Chapter 1
It was a slow day in the office of "McKenzie Investigations". Kate McKenzie, the owner and chief private investigator….the only private investigator… attached to the business, had completed all of her jobs and filed all her paperwork for the week so far. The only job left to do was to untangle the paperclips.
As Kate gave serious thought to the idea of closing up early for the day and going home or perhaps catching a movie at the local cinema, she caught sight of a woman standing on the footpath outside her shop front. It seemed to her that she was having difficulty deciding whether or not to actually come in. Kate's natural instincts as a private investigator kicked in as she observed her closely through the glass window and, rightly or wrongly, made some assumptions. She guessed that the woman was in her early to mid-forties. The carefully-tailored clothes led Kate to think that she was probably a professional of some description and there was something about her, a slightly haughty air perhaps, which told Kate that she was a woman of intellect, someone who is used to being in charge. Then she stepped in front of the door and out of Kate's line of vision.
A few seconds later the door opened and the woman tentatively entered the small office. What Kate hadn't been able to fully appreciate when this woman was outside but she could see very clearly now was how stunningly beautiful she was. It had been a long time since someone this breath-taking had walked into Kate's office or life. Kate's eyes didn't know where to look first. She had the most incredible legs which were enhanced even further by ridiculously sexy high heels; her eyes were a piercing blue that made Kate just want to dive into them and her hair was a shock of shoulder length natural blonde.
Realising that she must have been staring, Kate gave her head a quick shake to clear her thoughts and regain her composure. She placed the jacket that she had been about to put on back over the chair and gave the woman a friendly, inviting smile as she approached her. The blonde noticed Kate and took a few more steps further into the room.
"Sorry…"the woman said nervously, "are you still open for business?"
"We certainly are…..when I say 'we' I mean 'me'….I was about to close the shop and head off….I have a couple of cases I'm working on at the moment," Kate lied, " but you're here now so, yes, I am open for business."
Kate realised she was beginning to ramble, not something she was usually prone to, but this woman seemed to unravel her a bit. She then backtracked and introduced herself to the potential customer.
"I'm Kate McKenzie. How can I help you?" she said as she reached out and politely shook the woman's hand, noticing the softness of her fair skin but also the strength of her grip.
"McKenzie? As in McKenzie Investigations? Are you the private investigator?" the woman asked, a note of surprise in her voice.
Kate nodded. She was used to what was to come next.
"Oh…for some reason I was expecting a man...how stupid of me…. I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Kate laughed, "you're not the first to assume that and you probably won't be the last."
"Actually, I'm glad you're a woman," Caroline stated bluntly, "I think I prefer to talk to a woman about this matter rather than a man."
"Would you like to sit down and tell me exactly what it is I can do for you?" Kate asked as she indicated towards her desk with its two chairs.
The woman made her way to Kate's desk, pulled out one of the chairs and sat with her back straight, her shoulders squared and her jaw set firmly. Kate took up her position on the opposite side of the small desk.
"Um…I didn't quite catch your name," Kate said hoping for an introduction.
"Oh, sorry…I'm a bit nervous about all of this. I don't know if I'm doing the right thing or not by considering hiring a private investigator….I'm Caroline Elliot….Dr Caroline Elliot."
Kate wrote the name down on her note pad.
"That's with two 'l's and one 't'."
Kate scratched out the second 't'.
"Okay, Dr Elliot, if you would like to outline the problem for me, I can tell you if I can be of help or not."
As she spoke, Kate had to make a conscious effort not to get caught in the gaze of the startling blue eyes but they were like magnets drawing her own brown eyes to them.
The woman began speaking softly, obviously having difficulty coming to terms with her problem.
"I think my husband is having an affair," she finally revealed. "I've been going to just ask him outright about it but I don't have any real proof and ….anyway, he'd probably deny it and I don't think I would believe him if he did. I feel guilty not trusting him but…."Her voice petered out as she was unsure what to say next.
Despite Dr Elliot's outward appearance of confidence and strength, Kate could sense that she was feeling quite lost and vulnerable.
"What makes you think that he's having an affair?" Kate asked gently.
After a moment of internal deliberation, Dr Elliot answered, "I'm not sure really….that's why I feel a little foolish being here…it's mainly just a gut feeling I have. He's away a lot with his job…he's a lecturer and a writer and goes off to various conferences…and he's been regularly getting home much later than usual recently. Each time, he has a perfectly plausible explanation ….I don't know…I'm not sure I should be doing this."
Dr Elliot made to get up and leave but Kate reached across the desk and put her own hand lightly on the woman's forearm.
"Dr Elliot, can I tell you that most of my clients say the same thing and usually their instincts are right…and if they're not…well, no harm has been done," Kate reassured her, "my investigation is strictly between you and me unless you decide otherwise."
Caroline sat down again as Kate continued.
"You strike me as an intelligent person…not one prone to panic …so I wouldn't be surprised if you are onto something. Please, don't feel foolish."
The woman gave Kate a small, uncertain smile.
"If you would like me to take up the case, I'll take some details and make some quick notes now and tomorrow I'll set out a formal contract," Kate explained, "and then if you could come back tomorrow afternoon at a time convenient for you and sign the contract, we can begin."
Dr Elliot considered things for a moment and then asked, "How much will it cost? How do you charge?"
Kate leaned forward slightly in her chair, one hand resting in the other on the desk.
"It's an hourly rate of £40. At the end of each week I will give you an invoice detailing the work done and there's an advance of £200."
Again the woman took some time to think things through before nodding her agreement.
"Right then…let me get some information down."
Kate picked up her pen, opened to a clean page on her note book and then proceeded to jot down some essential information; firstly, the basic details such as address, contact numbers and the like and then some details about the actual case and, in particular, Dr Elliot's husband. Normally, Kate would enter this information straight onto her computer and have the contract ready to sign almost immediately but she found herself wanting to see this woman again very soon so the excuse of getting her back to complete the contract the next day was the best thing Kate could come up with on the spur of the moment.
Another half an hour later Kate had all the details she needed to get the contract made up and the case underway but she was reluctant to have her leave.
"When you come in tomorrow to sign the contract, could you bring in a recent photograph of your husband, please?" Kate asked.
Sensing that the business was done, Dr Elliot nodded and then stood, leaned across the desk slightly and shook Kate's hand once again in a parting gesture. Instead of releasing her hand, Kate, who had never been backwards in coming forward, held on a bit longer.
As she continued to hold on, Dr Elliot asked with an amused grin on her face, "Are we finished?"
"Yes, we are," Kate replied, finally releasing the woman's hand, "but I was wondering if you would be interested in joining me for a drink? There's a lovely, little pub just around the corner….we could go and have a drink and you could tell me a bit more about the case in a less formal atmosphere…or we could talk about something completely different."
Kate could see her thinking it over and was prepared for her to refuse the invitation but she could see no harm in asking anyway.
"Sure…why not?" Dr Elliot finally answered, "I think I'd quite like some company and I could certainly do with a strong drink."
Unbeknown to Kate, her new client had also been experiencing the same strong attraction. She found Kate's easy, no-nonsense manner and self-confidence mixed with a kind touch, not to mention the seductiveness of her beautiful smile, all very appealing.
"Mmmm...She's very pretty," the woman thought..
"Fantastic," Kate replied, perhaps a little too enthusiastically before she could restrain herself and as she added to herself, “You are magnificent.”
Kate grabbed her jacket and satchel, set the security system on, turned off some lights and headed for the door. When they were both outside, she locked the door behind them and led the way to the pub which was a mere five minute walk away.
Once they arrived, Kate approached the bar and bought them each a drink, a merlot for Dr Elliot as requested and a gin and tonic for herself. They settled themselves comfortably into a booth some distance away from the more raucous customers.
"Cheers, Dr Elliot," Kate said as she raised her glass.
"Please…if you're going to drink with me call me 'Caroline'," the woman insisted, "'Dr Elliot' is for the students at my school."
"Cheers, Caroline."
They chinked their glasses and then each woman, for different reasons, took a long swig of their drink.
After Caroline had already let it slip that she was a teacher, Kate asked, "What school are you at?"
"I'm the Head Teacher at Sulgrave Heath Independent School," Caroline replied a little self-consciously.
Kate gave a soft, low whistle. "Impressive."
Caroline blushed slightly at the compliment.
"And what kind of books does this husband of yours write?"
"He writes novels….crime novels," Caroline replied.
Kate shook her head. "I can't say that I've heard of him. Is he any good?"
"He had a couple of best sellers but that was several years ago. He hasn't written anything noteworthy for a while now….his brain is too addled with alcohol I suspect."
Kate noted the enmity of this last comment.
The two women talked casually for some time, keeping to relatively safe topics. Kate discovered that Caroline had two teenage boys and that the elder, William, was hoping to follow in his mother's footsteps by going to Oxford, while the other son was not as academically brilliant but was very good at sports. She also found out that Caroline's widowed mother was getting remarried at the age of 75 to a long, lost love.
When they finished their first drink, Caroline went to the bar and bought a second round despite the fact that she had promised herself she would only have one and then be off. However, she found herself to be feeling more relaxed than she had in months just talking with Kate.
It was as they were finishing their second drink that Caroline asked Kate, "Are you married?"
Kate took her time in answering. It had been quite a while since she'd given her married days any thought.
"I was….but I'm not now," she replied simply.
"What happened? Did he have an affair?…..Sorry," Caroline apologised, realising she had possibly crossed a line. "You don't have to answer that."
"No…it's fine, Caroline. I don't mind talking about it; it's just that it seems like a whole other life time ago. I haven't thought about it for ages," Kate explained, "and no, he didn't have an affair…I did…with a woman."
Caroline's eyes opened wide in surprise. "With a woman?"
Once Kate had come to terms with her sexuality many years ago, she had promised herself that she would never lie about who she was.
"Yes…a woman. You'd be surprised by the number of lesbians out there that have been married at some stage or other in their lives."
Caroline went quiet as she studied her glass.
"Have I shocked you?" Kate asked.
"Yes…no…I'm a bit surprised…I hadn't thought of you as being…like that ….but it doesn't worry me in the least," Caroline garbled.
"It's getting late," Caroline then noted as she looked at her watch, "I probably need to be heading off. The boys will be wondering where I am."
Kate didn't believe she was being paranoid when she thought it was more than a coincidence that Caroline had to suddenly leave so soon after Kate had revealed to her that she was gay.
Both women drained their glasses, stood and walked towards the doorway. While they had been inside it had started to rain and it was continuing to fall as they were about to leave. Kate quickly ducked back inside and borrowed an umbrella from behind the bar and then returned to Caroline. She opened the umbrella and the two of them huddled under it as they walked back to Kate's office. Feeling Caroline's body so close to her own made Kate wish her office was a lot further away.
As they reached the shop front and were about to say their good-byes, Kate felt a strong desire to kiss the lovely Dr Elliot…hell, who was she kidding? She'd wanted to kiss her since she'd first seen her enter her office but then Kate's sensible side kicked in. This was business, she told herself…much-needed business…she had bills to pay…she couldn't afford to scare off new customers because she had the urge to kiss them and, besides, she'd seen Caroline's reaction to her being a lesbian…what was she thinking? Using all her willpower, Kate refrained and instead she said, "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon to sign that contract."
Before Kate could even register what was happening, she suddenly felt her face being cupped by Caroline's soft hands and the woman's beautiful lips pressing against her own. She then felt Caroline's tongue teasing hers for several precious moments but all too soon for Kate's liking, the kiss had ended.
"Will four o'clock suit you?" Caroline asked innocently as their lips parted.
Kate nodded mutely, her power of speech seemingly gone with the kiss. Caroline gave her the most seductive of smiles before heading the short distance to her car. Kate stood in her doorway, still mesmerised by what had happened and wondering how she was going to get through until four o'clock the next day.