Saving Willowbrook (37 page)

Ray was frowning at him. It was Sonia who answered. ‘All right. I think we should all help others as much as we can.'

Miles blinked at her. This coming from Ms Iceberg herself?

Then he hurried towards the farm. It was impossible to resist the temptation to become the hero of the piece, right under the eyes of Cameron O'Neal and his ex.

As they drew near Willowbrook, Oliver said gently, ‘Don't give up hope yet.'

Rose looked at him as if he was blurred, then brought him back into focus again. ‘I'm so glad you're with me.' She wiped away more tears but others followed.

At the rear of the house they found a huge limo and more crime scene tape.

‘Something's happened here as well,' Oliver said. ‘Rose, try to pull yourself together. Ella may be in trouble too.'

She nodded, but he wasn't sure she could cope with anything else, so after he'd helped her out of the car, he kept one arm supportively round her as she stumbled towards the house.

Neither of them noticed Miles, because the limo drove away just then, obscuring him from view. He did nothing to attract attention, waited till the others had gone inside and followed.

Inside the house, Miles heard Ella exclaim in shock at the sight of Rose. ‘What's wrong?'

Unashamedly eavesdropping, Miles listened as both cousins explained their troubles to one another. He saw how tenderly Oliver hovered over Rose, and indeed, Miles was shocked himself at how distraught she looked. In fact, he actually felt sorry for the poor bitch. He'd never liked her, but this went way beyond what he'd ever have done to anyone. After all, those paintings sounded as though they were really valuable.

If he'd known exactly what was involved he might have tried to stop those guys, or at least, called the police anonymously. It was a stupid crime. No benefit to the perpetrators. Those guys would do better to stick to joke telling.

He drew a deep breath, relishing the thought of being a hero, then walked in and said loudly, ‘I might be able to help you, Rose.' He was pleased by the way they all fell silent, staring at him as if he'd come from Mars.

It was his mother who spoke. ‘What do you mean, Miles?'

‘I may know where they've dumped the trunk.'

Oliver moved towards him, an expression so ugly on his face that Miles involuntarily took a step backwards.

‘Are you involved in this?'

‘No!' He fended the idiot off with one hand. ‘It's just that I overheard something in the pub last night. It didn't make sense till I heard you explain about the burglary, then it suddenly clicked what the guys had been talking about.'

‘Where might they have dumped my trunk?' Rose asked, going to the heart of the matter.

‘In the lake here.'

She let out a wail of anguish. ‘Then the paintings will be ruined.'

‘I once heard you boast about storing them in a water and fireproof container,' Miles said. ‘You told everyone in the village about your special box.'

‘Waterproof is one thing, being dumped in the lake for hours is another. And anyway, how will we know where to look?'

‘There may be footsteps or signs of where they've been. The ground's always damp near the edge,' Ella pointed out.

Oliver jabbed one finger at Miles. ‘Do not try to leave. In fact, you can come with us to hunt for the box.'

‘But I have an appointment in the village.'

‘It can wait.'

‘I'll keep an eye on Amy,' Stephanie said, watching with interest as two tall men escorted her slender, medium-sized son out of the house. Ella followed with her arm round Rose, who still looked white and shocked.

‘Can we go with them, Grandma?'

‘Better not, darling. We'll only get in the way. And anyway, someone has to stay near the phone. Would you like something to eat now?'

‘Yes, please.'

‘Why didn't you have something at lunchtime?'

‘I don't want anything from
him
. I won't have him for a daddy.'

That was sad, Stephanie thought. Her son was missing so much. It was obvious now that he'd been using Amy to keep an eye on Willowbrook. What was equally obvious was that the child sensed he didn't care for her.

When a policeman knocked on the door, Mr Harding opened it.

‘We'd like to speak to Brett Harding.'

‘Why?'

‘We need to question him in connection with an arson attack.'

Mrs Harding spoke from behind him. ‘Come in. I'll fetch my son.'

‘Linda, I'm not sure that's wise.'

‘I couldn't sleep for worrying. I heard him go out last night. If he's been doing something else wrong, I'm not protecting him, and neither are you.'

Brett was pink and glowing after a very long shower. He sat down smiling and denied having left the house, denied having been involved in arson.

‘We'd like to search his room,' the female officer said.

‘Not unless you have a search warrant,' Brett said quickly.

‘On the contrary, this is
my
house,' his father said, ‘and they can search anywhere they want.'

‘I'll go up with you. My husband will stay with our son.' Linda led the way out.

‘Why did you let them do that?' Brett asked in a whisper.

‘Because as your mother said, we're not protecting you if you've done something else stupid.'

The officers came down, shaking their heads. ‘Nothing there.'

Brett smiled triumphantly at them.

‘Just a minute,' Linda said suddenly and left the room.

She came back a moment later with a laundry basket. ‘These are my son's things. And they smell of paraffin.'

The officers sniffed. ‘These are his clothes?' one asked.

‘Yes. I did our washing yesterday. This is all recently used stuff.'

‘Mind if we take them away?'

‘Not at all.'

‘Brett Harding, I'm arresting you on suspicion of . . .'

It was ridiculously easy to find the box, because the guys who'd dumped it in the lake had made little attempt to hide the signs of their visit. The rushes were trampled, mud still showed gouges where something heavy had been dragged. And indeed, the box wasn't even in very deep water. The top showed clearly, about a foot below the surface.

‘They must be pig stupid,' Cameron said in disgust.

‘They weren't the brightest buttons on the planet, from the way they were talking,' Miles admitted. ‘How are you going to get it out?'

‘
We
are going into the lake and if all three of us try hard, we should be able to heave it out of the water.'

‘Sorry. Can't do that in this suit. It cost me a fortune.'

Oliver smiled, not a friendly smile, looking at Cameron. They nodded at one another and in one swift movement pulled Miles into the water with them.

‘You're either with us or with them,' Cameron said.

After one look at his face, a tight-lipped Miles helped them drag out the box. By the time it was on the bank, they were all three soaked and muddy.

Rose rushed forward. ‘Let me open it. I have to know if anything can be saved.'

Cameron moved between her and the box. ‘Not yet. It's covered in mud. We need to clean the outside before we even try to open it. Let's go and get Ella's trolley to put it on. That metal's heavy.'

Miles trailed back behind them, sickened by the ruin of his good suit and anxious to make his appointment with Deare.

Seizing his moment while Cameron and Oliver were manhandling the trunk and trolley, he slipped into his car, shuddering at what the mud would do to his upholstery, and drove off. He stopped at the end of the drive to change into his tracksuit. Fancy meeting Ray Deare dressed like this.

Cameron looked up. ‘That sod's escaped.'

‘He's had any punishment he was due,' Ella said.

‘What do you mean?'

‘What my ex loves most in life is his fancy clothes and his own appearance. Unless I'm much mistaken, you've just ruined a very expensive suit. And we've also ruined the plans he'd been making to show DevRaCom how good he is at setting up developments.'

‘I should go after him and punch him in the face for stopping my letter getting to Rose three years ago,' Oliver muttered.

‘They can't prosecute you for getting him muddy; they can for assault,' Ella said. ‘Let's concentrate on the box.'

In Chawton, a bedraggled Miles explained about the rescue of Rose's box, with himself figuring in a central role. He went on to describe another plot of land he'd found, one without encumbrances, one about to be released under some new zoning laws. ‘It's not for sale yet, so we should be able to get it quite cheaply.'

‘Good lad,' Ray said. ‘You've done well.'

Sonia regarded him with less favour but said nothing.

‘Serve the Turner woman right,' Ray added. ‘She's lost a great opportunity.'

‘I think she's kept what's most precious to her,' Sonia said, but the two men ignored her comment.

Cameron and Oliver carried the box into the utility room. It took them over an hour to make sure it was clean and dry in every crevice.

They all stood back as Rose keyed the numbers into the lock, her hand trembling. Holding her breath, praying for a miracle, she opened the trunk and everyone swayed towards it to see what state it was in.

Rose burst into tears, sobbing so hard against Oliver's chest that everyone else had tears in their eyes too.

‘They're all right. Check for me. They are, aren't they?' she sobbed. ‘I'm not fooling myself. They're safe.'

Cameron stepped forward to lift the transparent cover off the top painting, showing it to be unmarked. ‘It's gorgeous.'

‘They're safe, darling. The box really was waterproof.' Oliver folded Rose in his arms.

He had to repeat his reassurances twice before she could make sense of what he was saying, then she nodded, still clinging to him and weeping more softly in sheer relief.

‘They'll be quite safe here,' Ella said. ‘I'll lock the outer door of this room. You and Oliver can have one of the chalets tonight. He can go back into the village and fetch some of your clothes.'

‘No need,' he said. ‘We've been away for the night. Our cases are still in the car. And . . . we have some good news for you. Rose has agreed to marry me.'

The mood suddenly lightened. Ella hugged her cousin, then hugged her again for good measure.

The two men shook hands.

‘We're getting married too,' Ella said, and the kissing started again.

After they'd calmed down, they went into the kitchen and told Stephanie and Amy the news.

‘And I want you to be my bridesmaid,' Rose told the excited child. ‘Will you do it?'

‘Even if I walk funny?'

‘Who cares how you walk? I want my favourite relatives at my wedding, and that means your mother as matron of honour and you as bridesmaid.'

‘I'm going to be Mummy's bridesmaid, too,' Amy crowed in delight. ‘And I'll have a new daddy, just like Nessa!'

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