Page 90 of The Night Before Christmas
Silence. A long pause. Felicity wondered if he’d fallen asleep. She was just wondering if she had time to sneak off to the bathroom when he began to speak.
‘I had to deal with a very unpleasant case a few months back.’
Felicity sat up on one elbow and looked down at him. His jaw was set tight. She waited, hoping she hadn’t completely ruined the moment.
‘I can’t say much about it… basically it started as an investigation into a hack but ended up something much darker. I was, well, right in the middle of it all.’
There was another long pause.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Felicity.
James ran a hand across his brow. ‘Thanks. It was incredibly hard. It involved connections to human trafficking which we had no idea about when we started the investigation. I had to help the police go through a lot of extremely unpleasant websites and it was really, really tough.’
‘I can imagine. Well, not really. I can’t imagine at all… that’s awful.’
‘It wasn’t good. I mean, it was successful in the end. We caught a ring of nasty individuals which was a huge result… but it took its toll on me and the rest of the team.’
He rubbed his eyes.
‘The hardest thing is that you can’t really tell anyone. We were given some therapy, of course, but they also told us to take some time off if we needed it. I hadn’t taken any, I thought I could handle it, stupid idiot that I am, but then, when I met you – and, well, the cats – I thought it would be the perfect place to take my mind off things.’
‘Cats are the best kind of therapy,’ said Felicity, smiling down at him even though her heart was hurting on his behalf.
‘They really are,’ said James, turning to look up at her. ‘And not just the cats. You’re bloody great therapy too.’
She leaned down and kissed him, very gently and slowly, her heart thumping. She contemplated telling him about Hattie, but it didn’t seem like the right time, somehow. Instead, she wrapped him in her arms, and they lay like that for a long time.
‘Did it work?’ murmured Felicity, a bit later.
‘What?’
‘Us? The therapy?’
‘I’ll tell you in the morning.’
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
It had worked for Felicity,at least.
She felt like she was walking on air for the rest of the weekend, and it was by no means easy to get up on Monday and go to work knowing James wouldn’t be there.
To take her mind off his penguin-shaped absence, Felicity spent the morning in the cat nursery, taking care of two tiny black and white kittens who had recently arrived.Ah things are not so bad, she thought, as she gave them both a stroke.It’s a hard life, she thought with a smile, as she dangled a fishing line toy for Bobby Charlton.I love my job, she thought, when it was time for cuddles with Holly and Gennie who would finally respond to being stroked like normal cats. Tiny Holly even gave a little chirrup whenever Felicity was near her cage and flicked up her tail in greeting. It was heart-meltingly cute.Things are looking up.
‘Felicity!’ came Andrea’s voice from the office.
‘Yesssss?’ said Felicity, swinging round the door frame with a big smile on her face. Then she stopped sharp. Andrea wasn’t alone.
‘Oh, hello there,’ she said, to the very elegant, very tall Asian lady in a long expensive-looking wool coat, who was standing rather incongruously in the middle of the room.
Andrea was sitting behind her desk. She looked – what was that look? Apologetic? Whatever it was, it was not a facial expression Felicity had ever seen Andrea make before.
‘Felicity, this lady is looking for James,’ she said slowly.
Felicity’s hands and feet started tingling as she realised who this person was. Of course. Nothing was ever straightforward, was it?
‘Can I help you?’ said Felicity quietly. She couldn’t get over how beautiful the other woman was. Dark, flowing, shiny, oh-so-silky hair. Amazing dark eyes. And she looked like a grown-up, somehow. Felicity was suddenly ten years old again.
‘I don’t know,’ said this person – who was obviously Erika – looking Felicity up and down with clear disapproval. ‘Do you happen to know how I can get hold of him? I have something very urgent that I need to speak to him about.’
