23. The Inexplicable

It is a beautiful day in many ways. Cloudless, windless with a clear, fresh, bright, blue sky. Early in the morning, they visit the town and she pays for everything Hunter needs. Thereafter Chloe tremendously enjoys herself; then she helps Robert to stabilize the ladder and then she helps Hunter by holding something in place while he fastens it. She spoils them with supplying drinks and snacks and forces them to take a break and enjoy the snacks before they continue with their work. In time she and Isaac's island becomes much more secure. When dusk falls in the evening, the bright spotlights will kick in automatically which mainly focus on the places they park their cars and allow them to reach their homes safely and avert them stumbling through the darkness. The alarm's red LED light warns at the front door by flickering if someone attempted to burgle her home and disconnected or damaged the siren while she was away. She will know for sure she is entering an empty house. Hunter also installs a normal switch at the front door so that she can switch on the light on entering her home. Furthermore, a security eye covers the length of the corridor and another one covers the length of the kitchen up to the back door. Each window now has a magnetic switch and latches are installed in the attic windows. No one will be able to ambush her in her sleep and Hunter shows them to use the walkie-talkies so that she at any moment can contact Robert and tell him what is going on. Robert is an excellent marksman and can even hit a small monkey high up in a tree. Security gates are installed at the front and back doors and even peepholes so that no one can surprise and ambush her. Chloe is so thankful for their concern and all the hard work. They complete the work just when the sun touches the horizon and it is almost time for the spotlights to come on. Chloe has their early supper ready and made extra to make sure there is more than enough for Isaac. She only joins Hunter and Robert for a little bite and then Robert is on his way to his place with Chloe's smartphone number also on his phone. Hunter is still not satisfied to leave her alone, but she shows him the pistol and promises all sorts of things before he relents and his Mercedes slowly disappears along the bush road just in time for the spotlights to kick in as dusk falls. They agreed upon her phoning Hayley to warn all of them about their imminent visit. Hunter will be here early and then she will take him with her Cooper to start with his investigation. He wants to question everyone face to face. First, they will visit Hayley at the shop and then they will meet Ronnie and Leo on the farm. Hunter wants to finish his interviews by tomorrow evening so that he can start his search for Quinn if he is still missing, the day after tomorrow. Chloe is lying alone on her bed while she gets Hayley's number on her smartphone and pushes the dial indicator and she wonders whether she will have a restful night. Those naughty monkeys will not hinder her tonight. "Chloe, how are you, my darling, I was on the point of phoning you. Did you take Lyle to school? How is Zoey?" Chloe smiles. "Yes. Lyle is back at school and the doctor said Zoey is out of danger and we'll have to wait until she comes out of the coma and hopefully she will not suffer permanent damage. The doctor keeps me in the loop." "Shame, Chloe, it must be quite hard for you. I really burnt to phone you but was extremely busy on this side. How is your home?" "No problem, Hayley, I've been very busy also but I must tell you something. The first time I talked to Lyle when you were waiting outside, he told me that it hadn't been an accident. A truck deliberately pushed them over the cliff and he believed that the driver wanted to murder them." "What, Chloe! Good heavens! Unreal! Why haven't you told us?" "Lyle was afraid you would think he is mad. He asked me to keep it secret till we have decided what we are going to do but I reported it to the police in the meantime." "Chloe, isn't he just disorientated because of the shock? Why would someone do a thing like this?" "Hayley, a detective visited me after he had inspected the crash scene. He is sure it was an attempted murder after he scrutinized the scene and wants to question all our friends and family. We are all suspects in an attempted murder case. He will be at my place tomorrow morning and then I must take him to all of you, including the farm workers, to conduct his investigation face to face. He wants to complete this by tomorrow evening and the day after tomorrow he will journey to George to try and find Quinn. At this stage, Quinn is the main suspect. We will meet you tomorrow morning at 8:30 before you unlock the shop." "Goodness, Chloe, this freaks me out! This is just terrible!" "Hayley, may I ask you a big favor? The detective's name is Hunter. Will you please phone Ronnie and ask him to arrange with Leo and Susan so that I can bring Hunter before lunch to the farm. Ask Susan to make lunch for Hunter as well. He wants to see everyone on the farm face to face. They must all be available just before lunch. Please, Hayley, will you explain to them and arrange everything with Ronnie, will you?" "Goodness, okay Chloe, will do. Good thing you'll visit me first. I think about you a lot and desperately want to see your cute little face again." Chloe laughs loudly and then she hears knocking on her front door. "You clown! Someone is knocking at my front door. I'll have to go. See you tomorrow morning at the shop, okay …" "Chloe, be very careful there in the outback. I've just thought of something. Say your life is in danger and you are all alone? Should I not hang on until you confirm that you are safe?" Chloe laughs again. "It's okay, I have a new neighbor and it must be him or the caretaker. The caretaker also lives on the plot. Don't worry, Hayley, I'm not alone. Relax, darling, I'm going to say goodbye. No need to stress unnecessarily." "Chloe ..." She ends the call and hastily walks to the front door, looks through the peephole and smiles happily. She opens the door and unlocks the safety gate while she speaks: "Hi, Isaac. I hope everything is fine with Zoey. You must be starving. Dinner is ready. I must just warm it up." Isaac looks quite attractive in his smart mustard yellow shirt and brown trousers and he looks pleased to see her. He holds something sneakily behind his back like a naughty boy while she opens the gate. "You're spot on. I'm famished, my girl." He looks around. "I'm impressed. Your bodyguard did a marvelous job. I don't see his Mercedes. Isn't he around? I want to thank him and find out how much I owe him for all this. They must have had help because they couldn't have done everything today? They've even fixed spotlights all around my place as well and this must be an alarm?" He points at the LED light flickering at the front door. "Yes, Hunter fixed this simple alarm. They have done everything by themselves and I was the handyman and supplied them with food and drinks. No, he's not here, unluckily. You will have to talk to him later on. Do come in and show me what you are hiding behind your back like a naughty boy." Isaac enters and she locks the gate behind him. Proudly he presents a bottle of sparkling wine. "I hope you like J.C. le Roux." "Oh, how nice, this is a nice surprise. Let's go to the kitchen. You haven't told me how Zoey is." "She's still in a deep coma, Chloe, but luckily there are no complications. We'll have to wait until she opens her beautiful eyes and then we'll see if all her cogs are in tandem." Chloe laughs. "You're a real clown tonight, aren't you?" "Well, I'm in seventh heaven to pop in here at my sexy neighbor. I've been looking forward to this the whole day, darling. " "I'm not going to reply to that one. Are you flirting with me? It seems to me that you have polished a whole bottle of sparkling wine before you came in here waltzing on a disco beat? You are as mad as a hatter if you ask me. ‘Sexy neighbor' sis, behave yourself, nincompoop, or I'll cut you down to size quickly." "It's your fault that my head is spinning. Come now, I'm very hungry. What do you hide in the kitchen?" Chloe and Isaac feast on the rump steak and baked potatoes with sweet, tasty salads before they open the sparkling wine in the sitting room. The J.C. le Roux tastes lovely while they are asking each other about their likes and dislikes. Isaac offers to spoil her tomorrow evening with a dinner he prepares himself at his home. She must arrive at eight because he wants them to have another bottle of sparkling wine before dinner while his sound system will caress them with excellent, soothing music. Chloe is getting the feeling this man is planning a romantic evening and she submits quite too easily. Maybe it is the J.C. le Roux but it could also be his sexy, blue eyes; she doesn't know. But he becomes more seductive by the second. She now thinks back to the day they met and he was covered only by a small towel. She has never experienced these strong desires towards any man and her feelings unnerve her. She only knows that tonight was wonderful and that she eagerly looks forward to tomorrow night. Isaac looks at her lips and she wishes he would take her in his arms and kiss her passionately but she knows she'll have to stop him for the desire for him burns strongly within her. "Doctor Isaac Horn, I think it is time you go and rest before another day of important work. Tomorrow is another day." Chloe is sure he aimed for her mouth but he hesitates at the last moment and just plants a little kiss on her cheek. "Thanks so much for a very special evening, Chloe, I'm really looking forward to tomorrow evening." ~*~*~ Chloe awakens in the pitch dark and realizes that she smells something very familiar and then she realizes what it is. Tony usually sat in the dark in the farthest corner of the veranda and smoked his pipe filled with Rum and Maple tobacco. He had deliberately installed no lights at that part of the farmhouse so that he could sit in the pitch dark and meditate deeply while he studied the vast starry skies in all its glory. Is it her imagination playing tricks with her? Maybe she has dreamt and now the smell is in her thoughts? Then there is a strange creaking sound like a dry hinge that moves. Maybe the noise is from the kitchen. She feels utterly disappointed because she was sure she would be able to sleep through the night after they clarified the strange sounds and phenomena. It is definitely not the monkeys! The alarm is activated and there are eyes and magnetic switches installed at all the windows. It must be her imagination! Is she becoming mad? She keeps her breath and anxiously listens for something else. Chloe jolts in the bed when the alarm suddenly yells in her ears and it sounds if something falls in the kitchen with a bang on the floor. She jumps out of bed, gets her pistol from underneath the pillow while her heart thumps in her chest. She runs and pulls on the light. She closes her eyes against the blinding light and eventually they focus and she moves through her room and the bead curtain with her pistol ready in front of her and pulls the kitchen light's chain. Lameness engulfs her while she stares confused at the empty kitchen with the siren still screaming in her ears. It doesn't make any sense but a thick cloud of Rum and Maple pipe smoke hangs in the air. She doesn't want to believe it, but she sees and smells the same sweet odor that she remembers so well when Tony smoked it on the veranda. She shakes her head and runs to the back door. It is locked. And the latch is in place. Then she realizes that the siren is still on and she runs to her room, grabs the remote and stops the alarm. She then grabs the radio and dials Robert. Robert answers with a whistle. "Robert, relax. It was a false alarm! I don't know. It went off without reason. Please indicate if you hear me." Robert confirms with a whistle. Suddenly there is loud knocking on her front door and she hears Isaac's concerned voice yelling. "Chloe, are you okay?"