And The Earth Moved: Romantic Comedy Cozy Mystery (Amber Reed CCIA Mystery Book 1)

by Zanna Mackenzie

  “Bert has worked for him for ages, of course he cares,” I say, ignoring the fact Charlie’s hand just accidentally brushed against mine in the washing up bowl.

  Dumping the clean mug on the draining board Charlie wipes his hands on his tracksuit bottoms. “Funny thing is though,” he says. “I could have sworn he seemed irritated over something even before I told him about the Bert incident.”

  “He’s just on edge because of what happened to Joel,” I say, avoiding looking at Charlie.

  “Yeah, of course he is. I’m sure that’s all it was.” He takes the stairs two at a time and I think I hear him mutter something about Ennis and me as he goes but I’m not sure.

  Not much more than ten minutes later Charlie bounds into the kitchen, showered and changed. I notice he hasn’t shaved though and I find myself thinking the dark stubble suits him. “Just had a call,” he says.

  “News?” I ask, instantly on alert. “Is Bert all right?”

  “Yep.” He nods. “He’s fine I just checked in with the hospital. No, this call was some feedback on the checks I requested about Set In Stone quarry. Seems the place has more serious financial problems than Liam was letting on when he said money was why they weren’t up to date on fence maintenance.”

  “I’m not surprised. Armstrong Turston ran the quarry efficiently and the place always seemed busy. Since he died I’ve heard some of the local men who drive the lorries up at Set In Stone when they’re talking in the pub. They’ve been saying they’re worried there might be some redundancies because business has slowed so much. I get the feeling Liam is finding it difficult being in charge, running the family business.”

  Charlie flops onto a chair and taps a finger against the top of the dining table. “So they might be looking for alternative sources of income for the business then by the sounds of things.”

  “Could well be. Oh, I forgot to say I saw something which might be useful on a wall planner in the quarry office that night we broke in.”

  He gives me a look which clearly tells me he’s a little miffed I’ve only just thought to mention this fact. Oops.

  “There were several dates circled in red but nothing written next to them,” I press on. “One of the dates was the night we were there.”

  “Did you notice if the night of Joel’s death was circled or not?” he asks.

  I search through my mind, trying to summon up a picture of the wall planner. “Not sure but I do remember when the next date is which was circled. It was Thursday, two days away.”

  He nods his approval and I get the feeling I’m forgiven. “I think I’ll be paying the quarry another visit on that night then.”

  I raise an eyebrow. “I’ll be paying another visit? Singular?”

  He frowns. “Amber, you’ve seen what these guys can do. It’s not safe for you.”

  “It’s not safe for you either.”

  “That’s different. It’s my job to do this stuff. I can handle myself.”

  I have a feeling being stroppy won’t get the results I want, especially in the circumstances, so quickly switch tactics. “There’s more than one way to get to the bottom of something like this. You’re the expert of course but you know I can help you out with the local knowledge side of things and I…”

  He shakes his head slightly and looks away.

  “Something the matter?” I ask sweetly.

  “You’re doing it again.”

  “Doing what?” I try to paste an innocent expression on my face.

  “Using that charm of yours, combined with your stubborn streak. I’m glad you’re on my side in all of this. You know just how to work it to get people trusting you, opening up to you. Doing whatever you want them to.”

  “You’re one to talk,” I retaliate. “What about you and that smile?”

  “What smile?”

  I cross my arms. “You know what smile.”

  Still sitting at the table he lifts his head slightly and then he gives me that smile.

  “See!” I can’t help laughing. “That’s the one! That smile. You can get anything you want with that smile and you know it!”

  He raises an eyebrow and there’s more than a twinkle in his eyes. “Anything?”

  I look away, feeling colour rising in my cheeks. “Well, almost anything,” I amend.

  Charlie sighs. “OK. OK. OK. You can come with me on Thursday but we aren’t going down into the quarry this time. We’re going to find a suitable vantage point on the rim of the quarry perimeter. From there we can safely see down into the quarry hole itself and also see across the rim to the spot where Joel fell.”

  His phone beeps again and he scans the text message then gets to his feet.

  “Seems Bert is awake and we can go up there and have a chat with him this morning. According to Pete, the local guy keeping guard, Tina spent the night in her dad’s room, asleep on the chair. Nobody went near the place except for her mum and the hospital staff.”

  I heave a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness he’s OK. Shall we get going to the hospital then? Oh, one more thing.”

  “Yep?”

  “Can we call at my house before we go to the hospital? I could do with another change of clothes and a freshen up. I wasn’t thinking straight last night when I packed some stuff. I haven’t got half what I need.”

  He nods, grabbing a jacket. “Of course we can. Freshen up eh? That means you didn’t try out your luxury power shower or Jacuzzi bath this morning then?”

  “No,” I reply. Before I can stop myself I add, “Have both bedrooms got them?”

  “Yes, they have,” he says, holding the door open for me. “They’re pretty amazing as well.”

  I swallow and try to avert my mind from thoughts of Charlie in the bath, or standing under a power shower, the water pummelling those broad shoulders. I feel my cheeks grow warm again and, as I follow him through the door, am relieved that a gush of fresh morning air helps cool me down.

  “You can give one of them a try tonight,” he says as he sets off at full stride towards the parking area.

  “Tonight?” I gulp.

  He turns around to look at me, walking backwards now. “Of course. I reckon it might be best if you move into the guest wing for a day or so.” The cheeky smile is back. “For your own safety, of course.”

  Mmm…not so sure about that.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “But he’s going to be OK?” Ennis asks, putting mugs of coffee down in front of me and then Charlie. “He looked pretty bad when I saw him this morning.”

  It’s mid-afternoon and Charlie and I are sitting in Ennis’ kitchen. The morning was crazy to say the least. We called at my flat so I could get changed then we made a quick visit to the hospital to check on Bert who was still a bit groggy but looking better. Then I went to the Palstone Courier to do my four hour shift. Now I’m in a catch-up session before I rush off to work at the pub later.

  “Yes, he’ll be right as rain,” Charlie says, leaning against the kitchen breakfast bar. “We have him under surveillance for now. Any idea why someone would want to assault Bert?”

  Ennis shakes his head. “No, absolutely not. This is all absurd. I moved here because it was quiet. Off the beaten track. Now my brother is dead and my employees are being beaten up. Not to mention Amber’s been terrified out of her mind by this business with Bert. She could have been hurt too.”

  “Ennis I’m fine,” I say. “Yeah, I was a bit freaked out for a while but I’m OK now, honestly.”

  “I’ve made up my mind,” he says ignoring me and turning to Charlie. “I want Amber off the case. It’s getting too dangerous.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “What? No? That’s crazy,” I say, panic rising inside me. He can’t take me off the case, not now. I’m in this way too deep to just walk away.

  “I agree,” Charlie says from the other side of the kitchen.

  What?!!!

  I glare at Charlie. Some help he is. I thought we’d come to a mutual understanding
. Obviously not.

  “No. No way are the two of you taking me off this case. Not now,” I shout, gesturing widely. OK, being calm and arguing my case that way would probably get me better results than throwing a hissy fit in the middle of the room but right now fury is bubbling inside of me and needs to be let out.

  “I don’t know what I was thinking that day I asked you to do this,” Ennis says, leaning his elbows on the table and pushing his hands through his hair. “My mind was all over the place after I heard about Joel. I wasn’t capable of thinking straight at all. I was freaked about Joel, panicked and scared I might have a stalker targeting my family or something. Then I got all hung up and worried about a stranger working on the case and discovering God knows what. I made a huge mistake asking you to do this, Amber. I’m so sorry I put you in danger.”

  “You signed a contract with the agency and I’ve signed a confidentiality agreement for the cases I handle with the agency,” Charlie says. “As I pointed out when I first arrived and you asked about Amber shadowing me, you have nothing to worry about. Everything involved with this case remains between us and the agency. I’m sworn to secrecy.”

  Ennis nods. “I know. I should have listened to you before but, like I said, I just wasn’t thinking straight.”

  “Hello!” I shout, waving my arms in the air. “I am in the room. Will you two stop talking like I’m not capable of making a decision for myself?”

  Charlie steps towards me. “It’s not like that, Amber. But in the circumstances I think Ennis has a valid point.”

  I pull away from him. “No he doesn’t have a valid point. This is all crazy. You can’t let me get this involved and then pull the rug out from under me.” Turning pleading eyes on Ennis I add, “Please, let me do this. I want to and Charlie will make sure I’m safe. I promise I won’t go off and do something like the moors incident again.”

  Ennis sighs and looks at Charlie. “Can Amber help you out in any way on this case? Honestly? Is she useful as a part of the investigation?”

  “Obviously she knows the locals,” he edges. “They’re more likely to tell her stuff than they are me. Especially in casual conversation, you know down the pub, people are relaxed and might mention something which could possibly be a key to unlocking part of the case. That’s always useful to have, somebody on the inside so to speak.”

  I clasp my hands together and hope and pray they’ll see sense and change their minds. If not, well, I’ll just have to take matters into my own hands won’t I?

  “So you want her to stay on the case then?” Ennis asks Charlie.

  “Yes and no.” Charlie looks at me for several moments. “Come on, realistically, I think we both know her well enough to know exactly what she’ll do if we say no. Don’t we?”

  Ennis nods. “Yeah, we do. She’ll most likely carry on with the case on her own.”

  “My thoughts exactly,” Charlie agrees. “So I suppose she may as well stay on the case and work with me so I can keep an eye on her.”

  Yes!

  “You’ll make sure she stays safe?” Ennis asks, giving Charlie a weary look.

  “I’ll make sure she stays safe.” Charlie gives me a pointed look. “Provided of course she keeps her promise not to go wandering off on her own and asking for trouble.”

  “You’ve got yourself a deal,” Ennis says and I heave a sigh of relief. I’m still not happy about how they came to this decision but my main concern, for now, is that I get to officially stay involved in the investigation.

  “So, is this all something to do with me?” Ennis continues. “Did somebody target Joel because he’s my brother? Did they attack Bert because he works for me?”

  “You haven’t received anything from anyone though which suggests that might be the case,” Charlie reasons. “If it was, then it would have been more likely they’d have taken Joel and held him for ransom, not killed him.”

  “We still don’t know if Joel’s death was murder,” I say softly. “It could still have been a terrible accident or even…”

  “He didn’t commit suicide!” Ennis shouts, frustration and hurt in his voice.

  “What is it, darling?”

  We all turn to see Siobhan standing in the kitchen doorway, presumably alerted by Ennis’ raised voice. She’s wearing black jeans and a jumper and I can’t help noticing there’s a designer holdall at her feet. Has she just arrived from somewhere? Come to think of it I can’t recall seeing her sports car outside when I arrived.

  “Has something else happened?” she asks, looking from Ennis to Charlie but ignoring me.

  “It’s Bert,” Ennis says, pushing a hand through his sexily messy hair. “For some reason he was up on the moors alone last night and got attacked. He was taken to hospital but thankfully he’s already on the mend and will be OK in a day or so.”

  Siobhan clasps a hand over her mouth and sinks onto a nearby stool. “Oh my goodness,” she says, reaching for the nearest coffee mug (which happens to be Charlie’s but I don’t see him complaining) and taking a sip. “Who would do something like that and why?”

  “That’s what we’re determined to find out,” I reply and she looks over as if spotting me for the first time.

  She takes another sip of Charlie’s coffee.

  Ennis sighs and buries his face in his hands. “I can’t believe all this.”

  “Did Bert and Joel ever meet?” Charlie asks. “We’re trying to establish if there’s any link between the two of them, something which might explain why Bert was targeted.”

  “The only time they met, as far as I’m aware, was here in the kitchen. Joel was in here when Bert brought Tina up to meet me.”

  “Did they speak to each other at any point?” Charlie asks.

  “No,” Ennis shakes his head. “Bert and Tina left and then the gate intercom buzzed and I answered it. It turned out to be one of Joel’s disgruntled ex-girlfriends. She wanted to be let in along with this guy who was with her. I refused. Joel went on the intercom and was arguing with her.”

  “What happened then?” Charlie prompts and I can see his mind taking it all in, calculating options.

  “Eventually they left. She was furious. I had a go at Joel for telling them where he was.” Ennis sighs. “I try to keep this place as off the map as I can. Not sure why he told them he was here. Candi, that’s his ex, was major trouble. I thought he was done with her.”

  Charlie stops leaning on the worktop and stand up to his full six foot plus. The look on his face is the same as the one he shot at me earlier when I confessed about the wall planner omission. “Why didn’t you tell me about any of this when I first interviewed you?” he says to Ennis.

  “I don’t know,” Ennis shrugs, looking confused. Siobhan gets up and moves to stand next to him slipping a protective arm around him. “I’d just been told Joel was dead. My brain wasn’t working I guess. I didn’t think it was relevant.”

  Charlie shakes his head but keeps his voice even. “You didn’t think it was relevant that your brother’s ex, who you say is trouble, had turned up at the house gates, wasn’t let in and went away mad as hell?”

  Ennis looks from me to Charlie. “You don’t think it was Candi?”

  “Do you have any more details on her?” Charlie asks. “Full name? An address? Where she works? We’ll need to interview her.”

  “I don’t know,” Ennis says again. “All I know is her name is Candi, short for Candice. From bits Joel said she’s volatile. Fond of drink and drugs. Got a temper on her.”

  “I think she works in an office,” Siobhan chips in and earns herself a look of surprise from all of us.

  “He said something to me, after that business when she turned up at the gate, that he wished he’d never met her.” She shifts awkwardly on her stool and avoids eye contact with us. “I asked where they did meet and he said it was when he went to see a mate who worked at some insurance brokers in Manchester. I think she did admin there or something. She recognised Joel from his photos in the goss
ip magazines and latched on to him straight away.”

  “Any chance he said the name of the place?” Charlie asks.

  “No, sorry, that’s all I know.”

  “OK, thanks guys we’ll do some digging and see if we can track her down. She turned up with a guy in a car. I assume your CCTV would have recorded the number plate?”

  Ennis nodded. “Yeah, should have.”

  “Can we take a look at the footage please?” Charlie asks with barely concealed irritation.

  “Of course.” Ennis gestures towards the study off the kitchen. “Follow me.”

  “So, things between Joel and Ennis hadn’t improved since he’d been staying here?” I say to Siobhan as she moves to the fridge, opens a bottle of mineral water and pours some into a glass.

  “They were worse than ever.” She fetches ice cubes and pops three into the glass. “He made life very difficult for Ennis. Always asking for money from him. Always getting himself into scrapes so he’d get in the papers. You name it, if it’s dodgy he was probably involved in it.” She shudders. “Guy gave me the creeps. You know once he even...”

  “Thanks, that’s great I’ll get this number plate tracked down. Shouldn’t be long now before we find this Candice,” I hear Charlie say and see him and Ennis coming back into the room.

  Perfect timing. Just when Siobhan might have been about to reveal something interesting.

  “Ready?” Charlie asks, looking at me.

  Not really but I can hardly say I want to hang around and see what secret Siobhan might have been about to reveal, can I?

  I could just see if she’s willing to continue though…

  “Sorry, Siobhan, you were saying?” I prompt.

  “Oh, nothing important,” she says putting her glass down. “I think I’ll go and take a bath.” Collecting up the leather holdall she disappears out of the door.

  Did she spend the night somewhere else I wonder? She flounced off the other day and now she arrives here with an overnight bag, clearly not up to speed on what happened with Bert. Strange indeed, or maybe it’s just my overactive imagination kicking in again.

  Charlie is already out of the door when I turn to say goodbye to Ennis. He gives me a cold look and I remember this morning and him finding me eating breakfast with Charlie.