Cold Comfort (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite Book 5)

by Rebecca King

  “But she wasn’t dumped during the night. The villagers saw the killer up here, remember?” Rhys squinted at the horizon, and the very edge of the Smidgley estate which was clearly visible from where they stood on this stormy morning.

  “It’s brazen, but I doubt anybody who saw someone up here would be able to pick out any distinguishing features. That makes the killer visible, but not so visible,” Will mused.

  “He is goading us.”

  “I don’t doubt that the Smidgley brothers know we are in the area. It is odd, is it not, that we return to Leicestershire and within a matter of days one of the kidnap victims, who we have never been able to find by the way, suddenly appears but far too late to be saved?” Oliver bit out grimly.

  “Like I have said, the bastard is taunting us,” Harry growled.

  “He – they - are enjoying having us on the back foot,” Oliver snorted.

  He hated to say the words aloud, but knew his colleagues were also deeply concerned about just how adept this new gang of career criminals, led by the Smidgley brothers, were at not only hiding their activities but swiping people off the street without anybody seeing or hearing anything untoward.

  “It is like fighting a damned ghost,” Rhys huffed, his voice rife with the impatience they all felt.

  For several moments, the only sound that could be heard was the haunting wail of the wind, which swirled around them and hustled and jostled the trees the leaves upon which rustled in warning. There was a heavy pall that hung over the area, exacerbated by the lack of birdsong, the ominous gunmetal clouds overhead, and the occasional rumble of thunder somewhere off in the distance.

  “It’s coming for us,” Oliver whispered with a shiver. “I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all.”

  “What’s coming for us?” Rhys asked with a deep scowl.

  Oliver met his gaze directly. He could see no reason to lie. “Trouble.” He threw one last look at the village before he made his way back to his horse. “Cover that body up. Inform the coroner. Someone needs to stay with the body to preserve the evidence. I want everyone back at the safe house in an hour.”

  “It’s going to take that long to get the magistrate here,” Rhys called after him.

  Oliver stopped and stared blankly into the darkness of the woods before him. The narrow path he was forced to take was going to make him stumble through the ominous decay of the copse floor. It parodied his life working with the Star Elite. It often forced him to take dark and gloomy paths he didn’t want to traverse. Moreover, it felt as if this Star Elite investigation had taken a completely sinister and dangerous turn only, on this occasion, the Star Elite were more at risk than the kidnap victims.

  A deep gut instinct he had always relied upon was warning Oliver that danger was afoot. Strangely, this time he sensed that he was the one facing danger. It had nothing to do with his colleagues being at risk. Whatever caused it left Oliver with an edgy feeling of disquiet that pressed upon him an urgency to get the case solved as fast as possible. It was so strong, and so deeply troubling, that it made him stern when he spoke.

  “There is a whole sodding village down there, with a tavern, a blacksmith, and a farmer or two. One of them has a cart. Use it. Take the corpse to the base for now. She can lie in the barn until the coroner’s men can fetch her. I don’t care what you do. I don’t want men standing up here, blatantly visible to anybody who cares to look, any longer than necessary. It’s early still but the villagers will be up and about soon enough. I don’t want any curious locals coming up here to offer their assistance. Moreover, I don’t want that bastard who left her in the ground thinking he has any more of an advantage over us than he already has. Get that body out of here, quickly and quietly. We are not putting a show on for that zealot, no matter who in the Hell he thinks he is.”

  With his orders issued, Oliver strode through the woods. While he walked, his mind raced in search of inspiration, or a new method of trying to lure the kidnappers out of hiding and into the open so he and the Star Elite could trap them.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Oliver was still mulling over the problems the Star Elite faced when he reached the safe house nearly an hour later.

  “You look stern,” Jasper exclaimed when Oliver rode into the stable yard. He dropped the hoof he was picking and arched his back.

  “We have found one of the kidnap victims,” Oliver informed him dourly. “We need a meeting.”

  He didn’t wait for Jasper to catch him up. Instead, Oliver stalked angrily into the kitchen of the safe house the Star Elite were currently using. He didn’t bother to close the door behind him because he wanted to rid himself of the stench of rotting corpse that, until now, he hadn’t noticed still clung to his cloak. Snatching the heavy material off his shoulders, he rolled it into a ball and threw it outside. It landed in a heap at Jasper’s feet.

  Jasper, his nose wrinkling in distaste, picked the offending item up between his finger and thumb and draped it over the barn door. With acute sympathy for his friend’s dire morning, Jasper went to join his colleague in the kitchen.

  Oliver didn’t glance up when Jasper sauntered into the room. Instead, he dropped several scrolls of parchment onto the kitchen table and began to unroll them and then pinned them down with apples, salt pots, and cups and goblets, until the entire surface of the table was littered with kitchen accessories.

  “This woman who has been found strangled today,” Oliver muttered, more to himself than to Jasper. “Caroline Elkins is her name.”

  “What of her?” Jasper leaned over the table to read the parchment that had drawn Oliver’s attention.

  “She has a twin, doesn’t – didn’t - she?” Oliver whispered. He picked up the parchment listing the missing woman’s personal details, including full name, address, and family members. “It’s her, all right; Caroline Elkins. Blonde hair, blue eyes, about five feet six inches.”

  Jasper bit out a curse. “Strangled?”

  Oliver nodded.

  Jasper eyed Oliver’s cloak. That explained the vile odour coming off it.

  “She has been dead for a few days, I reckon,” Oliver warned. “Someone has to inform the relatives.”

  “It says here that there are relations in Leicestershire.” Jasper jabbed at the parchment with a blunt finger.

  Oliver placed his palms onto the table and hung his head while he willed his thoughts to settle. His mind raced in several different directions at once, which made thinking about one thing incredibly difficult. He knew that if he just allowed peace to settle then he would be able to contemplate what niggled away in the back of his mind, hovering just out of reach. He suspected it was a way to resolve the huge problem that now lay before him: how to solve the case.

  “Nobody is to do anything or go anywhere alone while we work on this investigation,” Sir Hugo warned from the doorway.

  Oliver jerked and looked up, and then slumped with relief when he saw his boss standing in the doorway. Inwardly, he was greatly relieved to see Sir Hugo because it meant that he wouldn’t have to look for a direction in which to take the investigation. Sir Hugo would make the ultimate decisions, and Oliver could be like the rest of the men and follow his orders.

  “What do you know that we don’t?” Oliver asked, his voice low and harsh in the quiet of the room.

  “Just that Smidgley has friends in high places,” Sir Hugo warned, his face grim. “It might be best if you move safe houses, but make sure no trace is left of where you have gone. Nobody is to find any of us, and when I say nobody, I mean nobody.”

  “Are you staying to help us now?” Oliver asked hopefully.

  His hopes were swiftly dashed when Sir Hugo shook his head. There was something in Sir Hugo’s eyes that warned Oliver that bad news was on its way, and Sir Hugo was to be the bearer of it. He waited. The silence lengthened. Sir Hugo turned to watch several Star Elite men ride into the stable yard. Nobody spoke until the riders joined them.

  “More bad news?” Will asked
as he stepped into the room.

  “What are you doing here so soon?” Oliver demanded.

  “One of the locals saw us up on the bluff and sent for the magistrate. He appeared not long after you left and is keeping watch over the corpse while his men arrange for the coroner to collect it. He is going to oversee its – her - transportation to Tunnerley for examination,” Rhys warned. “If anything happens to her before she gets there, he is to blame.”

  With that, everyone took a seat at the long table situated in the centre of the room and looked at Sir Hugo, who sat at the head of the table.

  “Tell me what you know so far.”

  “Horvat is dead, but his son may still be alive,” Oliver dutifully reported.

  “He is of little consequence,” Sir Hugo assured them firmly.

  “Horvat senior or junior?”

  “Both.” Sir Hugo sighed. “He is a grunt for a boss, nothing more: a man who has been hired to snatch victims, and possibly do a few other tasks as well. For now, we can discount him.”

  “Smidgley?” Oliver lifted his brows.

  “Has friends in high places.” Sir Hugo’s eyes flashed with temper.

  “Which Smidgley brother has friends in high places, sorry?” Jasper asked.

  “Both of them.”

  “How high?” Oliver suspected he already knew the answer.

  “That is something I am still working on, but let me warn you all now, gentlemen, this is going to get worse before it gets better. There is one or two in high regard in the War Office, who may be prepared to do anything necessary to stop us investigating the Smidgleys’ involvement in the kidnaps and murders.”

  “What do you want us to do, boss?” Rhys asked. “How do we flush the blackguard out if he is in society?”

  “You don’t. I do,” Sir Hugo warned. “It isn’t going to be easy because the powers that be are more influential than me. For now, it may be best if we start to take evasive steps to make sure our investigation cannot be tampered with.”

  “Tampered with?” Oliver’s gaze flew around his men, even though in the back of his mind he was already refuting that any of the men he worked with could double-cross him.

  Sir Hugo sighed heavily. He leaned forward, braced his elbows on the table and stared blankly at the table-top. When he did lift his head to look at his men, there was something almost sad in his eyes. It was so uncharacteristic of Sir Hugo that the tension within the room increased tenfold.

  “Like I have said, there are some within our ranks who will do whatever it takes to thwart us. I don’t doubt they would even go so far as to close the Star Elite down if they chose. The man I believe is our traitor is influential. I suspect he is turning a blind eye to what the Smidgleys are doing. He might even be helping them in some way but is cagey and going to be difficult to corner. Like I have said, he has friends in high places and isn’t afraid to try to use them if he is under attack. It may be worth our time to take a few evasive measures now, while we have the choice, rather than when we are forced to hide.”

  “So, we move base? Vanish? Stay out of London? Go undercover? What?” Rhys demanded.

  “You move base,” Sir Hugo replied. “However, we do not tell anybody we are going, or where we are going to. We are on our own with this, gentlemen. Only the men around this table, and a handful of local Star Elite, are to know where we base ourselves next. Our investigation is to continue but nobody is to go anywhere near London or contact anybody there. I must return to London but warn you that if our enemy has a mind to, I could be released from my position. Should that be the case, you must continue to investigate the Smidgleys and anybody associated with them, but make sure one of you goes to Barnaby Stephenson. He knows what to do.”

  “I thought he has almost retired,” Oliver interrupted.

  “He is up to his knees in children.” Sir Hugo grinned suddenly; the seriousness of the situation they were in temporarily forgotten. “He has six at the last count, but he does still keep his hand in with the local team. He will be able to help you if I cannot. Oliver, I am tasking you with informing the relatives about this young woman’s death, and taking the lead on this investigation in my stead. Do whatever you have to do to make sure the investigation into the Smidgley brothers continues. However, like I have said, watch your backs and stay hidden. I am going to make my presence felt with our traitor for a while. It should give you the time you need to close this case.”

  “Do you really think that is a possibility?” Will asked solemnly. “Your being removed from your position I mean?” He cursed when Sir Hugo slowly nodded.

  “We are sailing into choppy waters, men,” Sir Hugo informed them dourly.

  “If the Smidgley brothers are behind the murders, and they are hiding behind their contacts in the War Office, we are going to struggle to keep them behind bars even if we do arrest them. Your position is going to be even more tenuous then, especially if the hierarchy are prepared to get rid of you to protect them,” Oliver growled.

  “Let me deal with the War Office.” Sir Hugo’s voice hardened. “Our traitor has to prove that we had anything to do with getting the Smidgleys behind bars before he can get rid of us. Then he has to find a reason to get the Smidgleys free without making himself appear involved in their criminal activities, but he has to find them first.”

  Ryan coughed, and began to smirk. “Er, what do you mean ‘they have to find them first’?”

  Sir Hugo’s eyes turned crafty. “No matter what it takes, get the Smidgleys behind bars. I don’t care if you have to kidnap the bastards, just get them off the streets, gentlemen, and fast. Take them to Rowley in Kiggington Gaol. He – Rowley – will keep his mouth shut. He is aware of the situation we face, and its implications for the War Office if we allow corruption to succeed in our ranks.”

  “Do we know why the young women were kidnapped yet?” Rhys interrupted.

  Sir Hugo shook his head. “Until we can find one alive, we won’t know. What we can take from Caroline Elkins’ recent death is that the others may be alive still. It is why this case has become urgent so suddenly. We have to find those missing women before they are killed.”

  Sir Hugo paused. Even he didn’t like what he was going to suggest but could really see no other way of bringing about the downfall of such a well-organised gang like the one the Smidgleys had.

  “I hear this Caroline Elkins has a twin sister,” he began.

  “Yes, that’s right.” Oliver rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward, not least because he sensed that Sir Hugo hadn’t yet delivered the news he had come to impart.

  “Make use of her.”

  “What?” Oliver blinked, unsure if he had heard him correctly.

  Sir Hugo sighed. “They know Caroline is dead, yes?”

  Oliver snorted. “Seeing as they bloody killed her, yes, I should say so.”

  “So, how confused would they be if they saw her walking down the street?” Sir Hugo kept his gaze on his clasped fingers for several minutes but was acutely aware of the stillness within the room. When he lifted his gaze to his men, there was an air of callous determination hidden in the depths of Sir Hugo’s eyes that made everyone stare at him. “Do whatever you need to do to flush these bastards out. Unless they know Caroline Elkins has a twin sister, which I doubt seeing as it hasn’t been mentioned to the War Office, or in the broadsheets, it is going to come as a sodding shock to them to see someone they have already killed walking down the road, in their village, isn’t it?”

  “What? Are you saying we taunt them with Caroline’s twin sister?” Oliver cried in astonishment.

  “Yes, that is exactly what I am saying,” Sir Hugo growled. “We cannot have any sentiments in this situation, gentlemen. There are many men’s lives at stake here, and the reputation of the organisation. We cannot allow Smidgley to win or take any more victims. If we have to risk one person’s life to save many then so be it. However, I task you all with keeping this woman safe. We are too late to help her s
ister, but we are going to make sure our new recruit doesn’t come to any harm.”

  “Even though we are going to put her directly in the path of danger,” Oliver snorted scornfully.

  “We have no choice,” Sir Hugo warned. “They think they have killed her. We have someone who looks just like the victim. So long as she doesn’t have black hair and completely different looks, there is no reason why this young woman couldn’t be passed off as Caroline, at least from a distance. That will be enough to put Smidgley on edge. He will want to confirm he did actually kill the woman. As soon as we have flushed the rat out of the drainpipe, snatch him just like he has snatched his bloody victims, only he – they - will disappear to gaol at Kiggington. I don’t give a rat’s knackers what the hierarchy in the War Office think. The Smidgleys are not going to manipulate us into dropping this investigation, and they are most definitely not going to bring about the demise of the Star Elite.”

  “Here, here,” several of the men chorused.

  “Oliver, like I said before, I am tasking you with going to see the relatives and speaking to this sister. I don’t care what you have to promise them. Make sure you enlist her help. She is to remain under your protection until this investigation is over, do you hear?”

  “Why me?” Oliver cried in horror. “Rhys is the ladies’ man. Get him to sodding go.” He crossed his arms in a display of defiance that had little impact on Sir Hugo.

  “Rhys is going to help find a new base and then get everyone moved. The rest of you are going to keep a constant watch on Smidgley Hall and those damned twins inside it. They are hiding out there. For now, their London house appears to have been closed down. It might have something to do with the collapse of the gang at Rigley Row. Whatever the reason, the brothers have decamped to their country seat for the time being. The second either of them leaves that place, I want them followed. Do not allow them out of your sight, gentlemen. It is going to be difficult given how light you are in numbers, but you can do this.”