The Devil To Pay (Hennessey.) (161 page)

With some trepidation she whispered, ‘Glissando?’

His head snapped back in surprise, ‘no, no, not Glissando. It was Duncan Blakemore’s house.’

Her eyes opened wide, ‘Dun...Duncan Blakemore? The man Hennessey killed?’

He nodded. She looked away as if seeing Hennessey sat opposite her amused, almost gloating. She looked back at him, ‘that’s why Hennessey was so amused that I knew you. That’s why you reacted as you did when I told you about the raincoat and Blakemore.’ He nodded again, ‘God, the coincidences just keep on building don’t they?’ Still he said nothing, ‘I can hardly believe it. We’re all connected in some way aren’t we? Me and Hennessey and Glissando, you and Hennessey and Blakemore. Blakemore and Hennessey and Glissando. And the glue holding us all together. Hennessey.’

He took her hand and held it tightly as he stroked the back of it. ‘Listen, Hennessey is gone, Glissando is gone, they can’t affect us any more, you’re free of them. Just as I’m free of Blakemore and John. Let’s not let them sour our future together. Otherwise they’ve won,’ he managed a smile, ‘and
you
of all people would hate that.’

She returned his smile but it was a weak effort, the news had obviously upset her; the very mention of Hennessey’s name did that, and probably always would. Maybe he shouldn’t have told her, but as he had said he wanted no secrets kept from her, that was part of the how and why his marriage had failed. She asked, ‘is that why you didn’t turn him in when you had the chance?’

He looked away for a moment before saying, ‘that was part of it I suppose. I had fantasised about taking down Blakemore and I must admit I was relieved and satisfied when he was killed. He was bad man, evil, like Glissando, he got everything that was coming to him. Hennessey once said, ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” I’ll never consider him a friend, but deep down I suppose I
was
grateful to him.’

He watched her face wondering how she would see him now. As some cold blooded, vengeful bastard. A hypocrite? As if she’d read his thoughts she said gently, ‘thank you for telling me.’

He was relieved, ‘but I have to say that when you related your story I wanted nothing more than to beat that guy senseless,’ he ran his fingers gently down her face, ‘and when he came to the cabin and I thought of the things he’d done and what he’d put you through it was all I could do to keep my hands from his throat. But I had to be content with hitting him with my rifle.’

She gasped, ‘you…you hit him.’

He nodded, ‘yep. In the car on the way to rescue you. He was goading me about Adrianne. But that’s not why I hit him, although I told myself it was. It was really for you.’

She stared at him her expression shocked, ‘and Hennessey, what did he do?’

He grinned, ‘he stuck his gun in my face.’

‘Did he hurt you? ‘The question was a whisper.

Still smiling he said, ‘no, I knew he wouldn’t, he needed me as much as I needed him. I was impressed though at how restrained he was, for a killer.’

She looked away from his eyes and he said
quickly, ‘sorry, that was insensitive.’

She looked back at him, ‘oh no, no, it’s okay. It’s good that you told me, I like that you confide in me. And thanks for hitting him for me.’

He laughed, ‘you’re welcome. But I bet it didn’t hurt half as much as your slap did, I felt that from the other side of the room.’

She looked embarrassed for a moment, then gave a small smile which vanished as she continued to look at him, ‘since you’ve been so honest with me I want to return the compliment.’

It was his turn to look anxious but said, ‘go ahead.’

She took a deep breath, ‘you’ve said you don’t want Hennessey to come between us, but I know you’re thinking about what happened between him and me.’

He opened his mouth to refute that but closed it again, she wouldn’t believe him if he said he didn’t care about that, because he did. She said, ‘I don’t know what he told you when you had your little chat but if he told you that we had…we had,’ she couldn’t help it she blushed and he couldn’t help but smile although he tried to hide it. She spoke very quickly now, ‘we didn’t…didn’t consummate our relationship.’

Consummate? When had he last heard that word to describe sexual intercourse? He tried, he really did but couldn’t prevent himself from letting out a chuckle.
She looked chagrined, ‘you think that’s funny?’

‘That you didn’t consummate your relationship? No, I’m relieved and happy about that.’ This much was true anyway.

She was not placated, ‘then why are you smiling like an idiot.’

He burst out laughing and Adela could not stay angry with him. To hear him laugh like that was so unusual, so wonderful that she found herself laughing too.

He ran his fingers down her cheek, ‘Hennessey told me that you and he had not…
consummated
…your relationship.' He said the exact same thing you did, that it was one more excuse I could cross off my list of reasons for us not to be together.’

Adela was flabbergasted and embarrassed that Hennessey should tell him something so personal, and the truth too. She said, ‘but you didn’t believe him did you?’

He was silent for a few moments then said, ‘you yourself said he was not to be trusted, that he was the world’s biggest liar. But if he wanted to torment us both he could have said you had been together intimately. So yes, I did believe him I just didn’t want too. I just didn’t want to cross it off that list.

Although I’m happy that you’ve now confirmed it, it wouldn’t have made any difference to my coming back here today. I’ve faced up to the fact that I love you, and nothing I do, or try to do, and nothing that you’ve done will alter that. I’m as caught as an animal snared in a trap, an enchanting, beautiful trap that I never want to escape.’

Her reply was barely audible so overcome was she, ‘I’m glad, so glad that you feel that way. I feel the same. All that happened with Hennessey, it was all a façade. I thought I wanted him, for a time I even thought I loved him. But I know now that I was just carried away in the moment. He was exciting and adventurous, like one of the hero’s in my books, and the only life I ever really knew was through my books. It was easy to persuade myself that it was love I felt. I craved excitement and because of that people were hurt. But I knew even before the Dean Maxwell incident that my feelings for him were just an illusion, an escape from my dreary, lonely life. Much like you’ve tried to do, the only difference is that your life is even better now.’

He looked perplexed and she explained, ‘you thought you liked your life before you went to prison, you thought were content with it, at least with your job which
was
your life. But you had to suddenly leave it all behind and you resented that.

You told yourself that what happened had forced you to exchange one kind of life for another, and it did. It’s a different life, but an even better one, if you just t
ook the time to realise that.’  He was stunned and a little apprehensive that she could sum him up so well. ‘And we will make it a
good
life my love. To quote you, I’ll try really,
really
hard to be there for you, to make you happy.’ She laughed suddenly.

‘What’s so funny, the thought of
me
capable of being happy?’

She ran strands of his hair through her fingers lovingly, ‘no, I know you will be. It’s just that when I first met you I swore to myself I would get you to smile just once, or die trying.’

‘Well you almost had to, to bring me to my senses. What’s that old saying? Careful what you wish for.’

She laughed, ‘I got what I wished for remember?’

He laughed too and putting his head back on her breast gave a sigh of contentment, ‘God woman, your breasts are like pillows, so soft and comfortable. You’d be embarrassed at the thoughts that went through my head the day I undressed you and saw these plump, glorious things. It took me all my time to concentrate on your injuries; I should be given a medal for self control. And not just then either, but every time I laid eyes on them.’

Her chest vibrated with giggles, ‘just them?’

He raised his head, ‘no, not just them, he ran his fingers through her hair, ‘this too.’

She said, ‘that day you stopped me from cutting it. You said, “You’ll regret it, it’s…” then stopped. Tell me now what you were going to say.’

He looked a little uncomfortable, ‘I was going to say it’s beautiful, which it is.’ He gripped a handful of it and put it to his cheek, 'that’s why I was so damned angry when you tried to cut it. That’s why I saved the piece you cut off, I kept it in the coal bucket. That’s why Hennessey kept teasing me about you; he must have seen it when he put the documents and tapes in there.’

Adela was silent and Lando knew it would be a long time before she would ever forget or forgive Hennessey’s betrayal. He said, ‘sorry, I never meant to bring him up again.’

‘No, it’s not that, well, not just that. I just can’t believe I ever told him that I felt safe with him, how could I have been so wrong.’

‘Well, you have me now; I’ll keep you safe, always.’ He kissed the scar on her temple, ‘I swear.’

She shivered and her voice shaky said, ‘I know you will. I always knew it really. I once quoted to Hennessey that what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, and maybe Nietzsche was right after all.’

‘You were
always
strong, honey.’

Her lips trembled and her whole body glowed at the endearment, ‘and with you beside me I’ll be stronger still.’

He smiled, moved. She said, ‘but I just can’t believe you saved my hair. ‘

He looked a trifle embarrassed, ‘I wanted to keep it as a reminder of you after…after you’d gone.’

She ran her hands up and down his biceps. After a few moments she said quietly, ‘I do want to talk about Hennessey and about everything that happened, but not today. Today is for just for us.’

‘Whatever you say, lady.’

She gave him a mock stern look, ‘you never learn do you? What did I say about calling me that?’

He grinned, ‘but you
are
a lady. The first time I saw you, after the initial shock had warn off, I thought of you as a lady. Almost aristocratic. So dignified and elegant and regal.’

She burst out laughing, ‘Aristocratic, me? Regal? Dignified? Elegant?’

‘Yeah.’

‘You’re obviously suffering from severe memory loss. Remember how you found me in your barn, covered in leaves and slime. Oh yes, Elegant. And when I broke down and cried on your shoulder?
Very
dignified.’

He laughed, ‘yes, even then. You’ll never lose that quality, you’ve either got it or you ain’t.’

She joined in his laughter. Then he said, ‘it was one of the reasons I fell in love with you, and one of the reasons I tried not to.’

Would her heart ever stop contracting every time he said things like that? When he said them he didn’t even sound like the same man she had met just over a month ago in the woods.

He said, ‘I also thought you were rather haughty, especially after that day I found you lost. You walked past me as though I was another tree, completely ignoring me, your nose in the air.’

She moved her head to look closer at him, ‘Haughty? Really?’

He laughed, ‘yeah.’

‘Well if I
was
haughty you deserved it.’

‘I did too.’

She was mollified by his answer and laughed too

She pulled his head down and put her lips to his in a kiss so tender he caught his breath in his throat. They stayed that way for a few seconds until she said rather tentatively, ‘you know, nothings really changed, you still live in a cabin in the woods and I still have more than ten million dollars in the bank.’

It was his turn to be silent and she said softly, ‘if you want me to give it away I will, to charity or something. All I want is to be with you, to live in your cabin with you and Dante. To help you find injured creatures and make them well again. My money has brought me nothing but misery anyway.’

His amazement by her offer to give away her money for him was eclipsed by his relief that she wanted to live here with him and not move to a more affluent part of the state. Maybe into a bigger house with a huge garden and a swimming pool as Adrianne had. That she would do this for him moved him deeply. To cover his emotions he resorted to humour. ‘Oh, so I’m misery now am I?’

‘Oh no, of course not, I just meant…’she saw his lips twitch and gave him a punch on the arm for his trouble.

He cried out in prete
nd pain and she laughed, ‘you’re such a wuss.’

He tipped hi
s head back in surprise, ‘I thought I was an arse.’

To his delight she reddened, ‘oh please, don’t mention that. I felt awful when I called you that, after everything you’d done for me I called you an awful name.’

He chuckled, ‘I’ll never forget your face when you said it. In fact until I met you I thought I’d forgotten what it felt like to be amused, to laugh, to smile even. Thank you for that,’ he smiled mischievously, ‘lady.’