Murphy's Law (Molly Murphy Mysteries, #1)

Sixteen

This time my heart was racing but not from fear. I had heard the different tone in his voice. He had called me by what he thought was my first name. To know that someone in this new country cared about me was a strange and wonderful feeling. I was tempted to rush back into his office and tell him the truth. I wanted to hear him call me by my real name in that same gentle way. I had to remind myself very sternly that he was a policeman and even if I wasn't his number one suspect, then I was still on the list. If he found I was also a wanted felon in my own country, he would forget anything he might feel about me and do his job. All the same, it was a good feeling and I grinned to myself as I sped along the sidewalk with renewed energy.

Finbar opened the door to Nuala's apartment. He looked, as always, as if he had just awakened.

"Oh, hello there, my dear. Come in, come in." Gratefully I stepped into the warmth of the

room. God forbid, but it was already beginning to feel like home. Well, it was the only place in the city where I could be warm and dry and expect something to eat, even if tongue-lashings came with it.

"You'd like a cup of tea, I expect," Finbar said. "There's a pot newly made."

I drank the tea gratefully and felt the warmth return to my frozen limbs. Then I looked around. The place was awfully quiet. "Where is everybody?"

"The little ones went to meet their mother from work," he said. "They took your two with them. And Seamus isn't due back from the construction site for an hour or so. Eighteen hour days they're offering at the moment for men who want the work. And good pay, too. I'd do it if my health wasn't so poor. But right now a few hours at the saloon and helping here and there is all I can manage."

I nodded sympathetically. Poor health in anyone married to Nuala was understandable. There was bread on the table and I helped myself to a slice, spreading thick dripping on it. I could sense him watching me as I ate. He'd probably report to Nuala that I had been digging in to their food again, but I was so famished that I didn't care.

"I'm very glad that you came here," he said. "Very glad indeed. 'Twas a nice thing you did for Kathleen and the little ones. I'm sure we're all very grateful."

"I'm glad I could have been of help," I said. "And I really will make an effort to find a job tomorrow so that I don't overcrowd you any longer."

"There's no rush. No rush at all. In fact not everyone would be glad to see you go."

"No, I know Bridie still wants me around." "And more than Bridie," he said. "A fresh, pretty young face like yours--'tis like a breath of Irish springtime."

"Don't tell me you kissed the Blarney stone in your youth," I said, laughing. Then the laugh faded. I saw the look in his eyes as he came toward me. Hungry, desperate almost.

"She won't be back for a while yet." He was breathing hard. "She won't let me touch her anymore, says three boys are enough to feed and she's not risking any more. But I'm a man, Miss Molly. I've got needs."

He grabbed at me. I dodged around the packing-case bench. "Oh no, Finbar. Your needs have nothing to do with me."

"But you've a lovely young body. I've been watching you, the way you move. Lovely it is. I can't help it. I've just got to touch you."

He lunged at me again. "Steady on, Finbar." I was almost laughing. It was almost a comical scene. He was such a thin little person that I wasn't too afraid. "Just think what Nuala would do if she found you'd been bothering me."

"She wouldn't care. She'd be glad that I'd found someone so that I stopped pestering her."

"You're not going to be pestering me, either," I said. "What's wrong with men that they have to keep grabbing at us all the time? Get a hold on yourself, man. When I give myself to a fellow it will be my choice."

"You mean you're still untouched? Nuala said--" "I don't care what Nuala said."

All the time we were talking we were still in a fencing match, dodging around the furniture, lunging and parrying. Suddenly he spun and, with a speed I would never have expected of him, thrust me against the wall. I could feel his beer-sodden breath in my face, his bony body pressing into mine.

"Let go of me this minute," I said, trying to struggle free. He was amazingly strong for one so skinny. Well, I suppose he had worked for years in construction until his accident. I should have remembered that. "Finbar, take your hands off me this instant or I'll scream the place down."

"Go ahead. Scream away. No one will care."

"Get away from me or you'll be very sorry." I was trying to maneuver my knee for an upward kick and cursed my stupid petticoats. Our clothing must surely have been designed by men to make sure we were hindered in matters of self-defense.