‘I’m glad it was him, then.’ She stroked his forehead; he had a few cuts and bruises, but nothing that wouldn’t heal over time. ‘Do you know why he was there, whose house it was?’

‘I have no idea. My head hurts,’ Adrian said, closing his eyes.

‘Should I get the doctor?’

‘I need to get out of here.’ He pulled the breathing tube off of his nose, pushed himself to a sitting position and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

‘Not until you’ve seen someone and they say you can go.’

‘I’m not hurt, I just need to get out of here. I hate hospitals.’

‘Just wait there,’ Imogen said.

She understood what it was like to be in the middle of an investigation that was running full pelt and then suddenly to be sitting on the sidelines for whatever reason: you just wanted to get back to work.

‘I’m fine, Imogen, help me get out of here.’ He pulled the drip out of his arm.

She had no choice but to help him, it was that or watching him do it and hurt himself. He was still shaken by what had happened with Finn Blackwell in that house. He was unusually cagey about it all. Not that they had had much of a chance to speak, but she could tell that he was holding something back. Imogen guessed that he would talk when he was ready.

‘I’ll tell the nurse we are leaving then,’ Imogen said.

‘Where’s the car?’

‘Where is it you think you’re going? You need to go home and get some rest.’

‘We need to get back to the station. I’m sure the DCI will want to ask me some questions about what happened. I can’t relax until I’ve been debriefed.’

‘Suit yourself,’ she said, rolling her eyes at the nurse who came rushing over as soon as she realised Adrian was trying to leave.

‘Sir, if you wait a few minutes, Dr Hadley will be here soon. She asked me to call when you woke up because she wanted to check on you.’

Imogen felt the unfamiliar pang of jealousy. Knowing that Adrian and this Dr Hadley had been out for a drink together made her feel strange. She had no idea why. Maybe it was because the woman was a doctor and Imogen was intimidated by that. She couldn’t worry about any of that now though. She had Adrian back and that was all that mattered. He was safe, and she could stop thinking the worst.

Chapter Fifty-Three

Adrian had crossed a line. Again. Maybe Gary had been right about him. The effects of the fire had worn off and Adrian’s cough was nothing but a tickle now. They had only recovered the one body in the fire, which meant that somehow Parker had got out. Adrian was glad of that. There was too much fire damage to find any evidence that didn’t corroborate Adrian’s story. The worst thing about it all was that he had lied to Imogen. He couldn’t tell her the truth, not after the last few weeks – that feeling of guilt he had was not for letting Parker go but for pulling Imogen into his mess. What was even worse was that she trusted him implicitly, she had told him as much on many occasions. In a way, he could justify it to himself by pretending he was doing it for her own good so that the investigation could be wrapped up into a neat little bow and no one would ask any questions.