Forever Mine: A Fun and Flirty Romantic Mystery (Amber Reed Mystery Book 3)

by Zanna Mackenzie

  Conjuring up my totally rubbish acting abilities I swoon against Tom and he reaches to grab me. “Sorry, I came over all funny again,” I offer as I give him a weak smile.

  “Let’s get you downstairs and on the sofa so you get rest for a while shall we?”

  He helps me down the hall and the stairs.

  Behind us the balcony door is forgotten. And unlocked.

  I flop onto the sofa and rest my feet on the footstool. “Do you have any aspirin by any chance please? I have a splitting headache.”

  Tom heads for the stairs and I feel panic bubble up inside me. I keep a little bottle of painkilling ibuprofen in my kitchen drawer but judging by the fact he’s heading for the stairs it looks as though Tom keeps his in his bathroom cabinet. Typical. He can’t go upstairs or he might see Dan who I know will have been lurking somewhere ready to get inside as soon as he saw us leave the balcony.

  “Wait! What kind of painkillers do you have?”

  He gives me a funny look then shrugs. “Ibuprofen probably why?”

  “Oh, sorry but I can’t take those. They upset my stomach.” I make a big show of trying to get to my feet, sighing, clutching at the furniture and making pathetic whimpering noises. “Don’t worry. I saw a pharmacy across the street I might just be able walk over to the shop myself and get some aspirin.”

  I see a flash of concern in his eyes and take a step closer before stumbling and lurching towards him. I spend a millisecond praying he can actually be bothered to try and catch me and not just let me fall to the floor in a heap. Thankfully his instincts kick in and he does catch me, just managing to keep me on my feet.

  “So sorry,” I say as he helps me back to the sofa. “I hate it when I get like this.”

  He gets me seated, an array of cushions behind me and I reach for his arm, gently rubbing a hand up and down it. “Thank you. You’re such a sweetheart.”

  “Is there anything I can get you? A glass of water?” he asks as he sits on the footstool in front of me.

  I stop caressing his arm and move a hand to his jean-clad knee instead. Fixing what I hope is a sexy pleading smile on my face I say, “I hate to be a nuisance but could you just pop out to the pharmacy and get me some aspirin?”

  He frowns and I squeeze his knee a little more. Honestly, what happened to the age when men were gentleman and only too happy to come to the aid of a damsel in distress?

  “Please?” I add. “I’d really appreciate it.”

  He gets to his feet and picks up his jacket. “I’ll see what I can do. I’ll only be a minute. Don’t go anywhere OK?”

  Bingo.

  The door closes behind him with a click and I make a dash for the stairs. At the top I see the balcony door is closed. Is Dan inside and has closed it behind him or hasn’t he got up here yet? “Dan!” I whisper shout, even though Tom is thankfully out of the way now.

  One of the bedroom doors opens and Dan appears. “What are you doing? Where is he? You haven’t knocked him out with a frying pan or something have you?”

  I rush towards him. “Don’t be daft. I sent him to the pharmacy for some painkillers.”

  “Good thinking, thanks for getting him out of here. We don’t have long though. As you’re here you can search the two rooms on the left and I’ll take the right.”

  I pull on my gloves. I hate the agency gloves, they make my hands sticky and sweaty but we have to wear them to avoid leaving fingerprints when we do searches like this.

  Especially unofficial searches without a warrant. “What am I looking for? And why don’t we start downstairs first?”

  “You’re looking for anything that might link him with Amelia and the stalker. And we’re starting up here because most of the time people hide things in their bedrooms, not in the reception rooms where visitors are around more. Now, go and get searching.”

  I push open the nearest door and step inside. It looks as though this is Tom’s room. The wardrobe door is open and I can see jeans, suits, jumpers and ski gear inside. The bed is unmade and there’s a half-empty glass of something alcoholic on the bedside table along with a notepad and pen. I scoot over and read the pad. It looks like it’s just dates and times scribbled down. Appointments for ski lessons or mountain guide work maybe?

  “Found anything?” I jump and turn around. Dan is on the other side of the room, opening drawers and checking the contents.

  “I thought you were doing the other rooms,” I hiss.

  “I have, now I’m in here. This is his room right? OK.” He shuts a drawer and heads for the wardrobe. “Let’s check the back of here. Classic place to hide a safe.”

  I carry on with my own much slower search. There doesn’t appear to be anything suspicious. Not to me anyway. I glance at the clock beside the bed. Tom has been gone almost ten minutes already. How long will it take him to complete his errand and return?

  “Got you!”

  “What?” I jump a foot and then follow the sound of Dan’s voice to the wardrobe and peer inside. “Got what?”

  “A safe,” Dan replies.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Dan’s crouched down next to a stack of what look like shoe boxes and as I edge closer I can see he’s shoved most of them aside to reveal a metal safe.

  “Can you get inside it?” I ask. “We’re running out of time.”

  “I’m well aware of that. You keep a listen and watch for him using the bedroom across the hall. You can see the entrance to the building from there. I’m going to try and get into this as fast as I can.”

  I dash across the hall and into the bedroom to fulfil my keeping watch duties.

  My heart is beating a mile a minute but I focus on the job in hand, vigilantly scanning the street below for signs of Tom.

  The adrenaline surges in me and reminds me how much I’ve fallen in love with working for the agency. I used to enjoy being a barmaid and chatting with everyone as I served their drinks. I used to enjoy making up the horoscopes for the local newspaper in between my admin duties. But I LOVE being a support officer for the agency. Even if I’m not working with Charlie on this particular case.

  Charlie. The photo of him and Delilah pops back into my mind. I can’t let myself get distracted by all of that. I’m working and I need to keep watch. Be professional. I can’t imagine Charlie or Dan allowing themselves to get distracted when they’re in the middle of a case. Focus. I lean forward and check up and down the road again.

  And that’s when I spot Tom walking across the street.

  “Dan!” I turn and rush across the corridor. “He’s on his way back!”

  I hear Dan mutter something from the confines of the wardrobe.

  “You’ve got to get out of here now!” I hiss as I crouch down next to him.

  “I’m almost into the safe. I need just a few more minutes,” he replies, perfectly calm.

  Did he not hear me when I said Tom is moments away from returning?

  “We don’t have a few more minutes!” I say, trying to keep my own voice calm. “What if he catches you?”

  “He won’t! Just do me a favour and get back down the stairs and pretend like you’ve still got a headache or whatever you said.”

  “But what about you?”

  “I can take care of myself. Don’t worry about me. Just go downstairs. I’ll crack this safe, check out what he’s got to hide and then get out. I’ll send you a text as soon as I’m clear of the building then you can make a miraculous recovery and get out as well. If necessary you can look after yourself right? You’ve had agency self-defence training according to your records and, I imagine, Charlie’s taught you some stuff too. Right?”

  I nod even though he can’t see me. “Right.”

  “Good, now go. After I send you my text I’ll give you ten minutes to get out or I’ll knock on the door on some pretence and get you out that way.”

  I take the stairs two at a time and have only just flung myself on the sofa when I hear the key in the door. My heart is going a mile a minute b
ut I need to get my breathing under control otherwise he’ll be wondering what on earth I’ve been doing while he’s been out running my errands.

  Tom walks in with a small paper bag in his hand. “Feeling any better?”

  I sit up and brush hair out of my eyes. “Actually, I think I am.”

  “You don’t want these now then?” he asks, proffering the bag from the pharmacy.

  I can’t bring myself to say no. I’ve made the poor guy traipse out to the shop for me. “Yes, I will still take one. Thanks for fetching them for me. I really do appreciate it.”

  Come to think of it, I can actually feel a headache coming on now. Must be all of this tension. I can’t get out yet anyway because Dan is still upstairs.

  “Could I have a glass of water please? You know, to take the tablet with.”

  He goes to get the water and I think I hear a noise upstairs. Is that Dan making a getaway already? I hope so. Or maybe I’m just imagining things.

  “Here you go,” Tom says, passing me a glass and sitting down on the other end of the sofa. It seems he’s now deemed me too crazy to try and seduce and is keeping his distance instead.

  Thank goodness.

  “I’m so sorry for being a pain,” I say, flashing him a smile, swallowing a tablet and sipping the water. “I’m afraid I get these phases where I come over a bit funny. Dizzy spells you know. They can be triggered when I get too tired or emotional. Out here it could even be the altitude. I’m feeling much better now though.”

  He nods and eyes me wearily. “I’m glad to hear it.”

  My phone rings and I inwardly sigh with relief as I pull it from my pocket. Great. Hopefully Dan is out of here safely and I can grab my coat and get out too. Dan said he’d text but maybe he’s ringing to give me an escape call instead. Even better.

  I check my phone and see the call isn’t from Dan.

  It’s from Charlie.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  I’ve been waiting and hoping for a call from him. Desperate for him to explain what’s going on out in LA. At the same time I’ve also been dreading the call. What if he tells me something I really do not want to hear? What if the stuff in the papers isn’t all just a cover for the case but there’s an element of truth to it too?

  I stare at the phone.

  “Are you going to answer that?” Tom asks, giving me another funny look.

  “No,” I say. “It’s nothing urgent. So, I just remembered something. Before, when we were chatting about the night of the fire, you were telling me where you were when it all kicked off.”

  He frowns. “I was?”

  “Yeah, you were. You must have been so worried when you found out. You know, with you working for Amelia and getting on so well with each other.”

  “Er, yeah, I suppose. I heard the sirens and then got up to see what was going on.”

  “So you were here, at home?”

  “Yeah. I could tell the fire engines were heading out of the village in the direction of Amelia’s place but there are quite a few properties on that road so they could have been going to any one of those.”

  “So what did you do? Did you try and call Amelia? Try to go over there? I don’t recall seeing you there when we were all outside but, of course, it was all a bit chaotic.”

  “Er, I can’t remember what I did first. It was all a blur. I was half asleep and I had a bit of a hangover. Like I said, I wasn’t totally sure it was Amelia’s place that might be in trouble and didn’t want to try and ring her in the middle of the night and disturb her in case it wasn’t her chalet with problems.”

  “So you did what? Went back to bed? You were alone?”

  He shrugs. “Yeah. It was the morning before I found out what had happened.”

  My phone beeps and I see this time it is Dan telling me he’s out safely. I get to my feet. “Well, thanks for the chat but I should get going.”

  “I thought you wanted to talk about your skiing,” he says, following me to the door, looking puzzled.

  “Oh, yes, that’s right. Well, another time perhaps?” I make my escape and try to walk as calmly as possible back towards the café where I’m meeting up again with Dan.

  My senses are assaulted by the heady aroma of freshly ground coffee as I push open the door of the café. I spot Dan sitting at a table, two mugs and slices of cake in front of him on the table. He looks perfectly relaxed and at ease. I try to look the same as I bustle over and perch on the chair opposite him.

  “Everything OK?” he asks, picking up his hefty slice of chocolate cake and taking a bite.

  I nod, thoughts whirling through my head. Thoughts of Dan being caught trying to break into Tom’s safe. Thoughts of the phone call from Charlie I didn’t answer.

  “Did you find anything of interest in the safe?”

  “Oooh, yeah,” he says with a cheeky smile. “I think our Tom is looking more and more like our man.”

  I lean forward, ignoring my slice of cake. It looks delicious but recent events have made me lose my appetite. “What did you find?”

  “A substantial amount of cash.”

  “Could be payment from clients for his ski lessons. Maybe he puts it in there until he has chance to take it to the bank.”

  “Some of it could be, but not the amount of money that was in there. Not even if he’s stockpiling his earnings for the year and then taking it to the bank in one go. I also found some expensive jewellery. What would a single guy be doing with jewellery in his safe huh?”

  “Was it in boxes like the ones Amelia has been receiving?”

  “No. It was just in a velvet pouch.”

  “Wow! So Tom really could be the stalker. But why? He gets regular work from her for the chalet maintenance stuff. They were in the bar on the mountain together the other night which suggests they’re friends - if not more than that.”

  “I’m thinking he wants more than she’s prepared to offer. I’m not sure whether that equates to them being just friends but he wants a relationship or they’re already in a clandestine relationship and he wants her to ditch Ty and admit the two of them are involved. Go public with their involvement.”

  “So what happens now? We think we have motive for him to be the stalker. We know he has opportunity and we’ve found what looks like it could be evidence linking him to the stalker stuff in his safe. Do we arrest him or what?”

  Dan finishes his cake and looks at my own plate. “Are you going to eat that?”

  I push it towards him. “Help yourself. I need a custard slice.”

  “A custard slice?” He chuckles. “You’re surrounded by all of this amazing French patisserie and you want a custard slice. You’re one surprising woman, Amber Reed!”

  He flashes me a smile and sets to on my cake. I watch as he wolfs it down. It’s so unfair how men can eat cake like there’s no tomorrow and not put on an ounce while if a woman so much as looks at cake she seems to gain a few pounds. Dan looks extremely fit though so he must spend ages in the gym or something. I can see the bulging biceps through his jumper and he has broad shoulders which look like they could take on the troubles of the world. Maybe he goes running every day, like Charlie does.

  My phone, on the table so I can see it, remains silent. Charlie hasn’t tried to call back. Should I call him?

  The sound of a fork clattering onto a plate brings me back from thoughts of Charlie. Dan has finished the second piece of cake.

  “So, you haven’t answered my questions,” I say. “What happens next? Is the case solved?”

  “We need more than we’ve got. The stuff in his safe I found via, shall we say, unconventional means, so we need to do some more legitimate digging to see if we can find anything else linking him to the crime. I’m going to get the backup researchers at agency HQ on the case and have them check his financial stuff and find out if he has any previous convictions. Best if they do it as I’m not much of a computer whiz myself, more of a practical hands-on kind of guy.” He winks at me and picks up his coffee mu
g. “What about you? Are you a hands-on kind of girl?”

  I shake my head in mock disapproval. “You really need to work on your chat up lines, Mr Stone.”

  He lets out a hearty laugh. “How do you know that was a chat up line? You think I’m interested in you?”

  I feel my cheeks grow red with embarrassment. Daniel Stone could easily be a model, he has the perfect cheekbones, full lips, dark eyes and skin that look as though he has continental heritage. Team that with a confident swagger and a heart-melting smile, and you’ve got trouble. Big trouble.

  Basically he is stop-the-traffic gorgeous.

  I’ve been warned he’s a flirt and that’s all he’s doing, being himself and flirting. It doesn’t mean he’s coming on to me. Why on earth would somebody like Dan be interested in someone like me?

  I struggle to believe Charlie and I got together because Charlie is so sexy and smart and handsome. But Dan, well, he’s dangerous, a little edgy and so good-looking it almost takes your breath away. Dan is not interested in me. If there was a tiny bit of interest it would only be as a way of getting at Charlie, trying to entice me away from him. Nothing more.

  I look down and fiddle with my phone. Dan leans across the table and wraps my hands in his. They’re warm and I feel a tingle of something – panic perhaps? – shoot right through me.

  “Well, you’d be right,” he says in barely more than a whisper.

  What? WHAT?

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  My phone becomes fascinating and I focus on it, ignoring Dan’s thumb which is gently rubbing my wrist. Why haven’t I pulled my hand away from him? Why haven’t I got to my feet and walked away? There’s a whole jumble of thoughts and emotions going through my head.

  “You caught my attention that first time I met you at the film premiere. You had guts and intelligence and looked stunning in that dress. You used your head on that case and I find strong, smart and beautiful women very hard to resist. But I got the message loud and clear you were with Charlie. Now though…. with his quick departure…and the lack of communication…Those photos in the papers…He’d be a fool to trade you for another woman, but I wouldn’t put it past him. Have you heard from him yet?”