It takes the medics all night to find out why Nina’s heart stopped then restarted with a sudden jolt. She’s fast asleep when a consultant calls me into the corridor with the test results.
‘Pre-eclampsia’s a nasty condition, because it’s unpredictable,’ she says, gazing down at Nina’s latest heart tracing. ‘If blood pressure spikes repeatedly, it can cause an arrythmia.’
‘Will it happen again?’
‘Unlikely.’ She shakes her head. ‘Nina’s heartbeat’s normalised, but we’ll keep a close eye on her. If you have a second child, we’ll monitor the pregnancy from day one.’
‘There’s no way she’s going through that again.’
‘You may feel different in time. Get some sleep if you can. I hear your boy looks like a rugby player already.’
The medic disappears before I can ask another question. I’ll never know whether it was my yelling that brought Nina round, or a well-timed shot of adrenaline.
She’s still sleeping, so I take a walk down to the neonatal unit to see our son. His cot is closest to the window, and I watch him sleep, his black hair unmistakable. Something shifts in my gut, like all my major organs are being rearranged. I’ll need to make changes, and grow up at last. I’ve got no religious faith at all, but I remember the stories we heard at Sunday School. Our kid strikes me as a miracle, spat from his mother’s belly onto dry land, like Noah stepping from the ark.
I get a few hours’ sleep in an armchair before Nina’s parents arrive from Bristol. Her larger-than-life Italian mother never stops talking, while her English dad rolls his eyes. Noah’s grandmother insists on taking hundreds of photos, then carries him out into the corridor so nurses, patients and visitors can all admire him.
I’ve been ignoring the texts that keep on arriving, but the room’s so packed with visitors I slip outside to check my phone. The coastguard searched all night for Ruby Travis, but she’s still missing, presumed drowned. Joe Trescothick is traumatised; he can’t yet accept that his girlfriend was a ruthless killer. The next email proves that Liz Gannick never sleeps. She tested all of Maeve Trenwith’s shoes overnight, finding bloodstains on a pair of boots. If it belongs to Louis Hayle, Maeve will face a murder trial, and Danny will be seen as complicit. She may regret giving me so many details last night, even though it was off the record, but the blood proves she was at the scene. The couple will be placed in holding cells at Penzance jail. It still strikes me as tragic that they may pay a high price for Louis Hayle’s abuse.
I assume it’s a friend calling to congratulate us when my phone rings, but my old boss’s face appears on the screen. DCI Goldman looks relaxed for once, her brittle features forming a smile.
‘What an extraordinary case, Kitto.’
‘It certainly was, ma’am.’
‘Ruby Travis took four lives in a single week. Malcolm Pierce, Denny Lang and two of your fellow officers, which I deeply regret.’
‘She was following her dad’s orders.’
‘Or she was evil to the core. We can’t escape our genes.’
Goldman congratulates me on wrapping up the case on Bryher, but my thoughts are still on parenthood when we say goodbye. Ruby Travis never stood a chance. There was fear as well as hatred on her face when she lunged at me. She had no mother to guide her, and a father fuelled by psychotic violence. Little wonder she couldn’t tell right from wrong.
I’m about to go back into the room when I remember Shadow, and a ripple of panic runs through me. There was no sign of him when I jumped onto the boat after hearing his cry. My hands are shaking when I call Eddie, but there’s no reply. Pictures are forming in my mind. Why was there so much blood on Ruby’s sleeve when she had no visible injury? The station’s not answering either, the line busy, so I call Ray instead. He announces that he’s booked a flight this afternoon to come and see Noah, our argument already forgotten. There’s a long pause after I ask about Shadow.
‘He got hurt, Ben. I’m with him now, at the vet’s.’
‘What happened?’
‘He was smart enough to crawl to my yard; he’d lost a lot of blood. There’s one hell of a knife wound on his chest. It’s lucky he survived the ride to St Mary’s.’
‘But he’ll be okay?’
‘He’s too stubborn to die.’ My uncle’s laugh echoes at the end of the line. ‘But he’s agitated. Your voice might calm him; he’ll hear you, if you speak loudly.’
‘You did well, you scruffy hound,’ I say. ‘Rest now, and get some sleep.’
I hear him whine a quiet reply, and my head drops, a few tears hitting the lino at my feet. I don’t know why the idea of almost losing Shadow finally undoes me, after so much danger. It’s the thought of him risking his life to defend me again, even though we annoy the hell out of each other most days. Ruby Travis did her best to kill us both, but at least he’s safe now. He’ll be comfortable at the vet’s until we’re home, then he’ll get plenty of rewards.
When I return to Nina, the room is still full, so I stand in the corridor and peer through the doorway. I want my son in my arms, but last night’s nurses have dropped by, so I’ll have to wait my turn. Nina is telling them his full name will be Noah Simon Mark Kitto, which is a bit long-winded, but who cares? He will be surrounded by admirers on Bryher, with me and Nina always in the background, keeping him safe and sound.