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Cal nodded. “Georgie’s got a point. If you didn’t care about it, you’d be a hell of a lot more businesslike. What’s the deal, really?”
“Oh, fuck it. You’re both right. I loved her. I left; I let it go, didn’t believe in long-distance relationships and said I’d keep in touch. After I left Scotland ... time just went by.” He lifted his head and looked at them. “I think I treated her really badly, in retrospect, and now this. It’s not a good place to start dealing with a situation like this, is it?”
Cal poured him some more coffee. “We’ll find the best way. I’ll help you figure it out. Why don’t you leave us to it? Georgie, I don’t want you getting dragged into anything with that goon, Greg.”
“Cal’s right. I’m sorry, Georgie.”
“Hmm, I’d rather be on hand to help.”
“Georgie, please.” Cal squeezed her, his expression serious.
“I guess I can go visit the gallery for a while.”
“Good.”
They agreed to meet at the hotel for lunch, and Jason promised he would try to sort things out by then so that they could enjoy their visit to Edinburgh instead of worrying about the thing that had brought them there.
* * * * *
“For someone special?” The shop assistant looked approvingly at her purchases.
“Very special.” Georgie couldn’t keep the pride from her voice. She’d bobbed into the lingerie shop because the window display had suggested images Cal might like. They would have to spend time working for his exhibition when all was said and done with Jason and his publicity problem.
As she left the shop, she wondered what would happen when Jason met up with his old flame, Zoë. He had said he’d loved her. She was curious about how that made Cal feel. Cal. Would she ever understand him, ever know how he really felt about either of them? He’d unleashed her sexuality, that was for sure, and she’d enjoyed their time with Jason. But what her heart craved was Cal, just Cal.
She meandered through the neatly terraced gardens that ran through the heart of the city. Forgetting her gallery plan for a while, she took shelter under a shady tree. Her thoughts continued to drift.
What if it were just the two of us? Her heart beat louder, showing her that Cal would always be enough for her, if it were only him in her arms. All this experimentation had been wild and empowering, but it had also served to hammer that fact home. She rolled over onto her belly on the freshly cut grass, breathing deep the scent and closing her eyes to the world. She was falling for him, well and truly. And whilst he’d grown more possessive about her, she didn’t have a damn clue what that really meant!
By the time she roused herself and got to the gallery, she felt restless and decided to cut short her trip. It was thronging with people, eager tourists tromping dutifully past the collections. She wanted to get back. The clamor of people made her uncomfortable. She walked fast along Princes Street toward the hotel, but for some reason she felt as if someone was watching her. When she glanced around, expecting to see Cal looking for her, she saw only the moving crowd of tourists. She chastised herself for being so silly. It was oppressive, that was all. She needed a shower. But when she had the hotel close within her sights, she was brought to a sudden halt when she felt a tap on the shoulder.
Richard! She turned around to look into the face of the man who had stopped her. It took her a moment to realize it wasn’t Richard, but the man was nevertheless familiar to her.
“You’ll have to forgive me, my dear, but I can’t remember your name.” It was Gregory, Jason’s cousin.
“Georgie,” she murmured in response. Beyond him, two large, burly men stood by an open car door.
“Ah, yes, well, Georgie ...” He put his hand under her elbow and guided her in the opposite direction. “... come with me. We’re going to meet Jason.”
Panic hit. She opened her mouth to scream for help, but the sound was muted in her throat when Gregory covered her face with his hand and hustled her into the back seat of the car, swearing loudly when she jabbed him with her elbow. A passing vehicle blared its horn as it overtook the illegally parked vehicle on the busy main street of the city. One of the men got into the front of the car. The other got in beside her in the back seat. She was crushed between the two of them. She clutched at her shoulder bag, but as the door shut she saw her lovely lingerie bag and contents strewn in the gutter. She struggled against the confinement, biting at the hand over her mouth and kicking her heels at the legs either side of her.
“She’s a feisty little vixen, this one.” It was the burly man, and he was rubbing his shin where she had got her heel into him. He had a heavy East End accent. Greg must have brought him up from London.
“I’ve got something that’ll make her a bit easier to handle,” muttered Gregory.
Georgie struggled, looking at him in horror as he brought a small see-through plastic bag out of his pocket. She could make out a piece of white cloth inside, the size of a handkerchief. He lifted it out with careful fingertips. As he put the material over her mouth, she fought the urge to breathe in, but she didn’t stand a chance. Seconds later, Georgie ceased to struggle and fell into a deep, unnatural slumber.
* * * * *
For the fifth time that morning, Jason stared at the phone in his hand and cursed the disconnected tone emitting from it. Kelly kept hanging up on him. He was sure that she was only doing it to make him suffer, but he was getting really frustrated by her actions. All he’d said was that he wanted to call by to visit and go through his stuff, and she’d gone berserk.
“
No luck?”
“I think she knows more than she’s letting on. She must have figured it out. She might have found the evidence. She says hell will freeze over before I get the boxes.” He gave Cal a sheepish smile. “I’m going to go round there. I’ll camp on the doorstep till she agrees to let me in.” He stood up and reached for his jacket.
A knock at the door hitched him up.
