One Penny Surprise (Saved By Desire 1)

Poppy’s head snapped back as though he had just slapped her anyway, and she glared at him with all the anger that flooded through her. She had never really stopped to consider just how vile a creature Clarence was. Now the reality was there before her she felt tainted just being related to him.

“Don’t you dare threaten me,” she whispered. “I should warn you now that you are in deeper trouble than you realise. The next time you get yourself in the mire, you can get yourself out of it. You shall have no further help from me.”

“You don’t know what you are talking about,” Clarence snorted.

“Don’t I? Really? Then who was that dead body who washed up along the river where I was supposed to meet your contact?” she challenged. She watched Clarence look at her in disbelief. All of his previous contempt vanished in an instant. “Oh yes, that’s right. I think you are in deeper than you realise because unless I am very mistaken, the person who killed that man who I found floating in the river at the meeting point must have been mistaken him for

YOU!” Her voice grew louder the more she spoke until she was shouting and physically trembling by the time she fell silent.

“A body?” Clarence murmured, clearly stunned.

“Strangled. A middle class nabob dressed just like you would have been if you had bothered to go,” she retorted. “It is strange how he happened to wash up in the area you were supposed to deliver the money. I should be careful who you threaten, father dearest, because from now on you can go to Hades if you want anything else delivered to anyone. Do it yourself.”

The events of this morning had already changed her life. She realised as she stood in the cold and somewhat derelict kitchen that life had thrown her a curve that altered her future, her destiny, completely and it wasn’t in a nice way. She knew that the only way of getting out of the horrible place was to secrete the money in the bag away, preferably before the creditor appeared wanting his payment because Clarence didn’t care two hoots what happened to her and never would.

“Not to worry though, eh, Clarence,” she continued snidely. “I mean, he thinks he has killed you. Hopefully you can get out of London before the news of the dead man’s real identity winds up in the broadsheets, and killer comes to find you to finish the job.”

She had no idea if she was heading off on a tangent, or whether there was any glimmer of truth in what she had just said, but if it made Clarence wary about what he got himself into in the future then she had no qualms about scaring him. She watched him swallow harshly but could feel no sympathy for him when he slumped somewhat dejectedly into a chair beside the fireplace. Unfortunately for him, Poppy knew that look now and wasn’t prepared to be fooled by his amateur theatrics any more.

“We can’t leave London,” Clarence muttered with a frown. “There isn’t any money left to get us anywhere else.”

With a snort of disgust she placed her hands on her hips in a challenging stance and glared at him. “You had better tell me what mess we left behind in Cumbria. Then I think you need to think about why this killer would want you dead.”

Clarence swallowed and looked at her without bothering to answer her. He had clearly been thrown by her reports of a dead man in the park.

“What did the dead - deceased – look like?”

Poppy shrugged. “He was about your height. He had dark hair and had been strangled.”

She saw him hesitate and waited for him to lambast her for something, but he didn’t. Instead he sat with his gaze on the floor, seemingly lost in thought.

“So, where is the money?” He looked around the kitchen as though he expected to see it.

“I handed it over,” she lied. He didn’t see her fingers crossed behind her back. When he looked at her and lifted his brows she kept her face devoid of all emotion and stared back.

“Who to?”

“Your creditor, I suppose,” she shrugged.

Clarence opened his mouth as though he was about to argue but then clamped it closed again.

“Did you leave the money somewhere where the contact could find it, or did you hand it over to someone? What did he look like?” Clarence was suddenly all urgency.

Poppy mentally cursed. “Thankfully someone was there,” Poppy reported, carefully avoiding answering him with a lie. The fact that the ‘someone’ was a tall, distinguished looking and extremely handsome man wasn’t pertinent right now. “No, before you ask, I don’t know if he was the killer, all right? I didn’t wait around long enough to find out, especially once the body turned up.”

“You handed the money over to a man?” Clarence asked calmly. “How did you know it was the right man?”

Poppy sighed. “How many people do you expect to be in the park at dawn? The corpse was about your height and build, Clarence, so I wouldn’t get too reassured by the fact that your creditor has the money he demanded.”

“Do you think the man you gave the money to was responsible for the dead body?”

There was something in Clarence’s eyes that bothered her only she couldn’t quite decide what it was. With a shrug she decided to continue to fudge the truth.

“How should I know? I have no intention of going back to find out. He has the money now. The dead body is nothing to do with me. I did as you wanted. The money is in his hands.”

Clarence snorted and glared at her. “That’s the end of the matter now, is it?”

“Not entirely,” Poppy replied carefully. “You see, at some point the relatives of the deceased with report him missing and may put a notice of his death in the broadsheets. If they don’t, the magistrate will. You certainly haven’t been reported to anyone as missing. In fact, nobody other than your cousin, Peter, knows you are even in London. He won’t report you missing if you vanish, and neither will I because you are here, alive and well. Before you ask, no I will not pretend that you are dead.”