“Perfect,” he said, his eyes fixed on her face.
“We’ll take these, too,” he said to the shopkeeper and casually handed over more cash to pay for them.
“Thank you,” she said again, pulling the cardboard lid off of the top of her ice cream and popping the small wooden spoon out so she could start eating. Surely dessert would help with the twinge of embarrassment that she couldn’t even make the gesture of offering to pay.
“You’re welcome,” he said as they left the shop. With a nod to her new sunglasses he added, “Totally undercover now.”
The ice cream really was definitely helping with her embarrassment, and she smiled at him. He was a genius. On a sunny day like this no one would think twice about her wearing sunglasses, and these huge frames would definitely hide her features. Unfortunately, the thought that he’d had to spend yet more money on her brought her lack of money back to mind. This being on the run nonsense was really starting to get to her. Something as simple as buying an ice cream had brought home the impossibility of carrying on like this. She may not enjoy some of the freedoms that other people got to appreciate, but she was used to being independent, and yes, being able to pay her own way was a big part of that. Stuck in the middle of the city with no cash, she realized just how dependent she was on Chase. What if Jack didn’t show up? What if Chase was wrong and they really were on their own? Maybe she could trust Chase—okay she knew she trusted him, knew she wanted him around—but that didn’t mean she wanted to be dependent on him.
Chapter Seventeen
As they walked along the river bank, Chase felt Beth fidgeting next to him. She was getting more and more jumpy the longer they walked. He figured it was a combination of worry for her family and nerves over the attention she was getting from the people they passed. Smiling to himself, he realized she thought she was being recognized. If she had the slightest ego she'd have figured out that the attention was all male and was the kind of second look that some men instinctively gave a beautiful woman. There was no way to prevent that from happening. He figured if she looked taken, the looks might not linger so long. The fact was that the attention was only making Beth feel uncomfortable, but it wasn’t putting her in danger. There was no reason for him to do anything about it at all. He had to admit that if he went ahead with his idea it would be for his own selfish reasons as much as anything else.
After a brief wrestle with his conscience he decided to go with it, and without a word he wrapped his hand around Beth's. After an initial start of surprise, she curled her delicate fingers into his, accepting the contact.
A warmth spread in his chest at the simple pleasure of walking alongside the river in the sunshine holding hands, the sunlight glinting off the water as they headed across the city towards St. Paul’s Cathedral. As time passed he noticed with some satisfaction that the simple act of holding Beth's hand meant she was receiving less attention. As he'd suspected, a beautiful woman who appeared to be taken wasn't as interesting to look at as one who appeared to be available.
Chase snorted at his reasoning. He knew why he'd done it, and reducing the attention she was attracting wasn’t it. Beth glanced up at the sound, her brows furrowed in question. Damn, he wasn’t about to explain. He shook his head at her silent question. Fortunately, she simply smiled at him before looking away again. He was turning into a sap, and the sooner he got her back into safe hands the better. That way he could get back to focusing on what really mattered. His own investigation.
“So, did you like being undercover with Jonathan?” she asked as they continued walking.
“Actually I did. He’s a good bloke,” Chase said. “Not so sure about his mates though.”
“Oh, why?”
“They spent their whole time talking about who was the most trashed the night before and whose bonus was the biggest, all whilst laughing like hyenas. They were jackasses,” Chase said.
After his last deployment he'd expected this mission to be a piece of cake, a chance to focus on what really mattered. He wasn't part of the Counter Revolutionary War wing that Beth had asked about when they’d first met, but like most SAS troopers had had thorough training by them, so he knew it was pretty unusual to be immersed in someone's everyday life for so long.
“I can’t image it was easy for you being surrounded by people who were so interested in money when you’re used to being with people who are focused on protecting others.”
He smiled at her as they waited for the light to change so they could cross the road. She was pretty astute. The other traders had been smug and self-absorbed. Used to being surrounded by men and women absolutely assured of themselves and their own abilities, he wasn’t intimidated by their confidence. It was the fact that for those people it had all been about the money. The one with the most was top dog. In Chase’s world, it was all about skill and survival. At thirty-six he had seen and done things even the older traders couldn’t even begin to imagine. It had been irritating hearing them prattling on as though money was the answer to everything.
“Some of them certainly thought money was the be all and end all,” he said with a shrug.
“I certainly know enough people like that myself,” she said wryly. “You were with Jonathan for a long time. Is that normal?” Beth asked.
“No, they placed me early to give credence to the story that I was an old friend of Jonathan's so it would be natural for me to show up as a groomsman. I did like kicking back with Jonathan, drinking beer and watching the football. Despite the fact he supports a rubbish team,” Chase added with a smile.
Walking with Beth, chatting about normal things, he could almost forget the danger they faced if she was identified.
“Did you have to do all that financial trading stuff?” she asked.
“I didn’t think I would, but it was really interesting,” he said. Despite himself Chase had even enjoyed the work. Jonathan worked for a large hedge fund in the city, which meant Chase had worked for them, too. Something he'd imagined would be terminally boring, yet, despite how hard it had been to sit still for such long periods of time, he’d found the ebb and flow of transactions fascinating. They provided a perspective he'd never stopped to consider, although he doubted he could take it on permanently.
“Something you could do if you ever get bored of the military then,” she said, smiling up at him.
“I doubt it,” he said. “I never went to university. My dad ran his own business but we never had enough money for that to be an option, so I enlisted as soon as I turned seventeen. Never considered another career.” His heart sped up as soon as he realized he had mentioned his dad. She knocked him so off kilter he’d said it before thinking. Fortunately, she didn’t pursue it.
“Well, you’re certainly smart enough.”
The comment took him by surprise. Her total faith in him was like a punch to the gut. She seemed to only see good, yet he was planning to use this job for his own benefit. He might not have lied to her, but he was certainly holding back on their connection to each other. His military service had made him a man he had thought he could be proud of, a man capable of holding back the shadows of the past.
Mostly.
As she stared blankly at the mug in front of her, Beth’s sigh made it clear that whilst she’d managed to relax and enjoy their exploration of the city, the tension had firmly returned. Chase wished they had had longer. He wished he could have taken her to see every sight London had to offer, but time was a luxury they didn’t have. Yet now, sitting waiting for the minutes to tick by, was interminable. Used to military operations he knew full well that waiting was just the other side of the coin to the action that would surely follow. He just wanted it to start. All afternoon he’d had been thinking over what he was going to do if the Commander didn’t show. Unfortunately, he was no closer to a solution now than he had been hours ago.
Beth finally looked up from her mug and broke the silence that stretched between them.
“I thought we would be meetin
g somewhere quieter,” she said, her head moving from side to side as she took in the sights of the busy shopping center.
“It's somewhere the Commander would come normally so it makes it less suspicious if he comes here. Plus, crowds are better,” Chase explained. It might be midweek, but the shoppers were undeterred, milling in and out of the chain stores, growing volumes of plastic and paper bags weighing them down as they went. For a country suffering from an extended recession it seemed the retailers were still thriving.
“Surely there's more chance of being seen by someone though if there are lots of people around?” Beth asked.
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you, but that's where people go wrong. They think that they should hold secret meetings somewhere deserted, but actually it’s better if you meet somewhere busy. Lots of background noise makes it harder to be overheard. You stand out less and, if necessary, it makes getting away easier.”
“Do you think it will be necessary?” she asked, looking at him anxiously.
She had visibly retreated into herself as they had walked around the shopping center before taking a seat in a café a short distance from the designated meeting place. He knew it was her way of coping, and he also knew that just sitting here wasn’t helping keep her concerns at bay.
“I hope not, but it pays to be prepared,” Chase said, taking a sip of his black coffee, continually scanning their surroundings as he spoke. He couldn’t let his fascination with this woman distract him from keeping them both safe.
“How long until we meet Jack?”
“Well, if I'm right the Commander will be here in just under an hour. We'll stay here so we can keep an eye on that coffee shop over there.”
She nodded her understanding, and he continued his scan of their surroundings.
“Just keep talking to me,” he muttered after a few minutes.
“Why?”
“I want to check something out,” he said.
“Okay. Tell me about your family,” Beth said.
“What?”
“Well, you know just about everything there is to know about me and I don't know anything about you.”
Chase's mind spun as he tried to figure out what to tell Beth. It would have to be enough to satisfy her curiosity without telling her everything. It was something he wouldn't normally have a problem with, but now he had to make sure he kept his story straight whilst checking if his suspicions about the people studying them were correct.
“There's not much to tell. Dad died five years ago. Mum works a couple of jobs cleaning a school and in a supermarket.”
“She must work hard if she’s holding down two jobs,” Beth said.
“She does. With what I send her she doesn’t need the money so I’ve been trying to get her to quit at least one of them, but she’s having none of it. Always says she likes to be prepared for her luck changing.”
“That sounds like experience talking,” Beth said.
He felt himself fidget under her gaze, realizing that the distraction of trying to suss out the people watching them had meant he’d said more than he’d meant to. He determinedly kept his gaze from her and was relieved when she didn’t pursue the matter. Unfortunately, her next topic of conversation wasn’t much better.
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
Damn it, he wasn’t about to lie to her, but this was one story he didn’t want to tell. However, unlike things with his dad, keeping this one secret was all about his pride. The look of pity that followed when he’d told anyone about his brother over the years was something he really didn’t want to see from Beth.
“I have one brother, but I don’t see him,” he said, knowing his tone was clipped and harsh but not wanting to encourage her questions.
“Chase,” Beth said, drawing his eyes to her for the first time since she'd started the discussion. “You don't have to be so alone,” she said, flushing red as she spoke.
She was clearly being far more forward than she was comfortable with, and her courage and willingness to take a chance were something he couldn’t help but admire. His heart leapt. She wasn’t saying the words, but he knew exactly what she was saying. More accurately, what she was offering. The idea held more appeal than he could possibly have imagined. It had been a lot of years since he’d allowed himself to imagine a future with someone, his career and circumstances giving him the perfect excuse for his inability to trust. The idea that Beth wanted to be a part of his life nearly floored him. Oh, he knew she was attracted to him, he wasn’t a total idiot, but what she was suggesting now? That was beyond anything he would have dared hope for.
He swallowed hard. No matter what his heart wanted, and damn it he wanted the life she had only hinted at, he had a promise to see through. That promise was something that would only bring harm to Beth. He couldn't have both, and, even as he felt a sharp pain in his chest at that acknowledgement, he forced himself not to just grab her and run away from his obligations. Coughing awkwardly, he forced himself to ignore her comments. He didn’t trust himself to do the right thing and refuse her.
“I'm worried you've been identified,” he said stiffly.
“Whha—what?” Beth stuttered.
“Could you lean down and look in the bag?”
“Certainly, what do you need?” she asked, bending toward the bag on the floor as instructed.
“Nothing, I just want to check something behind you.”
“Okay,” she said, continuing as he’d asked without question.
As she did, Chase watched the two groups of people sitting opposite him. There was a group of teenage girls staring at them and talking behind their hands. Their efforts at discretion were somewhat spoiled by the fact that two of them had their mobile phones raised, as if taking photos. The third was shaking her head and gesturing in a way that indicated long hair.
Damn, he thought, realizing they were arguing about whether or not the woman in front of him was Elizabeth Worthington. He was going to have to think fast to get them out of this. The older couple at the table next to the girls were sitting in companionable silence, but Chase could see the woman’s gaze shift between the teenagers and himself and Beth. Sitting where she was, she could obviously hear what the girls were saying and was trying to figure out if they were right or not.
“We need to get out of here,” Chase said aloud while silently cursing to himself. Where the hell were they going to go so that these people wouldn't be able to see them, but also that wouldn't screw up the rendezvous with the Commander? He knew that if it came down to it he'd have to abandon the whole thing. With social media it’d be a matter of minutes before the whole world knew not only exactly what the missing heiress now looked like but also exactly where she was. That was something they couldn’t stick around for. Beth simply nodded at him.
As he pushed his chair back to stand up, the old lady approached, her sprightly movements belying the lines on her face, beaming as she reached them. The teenage girls on the next table sat staring silently at her.
“’Scuse me interrupting, like, but are you Elizabeth Worthington?” the woman asked quietly.
Beth's face froze in shock, her inexperience showing as she floundered for a response. Just as Chase opened his mouth to deter the woman, her eyes narrowed knowingly.
“You're in trouble, aren't you? With what happened at the wedding and everything.” She leant further forwards, ensuring the words were only for Beth and Chase's ears.
Beth nodded mutely.
“I'm betting you don't want people to recognize you. That's why you've cut your hair and changed the color and that,” she continued, seemingly unaware of the rising panic her words were inducing.
“Leave it to me,” she said, beaming at Beth before turning to smile at Chase, who just stared at her blankly. Confronted with unwanted attention on a mission, he’d usually attack first and ask questions later, but attacking an elderly woman in the middle of a shopping center wasn’t an option. What the hell were they going to do n
ow?
“I'm Maud, and that over there is my husband, Bill,” she said before stretching back up and waving across at her husband. Panic flickered across Beth's face as Chase began to move around the table, his arm stretching out to grab Beth's and get them both out of there.
“Bill,” the woman shouted. “Bill, I was right. It's my great niece Charlie and her boyfriend, Pete. Come say hello.”
Chase exchanged stunned looks with Beth as Bill eased himself out of his seat and headed towards them, his movements more deliberate than his wife’s.
“Give your Great Uncle Bill a kiss, girl,” Maud instructed loudly as he joined them. She smiled, giving Chase a huge theatrical wink. Finally, Chase’s brain caught up with events, and he nodded at Beth, encouraging her to go along with the charade.
Beth stood and awkwardly kissed the papery skin on the old man’s cheek, and they all sat back down.
“What the devil are you playing at, woman?” Bill asked, staring at his wife. “I know you think I'm a doddering old fool, but Charlie's shorter than me. There's no way a grown woman has shot up six inches since that blasted party in the summer.”
“Hell mend you, Bill Davison. That ‘blasted party’ as you call it was our ruby wedding anniversary. Though why I bothered celebrating sixty years with an old fool like you is a mystery.”
Chase glanced across to see the group of teenage girls staring at them intently. Fortunately, it seemed they hadn't made out Bill’s words.
“Now listen to me, you crotchety old bugger,” Maud continued quietly. “This here is Elizabeth Worthington what's been missing. She's in trouble and needs to make sure people don’t go ‘round recognizing her.”
Broken Trust Page 9