“Why would she do that?” he said. “Scratch the question. Just seems strange after she tried to blow the whistle on him. At least, I think that’s what she was doing. She seemed scared of him.”
“She left his place after four this morning. Does that sound like she’s scared of him?”
“Maybe she was trying to get more information from him,” Gray said. He wanted to get in the shower and think. “It doesn’t have to mean she was sleeping with him.”
He caught a motion from Gus, who sent him a frown and nodded at Marley. So the old man had decided she was something special and her ears shouldn’t be subjected to less than pure comments.
Marley didn’t miss a beat between chocolates.
Smiling at Gus, he said, “Say again, Nat.”
“I said they kissed at the door—for a long time. And a car was waiting for her—the one that takes her everywhere.”
“Are you going to question her?”
“Not yet.”
“Good,” Gray said. “You’ll stand to get more if you give her longer to show what she’s up to.”
“Glad you approve.”
Gray smiled. “I’ll catch you later.”
“Sure,” Nat said. “You might like to know there’s an unmarked car across the street. It’ll be there as long as Marley is.”
Gray opened his mouth to protest but Nat hung up.
“Well, hell,” he muttered.
“What?” Marley said.
“He didn’t say anything,” Gus told her. “He’s always been a mumbler. Every teacher-parent conference I had to listen to how he was so hard to understand.”
Marley enjoyed that little piece of fiction far too much. “I’ll leave you two to entertain each other,” Gray said. “Try to find something more interesting to talk about than me.”
“You gonna turn your human-interest article into a crime piece?” Gus said.
“What?” Gray ran a hand behind his neck and stared at his dad.
“That editor of yours called late yesterday. Seems you’re behind on your deadline,” Gus said with a grin. “I told him he’d better back off or you’ll sell the hottest story ever to come out of New Orleans to the highest bidder.”
“Gus!”
His dad laughed outright and his entire body quaked. “Gotcha. He said he understood, but could you get him at least something in a couple of days?”
“Damn, you think you’re funny,” Gray said, smiling despite himself. “A couple of days,” he repeated under his breath.
Gray heard the front door open.
He grabbed his gun from the waist of his jeans and trained it on the doorway to the hall.
“You got a way of overreacting, son,” Gus said.
Gray sent him a warning glance.
“Hey, Gus,” a female voice called. “Okay if I come in?”
“Sure thing,” Gus said loudly.
The chocolate box slid off Marley’s lap and hit the carpet. Candy rolled onto the rug. She turned sharply, just in time to see Willow Millet, with a green-and-white-striped motorcycle helmet on her head and Winnie in her arms, walk into the room. The helmet dripped water and the shoulders of her bright green jacket were dark with rain.
“Marley,” Willow said. “What are you doing here at eight in the morning? Where have you been? Poor Winnie’s really upset with you.”
“She’s with Gray,” Gus announced. “He brought her here last night, but she’s no trouble. All she eats is chocolates.”
“I don’t get this,” Marley said, scooping a heap of those chocolates back into the box. “Winnie, come here, girl.”
Winnie leaped from Willow’s arms, bypassed Marley without giving her a glance and sat at Gus’s feet, staring into his face with her bone sticking out like a yellowing handlebar mustache.
Gus patted his lap and made coochie-coo noises. The little horror of a canine dropped her chew to jump up on the man’s lap and curl herself in a ball, apparently instantly asleep.
He had, Gray realized, lost any control over what was going on in his own house—and maybe his own life.
“I gave Willow a spare set of keys so she can get in real early if we aren’t up,” Gus said. “She’s going to take over for us here.”
“That’ll be interesting for you,” Marley said to Gray.
He shook his head. “You and Willow already met, Dad?”
“You gave me her card,” Gus said. “I called her yesterday and she came right on over. She does everything.”
“Including windows.” Willow smiled. She took off the helmet and held it under her arm. “I talked to Fabio and he’ll be expecting a shopping list from me. So you two need to write down everything you can think of. He’s fast so if he gets the list this afternoon, you’ll get your shopping by morning. Christa has a good-size space in her schedule next week and she’ll be here to go through all your cupboards and closets to get things ready for donation.”
“You can see why I hired her,” Gus said. “Finally we’ll get some order around here.”
“I’m sorry I had to bring Winnie,” Willow said. “She’s been on her own too much lately. But she loves a ride in the scooter trailer. She pokes her nose through that hole next to the window zipper.”
Gray watched Marley with interest. She had a mixture of sad and mad on her face. Her sister was goading her and that annoyed Marley, but she didn’t want her dog to lavish attention on anyone but her.
“I’ll make sure she’s got an even bigger bone than that one,” Gus said, oblivious to the atmosphere. “Put that on the shopping list, Gray. A bag of food just in case and some chews. And we can put a bed over in the corner for her, too.”
“Is there anything else you plan to arrange while I’m not around?” Gray said.
“Just a gardener to keep things tidy,” Gus said. “Willow sees to that, too.”
“Oh, yes,” Willow said. “You’re going to love our Potted Ladies. They’ll make you want to just stare out the window all day.”
Gray knew when he was beaten. He also knew he was tired—and worried. Now he was overwhelmed to boot. And he didn’t dare move too far from Marley in case something happened to send her back to the creature. He had not, Gray realized, seen anything of the thing Marley so feared. Very soon he would press her for more information on this Bonding, too, just to get more hints about what he could expect in the way of changes—like perhaps he might start levitating at inconvenient moments, or doing the chameleon and changing colors to match his background.
Darn, he was so edgy he was going into his flip mode and it wasn’t appropriate now.
Gus looked so cheerful, Gray didn’t have the heart to rain on his parade by criticizing his decision to hire a small army. His dad had needed more to occupy his mind for a long time and this Willow was interesting. He wondered what her particular psi talents were and had no doubt she did have them. The whole Millet family had always been said to be “woo-woo” and he believed it.
Willow approached him. “I’ll do a good job for you and your dad,” she said. “If you think of something you need done and I don’t come up with it on my own, just let me know.” She lowered her voice. “I really like your dad. Looks like Marley does, too.”
“He’s always had a way with women,” Gray said, smiling. “It must be satisfying to charm females the way he does—not that he often sees any.”
“I’m taking Winnie to the kitchen,” Gus said. “I want her to learn her way around. That okay, Marley?”
“Of course.” But she didn’t look thrilled.
Gus manipulated his wheelchair like a man who had had a lot of practice and left the room. Watching him, Gray was unexpectedly relieved. Gus needed company and diversion and, thanks in part to insurance and a quiet lifestyle, there was plenty of money to cover as much help as they wanted to hire.
“Willow,” Marley said. “You should not have brought Winnie.”
“Gus wanted me to.” Willow sounded defensive. “He’s enjoying himself. Surely you can share your dog for a little. I seriously brought her because I didn’t know where you were and couldn’t leave her alone again. But Gus had said he misses having a dog, but he figures it would be too much work for Gray since Gus might have a problem with feeding and cleaning up after a dog outside.”