Whispers of Danger and Love by Janis Lane Read Free Book Online Page B

still managed to smile back.
    She hastily turned her face in apology and shrugged her shoulders helplessly. Cheryl struggled to contain her amusement at her transparent friend. From the time they were in kindergarten, what you saw was what you got with her best friend. Talk about stable character. Jane’s was formed in stone. Cheryl found comfort in the knowledge that some things never change and pleased that there was no need.
    “Clients!” Larkin exploded. “Those are not clients. They are criminals! Didn’t you hear what I said, you little goose?” He hit his fist on the table and then stood up, sliding his chair nosily across the floor.
    “I don’t have a clue what those two are up to,” David said, “but, if it’s about gardening, I’ll wear ballet shoes to work. Just do what I told you for a change, Cher. Just do.” He straightened the part of his shirt covering the butt of his revolver, nodded to Jane, and banged the door again on his way out.
    “Awk! Don’t slam the door. Don’t slam the door, you naughty boy.” Polly screamed, sounding so much like Cheryl’s grandmother they burst into laughter.
    “He’s a bit peeved with you, Cheryl,” Jane said pensively. “What’s it all about?”
    “Nothing important. David, Detective Larkin, thinks he has a right to dictate my life to me just because he’s moved into his grandmother’s house next door. Notice how successful he is.” She deliberately turned her back to the window.
    “He’s one handsome hunk. I don’t know how you can stand having him living right so close to you. I think my insides would be in jelly all day, never mind the nights. Have you peeked through the hedge?” She drew the curtain back on the kitchen window and peered across the yard.
    “No, and I don’t intend to. He and his buddies are noisy enough. They’re destroying that beautiful garden his grandmother worked on for so many years. Volleyball, would you believe?” Cheryl stuffed the last of the donut into her mouth and sipped her tea.
    “Policemen have to stay in shape,” Jane said, nodding wisely like the schoolteacher she wasn’t.
    “They have gyms for that sort of thing. Enough about my pushy neighbor. We need to make plans for our excursion tonight.”
    Never hesitating to enter into Cheryl’s plans, Jane listened eagerly to her best friend.
    Brambles, weedy shrubs, and dense undergrowth grew thickly around the rusty iron fence, a tribute to an earlier gracious period of time. Its ornate design captured Cheryl’s attention momentarily as she speculated on a possible entry into the property. So sad to see it rusting away, and they could not budge it open.
    Jane stared at the huge stands of briars dubiously. “Are you sure?” she whispered. “I can’t believe anything’s left of the gardens. I remember them when I was in grade school. My mother took me on a tour with some church ladies. Very formal. Always made me want to whisper even outdoors.”
    Cheryl shook a loose corner of the hedge and gained an advantage. “I guess there’s no one left who wants the old place. Some distant relatives have sold it, I think, to a developer. In a few weeks, we’ll no doubt see a complex of apartments and townhouses here. A bulldozer will destroy any plants left. I wanted to rescue as many of the peonies as I could.” She managed to squeeze through the broken bar and reached back to pull her shovel through. “Throw me that bushel basket before you come in, will ya?”
    “Ouch! Not on my head.” Cheryl heard Jane giggle but couldn’t see her through the brush. “Come on in. I don’t think anyone cares if we’re here.”
    “Snakes might. This place just reeks of snakes. And probably rats. Big hairy rats with red eyes that bite you on the ankle.” Jane stepped gingerly through the weeds trying to stay as close to Cheryl as she could. Her spade dragged behind her.
    “Pick up your shovel. You’ll attract company with all that noise.” Cheryl stood up on an