Seizure Read Online Free PDF Page A

double door into the cauldron that was the A&E reception area. He stopped abruptly to get his bearings, almost causing the scampering DI to rear-end him.
    â€˜How’s the security guard?’ Henry asked. The shooting had happened some four hours earlier and Henry knew the doctors and nurses here at Blackpool Victoria Hospital had been working frantically on him since he had arrived with a bullet in the face. The said slug was lodged somewhere between his right eye and his brain.
    â€˜Last I heard, touch and go, fighting for his life,’ said DI Rik Dean.
    Henry took a steadying breath in order to regain some control over himself. ‘What’s being done . . . been done?’ he asked, meaning what the hell had the police done so far?
    â€˜Uniform were on the scene within minutes, motorway patrols were alerted and India Ninety-Nine was put up. Statements are still being taken from some very shaky witnesses at the store, which we’ve shut down for the day, much to the management’s annoyance. There’s a big crime scene investigation going on and Manchester have been apprised of it.’ The DI shrugged. ‘They torched their car on Shoreside, which incidentally was stolen from Manchester, then divided up into maybe two or three other vehicles. And, of course, the residents on Shoreside aren’t exactly coming forward in droves to assist. We reckon they’d be back in the city within forty-five minutes, tops.’ He shrugged again.
    â€˜And all this happened when we were running a crime op in east Lancs, checking suspicious vehicles coming off the M66, to try and catch the bastards?’
    The DI nodded. ‘Correct.’ Henry tutted in frustration. ‘To be fair, though, it was a pretty high profile operation – Hi-viz jackets, marked cars and everything. Could be why they changed locations, we just displaced them.’
    â€˜Maybe we need to be more subtle in future . . . however, just make sure the crime scene is covered as though we’re dealing with a murder – remember, you don’t get a second shot at it, so let’s miss nothing. These bastards are a dangerous nuisance and need catching.’
    â€˜Already doing that.’
    Henry inhaled again. A rush of stress rose through him like a tidal wave, a sensation emanating from his heart. It had been a tough, crappy day and to get this on top of everything else was just short of giving him palpitations. He shook his tired head to rid his mind of a disturbing image, then the two detectives walked to A&E reception and waited impatiently behind a woman with a child which had a small plastic toy inserted up its nose. The harassed receptionist took details and directed her to the waiting area. Henry stepped up to the desk, flashed his warrant card and explained his mission, adding, ‘There’s a uniformed officer with the patient, but we can’t seem to contact him . . . probably has his Police Radio switched off.’
    â€˜Still in surgery,’ the receptionist said after consulting her computer screen.
    â€˜Can you direct us to the appropriate theatre?’
    She sighed impatiently. ‘Back through that door, end of corridor, left and left again . . . just off that corridor,’ she snapped. Henry was going to ask if there was any news but decided against it. She looked under more pressure than he was. A full whingeing waiting room coupled with a scrolling LED display that declared a three-hour waiting time, and more patients already queuing up behind him, made him give her a quick nod of thanks and withdraw.
    â€˜You OK, boss?’ Rik Dean asked Henry, seeing him rub his eyes in exhaustion.
    Henry curled his lip, Elvis style, and said nothing, just shook his head in a ‘Don’t ask’ gesture. The day had taken all the fight and energy out of him and all he wanted to do was go home, dive into a bottle of JD. He also knew that the whisky part of