“Brendan. It has been a while.” She’d worked with so many people over the course of her career, some good and some bad. Fortunately Brendan landed firmly in the Good column.

“I didn’t know you were staying here. The owner of Forest Nest is the soul of discretion.”

Joel raised his eyebrows. “You two know each other?”

“I played the part of the detective from one of his books,” Nicole said, “which you’d know if you ever went to the movies.”

“Now, why would I want to waste my life doing something like that?” Joel helped himself to one of his sandwiches. “Sorry, but I need to eat. All this drama is making me light-headed.”

“Please,” Milly begged, “will you put us out of our misery and tell us what happened? I feel physically sick.”

“In that case, is it okay if I eat your share of the sandwiches?” Brendan accepted the plate Joel was offering and loaded it with sandwiches. “Put the TV on, and all your questions will be answered. I know you’re not a big screen lover, but you do have a TV, don’t you, Joel?”

“Sarcasm is an unattractive feature.” Joel moved a couple of books on the coffee table and retrieved the remote control. He pointed it at the TV in the corner of the room.

“You don’t find me attractive? I’m gutted. That’s the last beer we share together.” Brendan bit into a sandwich. “What’s in this? What am I eating?”

“I don’t know. Various bits from my fridge.” Joel was channel-flicking. “What am I looking for?”

“The news.”

Nicole’s stomach lurched, and she exchanged looks with Milly. “It has made the news? I thought you were just going to get rid of them in a low-key way.”

“I was, but then I decided I might as well get some prime-time promotion for myself while I was at it. I have a new book coming out next month. Also, if you go big, then it stops the story escalating because it has nowhere else to go. They recorded a very nice piece to camera—now we just need to see how much they edited.” He finished the sandwiches on his plate. “I don’t suppose you have any of Milly’s chocolate cake? I would kill for her chocolate cake.”

“Shh. Here we go, this is it.” Joel turned up the volume, and all four of them stared at the screen as the presenter talked through all the serious news of the day.