Lost Cause (A Daisy Dunlop Mystery ~ Book 1)

Chapter Eleven

Solomon watched Daisy sprint across the street toward the café. The day before she'd all but torn him a new one when he ordered her to get coffee, and now she was scuttling off without being asked. Buying her lunch had been a good idea. Even though her conversations were weird and inane at times, and she flirted like it was a competition, her heart was in the right place. Shame she worked at pissing him off like it was an Olympic sport.

He jogged down the steps to the office, pulled the key from his pocket, and turned it in the lock. The door swung open, and he stepped inside. Something was wrong. He could see light spilling into the back corridor. Light from a room that he kept locked. He ground his teeth. No wonder she'd been in such a hurry to buy coffee. She'd probably gone to Starbucks in the High Street. In fact she might not be back with it until tomorrow. Obviously her curiosity had got the better of her.

He made his way through the office and down the corridor. The door had been kicked in. The lock keeper hung from the door frame by one screw. He stepped inside and inhaled the faint scent of spicy perfume.

"Fecking hell." It was worse than he thought. Daisy wasn't responsible. He pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped the screen to bring up the personal GPS app. Daisy hadn't run far. She probably thought he would jump to conclusions and go mental at her. Either that or once Lisa left she'd snooped and found something. He opened the safe at the back of the cupboard and checked the contents. His gun sat on top of the pile of documents just the way he'd left it, and everything appeared to be in place. There was nothing else in the room that would be of interest to anyone so Daisy couldn't have discovered anything from snooping. The question was, what had she found out from Lisa?

* * * *

Daisy sat at the counter in the florist's. Belinda was busy building a wedding bouquet with red and white roses.

The blonde looked up from her work. "So, if that second cup of coffee isn't for me, and you don't want to talk about the woman at the office earlier, why are you here?"

"I was on my way back with a cup for Solomon and thought I would update you about Toby."

"Any luck?"

Daisy shrugged. "Not sure. I met a guy, who knows a guy, who could have a guitar like Toby's."

Belinda smiled. "Talk about vague."

A cool breeze hit the back of Daisy's legs as the bell above the shop door tinkled. She could tell by the way Belinda's pupils dilated and her cheeks turned pink who had entered the store, but she refused to acknowledge him. Although she guessed he wasn't breathing fire if Belinda was smiling at him like a lust-filled fool.

"Finding someone who might know something is a start. I did think this whole heir-hunting thing would be more exciting, though." Daisy raised her hand. "Hi, Solomon."

The barstool she was sitting on was swiveled around until she was face-to-face with him.

"How did you know it was me?"

"I'm an heir hunter. Detecting people is my thing." She tried a smile, but it failed to melt his icy demeanor.

"Maybe you can come and help me detect who kicked in the door to my room."

He grabbed her wrist, and she squealed as he pulled her to her feet. She struggled, but his grip tightened. "Don't make me use the cuffs."

Belinda sighed. "I wish I could help you detect stuff."

"If you want to be handcuffed to the Irish git you need to work harder at pissing him off. A woman not doing as she's told is his kryptonite."

"Daisy," Solomon growled.