To Bedevil A Beauty (Southern Sanctuary - Book 5) (23 page)

Shit,
he wanted to hit something, someone.  Most of all he didn’t want to walk
back into his apartment tonight and find Berry gone.  He couldn’t force
Berry to talk to him but once she was out of his apartment, any chance he had
of convincing her to change her mind zeroed out.  Bloody hell, what was he
going to do with himself with Berry out of his life?

*                        
*                     
*

Bloody
hell, what was she going to do with herself with Ramsey officially out of her
life? 

Berry
felt weird walking across the town square without a police escort.  She’d
ducked out of work half an hour early after hearing the news from Marion, who
heard it on fast track from her sister Maureen.
 
It was official, Robert had been captured.  Upon first hearing the
news she’d frozen, damn, she no longer had an excuse to linger at Ramsey’s
apartment… no, she didn’t mean to think that, she meant to think -
yeah
… she could have her life
back. 

Ugh,
but what sort of life was she going to have without Ramsey in it?

A
question she’d been wrestling with ever since Ramsey had shared the news that
it was Great-Aunt Alma pulling the strings that had resulted in his presence
here at the Sanctuary.  Conniving, manipulative, deceitful, scheming,
tricky, wily… Alma.  Everyone knew her methods were low down and sneaky.
  
Of course, the other thing everyone knew
about Alma’s match making skills was that she was never wrong… Goddess damn
her. 

Except
in this particular case Berry assured herself, as she ducked down Kestrel
laneway, nodding and waving at a few family members in the distance, refusing
to be distracted from her mission.  All she needed to do was gather all
her stuff together and get out of Ramsey Hughes’ apartment faster than
fast.  Heavens, why had she let Jo-Jo unpack her things?  Well, there
would be no time for folding or rolling.
 
She would just grab everything up in big armfuls and stuff it into her
suitcase.
 
There’d be plenty of time for
ironing in the long, lonely nights she had ahead of her. 

She
turned left onto Beach road, striding passed all the shops and cafes just short
of a run.
 
Problem was, once her bags
were packed, how was she going to leave?  She didn’t have a car
anymore.
 
Who could she call? 
Eli?  Fraser?  Nell? Someone who wouldn’t ask a lot of questions…
well that left her with absolutely no options… ohh, except for Hadleigh.
 Though there was a high probability that Hadleigh was off killing
something, damn.  Fine, she’d call a taxi or catch a bus if she couldn’t
get hold of her cousin.

No
way was she spending any more time than she had too under the same roof as
Ramsey Hughes.  She needed distance from the man.  There’d be no more
heated grey eyed looks, sexy - I know all your erogenous zones – smiles, or
knee-weakening, flirty little compliments.  No… means no.  She would
be strong, she would not weaken.  Sworn off men… for life!  Maybe she
should get a t-shirt made.  Hah, like she could afford to have a t-shirt
made. 

By
the time she reached Ramsey’s apartment block there was no denying she was
running, which was a lucky happenstance as she breezed past Gaia, loitering
outside on the pavement, before her desperate cousin had even figured out she
was there. Her fingers dancing over the keypad in a quick rhythm as she shoved
the door open with her shoulder and then slammed it shut before Gaia had a
chance to speak.

Woes
betide Gaia if she was still out there when Berry left.  In her foul mood
in all likelihood she’d tear strips off her desperate to spawn cousin. She was
so distracted by her troubles; Ramsey, Alma, Gaia, no car, no money, the fact
that she’d never be having sex again… because let’s face it, after Ramsey, why
bother with second best?  It wasn’t until she’d barged into her bedroom
and was instantly enveloped in a cloud of Shalimar, Chanel no.5 and White
Diamonds that she realised her Great-Great-Aunts had somehow managed to breach
the apartment’s defences and had invaded her room. 

If
their cats could do it, why was she so surprised to find her Aunts not far
behind?
 
They descended upon her in a
tidal wave of affection.

“Berry
darling, you poor, poor girl.”  Adelaide pushed her sisters aside,
encompassing Berry in a bone crushing hug.

Daphne
snatched Berry up next, almost smothering her in a swathe of jewelled scarves,
one of her long dangly earrings hitting Berry on the nose.  “Angel, we are
here for you.”

“Um…” 
Berry fighting to breathe, managed to turn her head.  “Thanks?”

“Oh
sweetie.” Margot grabbed Berry from her sister, dragging her in close, under
her White Diamonds was the familiar smell of vanilla and chocolate.  “You
can do so much better.”

Berry
frowned, what the… huh?  “I can?”

Margot
didn’t like her hesitancy and hugged her even tighter.  “Trust in
yourself, you can and you will.”  Margot stated with absolute finality.

Still
unsure about what was going on, but in the interests of being able to breathe
freely, Berry managed a more confident.  “I will.”

This
response seemed to please Margot who finally let go.  Stumbling back a few
steps Berry eyed her sad eyed, smiling bravely - seemingly for her benefit -
Aunts.  Goddess, what family drama was going on now?  Then she
noticed her luggage by the side of the bed… all packed.

“You
packed for me?”

“You
shouldn’t have to stay under this roof with
that man
, one more minute
than you have to.”  Adelaide declared dramatically, her sisters chuffing
their agreement.

Hmm,
she knew why she had to get away but why were her Aunts suddenly no longer on
the Chief Hughes’ bandwagon… unless they were still mad about the speeding
fines?
 
“It has been very kind of him to
let me stay here… for protection.”  Berry didn’t want her Aunts to dislike
Ramsey or plot any physical or magical revenge on him for his actions.

“Yes,
yes.”  Daphne clapped her hands dismissively.  “Come along Berry, you
need to get changed before we leave.”

That’s
when Berry noticed the long sleeved black evening dress lying on the bed, ropes
of jet black beads sparkling under the light.  “Ummm, why do I have to
change?”  All she intended to do was go home to Tally’s place and mope and
brood with a big mug of generic brand, watery hot chocolate for consolation.

“For
the party, silly.”  Daphne beamed her way.

“Perfect
place to meet a man.”  Adelaide scooped up the dress and some silky scraps
of underwear, thrusting them at Berry.

“You
did promise.”  Margot, the sturdiest of the three sister grabbed her by
the shoulders, gently steering her towards the bathroom. 

Berry
wanted to protest.
 
Wanted to question
what the hell was going on.  But it was three against one, and when united
together for a common cause, the sisters were like a force of nature. 
They seemed as eager as she was to leave Ramsey’s apartment, maybe if she just
went along with their plan she’d find an opportunity to sneak away.

Thirty
minutes later she was in the back seat of Adelaide’s white Mercedes, with
Margot at her side, sending her pitying looks.  For the tenth time in only
a few minutes Margot reached over to pat her hand encouragingly.  “You
look beautiful darling.”  Margot leaned forward slightly to speak to her
two sisters situated in the front of the car.  “Doesn’t she look
beautiful?”

There
might have been a unanimous agreement in the car that she looked beautiful but
Berry was too lost in her own thoughts to process them.
 
She felt over-dressed and
stretched-thin.  She’d gone and done it, with her Aunts help.
 
She’d left Ramsey’s apartment for good. 
She pressed her spine harder against the seat, grinding the ropes of jet black
beads that decorated the back of her cocktail dress into her skin, she would
not cry… she would not cry.
 
Sightlessly she
stared out the window at the darkening twilight.  They were on the road
headed for Reverie Valley and an art show opening. That much she knew and she
could have cared less.  Suddenly though her ears pricked up, something
Adelaide, who was driving, had said.  Something about someone being…
wrong?

Thankfully
Margot, who could be a little hard of hearing, asked her sister to repeat what
she’d said.

Adelaide
huffed out an annoyed sigh and raised her voice.  “In all the years I’ve
known her… I’m just saying, I’ve never known her to be wrong before.”

“Perhaps
she’s losing her touch?”  Daphne put forward her opinion.

Berry
wondered who they could be talking about, her Aunts after such a long time in
each other’s company often spoke in their own shorthand kind of language.

“Oh,
don’t let her hear you say that.”  Margot chuckled, hitting Daphne gently
on the back of the shoulder.

“Well
someone just might have to.  If she was wrong about this… about Berry…
then she’s no good to the Sanctuary anymore is she?  And I’m saying that
with love.”

“Of
course we love her.”  Margot strained forward even further.  “She’s
family, will always be family, but that still leaves the question doesn’t it?”

Adelaide
was the one to pose it out loud.  “Just how could Alma have been so wrong
about Berry and Ramsey Hughes?”

Berry
bit down on her bottom lip to stop herself from gasping out loud. Her mind was
whirling, her gut clenched uncomfortably tight as Adelaide’s statement sunk in
and shook her world.  Ramsey Hughes was not the man for her… Alma really
had been wrong!

Chapter
Twenty-One

Wait!
What?  It was one thing for her to refuse to submit to Great-Aunt Alma’s
match making machinations.
 
It was
another thing entirely to hear that her Aunt had made a genuine mistake in trying
to match her and Ramsey together. 

“How
do you know?”  Heavens, why couldn’t she have kept her mouth shut?

“Sweetie?” 
Margot looked at her questioningly.

“How
can you be sure that Alma got it wrong?”

“Well.” 
Margot shifted uncomfortably in her seat, even in the dim light there was a
guilty look on her face.  The sudden absolute quiet in the car was another
dead giveaway.

“What
did the three of you do?”  Berry fought hard to keep her tone reasonable
and polite.  What had her interfering relatives done now?  What
havoc, what chaos had they wrought that would eventually rebound back on to
her?

“Nothing…”

“I
don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“You
see it’s like this…”  Daphne turned in the passenger seat to look back at
Berry, ignoring the glares her sisters were sending her way.  “We were
just trying to help things along.”

“Daphne.” 
Adelaide warned.

“Don’t
you Daphne me.  We all agreed things were going too slowly.  Anyone
watching them interact could see it, barely talking, let alone making eye contact. 
They had such potential in the court room; we all saw the flirting and then…
nothing.”

Oh
Goddess.  “What did you do?” Berry needed to know and she needed to
know now.  Had they hurt Ramsey? 

“We
each went to see him today.”  Margot admitted softly, hazel brown eyes
full of sympathy.

“And?”

“We
just thought he needed a little nudge, that’s all.”  Adelaide defended.

Berry
wanted to scream, instead she dug her fingernails into the palms of her
hands.  “And?”

“I’m
sorry, Berry.”  Daphne gave her sad puppy dog eyes of sympathy.  “So
sorry.  He drank Adelaide’s coffee… nothing.  He wore my cufflinks…
nothing.  And he ate one of Margot’s cookies… nothing.”

Oh
Goddess, oh Goddess, no.  Berry felt colour flood her face, she
desperately wanted to curl up in ball of embarrassment.  “What magic did
you use?”

Margot
patted Berry’s hand again.  “Love… we used love.”

Berry
closed her eyes, leaning sideways, resting her forehead against the cool of the
window.  So it was true, Alma had been wrong.  For the first time in
her long illustrious career her Aunt had made a mistake.  So why didn’t
she want to crow about it?  Why didn’t she want to hunt Alma down and do a
victory shimmy and blow a raspberry in her Aunt’s face? Why did her chest
hurt?  Why did she feel so hollow? 

To
think she’d almost made a mistake a hundred times more colossal than marrying
Robert Granger… giving her heart to Ramsey Hughes.  She felt fragile, lost
and kind of annoyed… anger beginning to simmer in her gut. 

“You
okay sweetie?”  Margot asked, her voice laden with concern.

Berry
straightened her spine.  “So tell me about this cocktail party?”

*                        
*                     
*

There
was no point in him going home.
 
Three separate
individuals had already taken great delight in sharing the news that Berry had
been seen leaving his apartment with her Great-Great-Aunts, loaded down with
luggage.  Biting back a frustrated sigh, Ramsey reached over and switched
on his desk lamp, attempting to chase the lengthening evening shadows away.

Absently
he shifted through the folders on his desk.  His instincts were pinging
and he couldn’t shake the feeling that something just didn’t add up in this
case.  What was he missing?  What was the connection between Robert
Granger and Gerard Bannon that led them to the Southern Sanctuary?  What
had Granger hoped to achieve by kidnapping his ex-wife?  He had to know
she wouldn’t go willingly.  According to Berry, Granger didn’t know about
her magic, he just believed she was some kind of psychic.  How had he
expected to benefit from her supposed powers?
 
Granger wasn’t a tough guy, was that why he needed Gerry, to strong arm
Berry?

Ramsey’s
mind was churning with questions, but it was better than thinking about Berry.
Wondering for the hundredth time, why she’d shut him out?  Acted so
weird?  Been so abrupt?  Something to do with Alma Richart he
thought… who he’d seen plotting with Adelaide, Daphne and Margot.  Now he
was getting fanciful… plotting?  The foursome had just been chatting…
furtively chatting.  Damn, that line of thought was getting him
nowhere.  He shoved back his chair to fetch more coffee, determined to
work out just what he was missing in Robert Granger’s file.

Two
hours later, his stomach was grumbling from too much caffeine, his eyes felt
gritty and his back was strained.  He bit back an oath at the files he’d
spread out over the top of his desk.  Why couldn’t he see it? 
Whatever ‘it’ was?

He
tensed, but didn’t jump as an all black cat suddenly leapt on to his
desk.  Staring at him with disdainful green eyes.
 
“Fuck! Where did you come from?”  Ramsey
frowned.  “Shoo.”

The
cat hissed and arched its back.

“Everything
okay, Chief?”  Tanner Bright appeared in the doorway, his friendly smile
abruptly disappearing as he noted the furry intruder.  “Um, I’d be careful
there if I were you Chief.  That’s Limbo, he can be kind of nasty.”

“It’s
just a cat.”  Ramsey matched the cat glare for glare. 

Tanner
hesitated.  “You need any help?”  There was genuine reluctance in his
officer’s tone.

“No,
I’ve got it. You can get back to what you were doing.”  Ramsey dismissed
him.

“Just
know I’m here if you need help getting to the hospital Chief.”  Tanner
flashed him a grin before disappearing fast.

Cheeky
bastard.  “Why is everyone around here so scared of you?  You’re just
one annoyingly intrusive cat.”  Ramsey eyed Limbo. 

Limbo
meowed, without warning two more cats leapt onto Ramsey’s desk, standing
shoulder to shoulder with Limbo.

“So
you bought back-up.  Must be serious?”  Ramsey made the last question
a joke but he could have sworn that the trio on his desk all nodded in
agreement.
 
“You know you guys are freaky
right?”  Ramsey queried out loud.

Ramping
up the freaky knob, the ginger cat on the left tilted its head to the side and
eyed him with a ‘right back at you’ jaundiced look. 

Great,
now he was talking to cats and starting to believe they could understand
him.  But hey, why not?  It was just one more t to cross on his
mental instability certificate.  Ramsey continued to eye the three feline
intruders speculatively. Could they…?  Would they…? No harm in asking
right?

“Instead
of loitering with intent, why don’t the three of you make yourselves useful and
help me solve this case.”

Limbo
who appeared to be the ringleader meowed softly and the trio got to their feet
and began stalking back and forth across his desk, over paperwork, over his
keyboard… not making a mess but it kind of made Ramsey nervous watching them
move with such studied intent. 

The
white cat with dark patches dismissively batted aside Robert Granger’s file
while Limbo eyed Gerard Bannon’s file intently for a brief second before moving
to sit directly on top of Previn Carlyle’s file.  That could mean
something or it could just mean Limbo was bored or tired and just wanted to sit
down.  This was a cat, freaky or not, that he was talking about here.

What
was definitely not cat like behaviour was the ginger cat’s focus on his
computer mouse, instead of batting it around, the cat was tapping it with its
paw, causing his screen to flick back through earlier searches.  It might
have just been a coincidence but at one stage the cat gave a frustrated meow as
the screen went too far and he had to move the mouse ever so slightly to the left
and click it again until the screen flipped back to his search on Salem.

All
three cats froze in place and eyed him, as if to say ‘well, we’ve done all we
can for you now Bozo. If you can’t get this, you simple human, you are too
stupid to live’.

Ramsey
eyed the screen, Previn Carlyle’s file and the cats.  “Carlyle?  You
think Carlyle’s involved in this as well?”

Limbo
snorted softly with what sounded distinctly like derision, nodding at the white
patched cat who immediately reached out and batted Robert Granger’s file even
closer to the edge of his desk.  Then suddenly tensed its back legs and
made quite an impressive leap across the room to land on top of the fax
machine, which instantly whirred to life. Shit, he hadn’t realised the damn
thing had been switched off as paper immediately began spewing into the tray.

“Carlyle,
not Granger?”

Limbo
purred.

Ramsey
pushed back his chair and scooped up the newly arrived faxes.  Hmmm,
nothing of importance, just the Northern Territory police bragging about capturing
Robert Granger.  Ramsey plucked the shot of Granger recently taken by the
NT police and stared at it.  Pale, haughty… soft. Granger looked a little
strung out, as if being on the run hadn’t agreed with him.  Something
about the photo bothered him… the hair!  Mac McKenzie had said the
pharmacy reported hair dye being shoplifted, yet Granger’s hair was the same
pale blonde it had always been.

Ramsey
sat back down, drumming his fingers on the table.  He supposed it could
have been Carlyle in the outdoor store video, stealing the sleeping bag and
tent.  He was the right height and if he padded his clothes, the build
would fit as well.  Like Gerry Bannon he would have had to have listened
to Granger’s stories every night about his horse race wins and his gifted
wife.  He must have done a search on Berry’s family tree, traced her
mother’s maiden name, Bright, back to the group who high tailed it out of Salem
when the first witch trial commenced.  He had to believe Berry was some
sort of witch… it wouldn’t have been too hard for someone of Carlyle’s
manipulative scheming nature to play on Gerry Bannon’s mental instability and
rope him into joining forces.  Carlyle was white collar crime smart, but
he would have needed someone like Gerry, with street smarts, to watch his back
in prison. When that storm hit and the wall collapsed, Gerry would have made a
savvy partner to hook up with to travel north.

All
three cats suddenly flicked their ears, arching their backs.  Hearing or
sensing something that Ramsey was unable too, except suddenly his gut was
churning and every instinct he had was flaring.  “Something’s wrong.”

Limbo
huffed, a noise that kind of sounded like ‘duh, dude’.

“Berry.” 
It wasn’t a question, he just knew.  Whatever was going on, it had
something to do with Berry.

*                        
*                     
*

Berry
gripped her champagne flute tighter glaring unseeingly at the enormous canvas
hanging in front of her.

“Really
makes you think, huh?”

She
blinked slowly, looking to her left at the man currently standing at her
side.  He was a few years younger than her and a few inches shorter. 
He seemed pleasant and harmless but she wasn’t in the mood to chat, she just
wanted to brood and simmer in peace.  She switched her attention back to
the canvas before them and really looked at it, ugh.

“I…
I… I mean it’s a reflection of life… isn’t it?”  Her new companion managed
to stammer out.  “Whimsical, irreverent… childlike.”

Berry
drained the remainder of her champagne, plunking her empty glass down on a
passing waiter’s tray and scooping up a fresh glass.  “They’re sparkly
flying unicorns farting rainbows… that’s really rather disturbing.”  She
glared down at him before swivelling on her high heels and stomping away. 

At
the back of the gallery she found a nice dark corner.
 
Hopefully her hiding spot would conceal her
from her Great-Great-Aunts, who kept sending young highly unsuitable men her
way.
 
It also meant she could continue to
avoid her mother-in-law, Joanne, and her date for the evening.  A nice
enough man, an artist from Sydney spending a few months sabbatical in Reverie
Valley.  Berry was sure he was very pleasant, but she wasn’t in the mood
for small talk or being polite.

How
dare her family interfere in her life.  Her love life!

And
not just her life, Ramsey’s as well.  It was one thing for Alma to uproot
Ramsey from Melbourne, his life, his job, but had Alma known by bringing him
here that he would be putting his life on the line?  That he would be shot
at?  That if Berry hadn’t stepped in and taken the bullet meant for him,
Ramsey would have in all likelihood died?
 
Just how deep a game did Alma play?  Did she just
hook up couples and let fate take it from there, or was it more involved,
pulling the strings constantly, actually getting her hands dirty… bloody? 
She had a good mind to bring Alma up on accessory to commit murder
charges.  That would teach her Great-Aunt to interfere.