Page 80

‘No. Shit.’ He raced across the road, struggling to keep up with his brother’s panicked pace.

Chapter Fourteen

‘Shit,’ Liv swore under her breath, trying to keep calm as she listened to the café customer. She wasn’t from Broclington, she was just visiting for Summer’s Christmas, but she seemed sure about what she was saying, and Liv had no reason to doubt she was being anything but honest. She’d been sat in the corner of the café, waiting for her husband and son, when the car had hit. She’d gotten away with only a few cuts from the breaking window, and had managed to move before the roof came down. But that wasn’t what had sent ice running through Liv’s veins: it was that there had been people at the table next to hers. Closer to where the car had hit, and café collapsed. They still had people trapped inside.

‘An older lady, she seemed friendly, and smiled at me. And what looked like her granddaughter. A sweet little girl who said hello to me. They were joined by another lady, with brown curly hair and a rainbow dress. That was why I remembered them, because I commented on the lady’s dress. And the little girl was so sweet in her fairy wings.’

‘Sorry, what?’ Liv could have sworn her heart skipped a beat or two. ‘What did you say the little girl was wearing?’

‘Sparkly wings. You know, like a butterfly or fairy.’

‘Oh no, please God no.’ She darted away and shot up the ladder and over the wall faster than she could think. ‘Please, please no.’

She peered around the car park wildly, before running up to one of the firemen. ‘Stand back please, Miss.’

‘I’m Dr Emery. I’ve been helping with the injured round the back.’

‘Right, they’re our next priority,’ he reassured her. ‘But you’ve got paramedics with you, right?’

‘Yes, but that’s not the problem,’ Liv tried to explain. ‘We’ve got confirmation there are people still inside. Or, at least there were. I’m really hoping they came out this way.’ She scanned the crowd hopefully.

‘I don’t think anyone has. We’ve not been able to get in yet. We had to get our patient out the vehicle, and we’ve got structural engineers on the way in. We want their view before we move the car. How sure are you about people being in there?’

‘Pretty certain.’

‘Do you know who they are?’

‘We think so, yes.’ Liv thought the woman in the rainbow dress with curly hair was Angela, and she was pretty sure it would have been her mum, Cathy Turner, looking after Sarah. And she knew, deep in her darkest fears, that Sarah was the little girl described.

‘Have you tried calling them?’

‘Idiot. No, I haven’t.’ She shook her head at her stupidity while reaching for her phone. ‘No, Angela’s not answering. It’s just ringing.’ She scrolled rapidly through her phone, before looking around and shouting. ‘Anyone got Cathy Turner’s phone number?’

‘She’s not answering either. Straight to voicemail.’ Jake ran up to them.

‘Are they in there?’ Callum grabbed her hands. ‘Please tell me they’re not in there.’

Liv could feel her eyes burning with tears as she forced her jaw to unclench. ‘They were definitely there before the car hit. And no one remembers seeing them leave, or has seen them since.’

‘Do you know where they were?’

‘In the booth nearest the corner window. We think.’ It was the very last place she wanted anyone she cared about to be.

Callum ran towards the café, screaming his daughter’s name, only to be grabbed and pulled back by the fireman and Jake. ‘She’s in there, Jake! Let me the hell go!’

‘Callum, no.’ Jake stood firm.

‘Sir, I understand you’re upset . . .’ the fireman began.

‘You understand? Really? That’s my daughter in there, and you’re telling me you understand?’

‘I do. You’re scared, and want nothing more than to get to her and make sure she’s OK. But, and I promise you this, tearing in there like this, now, won’t help anyone. The building isn’t stable. Let us do our work, and get everyone out safely.’

‘And you expect me to just stand here and wait!’

‘You’re one of the doctors here, right?’ The fireman indicated the stethoscope around his neck. ‘What would you tell me if it were one of my crew who had been injured and I was in your way?’

‘It’s not the same,’ Callum tried to argue.