Deep Hurt - Eva Hudson Page 0,10

just looked at him.”

“What did you tell the paramedic?”

“I said Kyle had shaken Molly and she’d gone quiet. The other EMT started to move toward Kyle, his hands up, telling him to take it easy. I guess Kyle panicked.” Her eyes widened even more as she stared at the floor. “He had the EMT moving closer on one side and the hotel manager stepping into the room from the hallway.” Another sob escaped her throat. “That’s when he grabbed Tommy. Picked him up and ran right out the door. Barging into the manager as he went.” She shook her head. Then looked up at Radcliffe, staring into his face. “Why didn’t anyone try to stop him?”

Radcliffe gave her a half-shrug. “No one really knows how they’re going to react in a situation like that,” he said soothingly. “It all happened so fast, they probably didn’t even work out what was going on until it was too late.”

“Someone should have stopped him.” She turned her stare toward the window and Major Gurley. “You’ve got to find them. I want my little boy back.”

Gurley tensed but said nothing. Mrs Foster turned back to the DCI.

“Is there anywhere your husband might have taken Tommy?” Radcliffe asked her.

She shook her head numbly. “He doesn’t know London. Where would he go? Do you think he’s hurt Tommy? Why did he take him? If he wanted to run away, why take my boy with him?”

6

The door into Molly Foster’s hospital room opened and her mother jumped to her feet. She ran to Molly’s bed as it was wheeled back in. Molly looked smaller than Ingrid had expected. She seemed tiny lying in the adult-sized bed. Her short curly hair spread across the pillow each side of her pale face. Her lips were almost colorless.

“Is she OK? What did the scan show?” Carrie Foster asked the ICU nurse dressed in a crisp white short-sleeved tunic and dark pants.

The nurse gave her a warm smile and laid a reassuring hand on her arm. “The swelling in her skull hasn’t got any worse. We’ll know more when the radiologist has studied the scans. He’ll speak to the consultant and then the consultant will come and explain everything to you.”

“How long before that happens?”

“Hopefully before the end of the day.”

“What? That’s hours away.”

The nurse helped the porters position the bed into place and reattached the monitors. She switched the tube feeding oxygen into the little girl’s nostrils from a portable cylinder tucked beneath the bed to a supply coming out of the wall above it. Ingrid was relieved to discover the child was breathing without the aid of a respirator.

“I’m sorry, Carrie,” the nurse said when she’d finished her tasks. “We have one radiologist covering for two of his colleagues at the moment. It won’t affect Molly’s care in any way. You don’t need to worry about that.”

Carrie Foster stroked her daughter’s forehead. She seemed to have forgotten the detectives were even in the room. Major Gurley stood in silence at the foot of the bed with Radcliffe. After a moment DS Tyson cleared his throat.

“We’ll leave it for now, Mrs Foster,” Radcliffe said. “But we will need to speak to you again later.”

The female FLO ushered them all towards the door and closed it behind them.

Once outside, Ingrid took DCI Radcliffe to one side asked him for an update on what was being done to locate First Lieutenant Foster and his son.

“I’ve already updated Major Gurley.” He glanced back towards the room. Gurley was peering through the round window set into the upper third of the hospital room door. “Perhaps you could liaise with him?” He turned to walk away. Ingrid scooted in front of him.

“I’d rather hear it from you.”

“Look, I told you before, whatever’s going on with the embassy and the US Air Force is no concern of mine. You get things sorted out between yourselves.”

“I’m about to call my boss to resolve the situation. I’d like to be able to give him a progress report at the same time.”

Radcliffe puffed out an impatient sigh. “I’ve posted officers at the major train terminals and Victoria Coach Station. We’re going through CCTV footage from the streets surrounding the hotel. We’ve questioned all the guests present at the hotel when the initial response officers arrived. And we have statements from the hotel manager and receptionist.”

“Do their accounts match up with what Carrie Foster just told us?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t they?”

“Just being thorough.” Ingrid looked back towards Gurley. He was