‘Oh, my mistake. I saw you out with some guy and assumed. But if you’re not, maybe we should go out for a drink sometime?’
‘Yes. We should do that,’ said Regan. Her brain was churning so fast it was going to turn to butter. She waved him off as he drove away and got straight on her mobile.
‘Cleo, I need a huge favour. I’ve got a hunch I know who killed Kevin.’
Regan came flying into the house with Elvis at her heels and almost skidded to a halt in the hallway. Charlie was standing there cradling the crate, his face a picture of sadness.
‘What’s happened?’ she asked, her heart doing a flutter.
Charlie looked up. ‘Mrs Tiggy-Winkle called. There’s room for them to go back to the rescue centre.’
Regan’s bottom lip wobbled. How could you get so attached to two squealing little bundles so quickly? ‘Is this goodbye?’
‘Until we go over next week for volunteering. We’ll see them then.’
They both stood and stared at the sleeping duo nestledprotectively in Charlie’s bicep. Virginia stirred in her sleep and scratched her nose with her painted toes. It was like she was waving goodbye. Regan cleared her throat to hide the fact that she was choked with emotion.
‘Do I need to drive them back tonight?’ she asked.
‘Yeah, but we don’t have to go until after we’ve had dinner. I cooked meatballs so we just need to boil some pasta.’
‘You’re the best boyf …’ Regan stopped herself and lifted her chin. ‘You’re the best.’
‘Like you said. We make a great team.’ His voice was wistful. He was right, they were brilliant together. It felt like they could do anything, achieve anything, as long as the other one was there. She’d waited her whole life for the right one, and now she’d found him, he had months left to live. There was so much Regan wanted to say, but she was struggling to keep a lid on her bubbling emotions. She blamed the hedgehogs for making her turn soppy and sentimental.
‘Right. Pasta.’ She needed to keep her mind busy.
Charlie returned the hoglets to the living room before joining her in the kitchen and laying the table. ‘How was your day?’
‘Interesting … I might have a lead on who killed Kevin, but it’s wafer-thin and based mainly on my dad’s memory.’
‘Anything I can do?’
‘Don’t suppose you know any tame coppers who would check out a car on the sly, do you?’
‘No, but I know one who owes me a favour. I could probably ask him to do a routine check or something like that.’
‘You get better and better,’ she said, unable to resist giving him a hug. She wrapped her arms around him and he didn’t resist. He held her and she didn’t want to pullaway. It felt right when they were together. It felt right all the time. Unfortunately, Elvis agreed and tried to join the hug, effectively shoving them both into the table and sending the cutlery clattering to the floor. From the other room they heard the squealing begin; the clatter had woken the hoglets.
‘You know, maybe I won’t miss them quite as much as I thought I would,’ said Regan. Charlie went to check on the hedgehogs for the last time.
A few days later Cleo was pacing around the studio when Regan arrived. ‘This is a wild goose chase. What are the odds of it being the same car?’
‘Minuscule, I know, but I have to check. Charlie’s policeman mate is going to look the car over while I have a drink with Alex. We’re not doing any harm.’
‘And when it’s not the car that killed Kevin, Alex is going to want to know why he’s not got a new matching alloy.’
‘I’ve thought of that. Brian’s going to say the bolts are seized up.’
Cleo shook her head. ‘It’s bonkers.’
‘But I have to know. Dad said the wheels on the speeding car were different. If we can match anything about Alex’s car to the CCTV footage the police will pull him in for questioning. It’s not much, but I owe it to Kevin.’
Cleo was still shaking her head when a text came through on Regan’s phone from Brian to say the policeman had arrived.
‘Where’s Charlie?’ asked Cleo.
‘Hmm?’ Regan was concentrating on replying to Brian. She was finding all the subterfuge quite exciting.
