Promises Read online

“Don’t underestimate me.” Aaron kept pecking away at the keyboard.

  Jason studied his cousin. Underestimating Aaron was the last thing he’d ever do. The oldest of his three cousins, Aaron was his senior by seven years and a younger version of Uncle Harris with the same quiet, steady disposition, blonde hair, pale blue eyes, tall and with a heavy, muscular build. He also ran his own security firm and had possibly more access to information than a normal security firm was supposed to have.

  “So you’re saying I don’t need to worry?”

  “Jason.” Peck peck peck at the keyboard. “If you weren’t worried about your Mum, I’d be worried about you.” Pausing, Aaron’s pale blue eyes rose to mesh unwaveringly with Jason’s gaze. “I’m not worried about you.”

  “Because I’m worried about Mum.”

  “There you go.” Gaze back down at the laptop, fingers still pecking away.

  “So Jim’s clean.”

  “It’d appear so.”

  He couldn’t help but try and needle his unflappable cousin. “Appearing isn’t good enough.”

  “So get a date and just happen to turn up at the same restaurant as Aunt Lora, on the same night, at the same time. Just sit at the back out of sight.”

  “That’d go down well if she spotted me or found out.”

  “Wouldn’t it just.”

  “How’m I supposed to get a date that fast, anyway?”

  “You can hire one from me.”

  “You’re in the pro business?”

  “I’m in a specialised field; I can get you anyone you want.” Peck peck peck.

  “Now I’m worried about you as well.”

  A ghost of a smile curved Aaron’s mouth.

  “You could be my date,” Jason suggested.

  “I don’t fancy you in a dress. Your legs are hairy.”

  “Who said I’d be in the dress?”

  “Is that seriously up for debate?”

  Experience had proven that one never tried to get Aaron to do anything he didn’t want. Sure as hell, if someone was going to wear a dress it’d be anyone else but Aaron.

  “No,” Jason replied. “No, it isn’t.”

  There was his cousin’s faint smile again.

  Jason pushed upright. “You’re not normal, you know that, right?”

  “That’s what I hear.” Peck peck peck.

  Jason dug in his pocket for his keys.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Home.”

  “Drive carefully, there’s a storm brewing.”

  “Did you hear that on a secret government force communications radio?”

  “No. Google.”

  Jason bid his mother goodbye and detoured to where Uncle Harris was doing bookwork in the office at the back of the house. He’d meant to bid him goodbye as well and leave, but ended up having a look at the plans for the current project they were doing, talking over some changes that needed to be considered. Then Harris mentioned a new project and the discussion continued. By the time Jason left it was almost midnight.

  As he pulled out of the driveway, he noticed the haze around the street lights, felt the dampness in the air. Yep, a storm was coming. He didn’t need the internet or TV weather to inform him, he’d known the day before. You didn’t grow up in a farming community without knowing the signs from nature itself. He could practically taste the rain.

  By the time he got home, rain was falling. Pulling into the driveway, he cursed as the garage door refused to open. Right, the next thing on his list was getting the bloody door fixed. He dashed out into the rain, slamming the car door behind him, the noise lost in the sudden heavy downpour. Running across the yard, he leaped onto the veranda, holding out his arms and shaking them. The rain eased up a little as he slid his key into the security screen lock, but before he could do anything, he heard a banging sound from behind the house.

  What the…? Was someone trying to break in? Pausing, he listened, and sure enough there came the sound of muted voices and something dragging on the back veranda.

  More than one person was at the back of the house.

  Pulling the mobile from his pocket, he held it in one hand, thumb on the instant dial police number. Stealthily he followed the veranda around, thanking the previous owners - or original builders, who really knew - that they’d seen fit to build a complete wrap-around veranda. It kept him dry as the rain continued falling.

  Coming to a halt at the back of the house, he peered around the corner. His eyebrows shot upwards at the sight that met his gaze.

  Two very curvy figures were near his back door. One was on her knees looking up at the other, who stood with one hand on a generous hip. The torch in her other hand was aimed at the door handle, the light bouncing back enough to verify that the one standing was his neighbour, Izzy. The other woman on her knees had wild red curls and was flinging her hand out in spirited gestures. Neither of them noticed him.

  Curiously, and unexpectedly entertained, he leaned his shoulder against the corner of the wall, crossed his ankles, pocketed the mobile and folded his arms. Then he waited, listening and watching unashamedly.

  Both women were fully dressed in slacks, jumpers and sneakers. Izzy’s hair was confined in a neat braid, while the unknown woman had her curly red mane spilling down her back.

  “Look,” said the redhead, “I can do this.”

  “This is not a good idea.” Izzy shook her head.

  “We’ll be in and out and he’ll never know.”

  “That’s breaking and entering.”

  “Your point?”

  “It’s illegal.”

  “Your point?”

  “Mikki!”

  “Well, hell, Izzy, what’re our choices?”

  Izzy paced to the edge of the veranda, looked out at the rain, then returned to her previous position of standing with the light on the door handle.

  The redhead - Mikki - tapped the door with a finger. “Easy-peasy.”

  “You just left your fingerprint on the door.”

  “It’s not like we’re going to steal anything, no one will have a reason to look for a finger print.”

  “Just in case.” Leaning forward, Izzy rubbed her sleeve over the spot her cohort had touched.

  “Now you’ve left fibres from your jumper,” Mikki pointed out a touch smugly.

  “What? Oh crap.”

  Mikki leaned forward, holding something in her hand. “Just shine the torch light here.”

  “I don’t like this.” Izzy did as instructed.

  Both women were now bent over at his back door, by all accounts getting ready to break into his house.

  “We can’t do it,” Izzy declared.

  “Sure we can. Look at this lock.” Mikki pointed at it. “I can pick it.”

  With both women immersed in their illegal activity, Jason stealthily walked up behind them.

  They didn’t even notice.

  Now he was both annoyed and yep, had to admit it, faintly amused as he stood behind them.

  “I can’t do it.” Izzy shook her head.

  Mikki was studying the lock. “You want this sorted or not, Iz?”

  “Of course I want this sorted.”

  Just what did she want sorted? Jason frowned. Did she think he had something of hers?

  “Are you going to wait out here all night?” Mikki queried.

  “If I have to,” Izzy replied.

  He could feel the faint warmth emanating from her body. The scent of soap and powder wafted pleasantly upwards to his every inhaled breath.

  “Dawson could be away for the weekend. Arnie will starve.”

  Arnie? Jason blinked. The cat? She thought her cat was in his house?

  Still bent over, one hand braced on her knee as she shone the light on the doorhandle, she was obviously having an internal battle. “I could ring…”

  “Who?” Mikki rubbed the bridge of her nose.

  “I don’t know. The company he works for? Get Jason’s mobile number.”

&nbs
p; “You’re going to ring his company this time of the night?”

  Izzy straightened.

  Jason looked down at her. These women were hopeless. He’d been standing there for several minutes and neither of them had even sensed him. Okay, Izzy blocked Mikki’s view of him, seeing as how the redhead was kneeling down with Izzy right behind her, and it was dark and raining and everything, but still…

  “I can’t break into a man’s house,” Izzy said. “I’ll ring the RSPCA or something.”

  “Won’t they need a warrant?” Mikki looked at the thin piece of whatever she held in her hand. “And will they come out this time of the night? It’s not like Arnie is in dire straights. He’s dry and sheltered.”

  “I don’t know. Should I ring the police instead?”

  Pushing upright, Mikki laughed. “I don’t think they’d class this as an emergency.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Jason said mildly. “They might. Give it a try.”

  Both women screamed and leaped back, slamming into the door, the torch in Izzy’s hand flashing upwards, the light shining right into Jason’s eyes.

  He snapped his hand up over his eyes to shield them from the glow. “Izzy, put it down.”

  “Holy crap! Jason?”

  “You nearly gave us a heart attack!” Mikki cried.

  With the torchlight lowered, Jason removed his hand from his eyes and looked down at them. Mikki had one hand clenched in her jumper, while Izzy was standing there with her mouth open. Both women were gasping for breath, both generous bosoms heaving a little. But it was Izzy who had Jason’s attention.

  She took another look at him and groaned. “Jason, I swear there’s a very simple explanation for this.”

  “For breaking into my home?” Reaching down, he took the torch out of her hand.

  “I know it looks bad.”

  Jason gestured them away from the back door.

  Biting her lip, Izzy shuffled aside, Mikki forced to retreat as she was right beside Izzy.

  “Don’t go too far.” Shoving his key into the security screen lock, he twisted it.

  “Jason-”

  Keeping his tone brisk and no-nonsense, he interrupted. “You’re both coming in to explain to me what the hell you’re doing trying to break into my house. Let’s see if you can convince me not to call the police myself.”

  He half expected them to bolt, they looked so nervous, but instead they stood shivering. Delayed reaction, no doubt, to having the living crap frightened out of them while arguing about illegal activities.

  Truth be told, he was more amused than angry. He’d heard enough to know that somehow Arnie had gotten into his house and the girls had been trying to figure a way to get him out, but he wanted them to sweat a little first. They deserved that much for trying to do such a bone-headed thing as attempting illegal entry. He ought to know, he’d done enough bone-headed things in his time.

  Opening the wooden door, he walked in, flipping on both the veranda and kitchen lights. When neither woman appeared, he called out, “Inside.”

  “Um…Jason-”

  “Now, Izzy. You too, Mikki.”

  Holding the wooden door open, he waited as they both walked past him, the security screen swinging shut behind them. He flicked the lock and shut the wooden door before turning to survey the culprits.

  Mikki had her hands stuck in her trouser pockets, looking around curiously, while Izzy was looking at him with big eyes.

  “I can explain,” she said again.

  Jason leaned back against the door. “I’m listening.”

  “We weren’t going to break into your house-” She stopped at his raised eyebrows. “Um, we thought about it, but we didn’t.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “Look, I saw Arnie in your window-”

  “Why would your cat be in my house?”

  “Exactly.” Mikki swung her attention to him. “I think it was the ghost.”

  That had him staring at her. “The what?”

  “The ghost. From your house. Here.”

  Jason blinked. Had he heard correctly?

  “Never mind the ghost.” Izzy looked at him earnestly. “Somehow Arnie got into your house. We were trying to get him out.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “We were. It’s just… You weren’t home and we didn’t know what to do.”

  “Apart from a little B and E?”

  She blushed, red creeping into those apple cheeks. “I know how it looks-”

  “It was me,” Mikki broke in. “My idea.”

  Interesting. Jason shifted his attention to her. “Had much experience?”

  “My sister-in-law locks herself out of the house a lot.” Mikki tapped her temple. “Bit of an airhead. So yeah, I’ve had experience in picking her locks to get her back in.”

  “That’s so comforting.”

  “Izzy didn’t want to break in. It was me.”

  “And we’re really sorry,” Izzy said earnestly. “Really. We decided we weren’t going to break in because, you know, it’s wrong.”

  “You’ve got that right.”

  “Come on, Jason. Please?”

  He wondered if she even knew her fists were clenched as she pressed the knuckles of both hands together.

  “Don’t call the police,” she added. “I swear - I swear - we wouldn’t have broken in.”

  Deciding he’d strung her along enough, Jason pushed away from the door. “Okay.”

  Her shoulders visibly sagged. “Thank you.”

  “I wasn’t going to anyway.” He moved past her.

  “You weren’t?” Izzy asked in surprise, Mikki echoing her.

  “I heard what you said outside. By the way,” he tossed over his shoulder as he strode into the hallway, “you two make lousy burglars. Too much noise, too much chatter, and very indecisive.”

  Izzy was fast behind him. “So why did you make us think you were going to call the police?”

  “Because you’re old enough to know better. And you damned well deserved to sweat a bit.”

  When no argument met this, he glanced over his shoulder to see her biting her lip. Her cheeks looked like they were on fire. Behind her, Mikki looked just as embarrassed.

  “You’re right,” Izzy admitted. “It was a dumb idea.”

  “Very dumb,” Mikki agreed. “Sorry.”

  “It won’t happen again.” There was an unexpected sheen in Izzy’s eyes.

  That shimmer caught at Jason unexpectedly. Before he knew it, he had one hand outstretched. “Izzy-”

  “Arnie!” Mikki exclaimed. “He’s in the lounge still!”

  Izzy cast Jason a quick, completely abashed look before darting past him. He swung around to see her swoop Arnie up in her arms and then, before he could say anything, she blurted out, “I am so sorry. I swear I will never disturb you again.” And with that she shot through into the kitchen, Mikki right behind her.

  Recovering from his surprise, Jason hurried into the kitchen in time to see the door click shut. He didn’t have to hear the footsteps on the veranda to know his uninvited guests had left with the furry culprit. He listened as their running footsteps vanished to leave just the sound of the rain drumming on the veranda roof.

  Hands on hips, he gazed at the closed door, but damned if instead of the wood he could only see the shimmer of tears in Izzy’s eyes, her humiliated expression, and the faint huskiness of misery in her tone as she apologised one last time and fled.

  Swearing never to disturb him again.

  He didn’t like that. No sir, he didn’t like that at all. And that surprised the hell out of him.

  Shaking his head, he went outside and around to the side of the house, watching as the light in the lounge room of the next door house flicked off and seconds later the kitchen light come on. The blind was down so he couldn’t see inside, but he couldn’t help but wonder what Izzy was doing. Crying? Shit, now he felt bad.

  Rubbing his hand back and forth through his hair, he blew out a breath. He tr
ied to be nicer, he really did, but usually when he caught someone doing something stupid he gave them short thrift and didn’t waste time on regrets. He’d done dumb things, and the only thing to straighten him out had been blunt words from his uncle and cousins. He’d learned. But while they could pull their verbal punches, he could still speak harshly. Not all the time, he had learned some things, he wasn’t that heartless, but now and again… Damn.

  Okay, knocking on her door now wasn’t going to do anything but have her stammering and avoiding him. It was too awkward. He’d call around in the morning. Yeah, give her some time to calm down.

  As his mother always said, everything looked brighter in the daylight.

  Going back inside, he locked the door before standing and looking around. Now what the hell had Mikki been going on about? A ghost? And even more intriguing, how had Arnie gotten into his house? Had he left a window or door open?

  A search of the house revealed the doors and windows locked.

  Jason scratched his head. Weird. Really weird.

  ~*~

  “You need to think about asking your neighbour if he wants a house cleansing.” Mikki looked out of the car window at Jason’s house.

  “I don’t think we’ll be talking much.” Hand on the top of the car, Izzy sighed.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “The picking of the lock was my suggestion.”

  “Mikki, really, it’s okay.” Izzy patted her friend’s arm. “And we ended up not picking the lock, remember? The main thing is that we got Arnie back. Whether Jason speaks to me again is neither here nor there.”

  “Still, it’s a shame.” Mikki gave a wistful sigh. “He’s cute, in a rough, tough kind of way.”

  Couldn’t argue that, Izzy thought.

  “He’s tall, too, which I like.”

  “Maybe you should ask him out then.”

  “His house is haunted,” Mikki stated, like that explained it all. At Izzy’s blank look, she clarified, “The ghost has probably attached itself to him by now.”

  “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

  “Don’t be so sceptical. There are plenty of stories of people buying furniture and finding they’ve inherited a ghost attached to it.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Dead serious.” Mikki guffawed suddenly. “Oh! Dead serious! Get it?”