by Hannah Pearl
Lily sat up and began to rub her eyes. Her curls were a little more dishevelled for the sleep and her skirt had ridden up even higher, though there hadn’t been much of it to begin with. ‘What did we interrupt?’ said a voice from the doorway. ‘Ben, I told you we should have come down five minutes ago.’
‘Get out, Eli,’ I shouted, picking up a teddy bear from the floor and throwing it at him.
‘You have classy toys,’ he said, catching it one-handed and using the other to poke at the toy’s lacy underwear. ‘We came to see if you needed any help with your reconnaissance, but I can see it’s been going well.’
‘We got cold so we went for a drink to warm up,’ Lily explained.
‘Then we had another because it turns out that hanging around waiting for someone to show is really, really boring,’ I added. ‘How do you do this all the time?’
‘You think this is what we do for work?’ Eli asked, his eyes shining as he laughed. ‘So what’s your next plan, Cagney and Lacey?’
I groaned, pulled a pillow over my head and laid down again.
‘I’ll help you investigate,’ Ben offered.
I put the pillow back down and got up to give him a hug. ‘You’re the best little brother ever,’ I told him.
‘I’m literally two minutes younger than you,’ he said, pushing me away. I tussled his hair until he shooed me off. ‘I’m going to get my laptop.’ He stomped off up the stairs and back to his own room.
Eli pointed at my bed. ‘So is this a private party or can anyone join in?’
I stuck my tongue out and he headed off, grinning to himself. Lily yawned and stretched. Her tummy rumbled. She clearly felt less nauseous than I did.
‘Why don’t you head upstairs? I’ll get us all some dinner.’ Maybe the grease would help ease my hangover. Or it would kill me. Frankly either seemed okay at that point.
I went to fetch us all some fish and chips, grabbing a veggie burger for myself, and we reconvened a few minutes later in Dad’s kitchen. ‘Field surveillance isn’t going to work,’ I told them all. This was largely because Lily and I had no idea what we were doing, but also because it was nearly Christmas and I didn’t like to leave my shop for too long if I could help it.
‘I’m just going through their bank statements,’ Ben said, without looking up from his screen. ‘If any of them have used their cards locally we might be able to pinpoint which one is moving here.’
‘Is that legal?’ Lily asked. No one answered her, and she shook her head. ‘Can you look anyone up? There’s this guy who comes into my shop, he’s got the biggest—’
‘I don’t want to know!’ I told her. ‘Don’t investigate any strange men for Lily,’ I ordered Ben.
‘Spoilsport,’ she said, taking a huge bite of her battered sausage.
Ben’s mobile rang. He tore his eyes from the laptop to check the screen but didn’t answer it. I’d have found it odd except that Ben generally preferred to text than to talk and rarely made calls himself. Eli noticed it too though.
‘That was Erin ringing. Do we need to head into the office?’
Ben shook his head. ‘It wasn’t work. Don’t worry.’ He didn’t say any more and didn’t make eye contact with us so I didn’t feel like I could ask about it, and I had a lot of questions, like why his friend from the wedding was ringing him? He was acting as though it wasn’t unusual for him to be receiving calls from women that weren’t about his unique and in-demand computer skills.
‘No purchases nearby in the last few weeks,’ Ben continued, as if nothing odd had happened.
‘That doesn’t mean anything,’ Eli added. ‘They might just be old-fashioned and prefer cash.’ The doorbell rang. Eli opened the window and stuck his head outside. Leaning back in, he closed it and turned to me. ‘I think you’d better go and answer it.’ I assumed that meant it was Taylor. Eli didn’t usually scowl at the thought of more guests.
My flat and Dad’s shared a bell but we had our own front doors. It made it easier for us to receive deliveries yet retain our privacy. It took a moment to decide which home to let him in to, but eventually I decided on mine, more for the lack of audience than for the need to be alone with Taylor.
‘Just passing again?’ I asked him.
He grinned. It had started to snow, and it should have been romantic, him stood there in the dark clutching a bunch of flowers, and yet somehow it wasn’t. Perhaps it was because on this occasion that Eli was correct that a bouquet didn’t always equal romance. These flowers appeared to have been bought as an afterthought from a petrol station and were half dead. Then again, maybe the romantic gesture fell flat because everyone else had followed me downstairs and were now waving at Taylor over my shoulder.
‘Come on in,’ Lily bellowed. ‘We’ve got more chips than we can eat.’
‘Don’t mind if I do,’ he said, shaking the snow from his collar as he stepped inside. I moved back, accidentally landing on Eli’s toes. He swore and stepped back too, knocking Ben onto his backside.
‘Upstairs. Now,’ I commanded. Back in the kitchen Taylor handed the flowers to Lily who hunted through Dad’s kitchen until she found a jug which would suffice as a vase.
‘I thought that given you were into all that romantic stuff I ought to make an effort,’ he said. I wanted to tell him that he really shouldn’t have worried, but I knew Eli was listening in so I didn’t say a word.
‘That’s really thoughtful,’ Lily told him, flashing him the smile, and the view of her bounteous cleavage. He tipped an imaginary hat in her direction and she fluttered her eyelashes in his direction. It took him a good few moments to turn his head back to me, and I realised that I didn’t mind one bit.
‘I’ll hack into the council’s website and see if I can find any requests for permits or licences,’ Ben said.
‘I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,’ Taylor muttered.
Ben was soon absorbed in his searches again. Eli slipped his hand into the pocket of his jet-black jeans and pulled out a shiny mobile phone. Not to be outdone, Taylor pulled out his own and soon all three men were lost in their work. I shrugged at Lily and handed her the bottle of ketchup. When Dad’s football game finished on the TV and he shuffled in to find some food, they didn’t even notice when I put the last of the dinner on a plate and handed it to him.
He sat with us at the table to eat, taking in the presence of a new fellow without any comment. He noticed, as did I, the occasional surreptitious glances that Eli would shoot across at Taylor, before tapping away on his phone again. Dad coughed gently to clear his throat, and rubbed his forehead with his hand. When he finally summoned up the courage to ask Lily how she was, I realised why he had been nervous. He wanted to be polite, but the last time he’d asked, she had launched into a spirited description of a new toy for gentlemen that she recently sold. Dad had gone so red in the face I was scared he’d have a heart attack. Thankfully today Lily was distracted from her tales as she was busy staring at Taylor.
Taylor wore tan chinos and a pale blue short-sleeved shirt. It was a simple outfit, but the trousers were a similar colour to his hair, and the shirt complemented his eyes. Of course, I suspected it was the combination of his sheer size and powerful physique that held my friend rapt. Quite how Taylor managed to get his muscles to flex when the only movement he was making was the tiniest of taps with his finger, I had no idea. I wouldn’t have put it past him to know exactly what he was doing though, not least because it was two degrees below freezing outside, he hadn’t bothered to wear a jumper and his jacket was over the back of a kitchen chair.
Lily muttered something about stakeouts being more interesting when you’re drunk. Dad looked at me for an explanation but I shook my head. He must have decided that it was easier not to ask, as he looked down and continued to eat. Shortly after he’d finished the last chip, Ben closed his laptop with a decisive slam.
‘Whoever this Cody is, either they’re very good at covering their tracks online, or they’re a ghost.’
‘Someone who is as good at avoiding leaving a trail of breadcrumbs behind them online as I am, but that’s doubtful. Very few people are that good.’ If anyone else had said this I’d have called them egotistical, but in Ben’s case it was most likely true.
‘Maybe it’s just someone who is too old to bother with all that internet nonsense?’ Dad suggested. Ben looked at him as if he’d spontaneously spoken in Greek.
‘Do you have an email address?’ Taylor asked me. He handed me his phone and I tapped my details into it. ‘If you hear a helicopter overhead don’t worry. You’ll get the report of the infra-red detection scan first thing tomorrow morning. Ditto for the drone fly over.’ That was presumably the result of Taylor showing off in front of Eli, but if it got me answers I wouldn’t say no.
‘I’ve set up alerts on various sites that should let us know if this street is mentioned online, anywhere. Also if it’s mentioned on various other … erm—’ Ben looked at Taylor before he finished his sentence ‘—totally legal and non-hacked websites.’
I began to pile up the dirty plates. Sometimes it was better to be able to deny any responsibility later. Like the time that I’d first launched my store and Ben had tried to help by hacking a competitor’s website and redirecting all of their customers to my site instead. When their lawyers had tracked me down, I’d been able to prove that I was at a music festival with Lily with no internet access. There had also been no showers or clean toilets, but they weren’t as upset by that as I was. I’d got home to find a very angry woman on my doorstep, who had thankfully accepted my confusion as genuine, and who was put off enough by my smell that she hadn’t even wanted to come inside my flat and discuss it further. Ben had undone his promotional work and I’d escaped without legal action. That was my brother through and through, occasionally apt to make mistakes but only ever to try to help people he cared about. He had the biggest heart of anyone I knew and I loved him for it.
Taylor lifted his jacket from the back of the chair and pulled it on. ‘I’d better go. Early start tomorrow.’
‘At the gym?’ Lily asked, licking her lips.
‘Tracking down and assassinating enemies of the government?’ I asked. Taylor winked at us and left without another word.
‘I’ll come over tomorrow morning and we can plan what action we’re going to take,’ Lily said. I put my head in my hands, dreading what she would come up with.
‘And I’ve booked a week’s holiday for us.’
‘To Wales?’ Ben asked. ‘My favourite cottage might be free.’
‘Only because the weather there will be freezing,’ Eli pointed out. ‘This is our chance to get some sunshine. If Ben gets any more pale he’ll start glowing in the dark.’ Eli put his phone back in his pocket.
‘And how is that going to help Daisy?’ Lily asked.
‘I thought I’d get out of her hair for a little bit’ he replied. So clearly Eli had noticed that he had been getting to me even more than normal, but I wondered if he could tell that the bickering felt a little different recently. I hadn’t forgotten that he had called me beautiful or the way he had angled for a kiss under the mistletoe. Was he running away rather than letting us grow close again?
Chapter Seven
Lily said goodnight just as I ran the hot water in the sink and announced that it was time to do the washing up. Apparently she needed time to get her outfit sorted for work the next day. I didn’t like to ask for any more detail than that, so I gave her a quick hug and told her that I’d see her in the morning. Dad looked exhausted too so I sent him to bed with a book and a mug of herbal tea. He complained that I was fussing, but he went anyway so I knew that he must have been really tired. Ben disappeared off claiming that he needed to plug his laptop in to charge, but a moment later I could hear what sounded very much like computer game noises coming from his room.
I dropped the last of the clean plates onto the rack to dry and rolled my shoulders to try and ease out the knots. ‘You need a beer,’ Eli told me. He crossed to the fridge and peeked inside. ‘You need to buy some beer. Also some food, unless you can live on butter, gherkins, and jam.’
‘I’ll go grocery shopping in the morning,’ I replied. ‘Shortly before I get illegal intelligence on a random stranger who may or may not put me out of business.’ I sighed and wondered how on earth I’d got myself into this one.
Eli shepherded me downstairs to my flat. There I fetched a couple of beers from my slightly better stocked selection and handed one across. The only chairs in my flat were a couple of bar stools set behind my glass counter so we perched on those. They weren’t overly comfortable but it was that or sit on my bed, and that felt a little too intimate.
‘So where are you off to on your holiday?’ I asked. I could hear the resentment in my voice but Eli ignored it and answered me anyway.
‘I thought about going to Magaluf.’
‘Shagaluf?’ I retorted. ‘Figures.’
He continued to ignore my petulance. ‘But I checked and it’s only around ten degrees at this time of year. So I booked us a week in Cyprus. We’ll be back in plenty of time for you to get ready for Christmas.’ Not that my dad or Ben bothered much with decorations but I usually put a little Christmas tree on the kitchen counter and some tinsel around the TV. It was a token effort but my dad wouldn’t have managed much more cheer. ‘It won’t be sunbathing weather,’ Eli continued, ‘but it’ll be warmer than here. I can’t wait to feel some sunshine on my face again.’ He lifted his chin as if he were catching the rays from my ceiling light. ‘I need it, Dais,’ he said, and I looked at the exhaustion on his face and the tension in his body. He did need the break, but it didn’t mean that it would be easy on those of us left behind.
‘Have fun,’ I told him. ‘I’ll just stay here, try and keep my shop open, look after my dad …’
‘Oh, I booked for your dad too,’ Eli said. ‘He looked so down at tea-time.’
‘I didn’t realise you’d noticed,’ I said. ‘He’s been pretty down all the years you’ve known him to be fair.’ Eli reached across and squeezed my hand quickly for reassurance as I spoke. I could feel the warmth even after he’s let go again.
‘I should have checked whether he had a passport before I booked, but I know someone who works in that department who should be able to speed things along if not.’
‘He got one last year when he went to Canada to see his sister,’ I reminded Eli.
‘Did he enjoy that trip?’
‘He didn’t pack a warm enough coat, and wouldn’t let Auntie Jean buy him one until he’d spent half a day in hospital with suspected pneumonia. Also, he didn’t sleep on the plane, in either direction, so when he got home it took him a fortnight to recover from the jetlag. Don’t you remember Ben looking like a zombie for most of last February because Dad woke him up by watching films at three a.m.?’
‘I’ll get Ben to assign our seating,’ he said. ‘I’m sure he’ll be able to … persuade … their system to find your dad a decent seat.’
‘And you too,’ I scoffed.
‘I’m happy in a regular seat,’ he replied. ‘Even though they don’t have a lot of leg room for guys my height.’ He stood up and did a slow circle, in part to show how tall he was, but mostly I was sure to draw my eye to his body. If so, it worked. He sat back on the seat. ‘Ben’s just been a bit quiet lately. I figured what he needs is a few days in the sun with his best friend. Then I saw your dad this evening and thought that it wouldn’t do him any harm to come too. I got a bonus for a job well completed last month. I thought I’d treat them.’ That must have been the job that had left him looking so drained.
I set my empty bottle on the counter top and threw my arms around him. It surprised me as much as it did him I’m sure, being such a change from our usual bickering, but I was touched by his kindness, and recent days had brought a definite thawing in our relationship. Or lack of relationship.
‘Thank you for being so th
oughtful,’ I said. My nose was an inch from his. I noticed a small graze under his chin where he’d nicked himself shaving. Before I realised what I was doing, I leant forward and placed a gentle kiss against it. I felt his hands drop lower onto my waist, encircling me tightly with his arms, and as they grazed my bottom, he froze and pulled back. ‘I’ll get us another drink,’ I said, hopping off my stool and dashing to the kitchen.
Opening the door of the fridge, I waited for the chilled interior to take the heat and redness from my face. ‘Don’t fall in,’ Eli called out, so I reached inside and grabbed the last two bottles. I stood back to close the door and bumped straight into him. ‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘I didn’t mean to make you jump.’
He stood, toe to toe with me, our chests pressed against each other. My hands were full, but his arms were empty and he took me into them once more. This time it was his turn to kiss me, which he did gently and sweetly. Also, frustratingly quickly, and before I could react, he’d taken his drink from me, opened it and begun to walk away.
I opened my own bottle, and took a long swallow. Despite his reticence, Eli hadn’t left, and was now wandering around the shop again, looking in drawers and boxes. I turned back to my cabinet and found a box of snacks. Slamming a package in the microwave, the kitchen was quickly filled with the sound of popping and the smell of buttery popcorn.
‘Do you want to watch a film?’ I asked Eli. I didn’t wait for an answer but walked into my bedroom and began to boot up my laptop and hoped that he would follow. I didn’t want him to leave, despite having no idea what was going on between us. In all the years since we’d been intimate, he’d shown no signs of wanting to be close to me again. More than that, we’d spent the time sniping at each other. I wasn’t sure now whether he was just testing his luck again, or whether this was something more. I’d seen Eli in action, stalking women at bars and clubs as if they were prey, and more often than not his elegant and striking predator mode was successful. I’d never seen him hesitate before. Watching a movie seemed to be a good way of spending time with him but without putting any pressure on either of us.