All They Need(33)

He gave her a thumbs-up. She retreated again and watched as he followed her advice. After a few seconds he glanced at her for feedback and she gave him an okay signal.

He let the brush-cutter slow to an idle and pushed the safety mask high on his head.

“Thanks for this. You’re a lifesaver.”

“Hang on to it as long as you need it. And it’s four-stroke, so if it runs out of fuel it takes plain unleaded.”

“Noted, thanks.” He hesitated a moment, then took a step toward her. “Listen, Mel—”

The sharp ring of a cell phone filled the clearing. Flynn looked rueful. “You ever wonder what we did before these things?” he asked as he slid a sleek handset from his back pocket.

“We waited till Monday.”

He smiled faintly. “Yeah, we did, didn’t we?”

He glanced briefly at the display and the smile faded from his mouth, his gaze sharpening as he took the call.

“Mom,” he said into the phone.

Mel turned away, not wanting him to think she was eavesdropping.

“How long has he been gone?”

His tone was unexpectedly curt and she glanced back at him. His expression was stony, his body tense as he directed all his energy to the phone call.

“Have you called the police?”

She frowned. It sounded as though there had been a break-in. Or maybe someone was lost.

“Don’t worry about that. Call them. I’ll be there as soon as I can. And Mom, don’t worry. We’ll find him, I promise.” He ended the call.

“I have to go. Sorry.” He started shrugging out of the harness. His face was pale, his lips pressed into a thin, straight line. Clearly, whatever was going on was an emergency.



She stepped forward, hand extended. “Here, give it to me. I’ll pack all this up and leave it in the garage so you can tackle the job another time.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it, Mel.” He handed the brush-cutter over, but hesitated before heading off.

“Go. Seriously,” she said, shooing him off with her free hand.

“I owe you.”

She shooed him off again and he smiled briefly before turning on his heel and heading for the house, his stride long and urgent. Within seconds he’d disappeared around the bend in the path.

She collected his gloves and hedge clippers, stowed the safety gear back in the bag and hoisted the brush-cutter over her shoulder. She walked toward the house, wondering all the way what could possibly have happened to make him so tense and worried so quickly.

Whatever it was, it was obviously a private matter. Otherwise he would have said something.

She was approaching the house when she heard a high-pitched mechanical whine. Both her father and brother were mechanics and she’d absorbed more than her fair share of know-how from them over the years. The whine sounded exactly like an old-style starter motor failing to catch. Again and again the motor protested, but the engine didn’t fire. She dumped the equipment by the front steps and hurried around the side of the house.

Flynn was propping up the hood of the Aston as she approached, his movements tight with frustration and urgency as he leaned over the engine. “Flynn.”

His head came up and she tossed him her car keys. He caught them automatically, his hand closing around them in a tight fist.

“It’s not what you’re used to, but it’s got a full tank. Get it back to me when you can.”

The relief in his face said more than any words ever could. “How will you get home?”

“It’s five minutes away, and I have these things called legs. Go,” she said, shooing him off for the second time that day.

He surprised her by taking a sudden step toward her and dropping a quick kiss onto her cheek. “Thank you.”

He was gone before she could respond. She could still feel the warmth of his mouth against her skin as she shut the hood. She checked the ignition and wasn’t surprised to see his keys were still dangling there.

She locked the car, then took the brush-cutter around to the garage and propped it in the nearest corner, along with the safety gear. Then she walked home, his keys heavy in her pocket.





CHAPTER SIX



FLYNN PUSHED THE SPEED LIMIT all the way to the city. Every few minutes he checked his phone to make sure it was still working. It was, which meant that the reason it hadn’t rung was because his father was still missing.