Mysterious Master

By Isabella Rose

this book is short listed for best author published read at the International festival of romance on line writers.
jana had good reason to distrust the deputy head at marshland school. he was hiding a secret which she was determined to ferret out.
She also thought he held the key to discovering what had happened to her sister.
colin was a safer option but did she really want to play safe? read this book for laughs - love - hate -intrigue and romance and discover Mark's guilty secret.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Isabella Rose
• Release date: Sep 11, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301017638

Isabella Rose

What a hoot, my new book Secrets of the village girls is 87850 words long and covers underground tunnels in Norwich - it has romance - a treasure hunt - blackmail and three murders to solve. So that should keep readers happy. it could be the first of a series. At the moment it is under review and if its favourable it will be shortly an ebook. I am aiming for a traditional publisher for this one, but they are scarcer than hens teeth. So its lucky that I can be my own publisher. I have entered two short story competitions so wish me luck. One is entered for the Hillingdon Literary Festival which sounds like a very good weekend out for everyone. if you live locally check it out. There will be a lot of bigwigs there as well as writers. I went to the Over fifty plus show at Olympia, London and discovered that I had won the writers competition. So I contacted the organiser Dr Robert McCaffrey who was pleased to give me my prize. We had a lovely day and enjoyed all the stalls and learned a lot. The men enjoyed watching two girls in feathers dancing. And the ladies enjoyed snatches of Gilbert and Sullivan. Had a wonderful day -met friendly editors -and like minded writers - ending with glass of bubbly - cheers. Now I have to practise what I learned and inspire an editor with enthusiasm. Wish me luck. I am off to Richmond to a master class of writing for Harlequin. Hope my brain holds all the information I can glean. My weird marriage proposal where a sailor openly said he would probably not be faithful - won a goodie bag from Harper Impulse recently. Sometimes good comes out of bad memories. My book An Obsession for Jake by Isabella Rose has a saucy domination theme and I'm looking for a publisher to market it further than I can. Review says its hilarious chic lit, read the book to join in the action!.. My first line entry to Authonomy and Avon competition was short listed to the last ten. Out of one thousand entries so I was thrilled. My as yet unpublished novel Love and Lust No Strings No Trust is an exciting read and entered for another competition. If it doesn't win I will put it on line myself. One snag I discovered is if you are in the library readers can download your books for free. Which rather defeats the object if you want to sell your work and only give away a sample to whet the readers appetite. Hundreds of downloads so at least I'm getting readers. Mysterious Master by Isabella Rose is short listed for best author published read at the international festival for romance writers 2012. The award ceremony was thrilling sprinkled with friendly authors publishers and literary agents followed by a gala ball.It was a fun night. check out my website to find links to my books and to other interesting authors. Love or lust no Strings No Trust by Isabella Rose saucy romantic suspense will be ebook soon. Daddy's Little Spy -Isabella by Isabella Rose child abuse as isabella struggles to survive WW2 and witchcraft - light relief -love spells. To Catch a Daring Thief by Angel Rose is a fun read. Billion dollar heist with sensual intrigue. Intimate Enemies is a sensual romance if Blake is guilty -does Angel want to prove it. Devil Doctor - hates sadistic surgeon who told her mother terminally ill -inspirational story. Mysterious Master by Isabella Rose -family relationships complex romance. Feedback welcomed. Ena Roscoe musical star 1920-1940's. Family history mixed with music hall and radio stars etc. Walt Disney's gift to Ena. Treasured to this day.

Book preview

MYSTERIOUS MASTER

By ISABELLA ROSE

Copyright © 2012 Published by Isabella Rose

Smashwords Edition.

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Acknowledgement

To my wonderful husband who has the patience to put up with long hours alone whilst I’m writing and who sorts out my computer worries.

CHAPTER ONE

It was mizzling with rain so Jana missed the entrance to Marshland School, half obscured by a thick bush. She braked quickly and began to reverse. With a terrible ear-splitting screeching of metal her car shuddered to a halt. Jana’s head jerked forward. The seat belt tightened painfully across her chest. The air bag inflated, expelling all the air out her lungs. She almost blacked out.

Whilst she struggled to breathe, an angry, but devilishly handsome, face glared at her through the car window. Jumping frogs, Jana recognised him. He was the last man on earth she wanted to see right now.

Searching blue eyes blazed into hers as he ordered, ‘Don’t move. Is anything broken? Are you bleeding anywhere?’

She played dumb. ‘Are you a doctor - or a cop?’

‘Neither, my name’s Mark Strong, I’m a trained first aider.’ His teeth were so dazzling white that Jana knew he’d had them bleached. So her adversary wasn’t flawless, he had a streak of vanity. Somehow that was reassuring, but she’d always been a sucker for a nice smile. Literally crashing into him had been an embarrassing way to meet the schools deputy head. He’d hate her from day one, especially when he discovered the real reason she’d chosen to work here. Attack she decided was the best means of defence.

‘No bones broken,’ she gasped, ‘but my neck hurts after being jolted when you rammed into the back of my car. Why didn’t you look where you were going?’

‘That’s rich, you reversed into me you idiot.’ Mark insisted on checking her neck. His long fingers were cool and impersonal, but as he leaned over her Jana caught a whiff of his sandalwood aftershave. She almost fainted and blamed the accident for her reaction.

‘You’re probably suffering from whiplash. You ought to get an X-Ray.’ Mark straightened up and stood glaring at her.

‘I’ll live, no thanks to you,’ Jana snapped. It was about the worst start to her new career she could imagine. Needing confidence, she checked her appearance in the driving mirror. When she started to comb her dishevelled blonde hair, Mark became impatient.

‘It’s a pity that you didn’t look in your car mirror earlier. I suppose you only use it to slap on face paint. It does serve a genuine purpose when you’re driving, you know. To show the whereabouts of other traffic’

Jana’s right palm itched to slap his arrogant face, but she thought she’d better not inflame a tricky situation even further. She fought with the air bag, which had developed a mind of its own and refused to deflate.

Mark opened her car door to assist. After they’d regained control, he said, ‘I’m getting wet. We’ll exchange details over a cup of hot sweet tea, good for shock. If you can still drive this bright yellow rust bucket follow me into the school grounds.’

How dare Mark be rude about her precious Daffy? The old girl had been a trusted unpaid friend for years.

‘Your old mini sustained less damage than my brand new sports car,’ Mark groused as he climbed back into his driving seat.

‘Into the enemy camp we go,’ Jana muttered, impatient to get this farce over and done with. The school had once been the cottage hospital. It was a truly impressive sight. A long three storied Georgian building, with 45 acres of grounds. Jana parked Daffy in the space next to Mark’s car. His bonnet was crumpled and badly twisted, no wonder he was fuming.

It wasn’t a good omen for the rest of the day. Jana had spent years dreaming of becoming a teacher, even a head some day. Her mother had encouraged her to become a model saying she could be her mentor as she knew from experience all the tricks.

Widowed young, Midge had always wanted to go back to modelling. Although she’d had a daughter named Ruby before she married Jana’s father. So knew the pitfalls of the heavy partying lifestyle and realised that it wasn’t suitable for two young children. By the time Jana was old enough, Midge had lost her youthful beauty

Strong willed, Jana insisted she wanted to be a teacher and now she needed to prove that she’d chosen the right career. To earn a living Midge had worked as a cook in a small restaurant during the day. And at night, she home baked cakes for birthday parties and weddings. As she was an expert with sugar icing these cakes were decorated beautifully and Midge was inundated with orders. That extra hard earned money helped pay Jana’s college fees.

Jana worked behind the bar at a pub near the college, in between classes, and studying. So between them they coped with the fees and when Jana left she was not in debt.

Just before she qualified, her sister Ruby disappeared. It hadn’t been difficult to get a job where the famous lothario who’d broken her sister’s heart was the deputy head. She needed answers to so many questions, but thought she’d have to gain his confidence first.

Mark ran his right hand through his unruly black curls asking, ‘You should have known my car was behind you. Despite my running into the back of your car, this accident was entirely your fault.’

Jana secretly conceded he had a point, but couldn’t afford to admit it. ‘It’s not my fault your reflexes are too slow to make an emergency stop.’

‘I’ll have you know my reflexes are in perfect condition.’ He flexed his muscles to prove it. Then enlightenment dawned, ‘Don’t tell me you’re the new member of staff, Jana Granger?

When she nodded, Mark said ‘Good grief. I’ll warn staff and pupils to watch out for your car, which resembles a flying scrambled egg. You drive that mini like a mad woman hooked on cannabis.’

‘What’s your problem, a hangover?’ Jana snapped, ‘Is that why your reactions are slow? Or did you just get out of bed on the wrong side this morning?’

Mark eyed the slender figure standing defiantly in front of him, locking her car door with shaking fingers. She crinkled her pert little nose at him. He loved long blonde hair and wasted no time taking up her silent challenge.

‘You look young enough to be one of our students.’ With heavy sarcasm lacing his voice he said, ‘I wonder what made you mention my bed so early in our acquaintance. Some sort of Freudian slip?’

‘You wish,’ she gave him a slow smile.

Grinning, he led the way into the staff room, where the kettle was steaming. He introduced Jana to the others, making her out to be an accident prone scatterbrain.

Defending herself vigorously, Jana neatly turned the argument back against Mark. There was much ribald laughter, cut short by the ringing of a bell signalling classes were about to begin. A mass exodus followed.

Jana’s classroom assistant Carol led the way. As Jana followed her out the door, Mark smiled. ‘We haven’t got off to a very good start. I’ll see if we can rectify that later. Must dash, the first day of term is hectic.’

Carol assigned a boy to show Jana the way as she had to fetch items from the stockroom.

Barry a little plump lad who reminded Jana of the character ‘Just William’ chatted excitedly all the way. According to him the deputy head was a mixture of Superman and Dr Who. ‘You can’t hide anything from him,’ warned Barry. ‘He’s stern, but he’s fair.’ Obviously, Mark had a devoted fan.

Jana had her doubts, but hid her real feelings. She’d have to be careful if she wanted her budding career to flourish. The morning passed in a whirl of activity. Luckily, Carol knew the school routine inside out and backwards. She introduced every student by name, muttering that Jake was going to be trouble. He was a cheeky redhead, covered in freckles, with a mind of his own.

Remembering her training, Jana decided she’d have to keep him in check right from the start, or he’d be running the class, instead of her. When her back was turned Jake started to flick rubbers round the classroom to sniggers from other students.

Jana put a stop to this by confiscating all rubbers and Jake’s ruler. By lunchtime she was feeling the strain. There were two sittings. Jana ate at a table of eight of her students. Much to her relief, she discovered that Mark would be eating later.

Carol was keen to fill her in about the staff, especially Mark. ‘Everyone fancies him, but he plays the field. He changes girlfriends faster than most men send texts. It’s a mystery why he’s so anti marriage. There is a rumour that something nasty happened when he was in his early twenties, but no one knows exactly what. He’s thirty-five and shows no sign of settling down.’

Carol pointed out a suntanned smartly dressed woman. With dark hair rolled backwards into a smooth French pleat. ‘Be warned, he’s bad news as a boyfriend. Heather’s the only woman he consistently takes out, every Wednesday without fail. Where they go is a state secret.’

Jana smiled as she noted Heather’s striking brown eyes and sensuous mouth, outlined in scarlet lipstick. ‘I can see the attraction. He won’t look at me twice when she makes cow eyes at him, she’s absolutely gorgeous.’

‘So are you,’ Carol laughed. ‘Mark will ask you out before long, he won’t be able to resist. Take every head turning compliment with a tablespoon of salt. If anyone ever stands a chance of snaring him, it’ll be Heather.’

The rest of the day passed quickly. Jana dismissed the students with a cheery, ‘See you tomorrow.’ As she finished putting away her books, Mark appeared in the doorway. He smiled and Jana was surprised to feel herself blushing.

‘Be ready for eight o’ clock,’ Mark said confidently, ‘I’ll treat you to dinner as a welcome gift.’

Jana kept her cool. ‘What makes you think I’m free for dinner tonight?’

‘You’re a stranger in town and I won’t take no for an answer. I promise you intelligent conversation and a good meal.’

Jana hesitated, but she was tempted. The prospect of eating a takeaway in her bleak little flat didn’t appeal. And to carry out her plan she needed to get close to him.

‘I understand you make a habit of flirting with new teachers,’ she grinned, ‘But put away your charm, it’s wasted on me. I’m interested in my career, not looking for an affair.’

He grinned, ‘I only date beautiful women and you certainly qualify from that point of view. Where are you staying at the Cedars?’ He mentioned the block of flats recommended by the Education Board.

Jana gave in gracefully, ‘No 13, unlucky for some, but I’m not superstitious.’

Carol came in the door to collect her handbag. ‘I see the fatal attraction is weaving his black magic. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.’

Jana laughed, ‘If I can’t handle his spells, I’ll put a hex on him.’

Back at her flat, Jana ran a bath. Sliding gratefully into the warm pink sweet scented foaming bubbles at last she could relax. It had been an exhausting day. And it wasn’t over yet, she still had to resist the incorrigible Mark’s dangerous seduction technique.

Jana had been too busy studying to take any boy seriously. Unlike her sister Ruby who went out with all the local lads in turn. But when she moved here, it was Mark who broke Ruby’s heart and left her very wary of men.

All through college, Jana remained aloof and earned the nickname Ice-floe. At twenty two, she wished she’d more experience in handling predatory men like Mark. Dismissing her qualms as stupid, she searched her wardrobe for something smart to wear.

Eventually, she chose a white halter necked dress, which showed off her figure to advantage. It was the most sophisticated dress she owned. Remembering Heather’s dark beauty, Jana decided to leave her blonde hair floating round her shoulders to accentuate the contrast between them.

With a shock she acknowledged that she found Mark a fascinating enigma. Was it only this morning they’d met? She’d have to curb her natural instincts, as she knew what he was really like. Promptly at eight o’clock the buzzer sounded. Jana pressed the catch for the entry phone and waited in the doorway to greet him.

Scorning the lift, he took the stairs two at a time. He looked the picture of sartorial elegance in a grey pinstriped suit, pale green shirt, grey tie and matching suede shoes. Jana felt her heart literally beating faster at the sight of him.

‘Would you like a drink?’ she asked as she led him into the tiny lounge/kitchen. ‘I’ve only whisky or orange juice.’

‘Whisky will be fine,’ Mark glanced round the small room. The kitchen consisted of an L shaped block of cupboards, sink and cooker. There was a small fridge from which Jana was extracting ice to dilute his drink. The rest of the room was dominated by a settee and, in one corner stood a round table and two chairs. ‘You haven’t space to swing a starving rat in here,’ he remarked.

‘I don’t intend to try. Animals are forbidden anyway.’

Mark looked round again, ‘Where’s the bedroom?’

Jana eyed him suspiciously, but it seemed to be a casual enquiry. She waved in the general direction of the other two doors, but didn’t offer to show him round. ‘For this ‘spacious’ accommodation I’m paying an arm and a leg each month.’

He laughed ‘And a very shapely leg it is.’ Before she could reply, he finished his drink and stood up. ‘Let’s go and eat. I’m famished.’

He helped her into her red jacket. She shivered as he accidentally brushed her arm. Acutely aware of his masculinity, Jana knew it would be a struggle to keep their friendship on a light footing. He was an expert at flirtation.

The restaurant he chose was smart, but discreet. The tables laid with snow white cloths, were set in bamboo alcoves. The waiter seated them at a table for two and Jana studied the menu, wondering what deputy head’s earned.

As if he guessed her thoughts, Mark grinned, ‘Anything you fancy, my treat.’ So she asked for her favourite prawn cocktail, followed by a juicy steak with assorted vegetables. And a delicious looking, full of calories black forest gateaux.

Mark was