Tall, Silent & Lethal (Pyte/Sentinel #4)(11)

“So, are you Marta’s grandson?” she asked in a conversational tone as they walked towards the house

“No, I’m her brother,” he answered, stepping to the side so that Cloe could walk on the path.

Cloe’s back became ramrod straight, causing her to stumble before she righted herself. Without a look back, she hurried inside the house, leaving him to wonder what the hell that reaction was about.

Chapter 4

“What the hell do you mean you hired her? She’s not staying here!” Christofer shouted from the living room. Whatever Marta’s response was, it was quiet.

Cloe sighed as she headed back out to her car to grab the rest of the grocery bags. It had been a while since she had to buy this much food for one of her employers, but Marta had insisted that there wasn’t anything in the house. After a quick inspection of the kitchen before heading back outside, Cloe quickly agreed that they hadn’t overdone it.

After grabbing her iPod, she grabbed the last of the bags, locked her car, and headed back inside. Once she was back in the kitchen, she could hear him yelling again. With a sigh, she cranked up the volume on her iPod.

Whatever his problem was about her being here she had no doubt that Marta would win. Normally she wouldn’t care one way or the other about losing a job, but Marta was a very nice, feisty, if somewhat shy woman who needed more help than her spoiled brat brother was giving her.

At first she’d been a little unnerved at the discovery, but she’d been working with the older generation for a long time now and Christofer was not the first very young sibling that she’d encountered. That didn’t bother her. No, what bothered her was the fact that the nice guy she’d thought she’d met in the pharmacy was really a toad who treated his sister, his elderly sister, like an unwanted dog.

The man didn’t want to take his sister anywhere when she clearly wanted to go out and live her life. Marta damn near broke her heart when she got all excited about driving to the grocery store. Then she began pointing out all the places she’d heard about, heard not been to, to Cloe and told her how she was just dying to try this or that. Finally, Cloe hadn’t been able to take it any longer and took her to the buffet. Marta seemed so excited to be there. It was obvious to Cloe that she hadn’t been out to eat in a very long time. Marta acted the same way at the store.

When she’d thought the brother was an old man she’d been fine with the situation, realizing that there wasn’t much that an elderly man could do to help his sister. She’d decided that she would try helping them both out, but when she’d discovered the brother was much younger, healthy and lazy she got a bit pissed. This was classic elderly neglect. For God sakes there wasn’t so much as a box of baking soda in the house.

After she put the last of the groceries away and no one came to tell her that she had to leave, she decided to make herself useful. She grabbed the new cleaning supplies they’d bought and started cleaning.

The counters, stove, table, refrigerator and cabinets probably took a half hour to clean. She swept up the floor and was about to get the mop, but decided she would just have to get on her hands and knees and scrub the damn floor. It was clear that the floor hadn’t been mopped in years. Well, at least not properly, she amended a moment later when she spotted the telltale signs of a mop having been moved over the floor at some point. With a resigned sigh, she filled up the bucket with hot soapy water, grabbed the brush and got to work.

As she worked, her mind kept going back to the playful banter she had with Christofer at the pharmacy. It really was a pity that he’d turned out to be such a spoiled little ingrate. Oh well. Marta said he stayed in his basement room most of the time and only came up to check on her or make her a meal so she probably wouldn’t run into him very often if she stayed.

Even though she’d just met Marta, she wanted to stay and help her. She seemed so nice and clearly she needed someone to take care of her. Her brother certainly wasn’t doing it, she thought with a snort of disgust. No wonder the townspeople seemed to hate him, she was certainly starting to.

*-*-*-*

“Woman,” Christofer said in warning, “if you hit me with that damn cane again I’m going to take it!”

She didn’t even hesitate when she whacked him on the ass. He glared at her as he smartly jumped out of the way of the next swing. She matched his glare with one of her own.

“You do not tell me what to do, Christofer Petersen. I am a grown woman and if I want to hire someone to come live with me and help me then that is exactly what I’ll do!” He noted her accent becoming more pronounced the way it did whenever she was angry.

“This is my house, Marta. I decide who comes and who goes,” he reminded her.

She folded her hands in her lap and for a moment said nothing, making him think that he’d won. He really should have known better.

“Then I’ll use my money and move out. I’ll rent a two bedroom apartment closer to town and Cloe can come live with me.”

He threw his hands up in frustration. “You’re not leaving, Marta. We don’t need anyone. I take good care of you.”

She snorted.

She actually snorted.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he demanded, noting that his own accent was starting to come through. Damn it. Hadn’t that woman done enough today? First she nearly makes him lose control in the store and now she was messing with his home life. Clearly the woman needed to leave and soon.