Ghost of Christmas Past Read Online Free

had
frozen over several hours ago and he struggled not to stamp his
feet in an attempt to get some sensation back into them. He was so
cold now that he was fairly certain his lips were blue.
    The last
time he had seen blue lips on a person had been the day that he had
crawled over Isaiah’s dead body to get to Thea. He shuddered and
quickly turned his thoughts away from the macabre scene that
surfaced with his memories.
    For some
reason, his conversation with Jacob the other night still plagued
him. Although he had retreated to his room and drunk himself into
oblivion, as soon as he had sobered up he had immediately found
himself starting to consider his friend’s suggestion. Was he right?
If he found her and spoke to her, would he finally be able to lay
the ghosts of the past to rest? Over the years he had often
wondered where she was but had always been busy with the army and
the Star Elite to even consider finding her again. However, his
recent work with the Star Elite had started to feel a little
uncomfortable, as though he was working for a cause but wasn’t
quite sure why. It made him wonder whether now was the time to
revisit the past so that he could get on with his future; whatever
that might be.
    It was a
possibility that refused to be ignored and he soon found himself
thinking about where she could be. He was a fully paid up member of
the Star Elite, one of the country’s finest group of fighting men
who worked for the War Office. It shouldn’t be hard to find out
where she lived now. Had she moved to uncle’s house in Mayfair once
her recovery was complete? He did know that she had never returned
to Weatherby Hall, and that her mother had been forced to leave the
huge mansion by John shortly after the accident.
    Rupert
carefully tucked his thoughts aside for now and turned his
attention back to the job at hand. Somewhere across the village
several of his colleagues, Harry, Lucifer, aka Luke, Joshua,
Brendan and Jacob were all hidden in the shadows, watching and
waiting in the hope of spotting the two French spies they were
after. Edward Snope and Philip Chester, otherwise known as Philippe
Laurant and Saul Guerin; were just two of the four remaining French
spies still at large in England somewhere, and the Star Elite had
received reliable information that they were in this particular
village for some reason.
    So far
in their investigation the Star Elite had successfully captured a
long line of traitors who had established a chain of safe houses
for several French spies to live in while they arranged fresh
identities and the finances necessary to adopt English identities
and establish positions that enabled them to spy on the country.
Although most of the chain, and the ring-leaders, had been either
captured or killed, there were four spies still at large, Guerin,
Levant, Dubois and Fornier.
    Harry
and Marcus had just returned from assisting one of their
colleagues, Stephen, to bring about the arrest of the fifth spy,
Rousseau, who had reluctantly provided them with information that
had led them to the small village of Buckleridge in the wilds of
Leicestershire. Why the spies were so far from the coast heaven
only knew but, given that the chain of command the Frenchmen had
established had been lost and their lives were now in jeopardy, the
Star Elite could only assume that they had ‘retired’ to the country
to lie low for a while and arrange to return to their native
country.
    Although
at first they had found nothing unusual about the sleepy little
village in the middle of nowhere, Luke had caught sight of someone
who matched Snope’s description leaving a small cottage in the far
corner of the green earlier that afternoon. They had decided to
stage a watch of the house and were now waiting for someone to
return. However, it was nearing midnight and so cold that Rupert
was certain he was going to be frozen to the spot and unable to
fight anyone if the need arose.
    He
tucked his mouth into the woollen scarf