Page 24 of No Safe Place
A quick knock, and Riley’s head appeared round the door. ‘Cup of tea, boss?’
‘Coffee,’ Field said, and then added as an afterthought, ‘Please.’
Riley left without needing to ask how she took it.
Field pulled her phone from her handbag, answered a few emails that couldn’t wait for her computer to warm up. Toby’s number flashed up on the screen, and she answered on the second ring.
‘Christ,’ Toby said, startled. ‘I wasn’t expecting you to pick up.’
‘Had the phone in my hand,’ Field said. ‘Everything okay?’
Her pulse quickened in the few seconds it took him to answer.
‘Yeah, everything’s fine, Mum. I just got off shift and saw your text. You were at that Plumstead stabbing?’
‘I’m the bloody SIO, and Young’s on it too. Do you know any of the paramedics who were there?’ she said, leaning over to power on her laptop. Nothing happened. The screen stayed black.
‘Nope, not our station. Word got round about it, though. Miracle they kept him alive, by the sounds of it.’
Her charging cable was curled innocently under the desk. She swore under her breath and plugged the laptop in.
Toby laughed. ‘You’re really not listening to me, are you?’
‘Sorry, sorry.’ Field leaned back into her desk chair. ‘There’s a lot on. How was your shift?’
‘Oh fine. Mostly dealing with old ladies. You know the type – early fifties, can’t operate an iPhone—’
Field grinned, and her laptop blinked into life. ‘You’re not too old for a smack, you know?’
‘Oh, I know. So, can I assume our dinner date is cancelled tonight?’
Her stomach sank. Toby’s boyfriend, Billy, was away for the weekend. She’d booked their favourite Italian for a catch-up, and to give Toby a break from revising.
He was only a few weeks away from sitting the final examsfor his paramedicine degree, meaning he would go from being an ambulance technician to a fully fledged paramedic.
‘I’m sorry – I totally forgot. I was supposed to be off today—’
‘Don’t apologise, Mum,’ he said, gently.
Field stabbed in her password, her cheeks hot. ‘I shouldn’t have forgotten.’
Riley returned with two steaming black coffees, and took the seat opposite. She nodded her thanks and looked down at the mug, a beacon of syrupy hope amid the unfiled paperwork.
‘I’ve got to go,’ she said. ‘I’ll call you later, okay?’
Riley tapped his fingers against his mug.
‘Sure,’ Toby said – and he sounded fine. ‘Love you, Mum.’
‘You too,’ she said, and hung up.
‘Everything okay, boss?’ Riley asked.
‘Fine,’ she said. ‘Where’s Wilson?’
‘I think—’ He spun in his chair and craned his neck to look out over the office. ‘She’s printing some shit off.’
‘Right, okay.’ Field took a large gulp of the coffee, and her laptop finally turned on.
