by Rebecca King
“I am going to town with Cecily. We are going to do some shopping. It will be good to get out of the house for a while.”
Minutes later, Annalisa left the room and made her way upstairs to fetch her shawl and bonnet. She hoped she would feel better being away from the house and hoped that if she achieved nothing more today she would at least be able to get Mr Joshua Holton out of her head for a few hours.
Joshua leaned back in his seat and found his attention was immediately captured by movement at the house next door. He turned his head to look and watched Annalisa step outside. Even from a distance, she was striking. The pale hue of her pink dress only accentuated the darkened locks and pretty features. She was a sight to behold. So much so, Joshua forgot he should have been listening to Roger.
“You will have to forgive him,” Hamish teased. “He has a severe case of adoration.”
Joshua blinked when and only realised Hamish was talking about him when he found his new colleagues grinning at him.
“She is pretty, I will grant you that,” Hamish mused.
“Striking,” Luke confirmed with a nod.
“Talk about snared by a pretty face,” Dean snorted. “It hasn’t taken her all that long either.”
“I am not infatuated with her, for God’s sake. I am here to keep an eye on the area, remember? I cannot help it if she is leaving her house,” Joshua growled.
“You do know that there are windows on the other side of the house, don’t you? That woman who lives next door keeps trying to catch your eye as well,” Hamish murmured.
Joshua immediately looked in Annalisa’s direction, only to realise what he was doing and jerk away. He glared at Hamish who sniggered.
“I don’t care what she is doing,” he growled. But he did. He truly did.
“The old woman on the other side? The other neighbour?” Hamish prompted. “Have you even seen her?”
“I don’t care what she is doing either,” Joshua growled.
“That’s all right then seeing as it is an elderly man.” Hamish laughed and settled back in his chair. He suspected that if he kept teasing Joshua as he was the man would pack his belongings and head straight back to London the first chance he got, orders or no orders. He had a somewhat hunted look about him which hadn’t been there the day he had arrived in the village. Now, he looked as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders but his preoccupation lay with the pretty lady next door.
The boss seemed to agree and squinted at him. “Are you missing London?”
Joshua contemplated that. “Not as much as I thought I would.”
“Rural life has a tendency to creep up on you,” Dean warned.
“Yes, like gout,” Joshua snorted.
“All that fresh air and open countryside is a bonus, though, don’t you think? Would you really want to swap it for the dirty streets of London?” Dean asked.
Joshua sighed. “It’s been my life for a long time now.”
“But there is nothing cast in stone. There is no reason why you couldn’t, say, join a local team and see how you like a different way of life. I thought you were a man who likes a challenge?” Roger leaned back in his seat and lifted his brows.
“I do. There is no greater challenge than living in London,” Joshua replied.
However, deep inside even he was starting to question the wisdom of returning to London, but Joshua couldn’t admit that to his colleagues. He knew what they were doing. They were trying to persuade him to request a permanent move to the local team, which was something someone only ever did when they intended to marry and wanted to live closer to home. If the team began to suspect he was contemplating moving, Joshua knew he would never hear the last of it.
“I have no intention of ever marrying. Life here is for married men.”
“I am not married,” Hamish snorted. “I don’t ever intend to get married either, but this is my home.”
“Marriage is not for me either,” Dean added.
“Are any of you married?” Joshua asked the team curiously.
Everyone shook their heads, leaving Joshua a little perplexed.
“So, there is no requirement to marry to join us. One or two of the team are married and live locally but they are out and bout and not working on this investigation,” Daniel reported. “You know Angus, and Jasper, and of course Oliver has moved his wife into the area.”
“Just think about it,” Roger urged. “This investigation is just one of many we are conducting. People commit crimes in rural areas because they know there aren’t as many witnesses around who are likely to report them.”
“I always thought local teams dealt with poachers and that kind of thing,” Joshua admitted.
“Gang crime happens everywhere, even in places like this,” Roger warned. “There are the fools who think that local people are simple and therefore more vulnerable than city dwellers. A gang of sheep rustlers are operating on the border with Nottinghamshire and striking farms, stealing hundreds of sheep which then disappear. Finding out who the rustlers are and what they do with the stolen animals is one investigation we are involved in. Then there is the gang of pickpockets who operate in town and disappear into the back streets faster than sewer rats.”
“There is a lot more going on than you realise,” Hamish warned. “Even when it is quiet in this county, the men in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire are invariably facing investigations they need help with. Then your team from London want us to help with their investigation into the kidnaps that have been going on. We are still trying to locate those missing women. It takes time and manpower, and we don’t have much of either, so the pressure is on to get this investigation over with so we can go back to finding those missing women, preferably before they are murdered as well.”
Joshua was aware of how much manpower the Star Elite had poured into investigating the kidnappers. However, the bodies of the women had started to turn up both in Leicestershire and London.
“Don’t get complacent thinking that working here is going to be easy, or boring. Given how much work we have to do, being able to take time out in homes like this and simply enjoy a few minutes of peace and quiet really helps,” Roger warned. “For now, let’s focus on what we know about the burglaries.”
While Roger began to clean a space on the desk so he could unroll a map of the county, Joshua turned to watch Annalisa walk out of his life. He had to wonder where she was going, and how long she would be. What struck him was how much he really wanted to go after her, just to make sure she was all right. He had to remind himself that up until yesterday he hadn’t even met her. There was no need to worry about her today. Nothing had essentially changed, so she couldn’t be in any more danger.
“But I am worried,” he whispered.
Joshua knew then that his feelings for the delightful neighbour were going to be considerably harder to resolve than the investigation, not least because they had already started to make him consider making changes to his life he wasn’t at all sure he wanted.
CHAPTER FIVE
Later that day, Joshua stepped out of a local pawn shop in town and studied he small vase in his hand. To him it was worth nothing at all. It was something he might casually hand to someone he felt might quite like it. To Mrs Asquith, though, the item’s sentimental value made it priceless. He curled his fingers around it and contemplated the small price he had to pay to return it to her. From the pawn shop owner’s records, Joshua now know the thief had made next to nothing for it. Why, then, was he going to the time and trouble of stealing it in the first place?
“If I didn’t know better, I would think the burglar is doing it for the challenge,” he whispered, aware that Hamish was at his shoulder.
“It is either that or the thief is so impoverished that every penny counts,” Hamish replied.
“How many villagers in Bamtree are poor?”
“A lot. It is a remote community.” Hamish shook his head. There were too many to count. He knew that it was best not to di
scount anybody as the culprit not least because everybody was capable of being so heinous.
In that moment, Joshua looked up and was immediately drawn to a familiar vision on the opposite side of the small market square.
Annalisa.
She had another young woman of similar age with her, a friend he presumed. They were so deep in conversation as they ambled slowly down the street that they weren’t aware of the young man who was stalking them step for step. He was not interested in their conversation, though. He was focused on Annalisa’s bag, or rather, the contents of it.
Joshua nudged Hamish.
“I see him.” Without a word, Hamish disappeared in the opposite direction.
Joshua knew his colleague was going to circle around the market square and come up behind the would-be pickpocket. Joshua slowly followed Annalisa and the pickpocket but kept well away from the group so he didn’t alert to thief to the fact that he was being watched.
It didn’t take long before the thief made his move. Without making his presence known to the women, the young man edged closer but only until he was an arm’s length away. He stealthily slid his hand toward Annalisa’s bag. Within the blink of an eye, he flicked a knife out of his pocket, sliced the strap, and snatched the bag off her shoulder before tucking it into his arm and running away with his prize.
Annalisa cried out when she felt it being jerked off her shoulder. By the time she had turned to see what had happened, the young man was already several feet away.
“Come back here!” she shouted.
Annalisa stepped off the kerb only to stop when Joshua appeared out of nowhere. He was running as fast as he could after the thief. From the opposite direction, another man, a stranger, also began to pelt after the thief, but didn’t manage to reach him before Joshua slammed bodily into him. Joshua shoved at the thief’s shoulders, slamming him roughly into the ground. He then snatched the stolen goods out of the thief’s hands before dropping it onto the floor and yanking the pickpocket’s hands up behind him. Seconds later, Hamish had the thug’s hands tied behind his back and held in a cruel position to prevent him from moving.
“I’ll get him off to gaol,” Hamish offered with a nod at Annalisa. “You check on her.”
Annalisa was already standing behind Joshua, a little stunned by the speed in which everything had happened. It was over so swiftly that she struggled to comprehend how quickly the thief had been caught. All she could focus on was the startling realisation that Joshua was indeed one of the Star Elite. She should have been overjoyed, not least because she could now rest assured that whoever was burgling houses was living on borrowed time. However, she was more than a little concerned because the man before her was a warrior. It was evident in the hardened glint in his eye, and the ferocious look on his face. Even when he bent down to haul the young man into an upright position, the young man tried to cower out of the way in fear because he too seemed to recognise that sinister side of the man Joshua had turned into. The thief seemed to know that Joshua was stronger, fiercer, and far more of a danger to him than anything ever could be. Consequently, the young man didn’t protest at all when Joshua held the bag up to the end of his nose.
“You are going to gaol for this,” Joshua snarled. “What do you say to the young lady, lad? Eh? Out with it?”
“Eh?” The young man blinked at him as if he was speaking a different language.
“What do you say by way of apology to the young lady here?” Joshua growled.
“I am sorry, miss,” the young man stammered.
He blinked owlishly at Joshua and squeaked in alarm when Joshua and Hamish hauled him roughly to his feet, but he didn’t protest. Instead, the young man gulped and began to look truly afraid.
“He is off to gaol seeing as the magistrate isn’t here to oversee his arrest,” Joshua assured Annalisa.
“I think you should escort the young lady home,” Hamish warned.
Joshua opened his mouth to object only for Hamish’s pointed stare to warn him that something else was wrong. Joshua’s gaze was immediately drawn to a tall, darkly garbed gentleman leaning negligently against the side of a shop. He was only partially hidden in a narrow alleyway. In contrast to his casual stance, his gaze was intent as he studied what was happening.
“Do you know him?” Joshua asked of Annalisa.
Annalisa jerked when she realised Joshua had pinned her with a stare that demanded answers. It took her a moment to realise who she meant and shook her head as she looked at the thief.
“Not him.” Joshua pointed toward the alley only to find it was now empty.
“That was Billy,” Cecily whispered to Annalisa.
“Billy?” Joshua looked from Annalisa to her friend and saw the look they exchanged.
It was clear neither of them was sure what to tell him. It was only when their gaze slid awkwardly to the thief that Joshua realised they didn’t want to say too much in front of Billy’s friend.
“Let’s go,” Hamish growled.
“You need help,” Annalisa told Hamish. “You cannot take him on your own.”
There was such a worried look on her face that Joshua knew there was more to this Billy than a mere observer.
“What is he?”
“Trouble,” Cecily murmured, with another worried look at the young man.
“You don’t want to mess with Billy. He will cut your heart out where you stand,” the young man boasted, a little bold now he knew his friend was nearby.
“I should like to see him try,” Joshua scoffed.
“Wait here,” Hamish ordered before promptly vanishing.
Joshua had no choice but to stand and watch over the young thug, who looked thoroughly sullen with each passing moment he realised Billy wasn’t going to rescue him.
“If you two ladies stay with me,” Joshua began when he suspected the ladies were going to make their excuses and leave. “We will escort you home. It isn’t safe for you to go home by yourselves now.”
“Cecily has to be back at home, though. Her family are expecting her,” Annalisa informed him.
“Where is your aunt?”
“She has gone to visit a friend.” Annalisa clamped her mouth closed because she shouldn’t really have to explain herself to him, a total stranger.
“You cannot be walking around by yourself either. Even in a place like this, you should know it isn’t safe,” Joshua warned.
The more Joshua spoke, the more Annalisa became certain he was one of the Star Elite. The swift efficiency of his movements, the ease in which he had stopped the fleeing thief, the way he instantly declared he was going to take the blackguard to gaol, all pointed to it.
Now what?
Annalisa wasn’t at all sure. What she did know was that the feelings she had experienced when she had met him yesterday were still there but had alarmingly grown stronger. The more Annalisa looked at him and listened to him talk, the more time she wanted to spend with Joshua and hear what he had to say. He was so calm, so certain, so dangerously handsome, that it was thrilling to be near him.
Get a hold of yourself, Annalisa. You are too old for girlish flights of fancy.
Even so, when she looked at him again and their gazes met, Annalisa was struck by a wild thrill of excitement that was shocking. All sorts of thoughts flitted through the back of her mind. All Annalisa could hope was that none of them were written on her face.
Minutes later, Hamish returned and brought with him another stranger who looked just as ruthless as his colleagues. Together, they hauled the man off to gaol, leaving Joshua to silently urge the women to leave. He then followed them all the way to Cecily’s house whereupon Annalisa bid her worried friend goodbye.
“Are you sure you are going to be all right? You are welcome to stay here, you know.”
“I am fine. He only lives next door to me,” Annalisa whispered.
Cecily’s gaze flew to the tall, handsome man standing at her front gate. She blushed with pleasure when he offered her a hal
f-hearted smile. Annalisa rolled her eyes because she knew her friend was just as attracted to Joshua as she was. Inwardly, it was difficult to ignore the jealousy that surged through her at the thought of Joshua smiling at Cecily as he had her.
“I will be all right. I will meet you again next week, yes?” Annalisa asked, secretly wondering who she was reassuring.
Cecily had to force herself to tear her gaze away from Joshua. “Mm? Yes. Oh yes. Next week will be fine.”
Annalisa rolled her eyes and left her friend gazing adoringly at Joshua.
“Is she all right?” Joshua asked when he glanced back only to find Cecily still standing on her doorstep staring blankly into space.
“Yes, she is just a little stunned by what happened, that’s all. She will snap out of it soon enough,” Annalisa announced matter-of-factly.
They didn’t go too much further before Annalisa broached the subject she knew he wouldn’t want to discuss.
“You are one of the Star Elite, aren’t you?”
“I have no idea what you mean,” Joshua replied flatly.
“I think you do. I also think you should know that we have lived next door to Mr Richardson for a while now and he has told us on several occasions that he is an orphan. He has never had any visitors, and never used to socialise with anybody. He had no family visit him, and never went out anywhere. It is highly unusual for him to go out, as you claim. In short, Mr Holton, we know you lied to us. Care to tell me where Mr Richardson really is?”
“Who is Billy?”
“Answer my question, please,” Annalisa persisted in a no-nonsense voice.
Joshua sighed because that stubborn tilt of her chin warned him she wasn’t going to be distracted.
“What would you do if I told you that I am nothing to do with this Star Elite?”
“I would ask why you feel able to cart any thief off to gaol like your friends are doing with that bag snatcher,” Annalisa countered.
“How do you know they haven’t just taken him out of sight to let him go?”
Annalisa went cold. “Have they?”
