Pitch Black: A Romantic Thriller (Blackwood Security Book 1) by Elise Noble Read Free Book Online

on my own.” With her cheerful demeanour, she’d keep smiling through Armageddon.
    “I won’t be great company I’m afraid.”
    “Oh don’t you worry about that. Elsa said you’d had a tiff with your boyfriend. You just need a good night’s sleep and everything will look rosier in the morning.”
    “Let’s hope so, eh?”
    She must have sensed my hesitation. “It was a big argument then?”
    “Er…”
    “You don’t have to give me the details now. We can have a nice chat about it over dinner. I’m making toad-in-the-hole to start and chocolate brownies and ice cream for after.”
    “I ate a really big lunch—I’m not sure I’ve got room for dinner as well.” Or the interrogation that would come with it.
    “You need to eat.” She reached out and patted my stomach. “Look at you, you’re already fading away. I’ll show you up to your room. You’ll have time to take a bath, and I’ll knock on your door when dinner’s ready.”
    Before I could get a word in edgeways, I found myself being marched up the stairs. I didn’t bother trying to argue. I had a feeling Carol could out-manoeuvre even the most hardened negotiator. Next time my company had a hostage situation, they should call her in. She’d probably win the bastards over with cookies.

    The room may have been basic, but I didn’t need much, and it represented a definite step up from my digs in London. I tested the weight of the chest of drawers—yes, I could drag that across the door. Anything to keep myself inside at night. I managed to check my exit routes and fit in a quick shower before Carol came back.
    She managed to hold off on the questioning until dessert. I guess she thought I could seek comfort in chocolate if I got upset. At least the brief reprieve gave me time to come up with a cover story. Thinking up a plausible tale on the fly usually came naturally, but today, it was a struggle. My heart wasn’t in it, and I couldn’t concentrate as Carol chattered about the inhabitants of Lower Foxford all through the main course. 
    “Marjorie Smith crashed her car into a tree last week after she left The Coach and Horses. I’m not saying she’d been drinking, but it’s quite a coincidence, don’t you think?” Carol said.
    “Mmm, sounds like it.”
    She barely paused for breath before continuing, “And Vera saw Mrs. Melton’s daughter in the chemist buying a pregnancy test kit this morning. She’s only been dating the butcher’s son for a month, and they’re not even married.” Carol shook her head. “Youngsters these days, always rushing into things.”
    It seemed that Carol wasn’t just a branch of the local gossip tree, she was the trunk. Everyone in the village, and undoubtedly half the people from the surrounding area, would soon know anything I told her.
    As I pondered, Carol bustled off to the kitchen and came back with the brownies. I bit into one, and they were so good I let out a little moan. With Carol’s cooking, at least my appetite had returned with a vengeance, but I’d barely finished my first mouthful when the inevitable came.
    “So, what happened with the boyfriend of yours then?”
    I took a deep breath, looked her in the eye and lied. “He was actually my fiancé. I was out shopping a couple of days ago when I got a migraine, so I went home to rest. As soon as I walked into the house I heard noises coming from upstairs.”
    I arranged my face into a suitably devastated expression and added a sniff for effect before continuing.
    “I almost called the police because nobody was supposed to be home, but I thought maybe I was just being silly and I’d left the TV on, or something. So I crept up the stairs, and as I got to the top I realised the noises were coming from our bedroom. I pushed open the door and Jamie was in there doing the deed with another woman.”
    Carol’s mouth dropped open in horror. Or maybe glee, as this was gossip gold. “So what did you do?”
    I gazed off into the distance