‘Right ho,’ said the officer, rolling his eyes, as if she’d namechecked Mickey Mouse.
‘No, I’m serious,’ she said, and then she could say no more, as a plastic oxygen mask was clamped over her face and she was encouraged to take deep breaths.
By the time she was allowed out of the ambulance, twitching with nerves about the fate of her friends and the two courageous police officers who’d gone in after them, the fire brigade were in situ, running around unravelling hoses.
She couldn’t hear much over the deep chug of the engine, but there was a lot of shouting and a fair bit of breaking glass going on.
She saw the paramedics – more of them now, as an extra ambulance was on the scene – rush past her towards the back of the house, and she made to follow them, but was prevented by the police.
‘No, love,’ said the older man she had spoken to before. ‘Let them do their job. How are you feeling now?’
‘Fine, honestly,’ she said. ‘It was just a bit of smoke. God, are they OK? I need to know …’
‘What were they doing in there?’
‘They were locked in … Harville did it … He must have set fire to the place before he left …’
‘You mean you think the place was deliberately set on fire? And he meant to kill them?’
‘I bet you any money. Oh God, where are they?’
Her question was answered when the police officers returned into view, supporting a limp figure between them.
‘Kayl!’ screamed Mia. ‘Kayley, are you all right?’
‘She’s unconscious,’ wheezed the policewoman. ‘’Scuse us.’
They dragged Kayley onwards to the ambulance, while a posse of firefighters ran around the back of the building to continue the evacuation.
Mia could do nothing but watch while the apparently lifeless forms of Jason and Deano were carried away to the ambulances and driven off.
‘Let me go with them,’ she begged tearfully, but the police officer shook his head sadly.
‘Sorry, love, but we’re going to need a proper statement from you before we can go any further.’
‘But they’re my …’
‘What? Are they members of your family?’
‘Mates,’ she finished.
‘If what you’ve told us is true, we need to find this Harville as quickly as possible. Then you’re free to go and visit your mates. All right?’
Mia nodded, crestfallen, and allowed herself to be led to the police car.
All Jenna knew was that Harville had driven away in the direction of Bledburn. It seemed a strange choice of destination when surely he ought to be hell-bent on getting the fuck out of Dodge, but perhaps he meant to take the ring road towards the Lincolnshire coast. Perhaps he had a getaway boat waiting for him. Or he just knew a place he could hide out in Grimsby or Scunthorpe. Or … but what was the point of trying to second guess Harville’s motivations? The man was a psychopath. He couldn’t be read by a normally functioning person.
If only I had Jason with me, she thought, glancing at the empty passenger seat. Where the hell was he? Why was everyone disappearing in dramatic circumstances today? She couldn’t even remember what they had rowed about and had to strain her mind to recall the photograph disaster that had led to the spat.
How distant, how insignificant it all seemed now. People getting overexcited about a flash of flesh. Big deal.
If God or any similar power could guarantee her the safety and well-being of those she loved – and yes, she had to include Deano in that group, despite everything – then the internet could be flooded with as many rude pictures of her as it wanted. She couldn’t care less any more.
‘You can have my career,’ she whispered. ‘Just let them be OK.’
It occurred to her that she was only engaging in this pointless chase so that she didn’t have to be there to see Deano brought out of the house. So she didn’t have to be there to see …
‘No, he’ll be OK, he’ll be OK,’ she said, following up with ‘Damn!’