Page 71 of The Last One to See Him

Kate nods, and turns to the paramedic standing near them. ‘Are the boys okay?’

‘We’ll need to get them checked at the hospital, but hopefully neither of them inhaled enough smoked to do any major damage. We’ll just give then a quick check here, though, first.’

‘Okay, thanks.’

Harper pulls her aside as the paramedics check the boys over.

‘You could have died,’ Harper says. ‘But you still went to save my son.’

‘There was no way I was going to let Dex die in there.’

‘You didn’t even know for sure he was in there.’

‘I had to see. I acted on instinct.’

‘I don’t know what to say. I…’

‘Did you do that to my house?’ Kate asks.

‘No!’ Harper protests. ‘I had nothing to do with this. I would never do anything like that.’

Kate shakes her head. ‘And I’m supposed to believe that after everything you’ve done? Tell me the truth, Harper. And all that other stuff.’

‘I would never put your son in danger.’

‘He wasn’t supposed to be there,’ Kate says, her voice almost a whisper.

‘What?’

‘Thomas was meant to be staying with Ellis tonight. I changed my mind at the last minute and went to get him. I was supposed to be alone in the house. Did you know?’

‘How…how would I know that?’

They’re interrupted by the paramedic who’s finished checking the boys. ‘We need to get you all to the hospital now.’

Kate’s relieved to be pulled away from Harper – however she feels about the woman now, she will sort through it once she knows for sure that Thomas is okay.

She’s had no choice but to call Ellis. All of her belongings went up in flames, and all she has on her is her phone and pyjamas. But at least Thomas is okay; tonight could have ended differently. And now Ellis stands beside her in the hospital, hugging them both, clinging on to them as if he’s already lost them. ‘What happened?’ he asks, speaking into her hair. ‘How did the fire start?’

Kate pulls away. ‘I don’t know. But it wasn’t an accident. No way.’

Ellis stares at her, horror scrawled on his face. ‘But…then who would do something like this?’

‘I don’t know. But everything’s gone. All our things. Clothes. There’s nothing left.’

He pulls her closer. ‘Those things don’t matter. You and Thomas are okay – that’s what’s important.’

For now. Someone tried to kill me, and what if they succeed next time?

‘We’ll sort out new things,’ Ellis says. ‘Don’t think about that now. And you’re both coming to stay with me of course. For as long as you need.’

Kate’s already realised this is her only option. ‘It won’t be for long,’ she says. ‘Just until I can sort somewhere for us to rent until the insurance money comes through.’

‘You don’t need to rent somewhere,’ Ellis insists. ‘You and Thomas will stay with me as long as you need. And Lula, of course. You’ve got a home with me, Kate. Always.’

Kate’s too fraught to say any more. ‘Can we just go now?’ she says. ‘We need to get Lula from Liv’s house.’ Kate shudders at the thought of going back to their road, seeing the remains of the house she’d loved so much. All those years of memories also burned to the ground. She turns to Thomas, who’s barely said a word since they got to the hospital. ‘Are you okay?’

He nods, and stares at the shiny white floor.

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