Page 101

Did she fall?!

SOMEONE HELP HER!!

Panic streaks through me like lightning, jagged and unrelenting. My body moves before my brain has even caught up—I shove my phone into my pocket, shoot out of the chair, and stride straight for the door.

As I step out into reception, Aidan saunters in through the main entrance, a cheeky grin plastered on his face. He’s clearly gearing up to deliver some punchline or other, but I don’t have time for that.

“She’s on Ben Garve!” I bark, already heading for the back exit.

“What?”

“Maisie! She’s hurt, I think. Get help! I’ll be ahead of you”

I don’t wait for a response. I head out into a storm so fierce it feels like a living thing. The rain lashes down in heavy sheets, soaking me within seconds as I race through the beer garden, out the back gate, and to my car.

Key in ignition. Engine roaring to life.

Rain thundering on the bonnet.

The deafening roar drags up memories I don’t need right now. Twisted metal. Shattered glass.

Maw. Da.

My chest tightens so suddenly, so viciously, it’s like a fist clamping around my lungs. I can’t get air in properly, just shallow gasps that don’t seem to go anywhere.

No, no, not now. Not fucking now. Maisie could be hurt—badly. She needs me.

“Come on,” I mutter, gripping the wheel tight, like it’s the only thing anchoring me to reality.

Deep breaths. Focus. In for two . . . out for two . . .

The pressure eases enough that I can push past it. Not by much, but enough that my trembling hand finds the gear stick and shifts it into place.

I pull out of the driveway and make my way down Main Street, the wipers whipping frantically across the windscreen. Before long Bannock is behind me and the narrow country road twists and turns ahead, treacherous in this relentless deluge. But adrenaline propels me forward with single-minded determination. Just get to her.

“That’s it,” I say, my voice tight. “Almost there . . .”

Ben Garve looms through the haze of grey like an ominous shadow shrouded in rain and cloud.

A fresh spike of dread drives through me. What if she’s lying there alone? Hurt and scared? Or worse?

No. Don’t think like that.

I tug the handbrake into place and fling the door open. Before I’ve even registered the cold bite of the rain, I’m tearing up the hill, legs pumping harder than they ever did in the race—harder than I thought possible.

My leg screams in protest with every step—pain shooting from knee to hip—but nothing can stop me now, not when Maisie could be hurt.

I can barely see a thing, the rain blurring everything, the ground soggy and uneven underfoot, but I have to keep going. I have to find her.

“MAISIE!” I yell. “Maisie, where are you?”

Nothing.

“MAISIE?”

Still nothing but rain hammering down and wind whipping against me.

And then: “Jamie?”