Silent Deception by Cathie Dunn Read Free Book Online

away.
    Beth had promised to move in the next day, seeing the house was safe.
    Safe indeed. Ha!
    Goosebumps rose on her skin. Minnie had to face the intruder alone.
    “Right,” she whispered. With a trembling hand, she opened her door. Shadows played in the corners of the corridor. Fortunately, the doors to the other bedrooms were closed, a sign that nobody had come up here. She felt less watched.
    Watched? Who would watch her?
    The fine hairs on her arms rose. Slowly, Minnie approached the staircase. Glancing over the bannister, the hall lay in semi-darkness. Slivers of moonlight shone through the windows either side of the main doors which appeared firmly shut. She tiptoed downstairs and checked the locks but found them in place. No-one had entered here.
    On tiptoes, she crossed the hall toward the corridor leading to the kitchen. All calm and quiet. Nudging the kitchen door open, she found it empty. She closed the door gently and froze at a sound from behind her. She swallowed hard before turning sharply, brandishing the candlestick. The corridor was empty. Where had the sound come from? It was almost like someone shuffled papers.
    Ahead, a sliver of light escaped beneath one of the doors further along. She edged closer.
    Her heart pounding, she stopped outside the study. The thin line of light moved beneath the sturdy oak door, but she couldn’t confront whoever was in there without revealing her approach. The key in the old lock waited for her to turn it but from her first visit, she remembered it grated. The intruder could hide quickly, even attack her.
    The locked door meant the thief must have entered through the window. Her pulse raced in her ears, the sound echoing inside her head. Sweat beaded on her forehead. She wiped a damp hand on her nightdress. Dabbing her head with the blanket, uncertainty flooded her. What was she doing, with a silly candlestick? Fight the thief? She stood no chance against a man.
    Still, Trekellis was her home; she had a duty to defend it. Not for the first time, Minnie wished she owned a dog. Tomorrow, she’d ask Beth to find her a puppy. No, a bigger dog. A beast that could defend…
    Minnie shook her head. Here she was, without a dog or a friend, facing an intruder. She straightened, pulled her shoulders back, dropped the blanket and clung to the candlestick. Now. Giving herself a push, she nodded. Blood surged through her body.
    Now.
    Her fingers gently probed the cold key. As quietly as possible, she turned it bit by bit. So far, no sound escaped it. Sensing the lock shifting, she held her breath. Almost there.
    The lock snapped loudly as it slid into place. Damn! With a swift move, she shoved the door open. “What on earth…” she hissed.
    A chuckle reached her ears. “Good evening, Minerva.”
    ***
    “Or should I say, good morning?” Gideon grinned.
    “You!” Minnie’s body swayed in the doorway, and she leaned against a post, dropping the candlestick. Then her head rolled back.
    “Damn!” His mirth evaporated in an instant. Rushing forward, he caught her before she would hit the floor. He scooped her into his arms and carried her prone body to a settee in a corner of Walker’s study. Gently, he lowered her, cradling her head as he knelt by the side. “Minnie?”
    Damn again! He hadn’t meant to scare her, didn’t even know how she could’ve heard him. Apart from the precariously balanced accounts book he’d nudged off the desk earlier. But the sound hadn’t been loud enough to wake a sleeping woman. Or had it?
    “Minnie?” He caressed her face, eerily pale. In the absence of smelling salts, only water would help.
    Berating himself for scaring her to near death, he ran through the dark hall to the kitchen. His eyes scanned the room frantically until he spotted a jug. Peeking at the liquid inside, he sniffed. No smell. Taking a sip confirmed it was water. Gideon grabbed a glass from a shelf and strode back, careless of sloshing water.
    Minnie’s quiet form, her