EIGHTY-SEVEN

2.30 P.M.

‘Stone,’ Kim answered shortly to the unknown caller ringing her. If it wasn’t a member of her team calling her with the next location or the identity of their sicko, then this call was no good to her. Not with just half an hour left to go.

There was a brief silence as though the person on the other end was unsure if they’d got the wrong number.

‘It’s Mr Wilson, neurosurgeon from Russell’s Hall. Is that the next of kin of Tracy Frost?’

‘No,’ Kim answered as her heart jumped into her mouth.

‘Oh, I have this number…’

Kim recovered quickly. Why was the surgeon trying to call Frost’s next of kin? ‘Sorry, that’s to say I’m the contact if you can’t reach her next of kin, her mother.’

Kim knew Frost had a complex, fractious relationship with her mother, but she was sure the woman would want to know what was going on with her daughter.

‘I have no note of any other contact number, so…’

‘Is she okay?’

‘We don’t know yet,’ he said in his gentle voice.

She was just glad he hadn’t pressed on their relationship. She wasn’t sure he’d be divulging any medical details if she admitted they could barely exchange a civil word.

‘She’s just come out of surgery. We’ve done all we can to relieve the pressure on the brain, but she has fallen into a coma.’

‘What does that mean?’ Kim asked.

His hesitation told her she wasn’t going to get a definitive answer.

‘We honestly don’t know. It may be that her brain is doing what it needs to protect itself and recover from the trauma, or it may be slowly shutting down.’

‘And there’s no surgery you can do to prevent that?’ Kim asked.

‘I’m sorry, we’ve done as much as we can for now without risking further trauma. We’ll know more in a few hours.’

‘Okay, thanks for the call,’ she said and waited for him to disconnect.

Kim took a few breaths before recounting the surgeon’s words to her colleague.

‘Not sure what else we can do for her now, guv,’ he said.

‘We can catch the bastard responsible is what we can do. But for that we need?—’

She stopped speaking as her phone rang.

It was Penn, and it was answered immediately.

‘Please tell me you have something.’

‘Thanks to Stacey I do,’ he said.

She waited.

‘Boss, start heading towards the Tipton portal of the Dudley Canal.’

Jesus Christ, where was their sick bastard sending them now?