“So all I have to do is say yes, and we can go to bed?” Here it was, Charlotte thought. Crunch time.
“Yes, Lizzie,” Charlotte replied. “That’s all you have to say.”
There was another metallic sound on the roof. Charlotte’s head whipped round to see what it was, and saw Claire standing next to the air-conditioning unit.
“You absolute fucking bitch,” Claire said, and despite the poor light, Charlotte could see the anger on her face. Lizzie laughed and took another couple of steps backwards, away from Charlotte.
“I think Claire’s hit the nail on the head there, Charlotte,” Lizzie said with a broad smile. “Don’t you?”
81
“Hey, Adams, wait up!”
Adams turned at the sound of Hannah’s voice. He had just left the emergency department and was about to walk home.
“What’s up, Hannah?” he said.
“Are you walking home?” she asked him as she shrugged her coat on. “You’ve not got your bike with you?”
“The front wheel’s buggered,” Adams replied, nodding back toward the department. “I nearly ended up in there the other day after going over a pothole. I was going to walk down to Watton Road and get a bus into the city.”
“Why not get the bus from the hospital?”
“I just fancied some fresh air.”
“I’ll walk with you if you want? I know mine’s a different bus, but they go from the same stop.”
“Yeah, okay,” Adams replied. “Why not?”
The two of them set off in the direction of the bus stop, walking in silence for a few moments. Adams didn’t mind Hannah walking with him, but he had hoped to be able to clear his head a bit.
“Tough shift then,” Hannah said a few moments later. “I heard your trauma call didn’t make it.”
“No, she didn’t. To be honest, I’m surprised she lasted as long as she did.”
“And the police are treating it as suspicious?”
“Yep,” Adams replied. “Second murder this week in Norwich as well.”
“Why do you think I’m walking with you?”
“Oh, I see,” he said with a grin. “So it’s not my company you’re after? You just don’t want to get murdered on the way home from work?” Hannah laughed in response.
“Well, not being murdered would be good. Having your company while I’m not being murdered is just an added bonus.”
“You’re full of shit, Hannah,” Adams said, grinning at her.
They both paused to cross the road and waited as a fire appliance roared past them, its blue lights highlighting the surrounding area. As it sped past, Adams saw the concentration on the faces of the firefighters through the window.
“Thank you, Adams, for that compliment,” Hannah said as they walked over the road and continued down the hill. “All I can say is, you’ve taught me well.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Adams replied. “You working tomorrow?”
“I’m on an early,” Hannah said. “More’s the pity. I bloody hate earlies.”
“They’re not my favourite shift either.”
“Are you on a late tomorrow?”
“Yep. So I was thinking I might just not set an alarm, wake up when I want to, have a leisurely breakfast.” Adams started chuckling. “That sort of thing.”
“You can go off people, you know?”
As they continued on to the bus stop, there were more blue lights in the distance. At the end of the road, a police car sped past, followed a few moments later by another fire engine.
“Looks like we left at the right time,” Hannah said.
“Probably an accident on the A11.”
A few hundred yards later, they reached the bus stop. Adams checked the timetable to see that his bus wasn’t for another twenty minutes or so, while Hannah’s would be here in a few moments. He looked at her to see her chewing her lip thoughtfully.
“Penny for your thoughts?” he asked her. She looked at him and gave him a lopsided smile.
“We could go for a drink?” Hannah replied. Adams paused for a moment before replying. They could go for a drink. They were both adults and there was nothing to stop them.
“We could,” he said hesitantly, “but it’s probably not a good idea. It didn’t end so well last time, did it?”
“You kissed me back, Adams,” Hannah replied, almost in a whisper. “Just for a few seconds, but you did. It was nice. More than nice.”
“I know. And you’re right, it was very nice indeed. You caught me by surprise.” Adams paused for a few seconds before continuing. “I shouldn’t have done. I really like you, Hannah. Going for a drink together would be a terrible idea.”
“Sometimes the worst ideas end up being the best ones,” Hannah replied with a grin, twirling a strand of her blonde hair through her fingers. “Besides, at least I know I’m the girl of your dreams.”
“Only the smutty ones,” Adams said, returning her smile.
“But you’re right.” Hannah laughed. “Going for a drink would only end up badly.”
“Don’t ask, don’t get,” Adams said with a grin. Hannah looked at him in the orange light of the streetlamps, and Adams knew all he needed to do was to step forward and that would be that.
“There’s something about you, Adams,” Hannah said a moment later, perhaps realising that Adams wasn’t going to do anything. “I don’t know what it is.”
“Is it my rugged good looks and razor-sharp wit?”
“Now who’s full of shit?”
“Ha ha,” Adams replied. “So people keep telling me. This one’s yours, I think.” Hannah looked up at the double-decker bus that was making its way down the road toward them. “The top seats are free, so you can sit up there and pretend you’re driving.”
“I’ll see you at handover tomorrow,” Hannah said. She looked as if she was about to say something else for a moment, but she didn’t.
“Sure, have a good evening.”
“You too.”
Adams waited until Hannah was on the bus. The driver waited for a while before setting off, engrossed in his phone. By the time he eventually pulled out into the road, Adams could see Hannah sitting on the top deck at the front, her hands out in front of her as if she had them on a steering wheel. He laughed as she turned to wave to him before the bus pulled away.
In the distance, Adams could hear a siren approaching. He turned to look down the road to see a red boxy vehicle with blue flashing lights on top. It wasn’t the quickest emergency vehicle he had seen, and he watched as it made its way past him. On the side, in large yellow letters, were the words MAJOR INCIDENT SUPPORT VEHICLE.
“That doesn’t look good,” he muttered under his breath. The smash must have been a bad one, and he considered making his way back to the emergency department. But they had his number if they needed him.
Adams slipped his phone out of his pocket, hoping that maybe Lizzie had texted him, but the screen was empty. He opened up his browser and navigated to the web page for the Eastern Daily News, but there was nothing on it about a smash on the A11, or anywhere else in the county. Adams thought for a moment and then googled the live feed for the Norfolk Fire Service. What he read made him gasp.
Ongoing Major Incident. Appliances from Carrow, Sprowston, and Earlham in attendance at a major building fire on the Norwich Research Park. HAZMAT team in attendance. Appliances en route from Great Yarmouth, Thetford, and Dereham.
“Bloody hell,” Adams said before looking in the direction the fire vehicles had gone. He was half expecting to see flames in the distance.
82
“Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!” Lizzie laughed at the expression on Claire’s face as she tried her best to swallow the entire glass of palm wine in one go. Around the kitchen table in the White House, Obi, Jack, and Divya were thumping their fists on the table to encourage her, while Isobel looked on with an expression of mild amusement.
Claire finished the glass and placed it on her head in triumph to the ap
plause of the others. She hiccoughed and made a face.
“Get back,” Lizzie said with a laugh. “She might blow!” From the expression on Claire’s face, Lizzie was only half joking. The others laughed and started clapping their hands.
“Right then, Lizzie,” Claire said, pointing at her. “Your turn.”
“I’m not necking it,” Lizzie replied with a laugh. “You lost the race, remember?” Claire pointed an accusatory finger at Divya.
“Only because she cheated,” she said, a wide grin on her face.
“I didn’t cheat,” Divya countered. “You fell over my outstretched leg.”
Lizzie listened as the two of them traded good-natured insults for a while before slipping away to call her mother. A while later, having reassured her mum that yes, she was fine, yes, she was eating enough and no, she’d not caught malaria, Lizzie returned to the kitchen. She must have been gone for longer than she had realised, as by the time she returned, there wasn’t much palm wine left. Only Claire, Isobel, and Divya were left in the kitchen.
“Where’re the boys?” Lizzie asked Divya, who nodded in the direction of the lounge. Lizzie stuck her head in the door and saw Obi and Jack sprawled in the lounge on the sofa, their eyes glazed over as the BBC news channel played to itself. “Oh dear,” Lizzie said as she laughed.
“I tried to get them to save you some, but they said you wouldn’t like it,” Claire said, but from the sound of her voice, she had helped them demolish it. “But wait! Wait!” Claire raised her hand in the air and stumbled to her feet. A few seconds later, she was brandishing some cloudy looking glass bottles with a dark liquid in them. “I’ve got something else.”
Both Divya and Isobel groaned as they watched Claire try to read what was on the label. Isobel got to her feet and pretended to yawn.
“I’ve had a lovely birthday weekend,” she said, her eyes twinkling, “but I think I’ll leave you youngsters to it.”
“Me too,” Divya said, also standing. “I mean, not about the youngsters or the birthday weekend, but I’m tired as well.”
“You two,” Claire said, pointing at them with one of the bottles, “are both lightweights. Lizzie?” The bottle was then pointed toward the table. “Sit.”
“Don’t you think you’ve had enough to drink, Claire,” Lizzie said with a smile as she sat at the table. Divya waved at Lizzie as she left the kitchen, hurrying after Isobel as if Claire was about to chase them.
“Nope,” Claire replied. “Don’t tell the others, but I’ve not actually had that much. It tastes like piss.” Laughing, she pretended to try again to focus on the label on the bottle. “Now this, however, this is Bitter Kola.”
“Is it alcoholic?” Lizzie asked. Claire put two glasses on the table and twisted the top off the bottle.
“Hopefully very,” she said as she filled one of the glasses. “According to the blurb, this herbal bitter restores appetite, increase potency in men, cures piles and joint pains.”
“Thank goodness for that,” Lizzie said, grinning as she picked up the glass. She waited until Claire had filled hers and they both raised their glasses. “Cheers,” Lizzie said before clinking her glass off Claire’s and taking a sip of the syrupy liquid.
“My word,” Claire said a moment later. “That really is rancid, isn’t it?”
“It’s not good,” Lizzie replied with a laugh. She put the glass down and stood up before crossing to the fridge. Hidden in the back, behind a large collection of water bottles, was a bottle of Pinot Grigio that she’d asked Jojo to buy for her a few nights previously. “How about this instead?”
“Hey, now you’re talking,” Claire replied with a broad smile. It took her no time at all to empty and rinse the glasses so that Lizzie could fill them back up. The two women clinked glasses again and sat in a companionable silence for a few moments.
“Should we put those two to bed?” Claire asked, nodding in the direction of the lounge.
“Er, no thanks,” Lizzie replied. “Unless you fancy taking Jack’s socks off for him?”
“I’d rather not,” Claire laughed. “I’m sure they’ll find their way to bed at some point. Jack’s quite sweet though, isn’t he?”
“How d’you mean?”
“You’ve seen the way he follows Obi around, agreeing with everything he says?” Claire said as she sipped her wine.
“I did notice, yes,” Lizzie replied. “It’s like Obi’s his big brother or something like that. It’s probably good for both of them.”
Lizzie refilled their glasses, even though they were only half empty.
“Are you trying to get me pissed?” Claire asked.
“That sounds like something Charlotte would say,” Lizzie replied, immediately regretting it. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.” Claire didn’t reply, or even look at Lizzie. She just sat in silence, staring at her glass. “Are you okay, Claire?” Lizzie asked after an awkward moment or two. Claire took a deep breath before replying.
“We should have thrown her off the fucking roof earlier,” she said, and then turned to Lizzie with a grin. “Shouldn’t we?”
“Um, probably wouldn’t have been a good idea,” Lizzie replied.
“You were right, though.”
“How so?”
“What she said to you on the roof,” Claire said with a sigh, “was pretty much exactly what she said to me.” She raised her voice an octave and did a passable impression of Charlotte. “I can set you free. I can give pleasure like you’ve never known.” Lizzie let a moment pass before answering.
“Did she?”
The way Claire’s cheeks flushed at the question told Lizzie the answer to that question.
“I was so nervous the first time it happened,” Claire replied in a whisper. “But Charlotte was so attentive. Determined that I, um, you know. Enjoy it.” She took a sip of her wine. “And I did, eventually. It was so, I don’t know, different to anything I’d experienced before.” Lizzie watched as a frown appeared on her forehead.
“There’s a but coming, isn’t there?” Lizzie asked her.
“Oh, yes,” Claire replied. “A big one. The only pleasure that Charlotte’s really interested in is her own, and she can only get that when she’s hurting people.” Her frown deepened. “She made me do things I didn’t really want to do. Did things to me that I didn’t want her to do, like I was doing her a huge favour by letting her do them.”
“I think you were right earlier, Claire,” Lizzie said as sipped from her glass.
“How do you mean?”
“Maybe we should have thrown her off that roof?” Lizzie replied with a smile.
83
Eleanor opened the door to the Airbnb, sighing with relief when she saw Liam on the doorstep. He had a Sainsbury’s carrier bag in each hand and was looking concerned.
“Hey, Liam. Come in,” Eleanor said as she stepped back to let him through the door.
“I brought supplies,” Liam said, raising the bags.
They walked through to the kitchen of the small apartment and Liam started bustling around, putting food in the cupboards. Eleanor rummaged through one of the bags until she found the small white box she was looking for. She popped two co-codamol tablets out of their blister pack and went to the tap to get some water. The paracetamol she’d taken earlier hadn’t touched her headache, so she’d texted Liam to get him to buy something stronger while he was in the supermarket.
“How’s the head?” Liam asked her.
“Worse than any hangover I’ve ever had,” Eleanor replied as she swallowed the tablets, washing them down with a glass of water. “But without the benefit of a skinful the night before.” She smiled at Liam, not wanting to tell him just how crap she felt. It wasn’t just the blinding headache. Her joints were aching, and she felt feverish.
“You look like shit, if you don’t mind me saying so,” Liam said, not returning her smile. “You sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine,” Eleanor replied, waving a hand at him dismissive
ly. “Just a touch of the flu or something.” The fact it had come on only a few days after visiting Laboratory B wasn’t lost on Eleanor. She had been given both coronavirus jabs, as had Liam, but maybe the institute was doing some research on another flu virus?
A sudden wave of dizziness swept over Eleanor. She reached out to grab the back of one of the chairs in the kitchen and eased herself into it with a groan.
“Are you sure you’re okay, sis?” Liam asked, looking at her with concern. “Maybe some breakfast would help?”
“No, I’m good, thanks,” Eleanor replied. The thought of eating anything just turned her stomach. “I think I’m going to go and lie down for a bit and wait for the co-codamol to kick in.”
Eleanor made her way slowly to the bedroom, where the sheets on her bed were still tangled and soaked with perspiration from the previous night. She slipped under them and was asleep almost before her head hit the pillow.
When Eleanor woke up, she had no idea how long she had slept for. Her mouth felt like sandpaper, and she kept her eyes closed while the room spun around her. It felt as if the whole bedroom was spinning and jolting. There was a fresh breeze blowing across her face. Liam must have left a window open, but when she put her hand to her face to wipe her lips, there was something in the way.
“Just relax, pet,” a male voice said. It wasn’t Liam. She tried to open her eyes but struggled to force them open. When she did, there was a man leaning over her whom she didn’t recognise. He was wearing a green shirt with blue epaulettes and adjusting an oxygen mask on her face. “We’re just taking you to the hospital to get you checked out.” He said something else, but Eleanor didn’t hear him. The last thing she remembered was the sound of ambulance sirens in the distance.
The jolt of the trolley being unloaded from the ambulance brought Eleanor back to reality. She flicked her eyes open again, determined to keep them open this time, and watched as a ceiling passed over her head. There were signs hanging from the ceiling, but from the angle she was lying, she wasn’t able to read them. Eleanor tried to sit up, but there were restraining belts across her chest and thighs. They passed through a doorway, and she could hear voices talking. There was the man from the ambulance and a woman. Eleanor heard her name being mentioned, and a few moments later, she was transferred onto a much more comfortable trolley. The sheets were cool, almost freezing cold on her skin, and she shivered involuntarily.
Enemy Within: A heart-wrenching medical mystery (British Military Thriller Series Book 3) Page 31