Amish Undercover by Samantha Price Read Free Book Online Page B

work?”
    He frowned at her question and ignored it. “I’ll show you quickly where everything is since Brighton thought he deserved the day off. Show me your hands.”
    Emma wondered whether she had heard correctly. She hesitated then put out her hands, palms up.
    He turned one hand over. “Good. I’m glad to see you don’t have those awful long fake nails. The agency is finally listening to me. Ladies can’t clean with those long nails; they scratch my highly-polished antique furniture.”
    Emma nodded. “Where do you want me to start?” She looked around the foyer to see that it was even bigger than it looked from the outside.
    “To be perfectly frank with you, I don’t know where my last maid was up to. She used to go from one end of the house to the other and then start over again. What she did everyday was clean the kitchen and the two main bathrooms and my bedroom. My bedroom is the last room at the end of the corridor up the first flight of stairs. Got it? Dust it and vacuum and make the bed.”
    Emma nodded hoping she could remember everything and find all the cleaning equipment. “Where shall I find the …
    “You’ll find all the things you need in the room next to the kitchen. Since you won’t have much to do today, you can cook me lunch. You look like you know how to cook.”
    Emma smiled. “Yes, I can cook.”
    “I’ll be back at 1.00 p.m. sharp. Lunch should be on the table waiting for me, when I arrive.” He stared at her curiously for a moment. “Miss Cook, you have a strange accent; where are you from?”
    “Just from around these parts. My parents were foreign.”
    Her answer appeared to satisfy his curiosity. As soon as he’d rattled off his long list and advised her to touch nothing that did not concern her, he left the house. She heard the hum of a car’s engine and then she made her way to the window. She watched him drive the low, sleek black car up the winding driveway and through the huge gates that opened as he neared them.
    Surely, he hadn’t left a new maid home alone in his house with all his precious objects and antiques. Emma looked around about her at all the decorative items. She looked up at the lights which were massive arrangements dotted with crystal cut glass. Emma had seen smaller chandeliers than these at one of the antique shops in town.
    She remembered Bailey’s words that she was solely there to observe, and Emma knew that if she did not do a good job then Richard Starks would not keep her employed. After gathering up cleaning equipment, she made her way to his bedroom.
    As Emma made the bed, she saw a book lying on the dresser. She picked it up. It was an art auction booklet; a glossy book full of paintings, and they were to be auctioned on the 14 th February, just weeks away. Emma leafed through and looked at the paintings and wondered if Richard Starks might be planning another robbery at the auction house. She noticed a piece of paper fall out of the catalogue, and it landed gracefully onto the floor. Emma crouched down, picked it up read it.
     
    Starky,
    I want the one on page 59 and the one on page 72. I’ll pay two if you get both, and half each if you only get one of them.
    Blowfish
     
    Emma’s heart beat wildly. This was an order from someone named Blowfish to her new boss, and he was asking for paintings. Did he mean he’d pay two million for the two paintings? And was the half, half a million? Emma placed the note down on the nightstand and took the photo with her tiny hidden camera just as Bailey had instructed her to. She placed the note inside the book then photographed the cover of the catalogue.
    Emma finished cleaning his room and went back downstairs. She looked at the clock on the wall of the kitchen. Mr. Starks would be home in an hour. She’d have to start on his meal.
    Mr. Starks came back home right on time, at one sharp.
    “Mmm, something smells good,” he said as he walked into the kitchen.
    “Thank you. I hope you’ll like