Page 70 of A Merry Little Christmas
I gasped. ‘We all drank some of it with our gin!’
Kenzie was looking horrified. ‘I’m sure I said get it from the fridge, but I mustn’t have...’
‘No, you did.’ Maddy had flushed bright red. ‘I remember thinking you must have left it out so I didn’t even look in the fridge. I did think it looked a bit of a funny colour for lemonade but I just assumed that was because it was home-made.’ She held up her hands, looking dismayed. ‘All my fault. Sorry, guys.’
‘Well, it was my fault, really.’ Kenzie was still looking appalled. ‘I should have disposed of that leftover lemonade long before then.’
I shook my head in disbelief at the whole ridiculous episode. ‘I can’t believe we’ve been blaming Ellie’s chutney. But all along, it was you who made us all ill, Maddy.’
‘Hey, that’s bit harsh!’ she complained.
I chuckled. ‘Sorry. I’m having you on. Let’s just say it was all due to an unfortunate misunderstanding.’ I glanced back at the stall, where Jenna was patiently waiting. ‘So I’m guessing it’s okay to sell the remains of the chutney to my pregnant customer, then?’
‘Absolutely,’ said Kenzie. ‘If she had no ill-effects after eating a whole jar, I think we can safely assume it’s fine to consume. Vinegar products last forever, don’t they?’
‘Great.’ I dashed back to the stall, and I was about to start loading Jenna’s bag up with the jars when someone shouted my name. And when I turned, it was Penny, looking more stressed than I’d ever seen her. Her face was pure white.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘Where’s Caleb?’ She grabbed my hands urgently, on the verge of tears. ‘We came on the bus so I don’t have the car. But we need to gonow!’ She looked frantically around. ‘Oh, God, whereishe?’
‘Penny, what’s wrong?’ I gazed at her in alarm, my heart suddenly racing. ‘Has something happened to Caleb?’
She turned big terrified eyes on me. ‘No, it’s Will. I think he’s been kidnapped!’
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
‘What? Kidnapped?’
But Penny was already dashing off, searching the crowds for Caleb. She suddenly spotted him and raced over and I saw their heads together as she talked urgently to him.
I had a quick word with Ellie and explained that there was an emergency and I was going to have to dash off. She looked alarmed but seeing the urgency in my face, she immediately told me to go.
I joined Caleb and Penny just as Caleb was telling her to call the police and report what had happened. He was holding her arms and speaking calmly, letting her know about the intimidation and what had been going on, but I knew he must be terrified underneath his calm exterior. Caleb adored his nephew, and if this horrifying news was true, I knew he would blame himself entirely.
‘Are you certain you saw him in the car park?’ he was asking Penny.
‘Yes. His friend Daniel was being dropped off by his dad so we both went to the car park to meet him. Will got there first and when I arrived, a dark-coloured car was driving at speed out of the cark park, and Will was nowhere in sight.’
A dark-coloured car driving at speed.
My heart sank into my boots. That sounded scarily familiar and I could tell by the look on Caleb’s face that he thought so, too.
‘Which way did the car turn? Left or right?’
But she looked flustered and shook her head.
‘Think, Penny. Which way did the car go?’
‘Right. Yes, it turned right!’
‘Great. Now, we need the registration number of that car, so you’ll have to get home now and find it.’
‘But where from?’
‘Listen to me, Penny.’ He took a gentle hold of her wrists and forced her to look at him. ‘It’s in Will’s notebook. The one where he keeps a record of all the cars parked in the street outside the house?’
‘But there’s so many cars in that notebook. How will I know which one it is?’
