Jem checked her watch as Steph headed for Paula’s cubicle: 7.35 p.m. Rosie should be home by now, if she had managed to bypass the myriad flooded roads around Hearts Cross, and Jem had a stack of missed calls to return. Reluctant to bump into Steph again, she pulled up the hood on her sweater and slipped out of the department via the ambulance entrance.

For once, the ambulance bay stood empty. Rain dripped from its canopy, washing away a thick pool of blood and swirling the fag ends into the gutter. Jem found a sheltered spot by the oxygen store and bit her thumbnail as Rosie’s phone flirted her straight to voice mail. She didn’t want to leave another message, and she was vacillating between trying again or giving up and going back to Paula when Rosie returned her call.

“Hello? Jem?” Rosie sounded as if she’d been running, and a door slammed, silencing the roar of the weather. “God, sorry, the wind caught it. I’ve only just got in. I thought I was going to miss you again.”

“It’s okay,” Jem said, the chaos of Rosie’s life wrapping around her like a comfort blanket. “I’m still at A&E with Paula, and I can’t get reception in her bay.”

“I heard, Steph told me the basics. Is Paula all right?”

“She will be. Her husband was in Newcastle on business, but he should be here before too long.”

“Good. You’ll need an early night.”

“Ah,” Jem said. “Steph told you I’d resumed for work, did she?”

“She did. You are thoroughly rumbled, Jemima.”

Jem closed her eyes. She had expected the call to be tense and awkward, not this sweet, instant familiarity that made her want to drive over to Rosie’s and pretend the last couple of days had never happened.

“I need to speak to you properly. To explain everything,” she said, determined to get the conversation back on track. She couldn’t indulge herself. It wasn’t fair to Rosie. “Will you be in tomorrow night?”

“Yes, around this time,” Rosie said, her tone matching the formality of Jem’s. “Do you want to come here?”

“That might be better. Ferg will be home around eight.”

“Okay.” Rosie hesitated. “Jem, take it easy tomorrow.”

“I will.”

“I mean it.”

“I know.” Jem looked up at the rain flashing in white lines across the security light. “Be careful out there.”

“You too,” Rosie said, and cut off the call.

Chapter Twenty