he’d just have to fend for himself until she could return with reinforcements—the kind wearing badges and carrying guns! But the adrenaline that had been rushing through her veins slammed into a figurative wall of confusion when she saw just who was standing on the porch staring down at her.
TWENTY
“BARRY? I-I THOUGHT YOU WERE IN CONNECTICUT,” SHE exclaimed as she self-consciously brushed the dirt from her pants. Not that he looked any better. His faded jeans were streaked with dirt, as were his well-worn running shoes, while the tattered plaid jacket he wore over an equally dirty T-shirt likely had never seen the inside of a dry cleaner’s. If it weren’t late fall, she would have guessed from his appearance that he’d been gardening.
Barry, meanwhile, was observing her with a look of surprise that seemed tinged with something very close to anger.
“Darla? What are you doing here?”
“Looking for Hamlet. The little wretch ran off again, and I was afraid he’d sneaked back into your basement.” She gave him a quizzical look of her own. “What happened to Curt’s funeral?”
Barry shook his head in disgust.
“There was a problem with the family,” he said with a dismissive wave of his heavy work gloves. “They couldn’t decide whether to bury Curt or have him cremated. He didn’t leave any instructions behind—hell, who expects to die at our age?—and it was turning into this whole family feud between his sister and their mother. I called this morning, and all the plans were still up in the air, so I figured I’d get some work done today and head out tomorrow.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. There’s nothing worse than when a death touches off a war within a family.”
“You’re telling me.” His expression hadn’t lightened any. “So, about Hamlet . . .” He trailed off questioningly, and Darla realized that, for all intents and purposes, she was trespassing on the man’s property.
“Sorry,” she said, feeling unaccountably guilty. “I don’t normally go around looking in people’s windows, but he’s been missing for almost a day now. We’ve looked everywhere else for him, so your place is kind of my last hope. Cats are creatures of habit. I thought there was a good chance he’d be here.”
Barry shook his head. “I was just down there putting a part on the boiler, and I didn’t see hide or whisker of him. But I’ll be glad to call you if he turns up.”
“Oh.” Darla didn’t bother to hide the disappointment in her voice. “Listen, would you mind very much if I took a look inside to satisfy myself? If he’s there, he might be afraid to come out if it’s just you.”
The man hesitated. Finally, he nodded, though she heard a note of reluctance in his tone as he replied, “I don’t mind if you take a look in the main house, but I really wish you wouldn’t go in the basement.”
“But that’s probably where Hamlet is, if he’s here!”
“Darla, I told you I didn’t see any sign of him down there, and I’ve been working in the basement for a couple hours now.”
He paused and spread his gloved hands in a helpless gesture. “I’ve got the boiler taken apart, and I had to move a few things, so it’s not easy walking around. Beside, with that whole Curt situation, I don’t like the idea of anyone going down there anymore. In fact, I’m thinking really seriously about plastering over that door.”
Then, when Darla stared at him, he added with a deprecating smile, “I know it sounds superstitious, but I don’t think I can keep working here in the house otherwise.”
“Sure, I understand,” Darla said with a sympathetic nod. “I’ll just take a look around the main floors and call for him for a few minutes, and then I’ll let you get back to work.”
He nodded and stepped aside so she could enter in front of him. Darla wrinkled her nose. It was obvious that no one had been there for the past few days. The place had taken on a stale and faintly unpleasant smell, as if the rats had had a field day in Barry’s absence. Opening the windows wasn’t an option, since all but those of the upper floors were boarded up.
“I have to say, I sure was relieved to see it was you on the porch,” she told him to break what once again had become an awkward silence between them. “While I was out looking for Hamlet, I ran into my employee Robert’s old