Amber Storm (Assassin In Paradise Book 1)

by Jack Stroke

  “God, look at this place. It’s exactly the same,” she managed eventually.

  “I know, right?” Megan said, a few feet ahead and not turning around. “Mum wanted to paint it and do it up and whatever.”

  “No way.”

  “Exactly. I was like, Nah, that’s part of the charm. Just a waste of money doing it up.”

  They followed the misshaped paving stones towards cabin six, the furthest away.

  “I can’t believe you and your Mum bought the place…”

  “Yeah, well, Mum needed something, you know? After dad died.”

  “Yes, I’m sorry to hear about that.”

  Megan shrugged. “Anyway, she needed a change of scenery and this place was for sale, so we thought, why not?” She stopped at the door to cabin six and spun around quickly. “The real question is, what are you doing here?”

  “Oh, umm, I was working nearby and I vaguely recalled coming here with you guys as a kid, so I thought I would come and check it out.”

  “‘Vaguely recalled’ the ten times you holidayed with us?”

  “No, I mean, vaguely recalled the area.”

  “Glad all those childhood holidays meant so much to you.”

  “No, I didn’t… Of course they —”

  “So a coincidence? Is that what you’re saying? You being here?”

  “No. Not really a coincidence. A memory…”

  “Right. But you didn’t know we were here? You didn’t come to see us?”

  “No. I had no idea.” The answer had tumbled from Amber’s mouth before it occurred to her a lie may have been more prudent. “It’s great though,” she went on quickly, trying to save herself. “You know, that you are here.”

  Megan gave her a blank stare before pushing open the cabin door. The space was exactly as Amber recalled. Two rooms. The front room a basic lounge and kitchen with a bedroom and bathroom at the back.

  “Only one exit,” Amber murmured.

  “Why would you need more than one exit?”

  “You wouldn’t,” Amber said. “So, what’s it like living here?”

  “It’s all right,” Megan said with zero enthusiasm. “It’s work. There’s not much to do when it’s not tourist season and too much to do when it is. It’s pretty dull, you know? Not like your life, I bet.”

  “No, I mean, my life is a bit of a mess at the moment. I’m not sure what I’m doing. I’m kind of between jobs, I think.”

  “You think? You don’t know?”

  “Well, I know I quit.”

  “It’s good you know that at least, I guess.” She tossed Amber the key attached to a chunky leather keyring with the number six embossed on it. “You remember the cabins, so I don’t need to give you the spiel, right? We live in the owner’s cottage now obviously, up the back, behind the office. You know where that is, yeah?”

  “Of course.”

  “All right. Get settled and we will see you up there in half an hour.”

  “For what?”

  “We eat at six.”

  “Oh, yeah. I mean, no…” Amber stammered. “I couldn’t impose.”

  “Bit late for that now, isn’t it?”

  “Why?”

  “Ten years of childhood holidays. Now you’re worried about imposing?”

  Amber hoped Megan couldn’t see the fear in her eyes as her mind desperately tried for a lie that wasn’t there.

  “It’s just dinner, Amber,” Megan went on impatiently. “You’ve got no food. What are you going to do? Buy some worms from Grubby in the bait shop?”

  “I could go to Port Simmons.”

  “How would you get there, walk? Why don’t you want to eat with us?”

  “Oh, it’s not that. I do, I’m just… I don’t know. I’m not hungry tonight.”

  “Not eating… Is that the trick to staying so skinny?” Megan reached for the door. “Whatever. Guess I’ll see you around then.”

  “Megan, I…” Amber stepped forward. “It’s really nice to see you. Really. Really.”

  Amber embraced Megan again. The stiff hug was no less awkward than their previous embrace.

  “Uh huh.”

  Megan walked out without another word. Amber watched her former best friend stride away. She was struck with simultaneous urges to call her back and tell Megan everything and at the same time never speak to her ever again. How was Amber supposed to explain what she was doing here when she had no idea herself? Growing up, Megan was the most beautiful person and the best friend Amber could have ever hoped for.

  How could Amber ever come clean about the abomination her life had become?

  18

  There is little that can compare to waking up in paradise. Palm trees swaying gently in the cool breeze, perfectly offsetting the early morning sunshine. The impossibly blue cloudless sky. The beach, right there at your fingertips.

  And yet Amber woke on her first morning to none of that. Instead, she opened her eyes to the earsplitting squeal of an alarm. Someone had entered her bungalow. Reaching under her pillow, she grabbed her Sig and was out of bed in a flash, silently creeping towards the door.

  “What the heck?” came Joan’s voice from the other room, and it was lucky she did, otherwise Amber may well have put a bullet between the eyes without a second thought. Amber hid the Sig back under her pillow and hurried out to disable the alarm.

  “Amber… What in blazes is that?” Joan said as she hurried in. “Why’d you have an alarm rigged up in here?”

  Amber replaced the key in its case, restoring a welcome quiet.

  “I don’t. It’s not set up. It’s just an alarm. You must have set it off somehow.”

  Joan had a plate with half a dozen pancakes in one hand and a bottle of syrup in the other.

  “I set it off because you had it rigged to go off when anybody came in here.”

  There wasn’t a lot of point in lying so Amber remained quiet.

  “I almost threw this all over the floor. Here,” Joan said, handing her the plate.

  “Oh, Joan. You shouldn’t have.”

  “Nonsense. Can’t have you starve down here. You had no dinner.”

  “I don’t… usually eat sugar.”

  “Oh, that’s how you do it, is it? Well, staying in this cabin counts the same as staying in my house, which makes you my guest. I know you well enough to know you don’t want to be a rude guest.”

  “Thank you,” Amber said.

  Joan rested her hands on her ample hips. “You may as well start,” she said, “because I am not leaving here until I at least see you put something in your mouth.”

  Amber took a seat of the table. She only intended to have a bite or two but the pancakes tasted divine, just as she knew they would.

  “You’re still an amazing cook, Joan.”

  “Gotta be good at something.” She went about opening the curtains, and soon cabin six was teeming with light.

  “Now, where is your dirty washing?”

  “Joan,” Amber said, fighting through a mouthful. “You’re not doing my washing. I’m a grown woman.”

  “So is Megan. Never stops her. Ben either.”

  “Thank you, but no,” Amber said firmly.

  “Suit yourself.”

  Just one pancake, Amber decided, except once she started she couldn’t stop, wolfing down the entire plate. Guess she was hungrier than she realised.

  “Do all of your guests get this good service?”

  “Nope. Only the extra special ones, and there isn’t any more special guest than you, Amber.” Joan turned and gazed out the window. “What’s on the agenda for today?”

  “Absolutely nothing.”

  “Sounds lovely. Enjoy.”

  She strolled out, leaving Amber alone to wake up properly.

  Joan had barely left when Amber had another visitor. Lion the cat prowled in like he owned the place, jumping on the bed and demanding a pat.

  “And what do you think I should do today, Lion?”

  If he knew, h
e wasn’t saying.

  19

  Amber was aware she probably needed to take care of provisions. As Megan had pointed out last night, she had no food. However, she also had the strong desire to exercise. Except, exercise for what? Remaining in tiptop shape had been of utmost importance as an assassin. Now that she wasn’t, what did it matter? Still, habits die hard, and she had no desire to lose her elite level of fitness, even if it had no immediate purpose.

  She decided to take a quick ten-mile run and follow it up with some bodyweight exercises.

  Crossing the road, Amber glanced about, forgotten little details about Paradise Cove assaulting her mind. To the right, the beach stretched on forever. To the left, it came to an abrupt halt via a series of rocks known as The Point.

  Beyond that though was a secret spot no one seemed to go. Hidden Beach. That brought a smile to her face. Amber had forgotten all about Hidden Beach. A secluded, quiet place Amber and Megan always seemed to have to themselves. Amber smiled at her younger self’s naivety. They had christened it Hidden Beach, genuinely believing it to be a place only the two of them knew about. She would have to check it out later.

  She turned slowly in a circle, drinking it all in. Even the palm trees appeared relaxed in Paradise Cove, leaning over lazily like they couldn’t be bothered standing up straight.

  After some active stretches to warm up, Amber took off to the right.

  Quickly she arrived at Paradise Cove’s tiny dock, housing a handful of boats. Beyond that the beach stretched on infinitely, water to one side, the slanted palm trees hanging down to other.

  She ran for around forty-five minutes along the beach, judging that to be about five miles. The sand was soft, causing her feet to sink, and adding a welcome extra element of challenge. Aside from three fishermen, she saw no one at all. Off-season or not, it was hard to fathom how there could be so few people about, especially with such perfect weather. Pressing hard, she made the return journey in a touch under forty minutes.

  Just beyond the dock sat a small beachside park and old scout hall. The door to the old hall was open. Unlikely to be a scout meeting at this time of day. Or anytime in Paradise Cove. The scout hall had been here since Amber was a kid and she never understood it. Did they build the hall and hope to attract scouts? Surely there had never been nearly enough local kids to make a troop. Or was it targeting scouts on holiday?

  Amber stopped at the park to do some explosive burpees on the monkey bars.

  As she moved through supersets of chin-ups and push-ups a familiar awareness triggered in her brain. She wasn’t alone.

  Someone was watching her.

  20

  Without stopping, Amber surveyed the area. Two men stood at the far end of the park, holding a basketball. Where had they appeared from? The scout hall?

  Standing between her and the early morning sun, they were little more than silhouettes. Amber assessed them not to be threats or relatively useless if they were. If they intended to harm her, they shouldn’t have announced their presence quite so obviously.

  She continued her exercises to completion before making her way over to the men. Approaching she saw one of them wasn’t a man at all, it was Ben, a boy in man’s clothing. Even though she knew she had been gone a long time, her mind still had difficulty processing that she had missed Ben’s entire childhood.

  Ben’s companion looked to be about thirty. The type of guy that couldn’t help but be handsome, even without trying. He had broad shoulders and muscular, attractive forearms. Stubble lined his face, not to look good, Amber guessed, more from laziness. His shirt and shorts appeared to be scrounged from a screwed-up pile on the floor somewhere.

  “You’re not going to fit in round here, kid” the guy said with a smirk as Amber approached.

  “Excuse me?”

  He nodded towards the playground. “No one works that hard in Paradise Cove.”

  Ben chuckled.

  “Did you call me ‘kid’?” Amber asked. Unless she had misjudged his age, she had a good ten years on this guy. She couldn’t recall the last time anyone had called her kid.

  “Amber, this is Vaughan,” Ben said. “Vaughan, Amber.”

  Vaughan stuck out his hand. His shake was as lazy as his stubble. Was it all an act? The shapely form of his arms clearly suggested he had some strength and work ethic.

  “I’ll see you later, bud,” Vaughan said to Ben, wandering away in no hurry at all.

  “Who’s that?” Amber asked when he was out of earshot.

  “Vaughan.”

  “You said that. I mean…”

  “I dunno. Just some guy. Showed up here one day. I play basketball with him sometimes.” He nodded towards the scout hall.

  “Why in the scout hall?”

  Ben shrugged. “It’s the only ring we’ve got.”

  Amber watched Vaughan shuffle away, a little warning still sounding somewhere in the back of her head. “What does he do?”

  “Not much,” Ben said with a shrug. “Odd jobs for people. Wants to take tourists out on his boat, I think.”

  “But there are no tourists.”

  “Not at the moment, no.”

  The two of them made their way back towards Paradise by the Bay.

  “That was pretty impressive,” Ben said after a time.

  “What?”

  “Your workout.”

  “Oh, yeah? Thanks.”

  “Are you in training for something?”

  “No, just… you know, keeping fit.”

  She glanced at her godson’s lean body. Still at an age where he could eat whatever he liked and stay in shape.

  “You look like you work out a bit yourself.”

  “Not really. I enjoy swimming. Surfing. I was thinking of becoming like a sportsman or something. You know, get the hell out of here. But I don’t know.”

  “You don’t like it here?”

  “I’m sure it’s fun to visit, like, you know, you and Mum did when you were my age and stuff, but living here?” He pulled a face.

  “Too small?”

  “Stifling.”

  They continued in silence for a bit. Amber wanted to say something about there being a big wide world out there, except what did she know about it? Her view of the world was limited and tainted.

  “What do you do?” Ben asked.

  “Logistics.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Business stuff. I help businesses with mergers and acquisitions.”

  “Sounds boring.”

  “It is.”

  A look of disappointment was written all over his face. “I always thought you did something cool.”

  “Okay. Why’s that?”

  He shrugged. “Just did.”

  “Sorry to disappoint you.”

  They walked on. The silence between them pleasant. Not uncomfortable.

  “Joan said you’re on some sort of improvised holiday or something…”

  “You call your grandmother Joan?”

  “Course. It’s her name. What should I call her?”

  “Gran? Nanna? Nan?”

  “Nah, makes her mad. Says she never wanted to be a grandmother. Makes her feel old.”

  “Sounds like Joan. How does she know about my holiday being improvised?”

  “She was chatting to Stavros. The cab driver.”

  “Right.”

  “Better get used to it. You have to work hard to keep secrets around here. Why’d you quit your job?”

  “To be honest, I don’t know. I just… It wasn’t planned. I just got to a point and I simply couldn’t do it anymore. It was like a little voice in my head was suddenly screaming at me to get out. You probably don’t understand what I mean.”

  “Why wouldn’t I understand?”

  “You’re young. It’s different.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “I understand. I’m not five anymore.”

  “No, I just… I meant —”

  “I know because it is exactly how I feel
about this place.”

  Reaching the cabins, the path led in two directions, towards the owner’s cottage and towards cabin six. Ben continued on his way without a word.

  “Hey, let me know if you want to do anything,” Amber said.

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know. Go for a run or something?”

  He smirked at her. “What are you trying to do? Be a good godmother?”

  “Something like that.”

  “You’re about ten years too late.”

  Ben dribbled the basketball, shuffling away up the path towards the owner’s cottage. Amber watched him go. This was going to be tricky. She had never been a godmother before. What the heck was she supposed to do?

  Beside her she saw the office curtain flutter. Somebody had been watching them. Joan or Megan?

  21

  After a shower and freshening up, Amber went to the office to find out about public transport. There was no one about but she found a stack of bus timetables.

  Despite the short distance, the bus was interminably slow, making Amber think she would have been better on foot. At one stage the driver stopped to have a chat to a mate and seemed to forget about his job of driving the bus entirely.

  When she finally arrived, Amber found a Port Simmons considerably larger than Paradise Cove and yet only marginally more lively. In season, it was a bubbling metropolis for the rich and famous. Popular and trendy.

  Unlike Paradise Cove, Port Simmons was strikingly different from Amber’s childhood memories. Far more built-up with expensive hotels and restaurants, not that they appeared to be doing a whole lot of business at this time of year. Amber felt like she should linger, yet had nothing to do. She was able to stock up on food and supplies, the primary purpose of her visit.

  The sun beamed down upon her, warming Amber’s soul. Unsure whether she could stomach the return journey in the slow, smelly bus, she chose to walk home along the beachside path instead, judging the distance to only be about fifteen miles. Why not? It’s not like she had anywhere to be.