To Bedevil A Beauty (Southern Sanctuary - Book 5) (24 page)

And
just who in the hell was Alma to say that Ramsey was wrong for her?

She
wasn’t a child.  She was a lawyer, a judge, an adult.  She’d more
than earnt the right to make her own mistakes.  Look at her track record.
She’d totally owned the fact that by not following her instincts she’d made a
horrendous mistake marrying Robert.  But she’d learnt from that episode,
hadn’t she?  Like everyone did when they made mistakes.  She’d picked
herself up, dusted herself off and gotten on with her life.  Lesson
learnt.  Her judgement just couldn’t be trusted.
 
She’d proven that twice over. 

First
with her marriage and then in the courtroom the day of the reading of the
charges against Robert.  She’d been sitting there thinking that her -
doomed from the start - marriage had finally had the last nail driven into its
metaphorical coffin when across the court room she’d spied Ramsey in his rugged
scruffy undercover role and felt an instant attraction.  And she’d been
appalled with herself.  Appalled that she could be attracted to a
criminal… again!  There and then, she’d sworn off men for life.
 
Funny how she’d come full circle because of
Ramsey Hughes.

But
hold on, she’d been attracted to a
GOOD
guy.  There was no denying
it.
 
Ramsey Hughes was definitely a good
guy.  You could see it in his eyes, a moral code. A stand up for the
little guy, refuse to back down - bone deep - core.  How he was good at
undercover work she’d never know, all you had to do was look into those slate
grey eyes and you could instantly see he was on the side of right.

Sweet
Merciful Lady, her instincts were good.  She just needed to listen to
them.  If she had, she would never have married Robert and she would have
trusted that there was some alternative explanation as to why a man she was
instantly attracted to was in a court room having charges read against him.

That’s
why she’d slept with Ramsey, because she knew she could trust him.  That
he wouldn’t hurt her.   She didn’t have to tread carefully around
him.  She could be herself.  She didn’t have to smile all the time or
be nice to keep the peace.  He laughed at her when she grumped at
him.  He even seemed happy to argue with her, as if he knew that was the
way she needed to let off steam occasionally.  He teased and challenged
her and not just in the bedroom.  That was why she liked him… oh Goddess,
she loved him.  She loved Ramsey Hughes. It felt amazing to admit it, like
flying and then she found herself plummeting back to reality.

Ramsey
didn’t love her. 

Her
Great-Great-Aunts had proven that with their magic.  He’d drunk the
potion… nothing.  He’d worn the cuff links… nothing.  He’d eaten the
cookie… nothing.

Oh
Heavens, Alma had been wrong… worse than wrong.  Ramsey Hughes might be
the love of her life but for all his talk about her being his dream woman, the
Great-Great-Aunts had proven Ramsey wrong.  She wasn’t the love of his
life.
 
He might want her.
 
Be sexually attracted to her. But he didn’t
love her, the Aunts had proven that with their magic.

“Berry…
Berry…”

She
blinked and met the worried gaze of Jo-Jo’s new artist beau.  “Sorry…
Colin?”  She couldn’t remember his last name, breathing through her mouth
as his expensive cologne engulfed her, making her eyes want to water. 
Yeah, blame the cologne Berry, like you weren’t about to sob like a baby. 

“It’s
Joanne, she’s not feeling very well.  I thought I’d drive her home but I think
I might need some help getting her to the car.”

Berry
ruthlessly shoved aside all her problems, back straight, head held high. 
“Of course, lead the way.”

Chapter
Twenty-Two

“Where
can I find Berry Malone?”  Ramsey loomed over Maureen’s desk as he
shrugged into his jacket.

“Chief?” 
Maureen felt the tension in the station change at Ramsey’s terse tone. 

“Berry
Malone?”  Ramsey snapped her name again.  Tanner, across the station,
stood up and began pulling on his own jacket. 

“Um…
at Reverie Valley, with Adelaide, Daphne and Margot.  At an art gallery
viewing.”  Maureen was starting to look worried.

“Call
the Valley sub-station.  Get Tamara or Jillian over to the gallery.
 
When they find Berry, I want them to sit on
her, understood?” 

Maureen
was nodding even as she hit speed dial on her desk phone.

“Problem,
Chief?” Tanner sidled up next to Ramsey.

“Yeah. 
I don’t think Granger is behind the snatch and grab attempt on Berry.  I
think it’s Previn Carlyle.  I’m pretty sure he’s changed his appearance
and has been hanging out around Reverie Valley waiting for another chance at
Berry.”

“Damn,
I’ll contact Benedict.  He’s out driving patrol.”

Ramsey
nodded, absently checking his holstered gun whilst digging into his pocket for
his car keys with his other hand. “Have Benedict swing by and pick you up, then
I want you two headed for Reverie Valley. When you get there, set up patrol on
the South Road.  If any strange vehicles try to leave the District, I want
them stopped and searched.”

Tanner
nodded, reaching for his walkie talkie.  “What about you Chief?”

“I’ll
follow you in my car and co-ordinate with Jillian and Tamara.  Once we
have Berry locked down we can start searching the Valley camping grounds,
rentals and empty houses.  Maureen?” He turned to look her way. 
“Call Mac and Cam in.  Tell them what’s going on.  I’ll meet them at
the gallery.  Can you text me the address?”

Ramsey
didn’t wait to hear her response.  Maureen was competent and fast, he
trusted her to send the information he needed and to rally the team. 
Thank God she’d decided to work back late tonight.  Or perhaps it was just
part of her magic, being in the right place at the right time to be at ground
zero of any breaking development in the Sanctuary.

By
the time Ramsey was pulling out of the staff parking lot in his cruiser,
Benedict had arrived at the station to collect Tanner.  Once they were out
of the town centre Ramsey appreciated when Benedict put his foot down hard on
the accelerator, the two cars eating up the miles fast as they headed for
Reverie Valley.  Even so, it didn’t feel anywhere near fast enough for
Ramsey. 

They
were at the half-way mark when Ramsey’s CB radio crackled to life and Maureen
was advising that Tamara was at the gallery and there was no sign of Berry anywhere. 
Fuck!  Where could she be?  Did Carlyle already have her?  His
thoughts were churning so hard he almost missed the rest of Maureen’s update.

“Say
again Maureen.”

“Joanne
Granger is missing too, Chief.  Maybe they just left together.”

Ramsey
gripped his steering wheel tighter, his foot pushing down on the brake. 
His gut was telling him that there was no point in him travelling to the art
gallery.  He pulled the cruiser over to the side of the road, picking up
the CB handset.

“Get
Tamara to question the crowd, maybe someone saw them leave… can give us a
direction.  Tanner?  You and Benedict stay on plan.  They might
be ahead of us now but I still want you to set up a South Road check
point.  Maureen, tell Mac and Cam to standby.  I’ll advise as soon as
I have a heading for them.”

Ramsey
turned off the CB and sat in the dark by the side of the long empty road
listening to the tick of the car’s cooling engine.  He had to go with his
gut that the worst case scenario was in play.  Previn Carlyle had Berry
and possibly Joanne.  The conman wouldn’t take them back to where ever
he’d been staying, he’d want to keep on the move… escape.  He’d had plenty
of time to put a plan in place.  A hostage, let alone two, in a car was a
bad bet… too many variables and hard to control, even if you insisted one of
them drive.  Unless you stuffed them in the trunk. Still, Carlyle was a
white collar criminal, he wouldn’t think like a mobster, so what did that leave
them with?

Boats! 
Damn, he’d originally thought Robert Granger had been doing an internet search
on boats but what if he’d been doing so as a favour for his cell mate
Carlyle.  Berry had said that Granger didn’t like the water so there was
no logical reason for him to be looking around online for boats, especially
since he was captured two thousand miles inland at an airstrip. 
Boats!  Carlyle was after a boat.

He
knew where the bastard was headed.
 
With
that in mind he started the engine with a roar and whipped the car back around
to head towards Haven Bay.  Picking up his CB handset he advised Mac and
Cam McKenzie of where he was headed and that they were to meet him there. 
Haven Bay Marina… of course.

*                        
*                     
*

Berry
woke, her head throbbing, her eyes bleary and her stomach churning as the room
around her rocked and swayed.  No, not a room, a boat. Goddess where was
she?  What happened?  She remembered helping Colin Prescott walk
Joanne to his car, then… nothing.  Goddess, where was Joanne?  Was
she alright?  Why couldn’t she move her hands or her feet?

She
blinked several times, her vision clearing.
 
She was in a dimly lit cabin, lying on a padded bench.  She turned
her head to scope out what else she could see.
 
Oh Goddess thank you, Joanne was alive, tied up, lying on a padded bench
on the opposite side of the cabin.

“Berry.” 
Joanne was lying on her side awkwardly.  Her face very pale by the light
of the moon.  “Are you okay?”

“I
think so.”  Berry frowned.  “How did we get here?  What’s going
on?”

“I’m
so sorry.”  Tracks of tears made glistening trails down the side of
Joanne’s face.  “It was Colin.  I don’t know how it happened. I was
feeling unwell at the party, he offered to fetch you and the next thing I know
he was spraying some kind of gas in your face and you collapsed.  He
sprayed me also, but he didn’t have much left in the canister.  I remember
him driving us here.  Walking me onto the boat, tying me up and then
carrying you in.  It’s so bizarre, what does he want?”

“That’s
what I was going to ask you?”

Joanne
shook her head abruptly.  “I don’t know what’s going on.  He wouldn’t
answer my questions.”

“Where
are we?”  Berry eyed the large cabin again.

“The
marina around the bluff from the senior’s village.”

“We’re
in Haven Bay?”  Berry wriggled her shoulders until she was half sitting
up.  “Have you tried calling for help?”

Joanne
nodded glumly.  “He came in and told me that the place was deserted for
the night so go ahead and keep yelling until I was hoarse.”

“Where
is he?”  Berry glanced towards the entrance expecting Colin Prescott to
appear.

“There’s
a problem with the motor.  He muttered something about it looked like wild
life had chewed through the fuel line. I think he’s trying to fix it.”

“You
don’t know what he wants with us?”

Joanne
shook her head, fresh tears dripping down the side of her face. 
“No.  But it’s all my fault Berry.  I should have realised there was
something not quite right about him.
 
He
asked all these questions about you… but I just thought he was interested in
me, my life, what was important to me.  I never imagined… never could have
guessed that… that he would do something like this.  He was such a
gentleman… charming, sweet even.  How could I have been so foolish? 
So blind?”

“Jo-Jo
don’t beat yourself up about it.  We have more immediate problems on our
hands, speaking of which, can you get loose?” Berry tested her own bindings,
finding them annoyingly tight. 

“No.” 
Joanne wriggled so violently she almost fell off her bench.

“Careful.” 
Berry warned, peering around the cabin.
 
Hmmm… the galley, maybe in one of those drawers she might find a knife
or something sharp to cut her bindings.  Heaving herself upright took two
goes but eventually she managed to sit up, swinging her bound feet around to
rest on the floor for balance.  Thank Goddess Colin had tied her wrists
together in the front.  Now all she needed to do was keep her balance and
bunny hop her way over to the kitchen area.  Damn, she wished she’d taken
more yoga and learnt to centre her core.  Heaving herself up was easy,
balancing as the boat dipped and rocked beneath her proved challenging.

Taking
several deep breaths she waited until she was reasonably sure she had the
timing of the swaying boat down.
 
Her
whole body tensed to take her first bunny hop when the sound of boots
clattering down the stairs from the upper deck distracted her so greatly she
fell back down on the bench, knocking the air from her lungs.

“Well,
well.
 
It’s all about the timing, isn’t
it?”  Colin flicked on the light as he entered the cabin, wiping his oily
hands on an old cloth.  The smug smile on his face turning into a full
blown grin as he surveyed his two captives. 

In
the dim light Berry took a good look at the man who’d kidnapped her.  At
the party she’d been too caught up in her own anger and misery to really take
stock of the man who had been dating her mother-in-law for the past several
weeks.  He was tall, fit for a man in his early 60’s and pale, his hair a
too dark auburn that said he clearly dyed it.  His eyes were a bright,
intense, slightly unnerving blue.  His broad smile was surprisingly
infectious.  For all his genial polite exterior though, there was
something intimidating about Colin, something behind his eyes, something dark
an unsatisfied.

“I
just came down to let you know we’re about ready to depart.  Lucky for me
huh?”  He picked up a piece of rope from a discarded pile at his feet and
walked towards Berry, who automatically flinched away from him.

“What
are you going to do?”

Colin
ignored her, looping the rope between her ankles and securing the other end to
the base of a nearby table.  “That should keep you in place until we get
out to sea and can have a little chat about leverage…”  He flicked a quick
glance over towards Joanne.”

“What
do you want with us?  Why have you kidnapped us?”

Colin
resumed rubbing at his greased stained hands with the rag, leaning casually
against the table he’d anchored Berry to.  “I want you to solve all my
problems Berry Granger.  And I intend to use Joanne here as my insurance
policy, ensuring that you toe the line to my specifications.”

“My
name is Malone.  And toe what line?  What do you think I can do for
you?”

If
possible Colin’s smile broadened.  “No more and no less than what you use
to do for your husband.”

“Robert?”

“You
know Robert?”  Joanne echoed Berry’s bewildered tone.

Click,
a few things suddenly made sense for Berry.  “Your one of the prison
escapees, aren’t you?  You’re friends with Gerry.”

“Gerry? 
Oh, you mean Gerard.”  Colin discarded the rag and gave Berry his full
attention.  “I hadn’t realised what an unwell man he was until we got
here.  I sent him off on a simple exercise to watch you and report
back.  Next thing I know he’s crashing through the woods telling me he’s
shot you and that he needs to go back and kill the bastard who put him in
prison.”  Colin sighed, a distinctly put upon sound.  “And just like
that, all my careful planning went out the window.  I couldn’t talk Gerard
around or get him to listen to reason so we parted ways.  Luckily I’d
already introduced myself to the widow Granger as a back-up plan.  A few
coffees, a long walk or two, an intimate dinner listening to all her troubles…
I’ve always maintained that any good plan should have a contingency… words to
live by.”

“Didn’t
stop them from arresting you after you stole all that union pension money did
it… Previn.”

“Ah-hah. 
Well done.  Smart as well as beautiful, and according to your husband
very, very lucky.”

“Where
is Robert?”  Berry looked towards the stairs, expecting Robert to appear.

Previn
shrugged.  “How the hell should I know?  Last I saw him was when the
prison wall collapsed.
 
It was every man
for himself as the saying goes.”

“I
knew Robert didn’t have anything to do with all this.”  Berry scowled
suddenly.  “So why are you here?  Why did you track me down? 
What do you want?”

“All
very good questions.”  Previn checked his watch.  “Most will have to
wait, but we have a few more minutes for the new fuel lines to be pumped free
of air.  What do I want with you?  Well I’ll tell you Berry… Malone,
I want magic to happen.”

“Magic?” 
Berry forced a laugh.  “Like Harry Potter and Tinkerbell?”  She shook
her head, a smile clinging to her lips.