LITMIR.BIZ

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respiratory problems to recognise that this cough came from a youngster. And it wasn’t far away.

      ‘Ricky!’ Joe found himself grinning beneath his mask. ‘Where are you, mate? I can’t see you. Are you OK?’

      There was no response and Joe sighed. He’d have to find this kid now, and if Ricky was keen not to be found it might not be easy. The new cough Joe heard was cut off by the sound of something falling. A single lump of concrete maybe. Far enough away not to be a danger but quite close enough to remind Joe of the situation he was in. They were in. Ricky didn’t even have the dubious protection of a hard helmet. He had to find him. And quickly.

      ‘Your mum sent me to find you, Ricky. How ‘bout we get out of here and I take you back to Mum?’

      Still no response. Hell, maybe the kid was backward enough not to be able to speak. Or to understand what he was saying. He had to be very close, judging by the proximity of that coughing, but the surroundings provided a rich source of places for a small boy to hide effectively. There were any number of vehicles to shelter behind…or beneath. Joe squatted on his haunches at the sudden inspiration.

      Bingo!

      A small face peered at him from beneath the axle of a furniture van, looking like a rabbit caught by headlights. Huge brown eyes stared at Joe. The kid was petrified!

      ‘It’s OK, Ricky. My name’s Joe. I’m a friend of your mum’s.’

      His reassurance didn’t produce any flicker of relief. As he always did, subconsciously, Joe looked at things from the child’s perspective. Alone, terrified and possibly in pain, faced with a huge stranger wearing odd clothes and with his face obscured by goggles and dust mask. Joe pulled the mask down and smiled at Ricky.

      ‘I’m not really scary,’ he told the child quietly. ‘See?’

      Unblinking brown eyes stared back from a disconcertingly unresponsive face.

      ‘We need to get out of here, Ricky,’ Joe continued. ‘Did you hear that?’ Another shower of debris had fallen somewhere in the car park. ‘It’s a bit dangerous with things falling off the ceiling and I’m too big to hide under that truck. Good hiding place, though. You’re clever, aren’t you?’ Joe was trying to assess his chances of grabbing the kid and pulling him clear. If Ricky decided to avoid him by wriggling further under the truck Joe would have no chance of extricating him. He wouldn’t be able to abandon him either. Joe edged forward very, very slowly, as though he were approaching a wild animal. He didn’t want to frighten Ricky any further but he was quite certain the boy wasn’t going to come out voluntarily.

      It almost didn’t work. If Joe hadn’t hooked his hand under Ricky’s armpit he would have escaped and the planned route had clearly been further under the truck.

      ‘Sorry, kid.’ Joe hauled him clear. ‘But I have to get you out of here.’

      Oddly, Ricky didn’t struggle once he knew the game was up. He didn’t shout or cry either. Joe found himself firmly holding a very small and rather limp child. Maybe he was injured. In normal circumstances it was always the really quiet children that Joe would be most concerned about. This was no place to try and assess Ricky’s condition, however, and time could be running out for both of them. Joe could hear a sound suspiciously like the horrible moan of an unstable building’s infrastructure.

      He had no idea of a potential escape route. Maybe it would be better to try and find shelter. Or at least somewhere safe for Ricky while he went searching. The car beside them was locked. So was the next. Joe considered smashing a window and looked back for something suitable, like a piece of concrete rubble. His headlamp’s beam flashed over the truck Ricky had been hiding beneath, a furniture delivery vehicle presumably belonging to one of the shops the mall housed. Joe hoisted Ricky more securely onto his hip and moved swiftly as the ominous creaking sound came again.

      Yes! The back of the truck was unlocked. Joe pulled the door open and deposited Ricky on the floor. As he hauled himself up and pulled the heavy door closed behind them, Ricky scuttled sideways like a crab until he reached the far corner of the truck. He curled his knees up and started rocking himself gently as he stared back at Joe. The stare was coming from quite a distance. The truck was huge and felt comfortingly solid. It probably wouldn’t offer total protection and the air pocket might not last long if the roof fell in and buried them, but it was a damned sight better than being as exposed as they had been. And Ricky was secure. Even if Joe went out searching, the small child would be unable to reach or manipulate the heavy internal door fastenings. For the moment, at least, they were safe.

      The restraining hand of the law wasn’t necessary this time but Jessica couldn’t blame the scene command officials for deeming that more than one police officer would be prudent to ensure she stayed put. Maybe they should have followed up their threat of arresting her in the first place. The fact that she had been allowed back in had endangered lives. Joe would never have gone back in if she hadn’t been with him. She had sensed the instant that reckless decision had been made during the eye contact they had shared at the point of reaching safety. Something had connected him to Ricky through what he had seen in her eyes, and it had been strong enough for him to risk his own life to attempt the rescue of her child. Maybe, thanks to her, this disaster had just claimed another victim.

      Not that anyone knew anything. The whole scene was being evacuated until the impact on stability of the secondary collapse could be assessed. Crowds of people were now milling about in the car park near where Jessica had been positioned or were walking purposefully towards their own bases or the church hall that had been commissioned to provide hot food and drinks, washing and resting facilities.

      Jessica knew the stationary groups of rescue workers were all talking about what had just happened and she also knew that an effective information grapevine had established itself in the time this major incident had been in progress. More than one stare was being directed at her as people filtered the scraps of information gathered and then selected the more interesting items to discuss in detail. The relief of hearing a friendly voice was enough to make Jessica lose the edge of her control.

      Reaching out as her friend Kelly greeted her, Jessica found herself pulled into a comfortingly tight hug.

      ‘I heard about your mother,’ Kelly said against her ear. ‘About Ricky. God, Jess! Someone said they saw you run into the car park—that you were trapped.’ The hug tightened into an almost painful squeeze. ‘I’m so glad it’s not true.’

      ‘But it is.’ Jessica felt her control slipping another notch. Her fear for both Ricky and Joe surfaced enough for the release of tears. A racking sob interrupted her words. ‘Ricky’s in there,’ she managed. ‘In the car park.’ Uncontrollable sobs prevented Jessica adding the news about Joe but her squad leader was still nearby and his calm words only served to increase the intensity of Jessica’s tearful release of pent-up emotions.

      ‘Joe stopped Jessica going in after him,’ Tony told Kelly. ‘He knew how dangerous it was.’

      ‘He went in himself instead.’ Jessica could feel another hand on her back, rubbing beneath where Kelly’s arms held her. June was also trying to impart some comfort as she spoke to Kelly. ‘Nobody thought to try stopping him.’

      ‘And then it was too late.’ Tony sounded grim. He was probably blaming Jessica despite everything he’d said to the contrary—like that Joe was an adult and an experienced paramedic and quite capable of making his own decisions. ‘The explosion happened and the ceiling came down right beside us. We had to run for our lives.’

      Jessica was desperately trying to regain control. She managed to stifle her sobs but the effort was enough to make her tremble all over. Kelly’s embrace was giving her strength, however, and as the strength returned, so did her ability to think more clearly. The secondary collapse was over now. It was time the situation was reassessed. Time for someone to find out whether things were as hopeless as many feared. She pulled free of Kelly’s arms.

      ‘We have to go back in,’ she told her colleagues. ‘We have to find them.’

      ‘We’ll

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