Hot on the Trail

Eve Masters held a glass in her hand, and after taking a sip of champagne she leant back in her plush seat, her other hand holding on to her fiancé’s arm which she would occasionally stroke ever so gently. She and David were flying from their home in Crete to Perth, Australia in what could only be described as ultimate comfort.

This is the life, Eve thought. Jetting off to Australia at short notice, first class seats, champagne, delicious food, not to mention being with the most wonderful man in the world.

Of course
Eve Masters would never travel anywhere if it wasn’t in first class, or at the least, business class. She could afford it, so why not? David thought it an extravagance, but he had learnt to put up with Eve’s eccentricities and maybe, just maybe, the comfort was worth the extra money when you were travelling long distance.

Eve glanced at David and saw that he had started dozing. The seats folded down to become beds and he had already had a long sleep earlier in the flight, but Eve was too excited to even think about closing her eyes. Although she was well travelled, she had never been to Australia and was intrigued to see what the country had to offer.

As well as having a holiday, there was a reason for Eve’s trip and she wanted to deal with this first before seeing as much of Perth and Western Australia as they could fit into three weeks. Her second cousin, Andrea, had recently died and left her something in her will. The lawyer wouldn’t give her any more information over the phone and she had to come to Perth to claim her inheritance. This was also David’s first trip to the continent and he was looking forward to it almost as much as she was.

David Baker had lived on the island of Crete in Greece for many years, but Eve had only moved there just over a year previously after giving up her career as a showbiz agent in London, having made enough money to never have to work again.

    Unfortunately, giving up work at the age of forty three had not been one of Eve’s best ideas. She was a vibrant woman and one who enjoyed socializing, and while she found Crete to be a beautiful island, it was too quiet for her. Had it not been for meeting David and taking an active interest in solving a series of murders which happened close to her village, she may have gone back to live in England.

    David, on the other hand, loved the peace and tranquility of the island and never wanted to return to England. Having previously been an actor, he was now an author and found it much easier to write there than in London.

However, to look at Eve and David, they made a stunning couple, both being very attractive people. Eve was petite with perfectly cut shoulder length blonde hair and striking emerald green eyes. David, who was in his early fifties, but looked younger, had jet black hair and piercing blue eyes.  Both took care of their bodies and went to the gym regularly when at home on Crete. Looking at them, you would have thought they were made for each other.

The plane shook a little and David woke up with a start.

“Are we nearly there yet?” he asked Eve.

“Yes, only about forty-five minutes to go. You’ve managed to get a lot of sleep on this flight, darling. You’ll be ready to go and see the sights as soon as we get there.”

“Did you sleep at all, Eve?” he asked a tad nervously, fearing it would be days before their bodies would be in sync with each other.

“No, not really. I’m much too excited.”

David shook his head. Eve would probably be over-tired and grumpy later. He knew her too well, even after only a year together.

“I know what you’re thinking, David. You’re expecting me to be bad-tempered, but I won’t be, not unless I’ve come all this way to get a vase from Andrea, or something equally obnoxious.”

“You barely knew this cousin of yours. You shouldn’t expect to get much,” David replied sharply, a little annoyed by Eve’s greed.

“I know, I’m not really being avaricious, darling, but it’s a long way to come if all I’m getting is an ornament, especially as I paid for first class travel.”

“We didn’t have to come first class. Anyway, you’re more excited about seeing Australia than anything else, admit it.”

Eve just grunted. She hated it when David was right which unfortunately was quite often. She was also a bit annoyed with herself for sounding greedy. She didn’t really expect much from Andrea if truth be told, although of course it would be nice if it was something of worth.

However, Eve was very keen on seeing part of Australia. She had been reading up about Perth on the internet and was especially pleased to learn that the city was the sunniest state capital in Australia, averaging 3000 hours of sunshine each year. In fact, although it was early October and just the beginning of spring in Australia, Eve had looked up the temperature for the last few days and it had been in the low to mid 20s in Perth. She was relieved that she didn’t have to go somewhere freezing while Crete was still warm and sunny. Eve loved the hot weather; in fact it was one of the main reasons she had emigrated to Crete from England.

A voice came over the intercom saying it would only be half an hour before they landed. Eve started to become restless, so David took her hand, hoping to calm her down. He knew she could get over-excited and want things to happen quicker than they did. Mind you, he too was now looking forward to landing. They would have three weeks together, away from Crete and everybody they knew. It would be like an early honeymoon. Then he looked at Eve, her nose almost pressed against the window and he started to worry again. Would she ever really settle on Crete? She had agreed to marry him and live on the island, but she always became a different person whenever she got near a city. She adored city life so much, with the theatres, museums, art galleries and every type of restaurant you could imagine. David however, loved Crete and didn’t want to leave, but if he had to in order to keep Eve, he probably would. As difficult as she could be, he couldn’t bear to lose her.

* * *

    Their hotel was only seventeen kilometers away from the airport so it didn’t take Eve and David long to reach it once they’d landed and cleared customs. Eve didn’t like to use budget hotels; she was a woman who enjoyed comfort and style and most of all wanted to be spoilt, so she had chosen one of the better hotels in Perth, the Duxton. David said it wasn’t necessary to spend so much money on accommodation, but Eve naturally ignored his objections. She had invested her money well and thought it silly not to spend the gains she had made.

David wasn’t quite sure if he liked having all this money spent on him. He was a little old fashioned and believed he should be the one picking up most of the bills for hotels and restaurants, but although he certainly wasn’t poor, staying in a hotel like the Duxton was out of his price range. Eve had agreed that he would pay for their honeymoon the following year, a safari in Tanzania, but that had taken up a large chunk of his savings. He knew Eve wouldn’t like a camping safari and he had to book the best lodges Tanzania had to offer. The suggestion of him even paying for part of the trip to Australia hadn’t even come up.

Entering their suite, David looked around, noticing how elegant, sophisticated and spacious it was. He glanced at Eve and saw how happy she looked and realized that it probably was worth the money to her after all.

“This is a wonderful room, Eve,” he said. “I still feel a bit guilty though. You spent so much for us to stay in this hotel”

“Oh, David, forget about the cost and enjoy it. I’m going to,” Eve said, putting her arms around him and kissing him.

David, as always, couldn’t resist Eve’s kisses and as his lips met hers, he thought how silly he was being. She had said he needed pampering after being locked in that awful basement when he had been kidnapped and she was right. He deserved to be well and truly spoilt for once and he was going to take advantage of all of this. It was about time he put the kidnapping behind him. Unfortunately, he was still having nightmares about it and he wished he could be more like Eve. She managed to forget very quickly about awful things that happened. Throughout all the murders which she had tried to solve back on Crete, she had ended up in many dangerous situations. She had been poisoned more than once, been locked in a basement, had her house set on fire with her in it and had her brakes tampered with on her car; yet she had got over all these things very swiftly. Mind you, David wished she hadn’t put them behind her quite so easily. If she hadn’t, she might not have rushed into the next dangerous situation so rapidly.

Eve suddenly yawned, her lack of sleep finally catching up with her.

“I don’t think we’ll be doing much this evening,” David said, grinning.

It was seven thirty in the evening and David, although he had slept on the plane, was also feeling quite jet lagged.

“I agree,’ Eve said. “Even though I would love to get out and see Perth tonight, I’ll wait until tomorrow. Shall we get room service instead, try and get a good night’s sleep and have a nice day tomorrow before I have to see the lawyer the day after?’

“Sounds like a good plan to me,” David replied, relieved that Eve, for once, didn’t want to speed around in her usual manner.

Two days later, Eve Masters came out of the lawyer’s office grinning from ear to ear. The meeting couldn’t have gone better and she had been more than surprised to hear what she had inherited. After all she had barely known her second cousin, Andrea Jackson. In fact Eve hadn’t seen her since Andrea and her parents had emigrated to Australia when both she and Andrea were only five years old. Their only contact since then had been Christmas and birthday cards and this had stopped a few years ago. However, neither the Masters nor the Jackson family was particularly large so perhaps this was why Andrea had left her property to Eve, not having many other people to choose from, both her parents being dead. Perhaps she also remembered her early childhood days when she and Eve would occasionally play together. Whatever the reason, Eve didn’t care; she was more than happy to inherit Andrea’s house.

Eve stood outside the lawyer’s office for a few minutes thinking about what she would to do with her inheritance. She was certain David would suggest selling it, but she wasn’t certain she wanted to, not immediately anyway. She already liked the little she had seen of Australia and it would be an excuse to come again.

Suddenly, Eve heard a commotion at the other end of the corridor. Being a naturally inquisitive person, she looked over; trying to see what was going on.

There were two women having an argument about something, but unfortunately she couldn’t make out what it was. The lift was close to them and she wondered if she should walk over and hopefully hear something while waiting for it. However, just as she took a step forward, she stopped dead in her tracks.

“It can’t be,” she said quietly to herself, sounding shocked. “That woman can’t be here in Perth, in the same building as I’m in. It’s too much of a coincidence.”

However, looking again, Eve was in no doubt at all. The woman might have changed her long silky chestnut brown hair to a shoulder length style which was now auburn, but this alteration didn’t fool Eve. The woman at the other end of the corridor was Joanna Neonakis, the person behind her fiancé’s kidnapping. Not only that, she had probably arranged the murder of Jennifer Anderson the previous Christmas and then killed her husband, James, who was also Jennifer’s nephew, after he had failed to pull off her plan to get Jennifer’s money.

Eve stood very still. She didn’t want Joanna to see her, but she knew it would be difficult to avoid. If Joanna finished her conversation and went towards the lift, she might notice her.

Perhaps I should try and leave before her. thought Eve. But could I get to the lift without her seeing me? I doubt it. The stairs are nearer, but do I even dare to use them?    Then what will I do? Ring the Australian police? They probably won’t be interested as she’s wanted for crimes in Greece. Perhaps I should ring Dimitris Kastrinakis back on Crete? He won’t be too happy to hear from me; he always thinks I interfere in police business, but if he wants to catch Joanna, and I know he does, he’ll have to be told. However, by the time he gets out here, she’ll be long gone…. The only thing I can do is try not to be seen and then follow her. 

Eve decided to keep her head down until Joanna finished her conversation. She took some papers out from her briefcase and started looking through them so that she didn’t look suspicious standing there. She also tried to keep one eye on Joanna in case she moved towards the lift. It seemed an eternity, but in reality it was only a couple of minutes before Joanna finished her conversation. She walked away from the other woman after shaking hands, indicating that they had settled their differences, and went to the lift.  Eve was almost certain that she hadn’t looked over at her. As soon as Joanna entered the lift, Eve made a dash for the stairs. The woman Joanna had been talking to had gone back into her office by this time so Eve thought there was nothing to lose if she ran. She didn’t stop and managed to reach the ground floor just as Joanna was walking away from the lift. Eve sighed with relief that she hadn’t lost her yet.