‘Please don’t do this.’
I can’t see you but you’re everywhere, haunting me. Are you cowering in that dark corner of my mind? I slam the front door, leaving you behind.
I know you’re not real but I like that I imagine your voice so vividly, even though in my mind you now hate me. When the right person replaces you, she and you will meld into one and I will have you back.
We will be happy and we can live again.
I glance at the woman’s photo and smile. The more I think about it, she’s perfect. Dark hair and a look that tells me she can become what I want her to become. The slight distance in her gaze makes me want her more.
It’s going to be a long night but I’m not coming home empty-handed. That is not an option and that woman is mine.
31
‘Doctor Nowak, can you spare me a moment?’ Gina recognised him from previous encounters at the hospital.
He hurried along the corridor and put his round glasses on. ‘You want an update on Madison Randle?’
‘Yes, please.’
Jacob came and stood next to Gina, clutching two cardboard cups of coffee. He handed her one.
The doctor opened his file. ‘It’s a really cold night. She has the onset of hypothermia. She’s also not making much sense at the moment but I think that’s due to concussion and shock. I’m organising scans. We want to take a closer look at her injuries. I know you want to go in there and ask questions but she’s really not in a fit state. She’s not even getting her full name right at the moment.’
‘Thank you for the update. Do you know how long it will be?’
‘How big is the universe? As soon as she can talk to you, I will call you. I do know how important it is that you speak to her. An assault was committed on hospital grounds. We want this cleared up as much as you do. For now, I suggest you get some rest or go and get some food. I’ll call you when I have some news. She’s also in a lot of pain with the head injury, we may end up sedating her a little as she’s so agitated and confused.’
Gina’s shoulders slumped. It was no good trying any harder. If the doctor said she wasn’t up to talking, she believed that Madison really wasn’t up to talking. ‘We will need her clothes as they may contain vital evidence of her attack. Also, I’ll get someone from uniform stationed here. We will need fingernail clippings and some swabs. This could help us catch her attacker. Would that be okay to arrange those?’
‘Of course. As soon as we’ve stabilised her, we can do that for you. For now, the patient comes first.’
‘Thank you so much, Doctor Nowak.’
The doctor smiled and left her standing by the nurses’ station. Phones rang, monitors beeped and staff walked back and forth with samples and equipment. Everywhere she and Jacob stood, they ended up moving and apologising. She left accident and emergency and stood outside to make a call. PC Smith answered. ‘It’s me, Harte. Could you or a colleague please come over here and keep guard in A&E? We need to get samples from Madison Randle and I need someone to be here to supervise, bag and tag.’
‘I’m on my way.’ Within minutes she spotted PC Smith walking across the car park from the scene that he and his officers had cordoned off while they searched for evidence.
Jacob finished his coffee and dropped his cup into the bin. ‘I’ll head back over there for now. See you in five.’
She smiled and sipped her coffee, waiting for PC Smith to amble over. The fluorescent strips on his jacket shone as they caught the signage lights, passing the smoking shelter.
Nurse Becky pushed Betty Falconer through a door just inside the entrance to A&E. The old woman’s frown told Gina all she needed to know. ‘Push me to her, Nurse, please. I need to be with my Maddie.’ It was going to be a long night for Betty Falconer too.
Gina stepped back inside. ‘I’m so sorry, Betty, but it’s such a good job you got someone to call us. We found her and she’s being treated. Will you be okay?’
‘I need to be with her. She’s always there for me, now, I’m going to be there for her.’ Gina didn’t doubt that for one moment. ‘Just catch whoever did this to her.’
The nurse continued to push Betty onto the A&E ward. Gina moved away as an ambulance pulled up and its doors burst open.
Smith met her under the A&E sign. ‘I can take over here, guv. Everyone’s suited up and the search has begun.’
As she walked across the near empty car park, she checked her phone. Another message from AppyDater. She ignored it. Maybe she could look at it later. She glanced at the diary app on her phone. Tomorrow she was meeting Wyre at Amber’s apartment block before they went on to the Fish and Anchor to speak to the chef, Jake Goodman, to discuss his previous for stealing women’s underwear from washing lines. It sounded as cliché as it came but she knew this to be worrying early behaviour that could lead to something more serious.
For now, she was going to treat this attack on Madison Randle as being possibly linked to the Amber Slater murder. Both students at the same university. Both of the same age, similar build, similar in looks. There were too many similarities for it to be a coincidence. She dabbed her dry lips with a bit of lip balm, the slight slit in the middle stinging like mad. She thought of Amber’s torn lips.Why, why, why did he want to shut you up?Answering that question was the key to solving the case.
Damn it! She wanted to kick something. If only she could have spoken to Madison. She might have been able to give them a description or something further to work on.
Her phone beeped again. That app was going to go as soon as she finished with the case. She glanced down. It was the same man again. He certainly did have appeal. She bit her lip as she thought of Briggs and the fact that he’d let her down. Stuff it. She typed out a reply.
