I turned to Frederica, as it seemed Araminta’s rant wasn’t going to end anytime soon. “Very sorry to leave early.”
“Let’s plan a spa day! We’re all members at River Court. It’s essential. I have so much upper back tension that needs working out.”
Fluffy robes and face masks with Frederica. God no. I needed to scare her off. “I only make plans involving alcohol.”
Frederica didn’t flinch. “Perfect. I was going to say we should do dinner one night. With our husbands. We can really get to know each other.”
“Fun!” That was all I could think to say.
I got into the car and clicked on Fox’s pin. He was twenty minutes away, out by the recycling plant. What the hell was he doing there? There was no point calling him again. Whatever was going down was something that he didn’t want evidence of over the phone. That meant anything to do with our little sideline.
I had to keep stopping myself from slamming my foot down on the accelerator. The roads got quieter and quieter until I turned in to what looked like a dead end. I was meters away from Fox’s pin. I reduced my speed to a crawl. Just up ahead, I saw the back of his car in front of a large oak tree. He was standing alongside it. I parked up behind him and got out.
He held out his hands. “I know you’re going to find this hard to believe. But it was an accident.”
I looked around. It was so dark, I could barely make out anything except a few trees.
“You hit a deer? What? Just tell me!”
Fox sighed and popped open the boot. Inside was a body. A male body. He was half-wrapped-up in the black tarpaulin we usually kept folded up along with the spare tire.
I got closer and pulled back the tarpaulin. The crinkle as it unwrapped. A bad present.
I looked down at the dead man.
Danny.
Somehow, in the middle of nowhere, Fox had killed my ex.
“What the fuck did you do?”
“Can we start by acknowledging how great it is that even though I killed someone, and knew it would look bad, I didn’t try and cover it up? I rang you straightaway and told you to come here. Open and honest communication about wrongdoings is—”
“Do not therapy-speak me!”
Fox went silent. He was choosing now to remind me of my previous indiscretion? It’d been nearly two years! You think someone is over a betrayal, only for them to fling it back at you first chance they get.
I tried to think about this calmly. My ex was dead, in my husband’s boot.
“How exactly did this happen?”
“Jenny rang me. She had a lead on The Chameleon. She told me to come here and check it out.”
“And what? Danny just ran in front of your car? It was suicide?”
“I was driving, and I spotted a man behind that tree. He was wearing a cap. But he was holding a gun. I ducked, accelerated, and hit him.”
I looked more closely at Danny’s body.
“You mean hit him and then ran over him?”
“I didn’t stop, as I didn’t know I’d hit him. I was ducked down, remember. Not wanting to get shot. I just slammed my foot down, heard the clunk, and realized…”
“This is ridiculous.” I put my hands to my head. “What the fuck? Danny is dead. Actually dead.”
“Why are you so upset?” Fox chewed on his bottom lip. “I thought you said you didn’t care about him.”
You have to be kidding me.He was still jealous. My wounded Fox was so off-kilter we were arguing over my squashed ex, and he was worrying I still had feelings for the guy?
