Someone Who Isn't Me by Danuta Kot (romance novel chinese novels .TXT) 📕

the field. It was only the bad signal that had stopped her. But after thinking about it, she wasn’t sure. What could she say? The empty compost bag was a common enough brand. She couldn’t say for sure if it was the same as the bags she had – maybe – seen in the store.

And anyway, the whole idea of people breaking in and stealing a few bags of compost was just – farcical. She knew there were thieves targeting Sunk Island, there were break-ins and – if Catherine Ford was to be believed – the police weren’t chasing it up, or not with any enthusiasm, so how much attention would they pay to her story?

The best thing she could do now was make sure the house was secure and forget it.

She was just calling the estate agent when Dev Johar walked into the office. ‘Can I speak to Oliver Shaw, please?’ she said, trying to ignore Dev.

‘What is it concerning?’

‘The rental property on Stone Creek.’

Dev was making signals at her. She held up one finger and mouthed ‘Won’t be long’, as someone picked up at the other end.

‘Mrs McKinnon?’

‘Oliver Shaw? I wanted to—’

‘This isn’t Oliver Shaw, Mrs McKinnon. I’m David Sheldon, and I’m looking after the Stone Creek property. I was off sick the week you took it over. I’m sorry I wasn’t here to respond to your query. It all went through very quickly and I’m—’

‘I needed somewhere fast. Don’t worry about it. Two things – the key for the outside storage shed is missing and I’m not happy about the security. Can you get a new lock fitted? I can organise that myself if you prefer. And is there a possibility of extending my rental after the three months is up?’ Despite the compost thieves, despite Catherine Ford’s dire warnings, the house still ticked all her boxes. There was no way she’d get her cottage sold and a new place bought in the eleven weeks she had left on the lease. She’d much rather stay there than move again.

‘I’m sorry, Mrs McKinnon. I need to explain. We made an error. This property wasn’t supposed to be on the rental market at all. There’s no question of the lease being extended.’

‘I have a contr—’ Kay began, but David Sheldon continued smoothly,

‘Of course, it’s our error. We’ve talked to the owner and he’s prepared to let you stay, but you will have to leave the property on the agreed date.’

Kay wanted to ask more questions, but Dev was looking impatient. She’d have to leave it for now. ‘And the new lock?’

‘There shouldn’t be any issues with that door. We put the padlock and hasp on ourselves. No one else has a key. You don’t need access from the outside, do you?’

‘I will if I have a fuel delivery,’ Kay said.

‘I’ll see what I can do.’

Kay translated that as I’m not going to do anything about it unless you start hassling me seriously. The news about her rental had rather taken her breath away. What was the company doing with the property if it wasn’t supposed to be on the rental market? Selling it, presumably. But it wasn’t up for sale either.

That was weird. She wondered if she could get hold of the owner’s contact details and talk to whoever it was directly. Someone had got their wires crossed somewhere.

‘Kay?’ Dev’s voice was annoyed.

She’d have to think about this later. She put the phone down and smiled at him. ‘Good morning, Dev. Did you want me for something?’

She could see him trying to decide whether to comment on her phone call. She wasn’t due to start work officially for another ten minutes, but she was damned if she was going to point that out. She wasn’t the office junior; she was an adult and a professional and Dev was going to treat her like one. She gave him a raised-eyebrow smile. Can I help you?

When he realised she wasn’t going to tell him about the phone call, he said, ‘What are you doing about Poppy? Her probation officer is planning to report her as failing to keep up contact.’

Which would be bad news for Poppy. Kay needed to put a stopper on that. ‘She has an appointment today. If she doesn’t come in, I’m going to chase her up. I need to talk to the probation officer myself. Is he aware of the staffing problems we’ve been having here?’

‘He’s been kept fully informed,’ Dev said stiffly. Kay bet inwardly that he didn’t know how delinquent Xanthe had been. The fact the Poppy had been left more or less without support for weeks should help to keep the probation officer at bay, but Dev was right about one thing. This was urgent. The last thing Poppy needed right now was to be back in court, possibly facing a custodial sentence.

‘I’ll talk to him after I’ve seen Poppy.’ If she comes in. ‘I have Xanthe’s notes up to date now.’

‘I think I should talk to him,’ Dev said.

‘Of course. And so should I. He needs all the information we have.’ She kept her gaze on Dev’s face, daring him to tell her she wasn’t to speak to the probation service.

He broke eye contact first, turning away and heading into his office, pushing the door shut behind him.

Kay sighed. She didn’t want to spend all her time here at loggerheads with her boss, but if she let him start walking all over her, taking over areas that were her responsibility, she might as well give up now.

She’d spent a couple of hours the evening before going over Poppy’s notes. She had to be prepared today – this might be the last chance she had to make Poppy trust her. Something had gone horribly wrong in Poppy’s life, and Kay wanted to know what had happened. She was starting to get the picture, but had found nothing that would account for the anxiety – almost fear – she had seen on Poppy’s face.

She worked