LOGINUnsure, she opened the first door and took a quick look into the room beyond. It was a spacious living room, comfortably furnished, with a fireplace on one wall. Through the large windows she could look out into the garden, where a pool shimmered invitingly in the sun. Then she spotted an open passage and was pleased to find that it led into the adjacent kitchen.
A little later she had made coffee, made a jam sandwich and sat down at the dining table with it. It was quiet in the house, everyone was apparently still asleep, and she was happy to be able to enjoy her breakfast in peace.
No sooner had she bitten into her bread than the door opened and Luke came in.
"Good morning," he said, obviously surprised to see her here at this early hour.
"Good morning."
"Up this early?" He asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
Kim nodded. "Yes, I'm not one of the late risers."
He took a bowl of cornflakes and sat down with her at the table.
“But you shouldn't be down here yet,” he said gravely.
"Uh ... why?" She looked at him in surprise, and he grinned.
"Since when has the watchdog been allowed to leave when the master is still sleeping?"
Kim pushed her plate aside, annoyed. “Look, I don't like this any more than you do. But I have a clear mission and I'll carry it out, that's that. It's also for your own safety, so either put up with it or call Wainsworth and tell him you're going to fire me. ”
Luke made no answer, took a sip of his coffee, looking over the top of the cup on.
"Now that we've got this sorted out, I'll do my morning jog and then we can sit down and talk about everything else," he suddenly changed the subject.
"All right, I'll go get changed quickly." She stood up.
"Why move ... oh so." Again a mocking smile crossed his face. “A burdock is harmless compared to you. - But there are still certain things that I don't really need a guardian. ”
Kim blushed. She would have loved to slap him, but she pulled herself together, mumbled a barely understandable "See you soon" and quickly left the kitchen.
Chapter 4
A little later, Kim had her gym gear on and went back downstairs. She was so glad that Luke wanted to jog. It was part of her job to keep fit, and at home she went running or swimming every day.
Shortly afterwards they were on their way, walking side by side in silence along a forest path.
After less than an hour they reached the villa again and went up the stairs together.
"Well, at least you're in good shape," Luke said patronizingly when they got upstairs, and Kim was on the verge of giving him a rude answer again. But before she could reply, he went on: "I suggest we meet in the study."
"All right, I'd just like a quick shower first."
"Me too, but please, I'll let you The right of way - unless I'm only allowed to do this under your supervision? ”
His tone sounded annoyed, but Kim noticed the corners of his mouth twitching again in amusement. She didn't answer him, instead went to her room, grabbed her clothes and a little later angrily pulled the bathroom door shut behind her.
"Why do you still have to be such an idiot, Luke Summer?" She thought, shaking her head as she undressed and turned on the water, wondering miserably if this would go on all the time.
Shortly afterwards she stood in the study and looked around. There was a desk with a PC, a couple of bookshelves and a sitting area.
Kim went to the window and looked outside, at the same moment Luke entered the room and she turned to him.
He motioned for her to take a seat, she sat down in an armchair, he sat across from her on the couch.
"Well, as I said, I'm by no means thrilled to have you here," he said firmly. "But since it turned out that way, we should try to make the best of the situation."
Kim wanted to throw at him that she wasn't exactly keen on wasting her time with him, but she held back. Charlie had pointed out to her once again that she would have to answer the police chief personally if anything went wrong. She vaguely suspected what would happen if Luke complained about her to Albert Wainsworth, so she just nodded silently.
"Before I explain what this is all about, I'd like to discuss a few other details with you," he continued. “Albert advised me not to disclose the real reason for your presence as a precaution, so you will officially be my personal assistant. Do you have any idea what to do in this capacity? ”
They spent the rest of the day in the studio. Luke was busy with his music as usual, while Kim's mind jumped wildly.The conversation with Charlie was still in her stomach, she didn't like the fact that he was aware of her connection to Luke at the time. Then she had to keep thinking about what was going to happen next, she was sure that the whole thing was not over yet. After the mission had failed so miserably the previous night, it was to be expected that the stranger would try again, and she racked her mind again who could be behind it.Unobtrusively and carefully, she observed the three men who were playing music with Luke, but they all behaved completely normal and unsuspicious. She made up her mind to take another look at each individual as soon as Charlie had emailed her the evaluations.Then her gaze fell on Luke again, and she remembered how worried he had been for her last night. She wondered whether she might not have misjudged him on the basis of he
When Kim woke up the next day, it was already late morning. The previous evening's events flashed back to her immediately and she began to brood.She didn't regret that she'd acted against Tom's instructions and walked around the crypt instead of disappearing. The area would certainly have been thoroughly searched the next day, but who knows whether the Walkman would still have been there. She only quarreled with the fact that she had made the suggestion that she should go to the cemetery in Luke's place, she still had the dull suspicion that someone in the house had noticed something."Maybe it would have been better if Luke had gone himself," she thought with discomfort.But the fear that something might have happened to him then immediately made this thought disappear again. No, it was good that she had tried, since she was still not sure whether the stranger was really after money, she might have prevented something worse.While she was still sitting
While Kim stood rooted to the spot and was stunned by the fact that this song meant nothing more than that her plan had already been seen through in advance, the men of the emergency team rushed towards her from all sides, especially Tom."Damn it, what were you thinking?" He snapped angrily.She looked at him irritated, first pulled the earplug of the Walkman, then the one of the radio out of her ear."Can you tell me what that was about?" Tom raged on. "Why are you defying my instructions?""Nothing happened," Kim said meekly, "But ..."Tom interrupted her. "I don't want to hear any more, you can discuss this with Charlie later."He turned away and took out his cell phone, and Kim knew he would call Charlie and tell him everything.Meanwhile, the men turned the entire area around the crypt upside down. They had brought in searchlights and combed every inch of the surrounding area, but to no avail. Aside from a plethora of footprints
Tense Kim drove the car through the night streets of Sunville in the direction of the cemetery."I'll be right there," she said into the microphone, and seconds later heard Tom's voice in her ear."Okay, we're ready."She parked the car in front of the entrance, got out, and took the bag from the back seat.She looked around examiningly, there was no one to be seen far and wide.It was a moonless night, and she was pleased to see that the cemetery was in deep darkness, so it wouldn't be easy to see that she wasn't Luke.She walked slowly through the gate, then stopped hesitantly."Stay on the main path so we can see you," Tom instructed.Kim followed his request, took small steps forward, constantly looking around in all directions.After a few minutes the crypt came into view, gloomy and threatening it loomed in the darkness before her."Not too close, otherwise we won't have a view," came the earphone again.
Charlie appeared over the next morning. After showing a press ID, Harvey escorted him into the study.Kim greeted him and introduced him to Luke, who was pacing up and down with a worried expression.Charlie scanned the letter briefly, then turned to Luke.“Mr. Summer, I think Kim has already informed you how this will play out. I have brought a suitably prepared bag with me that you will take with you, and as soon as the handover starts, we will access it. My men are already in the process of submitting themselves to the cemetery, so you needn't worry. ”“ All right, ”Luke nodded, but it was clear that he wasn't enthusiastic about the plan."No," Kim said spontaneously at that moment, "he won't go."The men turned their heads to her in surprise, stared at her questioningly.“Kim? What's the problem? ”Asked Charlie."You can't just send him there," Kim blurted out nervously. "It's too dangero
A few days went by without any more letters or anything happening.Kim had called Charlie again briefly that afternoon, who could only advise her to wait and keep an eye on Luke. Checking the names hadn't revealed anything suspicious so far, and as expected, no usable traces had been found on the envelopes either, so Kim sighed and accepted her fate and followed Luke every step of the way. She had to listen to one or two amused comments from him now and then, but he seemed to be slowly accepting her presence and she tried not to take his remarks too seriously.They had breakfast together every morning, then went jogging together and then they mostly went to the studio, where Luke and the boys continued to work on his new album, and Kim sat quietly in the armchair, reading a book or just listening.Luke was often alone in the studio, trying out different melodies on his guitar and writing down dozen of sheets of music without noticing Kim, who watched and listene