Dead of Winter

Chapter 74

Nikki didn’t check her phone; it was on silent. She parked up in the hospital car park and stopped briefly at reception.

‘All ready for the operation at one, Mrs Morell?’ Ivy jumped at the sound of her voice. Ivy nodded. ‘Everything alright?’ She nodded again. She opened her mouth to say: ‘There are police officers here with a search warrant and they’re probably in your office right now’ but nothing came out and then it was too late because Nicola had passed her and was gone. Something told Ivy she’d done the right thing.

In the basement below them, Ebony left the room and doubled back along the corridor; she opened the first door on her left and heard the sound of a ventilator. She saw a young lad amidst a sea of tubes and machines that flickered and beeped. She crept nearer to look at his face. It was hard to tell whether it was Alex: his face was so bloated. She looked around the room and saw the Arsenal shirt on a chair. She backed out of the room and sent a text: Have found Alex.

Nikki walked down the corridor to the service lift at the end. She checked her phone on the way and saw a message from her father:

. . run, my darling, run. .