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‘Yes, a card of Panadeine Forte and a script in case I need more, but I only need to take them and get it filled if the pain is bad again. It’s not hurting at all now.’ She moved her fingers a little. ‘It only feels a little tight, and the tablets would be wearing off by now.’ Cy hadn’t been surprised when they’d stitched it.

After they’d left Emergency, he had driven them to the shopping centre and stayed with Tarni while she did a little bit of shopping. She insisted she was feeling fine, so he’d left her in a coffee shop with her new book and headed off quickly to the private hospital to visit Joe. He’d felt strange all the way home after spending time with him. The visit that he knew would be the last time he saw his father.

They reached the house and Cy parked close to the steps before he turned the engine off. For a moment they sat there quietly, and then Tarni reached to open her door.

‘Hang on, I’ll get it. Watch that hand.’ Cy quickly opened his door. ‘I’ll open the door for you and help you out.’

He hurried around the front of the ute and paused briefly as he heard the dogs barking.

He’d fed them before they’d left this afternoon, but the sound of his ute had probably stirred them up. He’d check on them once he had Tarni inside.

Cy opened the passenger door and held his hand out. Tarni lifted her bag over her shoulder and reached out and took his hand.

‘Thank you,’ she said, once she was standing beside him next to the car.

‘You’re not getting woozy at all?’ The security light above the front steps had come on when they parked there and he could see that Tarni’s cheeks had some colour in them again.

‘No, I feel as good as new,’ she said. ‘I might even be able to get back to work tomorrow.’

‘One-handed.’ Cy nodded.

‘Yes, one-handed. I can’t afford to get this infected. I can type with my left hand. I can record the results without touching anything. It’s only a few minutes of checking. I will spend some time down in the shed and just have a look at everything, and type up the results from the first twenty-four hours.’

‘Come on and I’ll get you up to the steps and unlock the door for you. Then I’ll come back for your shopping.’

‘You’ve got a house key, haven’t you?’ She started walking up the steps in front of him. ‘That’s right, you used it the other day to get that guy’s card. When’s he coming?’

‘Tomorrow afternoon, I think.’ Cy kept a step behind her.

They reached the veranda and as they walked across to the front door, the security light above the door came on.

‘What the—?’ Tarni stopped suddenly. ‘Look, Cy, the screen door’s open. Somebody must’ve been here.’

‘Did you close it when we left? Maybe it didn’t latch and the wind caught it.’

‘I closed it and I locked it with the key too.’ She reached into her bag and held her keys p.. ‘I’ve got a key to the security door on the set of keys Kane gave me. I locked the deadlock on the front door with the key too, and the bottom lock.’

‘You’re sure?’ Cy frowned and opened the screen door wide.

‘I’m one hundred percent sure. I was a little bit woozy, but I locked—’ She stopped as Cy reached past her and turned the door knob of the front door.

‘Hang on. The front door’s open too.’

Tarni stepped back and stared at the open door. ‘I locked them both,’ she whispered. ‘Do you think there’s someone inside?’

‘Wait here,’ he said quietly. Cy pushed the door open slowly. ‘Just be watchful.’

Tarni touched his arm. ‘I’d rather be behind you than out here by myself. They could be on the other end of the veranda.’

‘They would’ve heard the car pull up. There’s no sign of another car around here, so I’d say whoever it was has been and gone.’

‘Maybe someone walked down from the highway.’

Cy stood there quietly for a moment, but there was no sound apart from the dogs barking down the back.

‘That’s the first time I’ve heard the dogs barking since I arrived,’ Tarni whispered. ‘Do you think whoever it is might be there around the dog pen now?’

‘I don’t know, but I’m certainly not going to leave you here by yourself. Come on, we’ll go inside and turn all the lights on and take care as we check each room.’ He held his hand out to her and she took it willingly and followed him across the foyer and into the kitchen.