Page 39

Ash

Ash had never been to a church wedding before. Or at least, not since he’d been a page boy at his Auntie Shilpa’s wedding, aged three, when apparently he’d been so nervous about walking up the aisle that he’d wet himself. He was feeling pretty nervous today, too, although for entirely different reasons.

One, any minute now he was hopefully going to catch a violent criminal confessing her crime. And two, and even more terrifying, Dan Gates was sitting in the aisle next to him, looking so handsome in his suit and tie that Ash worried he might wet himself again.

“She should be here soon,” Dan whispered, leaning in to Ash so that their shoulders touched. “You ready?”

“I think so,” Ash whispered back, clutching his phone between his hands.

He was still amazed Dan had offered to come. After Ash had met up with the book club members last night, he’d messaged Dan to let him know what they’d discovered about Lauren. To his surprise, Dan had texted back immediately, and they’d ended up spending an hour messaging each other. And then at the end, when they were saying good-bye, Dan had asked if he could come today as well. Ash knew he was only here because he wanted to help catch Lauren, but still, he couldn’t believe he was getting to hang out with Dan for the second day in a row.

“I can’t get over the fact Lauren was trying to stitch up her own friend like that,” Dan muttered, shaking his head. “That’s Lando Calrissian levels of treachery.”

Ash laughed at the Star Wars reference. “Hopefully we can put an end to that today. Thanks for coming to help, by the way. I know spending your Saturday in church isn’t the most fun.”

“Are you kidding me? Road trips, terrifying cliff climbs and now entrapping a criminal at a wedding…this is awesome! It’s better than any first date I could have planned.”

Ash nearly choked at the word date . He glanced at Dan, assuming he’d misheard him, and saw that Dan was smiling at him.

“Although next time, maybe we can try for something a little less dangerous; say, pizza and a movie?”

Ash felt his cheeks burn and all he could manage was a mumbled, “Great.”

Dan laughed and then stopped as he caught sight of something over Ash’s shoulder. “She’s here!”

A second later, Ash heard the sound of heels clicking down the aisle and saw a blur of pink as Lauren slid into the pew in front of him. Hardly daring to breathe, Ash pressed record on his phone, and he saw Dan do the same thing.

“Sandy, hi!” Lauren’s voice was low, and Ash surreptitiously moved his phone closer to her.

“Hi, Lauren.” Sandy was sitting in front of Dan, and she didn’t turn to look at Lauren as she sat down.

“It’s so great to see you here and looking so much better. How are you feeling?”

“I’m still getting headaches, but the doctor said that’s normal after a concussion.”

“You poor thing. I heard that you’ve remembered more about the night of your attack?” Lauren’s voice was light, but Ash could hear the slight tremble in it.

“Oh, you heard that, did you?” Sandy was still looking forward, avoiding eye contact with Lauren, who slid closer to her on the pew.

“Phyllis said you remembered seeing who hit you. It was Nova, I assume?”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, your neighbor said she saw Nova’s red coat outside your house. And the police think it was her as well, given she has a motive and…”

Sandy had finally turned to look at Lauren, and her stare was so beady that Lauren ground to a halt mid-sentence.

“It wasn’t Nova, as well you know.”

“What do you mean?” Lauren was whispering now, and Ash leaned forward to hear her.

“Don’t play dumb with me,” Sandy hissed. “You know exactly what I mean.”

For a moment, Lauren didn’t speak. She was facing the front so Ash couldn’t see her face, but he could see the tension in her whole back as she tried to work out what the hell to do. Then her shoulders sunk.

“Sandy, I can explain…”

“Don’t waste your breath. You can explain it all to the police; they should be on their way to the church as we speak.”

“I’m so sorry, I never meant to hurt you. I didn’t even think you’d be at home; I know you usually babysit your grandkids on a Wednesday night. But then you came downstairs and caught me at the door and I panicked. I’m so sorry, it was just a horrible accident.”

Ash’s heart was racing. He kept his eyes glued to his phone to make sure it was still recording, while Dan’s leg knocked against his in excitement.

“Why were you even at my house in the first place?” Sandy said. “And why were you wearing a red coat identical to Nova’s?”

Lauren let out a long sigh. “It’s complicated to explain, but I was just going to break in your front door and then leave; I honestly never intended to hurt you. Please don’t tell the police it was—”

She was interrupted by the blare of the church organ. Immediately, everyone began to stand up.

“Please, Sandy.” Lauren’s voice had risen to be heard above the music. “We’ve known each other for years. Meet me somewhere private after the ceremony and I’ll explain it all to you, then you’ll understand.”

Sandy didn’t answer, and Ash saw Lauren glance back toward the door.

“There’s no point in trying to do a runner,” Sandy said. “There’s a woman outside with a dangerous dog, and believe me, they won’t let you get away.”

Beside him, Ash heard Dan give a faint snort at Craddock being described as dangerous. Ash swallowed a smile and pressed the stop button on his phone. That was it, then; they had the piece of evidence they needed. For the briefest of seconds, Sandy glanced back at Ash, and when he gave her a quick nod, she nodded back.

Behind him, the church doors creaked open, and Ash turned around to see Nova stepping into the church, a familiar white-haired figure at her side. Ash grinned at the incongruous pair as they began to walk down the aisle: Arthur in his ill-fitting suit and flat cap, and Nova in her awesome retro dress. A second later, his grin grew even wider as he felt warm skin brush against his. Dan took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, and Ash squeezed back, feeling like he might explode with happiness.