me-”
“Sorry, confidentiality issues,” Ed informed him. “I’d get sacked.”
“Look, I’m staying with Harly and Alex Lawson, and-”
“Name dropping won’t get you what you want, sonny.”
Sonny? Ed was only about ten years older than him. Nick took a steadying breath.
“Can’t divulge information,” Ed stated firmly. “Anything else I can help you with?”
“What if I told you I know what the box number is?”
“Then I’d tell you to hand me the envelope and I’ll put it in the box.”
Nick gave up. “Thanks. I’ll bring it in.”
“Have a nice day.”
Well, that hadn’t gone as planned. Nick walked down the street. Maybe he should just be upfront, ask someone if they knew Bree. It wasn’t as if it was secret service business, after all. Maybe he was making too much of it. He should just ask, meet her, tell her he’d seen her postmark and just wanted to say ‘hi’ while he was here and-
“I’m telling you, something is out there killing cattle!”
Nick’s attention jumped to an elderly man standing outside the little supermarket.
“C ow found dead as a door nail this morning. Lying in Ben’s field, nothing for miles, head smashed in.”
What the hell? Nick slowed as he passed the two men, straining to hear though he didn’t actually have to strain, as the man speaking was loudly proclaiming to all and sundry the latest gossip.
“ Charlotte saw a light in the same field!” the man exclaimed. “And today there’s a dead cow, gutted, all the organs taken, nothing left but a shell.”
“Have you been drinking?” the other man queried.
“You’ll laugh on the other side of your face when you wake up with lost time and a sore arse from being probed.”
Nick couldn’t help but let out a bark of laughter.
The old man rounded on him. “Don’t you laugh, sonny. Something’s happening around Whicha, and this is just the beginning.”
“Sorry.” Holding up one hand, Nick strode past him. “My apologises.”
Good grief, what was happening with this town? First Charlotte, then his mystery woman, and now this old man. Aliens? UFOs? Cattle mutilations? Really?
Catching sight of the supermarket, he remembered that he needed a new toothbrush and walked inside. Standing before the display of toiletries, he was pondering his choices when a name penetrated his thoughts.
“…and Bree said it.”
Bree? He immediately looked up.
“…told her…but then…Bree…”
Someone in the next aisle was talking about Bree. His Bree? Possibly, very possibly. Almost undeniably. At last!
Grabbing the nearest toothbrush, Nick hurried around to the next aisle, only to find it empty. Turning his head from side to side, he listened.
“…could have knocked me over with a feather when Bree…” The voice faded away.
Nick high-tailed it around to the next aisle, only to find a gaggle of women standing with their shopping trolleys in the middle of the aisles. Five women all chatting. At the sight of him, they stopped, their gazes travelling over him, a couple with open appreciation, a couple curiously, and one more than a little hungrily.
Was the hungry one Bree? One of the curious ones? Maybe one of the appreciative ones, which would be good, because if they found the look of him worthy of that kind of look, he was halfway to not making her annoyed.
He smiled and the hungry woman looked even hungrier. Man, she looked like a man-eater, too. Blonde hair, blue eyes, red lips, with a dress tight enough to show every slim curve to anyone’s gaze. Her gaze was pure predator.
“Hi,” she practically purred.
“Bree?” He couldn’t help but ask.
She looked nonplussed. “What?”
Talk about feeling like a dick. “Uh…I’m looking for Bree?”
“Well, she’s not here, as you can see,” one of the older women replied.
“Do you know where I can find her?”
“I saw her going into the
“Sorry, confidentiality issues,” Ed informed him. “I’d get sacked.”
“Look, I’m staying with Harly and Alex Lawson, and-”
“Name dropping won’t get you what you want, sonny.”
Sonny? Ed was only about ten years older than him. Nick took a steadying breath.
“Can’t divulge information,” Ed stated firmly. “Anything else I can help you with?”
“What if I told you I know what the box number is?”
“Then I’d tell you to hand me the envelope and I’ll put it in the box.”
Nick gave up. “Thanks. I’ll bring it in.”
“Have a nice day.”
Well, that hadn’t gone as planned. Nick walked down the street. Maybe he should just be upfront, ask someone if they knew Bree. It wasn’t as if it was secret service business, after all. Maybe he was making too much of it. He should just ask, meet her, tell her he’d seen her postmark and just wanted to say ‘hi’ while he was here and-
“I’m telling you, something is out there killing cattle!”
Nick’s attention jumped to an elderly man standing outside the little supermarket.
“C ow found dead as a door nail this morning. Lying in Ben’s field, nothing for miles, head smashed in.”
What the hell? Nick slowed as he passed the two men, straining to hear though he didn’t actually have to strain, as the man speaking was loudly proclaiming to all and sundry the latest gossip.
“ Charlotte saw a light in the same field!” the man exclaimed. “And today there’s a dead cow, gutted, all the organs taken, nothing left but a shell.”
“Have you been drinking?” the other man queried.
“You’ll laugh on the other side of your face when you wake up with lost time and a sore arse from being probed.”
Nick couldn’t help but let out a bark of laughter.
The old man rounded on him. “Don’t you laugh, sonny. Something’s happening around Whicha, and this is just the beginning.”
“Sorry.” Holding up one hand, Nick strode past him. “My apologises.”
Good grief, what was happening with this town? First Charlotte, then his mystery woman, and now this old man. Aliens? UFOs? Cattle mutilations? Really?
Catching sight of the supermarket, he remembered that he needed a new toothbrush and walked inside. Standing before the display of toiletries, he was pondering his choices when a name penetrated his thoughts.
“…and Bree said it.”
Bree? He immediately looked up.
“…told her…but then…Bree…”
Someone in the next aisle was talking about Bree. His Bree? Possibly, very possibly. Almost undeniably. At last!
Grabbing the nearest toothbrush, Nick hurried around to the next aisle, only to find it empty. Turning his head from side to side, he listened.
“…could have knocked me over with a feather when Bree…” The voice faded away.
Nick high-tailed it around to the next aisle, only to find a gaggle of women standing with their shopping trolleys in the middle of the aisles. Five women all chatting. At the sight of him, they stopped, their gazes travelling over him, a couple with open appreciation, a couple curiously, and one more than a little hungrily.
Was the hungry one Bree? One of the curious ones? Maybe one of the appreciative ones, which would be good, because if they found the look of him worthy of that kind of look, he was halfway to not making her annoyed.
He smiled and the hungry woman looked even hungrier. Man, she looked like a man-eater, too. Blonde hair, blue eyes, red lips, with a dress tight enough to show every slim curve to anyone’s gaze. Her gaze was pure predator.
“Hi,” she practically purred.
“Bree?” He couldn’t help but ask.
She looked nonplussed. “What?”
Talk about feeling like a dick. “Uh…I’m looking for Bree?”
“Well, she’s not here, as you can see,” one of the older women replied.
“Do you know where I can find her?”
“I saw her going into the
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