I tried to get out of the way and almost managed it, but the thud against my shoulder made me realise that the man had landed on me so I twisted myself out of the way and flipped myself over as best as I could.
The splat and splash as the man hit the ground were followed by a prolonged, ‘Arghhhhhh!’ And then a deep voice shouted, ‘What the hell…?’
The man had landed face-down in what appeared to be a muddy puddle and when he turned over, his face was covered in mud. He pulled out ear buds from his ears, which explained why he had ignored me. He hadn’t heard me.
I scrambled to my feet, as the man tried to sit up, the ache in my shoulder sending a bolt of pain shooting through me.
‘I’m an off-duty police officer and I’m arresting you on suspicion of attempted burglary. You are not free to leave. You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.’
‘You’ve broken my sodding nose, Erin! And you are not arresting me, because I haven’t committed a sodding crime.’
‘Wh …what? How do you know my name? Who are you?’
He was gingerly wiping the mud from his face and screwing up his eyes in pain, but when he shone his torch so that I could see his face, I felt nauseous.
‘It’s … it’s you,’ I said. ‘From Fairlight Bakes café.’ For some reason, my eyes shot to his feet. He was wearing black trainers. ‘Wh…what are you doing here, climbing a ladder to break into someone else’s house if…’
Oh god. He’d told me he was an electrician. Had he come here to mend whatever had caused the power cut, after all?
‘I wasn’t breaking in,’ he said, wincing as he slowly got to his feet.
Even so, I stepped back to keep some distance between us. The last time I’d arrested someone, I’d been stabbed. And I didn’t have a phone or any way to communicate with anyone.
‘What were you doing then?’
He met my eyes and fixed me with a stare. ‘I was doing a favour for my cousin, Marcus. As you know, he owns this cottage.’
I swallowed hard. ‘Marcus is … your cousin?’
‘He is.’
I’d just made a terrible mistake. I might not have to decide if I wanted to remain in the police or not, the decision might be made for me if this man reported me for assault. And he had every right to do so. I shouldn’t have touched the ladder.
‘How … how do I know you’re who you say you are?’
He lifted his arm and reached into the pocket of his black jeans, pulling out a phone, which, after pressing his thumb on the screen, he handed to me.
‘Two options. Call Marcus and ask him. Or check out my social media to verify it’s really me and that I haven’t also stolen someone’s phone. You’ll see my name is Jasper Lord. Then look at the texts between me and Marcus. One of which is thanking me for agreeing to be his best man when he and Adele get married, and one of which is from tonight, asking me if I could come here, if I got a chance, and close his front bedroom window which he’d left wide open by mistake. Funnily enough, you’ll see he was more concerned about the rain getting in than he was about any prospective burglars. He thought Adele had left a key under one of those flowerpots near the door, but she hadn’t. I had ladders, so I got one and was about to climb in and close the window, when you put paid to that.’
I knew he was telling the truth, but I checked it out anyway. And there were the texts just like he’d said.
‘Oh no! I’m so, so sorry, Jasper. I thought … Well, you know what I thought. Are you hurt?’
‘Yes, I’m hurt. So don’t just stand there,’ he said. ‘You’re going to have to drive me to the hospital. I can’t set my nose myself in case I do more damage, and I can’t drive with an injury. It’ll invalidate my insurance.’
‘Right. Yes of course. Erm. I don’t have a car. Oh. You do, don’t you? Obviously.’
‘It’s a van. It’s parked over there.’ He nodded towards the car park and then grimaced, the movement clearly causing him pain.
‘Erm. I’ve been drinking and I’m over the limit. I’d make a call, but I don’t have a phone. I need to think what to do.’
‘What’s that in your hand? Frozen pizza?’
‘Oh. This is your … Yes. Sorry. Not thinking straight.’
‘Take a deep breath, Erin.’
There was a softness in his voice now and when I met his eyes, I could see he was trying to smile. A little difficult with a broken nose.
‘I’ll call an ambulance.’
‘I don’t need an ambulance. I just need a lift to the hospital. Call a cab. Or call my dad.’
‘Nope. It’s going to be an ambulance. You’ve just fallen off a ladder. You might’ve broken more than your nose.’
‘I think you mean thatyoumight’ve broken more than my nose. Fine. Call an ambulance. Is there any chance you could get me some water, please? I’d like to wash this mud off my face. And … I’m feeling a bit queasy.’
