‘It’s just really bad timing.’
‘And anyway, Elle Cooper,’ Pippa said, leaning forward and picking up the business card from the bedside table, ‘I think we need to have a chat about this card and the sudden appearance of Mr Noah Jones last night.’
‘At first, I thought I was hallucinating; I even did a double take! He was definitely there, wasn’t he? I didn’t just imagine it?’
Pippa passed Elle the business card. ‘He was definitely there. You’re really no detective, are you?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Look at his business card! Noah and Dan have one thing in common,’ Pippa shared.
‘Hopefully not a red thong.’
Pippa rolled her eyes. ‘Their surname!’
Elle looked at the card. ‘Brothers? Maybe?’ she said, amazed. ‘That would explain why he was there last night.’
‘Let’s have a look at his posts from last night,’ Pippa suggested, unplugging Elle’s phone from the charger.
‘I really do need to set up a passcode.’ Elle nudged Pippa’s arm.
Pippa searched through Noah’s socials. ‘Here you go. Instagram. There’s a photo of him and Dan captioned:The boys are back in town.’
Pippa studied the screen. ‘That’s the club we were at last night. Look – that’s the same bar.’
‘He mouthed my name just as the ambulance doors shut. What happened after it pulled away?’ Elle asked.
‘A group of girls surrounded him and Dan. They were all chanting Dan’s name as Jenny and I jumped into a taxi and followed the ambulance to the hospital. I think you should message him. You’ve got nothing to lose.’
‘And say what?’
‘Actually, I think you need to check your notifications first. You have an unread message.’ Pippa passed the phone to Elle.
Elle clicked on the arrow in the corner. ‘It’s from Noah.’
Elle stared at the screen. It read:
Are you okay? What was with the ambulance? Noah x
‘Answer him.’
Elle thought for a moment and then typed:
Yes, all OK. The ambulance was for a friend.
‘You can’t leave it there,’ Pippa insisted, reading the message. ‘You need to ask him a question to keep the conversation going.’
‘I’ll just add … I was surprised to see you there?’
‘Good plan – we might discover if our suspicions are true and he is, in fact, related to Dan.’
Elle’s phone pinged.
‘That’s quick by anyone’s standards. Well?’ Pippa asked impatiently. ‘Is it from him?’
‘Yes.’ Elle read his message. ‘He says that he hopes my friend is okay, and yes, he’s in town visiting his parents. He was at the club last night to see his brother and apparently he noticed me from backstage during the performance.’
‘This is sounding very good,’ Pippa interrupted.
