The entire house had been screened in the seventies, she knew, so she wasn’t going to have to deal with an onslaught of bugs or other creepy-crawlies. When her parents had lived here, when it had been a family home, it had been wonderful.
She looked around the office. Except for the archway from the family room and the living room, and the large expanse of the fireplace, the room was shelved. Cutter’s library of books took precedence here, but there was also a stack of crates and boxes between his desk and the window, and on some of the shelves she could see his collection of bookholders and curios. Porcelain cats guarded one shelf, old seafaring nautical instruments were on another, and replicas of Mayan gods adorned another. The bookcase behind his desk had one relatively empty shelf just about six feet from the ground holding one of Cutter’s favorite pieces, a replica of King Tut’s gold mask purchased from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
Memories here were good.
She turned to walk out of the room and then paused, certain that she’d heard something. A rustling sound.
She turned back and waited. Nothing. She smiled at herself. She’d opened a window. The breeze was coming in. And right now, it smelled clean and just a bit salty.
She headed for the door again, but once there, paused once more. She’d had the oddest feeling that…
She was being watched.
She turned back.
She gave herself a mental shake.
There was no one there.
“It’s my house now, you know,” she said softly aloud. “And I will love it as Cutter did, and allow no evil!”
What a ridiculous assertion. And how bizarre to feel that someone was staring at her. It had to be the gold death-mask replica of King Tut.
But the death mask was a beautiful piece. Nothing evil about it.
She shook her head and determinedly left the room, closing the door firmly behind her.
5
Liam arrived at the Merlin house at five-thirty, just in time to see the house against the first pastel colors of the dying day.
It rose large and mysterious on the landscape, gray peeling paint and darker dormers giving it the look of something that lived and breathed.
He parked and, as he walked up to the house, he noted the open windows.
He knocked on the door and waited, then tried the knob.
It was open.
He entered and heard voices from the kitchen. He walked through the living room, noting that the floor had been swept, some of the clutter of boxes rearranged, and that it was already beginning to feel lived-in once again. He was still disturbed by the carelessness of the open door and windows.
Jonas, Katie and Kelsey were in the kitchen. They each had a bottle of beer and appeared to be happily chatting in a casual way.
Kelsey saw him enter the kitchen. He thought that her blue eyes were immediately guarded. She had been leaning on the butcher-block counter but straightened.
“The door was open,” he said. “I knocked, but no one heard me.”
“Liam!” Katie said, pleased to see him. She came to give him a kiss on the cheek. “It must be getting late, then. I’m out of here.”
“We’re going to dinner. Wouldn’t you like to come?” Kelsey asked.
“It’s a work night for me. I’ve been asking Uncle Jamie to bring someone else onto the floor so that Clarinda can take over for me more often, but Jamie isn’t a trusting soul. He keeps putting it off. He actually needs to bring in a few more people, but… Anyway, I’m going to go home and spend some quality time with David! See you all tomorrow, or later, if anyone is bored and wants to come by. Jonas, I know I’ll see you soon. ’Bye all,” Katie said and stepped around Liam.
“I’ll follow you out. And lock the door,” Liam said.
“I’m out of here, too,” Jonas said. “I’m going to go home and wake Clarinda up! She’s looking forward to a lighter schedule, too.”
“Thanks, both of you, for all the help,” Kelsey said.
“No problem. When I see you struggling, I’m your man,” Jonas said lightly.
Liam wasn’t sure why, but it didn’t make him particularly happy just then to think that Jonas lived so close to the house, he could literally see Kelsey anytime she came out the door. He should have been glad; friends should be close. Jonas was a friend.
He winced inwardly, wondering if he was seeing the man as a rival. Jonas and Clarinda had been together for years, so that was pretty foolish. Jealousy was not an attractive emotion. But he wasn’t certain he was jealous. He was uneasy. And he wasn’t sure why. He seemed to be making things up in his head.
But he had been the one to find Cutter Merlin dead, in the chair, his eyes wide open in fear.
“I’ll walk you both out,” he said lightly.
Kelsey followed him through the dining room and then parlor to lock the two out. She smiled at him, but he thought she still had a guarded look in her eyes.
“What?” she asked, when he had locked the door after the other two.
“Kelsey, you know what. Twice, I came here and people had broken in.”
She waved a hand in the air. “Liam, people knew that Cutter was dead, that the house was empty. An easy mark.”