Page 71 of Take the Wheel

Instead, she bumped smack into Helen.

‘You,’ she said with cold fury and a raised hand.

Ari, ever a lover, not a fighter, turned her face away instinctively.

But the slap never came.

Fifty-Seven

Nancy finally saw Ari get away from that lunatic Paris. Luckily, security had the bride, just about. She was doing a fantastic impression of a toddler who’d dropped her ice cream.

Nancy took a step towards Ari to meet her, but people were moving around, the crowd freaking out, not sure what was happening. For a moment, Nancy lost sight of her.

But then a gap opened up, and Nancy saw something. Helen, with her elbow drawn back, her arm raised.

And it broke something in Nancy.

She was moving before her brain caught up, before the thought had even formed. One blink and she’d closed the gap, grabbing Helen by the wrist and spinning her, taking her down fast. Helen went down hard and ungracefully, arms scrabbling for purchase, and Nancy followed her, caught her arm, and twisted until Helen stilled under her.

‘You willnevertouch her,’ she said, and it didn’t sound like her voice. It was low and certain and shaking with something deeper than anger. She leaned down, pressing her words into Helen’s ear. ‘Do you hear me?’

Helen made a small, panicked sound. Her face was turned to the side, and Nancy could see the shape of fear in her expression now. Her mouth parted. Her pupils were blown wide.

Ari’s voice rang out behind them: ‘You saw that? Attempted assault, yes? The bride as well.’

Nancy felt the shift in the air more than she heard the officer’s response. The shuffle of boots. The soft metallic hiss of cuffs being drawn from a belt.

‘Come on, slugger,’ said a voice, and Nancy felt herself pulled gently away. She knew who it was before she turned around and saw her.

‘Are you OK?’ Ari asked as Helen was cuffed.

Nancy smiled at her.

And then everyone started getting hauled off.

Fifty-Seven

Ari sat stiffly in the cold, sterile interview room, the bright overhead lights reflecting off the table’s polished surface. She could feel the eyes of the two officers watching her closely, their expressions unreadable but disinterested, as if she were little more than a nuisance to them. She had given her name and her story twice already, and yet here they were, asking her to explain it all over again.

‘I’m just telling you what happened,’ she said, her voice tight, trying not to show how frustrated she was. ‘It was my necklace. It was taken from me. And I was just trying to get it back.’

The younger officer leaned forward, scribbling something down on his notepad. Ari didn’t know if he was actually writing or just pretending to look busy.

‘Right, so you’re saying you were… “stealing back” your necklace, is that it?’ he asked, his tone dismissive. He glanced at his partner, who didn’t even look up from his phone.

‘Yes. It was mine. Paris took it,’ she repeated, trying to stay calm. ‘And when she realised what I’d done, she got her security men to detain me. Illegally, I might add. They were trying to lock me in, but I wasn’t going to let that happen. So, I had to break the door to get out. It was the only way.’

The second officer, the older one with the greying hair, finally raised his eyes. ‘You kicked down a door?’

‘Firstly, it was rotted, so let’s keep that in mind,’ Ari said. ‘But I guess that’s probably criminal damage. I’ll take my lumps on that. Butnotfor the necklace.’

The younger officer raised an eyebrow, but the older one just nodded, scribbling down more notes. ‘Security said—’

Ari clenched her fists under the table. ‘They were the ones who locked me in the room! They were the ones who took my stuff. I wasn’t the one being aggressive. They were. I was trying to get what was mine.’

The younger officer didn’t say anything for a moment, just tapped his pen against the table. ‘And you’re sure this necklace was yours? You have proof of ownership?’

Ari swallowed hard, her throat tight. ‘I’m sure my mother probably has official paperwork…’ She realised something. ‘Look, did you have it?’

---