by Penny Grubb
As Mike left the room, Annie thought about the building-with-eyes and how it had unlocked the secrets of her childhood memories. The foundation of her world rocked. Mummy’s bad little girl. So bad that Mummy left her. Then Daddy’s bad little girl. He’d had to send her away.
But she hadn’t been Bad Annie at all. Bad Mummy had dragged her little girl into a terrible world. And Daddy hadn’t seen, hadn’t understood, hadn’t coped. Only Aunt Marian had been with her throughout. Not understanding, but closer to the truth than any of them. And always on Annie’s side.
She made herself stand back, the way she’d learnt to do with the awkward cases, to look for what was there, not what appeared through the lenses of her own preconceptions.
Mike was right: Aunt Marian loved her and would do anything to protect her. She would even lay into an armed psychopath. And under it all, she liked the woman her niece had grown into. She judged her a good and decent person. Instinctively, Annie wanted to set aside the judgement as ill-informed, but she stopped herself. This was dangerous territory. She must take things carefully.
The door opened and her father came in. He was alone.
Annie returned his smile. ‘Mike said you’d brought Aunt Marian.’
‘They’ve gone to rustle up some coffee. It looks like you’ll be out of here soon.’
‘Yes, it looks like it.’
‘Annie, why don’t you come and stay with me for a few days before you go back. Mike can stay too. Mrs Latimer’ll have kittens but I’d like you both with me. I’ll take leave. We’ll have a proper break together. When you came up a few weeks ago, you must have been looking forward to a relaxing few days.’
Hardly that, but she wouldn’t say.
‘You never got them though, did you? I feel bad about that.’
‘Why on earth should you feel bad? None of it was your fault.’
‘Looking back, I can see how much you wanted to tell me about your business back in London and I never gave you a chance.’
‘What? You mean you knew about it?’
‘Not then, of course. I was so wrapped up in all that was going on. But I’ve spoken to Mike, and I had Pieternel on the phone the other day. She told me how well it’s all going. I’m proud of you, Annie.’
For Pieternel to have told her father, it had to be true. It was really going to work out. It was hard to let the thought in, as though she’d chased away too many demons too quickly and needed to hold tight to some to keep her grip on reality.
‘I’m just sorry I didn’t let you tell me your good news when you wanted to,’ her father went on. ‘It’s a shame for poor Mike though. He’s lost his job because of what he’s done for you. But don’t worry, I’ll do whatever it takes to see him through it.’
For a second, Annie wondered if she should feel cheated. Mike was the recipient of the support she’d wanted for herself, but it didn’t matter. No point raking over old ground. It had been a rocky path to get this far and now it felt good.
‘Yes, it’s really coming together now.’
‘I always knew you had it in you, Annie.’
Yes, Dad. It’s good news.
The end
If you have enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review for Penny to let her know what you thought of her work, and please explore the rest of the series where the stories of Annie, Pieternel and the Thompson sisters carry on.
Book four teaser: Where There’s Smoke
Back in London and almost recovered from a serious head injury, Annie Raymond is impatient to be properly back at work. The firm needs her at full throttle and she is worried about a case that has taken a nasty turn. But then her ex-boss and arch-critic, Barbara Thompson, goes to extraordinary lengths to get her back to East Yorkshire.
She arrives to find no one seems to want her, and the man who signed the paperwork is in hospital fighting for his life. When someone gets to Barbara before Annie can clear up the confusion she realizes Barbara was playing a dangerous game. And now it’s too late to walk away.
This fourth outing for PI Annie Raymond sees her dropped into a minefield of double-dealing as she returns to a past she thought she’d left behind.
Where There’s Smoke – What the critics say
“This is crime fiction as it should be written.”
“Horribly sinister. Couldn’t put it down.”
“Will keep you guessing to the end. More than worth the read.”
Where
There’s
Smoke
Prologue
Waves slapped against the low sides of the boat, salt water splashing in the darkness, pinpricks on Vitoria’s skin. The night air cut across her, emphasizing her sense of isolation, but she felt no fear, just an exhilaration she held tight to herself. Too soon to celebrate. The man with her, her pilot for this last short stretch, cut the motor, swivelled the tiny outboard free of the water and pulled a pair of oars from the floor of the craft. As he did so he glanced at her as though wondering if the move would alarm her. Maybe it would have if she hadn’t understood every word of the quick fire exchanges before she’d been pushed out into his care. As they’d helped her make the precarious step into the smaller boat over the churning oily blackness between the two craft, she had pretended to need their exaggerated sign language.
Get your bag … hold tight … step here … step there….
Away from the wake of the bigger vessel, the sea was barely choppy but the tiny size of the boat exaggerated the swell.
Vitoria looked intently into the darkness ahead, straining to make out the line of the cliffs against the night sky, curious for her first glimpse of the beach where they would make landfall.
A single lamp swayed gently, almost lost in the gloom. She might have missed it if she hadn’t been looking. The man at the oars had glanced behind to see its reassuring presence and then simply bent his back to the task of taking them ashore.
It was Vitoria, facing the direction of travel, who saw the lamp ignite a string of lanterns, a ribbon of fire along the pebbly shore.
Alarmed, she leant forward, tapping her companion’s arm, and pointed: Look behind you, knowing it was the sign to pull back, to abort the landing. His head shot up, his stare hard into her eyes. She saw suspicion flare as though he perceived everything about her in that moment. Then he glanced over his shoulder before lowering his gaze and continuing to pull on the oars, taking them closer to the blaze of light.
Confused she looked at him, then at the beach. The extra light showed two figures in silhouette jockeying for position at a barbecue that suddenly spouted red hot embers. Had she misunderstood the instructions she’d heard repeated out there in the deep water? Had she walked into some sort of betrayal at the last hurdle? After her first alarm, she sat back. What could she do – jump out and swim? Hardly. Nor could she wrestle the oars from him and turn the boat herself.
A jolt as they scraped on the pebbles. It almost threw Vitoria from her seat. At once, the man at the oars leapt up, grabbed her arm and all but threw her out into the shallow water. Without his iron grip she would have fallen. ‘Go… go.’ His hands flapped, miming speed. Go with speed.
Off balance, the freezing water above her knees, Vitoria clutched her bag and stumbled towards the beach. The pull of the water dragged at her legs, threatening to lift her feet from under her as the waves swelled. All her concentration focused on balancing over the pebbly surface, but she heard the scrape of the oar, and glimpsed the man in her peripheral vision as the pull of the waves turned her sideways. He stood in the boat, his face contorted with effort as he used a single oar to push himself free of the shallows and back out to sea.
A few metres in and she was stable enough to take a proper look towards the beach. The water lapped round her calves and her feet were numb with cold. The figures at the barbecue, now distinguishable as a man and a woman both dressed in worn jeans and floppy T-shirts, looked out into darkness, blind to the drama played out in the shallows. If she’d had
any doubts about the instructions given her pilot, they evaporated at the consternation greeting the sight of her wading ashore. He should have turned his boat silently, kept her aboard, and allowed the sea to swallow them into the night.
For a moment, they just stared, then they started towards her.
Not knowing if she should be frightened, but having no way to avoid them, she carried on. She was all but out of the water now, no more than ankle deep. They stood back beyond the reach of the highest of the waves, waiting for her. Vitoria looked down, concentrating on the sludge at her feet, careful not to fall at the last moment.
She glanced up when the woman spoke. ‘We were just having a barbecue on the beach, no law against that.’
As she stepped up beyond the line of the last of the waves, Vitoria saw the intended recipients of this well-rehearsed, badly timed line. Two men in British police uniforms, who had yet to speak, yet to ask a question of anyone, approached from the other direction. It wasn’t a sight she wanted to see, but she couldn’t help feeling reassured, because what real harm could come at the hands of the British policeman of the story books, the affable Bobby with his absurd hat. The first of them was too young to fit the stereotype and his face was far from friendly, but she almost smiled.
Then she looked behind him. His companion was older, his expression grim. He stared with distaste at the unkempt couple and their barbecue forks. Then he glanced at Vitoria and looked her up and down. Briefly, their eyes met.
In that fleeting moment, for the first time, Vitoria was afraid.
Falling Into Crime
The Annie Raymond Mysteries
•Book 1: Like False Money
•Book 2: The Jawbone Gang
•Book 3: The Doll Makers
The story of Annie Raymond, Pieternel and the Thompson sisters continues in:
•Book 4: Where There’s Smoke
•Book 5: Buried Deep
•Book 6: Syrup Trap City
The Webber/Ahmed series
•Book 1: Buried Deep – Introducing Detective Superintendent Martyn Webber and Detective Constable Ayaan Ahmed
•Book 2: Tiger Blood – Follow Webber and Ahmed as their next cases unfold
•Book 3: Syrup Trap City – Ahmed and Raymond are unexpectedly reunited
You can find out more about Penny on her author page on the Fantastic Books Store. While you’re there, why not browse our delightful tales and wonderfully woven prose?
www.fantasticbooksstore.com