The bang came from downstairs. Merlin and Willow barked and Patricia froze. The dogs could have been barking at someone walking by, as usual, but she knew they weren’t. Someone had broken into the house. She stood back from the bathtub, dried her hands on a towel and went downstairs.
A smart woman in her advanced years would have stayed upstairs and called 911. But Merlin and Willow were dachshunds and no match for the feeblest of housebreakers. She descended the stairs knowing full well that she might have to fight for her life.
Patricia’s fears of being harmed dissolved when she opened the kitchen door, the towel still in hand. Merlin and Willow had a frightened looking youth, no older than twenty, pinned against the wall with their growls. The kid was most at risk here, not her. She snapped the towel taut in her hands, garrote style. Intimidation did wonders.
“How did you get in here?” The authority in Patricia’s voice surprised her.
“Over the back fence, ma’am,” he replied.
Patricia liked the “ma’am.”
“And what do you want?”
“Nothing.”
Patricia frowned. “No one breaks into a house for nothing.”
“Okay, I was hiding.”
That put Patricia off her stroke. It was the last thing she was expecting to hear. She softened, sympathizing with the boy.
“From whom?”
“Two guys.” He took a step forward, but Merlin’s growl stopped him.
“Stay right there. What guys?”
“I don’t know. They chased me. I think they were after my wallet. I outran them, but I wanted to lie low for a few, just to make sure. I didn’t mean to scare you. Sorry. Can I have some tea?”
Cheeky, Patricia thought, but tea was a good idea—it would calm her nerves. “No, you can’t.”
Putting the water on to boil for herself, Patricia eyed her fugitive. His clothes were ruffled and sweat streaked his forehead. He seemed to be telling the truth. He’d certainly been running, but from whom was another question.
“So let me get this straight. Two guys you don’t know chased after you for no reason?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Patricia smiled. She’d never get tired of hearing that. Maybe she’d adopt him. No one else ever showed her that kind of respect.
“Sit down there.” She pointed to the stools by the breakfast bar. “Merlin, Willow, leave him alone.”
The dogs parted. He smiled and sat. “Thanks.”
“Hands on the bar where I can see them,” she commanded. “Now, what’s your name?”
“David.”
“David, are you telling me the truth?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”
He was offended. But even she could look offended with the best of them when her bluff had been called. It didn’t mean she was telling the truth.
“David, consider how this looks to me. A stranger bursts into my home on a weekday afternoon and tries to sell me some sob story about urban bandits, when the stranger actually is an opportunistic burglar. How’s that sound?”
“Lady, you’re wrong.”
Lady! What happened to ma’am? She knocked off two points for that.
“Honest! I was being chased.” He jumped off the stool, which tumbled back.
“Sit back down.” Patricia retreated to the knife block and let her hand hover over the array of handles. “Hands back on the bar.”
“Be cool.” He righted the stool and reseated himself.
“I wasn’t the one getting excited,” she said.
“Okay, I’m sorry.”
“Would you like me to check to see if the coast is clear for you?” Patricia asked.
“What?”
“Relax. You don’t want to leave here only to walk slap bang into them again.”
David tried to protest, but Patricia waved his excuses away. She reached the front door and opened it. The moment she had the door open, David ducked behind the breakfast bar to hide. The street was deserted. Patricia closed the door.
“Hmm, why do I get the feeling you’re lying?”
David emerged from behind the cupboards. Before he could lie to her again, a noise stopped him. Patricia reopened the front door. A helicopter circled over the neighborhood. It was low—low enough for her to see the police markings on the side. She closed the door again.
“Do you want to have a crack at explaining that?”
“Okay,” David raised his hands in surrender. “Two guys weren’t chasing me.”
“You don’t say. You’re on the run from the police and for nothing minor by the looks of it. So what did you do?”
“I stole a car.” He tried to sound charming, like it was no big thing. “I wasn’t going to keep it. I was just joyriding, but the cops chased me and I crashed into a power pole.”
“My son’s car was stolen a few years back. It wasn’t very pleasant. He was very upset.”
“Sorry about that.” He smiled painfully. “Can I still stay?”
“No.”
“But-”
“But nothing. You stole a car. I want you to leave.”
“I can’t.”
“You can and you will. You can hide out in the shed. But you’d better be gone in ten minutes, or I’ll call the police.”
David didn’t have to be told twice. He was out the back door in a flash.
The water boiled on the burner and Patricia warmed the pot. By the time she’d made, poured and drank the tea, David was gone. He’d left his jacket in the shed. It was a feeble disguise but it might work, although it was a tad too cold to be without a coat.
She took the jacket inside. She doubted he’d be back for it. Shame really, she liked him. He might have been a criminal, but he was polite and manners went a long way with her. She left the coat on the stool he’d sat on and returned to the bathroom and her husband lying drowned in the tub.
“Now, Mick, if you’d been as polite as David, then I wouldn’t have done this.” Patricia let the water out of the tub.