Hot Revenge Box Set 4

The coffee strong and fragrant, washes away my doubts and clears my thinking, although granted, it leaves me with my problem.

How to find Juliana?

And what is the significance of the invoice addresses?

I let my mind freewheel, caffeine lubricating the gears.

What's the connection?

?

?

Back to basics...

Finchby’s invoices...

Taken from his own files…

Supply addresses from legitimate businesses…

… Listing women, children… Human cargo.

???

That can't possibly be what went through the customs checks...

Duplicate documents then?

Same references. Same monetary values. Different cargo.

That would seem logical: A parallel accounting system: one for the outside world, one for private records.

Yes, that works. Any competent criminal could make that work. And doubtless, with the money involved, they’d have accountants and bookkeepers… Perhaps even customs officers and tax inspectors on the payroll.

But none of that gives me the connection to Antonio’s bar or any of the others.

Why here?

Frustrated, mind spiralling inward…

Damn the coffee…

order another

*****

Charlotte

door, wearing the jeans and boots he uses for riding, and a thick cable-knit

indeed a lovely day, with a crisp snap to the air. And the sunshine is

my tiny daughter, blinking at the mobile rotating above her in the

Cara.” My Mom smiles from her

me five minutes, just while Cara drops

cheek. His face might seem impassive to any that didn’t know him, but I see the hidden smile behind his eyes.

*****

the stable, my Master glances up from where he is checking Charlie’s girth. “All ready for you.” Straightening up, he runs

my roll-top pullover. “Two woollens, a cotton top and a thermal vest

lips twitch, then he stoops by Charlie, locking his hands into a cup. “C’mon, I’ll

is stamping and snorting, eager to be off. My Master slaps him on the shoulder then runs a hand up his neck. “Shhhh… Calm down. We’re going now.” Oliver’s

through the yard, he says, “I thought we might take the path through the top field then

“Great idea.”

*****

The ground is firm with the cold and Oliver is trying to take the bit. Head

needs to run,” says my Master, then eyes Charlie, also performing, jarring under me. “They both do. They’ll settle after they’ve

the end of the

to the fence. No

his final words are lost to the wind as I kick heels at Charlie, and she moves from trot to canter to gallop in fewer hoofbeats than I

the lead. Oliver is larger and heavier, more powerful, than Charlie and almost immediately, he thunders up, first closing behind me, then alongside, snorting steam as he pulls ahead. But as her son begins to draw away, Charlie jolts under me with another burst of speed and as we reach the end of the field, Charlie and Oliver, mother and son, my

and I do the same. I’m grinning like a maniac, panting, my blood racing. My Master’s eyes

field, stretching down the mountain, the lake glittering at the bottom, the air frigid and fresh. Oliver and

is.” He reaches out, lifting the long arm of the gate latch to let me through, clucks

bridle path that will take us to the trail

something I want