Stone Barrington 06-11

straight. “Something’s wrong,” she said.
    “Didn’t you like the food?”
    “No, not that. Something’s wrong back at the house.”
    “Are you telepathic?”
    “No, but Daisy may be. We have to go.”
    Stone signed the bill, and they hurried back to the car. “Does this sort of thing happen to you often?”
    “No, never before, but it’s a very strong feeling. Drive faster.”
    Stone did the best he could, and five minutes later they turned into his drive and got out of the car. The door to the cottage stood wide open. “I didn’t leave the door open. Did you?”
    “No. Where’s Daisy?”
    They arrived at the front door to find Daisy sitting in the front hall, staring at the door. She ran to Holly.
    “Hey, baby,” Holly cooed. “What’s wrong?”
    Stone reached down and picked up a piece of blue cloth dotted with blood. “Somebody’s missing part of his pants,” he said. “Is my Walther in your purse?”
    She dug it out and handed it to him. “I don’t think anybody could still be here, not with Daisy sitting calmly in the hall. Not unless our intruder is dead.”
    “He did some bleeding,” Stone said, handing her the spattered piece of cloth. “I just want to be sure.” He left her in the hall with Daisy, looked around, and came back, handing Holly the gun. “All clear.”
    “Who do you think belongs to this?” Holly asked, holding up the fabric.
    “One of the men outside my house in New York was wearing blue coveralls,” Stone said, fingering the cloth. “This is the same sort of utilitarian fabric.”
    “I don’t like this,” Holly said.
    “Neither do I,” Stone replied.
    Later, in the middle of the night, Stone came awake. He had heard something downstairs. He eased himself out of bed, so as not to wake Holly, rummaged quietly in her handbag until he found the Walther, then tiptoed down the stairs and looked around the rooms. Nothing.
    He went back to the entrance hall and bent over to pick up the scrap of blue cloth that Holly had apparently left there. As he did, something icy and wet made contact with his bare buttocks. Emitting an involuntary cry, he spun around to find Daisy standing there, looking at him as if he were crazy.
    “You have a very cold nose,” he said, rubbing her head.
    “What’s going on?” Holly asked from the stairs. She came down to join him, as naked as he in the moonlight filtering through the windows.

    “I heard something down here,” Stone said, “and I came to investigate.”
    “That would have been Daisy. She tends to patrol during the night.”
    “She has a cold nose,” Stone said, rubbing his ass.
    Holly laughed. “She certainly does, and she loves sticking it where it shouldn’t be. Don’t worry, there’s no one in the house. Daisy would have let us know.”
    Stone looked her up and down. “You look very nice in the moonlight.”
    She placed a hand on his chest. “You look pretty good yourself,” she said. “Daisy, guard.”
    Daisy went and sat by the door, and Holly took Stone by the hand and led him back upstairs. She took the gun from him and dropped it in her purse, then she went to the bed and pulled Stone on top of her. “As long as we’re awake,” she said, wrapping her long legs around him.
    “Funny,” he replied, “I’m not in the least sleepy.”
    She reached down and put him inside her. “I’m glad to hear it,” she said, thrusting.

25
    S TONE WOKE TO find Holly sprawled across his chest. Gently, he rolled her over until she was beside him, on her back.
    “Am I awake?” Holly asked, her eyes still closed.
    “Probably not.”
    “I think I am. You must be, too.”
    “I think we should go back to the city this morning,” he said.
    “Why?”
    “I don’t like the idea of somebody following us up here, especially since I don’t know who or why.”
    “Neither do I, come to think of it.”
    “I’d feel better in the city. I’m not sure why.”
    “I’ll trust your judgment.”
    Stone showered, got dressed, and scrambled them some eggs, while Holly took Daisy for her morning walk around the Rocks, next door.
    When they had finished breakfast, they put their things and Daisy into the Mercedes and drove away from the house.
    “Why are you driving so fast?” Holly asked.
    “Because I like driving fast; because for once, nobody is in front of me on these roads; and because if these people are still keeping tabs on us, I don’t want to make it easy for them.”
    “All good reasons,” she