Tuesday's Child (11 page)

She slid the phone back into her pocket and looked around for Nate. He stood in the doorway talking to one of the other officers. Adeline watched his face. “...tea and then I’ll talk to her. No, I’ll do it. She was right next to Mrs. Williams when she was shot. Get Dane to ring Jas and ask her to…” He turned away and she couldn’t see any more.

Tears filled her eyes, and she looked down at Ben. He licked her hand and wagged his tail. He always knew when she was upset and tried to cheer her up. “I know, buddy,” she told him. “Me too.” She was caught in some kind of a nightmare. The phone in her pocket vibrated and she pulled it out. The caller ID read Jasmine. She answered. “Hey, Jas.”

She read the reply. “What’s going on? The news is chaotic. They’re saying the Prime Minister is critical.”

“Yeah. I was right next to her. I caught her when she fell.”

“What? Are you hurt? Where are you?”

“I’m at the police station with Nate. Dane’s around somewhere—” She broke off seeing blood on her hands.

Shaking hard, she looked down at herself. Blood lay thick and heavy over her white coat. The Prime Minister’s blood. She dropped the phone, nausea rising. A strangled cry rose up and out before she could stop it. Trembling fingers tried to undo the coat buttons, but failed.

Ben nudged her leg. Black shoes appeared on the edge of her field of vision. Strong hands covered hers, helping her. She glanced up into Nate’s concerned face. He undid her coat and pulled it off. She cried out in pain as her arm moved awkwardly.

“Take a couple of deep breaths. We’ll need the coat for now. I’ll get a doc in here to check you over, then you can go and clean up before we take your statement.”

Adeline nodded slightly. Her skirt was stained, too. “I dropped my phone.”

He picked it up and handed it to her. “There you go.”

“Thank you. I should get back to work.” There was something she needed to tell him, something important, but what was it?

“You can’t leave until you’ve given a statement. Things are a little hectic right now, but...” he turned away, and Adeline lost the rest of what he said.

She closed her eyes, trying to stop shaking.
I wish I knew what was happening out there. Is she dead? How much chaos is there? Let them catch the guy quickly
.

Was it too much of a coincidence that the guy who’d bought the doll in to be mended, had vanished into a building in the same direction the shots came from? She scrolled through the photos on her phone. There was the man and there was the building. That was it. Him.

She almost dropped the handset again as she twisted around. “Nate?”

Nate turned back to her. “Yes?”

“I’ve seen him before. He came into the shop. And then he went into this building right before the shooting. I took his photo.”

He moved swiftly over to her and took the phone. “This man here?”

Adeline nodded. “Yes. That’s what I was trying to tell you before all this happened.”

“I’ll be back. Don’t you go anywhere. I need to keep this as evidence for now. You’ll get it back.”

“I need my phone to talk to people. It’s got particular software on it. I can’t just use any old phone.”

“You’ll get it back or we’ll give you a replacement.” He strode rapidly over to the door.

Despite the situation, for a moment, she found herself admiring his authoritative stance. Then frustration at having her means of communicating long distance taken away set back in.

Adeline glanced down at Ben and sighed. Maybe she said the wrong thing again. Her hands were sticky with blood and she longed to go and wash them.

A hand dropped on her shoulder and she jumped. “Oh…”

“Hi, I’m Dr. Chandler. I’m the police surgeon. I didn’t mean to startle you.” The woman was blonde and her eyes carried her smile behind the glasses. “I need to check you over.”

Her arm hurt like the blazes, but in the grand scheme of things, it just didn’t matter. “I’m fine. Just need to clean up.”

Dr. Chandler took her hands, causing her to gasp in pain, and started to examine them. “...samples...”

“I can’t hear you,” Adeline said. “I’m deaf. If you look at me when you speak, I can lip read.”

The blonde woman frowned. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize. I said I’ll need to take samples of the blood from your hands and under your nails. But that gasp of pain tells me you’re not fine. Where does it hurt?”

“My arm’s a little sore from where I fell, but that’s not important, right now. How’s the Prime Minister?”

“She didn’t make it.”

Shock resonated through Adeline, setting every nerve on edge. She swallowed hard, bile rising as if someone had thumped her hard in the stomach. Thinking and guessing that was the outcome, was vastly different to seeing it spoken. She closed her eyes, blocking herself off completely from the world. The silence surrounding her became a blessing.

She couldn’t be dead. They needed her, with the fragile state the country was in at the moment. She was the only woman who could unite the country and lead them out of the recession. She was their one hope and now she was gone.

They’d been working on her when Nate brought her here. She might have died in her arms.

Hot tears streamed down Adeline’s face, huge choking sobs welled up and out. Falling to her knees, she wrapped her arms around her stomach, rocking back and forth.

A wet nose nudged her arm a fraction before strong arms wrapped around her, the scent of mint and aftershave following it. A hand moved slowly over her back in an attempt to both comfort and console.
Nate…

Not opening her eyes, she took the comfort he offered.

After a few minutes, he tapped her shoulder, and she opened her eyes. She held his gaze, wanting him to tell her it wasn’t true. “Nate, she can’t be dead. They were working on her. She has to be all right.”

“I’m sorry, but it’s true. Mrs. Williams is dead. They just made the official announcement.” He took a deep breath. “Are you all right? The doc wanted to sedate you, but I intervened.”

“Thank you. I’m fine. I need to know if she…” She took a deep breath. “Did she die in my arms?”

Nate didn’t answer until she repeated her question. Then he nodded. “Yes. I’m sorry.”

A fresh wave of tears fell down her cheeks. The Prime Minister had given birth to her first child, a daughter, only a few weeks previously. This was her first official engagement on her return to work. She’d never get to hold the baby again or sing to her. And the baby would never know her mother.

“Let the doc check you over,” he said. “Jas is coming in with a change of clothes for you. We’ll need the ones you have on as evidence. Then, once we’ve taken a statement, I’ll drive you home.”

“All right.” Adeline took a deep shuddering breath, wanting to wipe her eyes, but not wanting to get blood on her face. She settled for wiping her sleeve over them and then looked at the doctor.

Dr. Chandler smiled. “This won’t take long. Sergeant, if you’ll excuse us please.”

He looked at her and nodded. “Sure. I’ll be right outside.”

Adeline gripped his arm tightly. “Stay.” She needed a familiar face, one friendly presence in the midst of the horror.

Nate turned to face the doctor for a long moment, then smiled at her. “Sure.” He sat next to her.

Dr. Chandler scrapped under Adeline’s nails while Adeline blinked hard and glanced at Nate. His lips moved in what was obviously a prayer. She prayed along with him. Once it was over and the doctor had left, Jasmine came into the room.

Her friend held out a bag. “I got you some clothes like Dane asked.” She dropped the bag and held out her arms.

“I don’t want to get blood on you.”

“Never mind about that. You need a hug.”

“Yes, I do.” Adeline hugged Jasmine tightly. “Thank you.”

Jasmine hugged her then pulled back. She gently ran a hand down Adeline’s face, before signing as she spoke. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

Adeline shrugged. She glanced at Nate and Dane standing on the other side of the room and signed her reply. She knew Nate could follow some of her signing now, but didn’t want to verbalize how she felt. “No, I’m not all right. Jas, Mrs. Williams died in my arms.”

Jasmine’s eyes widened as she replied rapidly in sign. “Seriously?”

“She stopped right by me, petted Ben, spoke to me. She had her picture taken with me and Ben. Then she got shot and landed on me. Jas, I was the last person to touch her, to speak to her.”

“I am so sorry, hon,” Jasmine signed and hugged her tightly. Then pulling back, she sighed. “Dane wants me to go, so he and Nate can interview you. I’ll go back to your house and put a casserole in the oven for you.”

Adeline shook her head. “Thank you, but I’m not hungry.”

“I know you’re not, but you still need to eat. I’m doing it. Call if you need me to come around later. Remember I love you.” She hugged her again and then headed out.

“Love you too,” Adeline called after her. She raised a hand in farewell and then looked down at the bag of clothes. “Can I go and change?”

Nate nodded “I’ll show you.”

“Thank you.” She followed him down the hallway.

Ten minutes later, she came out of the ladies room. Nate was leaning against the wall, waiting. She’d managed to wash off all of the blood, but longed for a hot shower. She could still feel it clinging to her. This must be how Lady Macbeth felt in the Shakespeare play.

“Feeling better?”

She nodded, resisting the temptation to ask him if he spent a lot of time hanging around outside the ladies. He looked well practiced at it, but then he
was
usually accompanied on trips by Vianne. Now just wasn’t the time for humor. “Yeah.”

“All right. Let’s go back to the interview room so we can take a statement.”

“Nate…first there is something you and Dane need to know. I tried telling you earlier, but everything was so chaotic. I’ve seen him before.”

He tilted his head. “Who?”

“The shooter. He came into the doll hospital this morning, but that’s not important. Nate, he’s the man from my nightmares. The one with the ponytail.”

Nate’s gaze turned to stone. “He’s what?”

“I think he’s the Herbalist.”

7

Adeline cradled the mug of steaming tea in both hands. Nate, Dane, and their commanding officer, DI Welsh, along with an MI5 officer whose name she didn’t remember, sat opposite her. She gazed down at her cup. Ben sat by her feet, his tail thudding against her leg. Long slender fingers moved under her field of vision and she slowly raised her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember anything else. It all happened so fast.”

Nate slid a picture over to her. “We took this from your phone. What can you tell us about this man?”

“He came into the doll hospital this morning. He had a broken doll with him, wanted me to mend it immediately.”

“What was wrong with the doll?”

“The arm had come off. It’s easy enough to reattach with the right tools. It took me five minutes. He was on edge the whole time.”

“Did he give you a name?”

Adeline let go of the cup, signing as she spoke. “No, we don’t need one as we don’t keep records for walk-ins. And he paid cash. I did him a receipt but he didn’t take it.” She jabbed a finger at the picture. “Actually, he over-paid, so the receipt is for what he gave me. He paced and watched out the window. I thought he must just be in a hurry. There was something about him and the way he kept looking at me. As if he could see straight through me, knew who I was.”

“Did you recognize him?”

“Not at first. Yes, he had a ponytail, but it was blond, not black, and a lot of guys do their hair like that these days. It was only after he left that I realized who the eyes reminded me of.”

“So you followed him?” Nate’s eyes bored into hers, signing the words he knew. “You didn’t think to call me or Dane, or just dial the station?”

She pushed the cup away, spilling hot tea over her hands. “No, you’re wrong. I tried calling you, but you didn’t answer. So, I sent a text, but you never replied. We assumed you were caught up on a case and would get back to me when you could. Then Jas suggested I take Ben for a walk and head to the memorial garden to see the Prime Minister and clear my head. She said that I might see you out there. I told her that you wouldn’t be doing street duty, but you were there.”

Her painful hands shook as she wiped them on her sleeves. “I’m not stupid. I wasn’t going to follow him on my own. If it is him…” She broke off. “Something I just remembered. There was a red light, like a laser.”

The MI5 guy raised his hand. “When?”

“Before the Prime Minister got shot. The light blinded me then slid to my chest as we posed for the photographers. Then the Prime Minister moved in front of me just as she got shot. The flash came from the building this man went in to.”

The four officers exchanged a long look. Then the MI5 officer turned back to her. “You’re sure the light hit you and not Mrs. Williams?”

“She was standing next to me, but the light was on me. I turned so it wouldn’t blind me.”

She buried her head in her hands, struggling with the grief and fear forcing its way through her. Tears filled her eyes, and she closed them, shutting herself off from everyone in the room. Her shoulders shook. Could she have been the target and not the Prime Minister? The thought was too stupid and hideous to contemplate. She had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Sudden images flooded her mind. The red sheen dropped and engulfed her.

A ponytail whipped around slapping her face, and a hand clamped over her mouth. The stench of garlic flooded her senses. She struggled to breathe, her hands rising to her throat, trying to push away the knife. Hot breath rasped against her ear, fingers traced the pulse point in her neck, before steel met skin in a final blow
.

“Noooooooo……”

Almost immediately, Nate vaulted the table, his arms going around her. She clung to him like an anchor in a storm. Dimly aware of the vibrations in his throat, she knew he was speaking, but wasn’t sure who to. It didn’t matter. The Herbalist had struck again, and they were no nearer to catching him.