The Darkest Hour: An Ella Marconi Novel 2 by Katherine Howell

Author:Katherine Howell [Howell, Katherine]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Macmillan Publishers Australia
Published: 2008-07-01T04:00:00+00:00

A call to a collapse in the Cross turned out to be a heroin overdose. Lauren gave the unconscious woman a shot of naloxone, and after she woke up she abused them roundly then took off through the crowds up Darlinghurst Road. ‘Yeah, you’re welcome!’ Lauren shouted after her.

‘Hey,’ Joe said. ‘People are watching.’

Lauren threw the gear into the truck. Wherever paramedics went, whatever they did, people watched. It made her feel vulnerable, a target, especially in a crowd like that where who knew who could be working his way through to get close to them. She got in the cabin and slammed the door. ‘Can we go?’

They were passing the museum when Control called. ‘Thirty-four, I have a man behaving strangely in the traffic on Market Street. Cross street is given variously as Pitt or Castlereagh. Police on way also.’

‘Thirty-four copy, on the case.’

Joe flicked on the lights and sirens. ‘Fake or genuine?’

‘Genuine.’ Lauren pulled on a pair of gloves and got out a pair for Joe, reaching over to tuck them under his thigh. ‘Drug problem.’

‘That’s not fair,’ Joe said. ‘Drug problem covers a million things.’

She managed a grin. ‘You have to be fast round here, mate.’

They turned right onto Elizabeth Street then left onto Market where the traffic was hardly moving at all. Joe pushed along bit by bit, waving at cars to inch over so he could manoeuvre the ambulance through to where a man yelled and flailed his arms in the middle lane.

Lauren picked up the mike. ‘Thirty-four is on scene, no sign of police yet. I’d say we’re going to need them too.’

‘I’ll call them again,’ Control said.

Joe said, ‘Ah, shit.’

Half out the door, Lauren said, ‘What?’

‘It’s the same fucking guy.’

Lauren looked again and her heart sank.

Joe came around to her side of the ambulance. ‘He’s even wearing the same bloody clothes.’

The football shorts were low on the man’s hips, and the slash in his Nirvana T-shirt flapped in the breeze.

‘How’s he out on the streets?’

‘Psych wards must be full,’ Joe said. ‘Worse one comes in, out he goes.’

Lauren yanked the mike from its hook. ‘Thirty-four.’

‘Go ahead.’

‘This is the same patient who assaulted both officers five days ago while armed. Require police as soon as possible, please.’

‘Copy Thirty-four,’ Control said. ‘Stay clear if you can.’

The man pounded on the bonnet of a car with his fists. Lauren could see drivers elbowing down the lock buttons on their doors.

‘We have to do something,’ Joe said. He was close by her, standing inside the open door. She could rest her arm on his shoulder if she wanted. ‘At least this time we know what he’s like.’

The man clambered onto the bonnet then roof of a car and jumped up and down. Lauren could feel people looking at them, and she slid reluctantly down from her seat. She could hear a siren, somewhere far far away. Perhaps they could distract him long enough to stop him. She walked beside Joe. The cut on her back hurt. It

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