Page 229 of The Black Trilogy

“Why are you here? Anything important?”

“Nah, just thought I’d stop in to say hello.”

“In that case, put the kettle on, would ya?”

We caught up over a cuppa, reminiscing about the old days and the people we knew back then. When Vinnie got called away to deal with a wiring problem on a Porsche, I went to check on one of the kids I mentored through the Blackwood Foundation, leaving the BMW X5 I was driving in Vinnie’s care. It wasn’t a good idea to park it on the street around there, although I suppose there was a certain irony in leaving it at a chop shop for safekeeping.

The lad’s new job at Harry’s Fish Bar meant he had a steady income and as much free food as he could eat, and he served me up a portion of chips with plenty of vinegar, just the way I liked it. Better than Toby’s baked sweet potatoes, that was for sure. I ate them out of the paper on my way back to Vinnie’s.

“Don’t be a stranger,” Vinnie said as I picked up my car.

“I won’t.”

“Come over for dinner next time. You can meet my daughter. She’s a real daddy’s girl.”

“What, she dismantles the Lego cars instead of playing with Barbie?”

“Something like that.”

This evening had been my kind of night out on the town, and I was smiling as I started the BMW. Vinnie had even topped up the oil.

Thank goodness for old friends.

CHAPTER 30

I WAS TWO miles from home when my phone rang. Okay, which git had set my ringtone to the “Macarena”? I stopped caring as Tia’s name flashed up on the car’s display screen right next to the time. One o’clock in the morning? What was so important it couldn’t wait until tomorrow?

I hit the button on the steering wheel to answer, and the car filled with the sound of sobbing.

“Tia?” I clenched my fingers around the hard leather.

“Ash? Is that you?”

“Yes, what’s wrong?”

“I’m lost.” Seconds passed as she gulped in air. “I’m in some woods, and I don’t know where I am.”

“Why are you crying? And what are you doing in the woods at one a.m.?”

“I was with this guy, and he wouldn’t get off me, so I pushed him and he hit me. Then I jumped out of his car and ran.”

Looked like I wasn’t going home after all. “How’s your phone battery?”

“Uh, eighty percent.”

“That’s good. Leave your phone on, and I’ll track you.”

Thank goodness for technology. Tia was in no state to work out her location.

I hung up and made a quick call. If anyone could help with the problem, it was Mack—her first language was techno-speak. Nate had tempted Mackenzie Fox away from the CIA not long after I split from Nick, and as well as speaking fluent computer, she had a handy sideline in wreaking havoc and mayhem. When we first met, she’d lived a little further east in Colonial Beach, but she’d recently bought an apartment in Richmond to cut down on commuting time. Despite that, she spent most evenings hanging out at Riverley with Dan, Carmen, and me. Our new best friend, not least because she could hack into the police database and erase our speeding tickets.

That night, she put me on hold for five minutes as she worked her magic. “Tia’s by the side of the road about a half hour from Lower Foxford. Forty-five minutes from you.”

“Forty-five minutes of my driving or yours?”

“Your driving. An hour for any sane person.”

“Thanks, honey.”

---