And as she saw the victim on the ground, blonde hair just like hers splayed out in disarray, she sank to her knees.
15
The interview with the Turners went well. The family were all in when it came to promoting the air ambulance, especially young Max, who couldn’t wait to meet Bess and Noah, the critical care paramedics who attended the scene on the day of the eight-year-old’s accident earlier this year. Max had been riding his skateboard in the street and had taken a tumble into the road. He’d been hit by a car. The air ambulance had been deployed and Max, with significant head injuries, was stabilised at the scene and transferred to a children’s major trauma hospital.
The Turners’ story, now he’d done the interview, would be written up after Hudson liaised with the communications assistant who worked remotely, and it would then go out as a media release which would hopefully lead to coverage in local if not national newspapers and publications.
Max’s parents’ emotions had really come through in the interview as they recalled the day they thought they’d lost their youngest son: how they felt as he fought to survive in intensive care for a period of time following the accident, and their absolute elation when he first opened his eyes and smiled.
Emotions went wild again when Bess and Noah showed up in Nadia’s office especially to see young Max. Neither of them were on shift but they’d come in because Max really wanted to meet the two people who’d rescued him from the road.
‘They’re true heroes,’ his mother Jenny told Hudson as she watched her son talking and laughing with the two paramedics.
‘They’re superheroes!’ Max declared with a few sound effects to boot.
‘Without The Skylarks, we might not have him today.’ Jenny’s voice caught. ‘Thank you to every single one of you.’
Her husband reiterated their gratitude, the couple hugged each other tight, and young Max made them all laugh with an eye roll and his claim, ‘They do this a lot.’
Hudson said goodbye to the Turners and assured Max he could come back another day to see the helicopter. He’d missed out on seeing it, perhaps getting a turn to sit in the cockpit, because right now, it was out with the crew to rescue someone else who needed a superhero at their side just like he had.
Hudson found Frank in the hangar. ‘Where’s Nadia got to? I wanted to tell her she can have her office back.’
‘She went with the crew. Hopped on the helicopter, asked me to man the fort.’
Nadia was a trained nurse but she rarely got involved in the practical medical side any more. ‘Why did she go out on the job?’
‘Beats me.’ Frank patted his shoulder. ‘Coffee? I’m making it.’
‘Just had one, thanks, so not for me.’
They made their way along the corridor and before Frank disappeared into the kitchen, Hudson saw two figures coming into the building via the front entrance. And he wasn’t quite sure what to make of what he was seeing.
Conrad, detective in the adjacent town to Whistlestop River, and Beau at his side.
‘I’ll leave you to it,’ said Frank, recognising Beau, and of course Conrad who, when he was married to Maya and as they went through a divorce, Frank had always kept an eye on. He might only be the engineer here but much like Nadia, he cared about every member of the team as if they were family.
‘I think we need to talk,’ said Conrad as Hudson joined them in reception.
‘What’s going on?’ he asked Beau. ‘Why aren’t you at school?’
Beau had stayed over at his mum’s last night and she knew the deal: no falling for claims Beau wasn’t well, which he’d tried before and usually, she couldn’t be bothered to argue.
‘I had a headache first thing,’ said Beau. ‘I was going to go in but…’
Conrad prompted him to keep talking. Usually, the police detective was filled with so much self-importance, he didn’t do politeness or patience and definitely didn’t do any type of hand-holding for a teenager as far as Hudson knew.
Hudson led them over to the seating area. What was going on? Beau hadn’t been well, hadn’t gone to school, and somehow, he was with Conrad?
Beau looked up from beneath a fringe that was far too long – the kid wouldn’t have it that he needed a haircut and was probably growing it out of spite from the time Hudson had heavily suggested it might need a trim.
‘I need to tell you about the hoax,’ said Beau.
‘What are you talking about?’
‘The one last summer. For the air ambulance. The fake emergency call.’
He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach because he remembered it, even after all this time. Last summer, The Skylarks had been deployed to an emergency and landed in a field when they spotted what they thought was a person dressed in a hi-vis jacket. Except it wasn’t; it was a scarecrow. Thecrew had scoured the fields to find a patient in need, in case it was a coincidence and there was a real emergency. The only saving grace had been that someone had subsequently called the emergency services to admit that the call was a hoax. Otherwise, The Skylarks might have been looking for a victim or victims for a very long time.
