As he turned back and stepped behind the desk I mouthed to Agnes, ‘Now!’ She was up and out of the chair swiftly. As she moved to the right I lunged for the desk, tipping it right over on to Goulden. I didn’t wait to see where he ended up. I scarpered. There was an almighty crash, followed by a roar of outrage. Agnes was heading back towards the main corridor. I went the other way, through the double doors to the fire exit. At the end of the short passageway there was a plain door to the left and the fire door to the right. I hit the bar hard, it shook but the door didn’t open. I hit again with the heels of both my hands. It flew open and I lurched forward. There was a rush of cold, damp air, the smell of wet tarmac.
Agnes screamed. My belly jolted in fear. I ran back the way I’d come. Goulden was yanking her back into the office, one arm round her, under her arms, knife in the other fist, kicking at her legs as if she were a life-size puppet.
‘Stop it, stop it,’ I yelled.
He was shaking her, her head snapping back and forth.
‘Leave her alone, you bastard, let go of her.’ I came up behind him. He swung round, threw Agnes from him. For a moment he had a startled, furtive look on his face, it melted and he snarled. I never saw his fist. Just felt it as he belted me square on the nose. The blow knocked me right over. I landed flat on my back, felt the breath punched out of my lungs.
Everything stopped.
I’m going to die, I thought. I’ve broken my back. There was a peppering of dead flies along the bottom of the fluorescent strip. Oh, God. Maddie. Mum. I was suffocating.
Panic made me gasp, in came the air and with that the pain. Searing, spreading from my nose up behind my eyes. I felt the hot trickle run down the back of my throat, tasted the sweet, iron scent.
I passed out.
I can’t have been gone more than a minute and my hearing came back before anything else. A new voice. ‘Ken? Good God, man, what on earth’s going on? Are you all right, my dear?’ The solicitous tone was addressed to Agnes. I don’t think he’d spotted me on the floor behind the door. ‘You sit down. Was it a fall?’
‘Matthew, she’s the one, the tablets, she took them, had them sent to a lab.’ Goulden spoke quickly, racing to explain. ‘The police have been to Malden’s. It’s only a matter of time
I opened my eyes. They hurt, all of me hurt. I could see two pairs of suit trousers, shiny shoes.
‘Calm down,’ Simcock said coldly. ‘What the blazes?’ He’d seen me. ‘Are you responsible for this?’ He flung the words over his shoulder at Goulden as he moved towards me. He was even taller than Goulden but round-shouldered and wiry. With his dark moustache peppered with grey he looked older too.