It was a cold frosty evening as Stephanie and James walked hand in hand around the side of The Café and knocked on the door.
Andy pulled the door open with a flourish.
“Hey—you made it back,” he said, hugging Stephanie and high-fiving James.
Stephanie looked around the room. Anna and Michael were seated on one of the sofas opposite Jack, who was sprawled lengthwise taking up a whole sofa. Dave and Liam sat at a nearby table, a beer open in front of each of them. Liam had the rock star look nailed—dark red skinny jeans, tight black sweater and several multi-coloured scarves wrapped around his neck. One side of his dyed blond hair had been shaved with his hair getting progressively longer across his head until it hung down to his shoulder on the other side. The ends had been dyed dark blue. Dave’s short dreadlocks and multiple piercings looked almost normal in comparison. The Café’s Christmas decorations were still hanging, although the Christmas tree was on its last legs.
Everyone jumped up talking at once, exchanging hugs and handshakes. Stephanie made a bee line for Matt who was sitting quietly beside Dave. He stood as she approached.
“God, Matt—how are you feeling?” she said, embracing his large frame and reaching up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. He was still a little pale from his ordeal and his face and hands were covered in little scratches.
“I’m okay, cuz. Takes a lot more than a mid-winter dip to stop me.” He returned her hug, squeezing her long and hard. He looked past Stephanie to James who had come up behind them.
“Dude, that was a brave thing you did,” James said, holding out his hand.
Matt accepted the handshake, keeping one arm around Stephanie and nodded. “That or stupid. I should have stopped once we had Toby, but I was just so angry. Hey, I’ve seen you looking better,” he said looking at the bruising and cuts on James’s face. James shrugged.
“Come on, sit down and fill us in on what’s happened. Michael said that you were in Barcelona and then next thing we hear you were in France,” Anna said, pulling her long hair into a messy bun on top of her head as she settled back down on the sofa, pulling Andy down beside her. He reached for her hand and linked his fingers through hers and gave her a sweet smile.
It took half an hour with lots of interruptions and questions for Stephanie and James to relay everything that had happened over the previous few days.
“I can’t believe that you actually found Hoffman’s cache or that it was in fact real,” Michael said.
“Yeah, but we lost it again. I don’t think any of those paintings will be seen in public any time soon,” Stephanie replied.
“I can’t believe Alex,” Andy said quietly, studying James’s reaction. “What is he mixed up in, dude?
“I don’t really know,” James replied.
“Yeah, it was really strange—Alex definitely wasn’t calling the shots—it was all Dr Pierce,” Stephanie said.
“I can’t believe she ordered your murders,” Anna said. “That is just sick, asking Alex to kill his brother. She must be one cold-hearted bitch.”
“I know. I guess we have to be grateful that Alex still has a shred of decency left or we wouldn’t be here.”
Everyone was quiet for a moment digesting that fact.
“Well, on a brighter note, we have news,” Liam said, draining his beer and grabbing another one from the box open on the counter.
“Yeah?” James asked.
“America—here we come,” Liam said grinning.
“America?” James said.
“Oh yeah. Cam has outdone himself this time. Not only do we have a six week tour with a couple of other British bands, but he has lined up radio and TV show appearances.”
“No way. When?”
“In the summer. June, July.
The band members all started talking at once. Jack leapt off his sofa and joined the others. Stephanie hopped off James’s knee and wandered over to squeeze in between Anna and Michael. Matt joined them a moment later, taking over Jack’s abandoned position.
“Did Toby and your Mum get away okay?” he asked.
“Yeah—he seems to be okay after everything,” Stephanie replied.
“Steph, I’m am so sorry,” Michael said. He hung his head, causing his glasses to slip down his nose. “I was so stupid.”
“No, you were just manipulated by a master,” Stephanie replied. “Has anyone seen Victoria?”
“No,” Matt replied. “But there a number of people who’d like a few moments with her. So no leads on where Alex or Dr Pierce are now?”
Stephanie shook her head. “It’s as though they’ve vanished into thin air. Marks has people on the case. It’s such a pity we didn’t have time to photograph the paintings we found—it’s really only our word and I sense some scepticism in the police force. Not from Marks, he’s great, but it seems that some of his colleagues think we made it all up.”
“Well, I hope they find them soon—I don’t like the thought that someone who wanted you dead is still out there,” Matt said.
“Well I no longer have anything that she wants, so I think we’re okay,” Stephanie replied.
Anna smiled at Stephanie. “I don’t know what it is about you, but there never seem to be a dull moment.”
“Actually, I’m kinda ready for some peace and quiet,” Stephanie said, laughing as she jumped up and slipped her arms around James.
He raised his eyebrows. “Peace and quiet? Nah. Over-rated if you ask me. I can’t wait to see what’s gonna happen next.”