Heart of Gold - By Tami Hoag Page 0,70
mind. He refused to answer it, and it refused to leave him.
Ker-thump.
He breathed an unconscious sigh of relief as his attention focused once again on the mysterious noise. This time it sounded as if it had come from behind him. He could have sworn it had originated in this end of the hall. Damn, he thought, as he turned and headed back toward the stairs, his concentration wasn’t worth spit anymore. He was going to stay up there and find the source of this sound if it took the whole blasted night.
Flattening himself back against the wall, he narrowed his eyes, searching the shadows for any sign of movement. He saw nothing in the pale silver light that fell through the Palladian window. His hearing was sharp enough to pick up the slightest disturbance of the quiet. There were the sounds associated with an old house settling, like the creak of an elderly matriarch’s joints as age seeped into them. In the far distance was the indistinct whoosh of the sea surging against the shore. Nearer there was the unmistakable groan of a floorboard.
Shane’s even teeth flashed in the dark as a predatory smile tugged at his lips. Ghosts didn’t make the floors creak. Every muscle ready to spring to action, he moved along the wall with deceptive laziness. He had his quarry cornered. The sound had come from Captain Dugan’s suite, and there was only one way out—the door that was standing ajar before him.
The taste of victory was sweet, Shane reflected, as he slipped his hand around the polished brass knob and eased the door open. He had the bastard who’d been driving him nuts all these nights. And if it did turn out to be Jack Fitz, Shane was going to shake the old coot until his false teeth rattled. If it turned out to be a squirrel, he’d make a fur rug out of the little beast. If it turned out to be—
“Faith!”
How she kept from screaming, Faith didn’t know, but the sound seemed to get jammed crosswise in her throat. To have him suddenly behind her shouting her name, had her heart slamming against her breastbone. She wheeled wide-eyed, clutching her nightgown in a white-knuckled fist against her chest.
Shane flipped on the floor lamp that stood in the corner near the window. The scowl that took the place of surprise on his face was blacker than the night. “What the hell are you doing out of bed?”
“Oh,” Faith gasped, leaning heavily against the carved post at the foot of the enormous tester bed. She felt as limp and drained as a deflated balloon, but she wasn’t about to admit that to Shane. “Don’t bother apologizing for scaring me near to death!”
“Scaring you?” Shane said on a growl, his temper only burning hotter as he took in her pallor. She didn’t have any business climbing two stairs, let alone two flights of them! “I ought to give you the scare of your life. I ought to take you across my knee! You’re not supposed to be out of bed.”
“Pardon me for wanting to spare myself the job of filling in bullet holes in my walls,” she said dryly, shooting a pointed glance at his brand-new Smith and Wesson. “You can’t shoot Captain Dugan, you know. He’s been dead for nearly a hundred years already.”
He shoved the gun into his shoulder holster, feeling just a tad bit foolish for having pulled it in the first place. “Don’t change the subject,” he grumbled. “Dr. Moore let you come home on the condition you stay in bed.”
“Why should you care?” Faith asked, tilting her little chin up to the unmistakable angle of challenge. “You’re leaving in a few hours anyway.”
Shane’s shoulders sagged. He dragged a hand back through his hair, heaving a weary sigh as he glanced down at the floor. “Dammit, Faith, you know I care.”
“I know you’re leaving.”
“I have to.” Why did she have to make this harder than it already was, he wondered as he turned and stared out the window. The only thing he saw as he looked out was the reflection of a lonely man. “My life is back in Washington. What happened to you reminded me of that in a way nothing else could. I don’t belong here, Faith.”
“Fine,” she said, wincing as she forgot herself and tried to shrug. “Then I’m going with you.”
Shane wheeled and glared at her. “What?”
“You heard me. I’ll go downstairs and pack right now.”
“You can’t come to