Pitch Black: A Romantic Thriller (Blackwood Security Book 1) (21 page)

Snow crunched underfoot as I we walked back to the house. I couldn’t resist—I bent and scooped up a handful, packed it into a ball and launched it at Luke. He swiftly retaliated, and any pretence at being grown-ups stopped as we slung snowballs at each other across the garden.

“Where the hell did you learn to throw? Did you play baseball or something?” Luke yelled at me, ducking.

“No, just beginner’s luck.”

Beginner’s luck my arse. It was incredibly useful to know I could throw an object and have it land bang on target. So I’d practised. A lot. I had a party trick with knives and fruit, but it wasn’t appropriate to show that one to Luke.

Eventually he gave up trying to hit me and braved my barrage to stuff snow down my jacket.

“Hey, that’s freezing!”

I wasn’t going to fight back, so I tripped him. We both ended up lying in the snow, breathing hard. I rolled over and made a snow angel, flapping my arms and legs up and down to form the wings and dress. Being a child was fun. When we started to get cold, we retired to the den and Luke lit a wood fire. The flames were soon leaping into the chimney.

“You have any marshmallows?” I asked.

Turned out he had a sweet tooth, so I taught him how to make s’mores.

“Why haven’t these caught on in England yet?” he asked with his mouth full.

I shrugged. “Who knows? I’ll take these over pie and mash any day.”

He squashed closer. “And I’ll take you. What do you say we try out this rug?”

Making snacks in front of the fire turned into something rather more interesting as Luke discovered a new use for melted chocolate. It was a perfect end to a perfect afternoon.

But as with most things in my life, the perfection wasn’t to last.

Chapter 21

AT SEVEN ON Sunday, Luke’s phone rang with the theme song from
The Office
. At least it wasn’t his mother again.

“Some bastard’s attacking our biggest client’s servers,” he said when he hung up. “I can’t leave this to anyone else.”

“You want me to make you a coffee before you go?”

He already had his trousers on. “No time.” He leaned over and gave me a quick kiss. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Noon arrived, and I cobbled together a sandwich. Luke rang while I was eating.

“Could you do me a favour?”

“Sure.”

“I need a file off the memory stick in my desk drawer. Could you email it?”

“No problem.”

He explained what he wanted, and my breath hitched when he told me his laptop password. My name, and the date we’d met. Fuck, I was going to end up hurting him, wasn’t I? Every time the sun set, my return home came closer. I wasn’t strong enough to leave yet, but that day would come.

Back in the kitchen, I flicked over to the internet browser on my phone and googled my company. How were things back home? Ticking along, it seemed. Unlike Luke, I’d been perfecting the art of delegation for years. We’d won a few large contracts and the Japanese office, a pet project of mine, had finally opened. A few more searches revealed no drama in the Richmond area. My husband’s killer was holding up his end of the bargain, at least for the moment. My friends were safe.

And what about me? I typed my real name into the search box. I wasn’t expecting much—my tech guys and legal team were good at shutting down any mention of me—but it never hurt to check. 

Coverage was limited to three small stories in Virginia newspapers. One speculated I’d fled to Panama. Yeah, I wished. The weather would certainly be better. Another informed me the police had no other leads in my husband’s murder—good to see my tax dollars hard at work. The third article advertised an upcoming ball, being held in Richmond to support a homeless charity. It listed the projects the $100,000 donation I’d made last year had enabled them to run. The cause was close to my heart, and that news made me smile.

My final search was for Luke again. Rumours abounded he was dating Mitzi, a reality TV star famed for having her breast implant surgery live on television. Really? I happened to know he preferred the real thing. I was halfway through reading about how Mitzi was considering an increase in her cup size when my phone rang again.

This time Luke was frantic. “George just called. Tia went out riding and Gameela’s turned up back at the farm without her.”

“Has anyone heard from her?” I asked.

“No, and she left her phone on the locker outside Gameela’s stable. They’ve got people out searching but there’s no sign of her yet.”

A teenage girl who wasn’t surgically attached to her phone? Great. “I’ll go down to the farm and help look—I’ll call as soon as I arrive.”

“I’m getting in the car right now—should take me forty-five minutes.”

The snow was still thick, so I yanked on a pair of sturdy boots. Where was the first aid kit? Ah yes, in the cupboard by the back door. I shoved that in a rucksack along with some water.

Out in the garage, I eyed Luke’s Porsche with regret before hopping on his mountain bike. I’d told him I didn’t drive, so I could hardly borrow his car. Luckily the lanes had been gritted, so I made it to the stables in ten minutes.

Chaos reigned.

George stood in the middle of the car park, flapping his arms. His face bore a resemblance to a tomato. Arabella perched on the mounting block crying, and several girls were riding down the drive. Marianne was helping a woman in an expensively cut coat to breathe into a paper bag. Luke’s mother? I’d seen her drop Tia off once and up close I took in the similarities in their features.

I walked up to George and waved to get his attention. “What’s happening with Tia?”

“What are you doing here?”

“Answer the question, would you?”

He did a double take at my tone, but answered nonetheless. “She rode off, and the horse came back on its own so she must have fallen off and we can’t find her,” he said, all in one breath.

Luke told me that much already. “When did she leave?”

“I don’t know. Arabella—when did Tia leave?”

“About eleven? Susie said it was when she went in for a tea break.” She sobbed harder. “What if she’s dead?”

Nothing like looking on the bright side, was there?

She’d been out for two hours, but how far she’d got depended on her speed and Gameela’s sense of direction. How long had the horse taken to find her way home? I did a quick mental calculation and estimated we were looking at a six-mile search radius. A snowflake landed on my arm—clouds were gathering overhead. Great. Even if Tia wasn’t injured, we had exposure to contend with.

“Where have people looked?” I asked.

George paused while he thought. “I’m not sure. Some of the girls rode up the lane, and Mr. and Mrs. Jackson from next door went out on foot. At least I think they’ve left—Mrs. Jackson said she had to find her hiking boots first.”

My eyes started to roll all of their own accord. I blinked to stop them. “Which way up the lane?”

He scratched his chin. “I’m almost sure they went left.”

Well, wasn’t this organisation at its best? A well-oiled machine. Tia would be a popsicle at this rate. “Who’s still here?”

“Arabella, Marianne and Mrs. Halston-Cain.”

And me.

“Right, you stay here in case Tia comes back. Her mother can stay with you—get her a cup of tea and try to keep her calm.” I turned to Arabella and Marianne. “It won’t be dark for a couple of hours—saddle up and head right up the lane. Look for any single sets of hoof prints, medium sized. Has anyone called the police?”

George shook his head.

I took a deep breath and gritted my teeth. “Well, could you please phone them?” The sweetness in my voice was at odds with the acid building up in my stomach.

George’s colour had lightened by that point which was a relief. I didn’t have time to deal with him stroking out as well.

He bobbed his head up and down. “I’ll do it right away.” Moving at a steady amble, he headed for his house—he must be the only person left in the country who didn’t own a cell phone.

Next, I called Luke and gave him an update. I kept it brief because he was driving. Fast. I could hear the roar of the engine. After quickly reminding him it wouldn’t help if he ended up in a ditch, I went to join the hunt myself.

Gameela was back in her stable, head hanging low. A quick examination revealed cuts on her legs, and although none of them looked serious she still needed a visit from the vet. Apart from the crusts of blood she was clean—hardly surprising given frozen ground. It was in her mane I spotted the clue I was searching for. Twigs with tiny, spidery yellow flowers attached.

I recognised it as witch hazel. A shrub with many medicinal uses, and one of the few that flowered in winter. The plants weren’t common in the wild, but I’d spotted a couple at the entrance to a thicket when I’d been out running. It lay about five miles away, if I remembered rightly.

But how could I get there?

The quickest way would be by horse, but only Tia’s remained. I hurried past the two invalids and eyed up Majesty. I’d never seen him ridden, but his reputation preceded him. Still, he couldn’t be worse than Stan. Nothing could be worse than Stan. I painted the bottoms of his feet with hoof grease the way Dustin taught me, an old trick to stop the snow balling up in them, then tacked him up, muttered a prayer, and hopped on.

Luke drove into the yard as Majesty, thrilled to be out of his stable, had a bucking fit then stood up on his hind legs.

“Come on, you pig headed bastard—that the best you can do?”

The look on Luke’s face was priceless.

“I meant the horse, not you.”

“I got that. Are you sure he’s safe?” His face suggested he thought Majesty should be shot at the first opportunity.

“I’ll be fine.”

With those words, Majesty decided that trying to unseat me wasted too much energy, and did what he was told instead. We trotted up the lane, and as soon as I hit open fields, I urged him into a gallop. The world was silent apart from the rhythmic beat of his hooves. While we flew over the white-blanketed landscape, snow crunching underfoot, all I could do was hope my hunch was correct. I didn’t fancy Tia’s chances out here after the sun dropped. I doubted survival training was on the curriculum at the posh school she went to.

A couple of miles from the thicket, we crossed a small ridge. On the other side, in an otherwise pristine layer of snow, I spotted a single set of hoof prints heading towards the thicket at a trot. Another set came back, much faster. Unless there was another nutter out galloping their horse in the snow, I was heading in the right direction. Thank fuck for that.

I went to call Luke, but the bloody signal had disappeared. Welcome to the world of mobile communications. The woods loomed closer as I carried on at a fast trot, only slowing as I ducked under the first boughs. The branches were heavy with ice, twinkling in the last of the afternoon sun.

Hoof prints wound through the trees, deeper into the frosty wonderland. Majesty danced on the spot as a rabbit shot out the bushes in front of him. At least somebody was having fun.

For some reason, the old children’s song, “Teddy Bear’s Picnic” popped into my head, and I hummed along as we walked.

“If you go down to the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise…”

What was I going to find?

Chapter 22

I’D BEEN WALKING through the woods on Majesty for ten minutes, peering into the undergrowth on either side of the path, when I heard crying and knew I was in the right place. Tia hobbled along the path, her face screwed up and tears streaming down her cheeks. She was dragging her left foot and holding her right arm crossed over her chest. Thank goodness I’d brought the first aid kit.

When she saw me, her face was a mixture of relief and peevishness. She clearly didn’t know whether to be grateful someone was there to help, or pissed off because it was me.

Eventually she settled for whining, “Why did you take so long? I’ve been out here for ages, and I can hardly move. And I’m freezing.”

I hopped off Majesty, who after his initial high jinks had behaved impeccably, and tied him by his reins to a nearby tree. He looked on curiously.

Taking Tia’s good arm, I steered her over to a nearby log and sat her down.

“What hurts? Your arm and leg, obviously, but anywhere else?”

“N-no, just my arm and my ankle.”

“What happened?”

“Gameela spooked, and I came off and landed on my side. I wrenched my ankle in the stirrup as I fell.”

I studied her. She looked a little pale. “Did you hit your head?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Okay, I’m going to have a look. Tell me if the pain gets worse.”

“Can’t you just call an ambulance?” she demanded, some of her attitude coming back. “One of those helicopter ones.”

“We’re half a mile into dense woodland. Where exactly do you think it would land?”

“Fine. A normal one then.”

“Which would have to drive a couple of miles up a rutted track. I doubt it would make it even if it hadn’t been snowing. And I lost cell phone signal at the start of that track, so I can’t call anyone from here anyway.”

“You’re not being very sympathetic,” Tia sniffed.

“Nope. Sympathy isn’t one of my strong points. Getting things done is.”

“So what are you going to do? It’ll be dark soon and there are wild animals out here.”

“The worst thing in these woods is a fox, and I can guarantee it’ll be more scared of you than you are of it. Now let me look at your arm and ankle.”

Tia finally shut up and let me examine her. She shrieked a couple of times, making Majesty look up in alarm, but didn’t get too hysterical.

“Your arm’s broken. It’ll need to be pinned. I think your ankle’s just badly sprained.”

“So now what?”

“I’m going to strap up your arm then you can sit on Majesty while I lead you back to somewhere we can get phone reception.”

“I’m not riding him! He’s evil! He bucks and rears.”

“Yes, I found that out, but he’s tired now. He’ll behave just fine with me leading him.” I gave her a saccharine smile. “Or you can wait here while I go for help.”

I hunted until I found a straight branch to act as a splint, then bandaged Tia’s arm and ankle so they were supported. I gave her my jacket, and by buttoning it half way up, used it to form a makeshift sling. She decided that sitting on Majesty was the lesser of two evils. With the help of a convenient tree stump I got her on board with a minimum of squealing and we set off down the hill. Majesty walked eagerly next to me, happy to be heading home.