out into the shelter of the porch. If she angled herself right, she could see down the path to the lake. The water was churned dark green from the rain. There was something primal about it.
She shivered and slipped back inside. Back to work, perhaps. Then later she needed to take a trip back to the store, grab some more supplies. She checked her watch, wondering what the date was. She’d only intended spending a few days here at the cabin. Things weren’t quite going to plan. She rubbed at her neck and took another mouthful of coffee. She needed something to eat. The coffee was sitting sourly in her stomach now. She glanced again at the computer screen. She didn’t want to leave yet. Not just yet.
She decided to make a toast. Take some into Trisha, run her hands over that fine body, wake her up, tell her the latest.
There was a muffled sound. A phone ringing. Michaela stood and listened. It was playing one of her favorite songs from back home. Where the hell was it though? She pounced on her jacket and rifled through the pockets, emerging with the phone just as it got to the chorus line. She pressed the button and answered.
‘Michaela, darling, I just had to call and see how you’re getting on.’
It was from Allison. The voice gripped at Michaela’s insides and stirred them around.
She sat down, legs suddenly shaky.
‘Why are you calling?’ she managed to ask.
There was a moment’s hesitation on the other end of the line. Michaela filled it. ‘Aren’t you in Paris? I don’t know why you’re calling. You made everything quite clear before you left.’ She closed her mouth and waited. The line hummed a little with static and the rain on the roof was suddenly loud.
Allison cleared her voice. ‘I’ve missed you, Michaela,’ she said. ‘I’ve been thinking about the way things ended between us.’
‘The way you ended things between us, don’t you mean?’ Michaela interrupted. ‘Abruptly and callously as I remember it.’ She dropped her head into her hands, face burning.
‘Oh baby, I’m sorry.’ There was a sniffling down the line. ‘I got scared, that’s all. I was getting too attached. Please, can’t you let me make it up to you when I get back? I’d love the opportunity to make things better between us.’ The voice lowered seductively. ‘You’re something, special baby, I miss you. I miss us, the way we were together. I want that again. You’re under my skin.’
Michaela stood up and dragged her fingers through her hair. She closed her eyes. ‘Allison, do you know where I am?’ she asked.
‘No idea, darling. Does it matter?’
Michaela banged her head against the palm of her hand. ‘I’m at your cabin by the lake,’ she said. Waited through the delighted reply I knew you’d love the place. ‘Only Allison, it turned out I wasn’t the only one coming to stay here.’
‘What do you mean?’ Allison replied.
‘Do you happen to remember a woman called Trisha, Allison? You see, it turns out you gave her a key to the place too. And I have a feeling you and she had quite a thing going too, didn’t you?’ Michaela could feel the anger building. ‘I come up here, broken-hearted over you and find that I’m just one of your many conquests.’
Allison’s voice lost its seductive tone. ‘Trisha? Why does she still have a key? Damnit, that little bitch, there’s going to be trouble if she’s helping herself to my place.’
Michaela’s heart sank as the anger drained out of her. She sat down again. ‘Shut up Allison,’ she said. ‘You’re not even bothering to deny it, are you?’ She sighed. ‘I’ll drop the key off at your office when I get back. I don’t think we’ll be seeing each other again, Allison.’
‘You better get the key off that little slut too, you hear.’
Michaela didn’t answer, just lowered the phone and pressed the off button. She put the phone down on the table and sank her head into her hands.
There was a noise from the doorway. Michaela looked up to see Trisha staring at her.
‘You bloody bitch,’ Trisha said, her lips twisting. ‘What did you have to go drop my name in it for? Just couldn’t resist, could you? And it’s going to be me who gets in trouble for it. That uppity bitch Allison is never going to let me get away with copying her key and coming here. She’ll be all over me like a goddamned fucking rash. And it’s your bloody fault.’ She turned and stalked away. The bedroom door slammed.