Diamonds Forever (Diamond Trilogy 3) - Page 100

‘We don’t even know if this is the place,’ Jenna pointed out. ‘This could be a completely different house and that beaten-up guy might be nothing to do with anything.’

But if so, it would have to be one of the most eventful nights in the entire history of the old Mansfield road, thought Jenna ruefully. And the policeman had said there was a report of shots fired at this address. Her stomach flipped again at the thought.

‘Was he shot?’ she called over to one of the paramedics, who shook her head.

‘No, why?’

So it wasn’t him the shots had been fired at – unless they’d missed him, of course. Or was he the gunman, overpowered in a struggle and relieved of his weapon, which discharged in the struggle? Oh, there was no point trying to brew theories. Nothing could be known until the man came round.

Parker was a little calmer now, though she was shivering badly.

‘I’ve got a blanket in the car – do you want it?’ said Jenna. ‘I’ll go and get it. You need to keep warm. You’re in shock.’

Parker said nothing but, ‘Oh God,’ so Jenna headed off to the car, passing the unconscious man as he was stretchered into the ambulance.

Her hand was on the handle of the car door when she caught movement at the foot of the drive from the corner of her eye. A car had made as if to pull in, then the driver obviously thought better of it, backing away again.

It was Harville.

Nobody else had seen him, all too deeply involved in their work, but she was sure of it. Was Deano in the car with him? Or was he in the boot, being taken to some other hiding place? Whatever was going on, the idea of Harville getting away and never being seen again filled her with sudden and potent rage.

Forgetting the blanket, she jumped into her car and began to manoeuvre her way out of her parking spot.

‘Oi!’ shouted a policewoman, seeing what she was doing. ‘You can’t just go!’

But she could. And she did.

Police Constable Ricky Jefferson stood in the open back doorway, taking a moment to acclimatise to the stinging in his eyes and the sudden drying up of his throat. A thick pall of smoke made the scene difficult to discern, but he thought the fire was mainly confined to the rooms at the front of the house. If anyone was in there, they stood little chance of getting out.

He was just preparing to head inside and search the kitchen and back rooms when a coughing figure emerged from the grey cloud and doubled over in front of him.

‘Come on out,’ he said, taking her arm and yanking her into the safety of the back yard.

‘They’re in the basement,’ she said hoarsely, between more racking coughs. ‘Locked in. You’ve got to help them.’

‘You what? There are people locked in the basement? How many?’

‘I don’t know. Three, I think, but could be more.’

Ricky spoke urgently into his walkie-talkie, then ran around the side to appeal to his colleagues for help.

‘We’ve got three people trapped in a basement. Get us a battering ram out of the boot, will you?’

His female colleague was forthcoming with the apparatus they used for early morning drug raids. The paramedics provided face masks, and they hurried away to the back of the house.

‘Hurry up, fire brigade,’ muttered the female officer.

A third officer, recently arrived, took Mia aside when it looked as if s

he planned to follow them.

‘Steady on, love,’ he said in comfortable, avuncular tones. ‘You look like you could do with checking over by our friends in the ambulance. You’ve breathed in a bit of smoke by the looks of you.’

‘I’m fine,’ rasped Mia, but she let the officer take her over to the ambulance all the same, looking anxiously back at the house every couple of seconds. ‘It’s them I’m worried about.’

‘Who’s in there?’ asked the policeman.

‘My mate Jason,’ she said. ‘And my mate Kayley. Oh, and Deano Diamond.’

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