CHARMED FORCES

  Lexi Graves Mysteries, 16

  Camilla Chafer

  Charmed Forces

  Copyright: Camilla Chafer

  Published: June 2023

  ISBN: 978-1-909577-27-5

  The right of Camilla Chafer to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format.

  Visit the author online at www.camillachafer.com to sign up to her mailing list and for more information on other titles.

  Contents

  Copyright

  Synopsis

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Mailing list sign-up

  Other books

  Charmed Forces

  Private Investigator Lexi Graves is pleased to clear up her latest assignment. It’s a simple case of misguided suspicion after all.

  Then her brother, Detective Daniel Graves, turns up on her doorstep, alone, blood-spattered, and almost entirely incoherent. What happened to him? Where did he come from? And what, if anything, did he leave behind? Springing into action, the clues Daniel provides for Lexi lead her to a terrible scene that holds more questions than answers. Biggest of all, who is trying to frame Daniel for murder?

  With Daniel’s memory sketchy, and now a wanted man, Lexi is determined to untangle what appears to be a case of murder-for-hire. It will take everything she’s got to unmask a dangerous foe before her brother goes down for crimes he insists he didn’t commit.

  Chapter One

  “We need to stalk someone right now,” I said as I tilted my sunglasses so I could peer over the rims and observe my prey.

  “I’ll be right there!” yelled my best friend, Lily, in a pitch so excited and loud that I had to move the phone away from my ear. Of course, that was my fault. I shouldn’t have started the conversation with such a lurid statement. I could have started with a simple hello or a how are ya, but no, I suggested stalking. Of course, that kind of was my job as a private investigator. Only I didn’t do it for fun. I got paid to do it. Fun was merely an unintentional perk.

  “You’re not going to ask me whom we’re stalking?” I inquired.

  Lily barely considered the question. “Uh... no.”

  “Or where we need to go?” I persisted. “Maybe, why?”

  “I figured you were going to tell me that.”

  “True. I was.”

  “So...?”

  “Whom, where or why?”

  “Where, then? I don’t care whom. I’m on the fence about why. I’m just down for stalking. Where should I meet you?”

  “You’re the best! I’ll text you the address.” I tossed my phone onto the passenger seat, pushed my sunglasses on top of my head, and lifted my camera, pointing it at my targets as they headed into a coffee shop. The woman carried two shopping bags with her, a summer dress in one, two paperbacks in the other. The man had a canvas satchel, which he wore on his hip, half slung towards his back. I’d been following the couple all day and they’d done nothing at all. No, that wasn’t quite correct. They’d done plenty of things — errands, a little shopping, a movie — but all of them were as boring as hell to observe and I would definitely have to see the movie again so I could fully watch the screen. Yet our client was convinced they were corporate spies, passing on the big, bad secrets of the real estate world. I just hoped his business was more solid than his theory.

  While I followed them, never more than a hundred or so feet away, even when we were in our vehicles, I’d thought about all the spies I knew from film and TV. James Bond. Hot. Jason Bourne. Somebody definitely thought he was hot but I wasn’t sure who. Ethan Whatshisname from Mission: Impossible. Pretty hot. Although he’d be a lot hotter if I understood any of the plots to that film series.

  Then there was Adam Maddox, my ex-boyfriend, turned fabulous friend, but technically, he’d been an undercover detective when I met him so I scrubbed his name off the list.

  Where were all the female spies?

  It was a question I was still pondering when Lily wrenched open the car door and sprang inside. “You really do need to start locking your doors, Lexi,” she said. “I could have been an ax murderer.”

  “I thought I did lock them and you don’t have an ax,” I said as I lowered my camera and laid it across my lap.

  “Maybe it’s a little one hidden in my purse.”

  “A little ax doesn’t strike me as too dangerous.”

  “It will if I chop you into teeny tiny pieces with it,” said Lily as she mimed chopping.

  I grimaced. “Hey, do you know any female spies?”

  “Do you count?”

  “I’m not a spy.”

  “Then no.”

  “Oh! Covert Affairs!” How many times had I wished I were Piper Perabo’s Annie Walker back when I was a temp and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Annie made everything seem adventurous and exciting, albeit dangerous.

  “You know Piper Perabo? Oh, my gosh! Is she a client?” Lily waited eagerly, her eyes bugging out. I hated to disappoint her but she should have been used to it by now.

  “No and no.”

  “Shame. Great series. Premature ending.”

  “I know, right?”

  “The way she ran in those heeled boots!”

  “Right?”

  Lily nodded thoughtfully. “I’d make a great spy.”

  “Oh?”

  “Who would suspect me? I manage a bar. I’m a mom. I have so many wigs too. I have a Mrs. Smith wig, not that anyone would believe Angelina Jolie was a spy. Maybe in Salt but not as Mrs. Smith.”

  “Agreed on all counts. No one would suspect you. Wait. Do you still have all those wigs?” Lily used to wear wigs in her many short-lived jobs, changing her style from one day to the next. Now I rarely saw her with any style other than her curly blonde hair that tumbled around her shoulders in a riotous way.

  “Sure. They were good value. Why? Do you want to borrow one? Although you never seem to need a disguise. People just never suspect you of anything. You should have joined the CIA.”

  “Maybe another time.”

  “The CIA?”

  “The wigs,” I clarified.

  “You should tell Solomon to branch out and open a spy agency. It’s pretty much what you do anyway.”

  “I’m a private investigator.”

  “Exactly.” Lily shifted in her seat and looked around, then peered ahead. “Whom are we stalking?”

  “The couple sitting in the window of that coffee shop,” I said, pointing before I raised my camera again and snapped a couple of shots.

  “The pair with the coffees?”

  I looked at Lily and she looked back blankly until a dawning realization hit her eyes. “Right. Everyone has coffee. It’s a coffee shop.”

  “Guy in the black ballcap and denim shirt, and woman with the red jacket and short hair.”

  “What did they do?”

  “So far, nothing.”

  “I see why you called me. Do you want me to start something? A fight? I can get a coffee and spill it on one of them.”

  “No! Why would you do that?”

  “Maybe you need to steal their phones, or investigate her purse, or see what he keeps in his wallet? Is that a satchel next to him? He could be carrying anything in that.”

  “That sounds like more fun but I just need to watch what they do.”

  “What if they split up?”

  “My client says they might be in on it together.”

  “Okay.” Lily leaned back and waited. The couple sipped their coffees. She got foam on her nose and he brushed it off with his thumb. It was too cute for words. I hoped my client appreciated the photo recording the moment. A minute passed by and Lily turned to me. “What are they in on together?”

  “Corporate espionage.”

  “Oh. Exciting! What made your client suspect them? Does one of them have foreign ties? Is one a sleeper agent?”

  “Well, the woman, Louise Milton, is an administrator and the man, Callum, is a lawyer and they don’t work in the same department. My client saw them together a day after another firm won the bid for a new housing development on some land the city sold, which undercut their bid by a significant margin. My client thinks they sold the details of his firm’s bid to their competitor.”

  “Who knew real estate could be so sexy?”

  “No one, except the people selling those million-dollar homes on TV,” I agreed, “yet here we are. So this is my third day investigating them and the first day I’ve
seen them together. I followed her to the mall where she bought a dress and then she drove to this cute lunch spot over on Bow Street that we should definitely check out, and he met her there. They had lunch, then they went to the bookshop on Hamilton, then they went to the movies, so I got a ticket too and watched the same film from three rows behind, and now they’re here, getting coffee.”

  “Does that sound like corporate espionage to you?”

  I pulled a face. “It looks more like a date to me.”

  “Aww. Spies dating. It’s just like Mr. and Mrs. Smith, except presumably, these two know about it.” Lily focused her attention on them. “Do you think they’ll smash up the coffee shop?”

  “No... and I don’t think they’re spies. I think they’re just two people who met at work and have been quietly dating without announcing it to their coworkers or the HR department. I just have to prove it unequivocally for my client.”

  “How’re you going to prove they’re not spies at the same time? Even spies get to have a nice time with their romantic partners.”

  “You don’t think proof that they’re dating is enough? Damn! Don’t even answer that. You’re right. My client will just go down the Mr. and Mrs. Smith route too. He’s convinced they’re spies. Of course he’ll think the dating is just the icing on top of the cake.” I tried not to let my shoulders sag under the weight of the realization that I had to prove something virtually unprovable. “What if I can’t find any evidence? That’ll have to be enough.”

  “It’s always been enough before.”

  I glanced at Lily, wondering if she were throwing shade at me or being supportive but I couldn’t decide. I could ask but I didn’t want to do that either, just in case. Instead I said, “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  “They’re kissing,” screamed Lily, bouncing in her seat and pointing at my targets.

  I focused my camera and snapped a series of pictures of the two kissing across the table, the man partly standing to lean forwards, their lips locked together in a chaste smooch. They broke apart, beaming mushily at each other. The woman lifted her coffee and sipped as she stared into his eyes.

  “Aww. Did you get it?”

  I checked my screen. “I did. At least, I can prove the dating part.”

  “Unless it’s an elaborate ruse to disguise the spying.”

  “I swear, my client is going to say that too.”

  “Good job you’re always one step ahead.”

  “I’m going to follow them for the rest of the day.” I slumped lower in my seat, waiting as a bus passed, blocking the coffee shop from view. When it was out of the way, I was relieved to see my targets were still there, gazing at each other dreamily.

  “But on the plus side, I’m here and we get to catch up,” said Lily. “No baby, no husbands, no clients clamoring for attention.”

  “I only saw you yesterday,” I pointed out.

  “You wouldn’t believe what happened since then!” She clapped her hands.

  “Tell me everything.”

  “Well, bar manager extraordinaire Ruby went on a date last night and she said the guy was amazing. He asked her out again, and get this, he even texted her this morning to confirm their second date! Doesn’t he have great manners?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “And I took Poppy to ballet and her teacher said she’s a natural and she should try the hip-hop class too.” Lily grabbed her phone and scrolled to a video of Poppy wobbling unsteadily on her little legs clad in pink tights and a fluffy tutu.

  “Doesn’t she need full control over her limbs to do hip-hop?”

  “Yeah, but they said that for ballet too and it doesn’t seem to be totally important at Poppy’s age. Anyway, that’s not the only exciting thing. We had a bachelor party in the bar last night and the groom and best man both stripped. It was a lot of fun.”

  “Stripped naked?”

  “Yeah. I thought it might get really frisky and I’d have to throw them out but it turns out they’re both just very comfortable in their skins.”

  “Okay.” I thought about it. “Aren’t they supposed to hire strippers?”

  “You’d think,” said Lily with a shrug. “The best man had a very good tan. You really missed out on a great night. Next time, you should come.”

  “I doubt they’ll have more than one bachelor party.”

  “We don’t know that, but good point. It’s hard to get return business for bachelor parties unless someone else in the party has a great time and wants to come back. I made sure to give them all cards. I’ll let you know if I get any hits and you can help work the bar.”

  “Cool,” I said, although I was still very confused about what transpired at the party.

  “Jord and I had a date brunch too, which was nice. He’s been working so much lately and he wants to plan a beach vacation. He says you can’t come.”

  “You asked him?”

  “Duh. Of course.”

  “I don’t want to come.”

  “Then everyone is happy except me, but I’ll make the best of it. How does one vacation with a toddler? Can you even call it a vacation? Or is it just life that costs extra, elsewhere?”

  “They’re on the move,” I said as the couple rose and started to fuss over bags before heading out the door in the direction of the woman’s car.

  “Decision time. Whom do we follow? Do we take one each? Whom do you prefer?”

  “They haven’t split up yet.” I checked my watch. “Maybe they’re going for dinner.”

  “Heckuva long date. They must really like each other. Aww,” said Lily as the couple stopped and kissed again, but longer this time. They locked hands together and walked away at a leisurely pace. I fired off a few more shots and put the camera into Lily’s lap before starting the engine. As they reached the end of the next block, I pulled out into traffic, hoping they got into her car together so I could follow.

  Fortunately for me, traffic was crawling slowly and by the time we reached their car, she flipped on her blinker and made a move to pull out. I signaled she was safe to pull out in front of me and she waved and mouthed, “Thank you.”

  “She’s too polite to be a spy. Put that in your report,” said Lily.

  “Hmm.” We followed slowly, allowing a car at the next junction to join the road and drive between us, talking about an issue Lily ran into with a supplier to her bar. I talked about how busy the detective agency was and how we were fully stretched and all our risk management team were busy acting as security for a construction development that was besieged by thieves. Lily asked if my mom announced anything about when the next family dinner was and mentioned that her mother sent Jord a nice gift for his birthday, which was extra surprising because it wasn’t even his birthday. “And then she suggested we all fly out to visit her now that they’re settled in their new assignment. Me, Jord, and Poppy.”

  “That sounds nice.” Lily’s mom was a high-flying something or other and often had an assignment somewhere both glamorous and luxurious. The longest they’d stayed put anywhere was while Lily was in school but even then, the work trips had been quickly announced and lengthily taken. While Lily had grown up cash-rich, she’d been parent-poor, and my family had happily taken her under their wing. As soon as we graduated high school, her parents had left the state but Lily stayed.

  “You think I should go?”

  “If you want to.”

  “Do you think my mother will be there?”

  “She invited you.”

  “Hmmm. My dad will definitely show up but I’m not so sure my mother would. I’ll think about it. It’ll be nice for Poppy to know her other grandparents.”

  “Then maybe you should go.” I followed the couple as their vehicle made a left and headed towards Harbridge, a nice part of town that was steadily getting pricier as nicer businesses appeared, only further increasing its appeal. After a few more minutes, the couple’s car pulled into the parking lot of an upbeat Greek restaurant that was steadily getting a great reputation for their delicious and bountiful food. I knew that because I’d been bugging Solomon to go there after reading an article in the newspaper.

  “Lunch, movies, dinner. I like this guy,” said Lily as we drove past. I circled back and parked on the street opposite, watching them walk into the restaurant.

  “Not a hint of espionage,” I said by way of agreement. “Have you tried that Japanese place next door?” It opened about a month ago and was another place I wanted to try.