The Traitor Among Us (Elena Standish Book 5): Elena Standish thriller 5 by Anne Perry

Author:Anne Perry [Perry, Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2023-04-12T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Elena snuggled further down in bed, determined to go back to sleep, but the noise would not go away. Someone was knocking at the door.

It was too early to get up. Much too early, judging by the pale light on the wall opposite the window. If it was the maid bringing her morning tea, the woman would simply have come in. Was it Margot? She hoped so. She wanted more than anything to ease the tension from the night before last. But as much as she wanted to make peace, she did not know what to say. She could not go back on her views, and she did not expect Margot to go back on hers. So why was Margot here?

‘Come in,’ she said, sitting up in bed.

The door opened and James Allenby came in, closing it behind him. He was dressed for the outdoors, and it was clear that he had shaved. He was ready for the day.

She glanced at the clock on the bedside table. It was a quarter to seven.

‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘I seem to be showing up at the crack of dawn, but we need to talk. Get dressed. I’ll wait downstairs. We’ll go for a walk.’

She put her head in her hands. She was barely awake. ‘Can’t we talk here?’

‘No. Unless you want to explain to everyone what we are doing together in your room, with me dressed and you in your – whatever that is – a nightshirt? At not quite seven in the morning.’

She shook her head, pushed her hair back from her face, and looked at him. ‘I’ll give them three guesses, and leave it at that.’ She was delighted to see him blush, and then she laughed softly. It was definitely laughter, and it struck her that this was the first time she had laughed genuinely, and not out of politeness, in several days. She very much liked the sound.

‘They think that anyway,’ he said quietly, but he, too, saw the humour in it. ‘And I’m afraid we’ll have to let them. Think it, that is. It will certainly enlarge my reputation, although it will undoubtedly damage yours.’

Elena watched him, unsure where this conversation was going.

‘I’m sorry. It was actually Lucas’s idea to get you involved. This is far more serious than the murder of John Repton, ugly and sad as that is. This was his last job, Elena. He saw something terrible coming. He did it because he cared.’ He stopped. There was a definite crack in his voice.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said quietly. ‘It must be difficult to talk about it, when other people are speaking about him as if he were just a name. You knew him as a man.’

‘In our work, we can’t afford to let people know what we care about,’ he answered. ‘It gives them a weapon. Sooner or later, they’ll use it.’

‘Still, it wouldn’t hurt to let the people you work with know a little about . . .’ She stopped speaking. Allenby was smiling.

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