For Love Alone (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 8)

‘Do you think they might have snuck her out of the house when we weren’t looking and be hiding here with them?’ Justin asked.

‘There was only one set of footprints,’ Aaron reported. ‘We would have seen scuffle marks. There weren’t any. Carlotta left the house alone. Because it is evident that she came here alone, and the murderer has just left, she is not working with them either.’

Justin nodded when he heard the warning tone in Aaron’s voice. Nobody believed that Carlotta was anything more than she claimed she was now. Therefore, she was innocent and had to be protected. If he was honest with himself, he didn’t think she was linked to Smidgley’s crimes either, but he had to raise the possibility if only so his colleagues contemplated it before dismissing it.

‘Maybe she is in the woods, but we have missed her,’ Niall suggested. ‘Maybe she stayed away because she saw the man in here.’

‘Why is he here, though? What is he looking for? Why would he break into a house like this?’ Phillip demanded.

‘To see if you are here. Or if Carlotta is here,’ Oliver suggested. ‘He may be the thug we didn’t shoot earlier.’

Phillip was already shaking his head

. ‘The man I just saw wasn’t as stocky as the thug who escaped us.’

Oliver puffed his cheeks out. ‘Can you remember something of significance that might help you find out if she has been back? Are there any of her personal possessions that might have disappeared? Can you think of something she might want to return here to fetch?’

Phillip shook his head. Eventually, he stood up and yanked open the dresser. Squatting down he peered into its empty depths. ‘Unless our man was carrying a basket, someone has been back to fetch her food. She kept a small stash in here in a basket. It’s gone.’

‘She might have returned to fetch it and something to wear that would keep her warm.’ Callum said.

Phillip picked up her bag that Niall had carried into the house and dropped beside the door. He snatched it open and rummaged through it but found nothing more than clothing. ‘She might have come back to fetch a cloak or something. She was inadequately dressed. She had only a shawl to wear. Without a cloak she could die from the cold or rain.’

‘We have to assume she is still around here somewhere,’ Oliver said.

‘It’s too dark out there to see tracks,’ Aaron warned.

‘I doubt she would be walking around out there alone in the dark anyway. Not after what happened when she was with you. Maybe she has just curled up somewhere to wait for daylight,’ Justin suggested. ‘As soon as this darkness starts to lift, we can get out there and try to find her. For now, we have to keep watch and make sure that the thugs don’t manage to use the trees as cover while they get into position to ambush us again.’

‘I’ll take first watch,’ Phillip offered.

‘No, you won’t. You will get those wounds of yours seen to, a change of clothing, something to eat and then some rest. If you don’t you are going to be no good to anyone. We have all got to try to find her at first light. Callum, Aaron, go on first watch. Then Justin and Niall,’ Oliver ordered. ‘We will head out at first light,’ he then said to Phillip.

Reluctantly, Phillip nodded. He had to agree because he knew from the tone of Oliver’s voice that he had just been given an order. It rankled, though. The last thing he wanted to do was lie down in a nice, warm, soft bed and sleep while he knew Carlotta was out there in the darkness, probably freezing cold, all alone and scared.

‘We have to find her,’ he whispered once he reached the door. ‘I have to find her.’

‘We will,’ Oliver assured him. ‘While we are waiting for daylight to return, maybe you should think about what you are going to do about that father of hers. If she is three and twenty, she can make her own mind up what she wants out of life. Maybe you should contemplate suggesting a few changes.’

Phillip nodded and left his friends a little stymied by how readily he agreed to changing his life to make room for her. He had barely reached the bed chamber he suspected she had used before Oliver called him back downstairs.

‘Have you checked the beach?’ Oliver called.

Phillip froze. ‘Of course not. She wouldn’t be foolish enough to go down there in the dark, would she?’

‘It is the only place she might feel safe,’ Jasper reasoned.

Phillip didn’t hesitate to leave the house and go and check, and was swiftly followed by his colleagues. Jasper and Justin followed him down to the beach while the others went to keep watch over the woods to make sure nobody followed them.

‘She couldn’t make it down here,’ Phillip growled when he was half-way down the path and his feet slid out from underneath him. He grabbed at the foliage on the cliff wall beside him and righted himself only to slip on more loose shale.

‘Let’s leave it until morning and we can see what we are doing. From the look of it the tide is in anyway. Anybody who ventures any lower is going to get swept away if the sea turns any rougher.’

But Phillip refused to give up. Instead, he continued to slide into the impenetrable darkness toward the roaring ocean waves. He was nearly on the edge of the beach when he saw something tucked away at the base of the cliff wall. It was blacker than most of the boulders which shone lighter in the moonlight. Moreover, it was smaller than most of the boulders stretching out to sea. Edging toward it, Phillip tripped and stumbled but eventually was able to squat down beside it.

‘Is it her?’ Justin called.

Phillip eased the cloak away from the tightly curled bundle and cursed when he saw the paleness of the face he most desperately wanted to see. For a moment, all he could do was thank God that she was alive. Choked with emotion, he nodded only to then realise that Justin couldn’t see him clearly enough.