Amber Reed Mysteries Volume One: Romantic Comedy Mystery Series Box Set (Amber Reed Celebrity Crimes Investigation Agency Mystery Box Set Book 1)

by Zanna Mackenzie

  “What next?” I spin round and ask Mitch as soon as we’re out of the dining room.

  “Let’s go and find the hotel manager and see if he can shed any light on a few things,” he replies, striding off towards reception.

  With the hotel closed for refurbishment there’s nobody manning reception. I ring the bell and we wait for somebody to appear from the office. As luck would have it the person who does appear is the manager we are in search of. Gerald Dickinson looks harassed enough as he bustles through to the reception desk, but when he spots us he looks even more fraught.

  “Can I be of assistance?” he asks, straightening to his full six-foot-plus height.

  I imagine he would usually be dressed in some designer suit, presenting an immaculate appearance to the hotel’s guests, but today he’s in black jeans and a jumper, the sleeves pushed up to the elbows.

  “Everything OK?” Esme asks him.

  “The renovation work and the spa upgrade the builders are working on is well behind schedule. The Roseby is due to re-open to our understandably demanding guests at the weekend. We have bookings. Everything has to be finished and it has to be perfect. Even if the builders and interior designers have to work day and night to get it finished. Now, was there something I could do for you?”

  “We want to speak to you about the investigation,” Mitch replies. “Can we talk in the office?”

  I notice he doesn’t ask if the manager has time for us, Mitch simply expects him to make time to talk to us.

  “Excuse me! Can I get some help here please?” a voice cuts in.

  We turn around to see a man make his way to the reception desk looking as though he hasn’t slept much.

  “I need better pillows for my bed,” he explains to the female who has just appeared in reception, summoned by his call. “The ones I have are like sleeping with my head on a rock. I need soft pillows, ones with real feathers in them.”

  “Yes, sir, I’ll get housekeeping to sort that for you immediately,” the receptionist replies as she makes a note on a desk pad.

  “Thank you,” the man says, heading off towards the dining room.

  And that’s when I see his face. I look to Esme and she gives me the slightest of nods to acknowledge she recognises him too. It’s the guy who was making out in the car park last night with the woman who worked at the hotel.

  “I thought you were closed to guests,” I say to the manager, wondering who the man is.

  For just a second there’s a flash of irritation in his eyes, then it’s gone, replaced by a professional smile. “We are, but that gentleman insisted we let him stay. He said he didn’t mind putting up with the renovation work,” Gerald responds. “Why don’t we all go into the lounge? We can talk more privately in there.”

  We follow him through to the elegant room and Esme and I take a seat on a sofa.

  “Can I order you all coffee?” he asks, ever the host.

  “No, thanks,” Mitch replies, remaining standing, as though he’s eager to get away and crack on with the case. “What was your impression of the bride and groom?”

  Gerald frowns. “Impression?”

  “Yes, what did you make of them?” Mitch asks. “You must see loads of people, lots of guests, staying here, planning parties and weddings at the Roseby. Many of them are celebrities, so you must be used to their particular demands. So, what did you think of Poppy and Taylor?”

  “They seemed,” the manager pauses, as though searching for the right word. “Subdued. For a young couple on the verge of marriage they didn’t seem very excited or happy.”

  “The groom mentioned they were a bit stressed out with the wedding. You know, finalising all the little details,” Esme says. “Was it that, or something else, which had them subdued, do you think?”

  “I have no idea,” Gerald replies, fiddling with the sleeve of his jumper. “I just didn’t get the impression they were a couple deliriously in love, that’s all.”

  “But why else would they marry?” I ask.

  “Was she pregnant? It could have been a shotgun wedding,” Mitch says, his eyes lighting up as though he might finally have found a crumb of evidence which could lead us down the path of solving the case.

  “Perhaps the groom is really in love with Lottie, who he’s having a fling with, but he was marrying Poppy out of obligation,” Esme chimes in, her eyes shining with excitement. “He could have planned this whole thing. Got a friend to kidnap the bride, so the wedding has to be called off.”

  “That doesn’t help matters once the bride is found though,” I reason.

  “Maybe he never intended for the bride to be found,” Mitch replies, giving me a look of superiority.

  “Is there anywhere on the hotel property that the kidnapper might be hiding Poppy?” I ask the hotel manager; wanting to be sure we haven’t missed anything. “Are there many outbuildings? Do you have a boathouse down by the lake? We didn’t see one yesterday, but it could be around the other side of the hotel grounds.”

  “There are some outbuildings up the track at the back of the hotel, hidden amongst the trees. We use them for storage mainly. We don’t have a boathouse here. It’s something we’re looking into building. There are garages for our guests’ cars though. I’ll call Billy, who is the valet; he’ll take you round there so you can inspect them.”

  Little does he know we have already inspected them extremely thoroughly, but we can hardly say that to him, can we?

  He glances at his watch. “Is there anything else?”

  “Yes, there’s a battered old boat moored up on the hotel jetty. Do you know who owns it?” I ask him.

  “I think it belongs to one of the builders,” he replies. “Usually we wouldn’t allow something like that to be on our moorings on the lake but, as we’re closed to guests at the moment, I thought it would be fine to let him use the boat jetty.”

  “Which builder?” Mitch immediately steps in and asks.

  The manager shrugs. “I have no idea. Look, I’m sorry, I really need to get back to the interior designers and sort a few issues out. I’ll ask Billy to take you round to the spa, where the builders are working at the moment, once he’s shown you around the garages. You can speak to the men and see who owns the boat.”

  “Thanks,” I say, offering him a smile. The hotel manager really does look stressed out. Poor guy. “You’ve been a great help.”

  Beside me Mitch snorts his disapproval as Gerald disappears to summon Billy. I guess he doesn’t think the manager has been much help then. Oh well, I’m all for being polite in these matters. A kind word and a smile can work wonders when you need people’s co-operation.

  A man who looks to be in his early twenties appears. “I’m Billy. The boss says you want to see the garages and then talk to the builders over in the spa.”

  “That’s right,” I say. “Sorry to inconvenience you.”

  He flashes me a smile and a cheeky wink. “No trouble at all. Follow me.”

  Billy uses a key fob remote to open the garage doors as we approach them. “Of course, it’s usually full of top of the range vehicles,” he says proudly. “But with the hotel closed this week the ones in here are mostly just the cars for your er…” He falters and I get the feeling he’s looking for the right word to describe our fake case and investigation.

  “And what about the other cars in here?” I ask, playing along. Then I spot it. In addition to the twenty or so vehicles we are already on far too familiar terms with, there’s a new car which wasn’t here last night. It’s a shiny green BMW and is parked off to one side, partly hidden. Wasn’t the vehicle the couple were making out against in the car park last night a BMW? Is this the same one? Was it left in the main car park last night and then the valet service fetched it and parked it in the hotel garage?

  “I believe they all belong to staff members or people working on the renovations. Is there anything else?” Billy asks, looking keen to get back to his work. “Only I’m a bit busy with helping out on the re
furbishments at the minute.”

  I meet Mitch’s gaze and incline my head towards the BMW, trying to draw his attention to it. He gives me the slightest of nods to indicate he’s registered its presence too.

  “I think the manager wanted you to show us to the spa area,” Esme replies. “We need to talk to somebody there, one of the builders.”

  Following Billy round to the spa building I can see why the manager was so stressed earlier. It looks even more of a mess in the daylight than it did last night. This is about as far from a relaxing haven as you can get - loud, chaotic and headache-inducing would be a more apt description. Men in hard hats are scurrying everywhere carrying various tools and equipment.

  “Looking for anyone in particular?” Billy asks, as we all stand just inside the entrance and survey the activity around us.

  “The man who owns the old blue boat moored on the hotel jetty,” Mitch answers. “Know which one that is?”

  “Sorry, no, I don’t,” Billy says with a disinterested shrug. “Want me to go and ask them all?” he asks, without a hint of enthusiasm.

  “No, it’s OK, thanks, we’ll take things from here,” Esme says, heading off in the direction of a group of five young and rather handsome builders, with a determined expression on her face. I get the feeling she’s going to enjoy interrogating them.

  “So who owns the boat?” she yells as soon she gets a foot away from the men who are all watching her with interest. “The blue one which looks as though it’s about to sink.”

  Several of the men laugh and nudge at the oldest looking male. I’d guess he’s probably in his early thirties with a weather beaten face, a big friendly smile and several days’ worth of stubble on his chin. “That would be Lee,” one of the men says.

  The man I presume to be Lee steps away from the group and tips his hardhat forward slightly in a gentlemanly gesture of greeting to Esme. “I’m the one who owns the boat. Want me to take you out for a spin on the lake in her?”

  The men all snicker but Esme just beams a smile at Lee. For a moment, I think she might be tempted and about to say yes. I also have the distinct impression it has nothing whatsoever to do with helping us further this investigation.

  “Maybe some other time,” Esme finally says with an encouraging smile, and Lee nods.

  “So why the interest in Charlie?” Lee asks, leaning against a half built brick pillar.

  At the mention of that name my mind instantly flicks towards my Charlie. I haven’t heard from him today. I assume he’s still around, probably staying out of the way at the bed and breakfast, until my assignment is finished. Hopefully he won’t have been sent off on another mission by the agency yet. Fingers crossed.

  “That’s the name of your boat?” I ask, stepping forward and forcing my mind back to the matter at hand, instead of thinking about a wonderful romantic tryst with Charlie when all of this is over. Even if we do manage to solve this case in time, there’s still no guarantee the agency will offer me a job straight away. It could take the powers that be a day or so to assess things, look over my training record from these past few months and talk to James in his role as my mentor and trainer. That would give me a little time to spend with Charlie before I get the news and we end up either celebrating or commiserating.

  Lee nods. “Yeah, the Lady Charlotte is her formal name but I call her Charlie.”

  Esme is staring at him, grinning from ear to ear, like a loon.

  “We just thought it was odd to have such a wreck outside a five star hotel,” Mitch says, walking over to stand very close to Esme. “Figured it was out of place, so we needed to ascertain it wasn’t relevant to our case.”

  The builder looks confused. “Case? What case? Don’t know what you’re on about, mate.”

  “Why am I not surprised by that statement,” Mitch replies surprisingly bitchily.

  That’s odd. Why does he feel the need to try and play the superior male card with Lee? Why does he want to be all macho and… A thought pops into my head. Is he doing this to warn Lee off Esme? Does that mean Mitch fancies Esme? Really? Wow. I did not see that one coming. They seem to be shooting daggers at each other most of the time and bickering, but maybe that’s their way of flirting. I’d never met either of them before yesterday, so I have no idea what they’re like when it comes to attraction and relationships. Later, when this case is solved, I’ll get Esme on her own and quiz her about Mitch.

  “Come on, Esme, let’s get out of here. The boat has got nothing to do with the case, so we’re wasting time talking to these lowlifes,” Mitch says as he grabs her arm and she shakes him off.

  I hold my breath, expecting some kind of retaliation from Lee and the others, but they all just laugh good-naturedly. Lee pulls a pencil from behind his ear and scribbles something on a scrap of paper, handing it to Esme. “Give me a call some time, huh?”

  Esme nods enthusiastically as Mitch puts a hand on her shoulder and tries to steer her away from Lee and towards the door. “She’s got better things to do,” Mitch retorts.

  “So what now?” I say as we walk along in the pale autumn sunshine.

  “Let’s go and check Poppy’s bedroom again,” Mitch says. “We might have missed something before. Then we can call David’s family to see if there’s anything with him that’s significant. He might be out of the country, over in Spain, but I suppose that doesn’t mean he couldn’t have arranged for somebody to kidnap Poppy on his behalf, trying to stop the wedding because he wants to win her back. We need to keep our minds open. We still need to speak to that bridesmaid Lottie too.”

  “Funny that,” Esme says. “We’ve got a bridesmaid called Lottie and a boat called the Lady Charlotte. Lottie is short for Charlotte, right?”

  “Yes, really funny. Look, let’s get serious, people. There has to be a clue around here somewhere to point us in the right direction for the next bit of this investigation,” Mitch says. He gives Esme an annoyed look. “That’s if you’ve quite finished eyeing up that builder guy.”

  “Well, he was sexy,” she says, throwing a smile and a wink in my direction.

  Was all of that thing with Lee just to wind Mitch up? If so, is it only because Esme likes annoying Mitch or is there more to it than that? A couple of times I’ve thought I’ve caught one of them sneakily looking at the other. Is there chemistry between them? Does she actually like him underneath all of the name calling? I think back to last night when Esme and I spied on Mitch down at the hotel’s marina. Did he secretly like it when she put him in an arm lock? Did she do it as some kind of weird flirting? Did her actions change his opinion of her?

  My phone buzzes into life and I pull it from my coat pocket. Charlie’s name is on the caller ID. I hold back from the other two as they scurry towards the hotel. “I just need to take this call,” I shout by way of explanation.

  “Don’t be long,” Mitch instructs with a scowl.

  “Hi!” I say. “I was just thinking about you.”

  “In a good way I hope,” Charlie says on the other end of the phone. “Look, I owe you an apology. I shouldn’t have found out where your assignment was and come barging up here interrupting things for you. Like I said, I just missed you.”

  I smile to myself. “I know. I miss you too.”

  “I promise I am not going to interfere in any way whatsoever,” he says. “And I’ve made sure that the agency guys know it was all my idea, and that I’m staying away from you throughout the duration of this assignment. OK?”

  “OK, thanks.” Inside I sigh with relief. “So what are you up to today?”

  “I’m about to go fishing.”

  I almost choke on a laugh. “Fishing? I didn’t know you even liked fishing.”

  “Never done it before but I’ve got some time to kill and they say the lake is a fantastic spot. You can catch all sorts out there, amongst the little islands dotted about. The fish love it apparently. So, I thought I’d give it a try. I’ve hired a boat and all the kit and I’m good to go.”


  “That sounds like fun. A part of me wishes I could go with you but this…”

  “I know,” he interrupts. “This assignment is important to you, and to me as well. We’ll get to see so much more of each other if you’re working for the agency too. Look, you get on with solving the kidnapped bride case, and when it’s all done and sorted we’ll have some quality time together. You could even try a spot of fishing yourself, see what you can catch. Take care. Speak to you soon.”

  I march off towards the hotel as I slip my phone into my pocket. I need to get my head back into the allotted task and focus. Fast.

  I do miss Charlie though.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Time now: 13:00

  Time to deadline: 5 hours

  I race around the side of the hotel hoping to catch up with Esme and Mitch but they’re nowhere to be seen. I pause at the main entrance as something catches my eye. Something is glinting in the sun and sparkling at me. I take a few steps across the lawn so the angle of the sun on the object changes. Now, I can see it’s just a part of the mast and rigging on one of the smarter boats moored down on the hotel dock which is catching the light. Turning, I head inside in search of the others, so we can crack on with the investigation. The front door is, for once, open and I dash inside to find Mitch and Esme with the bridesmaids Lottie and Connie in the dining room. I notice Taylor is now nowhere to be seen. Is he avoiding Lottie now that we know the two of them are involved or is he just keeping a low profile for some reason? A member of the hotel’s staff is tidying up in the background as I walk over to join the party. Sitting down I notice Lottie’s red-rimmed eyes and the uneaten food on the plate in front of her. Have she and Taylor fallen out?

  “I still can’t believe someone kidnapped Poppy. It’s all so terribly dreadful,” Lottie is saying, her fingers fiddling with the button on her top. “Is there any news yet? Please, tell me there’s some good news. I feel so helpless. If there’s anything I can do, just say the word. I want Poppy back safe and sound. She must be scared out of her mind, wherever she is.”

  “Could you give us some privacy please?” Mitch says to the girl from the hotel who is tidying chairs and looking as though she’d quite like to stick around and eavesdrop.