15

 

Freddie sat on the bed, impatient. It had been an hour since she called Jason to say she could leave. Where on earth was he?

Footsteps clicked across the floor. She turned and smiled at the tall figure, resisting the urge to run into his arms, not wanting to give him the wrong impression, no matter how much she’d enjoyed the brief hug the night before.

“Hey, Jace. You look better than you did last night.”

“So do you.” A smile lit his eyes. “I shaved just for you. Although the stubble did have a certain charm to it. You ready to go?”

“Yeah, they gave me two new inhalers. Along with a lecture on how to take proper care of them.” She caught the look on his face and narrowed her eyes. “What?”

“I checked your spare inhaler when I got back to the rooms last night. That was empty, too.”

“What?” She shook her head. This can’t be happening. “It was full.”

“When? Before or after the rooms were turned over?”

Freddie tried to think. “I check them every day. I’m sure I did. I wouldn’t have packed an empty one. Either way, the one in my bag worked on Saturday.”

“It had a slow puncture. It’s a fairly safe bet the other did, too. I’ll send them both off to the lab and get them examined.”

“All right.”

“So, let’s get you out of here and back to the guest house to rest.”

“No way. I’ve rested enough to last a lifetime.” Freddie got to her feet and picked up the bag of meds.

“I’m sorry?”

“Jace, it’s Tuesday. We’ve lost three days and you only gave me a week. That leaves me two days. I want to go out to the island today.”

“You are not fit enough to go gallivanting around the island today.” Irritation echoed in his voice.

“I’m not planning on “gallivanting” anywhere. I was actually thinking more of a slow walk.”

“You are still not fit enough. You almost died on Sunday.”

“Rubbish. I’m perfectly fit or they wouldn’t be discharging me.”

“You’re impossible.”

“You can talk.”

“Yes, I can and I am, funnily enough.” He winked at her. “Does this count as our first fight?”

“Jace, please, I need to get out there and back to work. We can’t allow whoever did this to get away with it.”

“They won’t, I promise. We’re going back to the guest house. You are going to lie on the bed and rest, while we review everything we’ve learned so far.”

“Then can we go to the island?”

“Tomorrow. It’s not up for debate.” He held out a hand. “I’m pulling rank, Freddie. You’re taking the day off. Or I’ll get the doc to keep you in for another twenty-four hours. I’m taking you back to the guest house. We’ll sit in your room, while we discuss the case. Then maybe go out for a walk after dinner. I might even let you take notes.” He paused. “Oh, sorry, you’re not my secretary, are you?”

“No. But I hear fried notes and custard make a pretty mean dessert.”

“Well?” He held out his hand.

“If you think I’m walking out of here, holding the boss’s hand, you’ve another think coming.” She winked at him. “After all, you are my boss and not my boyfriend, remember?”

“Good point. I’ll carry your bag for you. Now let’s get out of here before they change their minds and keep you in a while longer.”

 

****

 

Freddie lay on the bed, her gaze following Jason as he wandered around the room reviewing what they knew. She half expected him to spout Shakespeare or something profound. Her mind wouldn’t focus on work.

The way his hands moved in time with the cadence of his voice captivated her. Her gaze was held hostage by the way his shirt creased along his neck and shoulders then fitted across his chest and angled into his waist.

What keeps drawing me to this man? His looks? His personality? Both?

His hand descended on her shoulder, her skin warming under his touch. “Pay attention double-oh-Ef. We have the mine and the island, both owned by Rafferty and Nick Steele. Why didn’t Rafferty tell his wife and move her into the cottage here?”

“Maybe he didn’t want her to know. Maybe he had another wife down here.”

“Now you’re being silly.”

“Have you checked?”

“No. Add it to the list.”

She nodded and wrote it down. “All right. Assuming he doesn’t have a second wife in his second home, maybe he just didn’t want his wife to know. I mean, not everyone tells their significant other everything.” She shot him a half smile. “Birthday and Christmas presents, surprise parties and so on would be no fun if we knew what they were in advance.”

“That’s not it.” He brought the laptop over. “See, according to this, Rafferty and his wife are broke. They’re overdrawn at the bank.”

“Isn’t everyone? There’s always too much month left at the end of the money.”

“Not for me. Yet, this chap has enough funds to buy a cottage, a mine and an island. Maybe he was the front man.”

“Go on.” Freddie studied the screen.

“With the tax man on his back, Steele can’t be seen to be the major share holder in anything. So, he gets someone else to sign the papers and own the property—in name only. Who’s going to double check where the money came from?”

“Interesting idea.” She paused, her mind racing. “Especially if the money wasn’t acquired from legitimate sources—we know those gems weren’t found in that mine. Or there are other ways of funding it. Could you make some tea, please?”

“Sure.” Jason crossed the room and turned on the small kettle. “Are you talking laundered money?”

“Not necessarily, but Rafferty didn’t have the funds. I was thinking more along the lines of your idea of Steele owning it and Rafferty being the name-only bloke. Thus, Steele isn’t responsible for the taxes legally, but rakes in a nice profit, while Rafferty takes the fall.”

“Where do the precious stones fit in? Not from a tin mine, that’s for sure.”

“No, unless...” She broke off.

“Unless what?” Jason paused with the milk in his hand.

“It can’t be imports, or else there would be records, and I’m assuming there aren’t any.”

“Not that I’ve come across.”

“Besides, the bloke in the shop was adamant they’d all come from the mine itself. In which case, they have to be bringing them in from someplace else. The question is where.”

“Add it to the list.” He handed her a mug of tea. “Here you go.”

“Thank you.” Freddie studied the tea. The answers had to be there somewhere. She’d wanted to disprove where the trail seemed to be leading, but the evidence seemed to be careering the other way.

“Welcome.” He sat down and sipped from his own mug. “I know that look. What are you thinking?”

“I’m trying to work out where Carn Finance fits into all this. You said it was involved, but the question is how deep?”

“I spoke to Edwin, and he doesn’t want any information about Carn Finance leaving the office. I told him you needed to know, but he wouldn’t even give me permission to verbally tell you what I know.”

The cup paused partway to her mouth. I hope that doesn’t raise a red flag back at the office and tip him off.

“What? Why ever not, Jace? I learned some from Mr. Hooker at the mine. You have to tell me. The boss won’t know.”

“I know, but I will know. So, I did the next best thing. I emailed Patsy. I know she’s your PA, but as you already contacted her, I figured it’s one less person in the loop than asking my secretary.”

“That makes sense. And what do you mean, you know? I know you know—that’s the point. You know and I don’t. You said no secrets.”

“Hush, woman.” He teased her in the old familiar way. “I follow orders, the same as you. I wouldn’t tell him why you needed to know. He started asking all kinds of questions about why you’d need to know about Carn Finance when your only case is the Constantine one.”

“What did you say?”

“I told him it came up in a random line of enquiry. He seemed to accept it, but still wouldn’t authorize it. So I contacted Patsy and asked her to send me some files from the server by secure email. I gave her a whole list. Actually, I asked her to send the entire contents of a couple of folders. I haven’t had a chance to read all of them yet as I asked her to send half to my email and half to yours. I’m just hoping you didn’t delete the emails before we have a chance to retrieve them. No one opens attachments they’re not expecting.”

“That was very sneaky.” Freddie logged into her email and downloaded the files to the desktop. She twisted the laptop back to Jason. “There you go. Won’t there be a record on her computer though and on the server?”

“Yes, but that’s taken care of.” Jason tapped on the keyboard and brought up the other files. “Patsy has cleared it on her end and I can deal with the server from here. I intend to reformat this laptop when I get home.” He turned it back to face her. “Just don’t delete anything until I’ve read it.”

“Of course not.” Freddie studied the file, her eyes widening and her stomach turning as she read. “What...wait a minute.”

“What have you found?” Jason put down his cup and leaned in, trying to see over her shoulder.

“Says here that Carn Finance did the investigation into a money laundering scam?”

“Yeah. Occasionally we help out other businesses, doing contract accountancy work, that kind of thing. Carn Finance handles all that.”

“There’s your link. Well, one of them.”

“Show me.”

Freddie traced the words on the screen with her finger. “Company involved in the scam was Waterston Inc. They owned a dozen or so oil rigs until one of the big oil conglomerates took them over. Then they went into deep-sea fishing. Only it wasn’t fishing so much as investing and laundering funds. Guess who one of the silent partners was?”

“I don’t want to guess. Tell me instead. You’re the one reading the file.”

“Call yourself a PI? Guessing is half the fun.” She peered over the top of her glasses.

“Enough of the teasing, Freddie. I told you I haven’t read half this stuff, yet. I’ve been too busy visiting someone in hospital. Besides, I deal in facts, not guesswork.”

“Sorry.” She read him the list of names.

“Nick Steele. No surprise there.”

“No.” She read a bit more, and then broke off. Ice wrapped around her heart. No, please, no.

She closed her eyes tight, hoping that the words would change. Maybe if she wished hard enough they’d vanish clean off the page when she checked again. They didn’t. The cup fell from her hands and hit the floor with a dull thud.

“Freddie, what’s wrong?” Jason touched her face. “You’ve gone pale. Are you feeling all right?”

Freddie struggled to get her voice to work past the lump in her throat. “Jace...Read the small print on that document...the list of company directors.”

Jason froze as he read at the screen. He raised his head, the shock on his face mirroring the feelings rippling through her.

“What do we do, Jace? Where do we go from here? We’ve no back up or anything. We’re on our own.”

His hands gripped hers. “We’re not alone. We pray. We put everything into God’s hands and trust Him to handle this and show us what to do.”