Before she could say anything, a white-coated Asian doctor appeared at his side, grabbed his sleeve and pulled. ‘This way.’
Henry followed the man, having a rushed conversation as they strode hurriedly along.
‘What’s happening?’
‘A patient is holding one of the nurses hostage in the X-ray department. Come, come,’ the doctor urged him to speed up.
‘Why is he doing it?’
‘We don’t know. . he just became very violent.’
‘OK. What’s the current situation?’
‘They’re in the X-ray waiting area. We managed to clear everyone else away, staff and patients.’
‘Right,’ Henry said, knowing there wasn’t time for an in-depth discussion here. He needed to get to the scene and assess what was really going on.
They turned into the corridor leading to the X-ray department and Henry was impressed to see that a couple of porters had placed trolleys across the width of the corridor, either side of the entrance, creating — ironically — a sterile area. Henry giggled inwardly at the notion.
Fortunately there were not many people around here.
The doctor slowed to a walk and pointed to the double swing doors leading into the X-ray waiting area. ‘In there,’ he breathed.
Henry nodded. He turned to Janine and held up his hand for her to stay back. ‘Let me see what’s going on.’
She nodded uncertainly.
He sidled past one of the trolleys to the door and peeped into the waiting area through the porthole window. He could see several rows of chairs, the reception desk, and at the back, in one corner, Freddy Cromer sitting next to a young nurse. His left arm was draped loosely around her shoulder, whilst his right hand held to her throat what looked like a paring knife. He was whispering into her right ear, mouth right up to it, lips almost brushing her lobe, and the girl, no more than nineteen, sat there with a stiff, terrified expression as she nodded in response to something Freddy had said.
The point of the blade dug into her throat, by her windpipe.
Freddy’s left hand slid back and grabbed her hair, bunched it in his fist and jerked her head back, exposing the whole of her throat.
Henry could see that the left side of Freddy’s face was badly grazed, looking like he’d been dragged along a cinder track. The smooth burn marks on the other side of his face were still visible, the ones Henry had noticed all those years before when Freddy was trying to strangle him. He was wearing a torn shirt, jeans, socks, but no shoes. The jeans were also ripped. And although Henry hadn’t seen him for many years, he hadn’t aged beyond recognition. Henry vividly recalled his wild eyes. They hadn’t changed, rolling in their sockets in an almost comical loony-guy look.
Freddy placed the blade of the small knife across the girl’s throat and continued to speak to her in hushed tones, mouth to ear.
Henry wondered what he was saying.
He saw the knife make an indent in her neck.
‘Shit,’ Henry thought. He opened the door and stepped through. ‘Freddy,’ he said.
Freddy Cromer’s rage-contorted face twisted towards Henry. ‘I told everyone to fucking get out,’ Freddy growled, ‘or I’ll kill this bitch.’ His lips exaggerated the words he spoke.
‘Freddy, what’s going on?’ Henry said reasonably. He took one step forward.
Freddy yanked the nurse’s head even further back, causing her to gasp in terror. His face angled forebodingly at Henry, his lips in a snarl.
‘I’ll fucking kill her.’ His eyes were ablaze.
‘No, Freddy, no,’ Henry gasped, his hands patting down fresh air, a keep calm gesture. ‘What’s going on? What is this for? Talk to me.’
Freddy blinked as though some sort of normality had come to his brain cells. As if he was seriously considering Henry’s request.
Henry weighed up the gap. Maybe eight metres, diagonally to the left, across four rows of chairs screwed to the floor. He wondered if he could leap across these and if he did, if he could do it in time to stop Freddy hurting the girl. His answer: no.
‘Freddy, can we talk?’ he asked warily.
‘Who the fuck are you?’
‘I’m a police officer, Freddy. I won’t lie to you. I’m a cop.’
Freddy squinted as though he was thinking hard. Still he held the girl rigid in his grip, the knife blade resting across her throat. It would take only minimum pressure and a millisecond to slice her open, or to dig it in behind her windpipe, sever the jugular. He could do that before Henry even moved an inch.
‘What’s your name?’
‘Henry Christie.’
Freddy blinked. Henry was pretty sure there was no recognition there, no recall of the name or of having squeezed Henry’s windpipe. He guessed that Freddy would have squeezed too many windpipes over the years to recall each individual one.
Freddy levelled his gaze at Henry, his eyelids hooded, snake-like.
‘Henry Christie, you say?’
‘That’s right. We know each other.’
‘No we don’t.’
‘OK. . but what is this about, Freddy? Can we talk?’
‘I’ve been kidnapped,’ he said simply.
‘I know. . we need to talk about that. . but we can’t do that while you’re holding a nurse hostage, can we? She hasn’t done anything wrong.’
Freddy’s forehead creased in confusion. ‘A nurse? No, she’s not a nurse. . she’s one of the kidnappers.’
‘No she isn’t. She’s a real nurse and she’s here to help you.’
Freddy yanked her head back again, causing the girl to moan. He jammed the knife-point into the skin of her throat again. ‘Don’t you fuckin’ try anything, bitch,’ he said into the side of her face. He pressed the tip into her skin, but not deep enough or hard enough to draw blood. Yet. ‘Now then, we’re going to walk out of this place, you got me? Then we’re gonna find a car and I’m going to escape.’ He stood up and dragged her to her feet by her hair, as easily as lifting a doll. She was petite in stature, slim, hardly any weight to her. Next to Freddy she was a feather.
‘Freddy, Freddy,’ Henry cooed, still utilizing the patting-down gesture. ‘You’re not kidnapped any more. You’re in hospital. You’re free. This lady is a nurse who is helping you.’
‘And if you come anywhere near me,’ Freddy warned Henry, ‘I’ll just fucking stab her.’ He made a jabbing motion with the knife.
He dragged her sideways away from the chairs. She screamed, her body seemed to implode, losing all control, and she fainted. She slumped against Freddy, catching him off guard, but then he heaved her upright again and with a roar of rage, drew the knife right back.
Henry was certain now that he was going to plunge it into her. He had no delusions about the speed he could reach, knowing that by the time he got across the room, it would have connected, would have been rammed home, but there was no way he could just stand there and let it happen.
He launched himself. Like a middle-aged version of an Olympic hurdler, he vaulted over the lines of chairs and bellowed loudly, hoping to distract Freddy, to make him look away from the nurse just for a second or two and give Henry enough time to get there.
The nurse, unintentionally, played her part.
Almost instantly recovering from her faint, her eyes almost popping out of her head when she saw the knife being drawn back, her automatic reflex was to cower away and bring her arms up in a defensive gesture. In the same movement she accidentally elbowed Freddy under the chin.
By which time Henry was almost there.
He leapt on to the back of a chair and propelled himself into Freddy’s bulk, keeping his head tucked in, his shoulder connecting with the centre of Freddy’s guts. He powered into him and drove him back against a vending machine which rocked dangerously, the impact triggering its internal alarm, setting off an ear-piercing shriek that filled the waiting room. The force of the collision made Freddy release the nurse, though he took a handful of her hair with him, torn from the poor girl’s head. She screamed and spun away.