We stepped out of the doorway at Hever Castle to a woman screaming. Crap. I should have put it somewhere more private... like the toilet. Angelica swiftly put her hands on the woman’s shoulders and looked into her eyes. After a few seconds, Angelica dropped her hands, and the woman shook her head… quietly.
The stranger blinked. “Oh, I just had a dizzy spell. I think I need to sit down.”
Angelica adopted a sweet voice, one I never knew she possessed. “Oh, my dear. There’s a chair in the next room. I’m sure they won’t mind if you use it. Come with me.” As she led her away, she looked back at us and gave a nod.
Beren must have known what to do, because he turned to me. “Where is the exact spot they left from?” I stood next to the window overlooking the inner courtyard and stopped. “Here. I was standing there.” I pointed across the small room.
“Okay.” He put his hands on my shoulders and gently moved me a few steps away. “I need to see the magic, and your signature will get muddled into it if you’re standing right there.”
“Oh.” You learned something new every day. Although, these days, I was learning so many new somethings that my head was spinning. He mumbled a bit and swept his hand in a circle.
Angelica’s voice drifted in from the other room, probably trying to distract the woman so she didn’t come back in here so soon, not that Beren seemed to be doing much, although his behaviour—staring at a spot in front of a window—may have been considered odd.
While he worked, I stepped out into the corridor to see if anyone else was coming. A couple at the other end of the hall chatted while looking at a piece of paper one of them held—probably a castle map.
“Done.”
I went back into the study. “That was quick.” Colour me impressed.
Angelica appeared at the other doorway. “Let’s get going.” She walked past us and down the stairs. I snatched my and Olivia’s umbrellas out of the container and followed Angelica out the front door, across the courtyard, over the drawbridge, and towards the surrounding gardens. It was still raining, so I put my umbrella up and ran to catch Angelica.
“Here, Ma’am. You can use Olivia’s umbrella.”
She took it from me without stopping. “Thank you, dear.”
Beren looked at me as we hurried along. “Hey, no fair!”
“Wanna share?”
“Okay.”
Beren put his arm around me and took control of the umbrella, since he was taller. It was nice and cosy under there, but it was harder to walk fast squished together, and my arms and legs were getting wet because he was holding it up too high. This wasn’t working out very well, at least not for me. “Can I take it back?”
“Take what back,” he asked.
“My umbrella. I’m getting too wet.”
“But you’re keeping me warm, and I’m fairly dry.”
I rolled my eyes. “But you have more umbrella than me.”
He adjusted it slightly to my side. “Is that better?”
He wasn't giving up without a fight. I blew out a breath. “Yeah, whatever.”
Beren grinned. “That’s my girl.”
His girl? I hoped he meant that in a platonic way. I did like him—I mean, who wouldn’t? He was handsome, easygoing, funny, clever, nice, but…
But he wasn’t William.
I couldn’t help but remember the saying: If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with. Not that he was offering love. I was blowing things out of proportion again. I had to stop reading things into throwaway comments. We were friends, and that’s all he probably meant.
A hill spread out before us, and Angelica led us off the path and behind a massive tree. She turned her head this way and that, probably checking to see we were hidden, then handed me Olivia’s umbrella. She stared into my eyes. Big gold coordinates popped into my mind. “That’s where we’re going. Make it quick.” She stepped forward and disappeared.
Beren handed me my umbrella and drew his gun. “Thanks, Lily.” Then he popped away too. That’s the thanks I got for keeping people dry. I sighed and awkwardly folded both umbrellas, shook them, and slid them into the side pocket of my bag. Looked like it was time to go.
I took heed that Beren had drawn his gun—things may not be totally safe on the other side—mumbled the spell, and stepped into a dry, warm apartment.
Angelica, gun in hand, was cautiously opening a door that led from the living area to who knew where. Beren stalked off in the other direction, over lime-washed timber floors. I figured I’d stay put until they’d swept the apartment. I went to one of the tall living-room windows and gazed out.
We were back in Paris. Despite the circumstances, I couldn’t help a small smile. And it had been so easy. I couldn’t wait to try travelling when this was all over. The places I could go, and it was free and instantaneous. Ah, travelling, where have you been all my life?
The apartment was on the second floor and overlooked the street we’d been parked in the other day. The car crash seemed like ages ago. Beren’s healing had been incredible—it was as if my body hadn’t been through anything. My mind knew differently though. I’d had nightmares about it for the last two nights. I expected more of the same tonight.
Beren yelled out, “Clear!”
Angelica responded in kind. They breezed back into the room. “Okay, Lily. Let’s not waste any time. See if you can find anything that will show where they went.”
I scanned the room. “We may have to go downstairs again. I feel like that makes the most sense. They probably drove somewhere.”
“First let me check the last time Camilla performed magic here.” Angelica shut her eyes and turned in a slow circle on the spot.
I took my camera out of my bag, because I may as well make sure I didn’t miss anything. “Show me any evidence of where Camilla and Frederick went when they last left here.” I put the camera up to my face and roamed the apartment. There were two bedrooms. The first showed me nothing, but in the second, Camilla and Frederick sat on the double bed, fully clothed, thanks be to the gods, looking at a laptop screen. Packed suitcases waited next to the bed. I walked around to the head of the bed and focussed my lens on the laptop screen. “Nice.” A villa in the French Riviera. They sure were making the most out of all the money they’d stolen. I couldn’t wait to help put them in jail. I hoped Camilla got the stinkiest cell there was.
After taking a couple of photos, I finished my circuit of the apartment and found Angelica. “Here. According to the date and time on the computer, they have been back here since you visited. I’m surprised there wasn’t some kind of trap waiting for us.”
“She may not have had enough time to set one.” Angelica looked at the camera screen. “Nice.”
On the screen was a gorgeous, rendered-brick two-storey villa painted yellow with white trim and terracotta-tiled roof. It was set against stunning blue water with white, barren hills across the water. Yachts were moored in the sea. The ad said Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, and there was a rental agent’s number. “Yeah, that’s what I said. Is Saint Jean Cap Ferrat a big place?”
“No. It’s a small seaside area near Nice.” Ha, Nice, nice. Never mind.
Beren came in. “Any leads?”
Angelica nodded. “Yes. Can you contact William, and tell him to get here as soon as the interview is over? I’m just going to use the little girl’s room.”
What? Wasn’t she a bit old to be calling it a little girl’s room? Maybe it was a British thing. Beren pulled his phone out of his pocket and pressed a couple of buttons, and I went back to the window, to take in the Parisian streets one last time. Funny how it was disgusting weather back in Britain, and here it was sunny. The plane trees stood in their verdant glory, framing the road as far as I could see.
Beren stood next to me. “Enjoying the view?”
“Yep, totally. I can’t believe I didn’t get to see anything properly.”
“We’ll come back next week. Your friend will be safely back at home, and Camilla and Fred will be in jail, giving me plenty of time to show you around the place.”
As worried as I was about Olivia, there was still room for a tiny bit of excitement. “That would be beyond awesome, Beren. I’d love that.”
“What would you love?” asked a new voice.
I turned around. William and James had just arrived, and William didn’t look too impressed.
“Beren’s going to bring me back here once this is all over. I have lots of sightseeing to do.”
“Enjoy your date.” William turned and left through one of the doors. That was weird.
James and Beren shared a smirk.
“What was all that about?” I asked.
Beren answered. “Oh, nothing. Poor little diddums got up on the wrong side of bed today, I’d guess.”
“How’d the interview go, big bro?” I sucked at making spells rhyme, but in everyday conversation, I was awesome.
“It went well. But I’ll save the explanation till Ma’am comes back.”
“Well, here I am. What happened?” She came in and joined us at the window.
“I’d prefer we did this outside.” James looked around and pointed to his ear. Angelica nodded.
We all filed out the front door, William coming out last. At least he was still with us, but he trailed behind, like you tend to do when you’re an angry child walking behind your parents, trying to stay as far away from them as possible. Something else I’d have to figure out later. Maybe something happened at the interview because there was no way he would be upset that Beren was bringing me back here later. Unless he was worried Beren would use me and dump me. That wasn’t happening because we were friends, and James didn’t seem too worried. I refused to believe it was because William was jealous. If he liked me that much, he would’ve asked me out by now—he’d had weeks to do that. But I knew he wouldn’t. Besides, it would complicate things with James, so we were better off not acting on any attraction. Argh, I just wanted to get out of my own head. Overthinking alert!
Out on the street, stylish Parisians sauntered past. One had three dachshunds walking on leads, the dogs’ little legs moving at the speed of light to keep up with their owner’s fast walk. So cute! Not as cute as squirrels, but still adorable.
“So,” James began. We huddled around him, which must have looked funny because they were all wearing their black PIB suits and ties. I was the nonconformist of the group. How unusual. “The interview went well. Smythe senior didn’t want to answer anything, but once he figured out we knew everything, he spilled.” James grinned.
“But you didn’t know everything.”
“No, Lily, but he thought we did. With William reading his mind, he asked questions he wouldn’t have known to ask otherwise.”
“So your truth-telling talents weren’t even needed?”
“I suppose not, but anyway, Smythe senior had to fire Frederick after he was caught embezzling funds from one client. They replaced the funds before the client found out, but Smythe Junior was fired. Senior gave him a good reference anyway but cut off all ties with his son. The shame of having a criminal for a son was humiliating, so he distanced himself as far as he could, not that he was a loving father anyway. From what he said, he’s always worked fourteen-to-sixteen-hour days and goes golfing or to polo with clients on the weekends. So, we’re probably dealing with a damaged human who has something to prove to his father.”
Made sense. Whatever the reason, it was clear now that no one should have any sympathy for that piece of crap. I hope he hadn’t hurt Olivia physically. For sure she was probably wishing she were dead after finding out her fiancé was a cheating, lying thief. God, what must she think of being transported to the south coast of France without remembering how she got there? She was likely freaking out right now. I wished I could give her a hug and get her out of there.
“Can we get going?” As much as I loved Paris, Olivia needed us now.
“Okay, Miss Impatient.” Angelica spelled open the security door to Camilla’s apartment building, and we all went back inside, which was a good idea. I can’t imagine what would happen if we all just disappeared off the street in front of everyone.
“I’ll grab the coordinates.” James pulled out his phone as he entered the building foyer. “Where are we going, Ma’am?”
“Saint Jean Cap Ferrat. As close to the centre of town as possible.” She looked up. I followed her gaze to a security camera. Her lips moved without any sound coming out. Being caught on camera was another bad idea. Lucky Angelica had everything covered.
James pulled up something on his phone and typed. When it was done loading, he gave the phone to Angelica. She nodded and passed the phone to William who looked and handed it to Beren. Beren checked it out then handed it to me. “Picture those numbers, Lily.”
I looked at the screen. Coordinates were such long numbers, but if I told my brain to basically take a photo of it, maybe it would just happen rather than me having to remember each number in sequence, which would be impossible when I only had one minute to study it. I concentrated, then shut my eyes. The numbers appeared in large gold lettering, same as every other time. Yes!
I held the phone out without opening my eyes. “Here, James.”
He laughed and took the phone. “Holding onto the number, huh?”
“Yes. I’m going to do my spell now. Wish me luck.”
“You don’t need luck. You’ve got this.” Beren was so sweet. If only I was as attracted to him as I was to stupid William.
I whispered, “Take me where I need to go, to the numbers on this door I show.” When I opened my eyes, my doorway was right where it should be. I just hoped it was going to lead to the right place.
South of France, here I come!