Read Online Love and Shamrocks: Ballybeg, Book 5 by Zara Keane - Free Book Online Page B

deep a breath and forced her feet into motion. Time to contact the devil himself.
    ***
    They took the super’s car, a sleek black BMW. With a cynical smile, Seán slid into the passenger side. Despite being strapped for cash, the Irish police force managed to find the money to supply its senior officers with cars befitting their rank. Seán should know. Up until last year’s debacle, he’d been among them.
    Ballybeg Garda Station was located on the outskirts of the town and a mere five-minute drive from Clonmore House. During the short journey, Seán stared vacantly out the car window, willing the painkiller and the caffeine to do their respective jobs. The sun was making a valiant effort to penetrate the dark cloud cover, but with limited success. Down on the beach, the red warning flags were at full mast. In addition to the heavy rain, the wind was strong today and the currents strong. Out in the foaming, crashing waves, Seán could make out two wind surfers. Suicidal eejits. Every year, there were several drownings in the bay. Most occurred while the flags were flying. They’d had two over the summer, both tourists. Why anyone would want to brave the cold February water was beyond his powers of comprehension.
    The frost-tipped fields whizzed by as the super applied pressure to the accelerator. When they approached a set of tall, wrought iron gates, the knots in Seán’s stomach unraveled to perform a jig. The super rolled down his window and spoke into a monitor. Presently, the gates creaked open, and in they drove. The tree-lined driveway meandered for a kilometer before a final curve revealed the house. Seán let out a low whistle. As country houses went, Clonmore House wasn’t overly large, but it was in good nick for its age. Seán was no architectural expert, but he’d hazard a guess the place was built in the Victorian period.
    His mouth twisted in a grimace. A career built on bullshit and bad advice was lucrative.
    They pulled up in front of a short flight of steps. Seán stepped out onto the gravel and rolled his shoulders to release the tension. It didn’t work. The super bounded up the steps and lifted the brass knocker. A sudden vision of his father made Seán falter. He squeezed his eyes shut, blocking the image, then followed his boss up the steps to the front door.
    ***
    At the jangle of the doorbell, Clio’s heart leaped. Her step faltered.
    Helen peered through a gap in the lace curtains. “Oh, good. The police are here. That was quick.”
    “Police?” Clio’s voice was barely a squeak. Her heart lurched and thudded. Had her mother noticed the missing money already? If so, why hadn’t she mentioned it?
    “The regional superintendent came by yesterday.” Helen’s face glowed with animation. “What a lovely man. I’m confident he’ll take care of it for me.”
    “Take care of what?” Clio struggled to breathe.
Please, please, please don’t mention the money.
    “I fear my Dublin stalker has found my Ballybeg address. I made the local police aware of the situation.”
    “What stalker?” Her voice rose to a squeak. “You never mentioned this before.”
    Helen sniffed. “When would I have mentioned it to you? We barely talk.”
    “Every time I try to talk to you, you have something more important to deal with.”
    Her mother raised one pencil-thin eyebrow. “Do you think this house, this lifestyle, pays for itself?”
    The doorbell rang a second time.
    Clio wiped dust from her T-shirt with shaky hands and blew out a breath that didn’t calm her. The police might not be here about Ray, but they soon would be if she couldn’t figure out a way to prevent the burglary. Would the police see guilt in her eyes? Weren’t cops trained to read body language? And what was this stalker business? If her mother had mentioned having an obsessive lunatic on her trail, Clio would never have consented to bring Tammy down to Ballybeg. Her heart pounding an unsteady beat, she walked toward the front