A Body in the Lakes by Graham Smith (great books of all time .TXT) 📕

cognac, Derek Forster reached for the carton of orange juice instead. This had been an interesting week and he still had work to do.

A lot of his duties as mayor might well be ceremonial, but he’d managed to use his position to do a lot of good as well. Whenever a win-win situation came up, he made sure that he took full advantage of it.

His goal was to become an MP, to gain a seat in the most powerful building in the country. With luck on his side, and a favourable electorate, it would happen within the next two years. After that, who knew what chances may come his way? A seat on the cabinet or shadow cabinet depending on which party was in power. Maybe even one of the plum jobs like home or foreign secretary.

So far as the top job went, he had no interest in that. He wanted power, great power, but he knew that he didn’t want the poisoned chalice that was the premiership. That’s why he’d sold SimpleBooker; it had grown too big for him: the next stage of its development would have required a large workforce, a call centre and layers of managers.

He didn’t want to be a CEO; he’d enjoyed being on the ground floor with his team, had loved the challenges associated with creating a programme which meshed with so many other systems, but he’d recognised that running the business was losing its lustre for him the more the company grew. The company he’d sold SimpleBooker to had added all those other things at their main office, and they had promoted Inga to manager so that his old team had some structure.

Forster had found that his time as deputy mayor had given him a taste for politics. More than anything, it gave him a chance to acquire his biggest thrill on a regular basis.

Sex, alcohol or money may be drivers for other people, but for him, the bending of people to his will was the greatest high he could get. Whether he changed their opinions about a political issue or persuaded them to do something he knew they didn’t want to, nothing came close to the feeling he got when he could manipulate others.

The women he dated were those he had to pursue. The easy conquests held no interest for him. He wanted to earn his reward, to fight for what he wanted. The brazen women who launched themselves forward repulsed him more than they attracted him. When a woman showed indifference to his charms, he found himself besotted by them. They became all he could think about until he bedded them.

Beth was the target of his current project. Even with the scarred cheek she was a beautiful young woman. She was strong, determined and tenacious to the point of being single-minded. Try as he might, he couldn’t get her out of his mind.

As he flicked through his diary, he found an entry that made him smile. He was invited to a party tomorrow evening. Nothing too fancy, just a few drinks and a bite to eat in the garden of a plush hotel in Keswick.

The person throwing the party was an old friend Forster had run the odd welfare project with. He was top-drawer when it came to charitable funds. He was someone Forster had already planned on consulting, but it would make sense if Beth could join them.

Forster’s plan was to get Beth as deeply involved in the charity as he could. Not only would her inner fire benefit the charity, it’d tie her to him. They’d meet on many occasions and he’d be able to worm his way into her affections, and then her bed.

He didn’t believe that she’d want anything long-term or serious with him, but that wasn’t important to Forster: what mattered was that he could get her into bed in the first place. To him that would represent victory. After that, repeat performances would be a bonus, but if there was to be no encore, he’d move on to someone else having already claimed his prize.

Forster tapped out a message inviting Beth to join him as his plus-one at the garden party. Some people didn’t believe in mixing business with pleasure. Forster did. After all, why bother with a business if it didn’t give you pleasure?

Sixty-Two

Beth powered up her computer and filled a glass with water as she waited for the machine to crank itself into life. As a rule she’d start her working day with a cup of tea, but the sun was already threatening to make today even hotter than yesterday.

The text she’d got from Forster last night had surprised her. She’d expected him to get in touch at some point, to suggest having another meeting over dinner, or to work at his office on setting up the charity. What she hadn’t anticipated was him taking her to a party as his plus-one.

She wondered if that was how he thought of her; a woman to have hanging off his arm and every word as he bullshitted his friends and scattered his effortless charm on those who could benefit him. He’d have to think again if that’s how he planned to treat her. Beth wasn’t anyone’s little woman and never had been. There was no way she planned to start now. On the other hand, if Forster was going to set up the charity, she wanted to do her bit.

She fired off a reply telling Forster that she’d be there if work allowed, but she couldn’t see how she’d get a chance. Not with four murders to investigate along with Willow’s disappearance.

The first thing Beth did after logging onto her PC was check her emails. Of the six that had appeared through the night, she ignored five and directed her cursor to the sixth. It was the trace on Willow’s phone.

As she ran a search on the coordinates of the mobile’s final location, Beth lifted the phone and put a call into the Brown