Squirrel & Swan Stolen Things Read online

  “It wasn’t on your computer?”

  She shook her head. “The entire folder had vanished from my laptop.”

  “Do you think you might have accidently deleted it?” Sophie said. “Or maybe you got a virus without realising?”

  “I suppose that’s why I’m asking for your help. It is possible. But it’s gone from my external hard drive as well. That’s where I save all my work. Once on the laptop and once on an external hard drive.”

  “You don’t use a cloud-based storage system?” Paige said.

  “No. I had a bad experience with the cloud. My system works fine.”

  “Does it though?” Paige muttered.

  “Pardon?” Cecilia said.

  “Could someone else have deleted it by accident?” Sophie said quickly.

  Cecilia shook her head. “No one else has access to my laptop or my drive. Look, I need this sorted out. I need that manuscript back.” She lifted her chin. “It’s my best work. I think it’s award-worthy.”

  “You’ve come to the right place,” Paige said confidently. “Not only do you have both of our brilliant minds, but we have an IT expert on deck. He’ll be able to tell you what happened to the manuscript and recover it.”

  “Oh, fabulous,” she said. “I have other work to get on with and I thought I would be publishing this one by Easter.”

  “Absolutely,” Paige said. “Shall I email you with the quote for our services?”

  Cecilia’s face froze for a moment, as if this issue of payment was completely unexpected. Her eyes drifted to Sophie, perhaps expecting her, being such a huge fan and all, to waive the fee. Sophie gave her an uncertain smile and turned to Paige, hoping it was clear that Paige was the one to be liaised with on this matter. Finally, Cecilia let out a sigh, as if it was tiresome to have to pay for services rendered, and then said, “Fine. Here’s my email.” She handed Paige one of her business cards.

  “We’ll be in touch.” Paige stood up. “Talk soon.”

  Outside their office door, they did a quick and silent happy dance. A new client, at last!

  “Get Leo on the phone,” Paige said as she opened the office door.

  “Do you think he can recover her manuscript?”

  “Yes,” Paige said. At her computer she opened the template they used for job quotes. During their downtime, which was a regular occurrence, they busied themselves with creating templates for every possible conceivable need they might have: quotes, invoices, reports, even promotional articles. As well as enjoying this process, it was turning out to be quite useful to have such documents already prepared.

  “Should we call Leo even if we haven’t confirmed the case?” Sophie said, picking up her phone. “Cecilia still has to agree to the quote.”

  “We need him to tell us how long it might take so we know how much to charge her.”

  “I’ll text him.” The moment after Sophie sent the message, her phone beeped.

  “Is it him?” Paige asked.

  Sophie shook her head, reading the message. “It’s Victoria. Wondering if I’m coming home tonight.” She rolled her eyes. “Like, where else would I be?”

  Victoria, one of Sophie’s two flatmates with whom she shared a beach-handy and airy cottage in Pt Chevalier, had recently started seeing someone. Victoria’s normal style was to share every detail of her life with whomever would listen—usually trying to frame information as some sort of learning opportunity for the poor soul she’d managed to corner—but of late she’d been unnaturally quiet on the subject. Secretive even. As much as Sophie didn’t want to become involved in Victoria’s sermons about love, her curiosity had gotten to the point that she might have to ask her about it. Perhaps even more unusual, however, was that Victoria had also recently started asking Sophie questions about her work. That is, instead of administering life lessons under the guise of asking Sophie how she was, Victoria seemed to be actually listening to Sophie’s replies. Perhaps she was finally learning about the give-and-take of conversation, Sophie mused.

  Sophie went back to her phone and replied to Victoria that yes, she had planned on being home. She didn’t add the question, why, knowing that the reason would soon follow.

  I have to have an important discussion with someone and I need privacy, Victoria’s next message said.

  Sophie sighed. Victoria had done this only a month ago—she’d kicked Sophie and Myra out of the house to host a special dinner. She hoped it wasn’t going to become a regular occurrence.

  “What are you up to tonight?” she asked Paige.

  Paige shrugged. “I’ll double-check with Tim, but probably nothing.”

  Paige had been with the reliable and devoted Tim for five years now and Sophie regularly yearned for a relationship like theirs. With Roman, preferably, but she had to let that go and accept reality. And wasn’t she dating Wade, after all? At least sort of. Wade Wakarua, the gorgeous guy she’d had an intense crush on in high school, and whom she’d recently and unexpectedly reconnected with through the reunion murder case. Their first date had ended early—by Roman appearing on the scene to question Wade about the case, no less—and their second date had been rather nice but also rather brief, grabbing a quick drink on a Sunday afternoon. But even with the Hottest Guy From High School, it was still hard for Sophie to push thoughts of Roman out of her head. She thought she might be holding herself back, as if she wasn’t quite available. Which was ridiculous, because she’d as much as admitted to Roman that she had feelings, and to this he hadn’t said anything at all.

  “Earth to Sophie,” Paige said loudly. “I’m free. Do you want get dinner?”

  Sophie nodded. “Yep.”

  And so, at a little past six o’clock, just as Paige and Sophie were powering off their laptops and discussing where to go eat—at one of their tried-and-true places nearby or to venture farther afield for a change—there was an impatient rap on the door. They both froze at this unexpected intrusion, until Paige lurched forward to open the door. And there stood Sophie’s half-sister, Hannah.

  “Barbie Sophie,” Paige blurted. “I forgot how much you look like Sophie,” she added, turning from Hannah to Sophie. “Especially now...” she gestured to Hannah’s face which, normally expertly made-up, was scrubbed raw.

  Hannah’s face crumpled. “I didn’t know where else to go.”

  4

  Hannah Bates, the product of Sophie’s father’s relaxed approach to his marital vows as well as to contraception, had shown up unexpectedly in Sophie’s life a couple of months ago. After an awkward and tumultuous initial meeting—at least, for Sophie—and a few follow-up messages, Hannah had gone quiet.

  Sophie didn’t know what to make of her. Because not only were Hannah’s motives not entirely clear, Sophie wasn’t sure whether she wanted a relationship with her half-sister.

  But here she was, standing in their office, needing help. As it turned out, someone was following her.

  “Are you sure?” Paige said.

  “There was a break-in at the place I’m housesitting at for a few weeks. I don’t have a flat yet and I also needed to, uh... get away from where I was crashing before. I called the police and they filed a report, but I don’t think the break-in was about stealing stuff at all.”

  “What do you mean you needed to “get away”?” Paige asked.

  “I broke up with someone and I’ve only just realised how unstable he is. And I think he’s figured out where I’m staying. I think he’s the one who broke in.”

  “Why?”

  “Because some, uh, personal things of mine were missing.”

  “Personal?”

  “Like my perfume and... my underwear.”

  Paige grimaced. “Ew. Nothing else from the house?”

  “Maybe, but I don’t know what’s normally there, you know? The police are waiting for the owners to come back to do a proper report.”

  “Why do you say he’s following you?”

  “Because I saw him. Twice.”

 
Sophie remained silent, unable to trust herself to speak. Paige was correct that, without makeup on, Hannah’s resemblance to Sophie was rather remarkable, and it was kind of freaking her out. They had the same long dark hair and tawny skin, and very similar round blue eyes. But it wasn’t just their resemblance, it was that Sophie couldn’t shake the feeling that Hannah wasn’t trustworthy. She couldn’t forget Hannah’s triumphant grin after she stole a bottle of wine and lied about it. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world, but it was dishonest. And Hannah had been so casual about it, as if she did that kind of thing every day.

  On the other hand, Hannah had shown up at Trixie Bellingham’s house at Sophie’s invitation, and performed the requested makeover. Trixie had had to pay for her services, but Hannah’s rates were reasonable, and at the end of the day she’d come through for Sophie.

  “Did you mention the ex to the police?” Paige said.

  Hannah shook her head. “I couldn’t tell the police about him, I just couldn’t. The two officers who showed up were both guys, and they were already kind of leering at me, you know?” She directed this at Sophie, who shrugged. “Plus, what would I say? I don’t have proof. That’s what I want. Proof, like photos, and then I could report him.”

  “Is that why you’re here? You want us to watch you and see whether he’s following you?”

  “Yeah, or maybe we could set him up. Like, I could post something on Insta about where I am or where I’m going, and then you guys could wait to see if he shows up and if he follows me home.”

  Paige nodded eagerly, her eyes flaring with excitement.

  Sophie eyed Paige, knowing she was thrilled at the possibility of another stakeout. Even though their first and only one so far had not exactly been a roaring success.

  “The only thing is...” Hannah continued.

  “You can’t pay?” Sophie blurted, unable to stop herself.

  Hannah’s eyes flickered. “Not right now, no. I know it’s lame. But I can pull together some money in a couple of weeks, I reckon. What if I promised to pay you like, $200 just to watch me for a few hours? To see if I’m right to be worried. I’ll sign something if you want. You know, a promise of payment or whatever.”

  “Um,” Sophie said.

  “Give us a sec,” Paige said, then took Sophie by the elbow and led her into the conference room. Once she’d shut the door, she turned to Sophie. “Look, even if she doesn’t pay us, the more experience we get the better. We need to practice on people like Hannah, instead of real clients.”

  She had a point, Sophie had to admit.

  “But this feels weird. It feels a little... manipulative.”

  “You think she’s lying about this? About the ex?”

  Sophie tilted her head. “No, I don’t, but—” She started chewing the inside of her lip.

  There was a tentative knock on the door. Paige yanked it open. “What.”

  “Sorry to interrupt. Can I have a private word with Sophie?” Hannah said.

  “Yes.” Paige gave Hannah a gracious smile. “I’ll give you your space.” She immediately exited the room and shut the door.

  But since the window in the door to the conference room was mottled glass, Sophie could clearly see Paige standing right outside, pressed up against the window so she could listen. But this was okay because Sophie wanted Paige to hear whatever Hannah was going to say.

  “I get that you’re not sure about me, I do. I’ve been acting like a brat. But I only found out about you recently, and that it was the reason Dad moved back to Auckland five years ago and... it just seemed unfair.”

  Sophie nodded, but he’d done the same thing to her when she was ten years old. He’d left her and her mum and gone off to be a dad to someone else. If it wasn’t fair for twenty-something Hannah, then it sure wasn’t fair for ten-year-old Sophie.

  “But I get it that it’s not your fault, you know? And we’re family. We should try to make it work. If you could just give me a chance to... I think we could be friends.” Hannah gave Sophie a shaky smile and even though Sophie wasn’t utterly convinced of its sincerity, she felt herself smiling back. “I always wanted a sister, and now I have one.”

  Sophie nodded slowly. She couldn’t deny that she’d always wanted a sister too.

  “Okay,” she said quietly. A moment later, Sophie pulled open the door abruptly and Paige, clinging onto the door handle, swung inside with the motion.

  “Oops,” she said. “You, uh, got me just as I was coming to check on you two. So, do we have a case?”

  Sophie, her face tight with uncertainty, nodded.

  LEO EYED HIS PHONE display.

  It was incredible. Three different but all compelling women had messaged him in the last half hour. He was tempted to take a screenshot so he could show his friend Barrett—the two competed in all areas of their lives and in the women department, Leo was clearly ahead—but Leo didn’t. Because he was classier than that. At least, he had recently become so.

  First was his damsel Jane, who he’d go see at the motel shortly. Leo sighed and looked away from his phone for a moment, caught up in a dreamy interlude. When he thought about the randomness of their meeting, he felt sure that the universe wanted them to be together. He’d been destined to find her and help her. And help her he would. And once she got her memory back, he’d support her until she fully recovered, and then they could move forward with their lives. They could build a real relationship together. He imagined that she was probably an artist or something—she had that creative look about her, the dreamy vibe of someone who wasn’t completely tethered to practical life considerations. It was possible that was due to her head injury of course, but still, Leo felt sure she did something interesting. She wasn’t just an accountant or something. But it didn’t even matter. They would discover each other and fall in love, properly.

  His second message was from the inimitable Sophie. Incredibly clever and very sweet, her beauty still had the power to surprise Leo. Sometimes he’d arrive at S & S Investigations and be taken aback because she’d be sitting there looking like some sort of real-life painting. Perhaps it was because Sophie was like a sister to Leo that he could forget. But it was hard not to notice when they went places together. He’d never realised how idiotic some guys could be with their leering until he’d become friends with Sophie. Some of them seemed to be completely unaware they were even doing it, their eyes latching onto her face and then the rest of her, hungrily taking in every detail, seeming to be trying to absorb her image into their eyeballs, transfixed until she moved out of sight. Sophie didn’t seem to notice, or at least, she made an effort not to pay attention. Leo could understand this.

  Sophie’s message was to follow up their postponed catchup and she wanted to know was everything okay? Leo knew that he’d been a bit evasive recently and Sophie had most likely picked up on it. He had reason for his recent secretiveness, though. Until the arrival of Jane, Leo had been somewhat unexpectedly pursuing a new career as a male escort. Which was why the glamorous and more than a little scary Yvette Collier, woman number three, had contacted him.

  After learning that young men could earn an income taking ladies on dates—nothing dodgy, literally escorting them to dinners and other functions—Leo had been rather entranced by the idea. And being open to the attractions of an older woman—he was barely over his brief but intense relationship with Paige’s mother—Leo was particularly suited to this type of work.

  Yvette, the owner of a reputable male escort agency, had met with Leo and after appraising his looks, conversational skills and overall suitability, decided she’d add him to her books, but only after a bit more practice going on dates and making conversation. And so, Leo had dutifully done his homework and gone out a couple of times with Millie, Alice Garnet’s rather trying friend, as well as another random woman he’d charmed into taking for a coffee. He’d been rather pleased with his success—maybe he was a natural—and had been all ready to get his moonlighting career as a male escort going,
when he’d come across Jane.

  Yvette was wondering why Leo hadn’t been in touch; why he hadn’t come in to sign a contract etcetera, etcetera. But now that Leo was helping Jane, it felt weird and wrong to be gallivanting around town with other women. Worse, to be paid for these activities. Still, he wouldn’t be doing anything wrong, so what was holding him back? Was he just nervous about the new venture? After thinking about it a little longer, Leo sent Yvette a message saying a family emergency had come up and he was having to spend some time at the hospital—partly true—so could he come by in about a week? He sent Sophie a message saying, all good, catchup soon. He didn’t want to make too many plans because what if Jane needed him?

  Leo put down his phone and went to the bathroom to get ready for Jane. He used his newly purchased Allure (Chanel) bodywash, recommended by Yvette, applied a little bit of product to his somewhat unruly brown hair, and decided on dress shorts and a t-shirt because even though it was the evening, it was still too warm for jeans.

  At the motel, Leo walked past reception and went straight to Jane’s room. As he approached her door, he stopped in surprise. He could hear muffled shouting. Was it coming from Jane’s room? He stepped closer and pressed his ear against the door. Yes, it was. Now it sounded like crying. A surge of panic washed into his chest. “Jane?” he called through the door. “Are you okay?” He listened against the door.

  “No,” she cried. “No, no, no.”

  “Jane!” Leo called louder, banging on the door. He listened again. The crying suddenly stopped and the door opened. Jane stood there in the singlet and skirt Leo had purchased for her at St Lukes Mall. The singlet was soaked through with sweat. Jane’s eyes were wild and red and puffy.