Fallen Hero (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 3)

“She is all alone,” he whispered. “She has been all by herself for nearly a month now.”

“Who has?” Sir Hugo frowned.

“His sister, Elspeth. She has no other family,” Aaron sighed. “She has had to face burying her brother all by herself.”

Sir Hugo nodded his understanding. His face changed the instant Aaron murmured Elspeth’s name because Sir Hugo knew of the man’s deep affection for the young woman he mentioned often.

“What do you want to do?” Sir Hugo asked. “I can allow you to take some time off, Aaron, but it will only be a week at the most. The investigation into the kidnappings is at a crucial stage, you know that. It is imperative we find Horvat before someone else gets snatched, or we lose any possibility of being able to find those who have already been taken.”

Aaron struggled to find any interest in what Sir Hugo was saying. The investigation into the recent spate of kidnaps in Leicestershire and Derbyshire was the least of his concern right now. Why Sir Hugo should think he cared was beyond him.

“I don’t even know if Elspeth is still there,” Aaron murmured in disgust. He shook his head. “I need to go.”

“You need to think for a minute,” Sir Hugo advised calmly but firmly.

“No. I need to go,” Aaron insisted. “I should have been there for her.”

He knew that because of the amount of time it had taken for the letter to reach London, it would have been a miracle if he had been able to get to Cromley in time for Thomas’s funeral, but he should have at least been given the opportunity to try.

Aaron felt a deep, raw anger begin to build. He struggled to contain it as he took to pacing before the window. The quiet street outside held as little interest for Aaron as the man seated opposite. He didn’t care what Sir Hugo wanted, thought, needed or intended to do. Not now. Not after this. Sir Hugo had essentially delayed Aaron from getting the letter that would have meant him capable of fulfilling a duty, a personal respo

nsibility. As far as Aaron was concerned, the man could go to Hades now.

“I am sure she will be all right, Aaron,” Sir Hugo murmured compassionately.

Aaron rounded on his boss. “How can you say that? You don’t know anything about her,” he spat dismissively.

“I know you speak of her a lot,” Sir Hugo replied.

It wasn’t just Elspeth’s predicament that built Aaron’s fury, it was the additional strife the actions of his boss had caused that Aaron found unforgiveable. Aaron was a man of pride, duty, and honour. He had been unable to behave with any sort of decency toward someone who was a large part of his life, all because of the selfish actions of one person: Sir Hugo. Aaron could never forgive him for that. On a completely different personal level, it hadn’t only been Elspeth who had paid a heavy price for the man’s failure to act swiftly upon receiving the letter that had now turned Aaron’s world upside down.

“Damn you,” he hissed at Sir Hugo “If you knew this letter had been sent to me by my housekeeper, you should have taken steps to get it to me as a matter of urgency. You work for the Star Elite man; a bloody government organisation who can send messages to people within days. There is no damned reason why you shouldn’t have made sure something this important reached me. There is no bloody excuse.”

“I had no idea it was so important,” Sir Hugo argued.

He did his best to try to stay calm, but knew he was going to end up on the receiving end of Aaron’s shock, no matter what he said. Still, he didn’t mind because the news Aaron had just received was terrible. It was understandable that the man would be deeply upset about the death of his life-long friend.

“My housekeeper doesn’t usually send correspondence to me here,” Aaron bit out. “Don’t you think you should have put some bloody importance on the fact that she sent this to me here, in the damned safe house, and marked it urgent?”

“You are in the middle of an investigation, Aaron,” Sir Hugo warned. “Personal matters have to be set aside, you know that.”

Aaron snorted. “Oh, like personal matters have been set aside for Angus, have they? What about the other men who met their partners during one of their investigations? They have been allowed time off to sort out their home lives. I have a note informing me of a close, personal friend’s death and suddenly I am not allowed time off to even attend the bloody funeral?”

Aaron, in temper, threw the note onto the floor. He would, of course, pick it back up and carry it with him because the news it contained was that important. However, right now he merely stepped over it as he resumed pacing in front of the window, his agitation evident in every line of his tall, rigid frame.

“I am sorry you missed your friend’s funeral,” Sir Hugo began several minutes later.

“No, you aren’t. All you bloody care about are your sodding investigations,” Aaron bit out.

“I am sure Elspeth will be fine,” Sir Hugo added gently.

“You don’t even know her,” Aaron snapped. “You would know, would you?”

“No, of course I don’t,” Sir Hugo sighed.

“You don’t know the situation she faces,” Aaron warned. His anger burned at the thought of what Elspeth had faced and might still be going through.

“Is there nobody Elspeth is likely to have turned to for help?” Sir Hugo studied the lines of tension on Aaron’s face, and knew that the man was seriously struggling to control the urge to punch something. He just hoped to God Aaron didn’t try to punch him. Aaron was well over six feet, with a powerful physique and a ruthless streak that was legendary. “Why don’t you just take a few hours to decide how best to deal with this?”