Elsie snorted. “Are you kidding? Look at you. You dress like Mary Poppins. Everyone knows Mary Poppins doesn’t do drugs. That chick took sugar to get her through. You ever hear of someone robbing for sugar? Besides, how’d they know there was a hole in the roof? You think druggies use aircraft to figure these things out? No sir, I tell you those guys were after something. You look around real good when that thing landed in your bed? You find anything else?”

Kate exchanged glances with Dave. “We never really looked for anything else.”

Dave slung an arm around Kate. “I’d like to see you over at my house for a minute.” He turned to Elsie. “Excuse us.”

“Take your time. I’m going to watch the end of this TV show, then I’m going to bed early. Tomorrow I have the morning shift at the café.”

Dave wrapped the cape around Kate and hurried her next door, wondering what the devil he was going to say to her when he had her alone. He was having an anxiety attack thinking about leaving her tonight. Her house was disaster-prone. Airplane parts fell into it. Then there was the business about the man on the roof. That presented very scary possibilities. Elsie could be right about someone looking for more parts. On the other hand, Elsie could have lied about a man on the roof… in which case Elsie was dangerously crazy.

No way did he want Kate to stay in that house tonight. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a clue how to prevent her. He couldn’t just forbid a grown woman from staying in her own house. He could tell her the truth—that he had gone completely looney tunes over her. That would be his last resort, he decided. He’d already asked her to marry him, and she’d declined. Of course he hadn’t been serious about the proposal, not completely serious anyway. Still, saying she preferred to be boiled in oil was a tad insulting. Maybe he could appeal to her good judgment. Maybe he could lock her in the hall closet.

He closed the heavy oak door behind them and hit the light switch. “Listen, Kate, about tonight…”

“My Lord, did you see that gun? It was big! It was the biggest gun I’ve ever seen. It was the only gun I’ve ever seen. She’s probably got more of them, too. She’s probably got a whole arsenal in her bedroom. Grenade launchers and submachine guns.” She hung her cape on the hall coatrack. “I knew I should have asked for references. I should have required a psychiatric profile, a urine test, fingerprints…”

“Maybe you should refund her money tomorrow.”

Kate rustled into the kitchen. “I can’t refund her money. I spent her money… on the furniture.”