by Agatha Frost
“You don’t have to apologise,” Julia said, offering a soft smile. “I own a café down the road if you want to get more off your chest? It’s quiet and private, and I have some leftover brownies.”
Heidi considered the invitation before shaking her head. “Thanks, but I should go. I just want to go home and pretend this didn’t happen.”
“Why don’t you drop by Johnny’s?” Julia suggested. “You shouldn’t be on your own when you’re like this.”
“We’re not on the best speaking terms right now. He turned up on my doorstep acting weird earlier this week after months of not speaking to me. He said he’d done something stupid, but he wouldn’t tell me what. I wasn’t in the mood for games, so I let him sleep on the couch, and I went to bed. He was gone by the morning.”
“Do you remember what day that was?”
“Tuesday,” Heidi said without thinking about it. “Is it important?”
“No.” Julia smiled as she shook her head. “I was just curious. Well, it was nice seeing you, Heidi. Try not to let Craig get you down too much.”
Heidi nodded, her eyes narrowing on Julia.
“I never told you his name,” Heidi said, her arms crossing together. “Do you know him?”
Julia’s mind blasted into overdrive as she tried to think of something to say. She felt like an idiot for slipping up when Heidi was about to leave. She had been so cool and collected gathering her information and busting Johnny’s alibi wide open. When Julia’s phone started ringing in her bag, she didn’t bother holding in the sigh of relief.
“I need to get this,” Julia said when she saw Jessie’s face on the screen. “Sorry.”
Julia answered the call and put it to her ear. The temporary relief she had felt was quickly replaced with panic when she realised it must have been the early hours in the morning in Australia.
“Jessie?” Julia called into her phone. “Is everything okay?”
“Mum?” Jessie bellowed over pounding music. “You there?”
“Yes, I’m here.” She smiled her apologies to Heidi before turning around. “Go somewhere I can hear you.”
Julia listened to what sounded like Jessie pushing through a crowd of people, mumblings of ‘move!’ and ‘get out of my way!’ blasting through the speaker. A door slammed, and the music was reduced to a distant thumping.
“What’s up?” Jessie said, her voice echoing. “I’m in a nightclub.”
“You sound drunk.”
“I am.”
“Jessie!”
“I’m eighteen,” Jessie replied with a chuckle. “What do you want?”
“You called me.”
“Oh, right.” Jessie paused and hummed for over half a minute. “What was I supposed to say?”
“Is something wrong? Put Alfie on the phone.”
“I’m in the girl’s bathroom. I remember now. I’ve lost my bank card, and I need you to go home and find one of my statements, so I can call the bank and cancel.”
“You’ve lost your card?”
“Don’t worry!” Jessie cried. “Listen, just take a picture of one and text it to me, okay? I’m going to get back. I’m having so much fun. Love you!”
Jessie hung up before Julia could respond. Turning around, she saw Heidi had already left. Glad she hadn’t needed to explain her slip up, Julia returned to the pub. Craig was drowning his sorrows in a pint, and Barker was back behind his menu.
“Jessie’s lost her bank card,” Julia explained. “I’m going to head home. She needs a statement. Are you coming?”
“I’m going to stay here for a while.” Barker glanced over his menu. “I want to see what he does next.”
Leaving Barker to his stake-out, Julia drove up the winding lane to her cottage. The forensic team had abandoned Leah’s house, leaving behind a wrapping of blue and white police tape. Julia had considered having a look around, but she doubted much could be left to find.
Julia considered what Heidi had revealed about Johnny. Heidi had unknowingly destroyed her half-brother’s alibi, while simultaneously putting him back in the frame. She retrieved her phone as she walked down the garden path to the front door. When she attempted to call Johnny, it went straight to the voicemail. She waited until the phone beeped for her to leave her message.
“Johnny, it’s Julia. I need to talk to you. I know you lied about your alibi. Call me back as soon as you get this.”
Julia hung up and dropped the phone back into her bag, trading it for her keys. As she reached out to unlock her door, two sets of hands gripped her arms, yanking them back. Before she could turn around to see who was there, a dark hood dropped over her head.
Chapter Twelve
Julia thrashed and kicked as her two mystery assailants dragged her down the garden path. She screamed out, one thing on her mind—she couldn’t end up like Leah.
Her elbow struck something hard, and one pair of hands let go. A female voice cried out. The second set seemed less sure of their grip without assistance. Sensing her opportunity, Julia grabbed at her attacker, finding the arms slender and bony under her touch. Using her body weight, she spun around, sending her attacker in the same direction as the person she had elbowed. The second assailant let go with little resistance, yelping as they fell to the ground.
Julia stumbled back, feet going from the path to the grass. The shallow dip between the two shifted her centre of gravity, pulling her to the ground with a thud. She imagined the attackers readying for their second attempt and knew she couldn’t let them get hold of her. She ripped the hood off, only to find her vision blocked by her messy hair. Frenzied cries escaped her lips as she fought with the curls blocking her vision.
“Julia!” a familiar, muffled voice called out. “It’s us! Calm down!”
Julia parted her hair and looked up at Sue, who was holding her bloody nose with one hand and offering the other to Julia. Confused, Julia reached out and stood up, gasping for air. Dot lay on the other side of the path, clutching her side.
“It’s fine!” Dot cried, waving her hand as she pushed herself up. “Don’t help the octogenarian up!”
“I don’t understand,” Julia muttered, her face hot as her heart thrashed in her chest. “What on earth were you trying to do?”
“Kidnap you,” Sue offered with a pathetic smile, a trickle of blood escaping her pinching fingers. “We should have known you’d put up a fight.”
Dot dusted the dry grass off her skirt and limped over to the path. She reached into her handbag and passed Sue a handkerchief for her nose.
“Why would you want to kidnap me?” Julia cried, stepping back. “Is there something you want to tell me?”
Dot and Sue glanced at each other, their expressions equally offended.
“She thinks we bumped Leah off.” Dot shook her head as she laughed. “Good heavens, dear! I suppose it does look like that, doesn’t it? I don’t think we thought this plan out.”
“Your plan,” Sue mumbled through the hankie. “We wanted to do something nice for you, so you could unwind for one night.”
“And you thought grabbing me and putting a bag over my head would help me unwind?” Julia kicked the hood onto the path. “Have you lost your minds?”
“Well, when you put it like that, it does sound rather problematic.” Dot adjusted her brooch as her neck stiffened. “Oh, we might as well give it up. Sue, give the signal.”
Sue pulled her phone out of her back, turned on the flash, and waved it above her head. Seconds later, a familiar pink Range Rover sped down the lane, stopping inches behind Julia’s car. The blacked-out window zipped down, and Katie stuck her head out.
“Oh, no fun!” Katie squeaked. “I thought we were waiting until we were back at my house to unmask her?”
Julia planted her hands on her hips and glowered at them for an explanation.
“We were going to take you to Peridale Manor for a surprise party,” Dot said with a sigh. “An early hen party, of sorts. Not your official one, of course
, but enough to give you a night off from your Leah hunting.”
“I even brought these.” Katie hung a handful of pink feather boas out of the window. “I bought a case of classy champagne, and Hilary’s put some food together for us.”
“We were going to listen to music and play silly games.” Sue pulled the bloody hankie away from her nose and gave her nostrils a wriggle. “Perhaps we started the games a little too early.”
“Perhaps,” Julia replied flatly. “Didn’t you think it was a bit on the nose, considering what happened across the road?” She nodded at Leah’s cottage. “A little too soon for kidnapping games, some might say?”
“Lighten up, dear.” Dot waved her hand and walked towards the Range Rover. She grabbed a boa from Katie and wrapped it around her neck. “Well, are you coming, or not? Because I’m not missing out on expensive champagne and good posh food.”
“Sorry, Julia,” Sue offered, her voice stuffy. “I feel like a bit of an idiot right now. I should have seen how this could turn out. I should have known you would turn Rambo on us.”
“It’s fine.” Julia tucked her hair behind her ears and tried to calm herself as the adrenaline coursed through her veins. “Sorry about your nose.”
“Collateral damage.”
Julia followed Sue to the pink SUV, grabbing a boa from Katie before climbing inside. As they sped through the village towards the manor, Julia forced herself to calm down. It was such a ridiculous idea, only Dot could have come up with it. The sentiment touched Julia, even if the execution of their mock-kidnap had shaken her badly.
Peridale Manor was the biggest home in the village. It had belonged to the Wellington family for generations, and it currently belonged to Katie’s elderly, wheelchair-bound father, Vincent Wellington. It sat on acres of beautiful countryside, and a sprawling driveway led up to the grand building. The house still took Julia’s breath away every time she drove up to it.
In the couple of hours since Julia had dropped them all off, they had been busy. Bright pink balloons covered the grand entrance and stairway, and bubbly pop music drifted in from the sitting room. Hilary, the housekeeper, had arranged a spread more suited for a party of twenty on the marble kitchen island, and the promised champagne stood on the side, four bottles already chilling in their dedicated silver ice buckets.
“I wish Jessie was here,” Julia found herself saying as she looked at all the effort that had been put in. “She’d probably hate all this, but I can’t imagine my hen party without her.”
“We’ll have another one,” Sue said as she ran a cloth under the tap to dab at her nose. “This is the unofficial pre-hen hen party.”
“Besides, Jessie knows what we’re doing,” Dot said as she hurried past Julia into the kitchen. “How do you think we got you up to your cottage at the right time?”
“So, she didn’t lose her bank card?”
“That was my idea!” Katie proclaimed proudly. “I did the same thing when I was in Ibiza at her age.”
“She sounded like she was having a whale of a time,” Dot mumbled through a mouthful of a sandwich. “I hated to drag her away from her party, but she was up for playing a little trick on you.”
“Is that how the history books are going to remember it? A little trick?”
“A big trick, then.” Dot rolled her eyes. “Fill up a plate and let’s get this party started! And no mention of anything connected to you-know-who!”
Julia did as she was told. When all their plates were heaped with food, they retreated into the lavish sitting room, decorated with pink balloons attached to anything that would take a string. They sat in couples on the ornate sofas in the middle of the room, and it didn’t take long for Julia to forget about her earlier ordeal. The champagne and music washed over her, making her feel the most relaxed she had since Jessie left for Australia.
“Okay, question time!” Katie announced, pulling a stack of pink cards from a box. “Are you ready to be tested on your relationship with Barker?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Julia drained her second refill of champagne.
“When did you first meet Barker?”
“That’s easy!” Dot cried as she topped up their glasses with a fresh bottle. “Even I could tell you that one.”
“It’s the question on the card!” Katie pouted before turning and smiling at Julia. “Besides, I don’t think I’ve ever heard it.”
It was an easy story for Julia to recount. It felt like yesterday and a lifetime ago at the same time.
“Barker was moving to the village,” she started, a fond smile washing over her face. “His moving van was blocking the lane into the village. I pulled up behind him and asked him to move so I could get past. I think I tried to start a conversation about the weather, but he didn’t take me on. Oh, I thought he was so arrogant! He kept calling me ‘Julie’, and I think he only did it because he knew it irritated me. I remember thinking that nothing about him fit this village.”
“What a romantic story,” Dot said sarcastically. “And you still fell in love with him?”
“I think it’s sweet!” Katie clasped her hands together. “They obviously had chemistry from the moment they met. If he wanted to get under her skin, it means he liked her from the start.” Katie flipped to the next question. “What was your first official date?”
“Dinner at The Comfy Corner,” Julia answered quickly. “It was about a month after he actually asked me on a date, but I thought he had got cold feet. I think he was just nervous.”
“That’s a good sign,” Katie butted in. “Your father was like that when he asked me out for the first time. Turned him into a bumbling schoolboy. What did you eat?”
“We both had the Peridale Pie. Mary put us in the restaurant’s lover’s corner, and it couldn’t have been more obvious that she was spying on us the whole time.”
“So romantic.” Katie sighed as she gazed into the corner of the room. “I love Peridale Pie.”
“Oh, give me those!” Dot snatched the cards from Katie. “These are all so dreary. We’ve heard these stories a billion times. Let me see what’s in here.” She flicked through, throwing them over her shoulder one by one. “Oh, this is a good one!”
“You can’t ask that!” Katie snatched the cards back, her cheeks blushing. “It’s too rude.” She shuffled through the cards before settling on one. “What’s your favourite thing about Barker?”
“He makes me feel safe,” Julia replied. “I feel comfortable around him. It never feels like either of us is ever trying to be anything other than ourselves. We click.”
“Like pieces of a jigsaw.” Sue chinked her glass against Julia’s. “Just like Neil and me.”
“And your father and me.” Katie leaned in and hit her glass against theirs.
“And me and me.” Dot joined in. “I don’t want to feel left out.”
“There’s lots of things you click with,” Sue said. “Like gossip, and trouble-starting, and offending.”
“You think I’m a gossip?”
“Is the Pope Catholic?”
Laughter erupted, echoing around the room. Even Dot joined in, rolling back in her chair before draining her glass. She hiccoughed, causing more laughter, and more hiccoughs. Julia felt so grateful to have these women in her life, but someone other than Jessie missing; Roxy should have been there. Her laughter faltered long enough for the gloom to creep in. She sipped her champagne hoping to retreat into its fizzy warmth, but the bubble had burst.
“What’s wrong?” Sue asked, noticing Julia’s change in an instant. “Julia?”
“It doesn’t matter.” She pushed forward a smile. “More questions, Katie.”
Katie shuffled the cards, but she looked unsure about continuing. Dot took them off her and threw them onto the table. Leaning forward, Dot rested her elbows on the hem of her skirt and reached across to grab Julia’s hands.
“Is it Leah?”
“Sort of,” Julia replied, clutching her gran’s hands. “Right now,
it’s more Roxy. I shouldn’t be drinking champagne and laughing while she’s still at the station being questioned. They’re probably putting her through hell.”
“You didn’t make her go to Leah’s cottage,” Dot said forcefully, shaking Julia’s hands. “She’s a grown woman. If she killed Leah—”
“Gran,” Sue interrupted, shaking her head. “Let’s not go there.”
“Someone needs to say it, dear.” Dot sighed, dropping her head. “It’s been five days, and there’s been neither sight nor sound of her. You know she’s probably dead.”
“I know,” Julia replied, the words jamming in her throat. “I’ve known since the second I saw that blood.”
Julia was not just saying the words out loud for the first time; she was admitting them to herself, too. Saying them felt freeing and heart-breaking at the same time. Through all the shocking revelations and accusations connected to Leah’s past, she had clung to a tiny glimmer of hope that she would get an explanation from the source. Now, she felt her spirit let that hope go. She deflated into the sofa, drained and exhausted from the chaos her life had been in the week since Leah’s return to the village.
“Let it out,” Dot urged. “Scream and cry. Smash this place up if you need to. Katie doesn’t mind, do you, Katie?”
“Well, I—”
“Exactly,” Dot cut in. “Nobody will judge you for letting go, Julia. We love you, but it’s okay to admit defeat. You’ve done enough. Let it go. You don’t need to solve and fix everything every time.”
It was a tempting offer. Accepting that this was one mystery she couldn’t solve would be the easy way out. The police might eventually untangle the case, and if they couldn’t, did it really matter? Julia considered that question for a moment, but the answer was obvious.
“It’s not just for me,” she said after exhaling. “My friends are involved. Johnny and Roxy put themselves in the middle of this, and I need to help them. Not for my satisfaction, but because I don’t want to see them dragged down with the ship. The police are scrambling for anything right now, and if someone doesn’t figure this out, an innocent person’s life might be ruined.”