Page 132 of The Black Trilogy

“No.”

He’d never been in this situation before. What was he supposed to say? He barely knew Ash anymore, and right now, he wasn’t sure whether to love her for saving Tia or hate her for lying to him. Okay, think logically. They should talk. He should ask her to come home so they could discuss this. That would do for starters.

“Will you—”

A cop interrupted. “Good to see you!” He clapped Ash on the back like she was one of the guys. “Can I borrow you for a few minutes?”

“Sure.”

She practically ran off, leaving Luke with his mouth hanging open, the rest of the sentence stuck in his throat. Great. That went well. Still, it gave Luke breathing space to work out exactly what he needed to say.

On the far side of the clearing, Simon Howard got unceremoniously loaded into the back of a police van, and before Luke could stop her, Ash climbed into the SUV with Dan and took off after them. He was left with little choice but to ride with Nick.

“Do you really think that man’s my half-brother?” Luke asked.

The revelation made him feel sick, not just because his father had kept him in the dark all these years, but because Howard was evil personified. How could they be related?

“Yes, we do.”

“How did you find him?”

“I don’t have all the details. We’ll have to get Dan to fill us both in when we get back to the house.”

The background chatter on the radio provided a soundtrack to Luke’s thoughts. He got so engrossed in trying to unravel the mess in his mind, he barely noticed Dan’s car parked in a lay-by a few miles down the road.

“Why have they stopped?” Nick muttered, pulling in behind.

They both got out and walked to the driver’s side, where Dan sat with both hands on the steering wheel, staring pointedly out of the windscreen. In the passenger seat, Ash had her hands in her lap and her eyes fixed forwards.

“Are you two okay?” Nick asked.

No answer. Then Dan glanced over at Ash, catching her eye, and the first hint of giggles escaped from her lips. That did it. Ash and Dan both collapsed in hysterics, with Dan laughing until tears fell from her eyes.

“Oh, for goodness’ sake. What?” Nick asked.

Dan waved her hand in front of her face, signalling she couldn’t speak.

“Maybe it’s some kind of delayed shock?” Luke suggested.

“No,” Ash spat. “It’s just he was the worst kidnapper ever.” Another burst of laughter. “He was waving the gun around, and he had the safety on. The safety! It was my lucky day when he agreed to take me instead of that poor policewoman.”

“Saved us a bunch of trouble tomorrow,” Dan said.

“Yeah, and I got to spend a little alone time with him.”

“But you were handcuffed,” Luke said. “And tied up.”

Ash rolled her eyes. “I had a handcuff key, and when I tied my feet together, I used a quick-release knot. The idiot didn’t even check it.”

“What about when he opened the door? He had a gun.”

“I wasn’t even in the van at that point. When he stopped, I climbed out the back door and onto the roof. My only regret was missing his face when he realised I wasn’t there.”

“I’d like to have seen that, too,” Nick said.

“When I dropped down behind him, he tried to swing the gun around, but I twisted it out of his hand. And it still had the mother trucking safety on.”

There was another pause as Ash and Dan dissolved into laughter again, with Nick joining in this time. But Luke still didn’t see the funny side. What did Ash know about guns? He didn’t even know where the safety was, so how did she?

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