Page 95 of The Secret Castle in the Highlands

Alex Lapley was leaning on the desk; his lacquered blond hair swept to one side. He tapered his thin fingers down his sliver of mint-green tie. In that light-grey suit, he reminded me of a prowling lizard.

‘Good morning, Ms Summers,’ he smirked. ‘I’m sorry to hear your latest efforts with that ridiculous highwayman character have been in vain.’

I adjusted the sleeves of my cream scooped-neck top. ‘Who said they were in vain?’

His lips flinched. ‘I have a proposition for you.’

Katie materialised behind me.

‘Oh, how sweet,’ he grinned. ‘You’ve got your bodyguard with you.’

I could sense Katie’s normally calm chakra burst into flames at my shoulder.

‘I’m not interested in anything you have to say, Mr Lapley, nor do I have any intention of surrendering my business to anyone, let alone you.’

Alex’s reptile-like eyes raked over me. ‘Well, that’s a pity. I was going to ask you to drop this ridiculous Scarlet Highwayman jape, and I’ll allow you to continue with those little cottages of yours.’ He adjusted the silver link strap of his watch. ‘Everyone with a modicum of intelligence knows that my ancestors were the backbone of this community. They invested so much of their own money into worthy causes round here. This highwayman character was nothing but a common criminal.’ He came a little closer, his ice-like eyes burning into mine. ‘Do the sensible thing, Poppy. Drop all this and we’ll see what we can do.’

White anger bubbled up inside my chest. ‘Let me spell this out for you, as you’re obviously not the brightest crayon in the box.’ I strode out from behind the counter towards him, my knees in my black, flared trousers quivering with rage. ‘I’m not surrendering my business and I’m not stopping my research into the Scarlet Highwayman.’

His face sharpened, but I carried on. ‘I know that you’re worried I’ll uncover something about your family, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take.’

Alex hitched his pale eyebrows up to his shiny hairline. ‘You don’t know who you’re dealing with.’

‘Oh, I think she does.’

Mason was towering in the doorway, firing lasers into Alex. ‘I hope that wasn’t a threat, because from where I’m standing, it sounded like it was.’

‘Mason,’ I blurted, before realising how stupid I sounded.

Mason gave me a brief smile.

Alex shrank at the sight of Mason, tugged down the hem of his jacket and took a nervous step backwards. ‘You’ll be hearing from my solicitor with instructions on when to vacate.’

‘And you’ll be hearing from us too very soon,’ Mason replied, stepping slightly to one side for Alex to leave.

Alex ground out, ‘Have a good day now,’ but didn’t hang around.

Once he had vanished, Mason loitered. ‘Could I have a word with you, Poppy?’

I found myself staring at him, wishing in one way that he’d evaporate like the evening tide. Things wouldn’t be so complicated then.

His eyes glittered. ‘It won’t take long. It’s important.’

I glanced over my shoulder to look at Katie, and she nodded her encouragement.

Oh, good grief!

‘Okay,’ I conceded. ‘Give me five minutes.’

I snuck a glance in our bathroom mirror to tidy my plait and dashed on a fresh coat of lipstick. Then I realised what I was doing and got annoyed with myself. Mason seemed unable to trust me or confide in me, let alone want to take things further, so why was I making such an effort?

I rammed my lipstick back into my bag and grabbed my phone on the way out, expecting us to take a wander down by the harbour or out towards the park perhaps. Instead, Mason pointed to his car.

‘Where are you taking me?’

‘Back to Dracula’s lair,’ he replied in a dodgy Transylvanian accent.

I would have laughed if the circumstances had been different.