The Devil To Pay (Hennessey.) (52 page)

Her head whipped round to stare at him her face pink and her eyes wide; ‘don’t be si… that’s crazy, no one is fighting over me, what a thing to say.’

‘Why?’

‘It just is, men fighting over me, it’s…it’s ridiculous.’

‘It seems ridiculous to you because you’re a nice, modest woman, but it isn’t ridiculous to me…or to old Maxwell either.’

‘I may be nice and I may be modest if you say so, but I’m not stupid, I can’t see two men drawing swords or pistols and fighting to the death over me, you’re just teasing me now.’

He turned to her again and his eyes held that same look she had seen the evening before when he had said that he was jealous of Dean. She felt her breath catch in her throat as it had done that time as she waited for him to speak. Then he looked away and the moment was gone. He said wryly, ‘I’m not sure I’d be too good with a sword, if I had the choice I think I’d be more at home with the pistol…just.’

She sighed and said bluntly, ‘look, he doesn’t like you and you don’t like him, but I like both of you, so it makes me uncomfortable talking about one of you with the other. I hate talking about people behind their backs full stop.’

He was silent for a while then said, ‘you’re right, I’m sorry, from now on I’ll say only 
good
things about
old
Deanie.’

She looked sceptical but said, ‘thank you.’

‘So suffice it to say I shan’t be saying anything about him at all.’ She gave him an impatient look and he laughed and eventually so did she. The he asked, ‘full stop?’

‘Oh that’s what we put at the end of a sentence while writing, but in this instance it means end of conversation, I’ve said what I think and that’s that. You would say period.’

‘Oh I see, full stop, I like that.’

She smiled and they were silent for a while. Hennessey was thinking, God, that prick Maxwell, what if she had listened to him and decided not to accompany him today, or any other time; he would have to revert to the original plan which would make life much more difficult. What if Maxwell got his old friend the sheriff to speak to her about him? Or what if said Sheriff told Hennessey that he was no longer welcome in town, to hit the road. He and Maxwell had probably known each other all their lives and if one asked the other for a favour it would more than likely be granted.

Maxwell, he had known he would be trouble, well; he could always deal with him
and
the inquisitive sheriff too.

He had never killed a law enforcement officer, not because of any moral objection but because it would cause too much hassle. Cops weren’t in the habit of letting it go easily when one of their own had been terminated, even a hick town idiot sheriff like
Taylor.

He had to admit he had been worried when he had seen Maxwell and her standing so close together in the shop, and for a moment he had thought that Maxwell was going to kiss her and that would never have done. He had a feeling, the same feeling that told him that she was a virgin, that she had not kissed many men, if any, and if that was so he did not want old Maxwell being her first, in kissing or anything else. No, he wanted to be the one to introduce her to those delights…and he would.

Well, he would see what happened today and take it from there. After all she was here with him now wasn’t she, despite what Maxwell had said she had still met him, so either she had not given what he had said much thought or had decided to risk it. And a positive thing had come out of their conversation about Maxwell, she had answered his questions, she had been annoyed with his nosiness as she had called it, even angry, but she had acquiesced just the same, which boded well for him in his search for answers to Desi’s whereabouts.

Adela was thinking about their conversation too, she didn’t know why she had told him what Dean had said, and certainly not that Dean had said he was dark, why had she? But he just seemed to have a way of asking things, he seemed to be able to manipulate a conversation to suit his own ends. And he looked at her in that way he had and she found herself blurting things out without really meaning to. He would make a good policeman; he could be both intimidating and encouraging at the same time.

They talked about this and that until they reached Gulfport where he managed to park quite near the beach. As before he made it around to her door and had opened it before she could. She said, ‘how do you do that?’

‘Do what?’

‘Get to my side of the car so quickly.’

‘I have my superman costume on under my clothes.’

‘I don’t see a phone booth around.’

‘Don’t need one now, not since the introduction of the cell phone.’

She laughed out loud and he grinned at her amusement. It was going well, and he would make sure it stayed that way, he would show her a day out she wouldn’t forget in a hurry, a day of pleasure and fun. He would slap on the charm something fierce and woo her into being indiscreet, by the end of the day she would be most of the way to trusting him then confiding in him, by the end of the week she would be putty in his hands.

He placed his hand on her back and escorted her across the street saying, ‘as you can see there a lot of casinos here, but I take it you wouldn’t be interested in spending your hard earned money in any of those places.’

She didn’t inform him that her money was hardly hard earned, ‘you would take it right, I’m not a gambler.’ Again she dismissed the thought that the lottery was gambling too.

He said, ‘we’ll go straight to the beach while it’s still quiet enough to find a nice shady spot. I see you’ve come prepared.’ He nodded down at her white beach bag with all the colours of the rainbow inside a big orange circle on the front and multicoloured dots on the back.

‘Oh yes,’ she chuckled, ‘all I need for a day out is in here.’

‘Such as?’

‘Oh, water, sunscreen, towel, binoculars, camera, a little first aid kit, insect repellent etc.’

‘I’m impressed; I like a woman who is prepared for any eventuality.’

‘Well I’m not always prepared, as you discovered for yourself.’

‘Oh?’

‘I wasn’t prepared for the panther was I?’

‘Ah, but sometimes it’s the unpredictability that gives us the most pleasure and excitement, as
you
discovered for yourself.’ She threw him a startled look and he clarified, 'the panther?'

She let out her breath and laughed but it was an uneasy sound  as though she knew he was referring to more than the panther. Which he was.

He smiled that half wicked, half innocent smile and escorted her down to the beach.

As yet there were not too many people around and they walked across the warm sand, which Adela could feel seeping through her toes through her sandals. They walked for a half mile or so
then Hennessey stopped, ‘we can sit here and watch the surfers and water skiers, it’s a bit more isolated than the rest of the beach.’

Adela opened her bag and took out her towel which she
laid on the sand before sitting down on it. She made room for him and he thanked her and sat down also. He said, ‘did you bring a bathing suit?’

She didn’t look at him as she answered, ‘er, no, I forgot.’

He didn’t believe her that was obvious but said, ‘I’m relieved, ‘

Her head snapped up, ‘relieved?’

‘Yes, you have a lovely figure, not to mention great legs, I wouldn’t want all these men ogling you, I might have to get violent with them and that would be no way to start this lovely day.’

As always she looked for traces of mockery in his eyes, she obviously wasn’t sure it was there or not because she narrowed her own eyes then said, ‘you certainly know how to make a woman feel good, Mr. Hennessey, you’ll make some lady a great husband one day.’

‘Thanks, but at the moment there’s only one woman I want to make feel good, by telling her a few truths that have been a long time coming.’

She held his gaze as long as she could until the blush that suffused her face made her avert her gaze. She said quietly, 'but still.’

‘But still what?’

‘Nothing.’ She was in fact thinking, he’s been looking at my legs; a man has been looking at my legs. How bizarre.

He grinned, ‘just one thing though.’

She turned to look at him, ‘what?’

‘If you call me Mr. Hennessey again I’ll have no choice but to throw you in the ocean… fully dressed.’

She looked askance at him then teased, ‘you mean
you’ll
be fully dressed?’

He rolled his eyes, ‘don’t push it or I’ll do what I threatened anyway, just for your cheek.’

She laughed heartily and so did he.

Adela pointed her finger across the water
, ‘is that Ship Island over there?’

‘Yes it is, how did you…ah, your maps.’

She grinned, ‘yes.’

‘Y
es, that’s Ship Island, there is also Cat Island which is known for the Stingrays which hang around the shallow water.’ She shivered and he laughed, ‘there’s also Horn Island which used to be part of Ship, but after Hurricane Camille hit in 1969 it cut Ship in half and they named one half Horn.’

‘Gosh, that’s interesting; I would like to visit those
Islands.’

‘Seriously?’

‘Yes, of course.’

‘Well good, because we’re going to
Ship Island in about thirty minutes.’

She looked at him stunned, ‘we are?’

He grinned at her amazement, ‘yeah, you can swim can’t you?’

Her eyes widened then she gave him an irritated look, ‘very funny. But are we really going over to
Ship Island in half an hour?’

‘Yes. I’ve booked us a passage on the ferry at 12.00clock. We can walk and admire the scenery. I’m glad you have the necessary things with you, sunglasses and sunscreen and that huge hat of yours, you’re going to need them today, it gets very hot indeed on the
Island, 86 degrees in the shade sometimes. Anyway, we can stay all day or just an hour or so. You can even camp over there you know?

‘Yes, I read that.’

‘Have you ever camped out?’

She turned away and her voice a whisper said, ‘yes, once.’

‘By your tone I assume it wasn’t a pleasant experience.’

‘Oh the camping was okay, it rained a lot though. But I quite enjoyed being in the tent at night with the rain slating against the canvas, and the thunder and lightening overhead, it was very exciting.’

‘So what happened?’

She didn’t answer but looked down and away. He reached over and taking her chin between his fingers turned her face round to his. He said softly ‘tell me.’

She stared into those blue, blue eyes and as before could not resist him, ‘it was a school camping trip, my school and several others. It was there that they
and
I discovered I was good at swimming and climbing and running and all sorts of other outdoor things. My school was winning all the tasks, climbing trees, swimming across the lake, racing, I won every one of my events and my school mates were thrilled and showed it. For the first time I was one of them, one of the gang. We had such fun in the daytime
and
at night in the tent, we ate crisps and chocolate bars and told each other ghost stories and they listened avidly to mine. They wanted more; they even invited some of the other girls from the nearby tents to join us.’

She broke off and looked across the ocean at
Ship Island smiling at the memory of those times when for the first time she was as one with her schoolmates.

Then the smile slowly slipped from her face. Hennessey took her hand in both of his and said very gently, ‘what happened.’

We were to be there for seven days but on the evening of the forth day,’ she broke off and looked down at the sand the humiliation and pain she still felt was almost palpable. Hennessey squeezed her hand encouragingly.

She looked at him before looking down again trying to gather strength to continue. ‘My mother showed up, that’s what happened, she showed up at the camp site very,
very
drunk. She staggered into the camp site calling my name, “Dela, Dela,” she glanced at him, ‘that’s what she called me, never
A
dela. She fell in the mud again and again. Her clothes were filthy and she stank horribly of alcohol, you could smell it all over the camp site. Then she saw me and screamed, “You, hey you, Della, get your…effing stuff now and get the F home, there’s things that need doing.”

I was mortified, everyone was staring. She got within a few yards of me and fell again right into a huge muddy puddle and lay there not moving. I ran to her and tried to pull her out but I slipped and fell too. Then some teachers came over and pulled her out of the mud and held her while she spluttered and choked then threw up everywhere. Then…then everyone started laughing.’ She broke off again and buried her face in her hands incredibly embarrassed. He removed her hands and turned her to face him. There were tears in her eyes and she tried to blink them away but a few escaped and fell down her cheek and onto his fingers. He used his thumbs to gently dry her cheeks. She looked at him with gratitude. He said, ‘so you had to go home with her.’