Charlie's Concern: Primrose Valley, #4

Synopsis

After a childhood of bullying, Charlie chose a career that would surround her with unconditional love. She became a veterinarian.

Her stay in Primrose had never been planned for long, but being reunited with her cousin, Tina, her new friends and one man have her reconsidering.

Eric had always wanted to be a Detective, he wanted to do some good in the world, put the bad guys away and protect the innocent.

A spike in the local crime figures and animal deaths has him stumped but he is determined to find out what is going on in his Valley and put a stop to it.

Their paths intertwine in more ways than either of them ever realised possible. The attraction between them both is magnetic.

But they must come together to figure it out.

No matter the cost.

Also by Rebecca

Primrose Valley Series

Serena’s Secret

Tina’s Terror

Hope’s History

Charlie’s Concern

Layla’s Loyalty

Rose’s Return

Primrose Valley Collection One (Book 1-3)

Primrose Valley Collection Two (Book 4-6)

Brotherhood Billionaire Series

Francesca

Stranded with the Billionaire

Fling with the Billionaire (coming soon)

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review.

Copyright © 2019 by Rebecca Andrew

Cover Design by Rebecca Andrew

Cover Art ID: 162065637 © Maksym Zaitsev | Dreamstime.com

This is a work of fiction.

Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This can be read as a standalone novel - but is part of a series.

This is a romance with a H.E.A and No cliffhanger.

It contains some strong language, some violence and adult content.

It does touch on difficult themes.

The Primrose Valley Series is written in British, English.

Chapter 1

Charlie looked up at the clear, blue, autumn sky and felt at ease with herself and with her life. It hadn’t always been that way. Her childhood had been filled with obstacles and hardships. Her parents were the best that she could ever ask for, and the few friends she had were wonderful. But she had been bullied and teased since she was old enough to understand she was different.

She had what was known as an Eidetic and Photographic memory and had been teased for it all her life. Usually, people had one or the other, but she was blessed, sometimes it felt more like cursed, by both.

An Eidetic memory meant she was able to remember memories and events in perfect detail; the memories could be triggered by something linked to the memory in question. All sounds, colours and even smells from a memory were vivid and clear, as if she was still there. But the details would always fade once the trigger was gone.

A photographic memory was similar and yet completely different at the same time. She could recall pages of text or data straight from her mind. Facts, figures, pages from books or websites were stored with one glance. It was incredible and quite scary at first, but it soon became second nature to store the data her mind collected without considering most of what she saw as worthwhile.

In school, Charlie had been tormented because of her abilities. Her classmates would test her, bug her and goad her into ‘proving’ to them what she could do. She hadn’t told anyone about the bullying, not even her parents. Having felt strong enough to deal with it herself, she chose not to tell anyone. She wasn’t ashamed of her ability, but she couldn’t deny it was draining to deal with sometimes.

She had to make sure she had plenty of rest, or she wouldn’t be able to cope with her mind being so full of information all the time. If she felt tired, then her memories were not as sharp.

As much as Charlie enjoyed spending time with friends and family, there was nothing more satisfying to her than to be alone and just be silent. A quiet walk through the park, a trip to the beach, or just sitting in a comfy chair with no electronics and her mind switched off.

At that moment as she walked down the street, all she could hear was the passing vehicles and the rustling of leaves in the wind. The Valley looked even more beautiful as the summer came to a close, and the freshness of autumn made its appearance.

Crisp leaves that were a mixture of reds, browns and yellows had coated the streets, they crunched and rustled underfoot. The sound was comforting and soothing to her. It was her favourite time of year, maybe because she was used to the colder weather back home in Portree Scotland, or maybe because her birthday was in autumn and had just passed, regardless it always improved her mood.

Charlie felt a pang of sadness as she thought of home and the fact it had been her first birthday without her parents. Her plan had never been to stay in Primrose as long as she had, she’d had every intention of moving back home.

She had just wanted to escape, to get away from her old life, or more importantly her former boss and the way he used her for her eidetic and photographic memory. She shook off the thoughts of her ex-boss and moved back to the two people she missed the most. Charlie missed her parents so much, but it felt incredible to be with her cousin Tina, again.

Growing up they’d seen each other as much as they possibly could. They’d become closer still when both Tina and Charlie were thirteen and Garrett had moved away from Portree with his mother.

She had known Garrett leaving would break her cousin’s heart, but she couldn’t do anything except hold and comfort her to the best of her ability. She helped ease the pain Tina had been feeling at that time and became her rock.

That all changed when it came time for college, and they had both taken completely different avenues for their futures.

Tina had wanted to move away from home and go to a college further out, and went into teaching, whereas Charlie had wanted to remain closer to her parents and become a veterinarian.

Charlie loved animals.

They didn’t torment her because of her memory. Animals were loyal and loving when treated right. She couldn’t think of anything worse than animal cruelty, and she enjoyed rehabilitating pets and animals that had been abused and mistreated.

Her dream was to open a rescue centre where she could care for and tend to animals of all shapes, sizes and species who were unhappy with humans and just needed to be loved.

But she’d have to save for years to be able to do anything like that, and with her sudden departure from her last job, she had put her dream on hold.

She wouldn’t give up on her dream, but she wanted to be realistic in the expectations of her life and her future.

Tina and she had seen each other over the years for a few days at a time whenever she came to visit her mother, but it never felt like her stays were long enough. Their time together always felt cut short.

Charlie!

As if the thought of her cousin had conjured her up, she heard running footsteps and then she was body-slammed from behind, then engulfed in her cousin’s arms.

Charlie laughed at her reaction and hugged her arms and shook her head. Hey T. A bit excited to see me, aren’t you?

It feels like I’ve not seen you in forever, Tina said as she released her.

Charlie turned to look at her cousin and was thrown by how alike they were. Quite often they were mistaken for sisters. There were slight differences in their appearance; like eye colour, Tina’s were emerald green, whereas Charlie’s were a sky-blue shade, and where her hair fell to her waist and was curly, Tina’s was shoulder length and choppy. But everything else; face shape, hair colour, height, mouth, nose, everything – was identical.

She hugged her cousin tight once more, then looped their arms and together they walked up the street towards their destination.

Well, that is why we’ve arranged this little get together. It’s the first Friday we’ve all had off, at the same time, in ages. Is Serena going to be there? she asked.

Yes. Ethan is going to drop her and little Jack off before his shift.

Aww, I cannot wait to get cuddles. He is so cute, and I haven’t had a snuggle with him for a while now, Charlie cooed.

He definitely is.

Are Garrett and you planning any little ones yet?

Ha, no, not yet. We’re enjoying being together finally. Seventeen years apart is a long time to catch up on. Tina smiled. But I do want kids one day.

Ahh, well, maybe you’ll get married first, Charlie teased and bumped their hips together. She heard Tina’s intake of breath and looked at her, concerned. Tina wouldn’t look her in the eye, but her lips twitched as she fought the urge to smile.

Tina? What is it?

She continued to avoid her eye, which only strengthened her suspicions. Suspicions of what, she didn’t know, but Charlie knew her cousin. That look was the same look she had seen all her life. It was the look Tina always had when she was hiding something.

What aren’t you telling me?

Nothing, it’s nothing. Honest.

Charlie stopped walking, tugged Tina so she was facing her and studied her face, but she still wouldn’t meet her eye. It took a minute or two for her brain to catch up and then she gasped. Oh my god! You’re pregnant!

What?! Oh god no, no, I told you a moment ago that we aren’t trying. We are just enjoying our time together.

Then what is it?

Argh... I wasn’t going to say anything. Tina shook her head and then finally lifted her eyes to meet Charlie’s. The look in her eye was pure happiness. Instead of mithering her, she waited patiently for her to speak.

Garrett proposed last night.

Oh, my goodness! Charlie squealed with excitement at her cousin’s news and then paused. Why didn’t you want to say anything? You said yes, right?!

Of course, I did, Tina admitted grinning from ear to ear. But we both promised to tell everyone together. You cannot say anything. She warned both hands in front of her in a prayer pose. Promise?

I promise, I promise, Charlie agreed straight away. But you cannot keep it quiet for too long.

I won’t honest.

Charlie hugged her cousin tightly once more, she felt nothing but excitement and happiness for her. She had known years ago that Garrett and Tina belonged together, but when he moved away that disintegrated into nothing. For months she comforted and was there for Tina, and never thought they would ever see Garrett again.

But clearly, fate had other ideas.

Tina stumbled into Garrett a couple of years ago and it was like they’d never been apart.

As they approached their usual diner, Shelly’s, that the girls had all agreed on for their meet up, she wondered if she would ever have that kind of connection with someone, whether there was someone special out there for her. Charlie had boyfriends in the past, but none of her relationships ever seemed to work out for one reason or another. Which made her wonder if she would ever find someone like Tina had found in Garrett?

ERIC COULDN’T HELP the frustrated growl that escaped his lips as he re-read the latest crime report for the Valley and the downtown area. In the past few weeks, the crime rate had spiked to an uncharacteristically high level and he was trying to find a link between them. There were a variety of crimes, from burglaries to car thefts to drug dealing, which made it even more difficult to link to one another.

At first glance, they appeared to be different, and yet the spike in all of them was identical. Of all of the crimes committed, the numbers were the same. They were random and spread across the entire town, but he was sure they were done by the same perps.

Peters!

He lifted his head as the Inspectors voice reached his ears.

Sir?

Where are we on the crime spike?

No further sir. I’ve got no leads. There have been no witnesses, no forensic evidence. The only thing we found at the various scenes were a few dead animals, a couple of dogs that appeared to be strays. They were passed onto animal control to deal with. I’m waiting for information from a couple of informants I know about the crimes.

I’ll give you another seventy-two hours on the theory of them being linked. If there’s no progress, we will have to move on.

But sir-, he began as he pushed to his feet.

I’m sorry Eric. We can’t sit on a dead case. Seventy-two hours and then I’ll reassign you to another case. If down the line, something else comes up linked to this theory you’re working, then you can always come back to it another time, said Inspector Meadows.

Eric nodded at his boss and watched him walk out.

He couldn’t argue with his logic.

Even though he was convinced of a connection, he had no proof. If their roles had been reversed, he’d have insisted that they leave the case and look at another. It just bugged him that, if he didn’t get something in the next few days, he had no other option but to drop it. At least for the time being.

Eric decided to head out onto the streets, take a drive around the Valley and see if there was anything that he might have missed at the crime scenes.

He pocketed his badge, phone, keys, wallet and walked out of his office and through the building. He made his way through the security doors, across the lobby and down the front steps to his car.

Eric didn’t use a normal patrol car, because he was a Detective, he had an unmarked car, that in the force they referred to as a ‘pool car’. His was a Grandland Vauxhall and he loved driving it because he was much higher up, which meant he could see everything that was happening around him. It also helped that it was a bigger vehicle to navigate through traffic.

He made a mental checklist of the crime scenes, then set off in the direction of the first one. His surroundings changed from busy to sparse as he passed through the downtown streets and came closer to the street the first break-in had been reported.

The report had been called in by the building management of an empty office block. The owner had arrived on his weekly inspection of the property with a couple of prospective renters. As he had toured the property, he noticed that the security feed had been tampered with and a few of the cameras had been disabled or damaged in some way.

When