“Jesus, that’s rising fast,” Kate said, nervous.
“Yeah, it’s a spring tide right now. High, fast, and strong.”
“Great. My lucky day, it seems.” She cocked her head. “How are you keeping Merlin quiet?”
“Sammy’s taken her over to the information centre. I had your Mr. Wild see them safely across the road.”
“Thank you.”
“How come you’ve ended up with Merlin?” Gina asked as she pulled at another plank.
Kate shrugged. “I’m fostering her. I couldn’t see her go to a dog shelter or something. It just didn’t seem fair.” A Mona Lisa smile spread across Gina’s lips before she went back to tugging on the next plank. “What’s that for?”
“What’s what for?”
“That smile.”
“Nothing. Pull that blanket tighter, you’re fingertips are going blue.”
“Yes, Mum.” Kate did as she was told. Her hands were numb and the shivering was easing. As much as she hated the shivering, she knew it wasn’t a good sign that it was stopping now. Later, when she was in front of the fire, or tucked up in bed, sure. But not now, while she was only getting colder. “So what’s with that smile?” she asked again.
“I told you,” Gina said, and freed the next plank, “nothing.” She tossed it towards the front again and dipped her hand into the cold water. “Shit that’s cold.”
“I know.”
Gina swept her hand around obviously trying to find whatever was obstructing Kate’s movement. “I’m just going to see if I can feel what’s stuck in your leg.” She reached around Kate’s thigh and swept her hand from the knee upwards.
Kate was sure she could see a rosy glow over Gina’s cheeks and wondered if it was the cold and wind or her leg that had caused it. Mostly she hoped it was her leg. Gina glanced up as her fingers paused, her grip on the muscle tightened and another of those smiles spread across her lips.
“If you keep smiling at me like that, I will have to employ interrogation techniques.”
Gina chuckled. “I don’t think you’re in any position to be making threats right now.”
Kate nodded. “You might be right.” She noticed how her words sounded a little slurred. “But I maintain the right to interrogate you later.”
“You do that, Detective.”
“Kate.”
“Excuse me?”
“My name’s Kate. If you want me to call you Gina, then you have to call me Kate.”
“Kate it is.” Gina had continued her quest up Kate’s thigh until she found what she was looking for. She frowned and the consternation on her face made Kate worry.
“What is it?”
“I think the wood that’s sticking in your leg’s one of the support struts. It feels pretty big and it won’t budge.”
“Wonderful,” Kate said.
“Oh, it could be worse, Kate.”
“How’s that?”
“You could be in danger of slipping under the water and drowning.”
“Well, aren’t you just a regular Pollyanna?”
Gina laughed. “That’s me. The eternal optimist.”
“Gina, I’ve got everything I thought could be useful. What do you need?” A male voice came from behind Gina.
“One second, William. I’ll be right there.” Gina looked at Kate again. “Don’t run off now.” She winked and shuffled out of sight.
“Where would I go?” Kate chuckled. She knew that this playful side of Gina was her way of taking Kate’s mind off her predicament, but she had to admit that she really liked it.
“Hey, don’t fall asleep on me,” Gina said.
“I didn’t.”
Gina frowned but didn’t say anything more about it. “William’s going to come up the plank in a minute and then walk around the edge to the other side.”
“What if he falls off and goes through the floor too? Then we’ll both be in trouble.”
“He won’t. He’s got balance like I’ve never seen. Apparently, he was made to do gymnastics when he was a kid. Probably one of the reasons he’s refusing to go back home.”
Kate sniggered. “Can’t say I blame him. Where’s the ambulance?”
“They’re on the way, but you know how long it takes to get here from King’s Lynn.”
Twenty minutes in the best of conditions, thirty on average, and over forty if you get stuck behind a tractor or a lorry. “Yeah, I do.”
“So, William’s going to try and lift the planks behind you and get at that strut so we can get you out. He may have to try and saw the strut through the water.”
Kate gulped. “Is that even possible?”
“Yes. But it sure as hell won’t be comfortable. Be glad that your leg’s gone numb, my friend.”
“Why don’t we just pull my leg off the wood?”
Gina cocked her head. “You’ve done first aid training, right?”
Kate nodded.
“Then we’ll blame that question on the cold. If we pull your leg off the wood, I’m concerned about what it’s hit inside your leg. It may be nothing, but there are also some pretty big veins and arteries in there, not to mention tendons and muscles. I don’t want to do any more damage to your leg, Kate.”
“I get it. Leave the spear in place and let the doctors make the call.”
“Exactly.”
“Chicken.”
“Yeah, and?”
“What if he can’t saw through the strut?”
“Hopefully, the paramedics will be here by then.” Gina grinned. “And I won’t have to be the one to do any damage to that gorgeous leg of yours.”
“Are you flirting with me just to take my mind off this?”
Gina laughed. “You’re the detective, Kate. You work it out.” Then Gina was gone and William scurried up the plank and around the rim of the boat like it were a mile wide. Kate could feel tugging and pulling behind her as he removed board after board, the hammer and crowbar allowing him to work much faster than Gina had.
“Okay, I’m going to see if I can feel where this thing attaches, Gina,” William shouted over her head.
“Got it.” Gina shuffled back up the plank, saw in hand, and a warm smile on her face. “How’re you doing, Kate?” She handed the saw to William.
“Never been better.” The words were little more than a whisper and slurred almost beyond recognition.
“Excellent. Listen, I hope you don’t mind, but I sent Wild to your house to get you warm clothes. We’ve got blankets and stuff out here waiting for you, and I’ve set up a sort of screen using part of the car. Once we get you off this boat we need to get those wet clothes off you and start warming you up, regardless of whether or not the paramedics are here then. Do you understand me, Kate?”
“Yeah. You’re gonna strip me naked on the marsh, you wild woman, you.”
Gina threw her head back and laughed. “Yes, I am. Aren’t you a lucky woman?”
Kate looked into those blue eyes that she hadn’t been able to get out of her head and whispered, “Yeah, I think I just might be.” Gina’s cheeks coloured and she dropped her gaze.
William’s shuffling had caused the boat to rock. Kate glanced down at the water and a piece of paper floated across the rippling surface. She fished it out and turned it over with fingers that barely did as she told them. The image on the reverse showed a cage-like structure next to the numbers “53” in white paint. The cage hung on a rope with a grey block inside it. It was the date in the bottom right-hand corner that caught her eye though: 12.06.15. Twelfth of June. The date struck a chord in her memory but she couldn’t remember why. All she could remember was that this was important.
She handed it to Gina. “Give this to Wild.”
“Why? What’s important about a lobster pot?”
“A lobster pot?”
“Yes, that’s what that is. Why’s it important?”
“I think this is why some arsehole took a sniper rifle and murdered Connie.”
“A sniper
rifle? Not just a .22 or something?” Gina frowned.
“No, definitely a sniper rifle. A big one, from a long way away.” She tapped the photo. “And this has something to do with why.”
Gina’s face was pale as she scurried down the ramp again, but Kate couldn’t think why that would be. Then her brain caught up with what her mouth had said. “Oh, fuck.” She’d just given away details of the case to a civilian. She felt a tug on her leg as the strut was pushed against it. Damn it. Two civilians.
“William, did you just hear any of that?”
“Every word.”
“Fuck.”
“Don’t worry. I want you to find out what happened to Connie. Like I told you, she was fair with me. I didn’t want anything bad to happen to her. I won’t say a word.”
“Thanks.”
“Gina’ll be cool too. Now I’m going to start sawing. This is going to take a while probably, and it’s most likely going to hurt.”
“I understand.”
Hurt wasn’t the right word. Her skin and muscles had numbed with the cold. But her bones hadn’t. She felt every stroke of the saw in her bones. Every knot he struck resonated throughout her entire body. She screamed, but she didn’t care. Then a hand gripped hers and Gina spoke words she couldn’t hear. Then the world grew colder still.
CHAPTER 15
Gina stretched as far from the edge of the plank as she could and supported Kate’s weight while William continued to saw through the two-inch by six-inch wooden beam. The combination of the cold, the pain, and the undoubtedly strange sensation of the sawing had all conspired to knock Kate out. Gina could feel the vibrations of the saw through Kate’s body and it felt damn weird to her. She heard voices from behind her, but she couldn’t move to see what was going on. Kate’s head rested over her shoulder, and she had her arms wrapped around her body. Together they were doing a good job of counterbalancing each other and stopping either of them falling into the water.“How are you doing, William?”
“Halfway. Sawing through the water isn’t exactly easy. You okay with her?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“She shouldn’t have said what she did about the investigation, you know.”
“I know. She only said it because she’s hypothermic and not thinking straight.”
“I promised her that I wouldn’t mention what she said to anyone.” He looked Gina in the eye. “Connie was good to me. You know everything she did for me. Helping me get myself straightened out when I got here. Giving me a chance. I don’t want anything to screw with her finding out what happened to Connie.”
“I understand, William. You don’t have to worry about me. I won’t say a word.” She was still trying to make sense out of what Kate had said. A high-powered sniper rifle shot from long range. That meant that there was no way Sammy could be responsible. That it was purely coincidence. She was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. It made so much more sense than her little girl’s unlucky shot being able to kill her best friend. It made so much more sense than a random accident. Well, not sense, exactly. But it was much easier for her to believe that some bastard had taken Connie from their lives rather than her little girl being responsible. She closed her eyes and leaned into Kate’s body a little farther. She wished she could thank her for the information that would release both her and Sammy from the prison of guilt they had been constructing around themselves. Now all she had to do was convince Sammy that it hadn’t been her shot that had killed Connie. She snorted. That was easier said than done.
“How’re you doing there, love?” A man in a green jumpsuit and high visibility coat asked over her shoulder.
“I’m fine, thanks. About time you guys got here.”
“We were on another job when this call came in. How’s she doing?”
“Hypothermic and her leg’s still trapped under the water. William’s almost done releasing it.”
“You sawing her leg off, lad?”
“You’re a funny guy,” William said. “I’d have brought a chainsaw for that. This shit’s way too slow.”
Gina sniggered.
“How long’s she been unconscious?” the paramedic asked.
“Since I started sawing.”
“About two minutes,” Gina said.
“And we’re through.” William pulled the saw out of the water and dropped it to the deck beside him. He reached back into the water and pushed Kate’s leg forward, visibly pleased when it moved unrestricted.“Great. Does she have any other injuries?”
“None that we’ve been able to see,” Gina said to the paramedic.
“And she was moving freely, no spinal injury, no neck pain?”
“No, just stuck because of her leg.”
“Okay, I think the guys have sorted some more planks to set up a kind of bridge to lift her out. I won’t be a minute. Are you okay there with her?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Gina said. She was actually not looking forward to the moment when she would have to let go of Kate. Thick planks landed either side of her and she heard heavy boots stepping towards her. Two large pairs of hands slid under Kate’s arms and lifted her weight from Gina.
“Okay, love, you slide off that plank. We’ve got her.”
Gina didn’t want to let go, but without Kate’s weight, her back and stomach muscles were straining to keep her torso from tumbling into the water.
“Quick as you can, love. She’s pretty cold now.”
Gina used her arms to shove herself away from Kate’s body and inch down the gangplank. As soon as she was at the bottom, a lightweight metal frame was slid along the plank and held in position by Wild. The two paramedics lifted Kate out of the hull of the boat and the guy on the right lifted her right leg forward to keep it elevated. Wild pushed the frame farther up until they could get Kate onto it. Between the three of them, Kate was quickly off the boat and being lifted onto a proper trolley. Within seconds, she was in the back of the ambulance and her clothes were being cut off her. Gina saw them cutting her jeans away and the grey coloured flesh was the last thing she saw of Kate as the doors were slammed shut and the ambulance drove away.
Wild put his hand on Gina’s shoulder and squeezed gently. “Don’t know what we’d have done without your help today, Miss Temple. You and that lad of yours.” He nodded to William. “Reckon she owes you both a drink when she sees you next.”
William dropped his tools back into the trailer attached to the back of his quad. “Sir, I think I’ll settle for not getting a ticket for driving this here quad on the road when I’m not legally supposed to.”
Wild grinned. “I think we can make an exception under the emergency situation rule.”
William nodded. “Thanks.” He put the quad in gear and set off down the passage and back to the campsite.
“Will you be going to the hospital?” Gina asked.
“I’ll drop off these things for her.” Wild replied.
“Would you give her a message from me, please?”
“Sure.”
“Just tell her that it wasn’t just the situation.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”
“She will.”
He nodded.
“Tell her we’ll look after Merlin for her too.”
He chuckled. “Anything else?”
She smiled. “No, that should be all for now, thanks.”
He tipped his finger to his forehead and climbed into his car. Gina made her way back to the information centre, where a nervous looking Sammy petted Merlin while Sarah was on the phone.
“Is she okay, Mum?”
Gina held open her arms and hugged the girl when she willingly fell into her embrace. “She’ll be fine, sweetheart. She’s going to hospital to get checked over, and I said we’d look after Merlin for a little while for her. Is that okay?”
Sammy glanced at the dog. “I think Merlin hates me now,” she whispered.
“It didn’t look like it when I walked in. She looked very comfortable
and relaxed with you.”
Sammy shrugged and pulled away.
“Sammy, I know why you don’t want to look after Merlin, but I can promise you, this is the right thing to do, and we need to talk about the other thing later.”
Her shoulders slumped. “Okay.”
“Get Merlin on her lead and we’ll go up to the office. You can help William clean and put away the tools if you like.” She knew Sammy enjoyed spending time out of the way in the tool shed, doing something that she enjoyed and was useful to help her mother while not getting into trouble. It was a rare activity for Sammy, and Gina embraced and utilised every single one she found. What Gina really wanted to do was to go home, get in the shower, and fall back into bed. But there was a mountain of paperwork growing in her office and there wasn’t anyone else to help her with it anymore. There was stock that needed ordering, bills that needed paying, and the payroll to complete. Joy.
CHAPTER 16
“Oh, for God’s sake, stop fussing.” Kate shucked the blanket and swung her legs out of bed. Sure, they still felt a bit rubbery and cold, but she was fine. Perfectly able to get back to her desk and get some work done. They should have tons of evidence now for her to go over and figure out who killed Connie Wells.
“Detective Sergeant Brannon, you have just had ten stitches in the back of your leg. You can’t feel them right now because of the local anaesthetic, but believe me, you will before long. You were brought in with hypothermia, and you are still cold.”
“I’m fine. I’ll put on extra layers.”
“You can put on your blanket and lie back down. You’re not going anywhere until the doctor’s looked at you again.” The nurse tugged the curtain closed behind her as she left. “Who made you God?” Kate sneered at the curtain.
“The Royal College of Nurses,” came back the unexpected reply. Kate blanched, swearing under her breath as she lay back against the pillows and clasped her hands over her stomach. Her phone had been in her jeans pocket and consequently it was now ruined. As were her jeans, her boots, fleece, and T-shirt. The only thing they hadn’t cut off her was her leather jacket, but that was going to take some drying out too. The bottom of it was sodden and stained.
Collide-O-Scope (Norfolk Coast Investigation Stories Book 1) Page 14
