Perfectly Reflected by S. C. Ransom Page A

he was trying to comfort me . I sniffed loudly and tried unsuccessfully to find a tissue in my jeans pocket. “I’m sorry, Callum. I didn’t mean to lose it like that.” My hand found the mirror so I propped it up on my knee where I could see his face.His usually sparkling blue eyes were shadowed with concern, a frown creasing his forehead as the gentle breeze ruffled his thick hair. I smiled weakly. “We’re a right pair, aren’t we?”
    “Alex, don’t joke. Someone over there really does have it in for you. What if they’re dangerous as well as criminal?”
    “It’s OK,” I sniffed. “Come on, we both need to keep a sense of perspective. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cry. It was just the shock.” I tried to keep my voice even as the panic and fear crawled through my stomach again. My breathing was ragged, uneven; I had to calm down.
    I fixed my eyes on his, and as I watched the concern on his face I felt my resolve strengthen. I could see that he knew what I was thinking, and I watched as he rested his cheek against mine.
    “Are you sure you’re OK, Alex?”
    I could feel the echo of a touch where his face had pressed mine, and love made me strong. I wiped away the tears.
    “Absolutely. We need to find out who is doing this and stop them. I promise not to fall apart if you promise to help me. Deal?”
    His tone was dubious, but I felt him gather himself together. “OK then, deal. We fight. I guess we need a bit of a plan.” It was his turn to take a deep breath. “So, what do we know? Let’s look at what’s happened so far and see if we can guess what they might do next.”
    I nodded. That seemed reasonable. I lifted up my free hand and started to tick things off. “First was the golf ball, then the e-mail with all the personal information about Abbi, and then the stuff with Graham. And now – now they’ve stolen all the money from my account.”
    “Right. The broken window has been the most straightforward attack so far, it didn’t need any specific knowledgelike a password or anything, but, even so, your name was on the note so it wasn’t a random thing.” He paused for a moment, frowning. “How easy is it to empty a whole bank account? How much money was in there?”
    “Nearly two thousand pounds. I’ve been saving to get a car when I finally pass my test.”
    “So how was it taken out? Was it transferred into another account, or was it taken out as cash? Can you tell from the statement?”
    “Just a sec, I’ll check.” I rummaged in my pockets until I found the crumpled piece of paper. I smoothed it out over my knee, then held it down so that the gentle breeze blowing along the terrace didn’t whisk it away. I looked at the faint lettering. The last transaction had been in Richmond, in the main branch there, but although it gave the date, it didn’t say what time or how the money had been taken out.
    “Well, it was stolen on Thursday, so not that long ago,” Callum said, reading over my shoulder. “Once you talk to the bank you should be able to get some more details. Let’s go back in there now, see what we can find out.”
    “Brilliant!” I said, leaping to my feet and disturbing a small flock of pigeons that had settled on the wall next to us. “Hang on though, it’s Saturday afternoon. They won’t be open. I’ll have to check online when we get home.”
    I saw Callum peer across my shoulder and down at my watch. “Come on then. If we hurry you can get the next train, otherwise it’s a long wait.”
    I checked my watch. His idea of how quickly I could get to Waterloo and mine were entirely different. “You might be able to go that fast, but my legs don’t work like that. I could probably getthe bus though.” I pulled myself upright and adjusted my earpiece. “See you at the station,” I called as I started to run to the bus stop. The tingle went from my wrist and I concentrated on getting to the train on time.
    I made it to the platform with just a minute to