‘Yes, sir.’ Nell’s voice told them both what she thought, but Bremer was already in his office by the time the radio went dead. Carla sat for a second, staring at it. Nell wouldn’t go in, would she? Carla knew she wouldn’t put Paul in danger, or the uniforms waiting for her direction to enter, but would Nell risk it herself? Bremer’s voice shouted loudly from the office, directing armed response to get to the Grahams’ house. In five minutes it could all be over. If Nell could wait that long, she would be safe.

Nell had seen Eve sprint across the lawn, seen her give a short shout, her eyes fixated on the bedroom before disappearing inside. What had Eve noticed?

‘How long until armed response get here?’ she asked Paul.

‘Four minutes? Minimum,’ he added.

‘Shit.’ Four minutes was a long time. ‘So we just leave Joanne in there? That’s what Bremer is saying? We leave her alone with Eve?’

‘No, he’s saying we wait until we’re sure who’s in there, and until firearms can back us up.’ The tension in Paul’s tone overrode his reasonable words.

Nell jabbed her finger at the Graham house. ‘I know who’s in there.’

Paul hesitated. ‘Bremer is right,’ he said finally. ‘We can’t help Joanne if someone in there has a gun.’

‘But we don’t know there’s a gun. Carla just flagged up the fact the address might contain one.’ Nell was losing patience. She grabbed her stab vest.

‘I’m going in. You get there as soon as armed response arrives.’

‘Jesus, Nell, I’m not letting you go in on your own.’ He was already pulling on his stab vest before she caught his arm.

‘Constable, I’m telling you to stay by the radio. I need you to coordinate firearms when they arrive.’

Paul shook his head. ‘No way—’

‘Constable,’ she interrupted him, ‘that’s a lawful order.’

Paul stared at her. ‘That’s fucking low.’

Nell knew it stung to have her pull the superior-officer card – they were a team, equal despite the sergeants’ exam between them – but right now she didn’t care. She wasn’t going to risk his life just because she was risking her own. ‘I’ll see you in four minutes, OK?’

Paul’s look told her all the things he wanted to say, so he just nodded. ‘Stay safe, Jackson.’

The radio crackled. Bremer appeared at the door. ‘Carla?’

She looked up at him.

‘You OK?’ He looked concerned. The radio crackled again.

‘Control? Come in, Control?’ Paul’s voice came into the room and from Bremer’s expression, Carla knew his first thought was the same as her own – where was Nell?

Carla pressed the button. ‘Control here, go ahead.’

‘The suspect has been sighted. DS Jackson has gone in. Where is armed response?’