Second Chances at Hollyhock Farm (Hollyhock Farm #2)

Chapter 32

32

ZAC

Zac was on his way to the car to pick up some shopping for his mother when his mobile vibrated. Groaning, he took it from his back pocket and looked at the screen. Brodie was calling. He wondered what it could be about.

‘How’s things?’ Zac asked, interested to see what Brodie wanted. They got along well but neither phoned the other very often and he presumed something important had happened.

‘I’m glad I caught you,’ Brodie said, his voice filled with concern.

‘What’s the matter?’ Zac hoped it wasn’t anything to do with his sister but couldn’t miss the urgency in his friend’s voice. His mood dipped.

‘Only that I’ve just popped out of the surgery to check on a patient and while I was talking to the dog’s owner, I thought I spotted Melody’s ex, Rhys.’

Angry to hear Rhys was still hanging around the village, Zac clenched his teeth together as he tried to calm himself. ‘Did you speak to him?’

‘No, I didn’t get the chance. Sorry. It was a bit of an emergency and I’m sure you understand that the welfare of my patients must come first.’

‘As it should.’ He thought quickly. ‘When did you see him? Recently?’

There was a momentary silence and Zac presumed Brodie was trying to work out the timing. ‘It was probably around thirty-five minutes ago. He was near the store. I’m sorry, I didn’t get a chance to speak to him.’

‘That’s fine. Thanks for letting me know. I’ll give Callum a call and we’ll see if we can track him down. We need to have a word with him and warn him to stay away.’

‘I would have thought he got the message when he saw how angry you were after what he did to Melody, but I suppose someone as arrogant as him is used to ignoring other people’s feelings.’

‘You’re not kidding.’

‘Let me know how it goes if you do track him down, won’t you?’

‘I will. Thanks again for the tip-off, Brodie.’

Zac ended the call, fury raging in him that Melody wasn’t free to be able to get on with her life simply because this bully wouldn’t leave her alone. It wasn’t acceptable. He scrolled through his contacts until he found Callum’s number and called him, unsure whether he would be working and able to answer.

‘Zac? Is something wrong?’

Callum’s friendly tone calmed Zac slightly. He regretted that he was about to interrupt his friend’s day but knew he would want to help. ‘I’ve just heard from Brodie that Rhys was seen in the village about thirty-five minutes ago. I have to go there to collect some shopping for Mum so I’m going that way already, but I thought if you were in the area, you might join me. I think he’s the sort of chap who only backs down when he’s outnumbered. I wasn’t sure if you were working or not.’

‘No. I’m not doing anything right now. I’ll make my way there and see if that bastard is still hanging around.’

‘Good. I’ll be there in a couple of minutes and will look out for you.’

Zac raced to the village but, having spent ten minutes searching for Rhys in every shop and the pubs without success, collected his mother’s shopping and hurriedly put it in the cool bag she kept in the boot of the car.

Spotting someone leaning down and chatting by the open window of a taxi, he recognised Callum’s T-shirt and walked over to join them.

‘Hi,’ Zac said, realising he also knew the taxi driver. ‘Good to see you, Bill. How’s things going?’

‘Busy, thankfully. Then again, if they weren’t at this time of year I’d be panicking.’

Callum straightened up. ‘Bill’s been telling me he dropped someone off who fits Rhys’s description at the Premier Inn at Charing Cross.’

‘That’s good to know,’ Zac replied, thinking that at least they knew what part of the island he was staying in. ‘He would be easy to lose in town with all those back streets.’

Callum nodded, then frowned. ‘Don’t forget he doesn’t know this place like we do, but I do think we should get there as soon as we can to try and see if he’s still around.’

‘I agree.’ He smiled at Bill. ‘See you soon, Bill, and thanks for the tip-off about Rhys.’ As they walked away from the taxi, Zac patted Callum on the back. ‘Good idea asking Bill.’

‘Thanks. I thought it was worth a try.’ Callum laughed. ‘Glad I was right in this case. My uncle is a taxi driver and I know there isn’t much that gets past them over here.’

‘I need to drop this shopping off at the farm,’ Zac said, ‘but if you want to come with me, we can head straight to town afterwards.’

‘Suits me. I just want to catch that bloke and give him a piece of my mind. I’m sick of poor Melody having to worry about him. It’s not right.’

‘It isn’t.’

‘Tell you what,’ Callum said as they reached the parking area. ‘My car is faster than yours. You take the shopping to the farm, and I’ll follow you, then we can take my car to St Helier.’

‘Good idea.’