Adam's Thorn (34 page)

His mouth tightened, but he simply
pressed a kiss to her forehead before saying quietly, “The toy monkey is at the
top of the staircase.  There’s a smashed doll on the ground floor.  One of the
rooms has dolls lying all over the floor, some damaged.”

Shivers increasing, she pressed
closer to him.

He tightened his hold.  “A couple of
the rooms are a bit of a mess.”

“Which rooms?”

“The library.  What looks to be a
boy’s bedroom, the girl’s room.”  He smoothed his hand down her hair.  “We
searched the house.  Whoever was there has gone.”

“There was no one there, Adam,”
she insisted, a tear spilling over to trickle down her cheek.  “There was no
one in the house but me and the cats.”

An older cop with Sargent’s
stripes on his shoulder came up, smiling kindly at her.  “Barbie, I’m Sergeant
Hamilton, but most people call me Sarge.  Are you all right?”

She nodded.

His gaze ran over her arms. 
“Those scratches.  Where did you get them?”

“Fred and Barney, my c-cats.  They
p-panicked.”  She tipped her head back to meet Adam’s alert, worried gaze. 
“Cats don’t panic unless something scares them, Adam.”

“Okay, baby.”  He rubbed her back
in slow, gentle circles.  “I hear you.  Sarge has to ask you some questions,
okay?  Can you handle answering them right now?”

There wasn’t really any choice, so
she nodded.

By the time she’d finished, Sarge
pocketed his notebook and looked at Brandon as he walked back up to him. 
“Anything outside?”

“A hell of a lot of work boot
prints, ladders, scuffed soil.  There’s been a lot of workers here the last few
days.”

“I want this area searched.” 
Sarge turned back to Barbie.  “I’ll get someone down to look for fingerprints,
see if we can find anything.”

“You’ll find a lot of different
ones,” Barbie said shakily.  “There’re all the workers and me.  Massage
clients.  Visitors.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll sort the
fingerprints out.”  Sarge nodded at Adam and walked away.

Trembling with both fatigue and
the aftermath of the adrenaline rush, Barbie only half listened as Matt and
Adam spoke above her head.  Nestled close to Adam, all she could do was breath
in his scent, finding reassurance and safety in his firm embrace.

Right then, she couldn’t face
staying at the house, face the unseen horrors within, but when she heard Matt
suggest hospital for a check-up, she looked around at him.  “No.  No hospital.”

Immediately Adam squeezed her
gently, smoothing his hand once more over her hair.  “It’s okay, baby.  No
hospital.”  To Matt, he said, “I’ll take her with me.  I can keep an eye on
her, and if she needs to go, I’ll take her.”

“Okay.  If you need me during the
night, you can ring me.”  Matt patted her shoulder.  “Adam’ll look after you,
love.  You’ll be fine.”

Before she knew it, she was ensconced
in Adam’s car.  He buckled her in securely, dropping a soft kiss on her brow
once more, running his hand gently down her cheek before stepping back,
straightening and shutting the door.

With a shudder Barbie looked at
the house, seeing Sarge and Brandon disappear inside.  Another patrol car
passed them coming down the drive as Adam drove out.

Barney meowed several times in the
back seat, but used to travelling, he settled quietly like Fred, who just gazed
out of the front of the basket.

“Adam.”  Barbie’s voice sounded
small.

“Yeah, baby?”  He reached over,
laying his hands over her fingers, the warmth of his sure grip comforting.

“There was something in the
house.”  She looked at his profile, needing to know so badly.  “Do you believe
me?”

“I believe that you heard
something.  I won’t deny that I heard something crash over the phone.  I heard
you scream.”  His fingers squeezed almost painfully before he relaxed his
hold.  Now she could see that his jaw was tight, his mouth grim, but his gaze,
though hard, gentled when he glanced at her.  “I’m just so glad you’re safe.”

Content with that for now, she
relaxed back in the seat, clinging to his hand until he had to remove it to
change gears.  She was surprised when they turned off the highway.  “This isn’t
the way to the motel.”

“Motel?  Like hell.”  He turned
onto another street.  “You’re staying with me.”

Chapter 10

Standing in the doorway of the
bedroom, Adam gazed at Barbie in his bed.  Fast asleep, she looked so innocent,
her face pale, dark shadows under her eyes.  She hadn’t slept well during the
night, waking several times with a start.  He’d been waiting, cradling her
close and murmuring soothingly until she cuddled into him and fell back into a
fitful sleep.

Now she slept deeply, peacefully.

Fury burned inside him. Who the
hell had been in her house, destroying things and terrorising her?  He’d rung
up the police station first thing that morning when he’d crept out of bed,
careful not to disturb Barbie, but there’d been no good news.  Apart from
damage, there was no sign of forced entry into the house.  All the windows on
the top floor had been closed, and with the amount of fingerprints everywhere,
it was almost impossible to find out if anyone uninvited had been in the house.

He knew exactly where this was
going.  Questions would be asked, it’d be investigated, but unless someone saw
anything or the fingerprints turned up someone unknown, there didn’t seem a lot
of hope in discovering who had been at the house.

Christ, Barbie had been so
terrified, and her scream had torn at him.  He couldn’t get to her fast enough,
terrified himself at knowing she was still in the house, having to cut the
connection to call the police station to get help, calling Matt in case Barbie
got hurt and needed medical attention.  When he’d seen her running into the
yard, he’d nearly died of relief, only to have it again turn to worry when he
saw the blood on her arms.

His gaze dropped to where one
softly rounded arm rested on top of the thin cover.  Scratches from the cats
ran down her arms.  The miscreants responsible were tucked securely up to her
back.

He’d actually woken to find Fred
happily tucked up under his chin, purring away, his tail flicking across Adam's
nose.  Not a care in the world and why should he? His fool mistress had run
through a house, in grave danger, to rescue him and his fellow furry mate.

Once at his place, Adam had dug
out an old baking tray, filled it with sand from outside and stuck it in his
laundry, opened a tin of salmon and divided it up between the cats, and placed
a bowl of water in the corner of the kitchen.  He’d even changed the sand when
he’d gotten up.

But he shouldn’t be surprised, he
thought, watching as Barbie turned over and, without waking, gathered Fred  into
her arms.  Barney stood, stretched and flopped down near her knees, blinking
several times at Adam.  Nothing would stop Barbie getting her beloved cats out
of danger.

However, he was damned well going
to tell her off when she was able to take it.  Take her to task for disobeying
him, for staying in danger.  He could understand, but he was still going to
tear a strip off her pretty little hide.

Goddamn
.  He scrubbed one
hand through his hair.  If something had happened to her… He couldn’t even bear
thinking about it.  Rubbing his chest, he wondered if he was getting heart
burn.  Hell, even when she didn’t try, Barbie Declan was a thorn in his side. 
But she was
his
thorn, and that made all the difference.

In that second, as he looked at
her, remembered her terrified scream, relived the terror he’d felt while
rushing to her side, Adam knew he’d walk through fire for her.  Do anything for
her.

Never let her go, even though she
was planning to leave one day.

What had happened at the house had
changed everything.

Pushing away from the doorframe,
he padded barefoot back up the hallway, turning into the kitchen.  Crossing to
the ‘fridge, he pulled out a carton of iced coffee and drank from the carton
before remembering that he had a guest who might not appreciate that particular
habit.  However, the guest in question was asleep and it was a little late to
worry, so he simply downed the rest and tossed the empty carton in the bin. 
Problem solved.

Not long after, he heard the
toilet flush and the sound of running water from the bathroom.  Giving her
time, he started making toast for breakfast, looking up when Barbie appeared in
the doorway, rubbing her eyes sleepily.  With her tousled blonde hair and
sleepy, soft features, she looked adorable.  She was still wearing the spare
nightgown his mother had left behind, though his mother had never looked this
good in it.

Crossing to her side, he slid an
arm around her waist and dropped a kiss on her lips, tasting mint toothpaste. 
“’Morning, baby.”

“Hi, Adam.”  She kissed him back,
all sweet and soft.  “I found your spare toothbrush, hope you don’t mind.”

“Feel free.  My home is your
home.”  And he meant it.  At her small smile, he steered her over to the table. 
“Sit.  I’ll get some juice and toast for you.’

“Just juice, thanks.  I’m not
hungry.”

He put two more slices of bread in
the toaster before pouring a glass of apple juice and placing it in front of
her.  “You’ll eat.”

“Thanks, but-”

“Barbie.”

“Adam.”

He just gazed steadily at her and
she subsided with a sigh.  “Okay.”

Minutes later, they were both
seated at the table, two slices of toast on her plate, two on his, and several
extra slices on a plate between them.  Margarine, vegemite and peanut butter sat
in the middle of the table.

“Thank you for letting me stay here.” 
Barbie looked across at him.

“My pleasure.”

“Thanks for letting me bring Fred
and Barney.”

“I’m starting to realise that you
three come as a package deal.”

Her smile was a little brighter. 
“Yep.”

They ate in surprisingly
comfortable silence, but Adam knew her thoughts were far from pleasant.  The small
frown creasing her brow gave it away.

He waited until she finished both
slices of toast and pushed the plate away before filling her in on the latest
news from the police station.

“I don’t think they’ll find
anything,” she stated.

“Because you think its ghosts?” he
asked calmly.

Her cheeks flushed, but she met
his gaze gamely.

“I’m not laughing at you” he assured
her.

“But you don’t believe me.”

“I don’t believe in ghosts, but I
do believe you heard something you  can’t explain.”

“You think I’m nuts.”  She didn’t
raise her voice, simply stated a fact as though truly believing it.

Well, she was dead wrong there. 
“No, I don’t.  I know you heard something.  I believe it was human, you believe
it was supernatural.  We believe different things.”  Leaning forward, Adam
snagged her hand, turning it over to gently run his fingertips across her
palm.  “But we both want the same outcome.”  He paused.  “Or maybe not quite.”

Barbie raised her eyebrows.

“You want the haunting to stop.  I
want to beat the living shit out of whoever did this to you.”

She chuckled a little, dropped her
gaze to where he still stroked her palm, his gentle touch so at odds with his
tone. 

Hell, make that at odds with his
feelings.  He wasn’t lying.  He wanted to not only beat the living shit out of
the bastard who had terrorised her, he wanted to make an example of him, a
warning to anyone who thought they could do anything to upset his little thorn.

Standing up, he leaned across the
table and dropped a kiss onto her lips.  When she responded, he moved around
the table, taking her other hand to pull her up against him.

Another gentle kiss, warmth
running through him at her response, the way she snuggled closer.

Nice.  Very nice.  But first things
first…

Dropping his mouth to her ear, he
said softly, “Barbie?”

“Yes.”  She rubbed her cheek
against the side of his jaw.

“You ever,
ever
disobey me
again when you’re in a dangerous situation, and you won’t sit down for a month,
never mind a week.”

She went so still, her breath a
warm puff against his bare chest when she dropped her head forward.

He leaned down further, his gaze
on the top of her head as he held her in his arms.  “I’m furious with your
actions, Barbie.  I was so terrified, so Goddamn scared when I knew you’d
disobeyed me and stayed in that damned house with someone trying to hurt you.” 
Not once did he raise his voice, but nor did he hide his anger, letting her
feel it in the tightening of his arms, hear it in his tone. 

He heard her swallow, felt her
slightly shuddering breath.  Bending down lower, he was able to see her
profile.  She was biting her lip, her eyes when she glanced sideways at him so
unhappy but defiant.

“I won’t leave Fred and Barney,”
she said.  “I won’t.”

“I know.  I understand.  But it
sure as Hell doesn’t make me happy regardless.  You should have left, waited
for me to go in.”

“Would you have left me in there?”

“It’s not the same.”

Tilting back her head, she looked
up at him.  “It is the same for me.  Fred and Barney are my family.  I could no
sooner have left them in there than leave you.”

Shit, that both warmed him up and
chilled him all over again.  “Doesn’t matter about me.  If I tell you to go,
you go. Understand?”

“That’s bullshit.  Why is it okay
for you to come for me, but not me for you?” she demanded a little hotly.

“Because it just is.”

“That’s a crock of shit.”

“Watch that mouth.”

“Or what?” she glared up at him. 
“Barney and Fred matter to me.  You matter to me.  Anyone who matters to me, I
stay for them until they’re safe.  That’s who I am.  If you can’t accept that…”