All Around The World by Tracy Stewart

Author:Tracy Stewart [Stewart, Tracy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-12-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen - Hounds of Love

Time, it seemed, had been kind to Richard. He looked well, content even. Hair now salt and pepper, cut short; he sported a trendy hipster beard and his lightly tanned face made his striking green-blue eyes stand out all the more. And it had been so many years since she’d watched those eyes the colour of seaglass fill with incomprehension and pain when she left him in Paris.

But there was no time for regrets now, she knew too much was at stake; thankfully, so did he.

‘Ella!’ Genuine pleasure in his voice as he crossed the room and kissed her on both cheeks, his hands resting on her upper arms just a fraction longer than necessary. ‘You look wonderful, though heaven knows how, given all this. It’s good to see you, really good. Come and sit with us. Rebekka’s been giving me more background, but I want to hear what your sense is of what we know so far, in your own words.’ Ever the diplomat, he was adapt at creating the right ambiance, and he was drawing on every ounce of that skill now.

She sat next to him on the soft leather sofa, her senses still trying to realign themselves from his touch, the sound of his voice, and the lingering scent of Aqua de Parma that he still wore. Thankfully, Rebekka took the lead again to finish her summary, giving Ella a chance to gather her thoughts before she spoke.

‘I’ve no doubt that you now know all the practical and physical aspects of what we’ve got, so I’ll stick to what my gut is telling me and the feel I have from the tangle of threads running around my brain twenty-four-seven. You know, my infamous sixth sense.’ She gave a rueful smile, pausing as his once familiar, gentle, indulgent laughter naturally filled the space between them as it had so often done before.

‘Your unnervingly accurate sixth sense saved us on many an occasion,’ he replied. ‘I trusted it then and I trust it now, and so should you.’ He fixed her with an intense gaze. ‘You are central to us unravelling this, Ella, we’re here to help you work it out—and I have some ideas—but first I need you to tell me what you really think and feel. No matter how uncomfortable or unbelievable the possibilities may seem. We’re not here to judge.’

He smiled encouragingly but he was deadly serious as he continued. ‘Let me just give you some context, because I think that might help. There are things going on right now that are making the powers that be very jumpy. The UN Security Council is concerned about many apparently unconnected events; I’m not party to them all, but to enough that it’s making me feel that we are at a tipping point of some sort on a global level. This virus in China for example. We can’t get much information about it, but it’s got the Chinese concerned enough to close off

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