After Milly got back from her meeting with Nipper, she was plunged straight into talks with the events organizer over the food, the entertainment, everything. The place looked fabulous, there were TWENTY YEARS MARRIED banners strung up at the front of the house, CHARLIE AND NULA strung out across the back.
Hurrying upstairs, her stomach knotted with tension, she heard the roar of the helicopter’s approach and then a stutter in the engine note – or had she imagined it? She went into the master bedroom and then over to the window. She could see the Jet Ranger, coming closer. As it passed over the orchard, it swooped to one side and started to spin. Feeling her guts clench, her eyes followed the craft as the spinning accelerated. Now it was whirling in dizzying circles, faster and faster, the nose dipping down, the whole thing shaking. The Jet Ranger was away from the orchard now, over the ornamental lake. Spinning like a top, out of control, and then . . .
Oh Christ!
Milly shrieked. There was a bang so loud that it shook the window frames and sent her staggering back a pace. Then the helicopter erupted into a ball of orange flame. It seemed to hang in the sky for a moment – and then Charlie Stone’s pride and joy fell into the lake and hit the water, hard.