I smiled. Mindy was proving to be a good assistant. I hadn’t expected that. I shook my head at her offer. ‘Thank you, Mindy, but they are all things I can manage on my own. You won’t get any time to yourself next weekend on Raven Island. That wedding is going to be full on. So make sure you relax over the next couple of days.’
Mindy gave up arguing. ‘Okay, Auntie.’ We walked in silence for a few yards before a thought occurred to her. ‘What about Amber?’
The Truth
At home, even though I desperately wanted to get a shower, change my clothes, get something tasty to eat and maybe drown myself in wine, I was even more desperate to find Amber.
It was dark out and past her evening mealtime. She wouldn’t let me forget that and I hadn’t bought her a mackerel yet. That was going to result in a hairball finding its way into one of my shoes I felt certain.
When Mindy dropped me at my door, I paused to give her a hug, then ran into the house to fetch the keys to my Mercedes. I also fed Buster; it was that or listen to him howl and whine all the way to Aylesford and back. I only hoped Amber would come when I called her. Otherwise, I might be there for hours trying to find her.
With the dog fed and car keys in hand we set off again.
‘Do we really have to get her?’ Buster wanted to know. His opinion on the matter was in no doubt.
‘Yes, Buster. Amber lives with us. I am not going to abandon her in a carpark in Aylesford. Imagine if I did that to you.’
Buster squinted into the night. ‘I would be right at home. My natural environment is a broken wasteland. That’s where dystopian heroes are bred.’
‘Have you been watching Mad Max again?’
‘Little bit,’ he admitted.
‘Well, I think you would miss your nice warm bed and the supply of gravy bones under the sink,’ I pointed out.
‘Ooooh, gravy bones. Yeah, yeah, yeah.’
I rolled my eyes and pressed the car to get there a little faster. I wanted to have Amber safely back in my arms.
Going slow as I came into the carpark, I scanned around with the headlights, hoping I might spot her straight away. Of course, there was no sign.
I gritted my teeth and told myself she would come when I called her. Leaving Buster in the car in the hope this would be a quick thing, I got out and began calling her name.
‘Amber. Amber come to Felicity. Let’s go home now. It’s dinner time.’
No gorgeous ragdoll cat appeared.
Accepting the need to widen my search radius, I went back to the car to get Buster.
‘I want you to help me find her, Buster,’ I made my request sound like there might be an ‘or else’ in the subtext. ‘Use that powerful nose of yours and find my cat, please.’
‘Do I have to,’ he whined.
‘If you find her, I will buy you steak to have when she is eating her mackerel.’
‘Steak? Okay that’s enough motivation.’ He bounded down out of the car, his nose already working. The evening air was cool but not cold. It was many degrees warmer than the previous Friday night at Loxton Hall. Even so, I didn’t want to stay out in it for long and I really didn’t want to think about Amber having to spend the night outside.
‘I have her scent,’ Buster told me as he snuffled his way across the carpark. Nose down, stubby tail wagging, he led me to the gate at the back of the Orion Print premises. A sense of DeJa’Vu spread over me. This is exactly where it all started to go wrong just less than twenty-four hours ago.
Ignoring the warning voice at the back of my head, I opened the gate and let Buster through.
‘Mrs Philips?’
I almost wet myself at the sound of my name being called and pulled the gate shut again as I spun around.
Tamara was looking at me with a curious expression. Framed in the light coming from a lamppost, she was dressed for going out and had her handbag hooked over one arm. In the other arm, she had a small pile of folders.
‘What are you doing here?’ I asked, shocked to find her back at work.
Frowning slightly as if it were not my place to ask, or perhaps because the question might be better posed to myself, she said, ‘I’m behind. I wanted to get some files to work on over the weekend. And Tarquin was working late. I’ve come to collect him. With dad on the mend, I feel like celebrating. Why are you here?’ There was no mistaking the suspicion in her voice.
Footsteps coming around the side of the row of buildings heralded Tamara’s fiancé, Tarquin, appearing.
To avoid answering her question, I seized the opportunity to introduce myself.
‘You must be Tarquin,’ I beamed, giving him my professional smile. I knew who he was from the pictures I’d seen of him with Tamara. They were a handsome couple and no mistake. ‘Hello, I’m Felicity Philips. I’m helping to plan your wedding.’ I had my hand out for him to shake.
He took it, gripping my hand firmly but not attempting to crush it. ‘Ah, the wedding planner. So lovely to finally meet you.’
I froze to the spot.
He had hold of my hand and he was still smiling. I was looking at his face, a face I recognised from photographs, but I also knew his silhouette. I’d seen it going by the window of Orion Print last night, but I might never have worked it out if he hadn’t spoken.
‘It was you,’ I stammered.
His smile turned curious.
The truth of it slammed
