“Yes, but…” I trail off, shaking my head. Paulie wouldn’t have done this, surely. He wouldn’t actually hurt Mia.Unless he wanted to get back at you for beating the shit out of him and smashing his camera, you fucking dolt.“Fuck,” I mutter, and brace a hand against the wall.
“Obviously this is all speculation right now, Mr Graves,” PC Sayyid says. “Mr Hardcastle is a person of interest and we will be having a chat when we catch up with him. In the meantime, if you think of anything else or have any questions for us, please get in touch.” He pulls a card from the back of his notepad and hands it to me. “And we hope your daughter-in-law recovers quickly.”
“Thank you.” I run my fingertip along the edge of the card as the PCs head down the corridor, passing Kasia who gives them a brief look over her shoulder as she walks towards me.
“What did they say?” She asks, folding her arms against her chest. “Do they know what happened?”
“It was started deliberately.”
Kasia’s eyebrows shoot up. “But who would-”
“Paulie Hardcastle,” I interject, and Kasia coughs out a laugh.
“That little worm?” She scoffs. “He doesn’t have it in him to start a fire, surely. He hides behind a camera and nothing more.”
I take Kasia by the elbow and lead her further away from the main desk, out of earshot of any of the nurses.
“I tracked him down and beat him up,” I mutter, and Kasia purses her lips. “I know, I know, but it happened after the whole thing with Mia’s dad and then Paulie knocking her into the car.”
“And being the big strong intelligent man you are, you thought you’d solve it in the most diplomatic way possible?” Kasia shakes her eyes, huffing out a sigh. “But do you really think that would be enough for him to try and kill Mia and her dog? That seems extreme.”
“I know, I thought the same but… Maybe I just made him angry enough that he thought he’d get back at me.”
Kasia frowns. “I don’t think so.”
“We’ll see what the police say, I suppose.” I rub my neck and look back down the hallway towards the waiting room. “I’ll let everyone know she’s alright, and then we’ll tell them to go home. No point in them all sitting here all night.”
“No, of course.” Kasia rubs her arms and sighs. “Troy has alerted the staff at his restaurant that everyone will be coming for dinner, shall I have someone bring something over for you and Charlotte?”
“No, that’s fine, we’ll get something on our way home.” I plant a peck on Kasia’s cheek. “Thank you. You’re the best, you know that?”
“Yes, I do.” She gives me a smile and squeezes my hand, before walking ahead of me down the hallway.
I don’t sayanything to Mia or Charlotte about what the police told me. I tell myself it wouldn’t help either of them right now, but I also don’t want to admit that it’s guilt, gnawing away at me.
This happened because of me.
Because I went and acted the big man, and beat the shit out Hardcastle. I could have just warned him, or scared him. But no. I had to be a macho idiot. And now Mia is lying in a hospital bed, coughing up a lung and stinking of smoke because of me.
The doctors send Charlotte and I away at around 9pm, saying she needs rest. They assure us she’ll be discharged within a day or two, depending on her chest CT and blood tests.
The small sigh Mia lets out when I kiss her forehead before I leave has even more guilt and shame swirling through my stomach. She trusts me. She told me that. She felt safe with me. And I did this to her?
“You’re awfully quiet,” Charlotte says as we drive home.
“Yeah, just… thinking.” I sigh and adjust my grip on the steering wheel. “You want to get some dinner?”
“Sure, I’m starving, but don’t change the subject.” She shifts in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest. “What did the police say? And don’t give me the line you just gave Mia in the hospital about ‘Inquiries pending’.”
This woman is a bloodhound.
“They said it was deliberately lit,” I say slowly, and Char doesn’t even gasp.
“Right.”
I give her a quick side glance. “That doesn’t surprise you?”
“Well I know she didn’t fall asleep with a cigarette in her mouth, how else does a fire bloody start on a random evening?” Char taps her fingers on the centre console between us. “So who do they think did it?”
