Premeditated Mortar Read online

  “Cannot.”

  She laughed. “I knew you would say that.”

  I just rolled my eyes.

  “I’m right,” she insisted. “You’re up to something. So that settles it. I was going to go shopping in Mendocino tomorrow but I’ve decided to stay here and follow you around the Gables like a puppy.”

  “I’d love that. I can show you around. And Jane will be happy to see you. We’ll have fun.”

  “That’s the plan.” She stared for a long moment. “Seriously, I’m a little worried about you.”

  “I know.” I nodded, accepting the reality of my situation. “But tomorrow you’ll be with me. And look, I’ve got Mac and Niall and Jane looking out for me now. And all my crew. Wade and Carla, Sean and the guys.”

  “Sounds like you’ve got plenty of backup.”

  “I do. And by the way, Jane is turning into quite the little general. She says she’ll be watching me like a hawk.”

  “Good.” Chloe took another sip of her wine. “You clearly need supervision.”

  “Thanks. Take her side.”

  “I’ll take anyone’s side who will promise to keep you safe.”

  My eyes misted and I sniffed. “I love you.”

  She scowled. “Stop it. There’s no crying in construction.”

  I had to laugh. “How could I forget the golden rule? Okay, I promise it won’t happen again.”

  “Good.” She sat back and swirled the wine in her glass. “I’m really looking forward to seeing the Gables.”

  “It’s beautiful. And it’s going to be even better when we’re finished.” I folded my legs under me. “Did you drive over here in Eric’s car?”

  “No, he dropped me off. He’ll pick me up around six.”

  “Do you want to stay for dinner?” I rubbed the side of my head. “Guess I’m still kind of out of it.”

  “I can see that.” Her look of concern made me feel guilty.

  “I’m really okay,” I said breezily. “I took some ibuprofen earlier and it always makes me sleepy.”

  “So you’re in pain?”

  “Well, yeah. Battered by a fallen wall of bricks.” Then I waved her worries away. “Just some achy muscles and this puny scratch on my cheek. I’ll be fine tomorrow.”

  “Let’s not forget the concussion. And by the way, that puny scratch is turning black and blue.”

  “How attractive.” I sipped my water. “Okay, enough about me. How’s the show business?”

  “Well, first of all, I love being on hiatus. But the show is great, better than ever,” she said with a grin. “Makeover Madness is the number one show on the network and everyone is totally psyched.”

  “That’s fantastic. And how’s Diego?”

  She grinned. “He’s as hunkalicious as ever, as you once described him.”

  I held up my water bottle in a toast. “I cannot lie, he’s a gorgeous guy.”

  She smiled. “We’re having a great time together. The show is so much more easy-going than before.”

  “I’m so glad.”

  Last year the Makeover Madness crew had come to Lighthouse Cove to do a series of shows on Victorian houses. While they were in town, Chloe’s producer was killed and we’d had to track down the murderer practically on camera. Afterward there had been rumors that the show might be canceled, but Chloe and Diego had made it work better than ever.

  “Sounds like everything turned out okay.”

  “Better for some of us than others,” she said frankly. “Especially in regard to my life.” She gave a satisfied little smile. “Thanks in great part to you.”

  I shrugged. “All I did was introduce you to the chief of police.”

  “That’s all it took.” She sighed. “Every time I see him, he gets better looking.”

  “He is super-hunkalicious,” I said, and we both laughed.

  “Speaking of which, how’s Mac?”

  “He’s wonderful. You’ll see him if you stick around.”

  “I’ll stay for a while, but Eric has informed me that he’s planned a special evening for the two of us. So . . . maybe we can all get together tomorrow?”

  “Sure. And I want to plan a dinner with Dad and Belinda and Uncle Pete and Mac and Jane and Niall and some of the girls.” Belinda was my father’s girlfriend—it still sounded odd to say that phrase—and she was Uncle Pete’s winery manager. The three of them were tight friends.

  “Sounds like a party,” Chloe said. “Let me know when and what time, and what we can bring.”

  “I will. I should call Dad and check his schedule.”

  “I talked to him earlier and he promised to be available anytime we want to get together.”

  “Okay.” Hey, when Chloe came to town we all wanted to spend as much time as possible with her. “I’ll let you know.”

  The doorbell rang. “That’ll be Mac.” He had a key to my house, but he liked to ring the doorbell before walking in, just to let me know he was here. I jumped up to meet him at the door, then staggered backward.

  “Whoa.” Chloe firmly eased me back on the couch. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong. Sorry. I just stood up too fast and got a little dizzy.”

  She gave me that suspicious look yet again. “You stay. I’ll get the door.”

  I closed my eyes and willed myself to shape up. I had hit my head and scratched all sorts of body parts. I needed to take it easy. Especially if I was going to get dizzy every time I stood up. So no wine for me at all tonight, and that was just sad.

  Mac and Chloe talked quietly at the door for a minute, and then he followed her into the living room. “How’s my girl?”

  I smiled. “I’m great.”

  “Would you like some wine or a beer, Mac?” Chloe asked.

  “I’ll have a beer, thanks,” he said, but didn’t take his eyes off me.

  Chloe walked into the kitchen and Mac sat down on the coffee table in front of me. He leaned in close, held up two fingers. “How many fingers?”

  I sighed. “Two.”

  “Okay, what’s going on?”

  “I stood up too fast and got dizzy for a second. But I’m really doing a lot better. My headache is gone. Please don’t worry.”

  After another long stare, he nodded. “Okay.”

  “Here’s your beer, Mac,” Chloe said.

  “Thanks.” Mac stood up and took the bottle, then sat down next to me on the couch. Robbie jumped up to sit with Mac, who obviously gave the best scrunches and belly rubs.

  Chloe sat back down in her chair and Tiger quickly wandered over and pounced up to cuddle with her. It was heartwarming to see my animals so happy to be with the people I loved.

  “We’re ordering a pizza,” Mac said. “You and Eric want to hang out?”

  “I would love to some other night, but he told me he’s got something special planned.”

  Mac grinned. “We’ll expect details tomorrow.”

  Chloe wiggled her eyebrows. “Naturally.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “I just hope he isn’t planning on re-creating your first date.”

  Chloe threw back her head and laughed. “Spend the night in a jail cell? I don’t think so.”

  When they first met, Eric had locked Chloe in jail for her own protection. And he had slept all night in the cell right next to her. Was it any wonder that she fell in love with him?

  The doorbell rang again and Chloe dashed to the door. Eric strolled in and we all chatted for a few minutes. Then the two of them took off.

  Mac sat back down and wrapped his arm around me. “I have something special planned for tonight, too.”

  “Really?” I smiled. “What do you have in mind?”

  “You might’ve heard me mention pizza.”

  “I did.”

  “Ok
ay, I thought we’d order a sausage and mushroom pizza and antipasto salad to be delivered. We’ll watch some quality TV and fall asleep on the couch.”

  I rested my head on his shoulder. “I can’t think of a better way to spend the evening.”

  * * *

  * * *

  Long after the pizza and salad were gone, Mac turned on the local news before going to bed.

  I had been dozing on and off, but as the show was about to go to commercial, the anchorman said, “Coming up, an interview with the doctor who used to run the Gables insane asylum. You won’t want to miss it.”

  “Oh!” I said. “I saw that doctor this morning. They set up this whole press conference thing out in front of Jane’s building.”

  “Let’s tape it,” Mac said, and programmed the TV to record the rest of the show.

  But we ended up watching the entire segment. We couldn’t look away. It was just as disturbing as the first time I heard her speak, and it reminded me that I wanted to read Palmer’s daughter’s interviews with the protesters. But that wouldn’t be happening tonight.

  “So what did you think of Dr. Fairchild?” I asked as we locked up the house and got ready for bed.

  “She sort of reminds me of Nurse Ratched,” he said.

  “From One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest?”

  “It’s apropos, right?” he said. “She had all those people’s lives in her hands and she came across just as arrogant and mean as the movie character.”

  “Yeah, I can see that,” I said. “But can she really be that bad?”

  He frowned. “I think so. It was her arrogance that nailed it for me. There’s even a touch of narcissism in there. It was all about her. When she mentioned her patients, it was only to say how much they owed her.”

  “That was a bit much.”

  “Yup, I smell a narcissist. But maybe I’m being unfair. Maybe she’s a peach.”

  “Right. A peach.” His reaction was exactly the same as what I’d felt about the good doctor. “I’m sure she’s a fine, upstanding citizen.”

  He grinned. “So was Nurse Ratched.”

  I gave him a light punch as we climbed the stairs. “I remember seeing that movie when I was a little girl.”

  “A little girl?”

  “Yeah. I think I was about eight when I first saw it. Chloe watched it with me.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “If you were eight, then Chloe was seven. I don’t want to sound stuffy, but you two were way too young to be watching a film like that.”

  “Oh, for sure.” I shrugged. “But after my mom died, Dad wasn’t sure what to do with us so he would line up a bunch of videos for us to watch when we got home from school. Some of them were a lot worse for little kids than that one.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “Your dad must’ve gone through a hard time.”

  “It was rough,” I admitted. “That’s around the same time he decided to start bringing us to his construction sites.”

  He smiled. “And the rest is history.”

  “Right. We both loved being there, and we learned a lot. All the guys on the crew watched out for us and taught us stuff. It was definitely better than turning us into latchkey kids.”

  “Absolutely.”

  We climbed into bed and Mac pulled me close to him. And within seconds I was sound asleep.

  Even in sleep, though, my mind was working, going over everything that had happened. And sometime in the night, I dreamed I was flying over a mountain of bricks. Happily, I woke up before I crashed and burned.

  Still, climbing out of bed, I couldn’t shake the feeling of being hurtled onto that pile of bricks, and for a long moment I could feel every ache and pain in my body.

  The only way I would stop reliving the nightmare was if I could finally get the answers I needed. Why had they bricked up that section of the hospital? I needed to discover once and for all what secrets were hidden behind the mysterious door.

  I only hoped it wasn’t a body.

  Chapter Ten

  After being awakened every two hours during the night to make sure I was still conscious and breathing, the only breakfast preparation I could handle was making a pot of coffee.

  “I’ll take care of the eggs and bacon and muffins,” Mac said.

  “My hero,” I murmured, and enjoyed the sight of Mac cooking while Tiger and Robbie waited patiently at his feet in hopes of catching some little morsel of food he might drop.

  That didn’t happen, but Mac made it up to them by filling their food and water bowls and then slipping them each a little treat.

  Once everything was put away and the kitchen gleamed, Mac went home to write and I took off for the Gables. I was anxious to explore the back hall and I knew of a few people who would insist on joining in. I was perfectly happy to make it a group activity.

  Chloe had promised to meet me and I had just parked my truck when Eric pulled up in his police-issue SUV. Chloe leaned over and gave Eric a kiss, then jumped down from the passenger seat.

  He looked directly at me as he lowered his car window. “How do you feel?”

  “I’m great.” I gave him a thumbs-up. “No worries.”

  His eyes narrowed and he stared hard at me. Then after a few long seconds he nodded. “Okay. I’ve got a meeting in town, but I’ll be back later. I want you to show me where you got pushed.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Anytime.”

  Chloe ran around to the driver’s window and gave him another big kiss. I couldn’t hear their conversation but after a moment Eric threw his head back and laughed.

  I couldn’t help but smile. He had really mellowed since meeting my sister and I couldn’t have been happier.

  Chloe slipped her arm through mine and we walked along the side of Building Seven. “Are you really feeling okay?”

  “Except for being awakened too many times last night, I’m really fine.”

  “Good.” She gazed up at the building. “I can’t wait to see the inside.”

  But as we turned the corner and walked across the front lawn, she stopped and stared. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so close to this place. Remember how we used to have to park outside that old stone wall and then give each other a boost up in order to see anything?”

  “Did you notice the wall is gone?”

  “Yeah, I noticed first thing when we drove up the hill.”

  “So what do you think?” I spread my arms wide. “It’s pretty impressive, right?”

  She gazed at the row of beautiful Victorian structures that went on and on across the ridge of the hill. “It’s so big. It’s fantastic.” She whirled around. “And this view is incredible.”

  “Thank you! My crew gave me a hard time for wanting to admire that view.”

  “Well, they’re wrong,” Chloe assured me.

  “Just one more reason why I love you. Now, let’s go inside.” We headed for the front door, but then I stopped her. “You should be prepared. It’s pretty skanky in there.”

  “Remember who you’re talking to. I grew up on the same construction sites you did.”

  “Yeah, but now you’re all Hollywood and this is really nasty.”

  She grinned. “But not for long, right?”

  I gave a firm nod. “Right.”

  “And besides,” she said with a casual shrug. “We’ve been in plenty of funky homes before, so no big deal.”

  I held up both hands in mock surrender. “You be the judge.”

  * * *

  * * *

  An hour later, after Chloe had greeted and chatted with all of my crew guys and checked out most of the first floor, we walked up the stairs to the second floor.

  “Okay,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “It’s definitely skanky up here.”

  “I did warn you,” I said. “But give it a chance. We’re onl
y just getting started on this level. The floors haven’t even been swept yet.”

  “But that stairway is glorious.” She turned to look in every direction. “The whole place is going to be stunning. I would love to bring the show back here next year to film when it’s all finished. In fact”—she pulled out her cell phone—“I’d better take a few ‘before’ photos to do a compare and contrast.”

  “I would love it if you brought the show here. Your fans would love it, too.”

  “Oh, for sure. A place like this would be a new level of awesomeness for Makeover Madness.” She pressed her hand over her mouth. “Sorry. Was that tacky?”

  I realized she was referring to the Madness part of the show title. “Don’t worry about it. That’s the name of your show.”

  “It just feels a little insensitive, given where we are and what this place used to be.”

  “I know what you mean. I’ve talked to my guys about it because we’ll all probably run into some visitors who used to be patients here. So yeah, we need to be sensitive to the people around us.”

  In the spacious hallway we passed the two utility tables I had asked to have set up on this floor. On one of the tables, the ubiquitous gallon-sized bottles of bleach sat alongside one large bottle of vinegar and ten large spray bottles for spot cleaning.

  “Glad to see you’re ready to attack mold and mildew whenever you find it.”

  I flexed my arm muscles. “We are the mold warriors.”

  Even though the ceiling lights were on, there were light trees in place to illuminate the area even more. At the far end was a large picture window but it was still covered in the usual blue film so there wasn’t a lot of light coming through.

  I shook my head. “We’re really going to have to open some windows all throughout this place. Not just to enjoy the view but for basic breathing purposes. I seem to remember reading that Dr. Jones believed in allowing fresh air to filter through the wards.”

  “It would sure help blow the stink out,” Chloe said.

  “That’s so well put,” I said, grinning. “At first I thought that having a breeze come through would be detrimental because, you know, it would blow all the paint flakes and scrapings around. But we really need some fresh air in here.”