The True Love Travels Series Box Set

by Poppy Pennington-Smith

  By the time he ventured downstairs a few hours later, the sun had set and it was dark outside. Rachel was sitting on the couch with her legs tucked up beneath her, eating an apple. When she smiled at him, his stomach lurched.

  He may not have told her everything about himself or his past, but he’d never lied to her. Everything he’d said was honest, truthful. And now a clot of uneasiness was settling in his throat.

  “Any news?” she asked casually, clearly not expecting there to be any. In the beginning, she’d asked him that question and waited with wide, anxious eyes for him to answer. Lately, it was as if she didn’t really mind what the answer was.

  Max lingered at the foot of the stairs. “Same as usual, I’m afraid.” And there it was – the lie.

  Rachel shrugged and then frowned at her apple. “What shall we eat tonight?” She looked up at him and paused. “I half wondered…”

  Max felt himself smile. The tone of her voice said she was up to something. “Mm hmm?”

  “There’s a fish and chip shop in the village. It’s been so long since I had a take-away and being so close to the sea it’s bound to be good.”

  “You looked that up with your fancy internet machine?”

  “I did.”

  Normally, Max would have said no and that they should stay close to the cottage. But now, even though Rachel didn’t know it yet, the danger was over. Her stalker had been caught. So, there was absolutely no reason why they couldn’t go out and fetch food. “All right.”

  Rachel almost did a double-take. “All right? Really?”

  Max nodded. “I’ll fetch our coats.”

  As they drove down the dark winding road to the seaside hamlet of Karefilley, Rachel turned up the radio and grinned. “This feels very exciting. Don’t you think?”

  Max smiled thinly. He was finding it hard to ignore the voice in his head that was screaming, Liar! Liar! Liar! every time he looked at her.

  “You okay?” Rachel turned the radio back down. Her forehead had crinkled into a concerned frown and she was watching him closely. “Nervous about mixing with real people?”

  “Nervous? No. It’ll be fine.”

  “I’ll wait in the truck, Max. I promise.”

  Max chuckled and shook his head at her. “That wasn’t what I…” He breathed in and bit the inside of his cheek. “Sorry. I’m preoccupied. But it’s nothing to worry about.”

  In the distance, small twinkling lights suggested they were close to the harbour. Max slowed as they entered the village, winding through tiny streets until they were near the water. Behind a row of old fishing boats, a queue of people were lined up in front of a small fish and chip shop.

  Max got out of the truck and Rachel waved at him to indicate that she was staying put. As he walked towards the villagers, they turned and their chatter stopped. Max nodded and raised his hand. “Evening.”

  He slid into the queue behind an elderly man in a knitted hat and thick padded coat. The man glanced at the truck, then said in a deep croaky voice, “You the couple staying up at the old Craig place?”

  Max nodded curtly. “That’s us.”

  “Been up there a while. First time we’ve seen you.”

  “We heard you do great fish and chips.” Max tried to smile and shrug off his detective-aura.

  “Aye. We do.” The man nodded gruffly, then turned away.

  Max shoved his hands into his pockets and waited for the queue to move. It diminished quickly, and within fifteen minutes Max was returning to the truck with two bundles of fish and chips, wrapped the old-fashioned way – in newspaper.

  When he opened the truck door, Rachel grinned and rubbed her hands together. “Oh, they smell amazing. We’ll have to warm them up when we get back though.” She reached out to take the bundles from Max but he paused. “You forget the ketchup?” she asked, tilting her head at him.

  Max looked past the truck at the harbour. The water was still, and the stars’ reflections were twinkling on its surface. “Let’s eat here,” he said, holding out his arm to help Rachel down from the passenger seat.

  She landed softly in front of him. “Here? In the open?”

  “Yes.” Max didn’t offer an explanation, just met her eyes and smiled. “The wall over there looks comfy.”

  As they walked towards the small flint wall that enclosed the harbour, Rachel chuckled to herself. When Max looked at her, she shook her head at him and said, “Max Bernstein, I do believe my bad influence is rubbing off on you.”

  Max opened his mouth to reply but then, without asking, Rachel looped her arm through his and nudged him gently with her elbow. “I like it,” she said softly. “I like it a lot.”

  27

  Rachel

  For an entire, glorious hour, they sat on a wall eating fish and chips and looking out at the water. Rachel swung her legs gently in front of her, tapping her heels against the flint, and she caught Max occasionally doing the same.

  Something was different about him this evening, and she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Earlier, she’d been convinced he was panicking about what they had said to one another. Now, he seemed more relaxed, but pensive – as if there was something going on in his head that he didn’t want to share with her. Maybe it had dawned on him that they were living with a ticking clock, that – presumably – soon they’d head back to London and things would change; maybe that was why he’d suggested eating out under the stars.

  Rachel wanted to tell him not to worry. She wanted to tell him that – actually – she’d started to dread the day Tyler would call and tell them it was safe to return to London, and that she wasn’t sure how she’d cope when they went back to living in their separate apartments. But she didn’t because it sounded crazy and would probably make him pack his bags and flee Scotland as quickly as possible.

  An icy breeze had started to blow across the harbour and Rachel found herself shuffling closer to Max. She wished he’d put his arm around her but knew he wouldn’t. “I guess we should get going,” she said softly. “Brandi will be wondering where we are.”

  Max nodded. He’d saved some scraps of batter, some fish, and a couple of chips. Rachel added her leftovers to the pile and he wrapped them back up in the newspaper. “She’ll be one happy girl when she smells this,” he said, tucking the folded package into his pocket and swinging his legs back over to the road side of the wall.

  They were walking back to the truck and Rachel was contemplating saying, Max, seriously, is everything okay? when they heard shouts from the road above the chip shop. It was a woman’s voice. “Hannah? Has anyone seen Hannah?”

  A few others, who’d been gathered nearby eating their food, started to move towards the noise and as the woman appeared from behind a large stone wall, they could see that she had a crowd of people behind her.

  The old man who’d spoken to Max was the first to rush over to her. “Dad,” the woman cried. “It’s Hannah. She’s missing.” The old man looked past his daughter to the gaggle of followers, who all started talking at once.

  Beside Rachel, Max started to move towards the crowd, but she reached out to tug on his sleeve. “Max?”

  “Let me just see what’s going on.”

  Rachel followed a few paces behind as Max strode over to the old man and his daughter. Gently, he placed his hand on the man’s shoulder. “Sir? Can I be of any help?”

  The man frowned at him and looked like he was about to tell him to mind his own business, but Max added, “I was a police officer in London.” He reached into his pocket and produced some I.D. that Rachel hadn’t seen before. “I’m now in private security, but maybe I can…”

  “Yes…” The woman who’d been shouting grabbed Max’s hands. “Please. My daughter is missing. She’s only six years old and it’s freezing out…”

  The crowd that had gathered behind the woman was still chattering loudly, adding things like, We’ve looked everywhere, and, Call the police, what can this guy do?

  Rachel saw Max bre
athe in slowly then, without letting go of the woman’s hands, he looked up and said loudly, “Please. Everyone. Quiet.”

  Something about his voice made the crowd hush and he nodded. “Thank you.” He looked back to the woman and asked, “Ma’am. Can I ask your name?”

  “Catherine, Catherine Dean.”

  “Okay, Catherine, when was the last time you saw your daughter?”

  “She was out playing with friends. She was supposed to be back at four. They’d been riding their bikes and they said she went off on her own in the woods. She saw a deer and she followed it.” Catherine’s voice trembled, and she let out a loud sob. “She’s been watching Bambi, she loves it, she probably…”

  “All right,” Max nodded slowly. “And have you searched the wood?”

  “We tried.” A man beside Catherine stepped forward. “We went to where the kids were playing but the woods are vast. It got dark. We didn’t want a crowd of people getting lost up there too.”

  “Very sensible.” Max put his hands on Catherine’s shoulders and said, “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to call the police…” Max looked up at the man who’d spoken and nodded at him. The man immediately took out his phone and started to dial. “And while we wait for them, I’m going to go fetch my dog. She’s an ex-police dog.” Max smiled warmly. “And she is brilliant at finding things.”

  Catherine’s eyes widened. Beside her, her father took off his hat and breathed out a loud, grateful sigh. “Really? You have a police dog with you?”

  “I do. She’s retired, but she’s still got a good nose on her. So, what I need you to do is go home and get something of Hannah’s. Something she’s worn recently would be great.” Max looked over his shoulder at Rachel. “Rach? Are the maps in the truck?”

  Shrugging off the surprise she felt hearing Max use her nickname, Rachel nodded and dashed back to the truck. When she returned with the maps, Max offered them to Catherine. “Can you show me where Hannah was last seen?”

  Catherine sifted through and picked the map of the village. The woods were shown on the outskirts, out towards the castle. “Here,” she said, pressing down her index finger. “That’s where they were.”

  “Okay.” Max squinted at the map and nodded as he memorised the location. “I’ll fetch my dog and I’ll meet you there.” Then, raising his head and speaking loudly to the crowd, he said, “Folks, I know you want to help but it’s actually very important that we don’t have too many people stomping around while the dog’s trying to work. The best thing you can do is wait here for news and keep an eye out in case the little girl returns.”

  “What can I do?” Catherine’s father took Max’s elbow and met his eyes. “I need to help.”

  “You can fetch blankets and hot water bottles for when we find her. And I’ll need a really good flashlight.”

  The man nodded, clearly relieved to have been given a purpose. “Yes, sir. Thank you.”

  Driving back towards the cottage, Rachel reached out and put her hand on Max’s knee. It startled him, and he looked down as if he couldn’t quite figure out the sensation that had made him jump. She thought he might make her move it, but he didn’t. Instead, he put his hand on top of hers and squeezed her fingers.

  “Are you all right?” Rachel was watching him carefully. He’d been decisive, calm, and confident back at the harbour but now his complexion was grey around the edges and he was drumming his fingers nervously on the steering wheel.

  “I’m all right.”

  “It’s pretty cold out there,” Rachel said quietly.

  “It is. Especially for a little girl.”

  Rachel swallowed hard and chewed the corner of her lip. “You do think that she just ran off, though? I mean... there’s no sign that it’s anything other than that? Right?”

  Max shifted in his seat and straightened his shoulders. “Right now, yes.”

  “But what you said about not wanting people up there because it would disturb Brandi, that was...” Rachel trailed off. She didn’t need to finish. They both knew that Max was trying to keep the scene as clean as possible in case the police needed to try to find evidence of... Rachel shook her head and closed her eyes tightly. Max would find the little girl. Max and Brandi would find her.

  28

  Max

  When Max entered the cottage, he leaned back on the door and took a long, slow breath. Brandi had trotted into the hallway and now sat down in front of him. She tilted her head and reached out to paw at his leg. Max looked down at her. Memories from the last few weeks of his career as a detective were swarming inside his brain and he was having to use every fibre of strength he possessed not to allow them to paralyse him.

  “Brandi, girl. We have a job to do. You up for it?” He reached for Brandi’s lead and clipped it onto her collar. She wagged her tail. “Okay. Let’s go.”

  In the truck, Brandi sat on the back seat with her ears pricked up. Usually when they drove, she would grin excitedly, and her tongue would flop out of the side of her mouth. But tonight, she knew something was different. She knew something was going on; she had flipped into work-mode and was sitting stock-still. Watching. Waiting to be told what to do.

  Beside him, Rachel looked nervous. He should have stopped her from putting her hand on his leg, but her touch had grounded him, steadied him, helped him think straight. So, he’d allowed it to stay there and, now, he reached for her again and squeezed her hand.

  “It’s going to be okay,” he said, unsure whether he was saying this for Rachel’s benefit or his own.

  “Of course it is,” she replied.

  Pulling up to the copse of trees that Catherine Dean had showed him on the map, Max was relieved to see that the villagers had followed his instructions. There were just three people waiting – Catherine, her father, and the man who’d called the police. They were each holding a large flashlight and when Max walked towards them, Catherine’s father handed him one of his own.

  When Catherine saw Brandi, she visibly breathed a sigh of relief and Max knew why; Brandi was every inch the police dog. She was strong, steady, and right now she was hyper-alert.

  “Do you have something of Hannah’s?”

  Catherine nodded and handed Max a small pink cardigan. “She was wearing it all day yesterday. I didn’t wash it yet.”

  “Perfect. That’s perfect.” Max glanced towards the trees. “The kids were playing over there?”

  “I can show you where they last saw her?” Catherine asked.

  “Yes. Please.”

  Before walking towards the woods, Max turned to Rachel and leaned in close. “I don’t know how long this will take. We don’t know how far Hannah went, and Brandi hasn’t done this for a while.” He stepped back and met her eyes. “Stay with the family? Call me if there’s any news from this end?”

  Rachel nodded and reached out to squeeze Max’s elbow. “And you’ll call if you need help?”

  “I will.”

  Catherine Dean and her father walked Max to the edge of a small clearing just inside the wood. A well-beaten path led up to it and Hannah’s bike still lay beside a cluster of bushes. Catherine pointed at it. “She went that way, after the deer.”

  Max nodded, then took the cardigan from his pocket and bent down. He held it to Brandi’s nose then dropped it to the floor. Instantly, Brandi’s nose was all over it, breathing it in, sniffing every millimetre of fabric.

  Catherine gripped her father’s arm.

  “Okay, you two. You know the way back?” Max gestured back down the path. “I’ll call you when we find Hannah.”

  He waited for them to leave before unclipping Brandi’s lead. She stood in front of him, quivering with anticipation. “Okay, girl. Find Hannah.”

  Half an hour after starting their search, Max was beginning to panic. Brandi had gone round and round in circles several times and Max could feel the anxiety building in his chest. Then suddenly, they broke out of the woods and onto the cliff top. Swathes of darkness st
retched out in front of them and, in the distance, the moon lit up the old tumbledown castle that he and Rachel had walked to so many times.

  Max sighed and steadied himself on a nearby tree. Brandi was wagging her tail and staring at the castle. Max swallowed hard, biting back a clot of emotion that had formed in his throat. It was unfair of him to expect Brandi to be able to do this. She was out of practise and he wasn’t Frank. He didn’t know how to read her or help her do her job.

  Brandi barked and looked up at him.

  “Okay.” Max took a deep breath. There was no way Hannah would have run across such a large expanse of grassland. But he’d promised he would look for her. So, he said, “Let’s go,” and followed Brandi through the long, damp grass.

  They were almost at the castle when Max felt a drop of water land on his forehead. He looked up. The stars were disappearing behind rain clouds. He thought about turning back but Brandi barked again, so he kept going.

  When they reached the tumbledown outer wall, Brandi stopped, sniffed the air, then put her nose to the ground. She began circling, round and round. And then she ran. Losing sight of her, Max lifted up his flashlight and ran forwards. He could hear her barking, but the rain was heavier now and it was distorting the sound. Panting and wiping water from his face, he rounded a corner and stopped in his tracks. Brandi was standing beside something. Max inched closer and bobbed down. “Hannah?” He reached out and smiled softly. The little girl lifted her head. She was crying and she looked half-frozen. But she was okay. Max breathed out a long, whoosh of a sigh and took off his jacket. Wrapping it around Hannah’s shoulders, he smiled again. “Hannah, it’s okay. Your mummy asked me to come find you. My name is Max and I’m a policeman.”