Beneath the Moon and the Stars

by Amelia Thorne

Casey rolled his eyes, also supressing a smile. What had she missed? ‘Just me and you then kid.’

  ‘I’ll get this.’ She fished in her handbag to find her purse.

  ‘You will not, it’s your birthday, I’ll pay,’ insisted Alex.

  ‘You two can argue this out between yourselves but I’ve already paid,’ Casey said, standing up he offered her his arm. ‘Shall we?’

  She leaned over and kissed Alex goodbye and then took Casey’s arm. ‘I hope you’re not going to get me drunk and take advantage of me.’

  Casey looked back at Alex. ‘That wasn’t my intention for tonight, no.’

  Leaning her head against his shoulder, she smiled sleepily.

  *

  ‘So what makes you think these robberies are personal and not just coincidence?’ Joy asked as Casey pulled into his driveway.

  ‘I’m a detective, we don’t work with coincidences.’ He was silent for a moment. ‘Have I told you she leaves behind plasticine animals at every robbery?’

  ‘No… Oh that’s why Finn hid my maquettes, the plasticine models I make before I do my strikes.’

  Casey nodded as he turned off the engine. ‘The first one she left was of my old dog Max. He died about two years ago. He was a border collie. It wasn’t just a border collie model though, it was Max, down to the very distinctive three little black spots above his right eye. I knew then it was someone that knew me. But since then, the animals have had no connection whatsoever and I’ve kind of shrugged it off, I thought maybe I had been too paranoid.

  The one before my parents’ house she left a lion, but I didn’t see it. I was still dealing with wedding stuff so I was just told about it. That’s what was so annoying; if I’d seen it I would have known she was going to break into my parents’ house next. It was an exact replica of the lion that sits outside their front door, a copy of one of the lions on the Marco Polo Bridge in Beijing where my dad proposed to my mum.

  When she broke into my parents’ house, she left a note – it’s the first time she’s done that.’

  Joy swallowed uneasily. ‘A note addressed to you?’

  ‘No, it just said, “You think the net is closing in, you have no idea.”’

  He moved to get out the car but she took his hand, suddenly feeling very sober. ‘Are you scared?’

  ‘No. We’ll catch her, you can be sure of that. She’s making mistakes and despite what she thinks, the net is getting tighter. We know she’s a redhead, that’s something.’ He smiled as he eyed her hair. ‘Redheads, they’re all trouble.’

  He got out and as he moved towards the house, he switched his mobile on. She followed him as he went round the side and unlocked the back door. His phone burst into life from his pocket and he answered it as he switched the lights on, illuminating a huge kitchen with bright red units, a white marble effect top and a little black log burner in the chimney place.

  He frowned as he listened, then he spoke, his voice serious and authoritative. ‘Casey Fallowfield. Alpha, Foxtrot, Romeo, India, Charlie, Alpha…’

  Ooh speaking in code, how exciting. He eyed her watching him and turned away. Oh maybe it was private. She decided that using the bathroom might be a good idea, so she set out from the kitchen to try and find it. She was met with a large house, a wide staircase and a lot of doors to choose from. She caught sight of the sink through one of the doors and was just about to go inside when she heard what sounded like a faint cough coming from upstairs.

  Frowning slightly, she took the stairs quietly. At the top there were more doors, but one, open a crack, immediately drew her attention. She was sure that as she reached the top stair a faint light went out, leaving behind only darkness. Someone was here.

  She stole across the landing as quietly as she could and stopped just outside the door. What was she doing, was she really going to confront the thief? She could have a weapon or be a black belt in martial arts. Really she should go downstairs, tell Casey and let him handle it – he was CID after all, he was trained to deal with this kind of thing.

  There was a cool draught coming from inside the room, the window was clearly open. If Joy didn’t act now, the thief would be gone. This was her only chance to stop her once and for all.

  Without thinking she barged into the room, slamming on the light and was immediately thrown face down to the floor. As she struggled she felt something cold and metallic thrust against the base of her skull and she stilled, her heart pounding furiously.

  Chapter Eighteen

  ‘Well, well, well, what do we have here?’ A quiet, cold female voice came from behind her, poking her hard with what felt like a gun. ‘Casey Fallowfield with a girl. Now that is a turn up for the books. I’d always assumed he was gay. Yet you’re here, he has candles in his bedroom ready for a night of romance, champagne chilling in the fridge… he plans to seduce you. Well you being dead might put a dampener on his plans slightly. Still, he took away the man I love, it’s only fair to return the favour. Stand up.’

  Joy did, slowly, her blood roaring in her ears. Who the hell was this crazy bitch? The safe in the wall next to her was already open, but inside diamonds glittered in the light. There was a diamond dragon, several diamond rings, a diamond owl brooch, and the diamond starfish Rose had worn to Casey’s wedding. Crazy Bitch was trying to plant them on Casey, make him out to be the diamond thief all along. That’s why she had targeted people he knew, to make the connection to him even stronger. The window was open a crack. Joy had been right, another few seconds and she would have been gone, though on hindsight that probably would have been the safer option. Casey had said the attacks were personal, well Crazy Bitch breaking into his home with a gun didn’t get any more personal than that.

  ‘Turn around,’ said Crazy Bitch.

  Joy did and had her first glance of her attacker. She was tall, at least a foot taller than she was, with long red hair right down to her bum – she was thinner too, pretty with those large brown doe eyes.

  Crazy Bitch was clearly assessing her as well, as she held the gun pointed at Joy’s face. Joy couldn’t help feel that Crazy Bitch’s gaze was less than complimentary.

  ‘This is what’s going to happen.’ Crazy Bitch licked her lips nervously. She was clearly out of her league here; getting caught had not been part of the plan. Joy had cocked it up for her and she looked pissed. ‘You’re going to help me escape by creating a diversion. I want you to go to the safe, take some stuff out. Casey will come running in here, see you stealing from him and whilst he’s dealing with your betrayal, arresting you, doing what he does best, I’ll slip out unnoticed. If you say one word, if you somehow signal that I’m here, if he suspects in the slightest, I’ll shoot you both.’

  ‘Wait, wait.’ Joy found her voice. ‘He won’t believe for one minute that I’m involved in this, he’ll know you’re here. I’m not going to let you shoot him, just because you’re stupid enough to get caught.’ She ignored the furious look on Crazy Bitch’s face. ‘Just go out the window now and I’ll give you five minutes head start before I raise the alarm.’

  ‘The window has locks on it you idiot, I can only open it an inch, something I only found out when I heard you coming up the stairs.’ Crazy Bitch looked around panic stricken and quickly turned off the light. ‘When he comes, you’ll attack him – wait for him to get into the room and then launch yourself at him. As he tries to fight you off, I’ll slip out. But one word from you and you’re both dead.’

  ‘No listen…’ Joy trailed off as they both heard footsteps come quietly and quickly up the stairs.

  Crazy Bitch moved behind the door, priming her gun with a sickening click. ‘Not one word,’ she whispered.

  Joy stood in the moonlit gloom, feeling sweat prickling across her neck. Her heart was roaring, her mouth was dry. Casey’s shadow stole across the landing as he moved slowly towards the room and she saw to her horror that he had a gun too. Nice, sweet, laidback Casey, holding a gun at arm’s length, his eyes cold as he listened and approached the d
oorway.

  That’s when she struck. Joy charged forward and at the movement from the shadows, Casey swung the gun to the right in her direction. Wincing she leapt through the air and threw her whole body weight against the door. It slammed backwards, a gun went off, Casey threw her to the ground, landing hard on top of her and everything went black.

  *

  Joy was aware of pain before she could open her eyes. Aware of voices too; she tried to tune into them as she became more conscious.

  ‘I knew she was trouble as soon as I met her, it was only a matter of time before she did something stupid like this,’ Casey said.

  Another voice answered from further away and she couldn’t make out the words.

  ‘Yeah, you can take her now. I’ll come down and interview her at the station tomorrow when she’s less groggy. She’s going to have a hell of a sore head.’

  That was the understatement of the year, her head was pounding.

  Suddenly she was aware she was moving. The police were taking her away? That meant that Casey thought she was involved. Did that mean that Crazy Bitch was still in the house waiting for her chance to attack?

  She struggled. ‘No, wait.’ Her words sounded so muffled and slurred.

  The movement stopped.

  ‘That’s ok, you guys go. I’ve got this. Cheers boys,’ Casey said.

  The movement started again and as she struggled against the strong arms that were around her, the movement stopped and it felt like she was being laid on a bed.

  She forced her eyes open, the light was so bright, she immediately closed them again, struggling to sit up. She had to tell Casey.

  ‘Hey, keep still for a moment,’ Casey’s voice came from close by and she felt herself being pushed back down.

  She forced her eyes back open again and blinked against the bright lights a few times. Slowly the room came into focus. She was lying in what appeared to be Casey’s bedroom, with Casey sitting next to her watching her carefully, his eyes filled with concern.

  ‘Where is she?’ Joy tried to sit back up and again was pushed back down.

  ‘Do I need to tie you up? Stay still. She’s gone, you’re safe.’

  She groaned. It was actually Casey’s safety she feared for most but regardless, they were both safe now.

  She felt her heart rate slow, the panic ebbing away.

  ‘Are you in pain?’

  She nodded. ‘My head is killing me.’

  ‘Stay here a moment, I’ll get you some ice.’

  He quickly scooted out the room and she took the opportunity to raise herself on her elbows and look around. Crazy Bitch had been right; Casey had placed candles over every surface. They weren’t lit but the intention was clear.

  Casey came running back in and helped her to sit up, then pressed the ice to the back of her head. ‘I’m so angry with you right now, what the hell were you thinking?’

  ‘I didn’t want her to get away with it. You’d said the robberies were personal, that they were aimed at you. I wanted to stop her.’

  ‘And you honestly think that a few hundred pounds, some silver cufflinks and a few letters regarding stocks and shares were more important than the life of my friend. She could have taken every single penny I have and I’d still want you over all that crap.’

  ‘I wasn’t thinking.’

  She eyed him, his eyes were angry now.

  ‘Evidently. I could have shot you when you leapt out at me from the darkness.’

  This all seemed a bit unfair – she had been acting in Casey’s best interests, trying to keep him safe. ‘I wasn’t leaping out at you. I was trying to stop her from hurting you. She said if you knew she was there, she’d kill you.’

  He sighed, as he shifted the ice slightly. ‘I already knew she was there, why do you think I came upstairs with a gun? You should have let me handle it.’

  She took the ice off him, but kept it pressed against her head as she shuffled back so she could lean against the headboard.

  ‘How did you know? What happened?’

  ‘The phone call, it was my security team. I have sensors on all the windows and doors – if one of those gets tripped, my security team get notified and they contact the police immediately. She arrived about ten minutes before we got home. Reinforcements were already on their way.’

  ‘That seems a bit over the top for a few hundred pounds and a pair of cufflinks,’ she muttered.

  ‘As I said before, I knew the robberies were aimed at me. So I had these special measures installed so we could catch her if she tried anything. My security team tried to contact me straight away, but as I was out, my phone was off. When they phoned, they said the sensors had been tripped on the downstairs bathroom window and on my safe. I thought you were in the bathroom, so I grabbed my gun and went to face her. Next thing, a screaming banshee leaps out of the darkness, a whirlwind of red hair and flailing arms and legs. I aimed my gun. You threw yourself into the door, broke her nose, knocked her out cold, her gun went off and I threw you to the floor where I knocked you out. Sorry about that.’

  She arched an eyebrow. ‘Banshee?’

  ‘Good god yes, you sure can scream.’

  ‘I didn’t even know I had screamed.’ She giggled with embarrassment. ‘Did you throw me to the floor because you thought I was attacking you?’

  ‘No, it took me about a split second to realise the banshee wasn’t aiming for me. When I realised it was you and the gun went off I threw you to the floor so you wouldn’t get shot.’

  Joy smiled. ‘So you really are my hero?’

  He laughed. ‘Looks like you were more mine actually.’ He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘She was trying to plant the diamonds on you, they were all in your safe. Did you know her?’ Her head was feeling better now, so she placed the bag of ice on a small set of drawers, amongst all the candles. Suddenly she smiled to herself as she realised what Casey’s intentions had really been for that night.

  ‘Yes. Do you remember me telling you about Bonnie and Clyde?’

  ‘The husband and wife crime duo?’

  ‘Yes, it was her, Bonnie. She was pissed off at me for putting poor Derek in prison and wanted to get back at me. She wanted me to go to prison too. The great thing is, we now have all the diamonds she stole so they can be returned to their owners. I honestly thought she would have sold them.’

  ‘Do you think she would have killed you?’

  ‘I doubt she was the murdering kind. But then you never know what some people are capable of.’

  ‘Well, at least you can tell Finn now that it definitely wasn’t me.’

  Casey rolled his eyes. ‘I take it you still haven’t forgiven him for that yet. You have to let that go. You’ve got to remember that he was prepared to cover for you, to lie to me and to the police for you. The only reason he got upset was when it affected me.’

  ‘Some things are hard to forgive.’

  ‘Yes, being unfaithful and physical violence are two things that I would find very hard to forgive. This is a mistake. To be fair, if I hadn’t seen the chainsaws and I saw you going out dressed in black on the night of the robberies, I would be quite suspicious as well. If you love him then you have to move past this now.’

  ‘Loving him isn’t enough. He has to give me something here. It can’t just be about the amazing sex.’

  Casey smirked. ‘I don’t see why not.’

  She scowled at him.

  ‘He loves you Joy.’

  Her heart leapt. ‘Has he told you that?’

  He hesitated. ‘Yes.’

  The pause was just enough to make her think he was lying.

  ‘Did he actually say those words?’

  ‘Yes, after he saw you in the woods, he called me the next day to say what an idiot he’d been and then he told me you were leaving and that he loved you and couldn’t bear for you to go.’

  She stared at him, somehow finding that impossible to believe.

  ‘
I need to hear it. It’s not like I want a big proposal or it written across the sky in a hundred foot letters, I just need to hear him say it. I need some glimmer of hope that we have some future together.’

  ‘You can see it – think about all the lovely things he’s done for you over the last few weeks, how many times he’s been there for you. Surely it’s better for him to prove he loves you, than say those three little words.’

  Joy picked at a stray thread on the duvet. Casey was right. What Finn had done for her birthday had been wonderful. How he had been there for her with Craig Peters and the nonsense from the villagers. But were those three little words too much to ask for?

  Casey stood up. ‘I think it’s time to call it a night. I’ll just go and check everything is locked up downstairs and then I’m taking you to bed.’

  She quirked an eyebrow up and Casey laughed, breaking the tension. ‘To sleep. You’re really not my type.’

  She smiled as he walked out the room and then waited patiently for him to come back before she tackled the most important subject.

  ‘Casey.’ She stopped him as he walked back in the room and she gestured to the candles. ‘So what was your intention for tonight?’

  He flushed. ‘You know?’

  ‘I do now.’

  He fiddled with the cuff of his shirt. ‘Are you ok with it?’

  She felt her mouth fall open. ‘Oh my god, Casey, of course I am. I couldn’t be happier. But I thought you were taking things slow?’

  He visibly relaxed at her blessing. ‘I don’t know Joy, we were both wary of getting involved in a serious relationship. But when we’re together… that wariness, the fear of getting hurt or rejected… it just goes away. We both decided that being together was more important than taking things slow. Carpe Diem, seize the day, and we’ll deal with the consequences later if we have to.’

  She smiled. ‘That’s a good philosophy. My dad always used to say that we should worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.’

  ‘Alex said that too.’

  ‘So I really ruined your plans tonight then?’

  ‘Not one bit, I love spending time with you. Besides, nothing kills a night of romance quicker than a crazy lady wielding a gun. It will keep.’