Legacy of Lies by Jane A. Adams Page A

again, but this time they turned back to the landing, becoming muffled on the carpeted stairs.
    â€˜I think they’re going away,’ she whispered into the phone. ‘I think they’re going away.’
    â€˜Officers will be with you in just a few more minutes,’ the controller informed her. ‘Stay where you are.’
    Naomi had no intention of leaving the illusory safety of this room.
    She strained her ears, praying that the men had really left but angry that they might now get away. ‘Tell them to hurry. Please.’
    â€˜Just hang on and stay put. They’ll be with you in no time at all.’
    Still straining her ears, Naomi caught the sound of an engine and car tyres on gravel. ‘They’re getting away. I can hear the car.’
    A moment later and the sound of distant sirens had her gasping in relief. She heard the cars in the drive, arriving at speed and tyres spinning in the gravel.
    â€˜They’re here,’ she told the controller, trying hard to keep the tears from thickening her voice. ‘Thank you, they’re here.’
    She stumbled from the room and down the stairs, falling over the debris that the intruders had left in the hall. The front door banged open as she reached the hall and she cried out more in shock than fear.
    â€˜Police,’ a voice announced. ‘It’s all right, love, you’re all right now.’
    Hands rested lightly on her arms and someone led her towards the door. ‘Let’s get you sitting in the car, shall we?’ His accent was local, thick with burr and drawn out vowels.
    Naomi allowed herself to be led outside and seated in the car. ‘In you get, big fella,’ the voice continued and Napoleon scrambled up inside, resting his big head on her leg.
    Naomi leaned her head back against the seat and allowed the tears to flow.

Eight
    A lec arrived about a half hour after the police. Naomi had, in the end, refrained from calling him and the policewoman now sitting beside her in the car had concurred. No point in risking an accident because he had driven back too fast.
    She heard his car come into the drive and skid to a halt. He ran across the gravel, calling her name and she heard the officer who had been first through the door asking who he was.
    â€˜It’s Alec,’ Naomi told the woman sitting beside her, and a moment later Alec had replaced the WPC and was inside the car with his arms tightly around her.
    â€˜What the hell happened? Are you OK? Why didn’t you call me?’
    â€˜I’m all right,’ she reassured him. ‘Just a bit shaken up. A man came, just after you left. He banged on the door and—’
    â€˜You let him in?’
    â€˜No, I didn’t let him in. I’m not that stupid.’
    Alec was contrite. ‘I’m sorry. I’m just—’
    â€˜He or another man broke in round the back. Dog and I locked ourselves in Rupert’s study and I called the police.’
    Quickly, she filled him in on other details. Alec, reassured that she was all right, had switched, she noted, into policeman mode. He asked her questions, looked for more detail then, hugging her again, he got out of the car. ‘Stay there, love. I’ll be right back.’
    Naomi sighed and leaned back into the seat once again. Her head hurt and, unaccountably considering the circumstances, she was now ravenous. She wanted to get away from this place, check into a nice safe hotel and find some breakfast or brunch, or whatever it was time for.
    Panic and fear, Naomi noted, not for the first time in her life, promoted hunger. Vaguely, she wondered if this was a common reaction and decided that it probably was not.
    It seemed that she had almost been forgotten now. She eased herself from the police car and stood listening to the conversations. SOCO had been called, but no one knew when they’d arrive. Alec had explained who he was and was now in deep discussion with the first