Be Careful What You Wish For (16 page)

‘Hi, I’m from Alliance Mutual Insurance.’ OK, another little teensy lie, but needs must. ‘I just need to ask you a couple of questions about the burglary you had here.’

Her bottom lip dropped for a second before she recovered enough to answer me. ‘Oh. Well, I didn’t make an actual claim.’

‘I know, but you contacted us to report your laptop had been stolen in the break-in, and I’m just following up. You didn’t report it to the police to get a crime number.’

‘Er…well…no.’

I waited for her to elaborate but she didn’t. ‘Can I ask why not? If you want to make a claim, you’ll need to report it.’

‘Well, I…I made a mistake. I must’ve misplaced my laptop, and I found it again after I contacted you.’

I doubted that was likely. She was a bestselling author and her laptop would surely be the tool of her trade. I was pretty damn certain she’d know where it was at all times. I decided to throw her off track completely and ask her about Levi.

‘Do you know Levi Carter?’ I smiled at her.

Her gaze zigzagged over my shoulder, up and down the street as if she were looking for an escape route.

There was no doubt about it. She was scared of something, and it might’ve been me. I admit that sometimes my hair does gets a bit scary in a frizzy, uncontrollable way, but I’d just washed it and it was behaving reasonably well for me, so that couldn’t be it. Why was she afraid of me?’

She edged back behind the door more, her eyeballs flitting around like a mad woman’s. ‘I don’t know any Levi Carter, and I don’t want to make a claim.’ She shut the door in my face.

I stood there for a moment and then turned tail and made my way back to my car, parked further down the road. She couldn’t see me from her house, but I had a great view of her driveway. I’d just sit here for a while and see what she did. Maybe I’d spooked her enough to do something irrational that might just help me find out what was going on.

I sat there for a while, bored. I rummaged around in my glove box to see if I’d left any chocolate in there.

I found a melted Easter Bunny that I’d forgotten to eat and had seen better days. Actually, it had seen probably a whole year’s worth of better days. It didn’t even resemble a bunny anymore. It looked more like…a heart. Wow. That was weird. I examined it more carefully. It had actually melted into the shape of a heart. Was that a sign? The only problem with it was that it had white blobby bits on it that looked a bit suspicious. Maybe I shouldn’t eat it just in case I ended up with food poisoning or something. Damn.

I made a mental note to keep a fresh stash in there in the future in case of unexpected stakeouts. I jigged my leg up and down to take my mind off chocolate and kept my eyes plastered on her drive.

I didn’t have to wait long. Amanda crept down her driveway, glancing one way then the other. She had a baseball cap pulled low over her face with her hair tucked underneath it. The jogging suit had been replaced by jeans and a black trench coat, and she had big sunglasses on. In her hand, she had an A4 size brown package.

I slouched down in my seat and observed her. Satisfied that no one was about, she turned left onto the street and walked briskly towards the end of the road. I thought she was going to turn the corner, so I grabbed the door handle, ready to jump out and follow, but instead, she posted the package in a letterbox and hurried back towards her house.

What had she just posted, and did it have any connection to Levi? She’d denied knowing him at all, but she was a pretty famous author. Maybe she didn’t want it plastered all over the news, even though they say all publicity is good publicity. It might lead to a bit of controversy and a few more sales for her.

Or was I just jumping to conclusions? She was probably just posting her latest piece of erotica off to her publisher because it was on a deadline. Maybe she’d just been nervous with me because she wanted to get it sent ASAP so it could hit the bookstores soon. She obviously didn’t know her manuscript wouldn’t be going anywhere at the moment because of the postal strike.

I stifled a yawn and stretched. This case was getting tiring. I had trouble keeping my eyes open and felt dead on my feet. Dusk was settling in so I aimed the Toyota in the direction of home sweet home.

‘Yo.’ Hacker called on my mobile as I swung into my communal car park.

‘Yoooooooo,’ I yawned.

‘You need an early night.’

‘I wish I could have an early night. I’m beat.’ I locked the car and climbed the stairs to my apartment on heavy legs. I made a mental note to force myself to go to the gym. Where had my stamina gone? It was probably the doughnut effect taking over.

‘I checked out Edward Kinghorn’s personal bank accounts and stuff. He owns plenty of real estate. He’s amassed a personal fortune of land and property over the last twenty years that must be in excess of twenty-five million. In the last few years he’s been selling a lot of it. It could be because there’s a recession on or for some other reason.’

‘Wow. How did he pay for it all?’

‘All the payments came from Kinghorn Thomas Bank, but it’s impossible to know if they were from personal loans to Edward or his bonus payments or something else.’

‘What about his personal bank accounts? Did you find anything there?’ I rounded the corridor to my apartment.

‘He made big deposits into his personal bank accounts that coincide with various boxing matches and fights over the last fifteen years.’ Hacker clicked away on his keyboard. ‘He’s obviously been getting insider tip-offs from Vinnie for a long time.’

I rested my mobile in the crook of my neck as I rummaged around in my rucksack, trying to find my apartment key. ‘So he’s been using his personal money for the bets, but was he also using the bank’s money, too?’

‘I’m still trying to get into Kinghorn Thomas’s computers to find out.’

‘OK, thanks for the info.’ I shoved my key in the lock and swung the door open. Then I wished I hadn’t.

‘Oh, shit.’ I dropped the phone.

Chapter 10

Spiders! Lots and lots of freakishly scary looking spiders! Big spiders, little spiders, giant hairy spiders, brown spiders, black spiders, and ones with nasty looking red bits on them. They were crawling everywhere inside my apartment.

My heart skipped a beat. My scalp turned to ice. My jaw fell open.

My breathing came thick and fast. Everything started swimming out of focus. I willed my brain to send a signal to my hand to pull the door closed again, but neither my brain nor hand would work. I just stood there, staring at the spiders, shaking from my toes to the ends of my curls. I think my jaw was stuck on wide-open mode, and I might’ve been dribbling a bit at that point.

‘What the fuck!’ Brad crept up behind me and stared over my shoulder into my apartment.

‘Sp…s…sp…iders!’ I managed through trembling lips.

Brad slammed the door shut and picked me up, carrying me downstairs and depositing me in his Hummer parked next to my car. ‘Stay here and don’t move.’

Racked with shoulder shaking spasms, I didn’t think it was possible for me to move anywhere. I just nodded.

‘I’ll be back in a minute.’ Brad legged it back up to my apartment.

By the time he returned, the spasms had reduced enough for me to act like a fully functioning person again.

Brad walked towards me carrying my black holdall and wearing an angry frown. He opened the rear door and dumped my bag on the back seat.

‘Where’s Marmalade?’ I yelled.

‘I’m sorry, Foxy. I couldn’t find him.’

‘No! He might’ve been bitten by one of those spiders. Some of them looked evil and poisonous. He might be dying somewhere, being poisoned to death as we speak.’ I jumped out of the Hummer.

‘He wasn’t in your apartment.’

‘I have to find him!’ Tears welled in my eyes, threatening to turn into a waterfall. ‘Marmalade! Marmalade!’ I yelled in the car park, swinging around to get a three hundred and sixty degree angle of the area. It was pitch black outside now, so it was hard to see much. ‘Where is he?’ Salty tears stung my eyes. I wiped them away with my fingers.

Brad wandered around the car park, checking under vehicles as I rushed into the tiny communal garden behind the apartments.

‘Marmalade! Where are you?’ I covered the small expanse of grass and shrubs in a couple of minutes, but he was nowhere to be found.

My hands flew to my cheeks. God, he had to be here somewhere. What if he was in the throws of an agonizing death? It didn’t bear thinking about.

‘I’ve got him,’ Brad shouted from the car park.

I dashed back to Brad. Marmalade was snuggled in his arms, yawning.

Scooping him up, I cradled him, my face nuzzling into his warm fur. ‘Oh, my God, I thought you were dead.’ I rubbed at his head with my chin.

‘Come on.’ Brad draped an arm around my shoulder, steering me towards the Hummer. ‘You’re both coming home with me.’

****

‘I’ve called a pest exterminator.’ Brad poured me a glass of wine and rested it on the black granite breakfast bar in his kitchen.

I took a big swig and set it back down. Marmalade must’ve been freaked by what had happened, too, because he hadn’t left my lap since I’d sat down.

‘How long will that take?’ I glanced up at him. ‘And what if they miss any? I don’t think I can go back in there ever again.’

‘They can’t do it until tomorrow morning. I’ll meet them there with a key and they should have it done in a few hours. You won’t be able to go back for a couple of days until the smell from the chemicals has gone.’ He perched on the stool next to me. ‘You can stay here for as long as you need.’ He reached out a hand and lightly cupped my chin, giving me a penetrating stare.

I knew they were loaded words. This had just given Brad the opportunity he needed to get me to stay with him. I’d be in close proximity of him for at least the next few days. Maybe too close for comfort. I felt like I was teetering on the edge of a ravine. One more step and I’d fall, but there was no way to tell which way I’d land.

He smelled warm and sexy and so inviting, and I didn’t have the energy to resist him anymore. I closed my eyes and felt his lips brush against mine. Slowly they worked around to my neck, my eyelids, my nose. Soft, sensual kisses like butterfly wings, hovering for barely a second before moving on.

 A low moan escaped from somewhere deep within me. Tingling pulses worked their way through my body.

I’d denied myself this for so long, but suddenly I couldn’t do it anymore. The inevitable was happening here and now. I needed Brad more than anything. Being without him was like an ache that would never heal. This was the point of no return. If we crossed the invisible barrier I’d put up, there was no going back. I didn’t know if it was right or wrong, but I was way past caring. 

‘I love you,’ he whispered into my ear.

I knew it already. I’d known it for a long time. Maybe I just needed to hear him say it again.

I opened my eyes and stared into his heart-clutchingly gorgeous face. Drawing him towards me, I locked my hungry lips on his.

And suddenly I couldn’t control myself anymore. Brad was wearing far too many clothes, and I needed to get them off. Right now.

Brad seemed to agree with the too many clothes dilemma as well, his hands sliding up the back of my top and unclasping my bra in a lightning, one-handed move. The other hand was busy stroking the nape of my neck, giving me shivery little goosebumps.

I fumbled with his T-shirt, sliding it over his head with as little interruption to the sexy tongue action as possible.

I trailed my fingertips down his stomach and he groaned.

He undid the buttons on my jeans and slid them down. I kicked them off somewhere in the middle of the room like they were on fire and scorching my skin.

Brad’s shoes went flying as he discarded them.

I heard a ripping sound as my T-shirt got pulled over my head.

Then he stopped. Staring at me in the half-light for a second before he scooped me up in his arms and carried me to his bedroom.

****

Much later, in the darkness of his bedroom, tangled in his Egyptian cotton sheets, I rested my head on his shoulder and traced a finger up and down his familiar chest. The moonlight filtered in through the window, casting delicate shadows on the bed. I stared at the pattern of light, not wanting to think about what had just happened. If I thought about it, I’d analyze it too much and all the “what ifs” would creep into my brain, shouting doubts at me. For now, for this moment, I just wanted to enjoy the ecstatic endorphins exploding through my body.

This wasn’t exactly what I’d planned on when I was wishing for an early night.

Be careful what you wish for.

He turned his head towards me and delicately kissed my eyebrows. He drew back suddenly. ‘Marry me,’ he whispered, his face watchful.

Stunned, my breath caught in my chest for a second.

Silence floated in the small gap between us.

Then I grinned so wide it felt like it stretched from ear to ear. I couldn’t help it. ‘What did you say?’ I had to make sure I hadn’t misheard or imagined it.

He propped his head on one hand and laced his other through mine. His lashes cast spiral shadows on his cheeks, and I thought he’d never looked more beautiful to me.

‘Marry me.’ A lopsided grin on his face made my stomach turn to blancmange.

‘You know what happened the last time we were supposed to be getting married.’ My tone was light, but the memories still haunted me. My smile deflated a bit around the edges.

‘Things were different then. I’m not in the SAS anymore. It’s not like I have to up and leave you for months at a time without telling you where I’m going.’ He gripped my hand tighter.

I gave a short, bitter laugh and stared upwards, watching the shadows from the trees outside dancing on the ceiling. My head and heart spun at a hundred miles an hour.

We’d been through this so many times since I’d started working for Brad. Two years ago, he’d asked me to marry him. And while I was basking in the happiness of it all, he’d upped and disappeared for three months on a secret SAS mission without a word. Not a single word. No phone call. No text. No letter. No email. Nothing. I’d thought he was dead or injured somewhere, dying a horrible death. Then I’d thought he just didn’t love me anymore, or he’d been having an affair with someone and run off with them, or he’d simply had enough of me for no particular reason. The crazy, irrational thoughts took over from the sensible ones. I racked my brains, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation why he couldn’t have just let me know he was OK, let me know I was still the most important thing in his life.

When he finally returned, I was a wreck. I couldn’t see him, I couldn’t speak to him. I couldn’t even look him in the eye. He hurt me to the core and left a scar on my heart. I couldn’t shake the feeling that the same thing might happen again, and I couldn’t risk being hurt a second time around. If Brad had such an emotional hold over me, where would that leave me in the future if something bad happened? Could I risk going through all the devastation again?

 ‘You know why I couldn’t phone or write to you and tell you where I was,’ Brad said softly. ‘I planned on getting in contact, but the mission didn’t go according to plan. We were holed up in the middle of nowhere, and it would’ve compromised the men in my unit and our job. We just had to sit it out and wait until we could do what we had to and get out of there in one piece.’

I blew out a deep breath. The air felt cold on my lips. I shivered, even though the room – and the heat from his skin – was warm.

He’d tried to explain all this to me on his return, but I hadn’t let him. I’d blanked him out of my life just like he’d done to me when he disappeared into the wind. And it had worked for two years – or so I’d told myself – until I desperately needed a job and he’d offered me one without a moment’s hesitation.

So here we were now. Too close to ignore these feelings anymore. Two years on and I still hadn’t got him out of my heart, or my head. Only now I was thinking that I couldn’t be a fully functioning woman if I didn’t have him in my life. I knew life was one big risk. Hell, I’d taken risks every day for the past seventeen years in my job as a cop. But to me, risking my life, or my safety, didn’t seem to be as important as taking the emotional, possibly heart-braking risk that I would with Brad.

‘Tell me honestly, Foxy. How do you feel about me now? Do you still love me?’

“Yes
” w
as on the tip of my tongue. All it would’ve taken was a second in time for me to actually say it out loud.

He kept his eyes on mine, and I saw a shadow of doubt pass over them.

‘Let’s not talk about this now.’ I reached forward and kissed him full on the lips. When I finally broke free, I raised a seductive eyebrow at him. ‘Let’s do the nasty thing again instead.’

Brad didn’t need asking twice.

****

I stood in Brad’s shower early the next morning wondering if I’d imagined everything. I pressed a finger to my lips, remembering the sensual kisses. No, I hadn’t imagined it. I could still feel his touch on me.

I smiled to myself and turned the hot water on full. Eight jets blasted me from different angles. Eight! This was heaven. If I manoeuvred myself carefully, I could get one of the jets pointing on my knotted shoulders.
Mmm. Bliss. I wonder if I could get it to hit my...no, don’t even think about it, Amber.

Suitably steamy and pink, I dried myself off on one of Brad’s soft bath towels and wiped away the steam from the mirror above his double sink, struggling to get my head around what had happened between Brad and me last night. OK, so I’d been scared by what had happened with the sp…spi…nope, not even going to say the word. I was freaked out by those
things
and Brad had comforted me. Or had he taken advantage of me? Hmm. The latter. If he’d taken advantage of me in a vulnerable state then it wasn’t my fault, was it? Yes, that was it. Totally not my fault.

I stood there, examining myself with a critical eye. Mmm. Not bad for thirty-five, although I could see a few lines forming around my mouth and eyes. Not fair. Why was it that men got more distinguished with grey hair and wrinkles, but women just got traded in for younger models?