Page 86 of King’s Ransom

‘Clean this up, Chinaman,’ he snorted to himself.

He zipped up and emerged.

Kenneth was still on his knees, tidying up the mess.

The lad grunted and I saw him grin and draw his arm back to swipe all the gear off the cart again.

He swung—

—but I caught his wrist an inch from his target.

‘What the hell—?’ he said.

I glanced at his buddies.

Engrossed in their phones, they weren’t watching.

Quick as a whip, I elbowed him in the face, causing his head to bang hard against the wall behind him, knocking him out.

‘Nurse!’ I called as I laid the drunk lad on the floor. ‘Gosh, he slipped on the pee on his shoes! Hit his head against the wall.’

(I’m not proud of my actions here but, seriously, the guy was mean.)

His buddies looked up from their phones.

‘Goddamn it, Chad,’ one of them said.

As Nurse Narelle led (the now rather woozy) Chad away for some stitches of his own, Kenneth’s eyes met mine and he nodded a silent thank you.

‘Anytime,’ I whispered.

(Christmas Day was quieter: one kid with a broken forearm from crashing his new Christmas present, a sled; and an elderly woman who felt light-headed; no drunk assholes.)

I finished my novel around 9 a.m. on December 26th and was wondering if the bookstore might be open so I could get another book when Nurse Narelle and Dr Shepherd suddenly emerged from the back rooms of the ER.

I looked up hopefully—

—only for the two of them to walk right past me and greet a grey-haired older couple who were entering the waiting room behind me.

They were both perhaps seventy. The man was African-American; the woman, white.

I knew this couple.

I’d met them once, briefly, at their home in Florida.

They were Audrey’s parents.

(Audrey wasn’t really close with her parents. As I mentioned, they had not been supportive of her divorce from Trey Hooper. But after we’d been dating for a few months, she’d wanted to introduce me to them. They’d met us for coffee.)

And then my heart sank as I recognised the man guiding the grey-haired couple into the ER: Special Agent Trey Hooper himself.

‘Mr Mills, Mrs Mills,’ Dr Shepherd said. ‘Come this way.’

The doctor guided Audrey’s parents quickly toward the swinging doors leading to the back rooms.

I stood, wanting to join them, only for Hooper to intercept me.

‘Family only,’ he said. ‘Sorry.’