Page 60 of Winter’s Fire

“We do?”

She could play the innocent all she liked—he wasn’t about to let her get away with this. “Why she came to us. The conversation you had yesterday. Care to explain?”

“Ah.” Lucy clasped her hands behind her back and gave him a rather awkward look. “I didn’t exactly plan to tell Sasha about the mission, and I didn’t tell her who we really are, I just thought if I told her I had a friend who’d gone missing—What are you going to do?”

He knew what she really meant, and he wasn’t falling for her diversionary tactics. “In a few minutes, I’ll send these details to London, and let HQ see what they can uncover. If we get good news back, we can let Sasha know there’s no need to worry.”

“In a few minutes? Why not now?”

“Why not now? Because I think a little discipline is called for, don’t you?”

Chapter 16

A little discipline, he’d said. From her point of view as the recipient, there had been nothing little about it. It had felt like a whole lot of discipline, but if it was meant to deter her from doing anything remotely similar, it was about to fail miserably.

After setting her backside on fire with the paddle, Logan had told her, in no uncertain terms, to hold off questioning Tani. In Lucy’s opinion, however, her appointment with the therapist was an opportunity they couldn’t afford to waste. If people’s lives were at stake, time was of the essence.

Twenty-four hours later, Logan had dropped her off at the spa’s reception desk, his parting expression a final, silent warning that she wasn't to take any unnecessary risks. Her counterargument, should she need one, was that it either wasn’t a risk, or it wasn’t unnecessary.

In theory, she’d win either way.

Logan, however, didn’t seem to be a big fan of theories.

Having waited while Lucy and Logan said goodbye, Tani escorted her to the treatment room. Like most of the resort’s female staff, she was petite and pretty, and made Lucy feel as graceful as a carthorse.

“Good afternoon, Miss Lisa. How are you today?”

“I’m fine, thank you, Tani. I’ve only been here a few days, but I can’t believe how quickly the time’s going.”

“It does seem to fly when you’re on vacation. When you’re ready, if you’d like to lie face down on the table?”

“Thank you.” Lucy exchanged her robe for a towel. “I’m going to miss all this pampering when I go home. I’ll have to remember to thank my friend for telling me all about Nenufar.”

“Your friend has stayed with us?”

It was a long shot, but Lucy had to try, even if she did earn herself another session with the paddle in the process. She jumped up onto the table and manoeuvred herself into the correct position. “Yes, she was here just a couple of weeks ago—you might have given her a massage, although I don’t suppose you’d remember one guest out of the hundreds who come here.”

Tani arranged the towel over Lucy, and pumped scented massage oil into her palm. “I might. What is your friend’s name?”

This was it. Lucy strived for an air of nonchalance. “Diana. Diana Carstairs. She’s British, quite tall, and has blonde, shoulder-length hair, blue eyes, and a large birthmark on her right shoulder. It’s quite distinctive. She was here with her boyfriend.”

And bingo. There was no mistaking the tremble of reaction in the hands that had just started to spread the oil over her back. Diana’s name wasn’t that unusual, but Lucy was willing to bet the birthmark would make her stand out from the crowd.

“I am so sorry, Miss Lisa. Yes, I do remember your friend, but… It was quite upsetting. Most of our guests love it here, and many return often, but some people do find it too intense. Your friend was one of them. I am sad to say there were many arguments and fights. I do not normally listen to gossip about guests, but I did hear it was so bad, they went to see Dr. J shortly before they returned home.”

They returned home? That was a new one on Lucy. Although Tani appeared genuine in her belief that that was the case, the truth was a different matter entirely.

“Really?” In the circumstances, innocence wasn’t too difficult to feign. “Oh dear, that is bad news. I appreciate you don’t like to gossip, but she is my friend, and I really don’t want to say the wrong thing when I see her again—do you know what happened? Did they make up?”

Okay, it was a pretty feeble attempt, but it was the best she could do.

“No, I do not know. The doctor has strict client confidentiality rules when it comes to his counselling sessions. Now, if I may suggest that you relax, Miss Lisa? You will get far more out of this treatment if you do.”

And that was the end of that, especially when the new-age music that had provided a muted backdrop suddenly grew in volume enough to act as an effective barrier to further conversation.

It didn’t matter, though—she’d heard enough. At last they had something to go on, and as Tani continued to work on her back and shoulders, Lucy was working on some ideas for taking their investigation further.

~~*~~