The Deadline Series Boxset

by Wendy Soliman

  But it seemed Maddox was. His body was made up of a solid wall of muscle, as evidenced by the brief contact her fingers had made with his chest a moment ago. And, to add insult to injury, Cosmo appeared to like him. Damn, if her cat carried on the way he was going, he’d be in danger of gaining a sociable disposition. She put it down to all that fresh country air messing with Cosmo’s metabolism; and hers. They’d both return to normal once they got back to London.

  If they went back.

  Whoa, since when had that been in doubt? Alexi hadn’t thought much about her future but had assumed she would end up back in journalism of some sort in London, which is where the action was. So why did you lease out your apartment?

  ‘Let’s get out of here,’ she said, more acerbically than she had intended. ‘You have some explaining to do.’

  ‘Café Lambourn in the High Street. Do you know it?’

  ‘I’ll find it.’

  ‘Okay, see you there in a bit.’

  Alexi watched him climb into a BMW that was several years old, parked across the road from the cottage, and drive away. She and Cosmo locked up carefully and took their time getting into the Mini, letting him get a head start on them as Alexi thought this development through. Part of her wanted to go straight to the police and demand that they take action. Time might well be of the essence. But she needed to know what Tyler knew first, and establish why Heart Racing had put him on the case. Besides, she had the edge on Tyler. Before he interrupted her, she’d gone through Natalie’s things and found evidence of two bank accounts concealed beneath a pile of sweaters in her walk-in wardrobe. Hidden there by accident or design? One of the accounts was personal and one business-related. Both had healthy balances—or had the last time she’d received paper statements. The statements were quite old so she’d probably moved with the times and now did her banking online. Still, Alexi now knew where to look to see if there was any unusual activity on those accounts, assuming her hacking abilities were up to getting past the banking systems’ firewalls without triggering alarms and getting herself arrested.

  There had been files containing household bills, the usual stuff, in the drawers of a small desk in Natalie’s sitting room, but nothing pertaining to her bank other than those two old statements. Odd, Alexi thought. Odder still that she hadn’t found anything personal in the short time she’d had to search before Tyler interrupted her. No birth certificate, divorce record, old letters, photographs…nothing, nada, zilch. The lady, it seemed, carried no emotional baggage.

  She drove slowly back to Lambourn, thinking Tyler wasn’t much of a PI if he hadn’t thought to look for Natalie’s financial records while he was inside the cottage. Unless he was holding out on her and planned to go back alone later on.

  ‘We’ll see about that, Cosmo,’ she said, jutting her jaw as she took one hand off the wheel and stroked her cat’s head. ‘Don’t get too attached to your new buddy. He might be pretty to look at but may not be around for long. Still, first we need to play nice and figure out whose side he’s on.’ Cosmo cocked his head to one side and fixed her with a disbelieving look. ‘Hey, you’re not the only one who can be friendly, when the occasion calls for it.’

  The café was easy to find. Alexi pulled her car into a spot next to Tyler’s. She cranked a window and told Cosmo to stay where he was. He blinked up at her, used to being left in the car, and went back to his slumbers. Alexi shouldered her bag but didn’t bother to lock the Mini. It would be a foolhardy thief who tried to make off with it while Cosmo was in occupation of the passenger seat.

  Tyler was standing just inside the door to the modern, welcoming cafe, waiting for her.

  ‘What will you have?’ he asked.

  ‘A skinny latte, please and…er, are those blueberry muffins fresh?’

  ‘Homemade this morning,’ said a motherly lady from behind the counter.

  ‘Then yes, please.’

  Tyler laughed, sounding superior as he ordered just a black coffee for himself. Men! Alexi refused to feel guilty about the muffin following so closely on the heels of a large cooked breakfast. She was on holiday. Kinda.

  ‘Okay, Maddox, give,’ she said, once they’d carried their refreshments to a quiet corner table. ‘How long have you been on this case and what have you found out?’

  ‘So you can put it in your paper?’ He shook his head, his lips tight with irritation. ‘I don’t think so.’

  ‘This is nothing about work. I’m doing this as a favour to my friends.’

  ‘People in your line of work can’t disassociate. I’ve seen it before.’

  She sent him an appraising look. ‘You don’t have a very high opinion of me.’

  ‘Not you, darlin’, but what you do to earn a crust.’

  Alexi was getting annoyed, and took her irritation out on her tall glass of latte, stirring it aggressively even though she hadn’t added sugar. She’d lost her appetite and picked distractedly at the muffin with her fingers.

  ‘I’m not your darlin’,’ she said in a sweetly sarcastic tone. ‘And anyway, what have journalists done to make you so dead set against the species?’

  He was quiet for so long that at first she didn’t think he would answer her. She remained quiet too, stealing oblique glances at him, trying to get the measure of the real man beneath the film star looks. She prided herself on being a good judge of character: a useful skill in her line of work. Something told Alexi there was more to this guy than the admittedly attractive package he showed to the world. Everything about him screamed integrity and it would be too easy to fall for all that charm and place her trust in him. But Alexi had learned the hard way, during her early years when she was establishing herself as a journalist, not to judge on appearance.

  And never to trust anyone until they’d earned that trust.

  ‘I’m guessing you’ll check me out properly first chance you get,’ he finally mused, breaking the uneasy silence between them.

  Alexi nodded. ‘Count on it.’

  ‘Then you’ll know soon enough, so you might as well hear it from me.’ He stirred his coffee with vigour even though, like her, he’d not added any sugar. Whatever he was about to tell her, she sensed it wasn’t something he found easy to talk about, or made a habit of mentioning. ‘I was a detective with the Met until a couple of years ago. The press conducted a witch hunt when a scumbag drugs dealer we arrested cried police brutality.’ He sighed. ‘You’d think that same old lament would be getting tired by now, but I guess it was a slow news day. Anyway, I was the sacrificial lamb.’

  ‘I think I remember something about it. The tabloids made it a cause célebre because the kid had some crusading lawyer grandstanding on his behalf, playing the race card.’ She canted her head as she continued to observe him and softened her voice. ‘If it’s any consolation, those of us who report news objectively rather than going for the populist and sensational, thought it was a crock of shit and that you got a bad deal.’

  ‘Yeah well, I jumped before I could be pushed. I was encouraged to do so. That way I kept my pension and other benefits. Not that it took much encouragement. I’d had it with the force by then. All those regulations, the impossible to achieve targets, endless paperwork, and all the other crap that got in the way of what most of us signed up to do, which was to keep the streets safe for Joe Average.’ He lifted his shoulders, the casual gesture at odds with the tension in his expression. ‘Beats me why anyone would want to be a copper nowadays when the odds are stacked so heavily in favour of the bad guys. At least doing what I do now, I don’t have to abide by anyone’s rules other than my own.’

  ‘How did you get to be a PI?’

  Alexi took a bite of sinfully delicious muffin and closed her eyes, groaning with pleasure as she absorbed the sugar hit. When she opened them again, he was watching her intently and something significant passed between them. Alexi shook her head, determined not to be drawn in by him, and the moment passed.

  ‘Seemed like a logical direction to take. I h
ad a buddy—’

  ‘Mr Fenton?’

  His smile showcased his dimples. The damned man had no business having dimples! It irritated the hell out of Alexi, who thought it unfair that facial lines made men look more attractive, whereas women spent billions in the pursuit of wrinkle-free complexions, with no discernible results other than making the cosmetic companies richer than God.

  ‘Nothing gets past you,’ he said, still smiling that easy smile she was finding it increasingly difficult not to react to. ‘But actually it’s Ms Fenton. Cassie Fenton.’

  ‘Oh, I see. Your significant other?’

  He chuckled. ‘Not exactly.’ He leaned his elbows on the table, bringing his face closer to hers. ‘Now, your turn. What’s a hot-shot journalist doing down here chasing a small time story?’

  Alexi opened her mouth to tell him it was none of his damned business. Five minutes later, he knew it all. How she’d been shafted by the corporation that had employed her since she’d left university. How she’d crawled her way up the greasy pole, working twice as hard as her male counterparts to prove herself at the sacrifice of a personal life, only to be left high and dry. He was a good listener, and didn’t once interrupt.

  ‘Can’t think why I told you all that,’ she said sheepishly, staring at her hands.

  ‘People tell me stuff all the time.’

  She shook her head. ‘I’ll just bet they do.’

  ‘Sounds like you and I both grew too big for the organisations that spawned us. What will you do now?’

  It was Alexi’s turn to shrug. ‘Stay here for a while and lick my wounds. Feel sorry for myself.’

  ‘And try to find Natalie Parker?’

  ‘Yeah, I can’t seem to help myself.’ She took a swig of her rapidly cooling coffee. ‘Why did Heart Racing call you in? They dismissed Drew’s concerns out of hand.’

  ‘They got a visit from the local plod, were worried about their reputation—’

  ‘The police are doing something about Cheryl’s report then? She will be relieved.’

  ‘I doubt it. They’ll be going through the motions, covering their backs.’

  ‘Well, I guess you would know.’ Alexi scowled at him because what he’d just told her made her want to frown, even though it didn’t surprise her. ‘Presumably the agency had nothing to tell them that aroused their suspicions.’

  ‘Nope.’

  ‘But they called you in, so they must have concerns.’ Alexi paused to reason it through. ‘I suppose the police aren’t the only ones covering their backs. If something has happened to Natalie and the shit hits the fan, they’ll come across as being uncooperative and uncaring about their clients’ welfare if they are shown not to have co-operated with the police.’ Alexi rolled her eyes. ‘Typical. People with that sort of attitude do deserve to be crucified by the press.’

  ‘Not this particular organisation,’ he replied, an edge to his voice.

  ‘Well, of course, you would say that. They’re paying your outrageous fees.’

  ‘Actually they’re not. I’m doing this one pro bono.’

  ‘Why?’ she asked scathingly. ‘Don’t tell me you’re having trouble getting a date.’

  He leaned back in his chair and fixed her with a penetrating look. ‘My sister, Katie, owns the agency,’ he said.

  ***

  ‘Oh,’ she said, her cheeks turning pink. ‘I guess that puts a different complexion on things. Sorry if I spoke out of turn. Occupational hazard.’

  ‘No apology necessary and, yeah, it changes things.’

  Tyler still didn’t understand why he’d told her about Katie. A bit like she was embarrassed to have told him about her ignominious departure from the Sunday Sentinel but did so anyway. He didn’t entirely trust Alexi. How could he? She was a journalist, and journalists had tried him in the court of public opinion and found him guilty without a shred of evidence to back up their hysteria. No, he didn’t trust her, but the man in him fancied her like hell.

  What drew them together, apart from his raging libido, was a common goal. They both wanted to find Natalie, albeit for different reasons. If she went to the papers when this was all over, he’d make sure his sister’s organisation came out of it looking like one of the good guys. He owed her that much, and a damned sight more he’d never be able to repay.

  ‘Does your sister suspect one of the men Natalie dated?’ She sat forward and watched him intently. ‘Have there been other complaints about him?’

  ‘No, nothing like that.’

  ‘Presumably you have a list of the men she’s spoken with electronically, or has been out with. You must have looked into them.’

  ‘Cut me some slack.’ He spread his hands. ‘This is my first day on the job. Katie rang me last night, told me about your friend Drew’s rather aggressive accusations, and the visit from local uniforms. I agreed to come down today and take a look around for myself.’

  ‘Ah, I see.’

  ‘You have to understand, Katie started this agency from scratch five years ago. She’s put everything she owns into it, including re-mortgaging her house. Now she’s between a rock and a hard place. If it comes to light that she’s given away confidential information needlessly, she will be finished. If she doesn’t and something’s happened to Natalie at the hands of one of her punters, she can also kiss her business goodbye. She has liability insurance, but still, she will lose credibility.’ Tyler shifted position and sighed. ‘It’s a hell of a worry for her. She wants to do the right thing, but…’

  ‘The agency is local to Berkshire?’

  ‘Yeah, that’s the idea. According to her, people are too busy nowadays to hook up by traditional means, so they resort to online dating, drawn together by common interests. Katie lives locally. This is horseracing country, so she didn’t have to think too hard about how to specialise.’

  ‘Do you ever worry that computers are taking over our lives?’ Alexi asked pensively. ‘Kids are losing social skills, or not even developing them in the first place because they don’t talk to anything other than a machine. When I was a kid we played outside, climbed trees, fell off bikes, and God forbid, even walked to school without mishap. We got fresh air, exercise and we interacted personally with our peers.’ She flashed a rueful smile. ‘I sound like an old crone, but you get my drift?’

  ‘I agree with you, Grandma, as it happens, but times change.’

  ‘Not always for the better.’

  ‘Do you want to put the world to rights, or concentrate on finding Natalie?’

  Her hurt expression made him regret sounding so impatient. It wasn’t like him to be so abrupt. They’d been talking like normal people, almost enjoying one another’s company, but now her hackles were up again.

  ‘Sorry.’

  She shot him a look. ‘You’re right. Natalie is all that matters.’

  ‘Right, well, like I was saying, busy professionals want to meet like-minded people with similar interests and don’t want to travel the length and breadth of the country to link up in person. So Katie figured keeping it local would be a good way to go.’

  ‘And she’s making a go of it?’

  ‘Yeah, and she’s well aware of the pitfalls, too. The Online Dating Association—’

  ‘The what!’

  He chuckled, resisting voicing the jibe that sprang to mind about her not having done her research. ‘You heard me. They have a code of conduct, which she adheres to, doing all she can to protect her clients’ interests. She’s earned herself a good reputation, which is why she really doesn’t need a scandal.’

  ‘I understand, but—’

  ‘Look at it from her clients’ point of view.’ Tyler’s voice cut through her objection. ‘You’re an average Joe, perhaps embarrassed about having to turn to the Internet for a date. But you meet some nice, regular people, get comfortable with the idea, and then get the likes of us crawling all over you, accusing you of stuff you probably haven’t done. Implying you’re a pervert, or worse. If they sued, Katie would
lose everything she’s worked for.’

  ‘The punters wouldn’t know we were looking at them, unless there was something to arouse our suspicions. That’s one way in which the Internet works in our favour.’

  ‘Katie knows that, which is why she called me in. She is worried because she hasn’t been able to get hold of Natalie, either. She had a date arranged and the guy contacted Katie, complaining Natalie didn’t show up and didn’t bother to cancel.’

  ‘When was the date for?’

  ‘Yesterday lunchtime.’

  ‘Ah, that’s why you’ve only just got involved.’

  ‘Right.’

  ‘You’re close to your sister, aren’t you?’ she asked after a short pause.

  ‘She saved me from self-destructing when I left the force,’ Tyler replied, surprised at his willingness to reveal something so personal. ‘It cost me my marriage, and my self-respect. I gave up for a while and viewed the world through the bottom of a glass. Probably would have adopted a what-the-fuck attitude to life in general if Katie hadn’t come along and given me a well-deserved kick up the backside. Anyway, I heard from Cassie, who was expanding her business and needed a partner with an injection of cash. That was a year ago.’

  ‘Yeah, I can relate because I’m going through the what-the-fuck stage right now, too.’

  ‘Don’t let the bastards win.’ He grinned at her. ‘That’s what I say. Well, I say it now, having come out on the winning side of a deep depression.’

  ‘Do you have any kids?’

  ‘Come again?’

  ‘You said you were married. I wondered if you were a dad.’

  ‘No, the marriage didn’t survive the test of time, like most marriages don’t seem to nowadays. Grace and I were never really suited. Never should have got hitched. She hated being a copper’s wife, and I knew she wasn’t happy about my career choice before we married. That ought to have told me something. Anyway, we’re good friends now, she’s got herself another guy, and I wish her well.’

  ‘I’m not the right person to talk to about relationships. Ask Cosmo.’