Tuesday's Child by Clare Revell Page A

go.”
    “Thank you. I should get back to work.” There was something she needed to tell him, something important, but what was it?
    “You can’t leave until you’ve given a statement. Things are a little hectic right now, but...” he turned away, and Adeline lost the rest of what he said.
    She closed her eyes, trying to stop shaking. I wish I knew what was happening out there. Is she dead? How much chaos is there? Let them catch the guy quickly .
    Was it too much of a coincidence that the guy who’d bought the doll in to be mended, had vanished into a building in the same direction the shots came from? She scrolled through the photos on her phone. There was the man and there was the building. That was it. Him.
    She almost dropped the handset again as she twisted around. “Nate?”
    Nate turned back to her. “Yes?”
    “I’ve seen him before. He came into the shop. And then he went into this building right before the shooting. I took his photo.”
    He moved swiftly over to her and took the phone. “This man here?”
    Adeline nodded. “Yes. That’s what I was trying to tell you before all this happened.”
    “I’ll be back. Don’t you go anywhere. I need to keep this as evidence for now. You’ll get it back.”
    “I need my phone to talk to people. It’s got particular software on it. I can’t just use any old phone.”
    “You’ll get it back or we’ll give you a replacement.” He strode rapidly over to the door.
    Despite the situation, for a moment, she found herself admiring his authoritative stance. Then frustration at having her means of communicating long distance taken away set back in.
    Adeline glanced down at Ben and sighed. Maybe she said the wrong thing again. Her hands were sticky with blood and she longed to go and wash them.
    A hand dropped on her shoulder and she jumped. “Oh…”
    “Hi, I’m Dr. Chandler. I’m the police surgeon. I didn’t mean to startle you.” The woman was blonde and her eyes carried her smile behind the glasses. “I need to check you over.”
    Her arm hurt like the blazes, but in the grand scheme of things, it just didn’t matter. “I’m fine. Just need to clean up.”
    Dr. Chandler took her hands, causing her to gasp in pain, and started to examine them. “...samples...”
    “I can’t hear you,” Adeline said. “I’m deaf. If you look at me when you speak, I can lip read.”
    The blonde woman frowned. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize. I said I’ll need to take samples of the blood from your hands and under your nails. But that gasp of pain tells me you’re not fine. Where does it hurt?”
    “My arm’s a little sore from where I fell, but that’s not important, right now. How’s the Prime Minister?”
    “She didn’t make it.”
    Shock resonated through Adeline, setting every nerve on edge. She swallowed hard, bile rising as if someone had thumped her hard in the stomach. Thinking and guessing that was the outcome, was vastly different to seeing it spoken. She closed her eyes, blocking herself off completely from the world. The silence surrounding her became a blessing.
    She couldn’t be dead. They needed her, with the fragile state the country was in at the moment. She was the only woman who could unite the country and lead them out of the recession. She was their one hope and now she was gone.
    They’d been working on her when Nate brought her here. She might have died in her arms.
    Hot tears streamed down Adeline’s face, huge choking sobs welled up and out. Falling to her knees, she wrapped her arms around her stomach, rocking back and forth.
    A wet nose nudged her arm a fraction before strong arms wrapped around her, the scent of mint and aftershave following it. A hand moved slowly over her back in an attempt to both comfort and console. Nate…
    Not opening her eyes, she took the comfort he offered.
    After a few minutes, he tapped her shoulder, and she opened her eyes. She held his gaze, wanting him to tell her it wasn’t true.