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

‘I demand to see the certificate,’ Horace persisted.

‘You don’t get to demand anything. Phillip works for the Star Elite ergo all his life, his home, his relationships, his position with us, the work he does, all remains highly confidential, and that includes information pertaining to his wife, children, and family. You, Horace, are a criminal. We get to find out everything there is to know about you, and we don’t need your permission to look for it.’

Horace glared maliciously at him but didn’t object as he was hauled to his feet. Niall and Oliver hauled Henry to his feet. Nobody moved as they waited for Justin to fetch the chains from Oliver’s saddle bag. Once the prisoners had been chained, they were led out of the house but were made to stand in the driveway.

‘Before you go you two can come with me. There is something I want you both to have a look at,’ Phillip began. With that, he began to lead them to the tree where Claude Smidgley’s body still hung.

‘What in the Hell’s name?’ Horace growled before turning to glare at Henry.

‘Do either of you recognise him?’ All the men watched the prisoners carefully.

Both Horace and Henry looked truly shocked and immediately shook their heads. Oliver pursed his lips.

‘You cannot arrest us. You have to prove that I pushed her,’ Horace blustered.

‘I don’t need to prove anything. We will get Rupert’s statement that will tell us exactly what he saw. I do believe from Carlotta that she watched you push your wife to her death. Carlotta’s statement is valid on account of us not being married when your wife died,’ Phillip replied.

‘I wouldn’t waste your breath arguing with us. It is going to get you nowhere,’ Aaron interrupted. ‘Besides, you have a good ten-mile walk to gaol so will need all of your energy.’

With that, the men dragged the prisoners off but only so Jasper and Callum could fetch their horses.

‘Be back as quick as you can,’ Oliver growled. ‘We have another killer to catch.’ He turned to Phillip. ‘Go and see if your wife is all right.’

He said it with such ease that Phillip immediately turned to do as he was told only to throw his colleague a rueful look over his shoulder. It hadn’t occurred to him to chastise his colleague for his teasing, but from the look on Oliver’s face he wasn’t teasing. He meant it.

‘If you know what is good for you, don’t let her go,’ Oliver warned quietly. ‘She has become a part of your life in a way that will be impossible to put behind you if you do try to leave here without her. You won’t be able to carry on and forget all about her. What you need to ask yourself is if you can live the rest of your life wondering what your life would have been like had you stayed. I don’t regret marrying Emmeline. Some would call me a fool for having married her in haste, but our job isn’t one that brings us certainty. We all know that our lives can be ripped out from underneath us at any given moment. Don’t forget what happened to us, and how close we came to all dying, just a few nights ago. Use that as a warning that you shouldn’t lose a single moment of the time you have with her.’

‘I am not sure where it will lead us. I mean, I don’t have a house to leave her to settle into like you do. I can’t leave her in my lodgings in London, and there isn’t the time to find somewhere else. She can’t stay up here by herself while I go off and chase criminals.’

‘Why not? The villagers know she lives up here. We have learnt that they are curious about her and have engaged her in conversation. Once they realise that she is living here permanently they will accept her into their fold and will keep an eye on the house. I rather get the feeling that they already are. She will be safe here.’

‘Assuming she wants to stay,’ Phillip whispered.

‘There are worse houses you could call your home,’ Oliver warned with a grin. ‘This house is big enough for a family. It has wonderful sea views, and a nice little village nearby so you don’t have to travel too far for food and the like. It is a rather nice place to raise a family, don’t you think?’

‘I haven’t bought it, though,’ Phillip growled.

Oliver’s grin widened. ‘Really? You mean you don’t have a hundred and fifty pounds?’

Phillip contemplated the huge amount of money he had in the bank. He was paid well for what he did but never had the chance to spend any of it. He was really a very rich man.

‘Of course,’ he mused as he stared at the house.

‘As soon as Henry hands the deeds over, and we give him the money, he isn’t going to care who the new owner is. He is going to be busy trying to clear his name anyway, which he cannot do seeing as we are the ones who have arrested him. It doesn’t matter if he does find out you have purchased the place, he won’t risk is coming back here and being accused of trying to accost or kidnap Carlotta again. Besides, I doubt he would want to challenge the War Office.’

‘You really can be rather sneaky sometimes; do you know that?’ Phillip murmured with a grin. He shook his head when Oliver smirked at him.

‘Whatever sympathies you might have, just remember that Horace and Henry are criminals. They thought they could abuse Carlotta for their own personal gain. Don’t you think it is fair that their behaviour should cost them something in return? After all, they were happy to destroy a life,’ Oliver mused.

‘I am not saying it is wrong.’

‘That house is a family home. Henry made it clear he didn’t want it. I am not trying to undercut the man. It is worth about a hundred and fifty pounds. Why do you think he hasn’t argued about its sale? He knows that he would get no more than that even if he went to the time and trouble of putting it up for sale himself. Now, he doesn’t have to. It has been sold. He will hand the deeds over because he will be glad to get rid of any possible stain on his name. Neither you nor Carlotta seem all that worried about Smidgley’s murder in the woods nearby, nor should you be. Nobody else needs know about his death there. As far as we know, only the killer is aware of the place where Smidgley met his end. Let’s leave it at that, eh? The house does, for the time being, need to be a safe house for us because we need somewhere to stay as well. Once we have caught Smidgley’s killer, we can finally draw this investigation to a close and move on. You need to consider whether you are going to go into that house and offer Carlotta a different kind of future, together, or whether you can walk away and forget her. Either way, don’t make the decision lightly. You don’t have to even make it now. You could wait until we have finished this investigation and then spend a few more days with her to make your mind up. Just don’t turn your back on this chance of happiness. Women like Carlotta, who know what you do for a living but are prepared to allow you into their lives anyway, don’t come along very often.’

Phillip studied the house once Oliver had ambled off. The thought of turning around and walking away was so repulsive to him that Phillip was already making

his way toward the front door before he even realised that he was moving.

‘I don’t really know her,’ he murmured.