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

*****

Charlotte

and boots he uses for riding, and a thick cable-knit sweater… “…I’m going to take Oliver out.

with a crisp snap to the air. And the sunshine is that brilliant clear white you

And Charlie could use the exercise. Um…” I look down to my tiny daughter, blinking at the mobile

Cara.” My Mom smiles from her rocking chair next to mine. “She’ll

me five minutes, just while Cara drops

with a long finger, stroking Cara’s cheek. His face might seem impassive to any that didn’t know him, but I see the hidden smile behind his eyes. Our daughter burbles a bit but doesn’t

*****

from where he is checking Charlie’s girth. “All ready for you.” Straightening up, he runs over me with his eyes. “You’re wearing plenty

woollens, a cotton top and a thermal vest Mom insisted I

his hands

hand up his neck. “Shhhh… Calm down. We’re going now.” Oliver’s ears flick forward, but he settles long enough for my Master to mount. “Walk

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

“Great idea.”

*****

wonderful Master, riding together as though there were no-one else in the world. The ground is firm with the cold and

Charlie, also performing, jarring under me. “They both do. They’ll settle after they’ve

to the end of the

finger. “Only to the fence. No jumping. That gate is

and she moves from trot to canter to gallop in fewer hoofbeats than I

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

Oliver to a standstill and I do the same. I’m grinning like a maniac, panting, my blood racing. My Master’s eyes are soft. “It’s good to

field, stretching down the mountain, the lake glittering at the bottom, the air frigid and fresh. Oliver and Charlie blow blue from their nostrils. “It’s so good to be able to move again properly. Sometimes, it’s just good to

latch to let me through,

take us to the

something I want