When You’re Mine by Blake Pierce

Author:Blake Pierce [Pierce, Blake]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-08-10T18:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Winters walked confidently as Finn strode behind her in the sun. They followed a path which veered away from the south of the house, passed the lawns where the cricket game had been just a day earlier, and then through a small group of trees. If they hadn't been on the trail of a killer, it would have been delightful.

“I saw Jasmine van Reece heading out to the stables from the Blue Room window,” Finn said. “I'm pretty sure this path heads out that way.”

Up ahead the path forked in two.

“Which way?” Winters asked.

“Uh...” Finn looked around, the sunshine touching his blonde hair, which Winters thought looked almost Scandinavian.

“Your career as a tour guide was a short-lived one, may it rest in peace,” Winters said. “I think to the right is probably further south.”

“Part of me wants you to be wrong,” Finn said. “But then, I don't want to waste time. I have enough on my plate without all of this.”

They followed the path through the woods and suddenly came out to the side. Two buildings came into view, side-by-side. One was clearly a large horse stables, and the other was a large wooden building that Winters thought looked out of place on the estate. It looked more at home on a ranch somewhere in America.

“Now that's interesting,” Finn said. “It looks like a big hunting lodge.”

“Do you hunt much?” Winters asked.

“I have,” Finn said. “But I prefer to sit back with a beer by a lake and fish.”

“Why does that not surprise me?”

They walked over a flat bed of grass and, as they neared, Winters could see people moving around at the windows.

“Looks like the maids are cleaning the place,” Winters said.

“Probably after some of the cricket match guests left,” Finn replied.

Before they reached the front door, which was shaded from the sun by a large wooden roofed porch, a stern looking woman with black hair tied tightly back came out to meet them.

“Hello,” the woman said. “I'm Irene Hargreaves; I'm in charge of the lodge and the stables.”

She shook hands with Winters and Finn.

“I've seen you around the estate,” she said. “Are you investigating what happened to his Lordship?”

“Yes,” Winters replied. “I'm Inspector Winters and this is Special Agent Finn Wright.”

“FBI?” the stern looking woman said, surprised. “In England?”

“I'm acting as a consultant on behalf of the chief constable,” Finn explained. “I'm not here as a Federal Agent.”

“Ah,” the woman said. “Still, I'm not surprised this would gain international attention, what with His Lordship's bad deals recently. I wish I had something to say to you about it all, but I spent yesterday having the lodge dressed up for an important evening guest, and so myself and a few of the staff weren't even in Ferguson House when it happened.”

“Bad deals?” Finn inquired.

“Oh, haven't you read the Financial Times recently?” Irene said. She then looked around and lowered her voice. “Far be it for me to idly gossip, but two companies the van Reeces bought last year have had 75% of their market value wiped out in the last few weeks.

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