‘Sorry to interrupt, Mrs Galena, but we are ready to take your officer to theatre.’ The doctor, yet another who had attended Hannah, gave her an exhausted smile. ‘Touch and go, but he’s much more stable now, and we’d rather not wait too long. We can’t afford an internal bleed, but as long as his vital signs stay as they are he’s got a really good chance of pulling through. You can wait with him until they take him up, if you like.’

‘Try and stop me.’ Nikki grinned at Dave, who immediately passed on the good news to their colleagues.

At the door, she faltered, her legs suddenly unable to carry her into the room. What if he didn’t make it? What if there was another bleed? What if he finished up like…?

‘So where’s the grapes?’ Joseph’s voice might have been weak and raspy, but it broke the binding spell.

‘Still on Tesco’s shelf, Sergeant. Sorry, I’ve been busy chasing villains.’

‘Was it my imagination, or did you really call that masked thug “a little shit-bag”?’

‘Fucking little shit-bag, actually.’

‘Oh, good.’

Nikki was suddenly overcome with relief and almost ran to his side. ‘How are you feeling, you great—’

‘I feel like I’ve been stabbed, and idiot is the word, isn’t it?’

He reached for her hand, and she took it gladly. ‘Idiot will do, until I get you back into the CID room. By then, I’ll have had time to think of a few more appropriate ones.’

Joseph’s expression changed. ‘I’m so sorry, ma’am. I put us both in danger.’ He looked thoroughly miserable. ‘I can’t imagine why I believed her! My instincts have never let me down before. In all my years as a soldier …’ his words seem to dry up.

‘Maybe, finally, you are not that soldier any more. That soldier you so desperately wanted to leave behind? Perhaps you are one hundred per cent policeman now, and it’s a very different job. We are fighting a different sort of enemy, Joseph, and it’s not straightforward. We make mistakes, believe me!’

‘Maybe.’ He closed his eyes, then everything seemed to flood back to him. ‘Ma’am! Was it the right ship? Did they seize the drugs? Did they get the gang?’

‘Whoa! Relax! You must stay calm, Joseph! Yes, it’s the right ship. But the operation can’t begin until the cargo is unloaded. They have to catch the villains taking possession of the consignment. The Super says everything is in place, and our rat-faced friends are waiting in the freight office, paperwork in hand.’

‘Including Frankie Doyle? She was the woman who stabbed me, wasn’t she?’

‘Yes, Joseph, she’s there, and they’ll catch her. Then she’ll suffer for what she’s done, I promise you.’

Joseph closed his eyes again. ‘Promise me something else?’