‘Catch you tomorrow. I’ll message you the times in a bit.’ Gina glanced at the smiley. If it was good enough for Briggs, it was good enough for her. She headed towards his office and saw him standing in the corridor staring at his phone.
‘Gina.’ He started walking towards her.
‘I don’t want to talk about it.’ She swallowed as she headed back and turned the fan heater off.
‘Can I see you tonight? I need to explain. Nothing is going on, I promise.’
Feeling his breath on her forehead, it would be so easy to believe him right now and say yes to seeing him. He’d been in her bed, telling her how much he thought of her, making her feel like she was worth something and now, she didn’t know what to believe and felt the fool in all this. ‘You lied to me.’
‘I haven’t lied.’
‘Come on, all those things you said at my house. It’s easy when you’re about to get laid.’
‘Gina, you’re being unreasonable. This app, I haven’t done anything with it.’
‘Nothing?’ She stared at him and he looked away. ‘Right, another lie. I’m too old for this. I should know better.’ She pushed past him and hurried out of the room, leaving him standing there. Flicking through the app one more time, she wondered if she should… if she could. What the hell. She deserved to have a bit of fun. Everyone else was doing just that.
27
Madison pulled the awkward, bulky wheelchair to the entrance of the hospital, leaving her nanna next to a seating area in the foyer. She flicked on the brakes with her foot.
‘I’m sorry to be a burden, Maddie, love.’ A tear formed at the corner of her nanna’s crinkly eyes. It had been a long day for the old woman.
She bent over and hugged her. ‘Never say that, Nanna. You are not a burden. We are going to get you home, get you washed and in your nightie and I’m going to make you some dinner, then we’ll watch TV together. I’m staying the night so we can spend some girly time together. I saw a huge box of chocolates in your cupboard and there are some reruns ofMorseon later. We like Inspector Morse, don’t we?’
Her nanna wiped her eyes as Madison stepped back. ‘Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.’ The woman grabbed Madison’s hand with her shaky fingers and rubbed it with her thumb before letting go. ‘Now go and get that car so we can bust out of this joint.’ The twinkle in Nanna’s eyes had returned.
Madison winked with her mouth open, making Nanna laugh again. ‘I’ve parked in the overflow car park at the back so it’s quite a walk. You just hang out here and I’ll hurry back with our getaway car.’
Madison stepped back out into the crisp night as she walked into the cloud of white mist that was her breath. She shivered and zipped her coat up to her neck, eager to get a move on. The cold was biting, her fingers already numbing and a twinkle of frost covered the main car park. It reminded her of Christmas. It never snowed but it was often frosty or rainy. The twinkles changed colour as she stepped under each street lamp, then they ran out and the only twinkling came from the moon’s light and even that kept hiding behind passing clouds. Taking a shortcut, she climbed in her low-heeled boots up the mound of grass that led to the overflow car park until her feet hit the rugged tarmac.
She glanced around and felt a few twitches in her body. It was as if they were telling her to go back, to get out of the solitary darkness and run back into the light. Only four other cars were parked up at the back. During the day it had been full, in fact she had to drive around the whole car park three times for a space. Now, she could’ve had her pick of spaces closer to the hospital.
For such a busy establishment, the atmosphere was eerie. A light breeze blew an empty carrier bag across the car park. She grabbed her keys from her bag as she glanced back. No one had been following her. The trees beyond the last row of spaces, just behind her car, rustled in the biting breeze. She imagined the person who had lurked in the pub toilets now hiding and watching. Shaking her head, she picked up her pace. This wasn’t the time to scare herself. She was near her car. She had her keys ready and her nanna was waiting for her.
As she stepped between her car and the next, the other car door opened on her, preventing her from stepping any further forward. She shuffled back, heart booming away. ‘Sorry, you go first.’
‘Thank you,’ came the muffled reply. Whoever was emerging had a walking stick and wore a scarf across their mouth. Their hat and the darkness ahead made it hard for her eyes to focus. All she could make out was an outline of a bulky frame in a long overcoat.
He closed the door and shuffled on the uneven car park between his car and hers. She stood back, giving him some space. His stick skewered as it hit a pothole and the man began to tumble. Madison instinctively reached down to block his fall.
‘Thanks, Maddie.’ He snatched her keys from her hand.
How did he know her name? Her gaze darted in all directions. It was the man who was pretending to look for a hedgehog, the one who’d vanished into the night.Run. She had to head back to the hospital. She stepped forward but he already had her around the waist. Tumbling to the ground, she reached ahead, trying to drag herself away from his grip, scratching his wrist and reaching for his face under his dark hood. She felt a nail on the other hand bend back and snap as she dug it into the road.
‘Get off me! Help!’
There was no one around to hear her screams. She tried to turn, to see his face but his bent arm was pressing against her jugular, almost throttling her. With one swift movement, she gasped for air and brought her elbow back catching his ribs. ‘Get off me.’
He wheezed as she rolled him off her and stumbled to a stand. Within seconds, he was up too swearing and circling her. She had to head the other way or he’d tackle her to the ground again. Heading straight into the dense foliage, she would hide until he gave up. Hopping over the uneven grass, she darted through the spiny brambles, their branches slapping her face and arms, thorns pushing into her as they scratched and tore at her skin through her clothing. She felt the wind of his chase behind her.
Darting to the left, she stepped into what was probably a dip.
He stopped. ‘Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.’ He spoke in a whisper. A speckle of light through the trees caught her attention as the breeze ruffled the trees. So close to the main road but so far away. She wiggled her foot out of the dip and took a step back.
Then white pain hit her head. He’d struck her with something, a stone or a piece of rock. Dots prickled her vision and she slightly wobbled. She couldn’t give up. He grabbed her collar and proceeded to drag her back towards the car park. She wasn’t going. She couldn’t. Fight – that’s what she had to do. As he turned her way to get a better grip, all she could see was the scarf and a dark outline.
Without warning, she brought her knee up to his groin with all the strength she had. She pulled him close and hooked the back of her arm around his neck and brought him to the ground. That basic self-defence class she’d taken not so long back was paying for itself now. As he groaned in agony, she stepped back from his loosened grip and wandered further into the thicket, lowering her stance as she tried to blend into the trees.
