by Rebecca King
“Do you know something?” Angus asked of Oliver who hurried to catch up. “For a small village, there are a heck of a lot of people sneaking around, don’t you think?”
Oliver snorted. “There are a lot of people not doing what they are supposed to do.”
Angus’s look was sharp because he suspected Oliver wasn’t just talking about the locals.
“My private life is private,” Angus snapped.
“Not when it involves an investigation it isn’t,” Oliver growled. “Just keep her out of the way for God’s sake. You are closest to her. It should be easy enough to do. Bed her if you have to, just get her out of the damned way before she ends up being snatched.”
Angus lifted his brows at his colleague, but Oliver was already stalking back toward the house. He wasn’t at all sure what to think. Oliver was the one person he expected to warn him off Charity. The last thing Angus expected was for Oliver to suggest bedding her. While the masculine part of Angus had no objection to that possibility, the conscientious side couldn’t ruin her just to help his investigation. He wasn’t that kind of man. Besides, it would mean he would commit himself to a life he wasn’t altogether sure he would be happy with.
“Is it just me or is everything in this damned village strange?” he asked of Justin.
Justin grinned. “Take it from me, you have the look of a man who already knows his bachelorhood days are over but refuses to admit it out loud. Oliver sees it.”
Angus lifted his brows at him.
“We all do,” Justin shrugged.
Angus snorted. “If I had to stay in this damned village I would be just as unusual as the rest of them. You cannot condemn me to that. What kind of friend are you?”
“They are eccentric, but innocent enough,” Justin corrected. “You will get used to it.”
“Shoot me,” Angus grunted.
Justin grinned at him. “It can be arranged.”
Angus curled his lip but grinned back.
Strangely, Angus wanted to sweep Charity up, throw her onto the back of his horse, and ride the Hell out of the village so she stayed the way she was. It was a little disconcerting to realise that she was wayward, pretty, charming, and completely sensible in a strong-willed kind of way, even though she had lived in this eccentric little place in the middle of nowhere all her life.
“Look on the bright side, the kids won’t know any different, and will give you something to focus on except getting old,” Justin warned. “Take it from me, it isn’t all that bad. Besides, you get a wonderful, warm woman to climb into bed with every night you can manage to get home, and maybe a baby or two to bounce on your knee to stave off the boredom of domesticity.”
“You sound so accepting of it,” Angus murmured as he followed Justin across the field.
Justin laughed. “I cannot think of anything more horrifying than having a tiny little bundle of life to take care of, help raise, and mould into a human being. Babies don’t come with instructions. It’s a whole new adventure.”
“Do you have a little bundle of adventure on its way then?” Angus asked suspiciously.
Justin couldn’t withhold his grin. “Might have,” he smirked. “Might be the best damned thing to ever happen to me as well, besides the wife, of course.”
“I need to get out of here,” Angus muttered when he found himself contemplating a life like the one Justin had painted, and shockingly began to yearn for it to come into fruition. A baby with Charity? The mental image of it sprang instantly to life in the back of his mind, took root, and refused to leave.
“You can try, my friend,” Justin replied, clapping his friend on the shoulder companionably. “But it won’t do you any good. Take it from a man who has already been in your situation, and failed miserably to walk away, it is best to know when to give in and let life throw you an entirely different set of challenges. It doesn’t mean you are giving up a life of adventure. At least this new life would bring you richness. Life in the Star Elite is barren and will always have to be that way through the nature of the work we do. Remember that before you condemn yourself to an empty life full of nothing but war.”
The men fell silent as they entered the gloom beneath the shadows of the trees. They paused to listen and allow their eyes to adjust to the darkness. When they could see well enough, both men crept after the women.
“The path he has been taking is easy enough to see,” Charity whispered.
“These blackberries are delicious,” Monika mumbled around a mouthful of food.
Charity rolled her eyes. “Is that all you can think about?” she muttered.
Monika shrugged. “Well, they are.”
“I agree, but would you like to concentrate on why we are really here?” Charity left her friend to study the deliciously plump fruit in her basket and began to follow the path Mr Horvat’s nightly journey had worn into the littered forest floor.
“Well, how about that?” she murmured when she found herself staring at another narrow cart track. There was no break in the thicket on the opposite side in either direction.
“There is nothing here,” Monika muttered. “Do you want to go up or down it a bit and see if there is anything?”
“I don’t see the point, do you? Nobody can get through that bush. Look how thick it is. The woods look out over miles and miles of fields.” Charity sighed. She felt a little deflated at being thwarted so easily, especially given her determination to get some answers.
“It does point to one thing, though,” Monika murmured when they had turned around and were retracing their steps back along the path.
“What’s that?”
“He cannot be working alone.”
Charity stopped and frowned. She looked over her shoulder at her friend only to gasp when she saw a tall, dark figure standing mere feet away. Her eyes widened at just how silently he materialised out of the trees like a wraith. She hadn’t never realised just how dangerous the men from the Star Elite could be. She did now, though, and desperately tried to think of something she could say, or do, that would alleviate the sudden tension in the air.
“What is it?” Monika asked when she saw Charity’s disquiet. She gulped and slowly turned around. “Where did you come from?” she gasped. Being closer to the still and silent figure gave Monika the ability to see under the hood of the long cloak he wore. She knew instantly who it was and was therefore not as frightened as she should have been.
Charity, on the other hand, wasn’t as fortunate. Panic suffused her as she turned to face the path that would lead them home only to sense that the man behind Monika was not alone. To her dismay, she found herself staring into the cold, hard eyes of a clearly furious Angus.
“I thought you had left,” Charity murmured. A wild thrill of relief flooded through her, but it was short-lived because she sensed trouble was afoot.
Angus folded his arms. He was so mad that he didn’t trust himself to speak. He wanted to yell. He wanted to shake some sense into her. His fury was purely driven by his need to keep her safe, but she didn’t know that, especially given his struggle to find a way to tell her just how important she was to him.
When words failed him, Angus stepped off the path and silently waved the ladies down it. Together with Justin, they all began to make their way out of the woods. When the small group reached the edge of the village, Justin motioned to Monika to go back home and led her away from Angus and Charity. Charity, eager to put as much distance between her and the furious man beside her, hurried toward home.
Once they were inside, Angus slammed the back door closed. He was so coldly furious that even his voice shook beneath the force of his temper.
“Do you want to tell me what the Hell you are doing?” he demanded.
“I was picking blackberries with Monika,” Charity replied defiantly. “Why do you think I have to explain myself to you?”
“Because you keep sticking your nose into our bloody investigation, that’s why,” Angus snapped.
“
I was picking blackberries,” Charity argued, her voice rising.
“You were following the path Horvat takes every night and you and I both know it,” Angus retorted, pointing one long finger at her. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I am not lying,” Charity snapped, affronted at the notion, even though she knew she wasn’t being entirely honest.
“You are sticking your nose into my job. Do you realise how dangerous that is? Why don’t you believe that you could be snatched just as easily as those other young women were?” Angus shouted.
“I wasn’t out there alone,” Charity replied, her voice clipped. “I went with Monika.”
“Oh, that’s all right then. I am sure if she ran into the same man who accosted me the other night she will fair much better because she is a female. I am sure the blackguard will pull his punches, and maybe not conch her over the head so hard,” he snarled sarcastically.
Charity blanched and blinked away hot salty tears. “Why are you being so mean?” she whispered tearfully.
Angus hardened his heart against the sight of her distress and hid behind his temper. “I am trying to keep you safe,” he bellowed.
“By leaving!” Charity shouted back. “That’s really keeping me safe, isn’t it? First you go parading around the village with me, making it clear that we have an acquaintance. You make yourself know to the assailant and then just up sticks and leave without even a ‘thank you for letting me use your house’.”
“I am still here,” Angus yelled. “We are not done yet. We are still working on an ongoing investigation. Why can’t you just accept that we know a bit more about the work we do than you?”
“I do,” Charity retorted.
“Do you? Because you don’t seem to bloody well accept that I might have a bit more knowledge about the dangers in this case than you? Why will you not do as you are told? Do you really want to get yourself kidnapped?” Again, his voice rose with the force of his frustration.
“Of course, I don’t. What kind of stupid question is that?” Charity scoffed.
“Well, you seem to think you are an authority in everything, Charity, including the Star Elite’s investigation. You seem to think you know what we are doing, why we are doing it, and that you have some sort of exclusion from being hurt, or snatched,” Angus shouted.
“No, I do not. I just do not see why I should curb my life. Nothing has happened to me thus far. The ladies are just down the street, everyone watches me because they know I live alone and have done for years. You don’t understand Angus. I was one and twenty when my father passed away and left me all alone in this house. He has left me with a stipend, but I still have to live my life alone. The villagers know that I have had to fend for myself and while they couldn’t provide me with a roof over my head, they all have kept watch over me over the years. Mr Mainworthy, the local farmer, always makes sure my wood store is loaded in the winter. Mrs Pickering always asks if I need anything from town whenever she goes in, and I reciprocate. I have the ladies, who are always checking on me every day.”
Angus was already shaking his head. “Can I remind you that Mrs Vernon lives right next door,” he hissed. His voice when he next spoke was so loud that it echoed around the cold and empty house. “Where in the Hell is she?”
Charity tipped her chin up in defiance but could do nothing about the wobble in her voice when she spoke. “That’s your job to find out. You are the Star Elite, aren’t you? It strikes me that you are spending a lot of time sitting about watching people, but I don’t see you searching those woods, or going anywhere near Mr Horvat’s house, or checking up on Mr Lawrence’s cousin, who is still living in the house by the way. You seem more inclined to want to tell me what to do all the time.”
“Does it not occur to you that I might care?” he countered.
“You don’t,” Charity argued. “You left without even saying ‘goodbye’. You are only here because of your job, you have told me enough times. It is important that you protect your reputation. That is why you are here. That is why you keep telling me what to do and warning me to stay safe. It would look bad if the woman whose house you have used disappears as well, wouldn’t it?”
“What else am I supposed to do? What do you expect from me? Am I to put my feet up in front of the fire and let you wander off at all times of the day and night to stupidly challenge the man who accosted me, aware that you are likely to get your head smashed off your shoulders? What am I supposed to do, merely shrug when you go missing and hope that one day your bones will be found? Tell me, Charity, what am I supposed to do?”
Angus suspected at some point during their confrontation they had strayed from an argument between investigator and inquisitive member of the public, to a considerably more personal disagreement between one very confused man and one shockingly headstrong young woman.
Angus sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. His professionalism was long gone, and he knew it. He couldn’t get his temper to ease off long enough for his emotions to settle down whenever he was around Charity, so couldn’t think logically anymore. He was so angry with her, so frightened for her wellbeing, that he was coldly furious, with her, with himself, with the kidnapper, with the whole damned Star Elite for putting him in this mess in the first place.
The only thing he could do was lean toward her until they were almost nose-to-nose.
“Do you not think that if I was only here to do my job I would have stepped away from this house and spent my time in the village out there?” he pointed to the window. “And let one of my friends take over in this house so I could keep my distance, and leave you and your loopy friends to risk your own stupid backsides?”
Charity blinked. “You left this morning,” she whispered.
“Because we have got to try to find Mrs Vernon. We cannot do that from here, can we? Does it not concern you that someone might have killed her in her own home? Does it not worry you that she might be out in those woods somewhere? Does it not occur to you that maybe, just maybe, you do not see the work we do because that is the way we work and manage to stay alive?” Again, Angus knew he was shouting but couldn’t find the strength to stop.
“You will stay out of my investigation. I swear to God, Charity, if you ever do anything else, ever, that puts you in the middle of my job, I will put you behind bars and sit on the key until the kidnapper is found and is no longer a threat to anybody. Do you understand me?” he hissed, his voice so low, cold and hard that Charity had no doubt he meant every word.
Despite his fury, Angus’s gaze dropped to her lips. The tension in the house suddenly thickened, but it had nothing to do with their distress. It was purely driven by a raw need neither of them dared acknowledge. Without saying a word, Angus bit out a blistering epithet and slammed out of the house.
Once she was alone, Charity slumped against the table. She pressed a fist to her lips to try to control her wail of misery. Tears streamed down her face unchecked. Now that she was alone there was no need to stem them. With each one that dripped off her cheek, a little part of her seeped away. Maybe it was the part that was full of girlish dreams, hopes, and wishes for the future – a life of domestic bliss with a handsome, roguish, strong and capable man like Angus. Drip by steady drip, each day she had envisaged she might have shared with Angus, and the happiness it would have brought her, came crashing down and vanished into nothing.
She knew then that when his work was done, his anger would force him to leave the village. He wouldn’t come back. Not now he had made his distaste for her ‘loopy’ friends known. Angus was biding his time, doing his job, getting annoyed that their paths kept crossing. She was starting to suspect that his determination to get her to stay away from his investigation was more to keep her away from him because he didn’t want to be attracted to her the way he was.
She had little doubt now that the closeness they had shared had happened purely because they had been two people, alone, in a tense situation. There was no other explanation for
it. Angus was certainly not the kind of person who would settle into her life, and she simply couldn’t contemplate sharing his world. He didn’t want her in it – it was as simple as that.
Quietly, Charity slid a chair out and slumped into it. Wrapping her arms tightly around her stomach, Charity succumbed to a kind of grief that felt frightfully like the devastation she had experienced when her father had died, and she had realised she had to spend the future alone. The misery of it, the fear, the solitude, the stark barrenness of the life that awaited her settled its heavy cloak over her shoulders and brought with it a misery that was suffocating.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Later that day, once Angus had eventually calmed down, he contemplated what Charity had said in the woods. He had been close enough to overhear her conversation with Monika. Reluctantly, he had to agree with her.
“Horvat is not going into the woods alone. He is meeting with someone. Someone who is using the cart route on the other side of the woods,” he murmured.
Oliver nodded. “I think we have to get someone into position to watch to see whom he meets tonight.”
“We have to put more than one man on this. Horvat is dangerous,” Angus warned.
“Where does that path go?” Justin asked. “I thought all roads in this village headed west and east?”
“They do. This track looks as though it leads into the fields. If so, Horvat is passing something important to someone who has gone to a lot of time and trouble to meet with him. Using this old farmer’s track won’t be an easy journey to make,” Oliver reasoned. “One thing is definite, I don’t think this has anything to do with either Lawrence, or his cousin.”
“Are they still at the house?” Jasper asked with a thoughtful frown. “I haven’t seen them for a day or two.”
“They are still there. God knows what they find to do inside that place all day every day. As far as I am aware, they haven’t left the property for a couple of days. There is still smoke coming from the chimney, so someone is still in the house,” Aaron warned.
