Chapter 38

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Luke and Nick made the drive back to the house without further incident. The place was still lit up like a nightclub by emergency service vehicles, blue and red lights flashing everywhere, so Nick parked at the far end of the driveway.

"You okay, buddy?" Nick asked when Luke didn't move.

"Yeah. Just thinking."

Which was always dangerous. Luke got out of the car and shuffled towards the house, thankful that Tia had gone to bed. He wanted to tell her they'd caught the kidnapper, but at the same time, he didn't know how to explain that Simon Howard appeared to be a relative. They'd gone through their whole lives believing it was just the two of them and their mother. The news he had a half-brother was still sinking in, not to mention the shock of Howard being a criminal. How would Tia take it?

Perhaps Ash could help him break the news? Luke was still cross at her for lying, but that anger had been tempered when she came through on the kidnapping problem. Without her, he'd most likely be lying in a shallow grave, and even if he'd survived, he wouldn't have known where to go for help. He'd always be grateful to her for getting her friends involved, doubly so for the way she'd selflessly exchanged herself for the police officer at gunpoint.

Her hysterical reaction afterwards still baffled him, though.

And where was Ash, anyway? She and Dan weren't among those gathered outside. Come to think of it, their car wasn't even in the driveway. Nick had stopped to talk to the police who'd stayed to ensure Tia's safety while the whole mess unravelled, and Luke wandered in that direction.

"Has anybody seen Ash? I'm surprised she's not back by now."

Especially with the way she'd smoked the tyres when she left ahead of them. Could she have crashed?

Nick excused himself from the group and led Luke out of earshot. "The thing is, she's not coming back."

"What do you mean? Tonight? She's not coming back tonight? Have you got her number? I could meet her somewhere tomorrow."

"Sorry, buddy." Nick shook his head. "She's not coming back at all. She's on her way home."

"To America?"

"Yeah. She thought it would be better that way, what with not being your favourite person right now."

Shit. Luke tore a hand through his hair as Nick's words sank in. "I need to talk to her. Surely if she left at the same time as us, she'll still be on her way to the airport? I'll go after her. Is she flying out of Heathrow?"

Nick looked at his watch. "No, out of Northolt, and she's already taken off."

Since when did commercial airlines fly out of Northolt? It had been over a year since Luke last chartered a jet from there, so maybe things had changed?

Movement by the front door caught his eye, and an awful evening became even worse. Why wasn't Tia in bed? Her eyes settled on him, and she veered in his direction.

Now he'd have to break the news about Simon, Ash, and everything else himself. Tia would be devastated Ash had left. They'd grown so close in the time she'd been with them, and of course, she didn't yet know about Ash's deception.

He walked over to her, slowly, as if by dragging his feet he could somehow put off that talk forever. Tia looked so young and vulnerable at that moment, lit up by the security lights on the outside of the house, her face pale and her frame gaunt. The ordeal of the past few days showed in the way she carried herself.

Luke put his arm around her, but she shook it off. Seemed that having a big brother who cared was still totally uncool. Instead, he put his hand on her back and gently steered her inside. People milled around all over the place downstairs, talking into phones and writing notes, and he didn't want to have this conversation with an audience.

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