A Spinster's Awakening (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 2)

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.

“The informant must have been wrong to think it was Mr Lawrence they saw, however did get the house right. After all, Horvat is only next door,” Angus sighed. He didn’t realise it but his whole demeanour was somewhat morose as he stared darkly down at the carpet beneath his boots.

“Right location, wrong house,” Jasper sighed.

“The description matches Mr Lawrence senior, though,” Oliver murmured.

“Maybe they are working together?” Angus lifted his brows. “It’s plausible.”

“What now?” Oliver asked his colleagues.

“We have got to find out what has happened to Mrs Vernon. It won’t instil much confidence in the locals if we know an old lady has gone missing but haven’t reported it to the magistrate, or been able to find her ourselves,” Justin said.

“This investigation is not just about saving face,” Angus replied. “We have an elderly person who has genuinely gone missing. Don’t you think finding her is more about duty than reputation?”

“We all understand,” Aaron assured him. “It isn’t easy. We just have to do our best and hope we are successful.”

“We have to find out what Horvat is doing, where he is going, who he is meeting, and follow them so we know where their base is. We know where Horvat is staying. One thing is for certain, we aren’t going to get any answers watching people from this house, or next door,” Phillip said quietly.

“Are we all agreed that we need to keep two men here to watch Horvat, and move on to finding out what we can about the person Horvat is meeting?” Oliver looked around the room at several of the men who were already nodding.

“That’s settled then. Who is staying?” Aaron asked.

“I will,” Jasper sighed reluctantly when nobody showed willing.

Everyone turned to Angus. “I am going to keep watch on Horvat,” he growled. “If it is him who conched me, I have a score to settle.”

The men looked at each other but didn’t argue. When Angus got into a mood like this it was invariably difficult to get him out of it. He had to settle his own dark thoughts in his own way in his own good time. They all knew the cause of his annoyance because they had all overheard the shouting coming from next door. It had been so loud most of the men suspected the entire neighbourhood had heard Angus and Charity yelling at each other. Whatever had happened at the end, the loud slamming of the back door had plunged Angus into a dark mood that was downright dangerous to mess with.

Charity finished tying the laces on her boot and took one last look at the clock before she went to fetch her cloak. The ladies were waiting and would invariably be full of questions as they usually were. But tonight, for the first time in a long time, Charity truly wanted to be on her own. So many troubled thoughts were tumbling about in her head that she was starting to get a headache.

Charity had spent so much of the day crying that her eyes were sore, her heart ached, and she felt truly miserable in a way she suspected she would never be able to hide from the usually astute ladies. The last thing she wanted was to be faced with a barrage of questions she didn’t know how to answer and didn’t want to answer because they were too painful to speak about.

Her stomach fell to her toes when, just as she was about to open her front door, knocking on the back door broke the silence of the house. She paused and contemplated not answering it. It was only the need to see him – Angus – again that made her walk through the house on leaden feet, and slowly open the door.

Her eyes widened with surprise to find Aaron on the doorstep, and all alone.

“Is everything all right?” she asked warily, unsure if it was a good thing or not that Angus wasn’t there.

Angus nodded. “Can I come in for a moment?”

Charity stepped back to let him in. Rather than wave him into the sitting room she stood nervously beside the door and waited.