Gone (50 page)

Flea could feel the ground vibrating under her feet. She lifted her chubby toddler’s arms and opened them to the horizon, thrilled excitement bubbling up inside. She took a step forward to welcome what was coming, eager for it. She opened her mouth to speak – and woke suddenly in the hospital bed, gulping for air.

The room was silent. The TV was off and the lights in the room were dim. The curtains were open and she could see her own vague outline reflected in the glass. A face, white and imprecise. The blur of a hospital gown. And beyond it the cloudless sky. The stars, the moon – and a thin, almost biblically straight column of smoke.

She stared at the smoke, her head racing, feeling the power of it come across the sky, push through the glass, enter the room and feed itself into her chest. She could almost smell it. Here – as if something was smouldering in the room. Awed, she propped herself on her elbows, eyes wide, the pressure in her chest deep enough to make her open her mouth to breathe. Maybe it was seeing Dad so clearly in the dream, maybe it was the concussion,
or the drugs they’d given her, but that smoke seemed to be sending her a message

Something’s coming
, it said.
Something is on its way to you
.

‘Dad?’ she whispered. ‘What’s coming?’

Relax
, came the reply.
It won’t be long before it’s here
.

Thank you to everyone who has helped me complete this book: my agent, Jane Gregory, and her wonderful team in Hammersmith, also Selina Walker and everyone else at Transworld publishers, who have been publishing me for ten years now (mad fools). Frank Wood of Elizabeth Francis (Medicall) helped me make the paramedics in the closing chapters approximate reality, and there was a whole army of professionals from the Avon and Somerset force who guided me with the details of police procedures (any mistakes are all mine, and no one is going to claim them for their own): including DI Steven Lawrence, CID trainer, PC Kerry Marsh of the Child Abuse Protection and Investigation Team, PC Andy Hennys of the Dog Section, and PC Steve Marsh of the Underwater Search Unit. Above all, a special thank you to Sergeant Bob Randall, who was as invaluable, insightful and helpful on this book as he has been on the entire series.