Hot on the Trail (2 page)

Joanna walked towards the front door of the building with Eve hot on her tail, hoping all the time that Joanna wouldn’t look round. Luckily, Joanna seemed to be in a hurry and kept her eyes firmly fixed forward. As Eve opened the door, she saw Joanna get into a taxi. There was a taxi rank just outside the building and another taxi moved forward and Eve hopped in quickly.

“Follow that cab,” she shouted, sitting on the edge of her seat.

“O.k.” the taxi driver said simply and put his foot on the accelerator.

Eve was thrown back in her seat but she didn’t care as long as he kept up with Joanna’s cab. That was all that mattered.

The taxi journey ended up being quite short, much to Eve’s relief. After being thrown around the cab a few more times, she thought enough was enough, but then decided not to say anything in case the driver refused to follow Joanna’s cab. He was obviously enjoying the trip and who was she to deny him this little pleasure. She thought it couldn’t be that exciting driving a taxi all day.

Joanna’s cab pulled up outside the Hyatt Regency Hotel and she got out and went inside. Eve wasn’t far behind and she too got out of her cab, giving the driver a good tip. She decided to go in, hoping that she would still be able to keep her cover secret. She paused at the entrance and then saw Joanna at the reception desk. Eve moved forward a little and saw the receptionist giving her a key. Eve then backed off very quickly in case Joanna saw her.

So it seems as if she’s staying here in this hotel. That’ll help Dimitris. He’ll have to be pleased with my information this time. After all, if he catches Joanna, it’ll all be due to me.

* * *

Eve came rushing back to her hotel room where David had his laptop out and was calmly working on his novel. She looked flustered and David immediately felt a sense of doom overcome him. Was their peaceful and romantic holiday going to be spoilt after all?

The previous day had been lovely and had started their trip off on the right foot. As they were staying in a suite they were entitled to a gourmet breakfast in the exclusive club lounge. The food was delicious and filled them up for the rest of the day. They then strolled along by the Swan River which was next to the hotel and after went into the major shopping area for Eve to have some retail therapy, something she loved and was very good at. After drinks and canapés in the club lounge, they went out to dinner at a restaurant in town. The food was excellent and Eve decided they would have champagne with their meal. As she looked into David’s eyes, she felt herself tremble, the spark of their early days returning in a flash. David was also feeling the same as he took her hand in his and kissed it gently.

“I have to say this is a very romantic evening, Eve. I feel as if we’ve been whisked back to our first few dates.”

“Me too,” she whispered.

“This restaurant was a wonderful choice, Eve,” he said a few moments later. “My duck is so moist and tender. Had you read up about this place beforehand?”

“Yes, a little. It certainly seemed worth trying. My mushroom and truffle ravioli is absolutely wonderful/”

“This restaurant was an excellent choice, darling. You do seem to have a knack of finding the best places.”

Eve almost blushed. If there was one thing she never tired of, it was compliments.

She reached over and kissed him, but then became serious.

“I’ll be glad to get tomorrow over and done with,” she said. “Then we can concentrate properly on seeing this wonderful city and more of Western Australia.

“Yes, it’ll be nice to get all the business sorted out at the beginning of the holiday and then we can focus on having a good time.”

David smiled. Things were going better than he had hoped. Eve didn’t seem to be that bothered with her inheritance at the moment and was much more interested in discovering Perth. He hoped that the inheritance wasn’t something that would take up too much time. He loved it when Eve was the way she was this evening.

So, after such a lovely day and an especially romantic evening, David was shocked to see Eve coming in looking the way she looked back in Crete when there was a crime to be solved.

It’s not possible. David thought. Not here, not in Perth.

“What on earth has happened, darling?” David asked tentatively. “Did the lawyer have bad news?”

‘Oh, that. No, Andrea left me her house. We’re going to see it this afternoon. No, it was when I came out of the lawyer’s office; I saw Joanna Neonakis having a row with someone. I know it was her, even though she’s changed her hairstyle and the color.”

David’s heart sank. He thought they’d left all that business behind in Crete, but wherever they seemed to go, danger followed them.

“Did you confront her?” David asked nervously.

“No, however, I managed to follow her without her seeing me. I thought that if she did see me, she’d probably leave Perth. I found out that she’s staying at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. I think Dimitris Kastrinakis needs to get over here and arrest her, don’t you? Whether she’ll still be at the hotel by the time he gets here is another matter, but I suppose the police have resources to find her if she does leave.”

“I suppose he does need to come over.”

“David, she was behind your kidnapping,” Eve spoke determinedly. “She deserves to pay for what she put you through.......and me.”

“Yes, you’re right. It’s just that I was so looking forward to a lovely peaceful holiday. Yesterday was so much fun.”

“And we will have a lovely holiday, I promise. There’s very little I can do here. I’m out of my comfort zone. I don’t know Perth at all so wouldn’t know what to do in the same way as I do on Crete.  Anyway, I don’t know if I’d want to. She’s a very hard woman. She wouldn’t hesitate to kill anyone who gets in her way.”

“You’d better ring Dimitris then, but you’ll need to wait a few hours, what with the time difference. He won’t be too happy if you got him out of bed.”

“He won’t be happy to hear from me, full stop,” Eve said, grinning.

* * *

The hotel served a Chandon sparkling high tea from midday onwards and Eve decided that it would calm her down to have a relaxing champagne and up market afternoon tea, not to mention pass the time before she could ring Dimitris. She knew she would be on edge until she could tell him her news.

As Eve re-did her make-up, something she was prone to do more than once a day, she thought nostalgically of the afternoon teas she had often treated herself to in some of the best hotels in London. They were one of the many things she missed now that she lived on Crete and she always made sure she fitted at least one in when she visited England. As she finished putting on her lipstick, she shook her head and told herself to stop living in the past. There were advantages to living on Crete such as the better weather and of course, the gorgeous man she was engaged to. Anyway, she was in Perth now for three weeks and could enjoy an afternoon tea or two once more.

    David, however, thought she was spending too much money yet again. Why couldn’t they get a couple of takeaway sandwiches or have a light lunch in a cafe? However, Eve seemed determined to push the boat out on this trip. They had indulged in a lovely meal the evening before, with champagne, but now she wanted more of the same. There seemed to be no way of stopping her. David decided to speak up.

“We don’t really need to be this extravagant, do we, Eve?”

“Why not? On the one hand I’ve had a stressful morning following Joanna, but then it’s also been quite fruitful. I did inherit a house after all, so why shouldn’t we celebrate a little?  Anyway, I’ve invested my money well, so it’s not as if this is going to ruin me. Darling, I just want to have a wonderful holiday, so stop worrying about money all the time, please.”

Eve went over and put her arms around David, kissing him in her usual seductive way. She knew he couldn’t resist her kisses and as usual, he was putty in her arms, but he still wished he could afford to pay for at least a couple of these extravagances. He was an author and he didn’t know if his next book would be published, so although he had made a comfortable living so far, he had to be careful just in case everything fell down all around him. He was being realistic, that was all.

Despite looking forward to the champagne high tea, Eve became very quiet during the meal. She definitely seemed to be enjoying the food and champagne, so David decided not to ask if anything was wrong. He guessed she was thinking about Joanna and he didn’t much want to discuss her. She brought back too many memories of his kidnapping, and while he wanted her to be caught, he didn’t want either of them to play any part in it. He hoped that once Eve rang Dimitris Kastrinakis, the Cretan police would take over. Unfortunately, he doubted that Eve would be able to leave the case alone.

Of course I want Joanna punished, he thought. However, why did she have to come to Australia? It’s unbelievable. Eve and I had such a fantastic time yesterday and I hoped that would continue, but now I doubt that it will. Once Dimitris gets here, she’ll probably start acting irrational and start following Joanna again or something equally reckless, just so she can catch that awful woman before he does. Eve always wants to be sharper than the police.

David was right. Eve couldn’t stop thinking about Joanna.

I should get Joanna out of my mind, but I can’t. I feel especially guilty regarding David as we had such a brilliant time yesterday. If I try not to talk about her, he may think I’ve put the situation out of my mind. Yes, that’s a good plan. I’ll talk about Andrea and the inheritance and anything else I can think of, just not about Joanna.

    However, Eve kept going through the morning’s events in her mind. One moment she thought she had done the right thing by following Joanna and not letting her see her, but then she thought that perhaps she should have confronted her. Couldn’t she have made a citizen’s arrest and called the Australian police? Perhaps they could have held her in custody until Dimitris Kastrinakis arrived. He could then have taken her back to Crete. Eve could almost kick herself for not thinking of this.

But then would it have been that simple? For a start, would the Australian police been bothered about arresting a woman who had committed crimes in another country. They’d only have my word about this. And who’s to say I’d have had the strength to keep hold of Joanna until the police arrived? Chances are she’d have made a run for it. No, I probably did the right thing. This way, I’ve kept her in the country and most of all, in Perth.

Eve then started to worry about what effect this was having on David.  He certainly didn’t look as light-hearted as he had the day before.  She had promised him that she wouldn’t get involved in any more crimes, but this wasn’t really a new crime, it was an old one which had never had a satisfactory conclusion. All that was needed was to have Joanna captured and brought to justice. Eve decided that she had to see this through and then she could keep her promise to David. However, she knew it was best not to discuss this with him so she decided to put on a smile and talk about frivolities. 

“David, shall we have dinner in the hotel tonight?”

“There aren’t many vegetarian choices on the dinner menu for you, are there?”

Eve was touched that he had taken the trouble to look for her.

“They have risotto and it should be good in an establishment like this, so I’m happy to eat here. I’m not bothered about going out tonight, or did you want to?”

“No, I’m fine staying in.”

David, as usual, was easy-going about what they did.

Eve then started talking about the house she was inheriting, wondering what it was going to be like and in the end; David didn’t know what to think.

She seems to have forgotten about Joanna which is good, unless she’s deliberately avoiding talking about her. I don’t know what’s going on. Eve is such a complicated woman.

She didn’t mention Joanna at all for the rest of the meal and after they had had their high tea, they went back to their room and Eve picked up the phone ready to call Dimitris.

“I can’t believe that I’m actually nervous about doing this, David.”

He was quite surprised to hear her say this, but perhaps she was changing more than he had dared to hope.

“You are certain it was Joanna?” he asked, in case there was the slightest doubt.

Dimitris Kastrinakis would not be happy if he came to Australia on a wild goose chase.

“Yes, completely. I recognized her voice as well.”

“Fine, well do it. As you said, she can’t get away with all she’s done. She’s probably a murderer as well as a kidnapper.”

Eve picked up the phone and rang Dimitris. He answered very quickly.

“Detective Chief Inspector Kastrinakis? This is Eve Masters.”

His heart sank, wondering what she wanted now. Then he remembered she was in Australia.

“What can I do for you, Miss Masters? I thought you were in Australia.”

Eve marveled at how quickly news got around in Crete. She certainly hadn’t told him she was going to Australia.

“I am. I’m in Perth, Western Australia. You won’t believe what happened today. I was seeing a lawyer and when I came out of his office I saw Joanna Neonakis at the other end of the corridor having an argument with someone. She didn’t see me.”

“What?!” Dimitris exclaimed. “This is amazing news. You are sure it was her and that she didn’t see you?”

“Yes, I’m certain it was her and I’m as sure as I can be that she didn’t see me.”

“So how do you think we can find her? Perth is a big city I believe.”

“I followed her, very discreetly I must add, and as I said, I’m sure she didn’t see me. She caught a taxi and I got in one behind her. She’s staying in the Hyatt Regency hotel. You’ve got to come over and arrest her, the quicker the better. For all we know, she may move on. ”

“You do know, Miss Masters, it was very foolish of you to follow her. She is a dangerous woman and I want you to promise me to not do anything stupid in the time it takes me to get to Australia. Leave this to us for a change,” Dimitris said, his voice rising.

“O.k.”, Eve muttered. “I won’t. Believe me; I know she’s a dangerous woman so I’ll keep away from her. However, if I hadn’t followed her, you wouldn’t have known where she was staying.”