Dan became aware of movement around him. There was a light in his face and hands were on him.
He grimaced and tried to roll over, an instinctive reaction, but someone pushed him back down again. Pain flashed across his forehead.
‘It’s all right,’ a voice said. ‘Stay still.’
As the world came into view, he felt the steady rock of an ambulance as someone clambered into it.
‘What’s going on?’ His voice was a croak.
‘We’re taking you to hospital. You can tell us what happened. What’s your name?’
Dan knew it, or at least he thought he did, but it eluded him for a moment, like grasping at shadows. He thought hard until he remembered it. ‘Dan. Dan Grant.’
‘What day is it, Dan?’
He swallowed as he thought about that, tried to count them forward from the weekend. Eventually, he said, ‘Wednesday.’
‘What happened to you?’
He was able to focus on the person talking to him, and he saw it was a police officer. Young, surprisingly young, her radio squawking on her lapel. The ambulance door slammed and the engine started.
He held out his hands, as if to say that it was obvious, but no words came out.
‘It’s okay, you’re safe now,’ she said, as a paramedic busied himself, attaching a clamp to Dan’s finger and shining a light into his eyes.
The world gradually started to take shape again.
He tried to sit up, but the paramedic said, ‘No, no, no. Stay there, Mr Grant.’
‘No, I’m fine, let me go.’
‘You’re not. Trust me.’
Dan lay back and grimaced, a sharp jab of pain coming from his waist.
‘I was following someone,’ he said, gritting his teeth. ‘They jumped me.’
The constable leaned forward. ‘They?’
‘I was led into a trap. Two of them at least. I’m a lawyer.’
‘I know who you are, Mr Grant. We just needed to know whether you did. What was it all about? Do you know them?’
He didn’t recognise her, but after a while most of them blur into a stream of dark uniforms. ‘Carl Ogden. I was following him.’
‘Why?’
‘It was to do with a case.’
‘What did they do?’
Dan raised an eyebrow. ‘Beat the shit out of me.’ He winced. ‘And stabbed me, I think.’
The paramedic’s gaze became more intense. ‘Where?’
‘In the side.’ He gestured towards an area just above his waist.
The paramedic pushed up Dan’s hoodie and muttered, ‘Shit,’ when he saw the blood sticking his T-shirt to his torso. He prodded it with his fingers, making Dan groan as sharp jabs of pain shot through his body. ‘It’s not too deep,’ he said, his fingers still prodding around. ‘Your hoodie must have slowed it down, or you moved your body instinctively. A few stitches should sort it. It’s your head I’m worried about.’
‘I need to go though. This case, it’s important.’
‘No, you’re staying in tonight. They’ll insist on it.’
Dan turned his head to the officer. ‘How did you find me?’
‘Someone called your phone. Some young scallies were walking past and saw the screen lit up. They thought they’d found a freebie, but when they saw you, they called us.’
Dan closed his eyes. ‘There’s some good in the world.’
He tried to shut out the pain, but it was too hard. Instead, he relaxed into the sway of the ambulance, hoping to soothe it away.
The police officer must have received a message on her radio, because she pressed her earpiece and paid attention to what she was being told. After a few seconds, she said to the paramedic, ‘We need to avoid Union Street.’
Dan opened his eyes. ‘Union Street? What’s going on?’
‘One of the buildings is on fire.’
Dan felt sick. He knew straight away which building. He tried to sit up but was pushed down again. He asked the question anyway. ‘Which one?’
‘I don’t know the number or anything, but it’s a solicitor’s office. The one at the end.’ As soon as she said it, she put her hand to her mouth. ‘Is it your office? I’m so sorry.’
Dan didn’t respond. He just turned his head to the side and wondered what the hell he had got himself into. He wanted to go to his office, to see how bad the damage was, but he knew that he needed to be treated first.
As the officer radioed for someone to look for Carl Ogden, his thoughts went to Jayne. He’d dragged her back to Highford after she’d put it all behind her. He had to let her go back to Manchester.
Whatever was going on, it was his case, and his alone.