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‘You’ve got to let me out of here.’

The paramedics looked up at Helen, incredulous.

‘Do you understand ?’ Helen persisted fiercely, trying hard to stop the interior of the ambulance spinning. ‘There’s a … a situation I need to deal with. Something that can’t wait.’

‘The only situation you need to deal with is yourself,’ the older paramedic replied, a kindly twinkle in his eyes. ‘Let’s focus on that shall we, my love?’

In truth, Helen was finding it hard to focus on anything. She knew she was concussed and had lost blood, though beyond that, the details of her ordeal remained vague. She couldn’t recall how many times she’d been hit, only that her attackess’ metal chain had struck hard and true.

‘Forget me,’ Helen choked, dismissing the paramedic’s intervention. ‘There’s a young woman in real danger. She’s just been brutally attacked and bundled into a van. We need to find her.’

She just about managed to gasp the words, before running out of breath. Once again, however, her pleas were met by a mixture of surprise and alarm.

‘Where was this? You say there was an attack of some kind?’ the younger female paramedic chipped in.

‘It was at the parade of shops. Where you found me.’

‘We didn’t see anyone,’ she replied quizzically. ‘Apart from the two nice ladies who found you of course …’

‘No, no, they’d gone by then …’ Helen said weakly, suddenly aware of how mad she must sound.

Looking quizzically at her, the older paramedic took up the baton.

‘Can I ask, Helen, have you been drinking tonight?’

She shook her head violently, immediately wishing she hadn’t.

‘I haven’t drunk in over thirty years,’ she replied angrily.

‘Drugs then?’ he persisted. ‘Have you taken anything?’

‘Why on earth would I do that?’

‘Lots of people do,’ he said, without judgement. ‘And you’ve obviously had a bit of an evening, so …’

Perplexed, Helen stared hard at him, then lowered her gaze to look at herself.

She was battered and bruised, shoeless and dishevelled, with only a skimpy nightdress preserving her modesty.

Sweaty, tousled, with smudged make-up and eyes that refused to focus, Helen suddenly realized what a state she must look.

‘You think I’ve been partying?’ she countered angrily. ‘Is that why you think I look like this?’

‘I don’t know what you’ve been up to,’ he replied cautiously, clearly alarmed by her growing anger. ‘None of my business really. I just assumed—’

‘Well, I haven’t been,’ Helen interrupted, her frustration bubbling over. ‘I was staying at the Mayflower and I spotted a woman being attacked. I went to her aid and this is the result.’

She gestured to her head wound, feeling nauseous and giddy once more.

‘Right … OK … it’s just that you look like you’d maybe lost your balance and hit your head. Are you absolutely sure that’s not what happened? Because if that was case, there’s no shame in it. We see it all the time, don’t we, Sheila?’

His companion nodded tersely, clearly less sympathetic to late-night drunks than her more mature counterpart.

‘Let me be very clear,’ Helen hissed, trying to control her fury. ‘I saw a violent attack, no, actually an abduction …’

This slight change in Helen’s story prompted a brief, pointed look between the paramedics, but she pressed on.

‘So I intervened. I’m a police officer, right. It’s what I’m trained to do, so would you please stop treating me like some raving drunk and let me go. You’ve got no right to keep me here, trussed up like a turkey. I’ve done nothing wrong.’

‘We know that. And you’re only secured to stop you falling off the stretcher and injuring yourself further. We’re nearly at the hospital. Why don’t we get you checked out and then see where we are, eh?’

Agonized, Helen tugged hopelessly at her restraints, bellowing out her frustration. Even as the cries died away, she clocked the female paramedic looking at her shrewdly.

‘You’re a police officer, you say?’

Her tone was even, but her scepticism was clear. Obviously it was not common to find police officers in a state of undress lying face down in the gutter.

‘Yes. Well, I was until recently anyway. A detective inspector in the Major Incident Team at Southampton Central.’

‘But you’re not anymore?’

‘No, I resigned six months ago, but that’s not the point. The point is I know what I’m saying and it’s God’s own truth, so will you please stop this vehicle and let me out. I’ve got to find her …’

A long silence followed, broken only by the shriek of the siren above. Both paramedics looked at each other, the more senior officer clearly trying to find the right words in response. But in the event, his female colleague got in first.

‘Look, Helen, you’ve had a nasty knock to the head, so what say we get you checked out and then we can talk about this missing girl, eh?’

Her condescension was crushing, her decision final.

Helen was trapped.