For a second, I savoured the way his deep voice sounded over the phone, the concern, like he actually cared if it turned out I wasn’t, in fact, okay.

  “Everything’s fine,” I replied. “But I think I’ve made a discovery about Claire. I’ve found out who she really is.”

  There was a long pause on the other end of the line before he spoke, “You’re still working on this? I told you Moretti dropped the case.”

  “No, that’s just the thing. I haven’t been working on it. Well, not exactly.” I kept talking, telling him how Claire looked familiar to me in the photo Moretti showed us. How it turned out I’d actually gone to school with her when I was young.

  When I finished speaking, he was quiet again. “Technically she’s still wanted by the police,” he said ponderously.

  “She could be here in Barnstaple. Her mother still lives here,” I said.

  “Are you suggesting we try to track her down?”

  “We both dislike loose ends. This could bring us some closure,” I replied because I did want to know if Christina Crowley really was the Claire we’d been searching for. And okay, I was also keen to see Cameron.

  “It’s going to take me about an hour to get there,” he said finally and my heart rejoiced. It wasn’t normal for me to be this excited to see him, but I tried not to dwell on that.

  “That’s okay. I’ll text you my parents’ address.”

  After hanging up, I went back into the kitchen and joined Mum and Dad for dinner, but my head was elsewhere. I quickly filled them in on what was going on, knowing they wouldn’t tell anyone. My parents were good people. They could be trusted with a secret. Mum was particularly excited about Cameron coming over. Any mention of a man and she got a very specific look in her eye, like a mother in a period drama with a spinster daughter she was eager to marry off.

  “He won’t be coming into the house,” I warned.

  “But I made apple crumble for dessert and there’s fresh cream. He might like a slice after the long drive.”

  “He’ll be fine.”

  Mum gave me a huffy expression before I went to check my phone. Cameron said he’d call when he reached the house. A little while later, I saw his car pull up outside. Before my parents could wheedle their way into an introduction, I was out the door and hopping into the passenger seat.

  “Go, go, go! My mother wants to invite you in for apple crumble,” I said like a bank robber jumping into a getaway car.

  Cameron gave me a bewildered look as he pulled away from the drive. “You make that sound like a bad thing.”

  “Well, you don’t strike me as someone who enjoys meeting people’s parents, and I’d rather not have you be rude to my mum and dad.”

  He appeared amused by this. “Am I that terrible?”

  “Might I remind you of the colleague you made cry at work this week?”

  “If you recall, I apologised to her.”

  “Yes, I know. She was telling everyone in the break room how you came to her desk and declared how awful you felt. How you’d never meant to upset her so carelessly. Just to let you know, I think she might have a crush on you now.”

  Cameron huffed a disgruntled breath. “Talk about embellishment. All I said was, ‘I’m sorry for my behaviour in the meeting.’”

  “Well, that doesn’t make for a very good story. Of course, she embellished. Take a left here.”

  I continued to give directions while I noted Cameron’s casual attire. He wore dark jeans and a navy T-shirt with a black jacket. I’d never seen him so dressed down. At the office he always wore a suit, even during the summer. His outfit today was simple, masculine, and yes, very, very sexy.

  I was also dressed down in a knitted jumper and leggings. Unlike Cameron though, I didn’t look particularly sexy. Not that I ever looked sexy at work, either. Then again, Cameron had seemed to like what he saw in the photocopying room…

  My body grew hot at the memory of his groans, his mouth, his hand sweeping down my body. I wondered what he thought about the whole thing. Did he want a relationship, or was he interested in some kind of co-workers with benefits arrangement? Perhaps later I might ask him.

  “Are you all right?”

  I blinked. “Yes, of course.”

  “You went quiet there for a minute.”

  “I was just…thinking.”

  He didn’t question me further, and a few minutes later, we pulled to a stop across the street from Christina’s mother’s place. It was a small terraced house, with lace curtains on the windows. Completely ordinary. I had to admit it felt a little thrilling to be the one who’d caught this lead. Normally, I was good at compiling large amounts of information into easily digestible nuggets. Cameron and Lilah were the ones who took that information and used it to see the bigger picture.

  But today, quite by chance, or perhaps it was serendipity, I was the one to make the connection.

  “So, how are we going to do this?” I asked Cameron as we sat staring at the house.

  “Nothing yet,” he replied, expression serious, thoughtful. I noted absently that I found him very attractive when he appeared to be thinking deep thoughts.

  “Shouldn’t we go in and try to talk to her mum?”

  “If her mother is helping her hide, then we don’t want to tip her off,” he said.

  I nodded. That made sense.

  There were two cars parked outside, a red Nissan Micra and a dark blue Hyundai. Cameron tapped the licence plate numbers into his phone. Then lifted it to his ear to make a call.

  “I just sent you two licence plates. Can you get me the names of the owners? Sure, I can wait.”

  He went silent for a moment. “Myleene Crowley and Christina Crowley. Perfect, thanks.”

  He hung up, and we made eye contact. Cameron started to smile. “The Hyundai is registered to Christina. Guess she has been hiding out here after all. There’s a good chance she’s inside.”

  I glanced at the living room window, and it appeared there was a lamp on. Lights flashed from the TV screen and someone’s shadow moved across the room.

  “I can’t believe she’s still in the country. She stole over a quarter of a million pounds. If I were her, I’d be halfway to Bermuda by now.”

  “The police have her on an airport watch list. She must not have been able to get a fake passport. Besides, hiding in plain sight can sometimes work just as well as escaping to the other side of the world. Nobody would’ve ever connected her to this town, a mere hour and a half away. Nor would any of us have been able to discover her real name. It was lucky for us you just so happened to recognise her.”

  “Yeah, and unlucky for her,” I said, pondering how the shy, quiet girl I once went to school with turned to crime.

  Cameron lifted his phone to his ear again, this time dialling the police. “Hello, yes, I’d like to report the possible location of a wanted person.”

  He proceeded to give the address, and then we sat back to wait for them to arrive. A silence filled the car, and I was overly aware of our closeness. Cameron’s cologne floated around my nose, an alluring and memory-inducing scent.

  “You’re frowning,” he said, and I realised he’d been studying me.

  “I’m just a little disappointed we didn’t get to go in and ask questions,” I said, only half lying.

  Cameron chuckled. “What did you want to do, slap the cuffs on her yourself? We’re investigators, Maisie. We find people. We don’t bring them to justice. That’s the job of the police.”

  “I guess.”

  There was a small beat of quiet before he went on. “Georgia mentioned the promotion she offered you.”

  I lifted an eyebrow, interested to hear his opinion on the matter. “And what do you think about that?”

  “I think you need training.”

  I emitted a sigh. “Yeah. I definitely do.”

  “But I also think with the right teacher you could surpass the work of many of our investigators at the firm.”

  I blinked, not sure I heard him correctly. “You do?”

  “You’re one of the reasons that place runs so smoothly, you do realise that, right?”

  What was going on with Cameron tonight? Had he suddenly been imbued with the spirit of compliments and praise?

  “Just out of curiosity, were you by any chance visited by the ghosts of your past recently?”

  His lips did that twitching thing they were prone to, and I tried to ignore the effect it had on me. “Are you likening me to Ebenezer Scrooge?”

  “I’ve just never known you to give praise so freely. In fact, up until recently, I thought you considered me and most everyone else at the office halfwits.”

  “I give off that impression, do I?” he asked, amused. “Well, I don’t think all of you are halfwits.”

  I shook my head, suppressing a smile. “Do you know what I think?”

  He turned to give me his full attention, his voice softening. It did strange things to me, especially when he said my name, “What do you think, Maisie?”

  I looked him right in the eye. “I don’t think you’re half as bad as you like to have everyone believe.”

  His mesmerising lips tipped up at the corner just as sirens approached. I’d always thought it was counterproductive for police to announce their presence like that. Sneaking up on people was far more effective. I saw a shadow emerge from the back of the house. Whoever it was made a dash towards the blue car. It was a woman with long black hair, but I recognised her face when it came into view under the streetlight. Christina had dyed her hair again.

  “That’s her. She’s trying to make a run for it.”

  Cameron quickly started the engine and drove across the street, pulling to a screeching halt in front of Christina’s car and blocking her exit. My heart raced as we both hopped out to confront her.

  “Who the hell are you?!” she yelled angrily. “Get your bloody car out of my driveway!”

  “Christina, my name is Cameron Grant, and I was hired as a private investigator by your ex-fiancé, Ross Moretti. The police will be here momentarily.”

  Christina looked all around for an exit, but then the squad cars arrived, and she knew there was no escape. When she looked at me, she frowned. “Do I know you?”

  I didn’t have a chance to respond because the police emerged from their squad car. In that moment I saw her fury, but also her terror. It was all mixed into one desperate expression. A small, minuscule part of me felt sorry for her. I didn’t know what path she’d taken in life to get herself into this mess, but I did wish things hadn’t ended up this way for her. A policeman appeared and placed handcuffs around her wrists.

  She looked to Cameron again. “Did Ross also tell you that he was in on it?”

  Wait, what?

  Before we could question her, the policeman was lowering her into the back seat of a squad car. I glanced at Cameron, wide-eyed, still digesting what she said when he touched a hand to my elbow and guided me back to his car.

  “Did you hear what she said? Moretti was in on it? Is that why he dropped the case?”

  “She could be lying. We don’t have any proof. Besides, why would he hire us in the first place if he was in on it?”

  I worried my bottom lip. “I don’t know.” A pause. “Do you think we should tell the police?”

  “I’m sure Christina will be all too happy to fill them in once she’s interviewed. Then it’s their job to investigate whether Moretti was involved, not ours.”

  I was quiet for a while as I thought about it. “Doesn’t it bother you that you might’ve been working to help someone who was just as much of a criminal as the one you were trying to find?”

  “This can be a dirty job at times, Maisie. You have to decide if that’s something you can handle.”

  “Will you train me?” I blurted.

  He stared at me for a long moment, like I’d taken him by surprise. “Wouldn’t you prefer Lilah to do it?”

  “Lilah’s my best friend. She’s great at her job, but I don’t think she’ll be honest with me when I make a mistake. You will.”

  A soft smile graced his lips. “There are advantages to being unafraid to give criticism, then?”

  “Seems so.”

  Cameron drove us back to my parents’ house. He cut the engine, and we sat in silence for a moment. I didn’t want him to leave yet, but I couldn’t think of a reason for him to stay.

  “I guess I better let you get back to your parents,” he said, eyeing me with a tilt of his head.

  “Do you want to come in for a little while? There’s still that offer of apple crumble.”

  “You’re not worried I’ll be rude to your mum and dad?”

  “Like I said, you’re not as bad as people think you are.”

  Our gazes locked. I was the first to look away. “Okay, well, I’ll get going.”

  “Wait,” said Cameron. “Maybe I could come in, just for a little bit.”

  I resisted the urge to smile. “Mum will be thrilled.”

  I let us both into the house and mum and dad were sitting at the kitchen table sharing a cup of tea, two empty dessert bowls in front of them. The Christmas tree they put up every year twinkled through the open doorway to the living room, their tabby cat, Bruce, snoozing and purring loudly next to the fire.

  It was a cosy scene, and I wondered what Cameron made of it all. Did he visit with his family often? Were they close? Aside from the fact he had a brother and a sister, I knew next to nothing about his personal life.

  Mum was first to stand up, smiling widely as she took Cameron in. I could just imagine her inner dialogue

  Oh, isn’t he handsome.

  I wonder if he’s single.

  Quick! Scan the hand for a ring.

  Unfortunately, tonight Cameron wasn’t wearing his fake wedding ring, which was why my mother’s smile grew even larger.

  “Mum, Dad, this is my colleague, Cameron. He’s an investigator at the firm.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” he said, and you could’ve knocked me down with a feather. He was making a concerted effort to be nice.

  Seriously, who was this alien invader who’d taken over Cameron Grant’s body?

  “And you,” said Mum. “Would you like a slice of apple crumble? It’s fresh out of the oven.”

  “I’d love some,” Cameron said, and Mum appeared delighted, hopping straight into action.

  We chatted with my parents for a little while. Then it came time for Cameron to head home. I walked him out to where he’d parked his car, both of us quiet. I had to admit it was nice to introduce him to my parents. The only boyfriend I’d ever introduced them to was Raymond, and as we’ve already established, that relationship ended in disaster.

  Not that Cameron and I were in a relationship or anything.

  I just, well, I really liked him, okay? I thought we could put our night together behind us, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. And don’t even get me started on our kiss by the photocopier. I wanted to know if he thought about it, too. I mean, he must’ve thought about it a little. The way he’d kissed me the other day hadn’t felt indifferent. I wished for the confidence to ask him how he felt, what he wanted.

  “I guess I’ll see you at work,” he said in that deep, sexy voice of his.

  Monday was Christmas Eve, our last day at the office until after New Year’s. The firm always closed for the last week of December and normally I looked forward to the break, but this year not so much. I was going to miss seeing Cameron every day.

  If someone told me a couple weeks ago that I’d become this attached to the scariest person at the office I never would’ve believed them.

  “Yes, see you then,” I replied.

  Cameron held his car keys in his hand, hesitating a moment. “Maisie?”

  “Yes?” I hated how hopeful my voice sounded.

  “That was very good work you did today.”

  “Thank you,” I breathed, the compliment making me feel a little floaty inside.

  We stared at each other a second longer, and Cameron started to frown. I swallowed, thinking I’d done something wrong, but then he surprised the hell out of me when he bent and placed a soft kiss on my cheek. “Good night, Maisie,” he murmured.

  “Good night, Cameron,” I said and watched him climb into his car.

  Six

  The Gift

  December 24th

  Early on Monday morning, I dropped into the coffee shop on my way to work for my usual start of the week latte.

  I smiled when I reached the cashier and noticed the display of cute keepsakes for sale. They said things like, Don’t worry, be happy! and Best friends forever. There was also one that said, Deep down you’re lovely, and it made me laugh because it reminded me of Cameron. Without thinking, I picked it up and placed it down on the counter.

  “I’ll take this, too,” I said and glanced up, blinking when I saw it was the barista with the curly hair. Cameron’s brother, Nick. I’d almost forgotten he worked here.

  “Of course. Is there anything else I can get for you?” he asked with a friendly smile. I wondered if Cameron had ever smiled so widely, and thought, no, probably not.

  “Nothing else, thank you,” I replied, then on a whim asked, “Are you Nick?”

  “That’s what it says on my name tag,” he answered jovially.

  “Right, yes, sorry. It’s just that I work with your brother, Cameron. He mentioned you once or twice.”

  Nick wore an amused expression. “Should I go ahead and apologise on his behalf right now for whatever mean thing he’s done?”

  “Oh, no! He hasn’t been mean. Well, he has, but not lately. I just thought I’d introduce myself. I’m Maisie Wilkins.” I offered him my hand, and he appeared to recognise my name as he shook it.

  His eyes wandered up and down me with interest. “So, you’re Maisie. Now it makes sense.”

  “What makes sense?”

  His face turned impish. “Nothing.”

  “Come on, you can’t say something like that and not explain.”

  Nick grinned and rung up my purchases. “Course I can.”

  I narrowed my gaze but couldn’t help smiling. His playfulness was infectious, though I was still dying to know what Cameron had said about me. I mean, he’d obviously said something if Nick knew my name.