As they got out of their patrol car, Nick looked down at his mobile phone, hoping to see a missed call or a text from Laura. She had gone off the radar for the last three days. Nick wasn’t sure if his offer of living with him had completely freaked her out. He was frightened that he had scared her away.
‘Face it, mate. She’s binned you!’ Jonesy chortled as they wandered along the pavement towards the shop. Nick regretted telling him that he hadn’t heard from her.
‘You’re such a twat,’ Nick muttered as they went into the charity shop.
They spotted the elderly woman behind the counter. She smiled as she saw them approach.
‘Leave this to me,’ Jonesy said, looking at Nick.
‘Good with older women, are you?’ Nick quipped.
‘Mrs Ellroy?’ Jonesy asked with a smile as they went over.
‘That’s right,’ Mrs Ellroy said, nodding.
‘Are you sure you’re old enough to be working in here, Mrs Ellroy?’ Jonesy asked with a broad grin.
Mrs Ellroy giggled. ‘Oh you are silly.’
Nick thought he would join in. ‘Does your mum know you’re out working in a shop?’
Mrs Ellroy frowned and looked at Jonesy. ‘My mother? I don’t understand. She’s dead.’
Oh shit! That didn’t work very well, Nick thought as Jonesy pulled a face to tell him to shut up.
At that moment, Nick’s phone rang. It was Laura – at last!
‘Excuse me, I’m just going to take this,’ Nick said pointing to his phone and wandering outside the shop.
‘Bloody hell, Laura. I wondered where you’d got to. Are you okay?’ Nick said, feeling a huge sense of relief.
‘Nick? Is ... that you? I’m sorry ...’ Laura’s voice was a virtual whisper. She sounded terrible. Nick began to panic.
‘Are you okay? Where are you?’ Nick said, his anxiety growing.
‘I’m ... in Toxteth, Nick. I’m ... so ... sorry. It’s happened again ...’ Laura said, and then the phone sounded like it had been dropped.
Jesus! This doesn’t sound good. Nick knew Laura had taken drugs.
‘Hello? Hello?’ said a male voice with a Scouse accent.
‘Who is this?’ Nick demanded.
‘Craig. Are you this Nick?’ Craig said, sounding out of it too.
‘What’s wrong with Laura, Craig?’ Nick asked.
‘We’ve been doing a bit of gear, mate. She keeps dropping off, you know. Think she’s had too much,’ Craig said.
‘What has she been taking?’ Nick asked.
‘We’ve been smoking smack. She got a load this afternoon off some fella she knows. Dealer, I think,’ Craig murmured.
Nick was now terrified. ‘Call an ambulance, Craig. Can you hear me?’
‘Yes, mate. I’ll ring 999, shall I?’ Craig asked.
‘What’s the address there?’ Nick said. He didn’t trust Craig to ring for an ambulance in his state and if they were taking drugs, he might worry about the police getting involved.
‘12 Canliffe Gardens, L8, mate,’ Craig slurred down the phone.
‘Is Laura awake, Craig?’ Nick asked, his heart thumping.
‘No, mate. She’s out of it on the sofa,’ Craig said.
‘I’m on my way,’ Nick said as he hung up and saw Jonesy approaching.
‘You dropped a bollock in there, mate!’ Jonesy chortled but then he saw Nick’s expression. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Laura rang me. She’s in a state somewhere in Liverpool. Mate, I need to get there now,’ Nick said, his voice full of panic.
Jonesy tossed him the keys. ‘Take the car. I’ll get someone to pick me up. I hope she’s all right.’
Fifteen minutes later, Nick was hammering up the M56 towards Liverpool. He had now hit 100 mph and was having to undertake cars to get past the traffic. His mind was racing.
As Nick hit 110 mph, he dialled Laura’s phone.
A male voice picked it up, ‘Hello?’. They sounded authoritative.
‘Hi. I’m PC Nick Evans from the North Wales Police. I’m also Laura Foley’s boyfriend. Who is this?’
‘My name’s Gerry. I’m a paramedic with the Royal Liverpool Hospital. I’m with Laura now. She’s unconscious but she’s stable. We’re just leaving now and we’ll be at the Royal Liverpool in about ten minutes,’ Gerry said in a very calm voice.
Nick felt his anxiety lessen for a moment. Laura was in good hands. ‘Right, thank you.’
‘If you come to the Royal Liverpool, we’ll be taking Laura straight to ICU where she can be assessed,’ Gerry explained.
‘Okay. Thank you so much,’ Nick said as he ended the call.
At least he knew where she was and who she was with. Sitting back in the seat, he felt the sweat stick his police shirt to his back. What he really needed was a drink.
A minute later, Nick entered the darkness of the Mersey Tunnel at 50 mph. The wall lights flashed past in a blur. He came out the other side and sped up Dale Street, heading north through Liverpool City Centre. No one was going stop him – he was in a police car. And he wasn’t stopping for anyone anyway.
Nick entered the Royal Liverpool Hospital car park, parked in a reserved space and sprinted inside. As he ran through the corridors, Nick looked up until he saw a sign for the ICU.
He jogged into the ICU and the nurses looked over. They saw he was in uniform and a ward sister came over.
‘Can I help?’ the ward sister asked.
‘I’m looking for Laura Foley,’ Nick explained.
‘The crash team are with Laura at the moment. If you want to wait over there, I’ll let you know when there is any news,’ the ward sister said, pointing to some chairs. ‘That’s the young man that came in with her.’
As Nick got his breath back, he walked over to a scruffy looking man in his 20s with a ponytail. ‘Craig?’
Craig looked up. His eyes were bloodshot. ‘Yeah?’
‘I’m Nick. I spoke to you on the phone?’ Nick explained.
Craig’s eyes widened. ‘Christ, I didn’t know you were a copper.’
‘What’s going on?’ Nick asked.
‘I dunno. They won’t tell
