When Old Fires Ignite by Shana Frost

Author:Shana Frost [Frost, Shana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shana Frost

Pastel green faded against the grey clouds. The person at the door lost his smile, in sync with the weather.

‘Detective Cameron! What are ye doing here?’

Heels clicked from inside the house. ‘Who is it, darling?’

Amelia Downie’s hair was curled like corkscrews, her jeans faded with age and her T-shirt sporting a vintage car. ‘Oh, Aileen!’

‘Hi, Amelia.’

Callan nodded his greetings, unamused. ‘I think we should take this inside, don’t you, Tim Downie?’

The silence blared louder than horns. Good – the more uncomfortable he was, the better.

Porcelain cups and saucers clinked, yet no one spoke.

Pure, unadulterated rage radiated off Callan like a radio signal. Tim Downie, his red beard shrivelled, sat twiddling his thumbs, looking anywhere but at Callan.

Aileen had strutted into his house alone.

Tim slinked away when Amelia sat beside him, teacup in hand.

Callan discarded his on the coffee table, uninterested in dainty tea and pleasantries. His jaw was fatigued from the clenching.

Callan’s anger bounced right off Tim and lasered in on Aileen. How did she find her way into trouble every damned time?

Amelia cleared her throat. ‘What is this about?’

‘Ken Macalister,’ Callan gritted out through clenched teeth. ‘The dead man.’

‘Ah! Is that why you were here yesterday?’ She gestured at Aileen.

Tim scowled, beard twitching. ‘This is harassment! How can you send someone in here to question my wife? We’ve nothing to do with that man’s death! He fooled us, robbed from us! We are the victims here.’

Callan didn’t interrupt him, because it would mean hurling something at the pastel walls. His rage choked him into silence.

He shot Aileen a glare.

She’d pleaded innocence, said she hadn’t known Amelia was a suspect’s wife. Yet she’d failed to mention Amelia’s last name. A coincidence, she’d tried to joke. But coincidences were as real as unicorns…

Damn it!

Beside him, Aileen sighed. If she had another trick up her sleeve, he’d strap her in handcuffs. Callan had vowed as much when he’d dropped her off at Dachaigh last night and left her alone.

‘Amelia Downie. What was your surname before you married?’

Amelia smiled. ‘You catch on quick, Ms Mackinnon. Yes, I wrote an article on Ken Macalister as Lia Edwards.’

Aileen powered through before Callan could vent his frustrations. His death glare lost against her will. ‘You told me you didn’t report news then; you wrote about lifestyle.’

‘It was about lifestyle – a career change, and a very surprising one at that.’

Tim cleared his throat, comprehending the undercurrents and pressing into the cushions like he wanted to camouflage himself amongst them. ‘She was living in Stirling then.’

Callan leaned in, gaze directed at Tim. The man swallowed, eyes darting around like he wanted to poof into thin air. ‘And yet ye didn’t say a word.’

‘I-I didn’t know! How would I have known?’

Amelia set her cup aside. ‘Look, we met in 2004 at a trade show. I was living in a small flat in Stirling. He was in town to see cars, and I was interviewing car enthusiasts.’

‘We dated long distance until we married in 2005.’ Tim smiled. ‘So I didn’t know her day-to-day projects.

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