‘Stop!’ Harry bellowed, as he worked to push himself forward on legs simply not interested in running. ‘Just stop, man! Give up!’ But he knew that the doctor wasn’t about to stop, not yet anyway. People had two responses to threat: fight or flight. The doctor, clearly, was in flight mode. And he could shift, too, Harry thought.
Ahead, Harry saw the doctor smash through the doors into reception, trip over his own feet and stumble down onto his knees. But he was up again in the same moment and racing on.
When Harry reached the doors, they swung back to crack him in the skull, and he swore loudly, before kicking them open and charging through like a bull with a sore head.
The reception room, which had been a scene of sombre quiet and contemplation just a few minutes ago, was now alive with panic, shouting, and just enough screaming to cause even more panic. There were even a few children running around like headless chickens, their parents chasing after them.
Harry saw the doctor bound towards the main entrance. He’d almost made it outside and into the carpark. But no way was Harry letting him get away and he pushed himself on, hammering through the main doors.
Outside, Harry saw the doctor pause for just a moment, a deer caught in headlights. A car was in front of him, having just pulled into the carpark. In the driving seat, Harry saw Jenny, and next to her was old Mr Rawson. The old man was staring at the doctor. Behind him, one of the rear passenger doors was starting to open.
Chapter Thirty-Four
‘Don’t . . .’ Harry said, walking slowly towards the doctor. ‘You’re done, James. It’s over.’
The doctor snatched a look back at Harry then shook his head and launched himself off left. Harry made to race after him when he saw the rear passenger door of Jenny’s car fly open and out of it came Liz. Then, as the doctor went to head off across the road, and despite the fact that cars were already screeching at the sight of the man sprinting towards them, Harry witnessed the other PCSO throw caution to the wind in a way that he would probably remember for the rest of his life. With a desperate yell, PCSO Liz Coates launched herself at the doctor, throwing herself up and into the air with wild abandon. For a moment, the scene seemed to play out in slow motion, with Liz flying through the air, the doctor turning around to see what it was that was making such a dreadful sound, the young PCSO coming towards him and then crashing into him, her arms clasping around the man’s chest, before the rest of her caught up, and they both tumbled to the floor, a mess of limbs and moans and swearing.
Harry was over to them both in a beat as the doctor kicked Liz away and jumped to his feet. At the same time, he saw Mr Rawson and Jenny climb out of her car.
‘Don’t do anything stupid!’ Harry shouted.
The doctor stared at Mr Rawson then turned his eyes slowly to face Harry.
‘How did you know?’
‘Know what?’
‘That he’s . . . that he’s my dad.’
‘To be honest, I’ve only just met him myself,’ Harry said. ‘But what happened at Jack’s place, that just didn’t add up, and it got me thinking that there was more to what you were about. He kind of just filled in the gaps for me.’
Harry watched as the doctor turned his attention back to the old man in the car. For a split second, he thought he was going to try running again, saw him tense up, ready to bolt, but then the man’s shoulders sagged, and he just stood there, his eyes wide with disbelief.
‘Don’t,’ Harry said, walking over to the doctor as Liz pulled herself to her feet, a pair of handcuffs already in her hands. ‘Whatever it is that you’re thinking of doing, just don’t, okay? There’s nothing more. You’ve done more than enough damage already. It’s over.’
Liz flipped the handcuffs onto the doctor’s wrists.
‘You okay?’ Harry asked, looking over at the PCSO.
‘Never better,’ Liz replied. ‘I grew up with ponies. Once you’ve chased one of those flighty bastards then a middle-aged man isn’t that much of a challenge.’
‘Still,’ Harry said. ‘That was quite something, what you did. Very dramatic.’
‘That wasn’t really on purpose, you know.’
‘Let’s pretend that it was, shall we?’ Harry said. ‘It’ll sound a lot more impressive when we tell Swift.’
Harry turned at the sound of the surgery doors banging open and saw Jim stumble out, rubbing his neck.
‘You okay, Jim?’
‘Just about,’ Jim said, ‘but I don’t think I’ll be wearing any scarves for a while.’
‘A shame that,’ Liz said. ‘I was going to get you one for your birthday.’
Old Mr Rawson shuffled away from Jenny’s car then over towards Liz to stand in front of the doctor. Behind him, Jenny jogged over to check on Jim.
‘James?’ Mr Rawson said. ‘It’s you, isn’t it?’ Then he reached out his arms and took hold of his son, bringing him close. ‘It is . . .’
The doctor leaned in, rested his head on his father’s shoulder, and sobbed, his arms locked behind his back by the handcuffs on his wrists.
Jenny walked over to stand with Harry, Jim still a little unsteady at her side. ‘You mind telling me exactly what the hell’s going on?’
‘Don’t look at me,’ Jim said.
Harry, having given the doctor and his father just a moment of privacy, closed the distance between him and them.
‘Doctor James Rawson,’ he said, gently reaching out to hold the man’s left arm with his hands, just in case he had any last minute thoughts about doing a runner, ‘I’m arresting you for the murder of John Capstick, Barry Hutchison, and Jack Iveson. You do not have to say
