Stolen Nights with the Single Dad

by Alison Roberts

  ‘Absolutely.’

  But Mitch was pulling his phone from his pocket, something he never normally did when they were working together. Jenna didn’t need to catch the frown on his face a second later as he read a text message—she could feel the sudden tension in his body.

  ‘Something up?’

  ‘It’s, ah...from my father. He wants me to ring him when I’ve got a spare moment.’ Mitch sounded hesitant. ‘He wouldn’t ask unless it was something urgent.’

  ‘Call him.’ Jenna nodded. ‘We’re only on our way back to base.’

  But she could still sense his hesitation and, oddly, this felt like a much bigger decision than to respond to his father’s text message.

  Maybe Mitch’s father was unwell. Or was he calling about another member of the family, like his mother or siblings? Being reminded that she knew nothing about Mitch’s life should be a warning bell but, oddly, it wasn’t worrying Jenna at all. She knew him now and instinct told her that that was enough. That she could trust him.

  She killed the engine and then turned her head. ‘I don’t want my partner being distracted by a family concern on the next job,’ she said. ‘We’ve got time. Call him. I’ll do our paperwork.’

  It was still raining heavily outside their vehicle and there were people shouting and heavy trucks revving as breakdown services arrived to start clearing the traffic jam but, inside their car, Jenna could still hear the voice of the older man on the other end of Mitch’s phone call clearly enough to make out most of what he was saying.

  ‘Sorry to call you like this,’ he’d started.

  ‘What’s happened, Dad?’ Mitch asked quickly. ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘Nothing to worry about. I just took Ollie in to see Euan, that’s all. He was jumping in puddles on the way to school and tripped over. He got a cut on his eyebrow that bled enough to need some attention.’

  ‘Did it need stitching?’

  ‘No, no...nothing like that. Euan just used a couple of those wound closure strips but the bleeding had already stopped by then. I wouldn’t even be telling you but Ollie just wanted to tell you about it when you weren’t busy. I think he got a bit of a fright, that’s all. He needs his dad to tell him how brave he was.’

  Jenna wasn’t deliberately eavesdropping. She couldn’t even hear the other end of the conversation that clearly but she caught the word ‘Dad’ and there was no mistaking the bell-like tones of the young child that started speaking then.

  ‘Daddy? I fell over and hurt my head.’

  ‘I know, buddy.’ There was a note in Mitch’s voice that Jenna had never heard before. ‘But Grandy told me how brave you were. I’m really, really proud of you.’ He was speaking quietly but the sound was as comforting as a hug. The sound of pure love.

  Jenna knew that tone so, so well. The sound of a parent speaking to their child and it cut into a place in her heart with such unexpected sharpness she actually caught her breath and had to blink back a sting behind her eyes that could have become tears. She was perfectly in control by the time Mitch finished his call only a short time later.

  She was also hurt.

  Disappointed.

  And angry. It felt like she had been deceived. Lured into a new hope that her life could include a fairy-tale new direction that provided companionship and love and...and a passion she’d never expected to find again and now it was being taken away from her. Or rather, she had to get rid of it.

  As fast as possible.

  Her tone, when she spoke, couldn’t have been more the opposite to that warmth with which Mitch had been talking to his son.

  ‘So...’ Jenna didn’t look up from the clipboard on her lap where she had been filling in some paperwork. ‘You’ve got a son?’

  ‘Yeah...’ She could hear Mitch take in a slow breath. ‘His name’s Ollie. He’s four.’

  As if this new information wasn’t devastating enough, Jenna was aware of another alarm sounding.

  ‘And Ollie’s mother?’ She glanced sideways, only to find that Mitch was staring straight ahead through the rain-streaked windscreen. ‘Do you think it might be time to admit that you’re married as well?’

  ‘God, no...’ His gaze swerved to meet hers. ‘Ollie’s mother died a couple of days after he was born. Good grief...’ Mitch pushed his fingers through his hair. ‘Do you really think I’d would have gone to bed with you if I was married? That I would cheat on someone?’

  Jenna shrugged, looking away. She didn’t want to see that shock in his eyes. To see that he might have reason to feel hurt himself. ‘You didn’t tell me you had a kid.’

  ‘No.’

  The agreement was a single word that fell into a silence. One that Jenna wasn’t about to break because she knew she might say something she would later regret. Or maybe she didn’t want Mitch to know how hurt she was. Or that she had even been dreaming of their ‘arrangement’ growing into something a whole heap more meaningful. At least, this way, she could get out of this with some dignity still intact.

  She should start the car and get them back to the station as quickly as possible. That way she could get out of this vehicle and wouldn’t have to be this physically close to him because that was becoming harder as the minutes ticked on. She was never going to get really close to this man again, was she? She was never going to be kissed by him again. Or feel that incredible touch...

  She was reaching for the key when Mitch broke the silence and her fingers turned into a fist and dropped back to her side.

  ‘I didn’t tell you because I knew how you felt about kids. I thought it would put you off having anything to do with me.’

  ‘You got something right, at least.’ Jenna’s tone was clipped. Icy. ‘If I’d known, I’d never have...’

  Her words trailed off because it was all too easy to sense that her response was surprising Mitch. Disappointing him? Was he also starting to feel angry, perhaps?

  ‘What—invited me to come out on a shift with you? To get professional experience? You only did that because you fancied some sex?’

  ‘No...of course not.’ Jenna was appalled.

  ‘So what possible difference could it have made that I was a father?’

  The suggestion that she’d offered him the opportunity to work with her in exchange for sex was beyond offensive. And, okay, she wasn’t the only one angry, here, but that accusation hurt.

  Of course it wouldn’t have made any difference that someone she had a professional relationship with was a father. But getting close enough to have sex with anyone had been a very big deal. Something she’d believed had been significant for both of them. Was it really only a matter of minutes ago that she’d been so certain she wasn’t the only one who’d thought it could grow into something more? He’d known how she felt about including children in her life so, yeah...he should have been more honest. She wasn’t the one who’d lied by omission.

  This was her own fault, however, because she’d allowed herself to start dreaming of a potential future. She’d set herself up for getting hurt and, for heaven’s sake, that had been the one thing she’d vowed never to do ever again.

  ‘I made a mistake,’ she said aloud. ‘A big mistake...’

  ‘You and me both.’

  The anger crackled in the air between them. The sooner they could get back to station, the better. Presumably, Mitch would choose to cut this shift short at that point and go home. It was quite likely that Jenna would never see him again.

  Good, she thought. She could do without this kind of angst in her life.

  As if it was an extension of the atmosphere within the vehicle, the radio crackled into life.

  ‘Control to Rapid Response One. Are you receiving?’

  ‘Receiving.’ Jenna had the microphone in her hand instantly. ‘Go ahead, Control.’

  ‘Please proceed to four-three-three Anderso
ns Road, towards Fairleigh. Details coming through now. Code Blue, thanks. Collapsed person—not breathing.’

  Jenna started the engine. The windscreen wipers sprang back to life and cleared the windscreen as both she and Mitch reached to fasten their seatbelts. The priority call they were being dispatched to was in the opposite direction to the station so it would appear that they had at least one more job they were going to have to work on together. It didn’t matter how upsetting their interaction had just been, they were both going to have to forget it completely and think about the patient they were heading towards.

  Hearing the wail of the siren made it easy because it was an automatic switch in Jenna’s brain that allowed her to dismiss anything personal that could affect her ability as a paramedic.

  Maybe Mitch had learned the same lesson during his time as an emergency department consultant. Not that it mattered. He might not have found their conversation anywhere near as disturbing as she had but if anything emotional did affect his work he could go back to the vehicle and stay there for the duration of the call-out, couldn’t he?

  This was Jenna’s vehicle.

  Jenna’s rules.

  CHAPTER SIX

  SOMETHING FELT OFF about this job.

  It wasn’t simply due to the exchange that had clearly ended whatever personal stuff had been going on between him and Jenna. This was something that was sounding an instinctive, professional alarm at the back of Mitch’s mind. Something that was making the hairs on the back of his neck prickle as they stood up.

  It was an ordinary enough looking house up a long, tree-lined drive. There hadn’t been anyone waiting anxiously outside for help to arrive, to direct them to where they were needed, but that wasn’t surprising either because the call had warned them that someone wasn’t breathing. The person who’d called for the emergency services might be inside the house, as the only person available to perform CPR.

  Neither Mitch nor Jenna were giving a single moment’s thought to any personal tension between them as they loaded themselves with the gear they’d need to deal with a respiratory or cardiac arrest. The defibrillator, the pack with the IV gear, airway kit and all the drugs they might need, an oxygen cylinder and a suction unit. Both the driveway and the area outside the house had a patchy layer of pebbles and the rain was turning bare ground into mud which Mitch was trying to avoid getting onto his boots. Not that it really mattered—any relatives of someone who needed resuscitation were unlikely to complain about mud being tracked into a house by the people who were arriving to help.

  ‘Ambulance,’ Jenna called out as she opened the front door following a sharp rap.

  There was no response to the call and they stepped inside to find an eerie silence in the house. That was when Mitch knew something wasn’t right. Jenna obviously felt it as well because she paused before going any further into the dark hallway.

  ‘I’ll go first,’ she murmured, her voice low enough not to be overheard. ‘I’m not sure I like this.’

  ‘Same.’ Mitch nodded. He reached for a light switch. ‘Being this dark in here’s not helping.’

  ‘Keep doors open and an escape route in mind at all times,’ Jenna continued whispering. ‘And hold that pack in front of you. If you need to, throw it at someone to give you a bit more time to get out.’

  But there was no one presenting any kind of threat in the first room they looked into. Or in any of the other rooms that opened off this hallway until they came to a living area at the end. There didn’t appear to be anyone in here, either. No one standing, anyway. There was a figure on the floor. A large man was face down and unmoving amongst overturned chairs. A broken plate and spilled food lay beside him on the floor and another half-eaten meal on the table looked as if it had been interrupted some time ago.

  Jenna didn’t rush in to check on the collapsed person, however. She was looking around. Doors from this room opened into what looked like a kitchen and a back door to the house was open. Rain had puddled onto a tiled floor and, as Mitch followed her gaze, the wind caught the door which made it bang shut and then bounce open again.

  ‘Stay by the door,’ Jenna told Mitch. ‘Keep an eye out for anyone coming in through the front.’

  She walked slowly towards the prone male figure. With gloved fingers she felt the side of his neck and for what seemed like a long, long moment, she was completely still. She lifted her gaze to meet Mitch’s and gave her head a small shake. Then she reached for her radio with her other hand. It was then that Mitch noticed the blood on the hand she’d used to feel for a pulse and he could see the shadow of the dark stain on the carpet beside the man’s head.

  ‘Rapid Response One to Control. Are you receiving?’

  ‘Receiving loud and clear. Go ahead.’

  ‘We have a situation at four-three-three Andersons Road. Code zero male.’

  Mitch knew that the code zero was used as a status for a deceased person. He assumed that Jenna was quite sure that he had been deceased for enough time to make an attempt to resuscitate him futile. She used another code he wasn’t familiar with and he wondered if that was to indicate that the circumstances looked more than a little suspicious. Just as he wondered if a person responsible for this death might have been the one who’d made the call to the emergency services, something to one side of the room caught his attention. Someone was outside, looking through the window, but they were already rapidly moving out of sight as Mitch looked up.

  ‘Someone’s outside,’ he warned Jenna.

  ‘We’re not alone on scene,’ Jenna informed the person in the control centre. ‘We require police back-up. Stat.’

  ‘Roger that.’ The radio fell silent for a few moments, as though the call taker was busy activating other calls. Jenna was on her feet as it crackled back to life.

  ‘Return to your vehicle if it’s safe to do so. Don’t touch anything and don’t leave the scene. Back-up will be with you as soon as possible.’

  ‘Roger that.’

  Mitch waited for instruction from Jenna before he moved.

  ‘Try and keep to the same track we used coming in here,’ she told him quietly. ‘If this is a homicide, forensics will be all over this and we don’t want to have interfered with any more evidence than we might have already.’ She way she shook her head showed Mitch she was less than happy. ‘I’ve heard about cases like this. We could be stuck here for hours.’

  * * *

  The wheels of the car hadn’t sunk into the layer of mud at the top of the driveway but they might as well have been buried up to their rims.

  They were stuck.

  The property in Andersons Road had ghost-like figures everywhere. Forensic investigators wearing disposable white overalls with hoods, masks, gloves and shoe covers were coming and going from the house and working outside in the rain, trying to collect evidence before it got destroyed by weather conditions or movements of people or vehicles.

  Mitch and Jenna couldn’t drive away. They were waiting for their fingerprints to be taken so they could be excluded from prints that would be taken inside the house and currently they had only socks on their feet because their boots had been borrowed to record the kind of tracks they may have made going into or coming out of the house, where it had been confirmed that a murder had taken place some hours ago.

  Listening to the chatter of emergency services radio transmissions only made it more frustrating that a rapid response vehicle had been taken off the road and its crew stood down for the rest of this shift. There was no indication of when they might be allowed to leave and it already felt like far too long, thanks to the fact that Jenna and Mitch were barely talking to each other.

  Any distraction had been effectively diluted and the silence inside this vehicle was loaded with all the angst of the conversation they’d been having when the call to this incident had happened.

  Mitch was still feeling that edge of a
nger. With himself as much as with Jenna. How had he allowed himself to think it was okay to simply ignore the existence of his own son just because he’d found a woman he was so attracted to? He’d already known that Jenna’s attitude towards children meant that she would never be someone he would want to have involved in his day-to-day personal life but what had happened between them had felt significant in its own way. And she’d dismissed it as being a ‘big mistake’? That stung.

  But it wasn’t entirely Jenna’s fault, was it?

  He’d known he was being less than completely honest and he hadn’t liked that, either. A sideways glance showed him that Jenna was watching the forensic team at work but he knew she wasn’t happy. She’d rather be anywhere else than stuck in the small space of this vehicle with him. Not talking to each other wasn’t helping, either. It was, in fact, rather immature behaviour, come to think of it.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he found himself saying aloud—and meaning it. ‘I don’t like things being like this between us.’

  Jenna’s head turned swiftly. She looked almost relieved. ‘Neither do I,’ she said quietly. ‘It’s horrible.’

  ‘I should have been more honest with you.’

  Jenna didn’t say anything but Mitch had seen the flash of hurt in the instant before she dropped her gaze. It clearly needed a bit more than just an apology to fix an atmosphere he knew neither of them wanted to be sitting in for goodness only knew how much longer.

  ‘I didn’t expect you to offer me the chance to work with you like this,’ he continued. ‘And I certainly didn’t expect to be attracted to you like I was and...and to find that you felt the same way was... I don’t know...a kind of miracle. I didn’t stop to think about anything else.’

  He hadn’t been thinking of anything except how much he wanted to be physically close to Jenna. A closeness that was never likely to happen again, now.

  ‘I didn’t think that my home life was relevant to anything happening between me and you,’ he added. ‘It wasn’t as if we were dating. Or thinking about a serious relationship.’