Page 66 of The Girls in the Lake
‘Grace had some balls, didn’t she? Even though he’d tried to kill her she didn’t give in and dragged him out of the boat. That’s one tough cookie.’
He smiled. ‘I suppose she takes after her mum; what an amazing girl.’
‘Beth did good too; she figured it out before any of us, and we’re supposed to be the detectives. The way she must have just dived right in to save her, makes me feel a bit of drip to be honest.’
‘It’s not your fault you can’t swim.’
Paton shrugged. ‘I’m going to learn. You never know what’s next working on your team.’
Josh laughed, a little of the tension he’d been holding releasing with it. He’d been wrong about James Marshall, but on the right track. Ethan had them all fooled with his nice-guy act. All except Beth.
The boat came back towards them and docked. Karen and Cal got off. It was Cal who did the talking; Karen was speechless for a change. Paton began to relay everything that had happened on the radio to the control room to update them.
‘There’s no sign of him anywhere. He’s either gone under or swum across the lake.’
‘Surely we’d have noticed him if he was swimming across the lake?’
‘I’d like to think so, but it’s dark and the water is choppy. I’m not hopeful that he’s made it out, but I do think there is a slight chance. It all depends on how good a swimmer he is. We’re going to have to do a full search at first light.’
‘Thank you, both of you. I don’t know what to say. If you hadn’t turned up when you did…’
The words were left hanging in the air. There was no need to say them out loud. All of them were aware that it would have been three bodies they were looking for instead of one.
A new-looking Jaguar parked behind where they were all standing, and Josh turned around to see the DCI get out and walk towards them.
‘Josh.’
He felt a firm grip on his shoulder; it gently squeezed then let go. He knew this was Paul’s way of asking if he was okay.
‘Paul.’
‘Well done, I got Paton’s update. How’s Beth?’
‘Okay, mild hypothermia. She’s gone to the hospital. Sam’s daughter is the same.’
‘Good, bloody good job. All round, excellent effort. I take it we’re just missing the offender?’
Josh nodded.
‘Well, I can’t say that it’s a loss to humanity if he doesn’t turn up breathing, but that’s between us. I would prefer to see him have his day in court, to hear him explain to those girls’ families why he thought he had the right to take away their lives.’
‘Me too, but we’ll have to wait and see if we find him first.’
‘You get yourself to the hospital, I’ll take over here.’
He didn’t argue with him; he was tired and cold. More than that he wanted to see Beth, to apologise for being such an idiot and explain what had been going on with Jodie.
Seventy-Seven
Beth had never been so grateful to wear a pair of clean, dry hospital scrubs. She lay on the bed in the cubicle in A & E wrapped in a special blanket to raise her body temperature, while the oxygen mask made sure she could breathe and there was no chance of her lungs collapsing due to the amount of lake water she had swallowed. She felt a pang of sadness for Tamara Smythson, who should have done the same and would still be alive to tell the tale if she had.
The curtain was pushed to one side and Josh stepped through; he was damp and his chin bristled with the beginning of a beard. He looked dishevelled, but so damn handsome. She smiled, and he rushed to her, pulling her close. Tugging down the mask, she whispered, ‘Are you mad at me?’
He laughed. ‘No, how could I be? You saved Grace’s life. If it hadn’t been for you, we would have been wasting time with James Marshall.’
Another face appeared through a gap in the curtains. Sam stepped through it, and Josh asked, ‘How’s Grace?’
She smiled. ‘Thanks to you, Beth, she’s alive. I’m still in shock about how she ended up with Ethan Scales, but it doesn’t matter. Thank you. If you get fed up being a pathologist I think you should consider joining our team. Josh wouldn’t solve half of his crimes without your help.’
