Chapters (62)
Sasha felt anxious at getting away, when she sensed they were tantalizingly close to a breakthrough in the investigation, but it was also true that she was excited by the prospect of a night in a luxurious spa hotel. A meal in the highly rated restaurant, drinks at the bar, a rare chance to light a flame under the cold embers of her marriage…
‘Okay then.’ She handed Lolly the notebook. ‘But someone needs to warn Jeremy Weston, and Bethany, that his mother may be watching them. Tell them to stay alert, and Abs too.’
‘Will do, Sash,’ said Lolly.
36
Sasha sang along to A-Ha on Magic as she sped along twisting green lanes towards the hotel up near Saffron Walden. The day was mercifully cooling, the sun hanging just above the treetops, red and bloated and spent.
Her Spider Veloce churned noisily when she shifted gear, the chassis straining on sharp bends. Sasha sensed the days of her little car were numbered, and she would surely miss it when it was finally laid to rest in the great scrapyard in the sky. She would probably end up replacing it with something more sensible and appropriate, a vehicle with four doors, a roof that didn’t leak, and air conditioning, and she was determined to make the most of the breeze lifting her hair, the sun on her face. As soon as she got to the hotel, she’d check in, maybe fix herself a drink from the minibar and try to relax in the bath while she waited for Kev to arrive.
Pulling up at a junction, she glanced at the time on her phone and saw it was gone seven. She thumbed a number, placing the call on speaker, and let the phone ring on the passenger seat. Sasha loved her Spider, she really did, but she wished she was able make a hands-free call. Also on the wish list for a new car: a dashboard full of widgets.
‘It’s me,’ she told Ajay.
‘We’re all here, Mrs Dawson,’ he told her drily.
‘I’m not checking up on you, honest,’ she said. ‘But I wanted to make sure that you—’
‘Rachel Weston’s probation officer won’t be back from holiday until Monday,’ he told her. ‘So we won’t be able to get a forwarding address for her until then, at the earliest. We’re doing benefit, phone and vehicle checks but coming up with diddly squat. We haven’t found any trace of her so far.’